History of spiritism in Brazil

Elias da Silva, spiritist pioneer in Brazil.

Bezerra de Menezes.

In the city of Rio de Janeiro, then capital of the Empire of Brazil, the first Spiritist sessions were held by French individuals, many of whom were political exiles from the regime of Napoleon III of France (1852–1870), in the 1860s. Some of these pioneers were the journalist Adolphe Hubert, editor of the periodical Courrier do Brésil, the professor Casimir Lieutaud, and the psychographic medium, Madame Perret Collard.[10]

In 1860, Professor Casimir Lieutaud, founder and director of the French School in Rio de Janeiro, published the translation, in Portuguese, of the works "The Times Are Coming" ("Les Temps sont arrivés") and "Spiritism in Its Simplest Expression" ("Le Spiritisme à sa plus simple expression").[11][12]

The first newspaper to publish translated excerpts from Allan Kardec's works was the "Verdadeira Medicina Física e Espiritual associada a Cirurgia: jornal cientifico sobre as ciências ocultas e especialmente de propaganda magnetotherapia", published from January to April 1861 by Dr. Eduardo Monteggia, not because he considered himself a Spiritist, but rather a democrat.

In the same period, the Jornal do Commercio, a traditional newspaper of the Brazilian capital at the time, in an article published on 23 September 1863 in the section "Chronicles of Paris," addressed the shows about spirits that were popular in the theaters of Paris and then went on to make comments about Spiritism. This article is mentioned in the "Revue Spirite", where Kardec comments that the author of the article did not delve into the study of Spiritism, of which he was ignorant of the theoretical aspects. However, Kardec praises his sensible behavior in the face of the facts, for which he did not raise reckless theories. "At least" – Kardec referred to – "he does not judge what he does not know."[13] And he adds:

"We verify, with satisfaction, that the Spiritist idea is making significant progress in Rio de Janeiro, where it has numerous fervent and devoted representatives. The small booklet "Le Spiritisme à sa plus simple expression", published in Portuguese, contributed, not insignificantly, to spreading the true principles of the Doctrine there.'"

In this capital, the first Spiritist institution to be founded was the Sociedade de Estudos Espiríticos - Grupo Confúcio (Society of Spiritist Studies – Confucius Group), in 1873. As stated in its bylaws, it was to follow the principles and formalities set forth in The Spirits' Book and The Mediums' Book, by Allan Kardec. Its activities also included free homeopathic prescriptions and the application of passes to those in need. However, its greatest virtue was promoting the translation of Kardec's basic works into the Portuguese language. The reaction in the press of the time is expressed, for example, in a comment published in the pages of the Jornal do Commercio, accusing Spiritism of creating "madmen" and calling for police intervention, concluding: "It is an epidemic more dangerous than yellow fever..." (Jornal do Commercio, 13 December 1874)

In 1875, the Confúcio Group launched the second Spiritist periodical in the country (the first in Rio de Janeiro), the Revista Espírita (Spiritist Review), edited by Antônio da Silva Neto.

Prominent figures associated with this group include Joaquim Carlos Travassos, who in 1875 presented the first translation of "The Spirits' Book" into the Portuguese language to Bezerra de Menezes.

The group dissolved in 1876, giving way to the Sociedade de Estudos Espíritas Deus, Cristo e Caridade (Society of Spiritist Studies God, Christ, and Charity), under the direction of Francisco Leite de Bittencourt Sampaio. Its doctrinal program, in which the work codified by Allan Kardec was an essential part, included the study of The Four Gospels by Jean-Baptiste Roustaing.

However, ideological disagreements between those advocating for a "scientific" Spiritism and others supporting a "mystical" Spiritism,[14] led to dissensions within the Society of Studies. Initially, in 1877, a group separated to establish the Congregação Espírita Anjo Ismael (Spiritist Congregation Angel Ismael) (20 May). The following year (1878), another group formed the Grupo Espírita Caridade (Charity Spiritist Group) (8 June). Both had short durations and had disappeared by 1879. In the same year, the Society of Studies gave way to the Sociedade Acadêmica Deus, Cristo e Caridade (Academic Society God, Christ, and Charity) (3 October 1879), following the orientation of the "scientific" group, which opposed the religious character of the Doctrine. Consequently, a final group, under the leadership of medium João Gonçalves do Nascimento, inspired by the spirit Ismael, formed a new organization called the Grupo Espírita Fraternidade (Fraternity Spiritist Group) (1880).

Still in this context, Antônio Luís Sayão, who unsuccessfully attempted to reconcile the "Academic Society God, Christ, and Charity" with the "Fraternity Spiritist Group," founded, together with Frederico Pereira Júnior, João Gonçalves do Nascimento, Francisco Leite de Bittencourt Sampaio, and others, the so-called "Grupo dos Humildes" (Group of the Humble), popularly known as the "Sayão Group" (15 July 1880). This group, in its first phase, which lasted about a year, held productive meetings. Later, the group came to be called the "Ismael Group" and integrated into the Federação Espírita Brasileira (Brazilian Spiritist Federation), where it exists to this day.[15]

Also in 1880, Augusto Elias da Silva, the future founder of the Reformador and the Federação Espírita Brasileira (Brazilian Spiritist Federation), founded the União dos Espíritas do Brasil (Union of Brazilian Spiritists), of which he presided over.

Regarding this turbulent period, researcher Pedro Richard stated:

"At that time, a significant event occurred: Spiritists, either due to disagreement of ideas or criminal pretension, created a considerable number of groups, whose members, for the most part, were unaware of the most rudimentary precepts of the Doctrine. Any Spiritist would form a group, solely to satisfy their vanity by giving it a name they revered. Only a few groups were productive, but they were too few in number."

The following year (1881), as an offshoot of the "Fraternity Group," the Grupo Espírita Humildade e Fraternidade (Humility and Fraternity Spiritist Group) was founded, with the support of Francisco Raimundo Ewerton Quadros, who would later become one of the founders of the FEB and its first president (7 June). However, the year was marked by the beginning of official persecution of Spiritism (28 August). The Rio de Janeiro newspapers O Cruzeiro and Jornal do Commercio announced in their pages, in an exclusive report, the police order that banned the activities of the "Academic Society God, Christ, and Charity" and its affiliated centers, making Spiritists who contradicted the police provisions subject to criminal sanctions. On the same day, the Society held an extraordinary session to take defensive measures if the news were confirmed. Still on the same day, the Board of the Academic Society appeared before the Minister of Justice, who received them warmly, stating that there must have been some misunderstanding and that he would not allow the persecution of anyone.

However, on 30 August, a Judicial Officer presented the Society with a copy of the summons from the 2nd Police Delegate of the Municipality of the Court, a summons that suspended and prohibited the meetings of the said Society, alleging that it was not legally constituted. Immediately, the Board of the Academic Society sent letters to the Chief of Police and the Minister of Justice, Counselor Manuel Pinto de Souza Dantas, demonstrating the arbitrariness of that measure. A committee, composed of Dr. Antônio Pinheiro Guedes, Carlos Joaquim de Lima e Cirne, and Dr. Joaquim Carlos Travassos, contacted the Chief of Police, who, despite receiving them amiably, resolved nothing, suggesting that the order came from a higher authority.

In this context, on 6 September 1881, the first Spiritist Congress in Brazil took place, promoted by the Academic Society.[16] On the same day, a committee of Spiritists was received by Emperor Pedro II of Brazil, to whom they handed a document with a detailed exposition of the facts and a request for justice to be served. The Emperor, on that occasion, is also said to have stated: "I do not consent to persecution." Two weeks later, on the 21st, the same committee returned to the palace to learn of the response to the considerations expressed in the exposition delivered to the Emperor. He stated that he had sent the papers to the Minister of the Empire to resolve the case and once again affirmed, with a touch of humor, "No one will persecute them. But... they shouldn't try to be martyrs now."

Although the police order was never officially revoked, it also did not proceed. Finally, in an official letter dated 10 January 1882, addressed to H.M. D. Pedro de Alcântara, Emperor of Brazil, the Board of the Academic Society expressed its jubilation "for the beginning of tolerance" towards that Society, "a clear sign that the persecutions initiated against Spiritism and Spiritists have ended".

This first police action against Spiritism resulted in the foundation, in Rio de Janeiro, in September or October 1881, of the Grupo Espírita Vinte e Oito de Agosto (Twenty-Eighth of August Spiritist Group), a date that the Spiritists of that time wanted to preserve for posterity.

As a result of the Spiritist Congress, on 3 October of the same year, the Centro da União Espírita do Brasil (Center of the Spiritist Union of Brazil) was founded within the "Academic Society," by Professor Afonso Angeli Torteroli. The new institution aimed to bring together and guide Spiritist societies at the national level.[17] Among its members was the name of Lima e Cirne. This Society launched a magazine in January 1881, the second Spiritist periodical in Rio de Janeiro, with Major Ewerton Castro as one of its contributors.

To mark the first anniversary of the news about the repression of Spiritists, the I Espírita Exposition of Brazil was opened on 28 August 1882, at the headquarters of the Academic Society, at 120 Rua da Alfândega. The commemorative program, organized by the Society itself, was entitled "Celebration of Spiritism in Brazil" and extended until 3 September. Visitors had the opportunity to appreciate various mediumistic works, such as psychographic writings in normal characters, shorthand and telegraphy in foreign languages (including Oriental languages), psychopictography, copies of correspondence between the Academic Society and foreign Spiritist associations, Spiritist newspapers and magazines from Europe and America, various Spiritist works, portraits of notable figures of Spiritism from various countries, as well as books and newspapers opposing the Doctrine. On this occasion, the newspaper "O Renovador" (The Renewer) was also launched by Major Salustiano José Monteiro de Barros and Professor Afonso Angeli Torteroli. A few months later, the "Reformador" (The Reformer) would be published, under the direction of Augusto Elias da Silva (21 January 1883). The idea of publishing the latter was influenced by a Pastoral Letter opposing Spiritism, published in 1882 by the Bishop of Rio de Janeiro, which prompted responses from the physician Antônio Pinheiro Guedes.

It was Elias da Silva who, at the end of that year (27 December 1883),[18] held a preparatory meeting for the reorganization of the movement in the Municipality of the Court at his own residence, given the apparent lack of understanding among the members of the various existing Spiritist entities there:[19] the "Centro da União Espírita do Brasil," the "Grupo dos Humildes," the "Grupo Espírita Fraternidade," and the "Sociedade Acadêmica Deus, Cristo e Caridade." As a result of this understanding, the Federação Espírita Brasileira (Brazilian Spiritist Federation) was founded on 1 January 1884, considered as the "House of Ismael," with the aim of federating all groups through a "balanced or mixed program" and disseminating Spiritism through all means, especially the press and books.[20][21]

On 17 August 1885, in a room on Rua da Alfândega, FEB inaugurated a cycle of public conferences that became prominent, with speakers including Elias da Silva, Bittencourt Sampaio, and other pioneers of Spiritism in the country. The increase in the public's attendance led these lectures to be moved to Salão da Guarda Velha (in the street of the same name, currently Av. 13 de Maio), where, on 16 August 1886, Dr. Adolfo Bezerra de Menezes publicly proclaimed his Spiritist convictions before an audience of over a thousand people (1,500 or two thousand, according to sources).

In 1887, Elias da Silva founded the Grupo Espírita Sete de Março (Seventh of March Spiritist Group), which remained active until 1890.

During the tumultuous days that stretched from the Abolition of Slavery in Brazil (1888) to the proclamation of the Republic (1889), the following stand out:

• a series of articles on the Spiritist Doctrine published in O Paiz, the most widely circulated periodical of the time.[nb 1] Under the name "Estudos Filosóficos – Espiritismo" (Philosophical Studies – Spiritism), the articles were regularly published on Sundays from 23 October 1887, to December 1893, signed under the pseudonym "Max."
• the message of the spirit of Allan Kardec in the "Grupo Espírita Fraternidade," calling on Spiritists to seek harmony (1888); and
• the decision of Bezerra de Menezes, who, after preaching the need for greater understanding among Spiritists through articles and advice, finally accepted the position of director of FEB, succeeding Ewerton Quadros, who had managed it from 1884 to 1888 and had been transferred to the then Province of Goiás due to his military duties.
• the visit of American physical medium Henry Slade (1835–1905) to Brazil.[22]

It was at this moment that the Center of the Spiritist Union of Brazil, in its second phase, was reorganized and installed in the FEB's facilities, with Bezerra de Menezes as president and later Elias da Silva (1893).[nb 2] It was also Bezerra de Menezes who incorporated the "Grupo dos Humildes" (Group of the Humble), later renamed "Grupo Ismael" (Ismael Group), into FEB. After the proclamation of the Republic, the Grupo Espírita Fraternidade (Fraternity Spiritist Group) would also join FEB.

Prominent figures in the republican movement, such as Joaquim Saldanha Marinho (1816–1895) and Quintino Bocaiuva (1836–1912), sympathized with the Spiritist doctrine.[23] In the literary field, noteworthy individuals include Machado de Assis (1839–1908) as a critic; Spiritist Manuel de Araújo Porto-Alegre (1806–1879), who held psychographic sessions in Paris and wrote a play ("Os Voluntários da Pátria" – "The Volunteers of the Fatherland") incorporating Spiritist elements; and sympathizers such as Castro Alves (1847–1871), who intended to write a Spiritist work as the final poem of "Os Escravos" (The Slaves); Augusto dos Anjos, who conducted Spiritist sessions and engaged in psychography in his hometown; Antônio Castro Lopes (1827–1901), a poet and philologist; and Alexandre José de Mello Moraes (1816–1882), a physician, historian, and politician.[8][9]

Outside the Municipality of the Court, during this period, the founding of the Spiritist newspaper "A Cruz" (The Cross) in Recife stands out, established by Júlio César Leal on 6 July 1881, the first Spiritist periodical in the capital of Pernambuco.

With the Proclamation of the Republic of Brazil (15 November 1889), on 22 December, the FEB congratulates the Provisional Government for the advent of the new regime.

However, since the country still did not have a Constitution, Decree No. 847, dated 11 October 1890, promulgated the Penal Code of the Republic. This decree, inspired by positivism, associated the practice of Spiritism with rituals of magic and charlatanism, as expressed in Article 157, which stated:

"It is a crime to practice Spiritism, magic, and their spells, to use talismans and cartomancy to incite feelings of hatred or love, to claim to heal curable or incurable diseases, in short, to fascinate and subjugate public credulity. Penalty: imprisonment from 1 to 6 months and a fine of 100$000 to 500$000."

Spiritists protested to Campos Sales, who was then the Minister of Justice, but without success. The rapporteur of the Penal Code, João Batista Pinheiro, limited himself to stating that the text referred to the practice of so-called "low Spiritism." On 22 December 1890, Bezerra de Menezes, as the president of the "Center of the Spiritist Union of Brazil," sent an official letter to the President of the Republic, Marshal Deodoro da Fonseca, regarding the new Penal Code.

Concerned about possible pockets of resistance to the regime, the Government authorized the police to raid meetings and homes in search of opponents. As a result, in 1891, in the city of Rio de Janeiro, several spiritists were detained. Persecuted and prohibited from gathering, the few existing spiritist centers found themselves forced to close their doors to avoid the penalties of the law. FEB itself was obliged to suspend the publication of its magazine, the "Reformador," at that time. However, it was in this context that Bezerra de Menezes founded the Spiritist Group Regeneration (18 February 1891), the "House of Benefits."[nb 3]

In 1893, at the height of the second Revolt of the Navy, the Government further hardened the regime. Spiritists submitted a new protest to the National Congress against the Penal Code, once again in vain, as the code's review committee did not meet their demands. Faced with external and internal difficulties, the Reformador ceased circulation in the last quarter of that year. The "Fraternity Spiritist Group," after changing its bylaws and renaming itself the "Psychological Fraternity Society," dissolved during the Revolt of the Navy, and on Christmas of that same year, Bezerra de Menezes concluded the series "Philosophical Studies" he had been publishing in O Paiz newspaper.

The following year (1894), with the easing of the political situation, Augusto Elias, together with Fernandes Figueira and Alfredo Pereira, launched a fundraising campaign to support FEB's projects. The Reformador resumed circulation.

Historians of the movement record that at the time, there was an ideological and doctrinal division between the so-called "lay" or "scientific" individuals, represented by Prof. Angeli Torteroli, who advocated the scientific aspect of Spiritism, and the "mystics," led by Dr. Bezerra de Menezes, who advocated the religious aspect. Thus, on 4 April 1894, the "Center of Spiritist Union" changed its name to the Center of Spiritist Union for Propagation in Brazil, under the direction of Prof. Angeli Torteroli, located at 9 Silva Jardim Street. Its board of directors included names such as Júlio César Leal[nb 4] and Bezerra de Menezes, who resigned from it in 1896 due to a campaign of personal insults against him, as he was considered a mystic who did not bother to reason.[nb 5]

With Júlio César Leal's resignation from the presidency of FEB, after seven months in office due to a profound administrative, financial, and ideological crisis experienced by the institution, Bezerra de Menezes accepted to assume the position once again on 3 August 1895. In the exercise of his functions, he imparted an evangelical orientation to the institution's work and remained in office until his passing in 1900.

Aristides Spinola.

During this time, on 28 August 1897, the "Center of Spiritist Union for Propagation in Brazil" held the "Permanent Spiritist Congress," paying tribute to the "Academic Society God, Christ, and Charity," which had been the target of an attempted persecution against spiritists in 1881. However, the "Center" disappeared during the same period as the Congress.

By 1904, there were no less than 19 periodicals dedicated to Spiritism circulating in the country.[23]

On 15 April 1905, the headquarters of FEB, located at 97 Rosário Street in the historic center of the city, was visited by officials from the General Directorate of Public Health, who issued citations against the medium Dr. Domingos de Barros Lima Filgueiras for the illegal practice of Medicine. In the subsequent legal process against the then-president of FEB, Leopoldo Cirne, and the medium Domingos Filgueiras, both were acquitted.

The new headquarters of FEB, on Sacramento Street (now Avenida Passos), was inaugurated on 10 December 1911.

On 1 May 1912, the weekly spiritist newspaper Aurora was founded in the city of Rio de Janeiro by Inácio Bittencourt, who was responsible for it for over three decades. Under his presidency, the Tereza de Jesus Shelter was founded in 1919, a traditional charitable institution that has survived to this day.

The centralizing role of FEB at the national level was questioned in the 1920s with the founding of the Spiritist League of Brazil by Aurino Barbosa Souto (31 March 1926), which had a similar purpose. In response, the Federative Council of FEB met for the first time that same year.

"Jornal do Brasil" published an interview with the writer Coelho Neto (7 June 1923), who had been an uncompromising opponent of Spiritism but converted to it after participating in a conversation over the telephone between his deceased granddaughter and her mother.[24] In the same year, he delivered a speech about his adherence to the spiritist doctrine at the Salão da Guarda Velha in Rio de Janeiro.[25] That same year, the prescribing mediumship service of FEB reached its highest number of consultations, with nearly 400,000 people attended to.[26]

Outside of the then Federal District, notable developments during this period include:

Colégio Allan Kardec, founded by Eurípedes Barsanulfo.

Yvonne do Amaral Pereira.

• In São Paulo, Batuíra founded the Truth and Light Spiritist Group and a periodical with the same name, composed and printed in its own typography (1890);
• In Recife, the founding of the God and Charity Association of the Afflicted Spiritists, on Futuro Street, Aflitos neighborhood, on 26 August 1894, the first spiritist society in Pernambuco.[27]
• In Recife, the founding of the Pernambuco Spiritist Federation (8 December 1904);
• In Minas Gerais, the founding of the Minas Gerais Spiritist Union, with Antônio Lima as its first president, the beginning of the activities of Eurípedes Barsanulfo in the Triângulo Mineiro region (1904), and the start of Cairbar Schutel's spiritist advocacy, who founded a spiritist center and began publishing "O Clarim" (1905), a periodical that continues to be published to this day;
• In Minas Gerais, 1916 marked the beginning of psychography through the mediumship of Zilda Gama, receiving messages signed by the spirit of Victor Hugo;
• Also in Minas Gerais, in 1926, medium Yvonne do Amaral Pereira started attending the Spiritist Center of Lavras, where she began receiving messages from spirits of suicide victims through her mediumship. The following year (May 1927), the first spiritist session was held at the Xavier residence in Pedro Leopoldo, which led to the establishment of the Luiz Gonzaga Spiritist Center, presided over by José Cândido Xavier, brother of the medium Francisco Cândido Xavier.
• In São Paulo, the founding of the São Paulo Spiritist Union (1908), and later, during the First World War, the mediumistic phenomena of Carmine Mirabelli;
• In Salvador, Bahia, the founding of the Bahia State Spiritist Federation (25 December 1915);
• In Matão, São Paulo, the launch of the International Spiritist Review, under the direction of Cairbar Schutel (15 February 1925).
• In Goiás, the founding of a spiritist center at Palmella Farm (1929), which later became the municipality of Palmelo, known today as the "Spiritist City."

The first major dissensions within the spiritist movement occurred in the early 20th century. The first took place in Niterói, with the establishment of Umbanda, traditionally initiated by the Caboclo das Sete Encruzilhadas (1908), and the second occurred in Santos (1910) and called itself "Espiritismo Racional e Científico Cristão" (Rational and Scientific Christian Spiritism), systematized by Luís de Matos and Luís Alves Tomás.

The Frenchman Jean-Baptiste Roustaing, a contemporary of Allan Kardec, defended, among other things, the thesis that Jesus Christ manifested on Earth not in a physical body, but in a spiritual form. In Brazil, the resulting historical controversy contributed to and fueled a long-standing division between so-called "mystical" and "scientific" spiritists, with ongoing repercussions to this day.

On 15 November 1908, during a visit by Zélio Fernandino de Moraes to a session of the Spiritist Federation of the State of Rio de Janeiro (located in Niterói, then the capital of the state of Rio de Janeiro), an incident culminated in the manifestation of an entity that identified itself as Caboclo das Sete Encruzilhadas, who announced the foundation of a new religion in the country: Umbanda.

In the city of Santos, Portuguese immigrants Luís José de Matos and Luís Alves Tomás founded the Centro Espírita Amor e Caridade in 1910 and published the work "Espiritismo Racional e Científico Cristão" in 1914, which became a fundamental work of the new doctrine, now distributed under the title "Christian Rationalism."

Matos, who had been attending spiritist centers in Santos since 1909, believed that there was an excess of religiosity and mysticism among spiritist followers, and that Spiritism should be "the science of sciences, the philosophy of philosophies, but should not be linked to any religious dimension."

Initially called "Ramatis' Spiritism" and currently known as universalist spiritualism, it dates back to the second half of the 1950s, when some spiritist centers began studying and defending the works and ideas dictated by the spirit Ramatis (mainly through the psychographed works of Hercílio Maes). They distinguish themselves from traditional spiritist centers due to their greater emphasis on universalism (the common origin of religions) and the comparative study of Western and Eastern spiritualist religions and philosophies. There is also a more pronounced influence of Eastern schools of thought, such as Buddhism and Hinduism.

Although not a religious or doctrinal current, Apometry was based on teachings dictated by spirits. It emerged in the 1960s as an alternative treatment for patients given up by conventional medicine. Through a systematization effort coordinated by Dr. José Lacerda de Azevedo from the Spiritist Hospital of Porto Alegre, the Laws of Apometry were established.

It emerged in the mid-1960s with the end of the partnership between mediums Chico Xavier and Waldo Vieira, when the latter began his own research on what he called consciousness projection.

Also emerged as a dissent from the spiritist movement, since September 2002. While not ceasing to follow Spiritist Doctrine, it claims to do so with greater seriousness than the Brazilian movement itself, which is an argument used for distancing.