The medium as an interpreter

Daniel Salomão Silva

The interpretative character of the mediumistic phenomenon is presented more than once by Kardec, who understands that we, the incarnate, do not receive exactly what the Spirits wish to “say,” but rather their thoughts shaped by the form and personal imprint of the mediums who transmit them. In this article, we discuss the hypothesis that the reverse may also occur: that disincarnate spirits, in some cases, may also perceive what is said or asked of them through a certain “mediumistic filter.”

In The Mediums’ Book, Kardec asks a question and receives the following answer:

Does the communicating spirit transmit its thought directly or does it use the medium’s incarnate spirit as an intermediary?

“The medium’s spirit is the interpreter because it is connected to the body which serves for the communication, and because this link between you and the communicating spirits is necessary, just as an electric wire is necessary for transmitting news over a distance, and an intelligent person is necessary on either end of the wire to receive and communicate.”¹

In other words, there is a process of interpretation through which the medium expresses, using their own vocabulary and knowledge, the thought that the communicating Spirit wishes to transmit, even in mechanical mediumship ². Along these lines, Kardec further states that “the data received from them [the mediums] always bears the personal stamp of the medium both in form and style, because although the thought is not exclusively the medium’s own”; and that, although the ideas conveyed are not the medium’s own, “the medium does not cease to exert a personal influence on the form by giving it individualized qualities and properties.³”

However, reading a paragraph from an important mediumistic work, psychographed by Divaldo Franco, raises the possibility that this also occurs in the opposite direction. In Nas fronteiras da loucura (On the Frontiers of Madness), when describing the work of a particular mediumistic meeting, the Spirit Manoel Philomeno de Miranda reports the joint action of incarnate and discarnate beings in the presence of “more difficult” communicators, who demanded a great deal of love from the indoctrinator, but also a certain ostensive mental action. In some communications, Philomeno reports having noticed that “the hypnotic inductions of the indoctrinator, because they were charged with energies emanating from the physical brain, carried a higher vibratory value that reached the Spirits, who in turn received the mental wave through the intermediary’s brain” (emphasis added).

However, reading a paragraph from an important mediumistic work, psychographed by Divaldo Franco, leads us to consider the possibility that this process may also occur in the opposite direction. In Nas Fronteiras da Loucura (On the Frontiers of Madness), while describing the activities of a particular mediumistic meeting, the Spirit Manoel Philomeno de Miranda reports the joint action of incarnate and disincarnate beings when dealing with “more difficult” communicators, who required from the indoctrinator not only great love but also a certain degree of deliberate mental action.⁴ In some communications, Philomeno notes that “the hypnotic inductions of the indoctrinator, because they were charged with energies emanating from the physical brain, became carriers of a higher vibratory value that reached the Spirits, who in turn received the mental wave through the cerebration of the intermediary” (our emphasis).⁵

What draws our attention in this passage is that, although supported by disincarnate technicians, the indoctrinator did not reach the communicating Spirit directly, but rather through the medium through whom the Spirit was expressing itself. The “mental wave” passed through the “cerebration,” or intellectual activity, of the “intermediary” in order to reach the communicator. If we understand the expression “hypnotic inductions” in a broad sense as “mental suggestions,” or even in a more restricted sense as the result of a structured hypnotic process ⁶, we are dealing here with thoughts emitted by the indoctrinator.

As we know that Spirits communicate through thought ⁷, it seemed natural to assume that every “utterance” of the indoctrinator would reach the communicating Spirit directly, without mediation. After all, Kardec states that although “they hear the sound of our voice, and yet they [the spirits] can understand us without the need of speech – the mere transmission of thought is sufficient”⁸. Thus, if mediumistic interpretation is always necessary for the disincarnate to speak to the incarnate, the reverse would appear to be unnecessary. Nevertheless, this brief sentence highlighted above may indicate that, at least in some cases, the Spirit, during communication, perceives much through the medium to whom it is “linked.” Perhaps, from a spiritual standpoint, the medium is also an interpreter of the indoctrinator’s guidance.

Another question could be clarified by this hypothesis. Although we already have explanations for the fact that spirits do not always see each other, or even perceive their surroundings, being limited by the medium’s perceptions may also justify some of their reports in mediumistic meetings. In our experience and that of other companions, some communicating spirits claim to see only the incarnate participants in the mediumistic meeting, while others can see the spiritual team present. Some are fully aware of their material and spiritual surroundings, while others perceive nothing. Perhaps they only perceive what the medium can perceive, both of the material and spiritual worlds.

Another issue could be clarified by this hypothesis. Even though we already have explanations for the fact that Spirits do not always see one another, or may not even perceive the environment around them ⁹, being limited by the medium’s perceptions may also justify some of their reports during mediumistic meetings. In our experience, and that of other colleagues, some communicating Spirits claim to see only the incarnate participants of the mediumistic meeting, while others are able to see the spiritual team present. Some have full awareness of their material and spiritual surroundings, while others perceive nothing at all. Perhaps they only perceive what the medium is able to perceive, both from the material world and from the spiritual one.

However, as Kardec explains, all information coming from the spirits should initially be received as an individual opinion until, after passing through the sieve of reason and finding agreement with other messages of the same content, it can be considered a Spiritist concept. Just as the Codifier worked with the mediumistic messages he dealt with, so we must act with the messages and works to which we have access. What will bring certainty to the hypothesis we have raised, as well as to the mediumistic information we have cited, is the multiplicity of Spiritist communications in this direction. Unless I am mistaken, this has not yet occurred.

Nevertheless, as Kardec explains, all information coming from Spirits must initially be received as individual opinion until, after passing through the scrutiny of reason and finding agreement with other messages of the same nature, it may be considered a Spiritist concept.¹⁰ Just as the Codifier worked with the mediumistic messages he dealt with, so must we act regarding the messages and works to which we have access. What will give stronger support to the hypothesis we raise here, as well as to the mediumistic information cited, is the multiplicity of Spirit communications pointing in this same direction. To the best of our knowledge, this has not yet occurred.

In any case, we already find in the Codification something that sounds to us like reinforcement. Although in a different context, the Spirits Erastus and Timotheus state, in The Mediums’ Book, when addressing the role of the medium in Spirit communications:

Whenever questions must be asked through a third party, it would be a good and appropriate idea to communicate them beforehand to the medium so that he or she may identify with the spirit to be questioned, becoming impregnated (so to speak) with its thoughts, for then we will find it much easier to respond thanks to the affinity between our perispirit and that of the medium who is to serve as our interpreter. ¹¹

In other words, it is not enough for the Spirits to know the questions being asked; they must effectively pass beforehand through the medium’s mind, so that the medium may “be impregnated” with the Spirit who asks. Perhaps, as stated at the beginning of this article, this merely helps the communicators to find “the appropriate elements in these mediums’ minds for clothing our thought with the corresponding words,”¹² already awakened by the prior reading of the question. In any case, there is some degree of interpretation or elaboration by the medium of the proposed question.

According to Kardec, Spiritism, which “was not dictated in its entirety,” always recommends “examination,” since “it is deduced through human effort, from the observation of facts that spirits bring to our attention and from the instructions they give us, instructions that we study, comment on, and compare in order to draw our own conclusions and applications.” In this sense, part of Spiritist development involves the elaboration of hypotheses, which will be confirmed or not, both by Science and by the method that the Codifier left us.

According to Kardec, the Spiritist Doctrine, which “has not been dictated in its entirety,” must always be subjected to “examination,” since “it is deduced through human endeavor, from the observation of the phenomena that the Spirits place right before our eyes, and from the teachings they give,teachings that people can study, comment on and compare, and from which they themselves draw conclusions and applications.¹³” In this sense, the formulation of hypotheses is part of Spiritist development, to be confirmed or not, both by Science and by the very method left to us by the Codifier.

In conclusion:

1. Every mediumistic communication contains a certain degree of interpretation by the medium, who does not transmit exactly what the Spirit “says,” but adds a personal “coloring” to the message;

2. In some cases, it appears that the Spirit also perceives the words and thoughts of the indoctrinator, or even the material and spiritual environment, through the perception or intellectual elaboration of the medium, who thus acts as an interpreter in the opposite direction as well;

3. This highlights the responsibility of the medium, whose moral improvement, Spiritist knowledge, and general knowledge help indoctrinators and Spirits to understand one another more clearly;

4. It also highlights our commitment to understand and support the medium, so that they may work safely in this direction.

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1. KARDEC, Allan. The Mediums’ Book. Rio de Janeiro: FEB, 2008, 2nd ed., item 223, p. 19.
2. Ibid., item 225.
3. Ibid.
4. FRANCO, Divaldo Pereira. Nas Fronteiras da Loucura [On the Frontiers of Madness]. By the Spirit Manoel Philomeno de Miranda. Salvador: LEAL, 2001, 11th ed., p. 160.
5. Ibid.
6. For further study on this subject, see Allan Kardec’s writings on magnetism, fluids, and somnambulism, especially chapter 14 of Genesis. See also: ANDRÉ LUIZ. Mechanisms of Mediumship. Psychographed by Chico Xavier and Waldo Vieira. Rio de Janeiro: FEB, 2013, especially chapters 13 and 16.
7. KARDEC, Allan. The Spirits’ Book. Rio de Janeiro: FEB, 2010, question 282.
8. Ibid., question 257 (cf. question 249).
9. KARDEC, Allan. The Spirits’ Book. Rio de Janeiro: FEB, 2010, p. 247; KARDEC, Allan. Genesis. Rio de Janeiro: FEB, 2009, ch. 14, p. 25.
10. KARDEC, Allan. The Gospel According to Spiritism. Rio de Janeiro: FEB, 2010, Introduction, item II.
11. KARDEC, Allan. The Mediums’ Book. Rio de Janeiro: FEB, 2008, 2nd ed., ch. 19, item 225.
12. Ibid.
13. KARDEC, Allan. Genesis. Rio de Janeiro: FEB, 2009, ch. 1, item 13.