Allan Kardec (1804 - 1869) is seen as the father of Spiritism, as opposed to Spiritualism, in France. His real name was Hypolyte Leon Denizard Rivail, but this pseudonym was gained through mediums, with both ‘Allan’ and ‘Kardec’ relating to names from previous incarnations.

 

He is remembered mainly by the books that he wrote, the best known of which is the classic, Le Livre des Esprits (The Spirits’ Book), first published in 1856. This book deals with mediumship, life in Spirit and the evolution of the soul and remains widely read throughout the world.

 

The Spirits’ Book is based on trance communications received through Mlle Celna Bequet, a professional hypnotist who took the name of Celina Japhet. Her automatic scripts also gave an extensive and intriguing doctrine of reincarnation.

 

It was Kardec’s strong belief in the doctrine of reincarnation that caused his teachings to be termed “Spiritism” rather than “Spiritualism”, as this was not part of the teachings of the traditional Spiritualist teaching in his time. There are also other areas of thought that distinguish Spiritualism from Spiritism, but this is the most predominant one.   

 

In 1864, Kardec produced another very successful book, Le Livre Des Mediums, or The Medium’s Book. This too is a wonderful source of guidance and information relating to mediumship. Other books written by him are The Gospel as Explained by Spirits (1864), Heaven and Hell (1865), Genesis (1867) and Experimental Spiritism and Spiritualist Philosophy.