The Spirits’ Influence in Our Lives

Carlos Campetti

Spirits live alongside those we call the living, moving through the same spaces in which we operate. Depending on their desires and the affinity of interests and tastes, they may accompany people in their activities and occupations, participating in meetings, gatherings, and other day-to-day events. We, the incarnated, are thus surrounded by “a cloud of witnesses,” as stated by Paul of Tarsus (Hebrews 12:1). This fact does not depend on our awareness or acceptance of their presence, nor on the degree or type of someone’s mediumship. It also does not depend on belief, because if Spirits exist, they will continue to exist whether people believe in them or not.

Unfortunately, most of humanity has no clear idea of spiritual reality and does not truly understand what Spirits are, imagining about them many things far removed from the truth. The influence of traditional religious beliefs often reinforces the idea that after death, Spirits go to predetermined places such as heaven, hell, purgatory, or eternal sleep until the final judgment, and that only the devil or angels and saints can manifest to the “living”: the devil, to convince people to do evil and join him in hell; the saints, to help people with miracles, breaking God’s laws through supernatural powers. However, this is not the case. The intervention of spirits in the material world is almost always subtle or imperceptible to the physical senses, and their actions are not supernatural at all, but are entirely inserted within Divine Law.

A few simple examples may help clarify the relationship Spirits establish with the incarnated: they may provoke the encounter of two people who believe they met by chance; they may inspire someone with the idea of walking down a certain street instead of another; they may draw a person’s attention to a certain idea or event so that, thinking they are following their own impulse, they still preserve free will and remain responsible for their actions, for they can always choose differently from what they are being inspired to do.

Thus, Spirits exert influence on the incarnated either through advice or by acting directly on life events, but never in ways that fall outside the Laws of Nature.

Their intervention may seem supernatural because they inhabit a different plane and use processes unknown to most people. However, since the elements they use belong to nature and their manifestations follow natural laws, there is nothing supernatural or marvelous about them. As natural phenomena, spiritual manifestations have occurred across all eras; but because they could not be studied using the material methods of our Science, they remained for a long time within the realm of the supernatural until Spiritism rescued them from it.

The projection of thought through the cosmic fluid is the mode of communication among Spirits, whether in mind-to-mind contact or in producing more or less material effects. And since we too are spirits, despite being incarnated, we communicate with the spiritual plane through thought, in a process that is unconscious for the majority.

“Their influence on you in this regard is greater than you suppose, for very frequently it is they who guide you” (The Spirits’ Book, question 459). Their influence depends on the degree of affinity we maintain with them. Sometimes this influence is so subtle that we cannot distinguish what comes from us from what comes from them. This means that among our thoughts and mental images, there may be ideas and desires from Spirits whose origin is imperceptible to us.

Spiritual phenomena consist of the different ways in which the Soul or Spirit manifests, whether during incarnation or in the state of erraticity between one incarnation and another. Through its manifestations, the Soul reveals its existence, its survival, and its individuality.

The influence of Spirits on life events can be good or bad. Higher Spirits only do good; frivolous and mischievous Spirits take pleasure in causing inconveniences, which should be understood as tests of our patience; imperfect Spirits, incapable of forgiving any wrong done to them, continue after death to carry out the same vengeful acts they harbored during life. This is the cause of many obsessions well known within Spiritist circles.

We learn from Spiritism that, although our disposition is a substantial factor in neutralizing the influence that adversaries from both planes exert on us, the intercession of spiritual benefactors is indisputable, real, and invaluable in the work of nullifying the unbalanced and disturbing forces that surround and threaten those who seek spiritual growth.

Spiritism teaches us that although our personal disposition is a key factor in neutralizing the influence exerted by adversaries from both planes, the intercession of benevolent Spirits is undeniable, real, and extremely valuable in canceling the unbalanced and disturbing forces that hover around those who strive to evolve spiritually.

Benevolent Spirits seek to inspire us toward good; inferior Spirits attempt to induce us toward evil. The former carry out missions of renewal for humanity; the latter influence in the opposite direction. In inducing people to do harm, inferior Spirits do not fulfill any mission, acting by their own will, harming themselves without realizing it.

We emphasize that most of the misfortunes that affect us can be avoided or minimized by our own actions, depending on the attitude we adopt toward life’s circumstances. God created us simple and ignorant and submitted us to trials so that we may evolve. If we are docile, we progress more quickly; if we are rebellious, we delay our spiritual growth (The Spirits’ Book, questions 115 and 115a).

For a good or bad Spirit to influence and interfere in life events, there must be prior attunement. Since the foundation of communication between incarnated and disincarnated beings lies in the mind, it is essential to maintain vigilance and prayer so that we keep our thoughts and hearts aligned with goodness and the practice of charity in all situations of life.

Sources:

GELEY, Gustave. The Subconscious Being.
KARDEC, Allan. The Spirits’ Book.
KARDEC, Allan. The Mediums’ Book.
PERALVA, Martins — O Pensamento de Emmanuel.
XAVIER, Francisco Cândido / Emmanuel