Introduction to the First English Edition.
Through the course of history, man has progressively received information about the afterlife according to his ability to assimilate it. During his brief sojourn on Earth, man is generally too involved in his worldly affairs to be able to readily conceive of an invisible plane of life. This being the case, his spiritual education could not but move at an exceedingly slow pace from its beginning centuries ago.
Revelations pertaining to a spiritual world permeate the scripture of all major religions in various degrees. These revelations, or instructions, however, were necessarily limited in scope, and at times cautiously veiled in fragmentary statements of allegorical language. It is interesting to note, for example, how this instruction process gradually develops in the Old Testament beginning with the idea of a paradise, and continuing with references to angels or spiritual messengers, and then to chariots and horses of fire, followed by the notion of a lower world or Hell, and many other similar statements implying a transcendental world. In the New Testament, somewhat more detailed descriptions are added, such as the state of Lazarus and the Rich Man after death, the Lord's reference to "many mansions" (John, 14:2), the great and small in the Kingdom of Heaven, and the "legions of angels" (Matthews, 26:53). There are also details in some of the Apostles' writings, specially in the epistles of Paul of Tarsus and in Revelation. A more significant step is taken in the latter to describe prophetic scenes of what appears to be a real, inhabited world with horsemen, angelic beings, a city with twelve gates, and the "pure river of the water of life" (Revelation, 22:1). The mechanics of judgment and the importance of our deeds are also described in Revelation.
After the Biblical period, only sporadic descriptions of the life beyond were recorded, and these were sometimes separated by centuries. Among the better known are to be found in the Mohammedan scriptures, in Dante's and St. Theresa's visions, and in the writings of Emmanuel Swedenborg, Johan Kaspar Lavater and Joseph Smith. The centuries that passed were apparently necessary for mankind to ponder, analyze and digest the older revelations. In the mid-nineteenth century, however, this pattern changed, and the information process began to accelerate. This change was marked specially by a worldwide outburst of mediumship with an abundant flow of spirit messages, and by Allan Kardec's codification of the Spiritist Doctrine in France. In the century that followed, more information concerning the beyond was available to man than in all past centuries combined.
Spirit communications have always cause, and are still causing, a stir. They have been misunderstood and misused at times, but regardless of man's reaction to them, they are here for a lofty purpose and they bear the sanction of both The Old and The New Testaments. Needless to say, these communications, to be constructive, must be approached with a responsible and reverent attitude.
The Astral City is undoubtedly one of the most remarkable works contributing to this new awareness. It stands as one more sign that a new era of transcendental knowledge is in process, and that the age of veiled references to the life beyond is receding. Furthermore, it presents to us a Spirit world of an amazingly realistic nature. At times, we tend to be surprised at the quasi-material aspects of 'The Astral City' colony. After careful consideration, however, we begin to see the wisdom of God's laws which afford the spirit a gradual adaptation to a life without the grosser material body. It has been repeatedly confirmed by reliable messages that the etherical replicas of the physical world are a common event in the next plane of existence. Indeed, the similarities of the two worlds are at times so confusing to the newly departed that the spirit mistakes them for material life, often ignoring the fact that death has occurred and that he has lost his physical body. Bearing in mind these and other basic principles of transition expounded by The Astral City we begin to conceive of a hereafter that is within the realm of Nature; a realm equally ruled by just laws of cause and effect. The environment André Luiz describes in this book apparently belongs to the category of an etheric advanced type of Earth life where spirits dwell while in preparation for higher, more imponderable worlds or for the return to another experience in the flesh.
The lay reader may at this point be asking about André Luiz and his relation to Francisco Cândido Xavier. In most mediumnistic works, at least two entities are involved: the medium and the communicating discarnate entity. In the present case, the medium is Xavier and the spirit author André Luiz, which is a pen name the spirit chose in order to disguise his former identity on Earth for reasons explained elsewhere in the book. The only available information about the identity of this spirit is that he was a fairly well known physician who lived in the early part of this century in Rio de Janeiro. The many attempts, motivated by natural human curiosity, to further identify him have resulted in mere speculations. André Luiz has transmitted to the medium Xavier, mainly through automatic writing, other books as relevant and revealing as The Astral City most of which were published by the Brazilian Spiritist Federation in Brazil. Several of André Luiz books and many of his individual messages have also been translated into other languages.
Francisco Cândido Xavier, or Chico Xavier, as everybody knows him, is a medium all of Brazil admires and loves. His stupendous spiritual gifts and great literary success (close to 250 books. Xavier has donated the copyrights of all his works, which to date have sold in the neighborhood of six million copies) have not affected his goodness and humility. Soon after his fortieth year of spiritual and social service, Brazil seemed to awaken to Chico's effort and dedication. He was then proclaimed an honorary citizen of Uberaba, the city where he now lives. This official gesture was followed by many other cities and towns throughout the country, each also making him their honorary citizen. His appearances before panels of intellectual on Brazilian television networks, some lasting several hours, have earned him national respect for the wisdom with which he answered, under spiritual guidance, the controversial questions put to him.
It is with great satisfaction that we present to the English speaking reader this highly significant book. We feel sure that after pondering its contents, our readers will agree with us that the old saying "no one ever returned to tell" is seriously challenged by this work and that, through it, greater light is shed on the words of the Master Jesus: "In my Father's house are many mansions" (John, 14:2).
August,
1986.
S
J Haddad