FAQ
Frequently
Asked Questions
Regarding
the Group and its Activities
1.
Introduction
2.
How to obtain this FAQ.
3.
What is the GEAE ?
4.
Is GEAE a religious group ?
5.
What does GEAE understand by
"religious aspects" ?
6.
In order to be part of the
group, is one required to be a Spiritist ?
7.
What is the essence of
Spiritism ?
8.
It was stated that Spiritism
was codified by Allan Kardec. Does this
imply the idea that it didn’t exist before ?
9.
What is the difference between
Spiritism and Spiritualism ?
10.
By subscribing to GEAE, do I
become a Spiritist ?
11-
How do I subscribe to GEAE?
12
- What information is needed to
subscribe to GEAE?
13
-For what purpose does GEAE use
this information?
14
-Is there any fee to
participate in GEAE ?
15
- How does one participate in
the group?
16
- What is GEAE editorial board ?
17-
Are the GEAE’s Newsletters
restricted to the members of the group?
18
- How do the members of the
group receive the newsletters?
19
- May one uses the group’s
addresses to send mails?
20
- What is the political
afiliation of the group?
21
- Am I allowed to distribute
copies of the newsletter through e-mail?
22
- Am I allowed to print copies
of the GEAE’s newsletters and freely
distribute it at the Spiritist group where I participate?
23
- Am I allowed to publish
articles and texts from
GEAE’s newsletter and GEAE’s webpage in other Spiritist periodicals?
24
- Am I allowed to publish the
materials from the
GEAE newsletter in periodicals not related to Spiritism?
25
- What about the use of the
material available in the GEAE homepage?
26
- Is authorization required for
the use of the Spiritist works on the
Internet?
27
- How can I contribute to GEAE?
28
- What themes beside spiritism
are studied in the group?
29
- Are there any discussions
regarding
extraterrestrial life?
30
– Are there any discussions
regarding miracles and witchcraft?
31
- How was GEAE born ?
32
- What is the origin of the name
“GEAE” ?
33
- Besides GEAE are there other
web pages regarding Spiritism ?
34
- And what about Spiritualist
pages ?
This
FAQ lists the most frequent questions regarding
the Advanced Study Group of Spiritism. Its main purpose is to provide
information in regard to the objectives and rules in order for one to
participate in the group. These rules are directed to the members of
the group,
as well as to those interested in obtaining further information about
it. It is
also the aim of this FAQ to present some useful information concerning
the
themes discussed by the GEAE.
GEAE
is open to suggestions and commentaries from the
readers regarding this document, which can be sent to us through editor-en@geae.inf.br.
On
the GEAE page at http://www.geae.inf.br/en/faq.html.
The
Advanced Study Group of Spiritism-GEAE is a
virtual nonprofit group devoted to the study of the Spiritist Doctrine
in its
multiple aspects and its relations with the different areas of the
human
knowledge. In order to achieve this goal, the group utilizes the
Internet as a
global communication channel which, through the group’s website,
e-mail,
newsletter, and discussions, brings together people from all around the
world
who are interested in the Spiritist Doctrine. All works provided by
GEAE are
the result of voluntary efforts.
Not
exactly. Amongst its goals are the unbiased study
of all the aspects of Spiritism, Spiritualism and any newly discovered
knowledge that is in accordance with the threefold aspects of the
Spiritist
Doctrine, which are: Science, Philosophy and Religion (the moral
consequences
taken from the Doctrine’s teachings).
5.
What does GEAE understand by "religious
aspects"?
When
we refer to the religious aspects of Spiritism,
we want to emphasize the consequences of the Spiritist teachings, as
well as
its practical application in our everyday life. Our understanding
regarding
Religion is in accordance with the following statement of Léon
Denis: “it is
that general conception that from the innermost of our being elevates
our
thought to the culminant understanding regarding creation, reaching
God, and
unites all beings in an endlessly chain”.
Nevertheless,
Spiritism cannot be seen as a religion
in the formal sense that we are familiar with, because it has no
organized
clergy, nor does it adopt any religious rituals, objects, or other
forms of
worship such as: altars, images, candles, processions, sacraments,
concession
of indulgences, paraments, alcoholic or hallucinogenic beverages,
incense,
tobacco, talismans, amulets, horoscopes, pyramids, or crystals. The
moral
consequences of Spiritist teachings constitutes the content implied by
the
religious aspects of the Spiritist Doctrine.
6.
In order to be part of the group, is one required
to be a Spiritist?
No.
The group is open to anyone that has the interest
and the will to contribute to the group’s studies. It is not the
purpose of the
group to carry out any type of proselytism, nor to promote and support
any kind
of religious or philosophic polemic.
7.
What is the essence of Spiritism?
In
order to understand the basic principles of the
Spiritist Doctrine, we recommend the reading of the following documents
available on the GEAE homepage: Spiritism –
What is it;
Fundamentals;
and The
Spiritist Practice.
Moreover,
to better know the Spiritist Doctrine in its
entirety, the study of Allan Kardec’s works is highly recommended.
These works
are known as “The Codification” and represent the foundation of
Spiritism. They
are comprised of the following books:
The Spirits’ Book
(1857)
The Mediums Book
(1861)
The Gospel According
to Spiritism (1864)
Heaven and Hell (1865)
Genesis (1868)
Furthermore,
besides Allan Kardec’s works, the
Spiritist Literature has many books translated into English, many of
which are
considered classics in this field. Among these, we specially recommend
the
books of the French writer Léon Denis, some of which are
available in their
entirety on GEAE’s homepage. It is part of the GEAE forum to provide or
indicate worldwide sources of information regarding the Spiritist
Doctrine,
discussions about the basic works on Spiritism and analysis on new
enterprises
on the matter.
In
a few words Allan Kardec outlined the basic
principles of the Spiritist Doctrine, which represents the spiritist
belief
regarding faith and constitutes the instruments that will drive one
towards
progress, as follows:
"To
believe in one GOD, all powerful, sovereignty
just and good;
In
the soul, its immortality and its
preexistence as the justification for the present life;
In
the plurality of existences as the
mechanism of moral and intellectual improvement, reparation and
atonement;
In
the perfectibility of imperfect
beings;
In
the ever increasing happiness as the
spirit strives to reach perfection;
In
the equitable reward of the good and
the evil according to the principle: each one will be recompensed
according to
his actions;
In
the impartial justice for all with no
benefit, privilege or exception to any creature;
In
the duration of life’s expiation
being diminished by the Spirit’s achievement towards perfection;
In
the human freewill, which allows us
to choose between good and evil;
In
the continuity of the relations
between the visible and the invisible worlds;
In
the fraternity that binds all past,
present and future beings, both incarnate and discarnate;
To
sustain that life on Earth is a
provisional stage of the spirit's life, which is eternal;
To
bravely accept life's trials, since
the future is more desirable than the present;
To
practice charity by thoughts, words
and deeds in the broadest meaning of the term;
To
strive to each day become better than
the day before, extricating imperfection from the soul;
To
submit all beliefs to the review of
reason and free examination, so as to accept nothing blindly;
To
respect and to refrain from violating
all sincere creeds no matter how irrational they may seem;
To
recognize that all scientific
discoveries are the unfolding of Nature’s laws, which are also God’s
laws.
Such
is the belief of Spiritism regarding faith, a
religious concept that can be reconciled with all beliefs or different
ways of
worshipping God. This is the bind which will unite all Spiritists in a
holy
communion of thoughts, while one hopes it will unite all men under the
banner
of universal fraternity."
Many
of the principles above represent indeed
philosophical position instead of principles of faith. In fact, to
believe
“In
the equitable reward of the good and the evil
according to the principle: each one will be recompensed according to
his
actions”,
does
not give any hint about how Divine Justice is to
be exercised among God´s creatures. Spiritism actually states
that the idea of
God´s justice has no possible connection to the ideal of justice
ever dreamt of
by the major philosophers and has nothing to do with the common notion
of
justice. Spiritism strongly and simply states that there is a justice
that adds
strength to the comforter character of the doctrine. The man who
equates his
notion of justice with that of God is naively trying to limit the very
notion
of God who is beyond every imaginable conception. On the contrary, as
the being
evolves toward perfection, it approaches God and little by little its
conceptions of justice become closer but will never rival that of its
Creator.
8.
It was stated that Spiritism was codified by Allan
Kardec. Does this imply the idea that it didn’t exist before?
Allan
Kardec carried out the scientific research
regarding the mediumistic phenomena, the analysis of the teachings
delivered by
the spirits and the withdrawal of philosophic and moral consequences
implied by
these teachings. His major contribution was to assemble this new
knowledge
together, building a Doctrine, which after careful study presents
itself as a
coherent system of thought which goes beyond the mere explanation of
spirit
phenomena.
In
doing so he created the word “Spiritism” to
denominate this system. He named this compilation of works regarding
the
Spiritist Doctrine “The Codification,” because it was fundamentally
based on
the Spirit´s contribution, which had to be "codified" into a
system
of thought. However, many of the fundamentals of Spiritism are found in
other
religions as, for instance, the idea of reincarnation, which takes a
completely
new interpretation from the point of view of Spiritism. Also, it could
be said
that Spiritism was the first systematization of principles that was
able to
show that life exists beyond death, even though this idea is common to
all
religious creeds (but not with the same importance).
In
Spiritism the idea of an eternal being existing
inside ourselves (the Spirit), and the idea of an all powerful being
that
created us (God) plays a fundamental role from which many of the
subsidiary
principles are derived.
9.
What is the difference between Spiritism and
Spiritualism?
In
the introduction of “The Spirits’ Book,”
Allan Kardec explained the reasons as to why the words Spiritism and
Spiritist
were adopted; the former being employed to designate the doctrine
taught by the
spirits, and the latter to designate the adherents of the spiritist
theory, as
follows:
“For
new ideas new words are needed, in order to
secure clearness of language by avoiding the confusion inseparable from
the
employment of the same term for expressing different meanings. The
words spiritual,
spiritualist, spiritualism have a definite acceptation; to give
them a new
one, in order to apply them to the doctrine set forth by spirits, would
be to
multiply the causes of amphibology, already so numerous. Strictly
speaking, spiritualism
is the opposite of materialism; every one is a Spiritualist
who
believe that there is in him something more than matter, but it does
not follow
that he believes in the existence of spirits, or in their communion
with the
visible world. Instead, therefore, of the words spiritual,
spiritualism,
we employ, to designate this latter belief, the words spiritist, spiritism,
which, by their form, indicate their origin and radical meaning, and
have thus
the advantage of being perfectly intelligible; and we reserve the words
spiritualism,
spiritualist, for the expression of the meaning attached to them by
common
acceptation. We say, then, that the fundamental principle of the spiritist
theory, or Spiritism, is the relation of the material world
with
spirits, or the beings of the invisible world; and we designate the
adherents
of the spiritist theory as Spiritists." (A Kardec, In The
Spiritis'
Book, `Introduction to the study of the Spiritist Doctrine' part I)
For
historical reasons, the word Spiritualist is
related to the followers of the Spiritualist movement (also known as
modern
Spiritualism). The basis of the Spiritualist movement was laid down in
the
Today
the widespread acceptance of the principle of
reincarnation has received considerable attention by many scientists
and
researchers who, working in the so called past life research, have
confirmed
the idea proposed by Spiritism for almost 150 years.
10.
By subscribing to GEAE, do I become a Spiritist?
No.
Nothing will prevent that the ideas discussed by
the group will drive you to study Spiritism more deeply. Nevertheless,
you will
probably amplify your ideas in regard to the matter of faith and
henceforth you
will be led to a better understanding of your own beliefs. Spiritism
does not
consider itself as the only true image of the world. No privileges or
prerogatives are given to their believers. Spiritism only proposes a
rational
way to answer many old questions of humankind such as: what are we?
Where do we
come from? Why are we here? Where are we going?
What
characterizes a true spiritist is the way he
lives, that is to say, in accordance to the postulates of the doctrine,
accepting the fact that we are beings living in this Planet for a short
time,
with the aim of educating ourselves and bearing in mind that the unique
determinism is the permanent improvement of the immortal soul. As Allan
Kardec
stated:
“The
true spiritist is not one who believes in its
manifestations, but he who profits from the teachings given by the
spirits. It
is useless to believe if this faith does not make one progress
positively and
also do the utmost for one's fellow creatures.”
11-
How do I subscribe to GEAE?
Through
the group´s website - http://www.geae.inf.br.
The subscription to the newsletters editions in Portuguese, English and
Spanish
must be done separately following the specific links to each one.
12
- What information is needed to subscribe to GEAE?
Name,
address, telephone, e-mail address and
profession.
13
- For what purpose does GEAE use this
information?
Thee-mail address is necessary for the distribution of the
newsletter. Name, address, telephone and profession gives us a general
idea
about the subscribers, such as their geographic distribution, the rate
of subscribers,
etc. They may also be used for statistic purposes. This information is
not
published, nor is it given to anyone outside the group´s
editorial board.
14
-Is there any fee to participate in GEAE?
No.
As stated in question 3,
the group is a nonprofit organization and does not charge any kind
of fee or
ask for any contribution. If anyone attempts to charge a fee or
request a
donation, please let us know.
15
- How does one participate in the group?
Sending
contributions such as texts, commentaries or
queries to the group´s editorial board. These materials are
published in the
newsletter and delivered to all participants. Our site also allows you
to
announce events as well as to participate in activities promoted by
Spiritist
organizations worldwide. Please send all contributions to: editor@geae.inf.br.
The
GEAE’s newsletter is also published in different
languages, such as Portuguese (Boletim GEAE)
and Spanish (Mensajero Espírita).
Any
16
- What is GEAE
It
is a group of persons amongst the members of the
GEAE who
Currently
the GEAE’s
Ademir
Luiz
Xavier Junior (Campinas - SP, Brazil)
Carlos
Alberto Iglesia Bernardo (São Paulo - SP,
Brazil)
José
Cid (Rio de Janeiro - RJ, Brazil)
Raul
Franzolim Neto (Pirassununga-SP, Brazil)
Antonio
Leite (New York, NY, USA)
Edgar
Crespo (St. Petersburg - FL, USA)
Renan
Lacerda (New York, NY, USA)
Renato
Costa (Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil)
Yvonne
Limoges
(St. Petersburg - FL, USA)
Juan
Miguel
(Málaga - Spain)
The
criteria for the edition of the newsletters
follows the
17-
No.
The newsletters
18
- How do the members of the group receive the
newsletters?
The
GEAE’s newsletters
19
- May one uses the group’s addresses to send mails?
No.
The group policy is to maintain all the
discussions and contributions restricted to the newsletter or the GEAE
website.
This way, there is no external access to the private member addresses.
The
GEAE’s goal is to maintain a forum of study, where the high level
discussions
20
- What is the political afiliation of
the group?
None.
The group is fully
21
- Am I allowed to distribute copies of the
newsletter through
Yes,
althought it is not recommended. Besides
presenting you with an unnecessary task that is already performed by
GEAE, it
will add difficulty in evaluating the GEAE’s growth and development.
22
- Am I allowed to print copies of the
GEAE’s newsletters and freely distribute it at the Spiritist group
where I
participate?
Yes,
you may, so long as you mention the source of the
newsletter and not associate this distribution with any kind of
23
– Am I allowed to publish articles and texts from
GEAE’s newsletter and GEAE’s webpage in other Spiritist periodicals?
We
have adopted the rule of analyzing the requests
that
24
– Am I allowed to publish the
Generally,
we follow the same rules described in
question 23, also taking into consideration whether or not such
25
- What about the use of the
The
same rules mentioned in questions 23 and 24 apply.
We recommend you get in touch with us, at which point we will analyse
your
request regarding the use of the
26
- Is authorization required for the use of the
Spiritist works on the
The
dissemination of the teachings of Spiritism is one
of the contributions that we will give to the Spiritist Doctrine.
However, we
should not forget that Spiritist works such as texts, articles, books,
etc.,
It
is also worth mentioning that in many cases the
funds raised by the commercialization of these works helps support many
institutions in their
27
– How can I contribute to GEAE?
Besides
Your
own texts about themes studied by the group;
Texts
from others along with their authorization for
publishing and/or indication about their
Texts
from other spiritist or spiritualist
institutions that
Also
relevant to the group’s aims
Addresses
of other spiritist organizations that you
know.
Notices
about events related to the Spiritist Doctrine
or to the studies of the group;
Information
about recently created periodicals or
spiritists publications.
28
- What themes beside spiritism
There
For
example, it is of immediate interest to the group
to
29
–
The
plurality of the inhabited worlds is accepted by
the Spiritist Doctrine as one of its
30
–
Spiritism
is an open movement of thought but does not
accept any kind of world image in which Nature’s laws could be
derogated, nor
do Spiritists believe in supernatural powers (which
The
first registered activity of the group was in
October 15th, 1992. On that occasion Raul Franzolin
We
would like to list the most important stages in the
history of GEAE, and its efforts to disseminate the teachings of
Spiritism in
the
|
October |
1992 |
GEAE
was created by Raul Franzolim who at the |
|
October |
1994 |
Distribution
of the Portuguese newsletter began at Bras.net |
|
November |
1994 |
Distribution
began |
|
November |
1994 |
Spiritist
institutions database was established |
|
April |
1995 |
Official
launch of the GEAE website, which was created by Sergio Freitas and
hosted by the New Lisbon University (Portugal). |
|
May |
1995 |
The
FEESP (Spiritist Federation of the State of |
|
August |
1995 |
One
of the UNICAMP’s
(State University of |
|
February |
1996 |
O
|
|
February |
1996 |
In
cooperation with Ed. Lachâtre, IDE and O |
|
March |
1996 |
The
first Electronic Interview was released and Hermínio C. Miranda
was the first to be interviewed. |
|
June |
1996 |
José
Cid creates the |
|
September |
1996 |
Raul
Franzolim presents GEAE at the II |
|
October |
1996 |
At
its 4th year of activity, GEAE reaches a number of 870 participants
distributed throughout 24 countries. |
|
December |
1996 |
The
Spirit’s Book
is published by FEESP in HTML format. |
|
October |
1997 |
At
its 5th year of activity, GEAE reaches a number of 1264 participants
distributed throughout 26 countries. |
|
November |
1997 |
Ademir
Luiz Xavier Jr. joins GEAE’s |
|
December |
1997 |
GEAE
releases their first English newsletter: "The Spiritist
Messenger". |
|
March |
1998 |
The
GEAE web page is self-hosted and registered at the domain geae.org. |
|
August |
2000 |
GEAE
launches the electronic books project, uploading to its page some
classic works regarding the Spiritist Doctrine, starting with Francisco
de Paula Candido Xavier’s (medium) |
|
December |
2000 |
Antonio
|
|
January |
2001 |
The
first Spanish newsletter (Mensajero |
|
September |
2001 |
GEAE’s
website |
|
October |
2001 |
A
new host is selected and GEAE initiates the reconstruction of the
website. |
|
November |
2001 |
José
Cid registers a new domain for GEAE - http://www.geae.inf.br |
|
December |
2001 |
GEAE activities resume. |
| June |
2003 |
Renato
Costa joins GEAE’s |
32.
What is the origin of the name “GEAE”?
To
better answer this question it would be appropriate
to use the words of GEAE founder Raul Franzolin
"At
the time of the group’s debut, (October 1992)
I decided to send a message to the Bras-net list asking for someone
interested
in talking about Spiritism. But how would I go about doing that?
With
the best of my intentions I asked for guidance
from the spiritual plane and for a few days I thought about how I would
accomplish such a task. Instead of sending a question, I decided to
send a
message proposing the creation of a discussion group whose main
objective was
studying Spiritism. At the time, the Bras-net forum goers were involved
in
aggressive discussions, so I knew I had to send something clear and
well
organized in order to attract the right people.
In
the beginning I had little experience with the
e-mail system. However I soon realized the magnitude and the importance
that
this new communication system would represent in the future by placing
people
in contact with others from around the globe at such a low cost. There
was
nothing more advanced in terms of information interchange in the world.
Furthermore,
I notice that Bras-net was an Internet forum for scientists,
researchers,
professionals, teachers and students. Knowing that Spiritism is a
dynamic
subject that touches every field of human knowledge, I soon realized
that we
could create a group that, although humble in its objectives, could
hold
advanced discussions in every aspect related to Allan Kardec’s
codification
(Spiritist Doctrine).
That
was the origin of the name GEAE, or Advanced
Study Group of Spiritism. Obviously, the word Advanced was
not
implying the idea that we were only looking for experts in the field of
Spiritism, for such experts do not exist. The idea behind the use of
the word Advanced
was connected to the media (the web) with which we would fulfill the
group’s
aims. In order to achieve the group’s goals, we should be open-minded
and
tolerant in seeking knowledge about the ethical, scientific and
religious
aspects of life, which most straightforwardly leads to eternal
happiness. I
believed that if we managed to establish the group, GEAE would
constantly
spread and always increase in accordance to our belief that evolution
is
infinite and that no one can halt it.”
33.
Besides GEAE are there other web pages regarding
Spiritism?
Today
there are thousands of pages about Spiritism on
the Internet. A few sites that we recommend are the International Spiritist Council,
the Brazilian Spiritist Federation
(FEB) and the Spiritist
Group of New York.
34.
And what about Spiritualist pages?
There
are also many websites about Spiritualism as
well. If you are interested in Spiritualism, we recommend the Spiritualist National Union
and NSAC.org.