THE ASTRAL CITY
The story of a doctor’s odyssey in the Spirit World.
By André Luiz (spirit)
ThroughFrancisco Cândido Xavier
Ist Electronic Edition by GEAE

Translated from the 25th Portuguese edition entitled “Nosso Lar” . First Portuguese edition published in 1944 by FEDERAÇÃO
ESPÍRITA BRASILEIRA. Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil.
First English edition by Christian Spirit Center, P O Box 114, Elon College, N. C., 27244, USA.
Revision and editing by
Lauren Speeth Luczynski
1st Electronic Edition by the
Spiritist Group of New York
and GEAE (Advanced Study Group of Spiritism)

Table of Contents

PREFACE TO THE FIRST ELECTRONIC EDITION BY GEAE

News from the afterlife reach us since time immemorial. They teach us, alert us and give us solace. From Saul consulting the dead Samuel (Samuel 28:1) on the direction of Israel, to the disciples in Galilee (Matthew 28:16-28:20) visited by the Master after crucifixion.  From Peter freed from prison by an angel of the Lord (Acts 12:1-12:10) to the voices which guided Joan D´arc for the salvation of France. Messages on the state of the human spirit after death often remains hidden in these news.

Messages translated into the proper language and customs of their times speak us about heavens and hells, where human beings find themselves and the results of their actions. These are more or less happy resorts according to the spiritual state of their inhabitants. In many instances they are covered with poetry, as in Dante´s Divine Comedy, or hidden under the symbols of the great mystics.

Even recently, at a time of positivist science, the flux of news did not stop. On the contrary, starting in 1848 it has grown increasingly, finding elucidation in the gigantic effort of analysis and compilation carried out by Allan Kardec. Starting with “The Spirit´s Book” (1857) they continued through “Posthumous Works” (1890), strongly intertwined by the ‘Revue Spirite’ (1858-1859). “To be born, to died, to be born again and always move forward” – the several plans of human existence are unveiled, each one endowed with its proper aim within the great work of evolution.

Spiritism, the set of teachings contained in Kardequian works, has organized and spread the interchange of news among incarnate and discarnate. Groups were established in several countries.  In the Brazilian lands however a propicious environment for good mediumnistic work and practical application of the Spiritist postulates was found. Bezerra de Menezes, Caibar Schutel, Eurípedes Barsanulfo and many others vividly spread the “Good news”, that actually death does not exist, that we found ourselves under transitory study in this material world, that opportunities of work and improvement abound in the “many Father´s mansions”…

In a continuously changing world, in which the domain of matter takes place and the human inner universe remains unknown, materialism seems little by little to triumph over all the spiritual conquests, reducing to pious myths all the religious creeds. In this world, Spiritism stands up straight, marching forward in the enlightenment of people. At the very moment when man  find himself far from God, a masterpiece shows him his supreme target, shaping forever the behavior of future generations.

“Nosso Lar” (or “The Astral City” in the present English version) appeared on Earth in 1943 through the mediumship of Francisco Xavier and edited by the Brazilian Spiritist Federation (FEB). The book tells us the odyssey of a recently departed physician who introduces himself under the pen name “André Luiz” (see forewords by Emmanuel and J Haddad). The author discloses a spiritual society, a colony of work located in the vicinity of the Earth surface, where one finds the happy of sad results of one acts after reaching “the other side” of life. Far from abstractions or purely philosophical argumentation, André Luiz speaks about the actual reality of imperfect spirits still alive, working and preparing themselves for the next life’s struggles.

“Nosso Lar” is an evolving society, much similar to the terrestrial one. It displays many patterns of the Brazilian society at the time, forecasting other ones that would arise in the following years. Using a comparison, “Nosso Lar” is a kind of spiritualized Rio de Janeiro or, more exactly, Rio is a material “Nosso Lar” in so far as many of its inhabitants come from this spiritual colony.

Putting aside the Brazilian feature of the colony, “Nosso Lar” is an universal example. Wherever the human spirit goes after death, be it a spiritual colony of an English speaking country or a spiritual town in ancient India, it always meets itself,  carrying  its conquests or past mistakes, beloved affections or inner enemies. In one word, it goes to a place with which it has strong affinities. And then, perhaps under different customs or dressings, the spirit finds a reality much similar to the one revealed by André Luiz.

So we strongly recommend to all our dear friends the reading of this work. We also hope that it can consolidate the certainty in the afterlife and in the maxim “without charity there is no salvation” as it did to many Brazilian fellows. We remark that just after the edition of this book, as if reinforcing a practical teaching by Bezerra de Menezes, Brazil saw the appearance of many Spiritist groups attached to the ideal of social and spiritual assistance works. In this way, Spiritism became one of the leading schools of thought in Brazil. Thanks to this book, we find today assistance works everywhere, no matter how small the Spiritist group.

Finally, we would like to recall one of the strongest messages of this book: “work appears when the worker is ready”. Let us be in the service of our beloved sisters and brothers, that God will open the closed gates, placing us at the exact position where required hands lack.

Sincerely,

Carlos A Iglesia Bernardo,
GEAE editor.
October 15th 2000.
 
 
THE ASTRAL CITY
TABLE OF CONTENTS