Shaken and Knocked Down

Orson Peter Carrara

The curious expression used as a title evokes sudden, unexpected movements—products of electrical shocks, collapses, various ruptures, earthquakes, lightning striking people, buildings, or trees. It also brings to mind floods that devastate cities and vehicle accidents, which may or may not result in death, with ramifications that stretch into infinity and vary in intensity depending on the circumstances. Noises and blows, in an ordered or chaotic manner, objects moved or suspended in true disarray and challenging even the most attentive observation, are also reminiscent of this expression.

Now imagine a movement that, without a known origin, shows either speed or slowness, aggressiveness or gentleness, and, in a certain way, manifests some degree of intelligence. Or  when subjected to questions, it responds through combined codes like the number of knocks on the ground indicating “yes” or “no.” These codes eventually evolved into dialogues, albeit slow and exhausting.

This caused great bewilderment at the time and led a prominent researcher to eliminate every hypothesis that could explain the origin of these facts, subjecting them to rigorous observation and experimentation. It was the era of the so-called “spinning tables,” a mechanism used by Spirits to demonstrate that they are nothing more than men and women after the death of the body, residing in the spiritual realm and capable of contacting those who live in the material realm.

From this wake-up call to Humanity, a renowned pedagogue conducted serious observational research with a rigorous method, which led to the confirmation of the existence of life after death, since the very protagonists of these phenomena revealed their conditions, where they were, and, most importantly, demonstrated the immortality of the soul.

From this emerged The Spirits’ Book, which became the foundation for the other works of Spiritist Codification. Adopting the pseudonym Allan Kardec to publish these works, the story expanded significantly, with well-known developments. It is possible to learn in depth, with clear reasoning and more details, in items III to V of the book’s introduction followed by item VI, which outlines the main principles of the doctrine presented by the Spirits.

By the way, the objects, of course, had neither life nor reasoning of their own. Their movement was triggered by intelligences invisible to the human eye, but very real. This activation is carried out using mechanisms which are also possible to learn about by studying the Codification.

The phenomena mentioned above can be better understood in The Mediums’ Book, the second volume of Kardec series. The book explains the phenomena of moving objects and others, such as psychography, psychophony, and clairvoyance. It introduces a universe open to research, including healing, remote viewing, and the appearance or materialization of those who inhabit immortal life and continuously act upon the so-called “world of the living.”

The subject does not end here. Spiritist literature is extensive and offers a lot of opportunities to expand knowledge further.