The Brazilian Medium Francisco Xavier, his trip to the USA in 1965

and the Dawn of the Spiritist Movement in America

Antonio Leite & Renan Lacerda

As we celebrate GEAE’s 10^th Anniversary we would like to take advantage of this opportunity to make an inquiry regarding the first steps taken in establishing the Spiritist Movement in the United States of America .

Among the information we found in regard to this matter we would like to describe what the Brazilian journalist Marcel Souto Maior writes in the book The Lives of Chico Xavier. (As Vidas de Chico Xavier): 

Before doing so, we would like to say that those might not be the only pieces of information related to the beginning of the Spiritist Movement in America. Our intent is actually to bring as much information as possible in this matter that we repute as very important for those who are engaged in this blessed task of spreading the teachings of Spiritism according to Allan Kardec throughout this country. Therefore, we will be glad to make available at GEAE’s page all the information regarding this subject that will be sent to us. 

Within the Chapter VIII of the above book, which has the title: The Dead are Alive (Os Mortos Estão Vivos), the following is written:

"In May of 1965, the two (Chico Xavier and Waldo Vieira) had embarked for the United States. It was already time to introduce Spiritism to the Americans. Followed by two friends, Maria Aparecida Pimental and Irineu Alves, they had arrived in Washington on the afternoon of Saturday, May 22nd. In the following day they had visited a Spiritualist Temple in the city to thank the spiritual plane for the possibility of the trip. Without advanced warning, they headed to the Church of Two Worlds, which was directed by the medium Gordon Burrouhgs. It was 3 PM. They had sat down in the last row of seats and had remained in silence, following prayers, chants and commentaries on the doctrine. Nobody who was present knew them.

At the end of the meeting, one lady indicated the four "brothers of another country" present at the meeting and spoke about their task in the United States, which was to bring spiritual renewal and to stimulate a fraternal approach between the two nations. Promptly thereafter, in trance, she announced the presence of a "teacher" and a “doctor" close to the Brazilian visitors. Chico and Waldo were already aware of the presence of the spirits of Emmanuel and André Luiz.

In July, Waldo Vieira wrote a text message in the paper signed by the “doctor”: "Basic points for the spíritist in a trip." It was a guideline for the followers of the Spiritist Doctrine who would travel abroad for the first time. The advices, signed by André Luiz, seemed to have been written by Chico Xavier. These guidelines directed that the word foreign must be scratched from the dictionary. "The children of other homelands must be treated as true brothers". Besides prejudicial comparisons which would cause humiliation, it was necessary to refrain from being boastful, to be discreet and humble, to prevent from critique, quarrels, anecdotes and aphorisms of bad taste. In order to be more useful, one would have to study the language and the customs of the country that he or she visited.

For the quartet, there was much work to be done. Allan Kardec was an illustrious stranger (unknown) in the United States , even among the spiritualists. They accepted reincarnation, believed in spiritualistic phenomena such as materializations, but they were still unaware of the gospel codified by the Frenchman in the previous century. Chico and Waldo then turned their attention to the second part of the plan: to establish a Spiritist Center . They had already contacted a person in Washington: Salim Salomão Haddad and his wife, Phyllis. The couple had known Chico Xavier in Pedro Leopoldo (Brazil), since 1956.

Chico chose the Turkish Salim, who spoke seven languages, to be the president of the Spiritist Center, which was named the Christian Spiritist Center. The address for the Center would be Salim and Phyllis’ house. For three weeks, the Brazilian visitor (Chico Xavier) was a guest there. As usual, he worked and he studied compulsively. In the morning he would be taught English by the couple’s oldest son. During the afternoons, Mrs. Haddad would be the English teacher and in the evening it was Salim Haddad who instructed him. For fifteen days Chico was able to learn what few would be able to learn in one year.

The pupil was a phenomenon, but according to his professors he didn’t have the required skills to write the texts, which in a few minutes was placed in the paper with the signature of a certain Ernest O'Brien. The English words flowed from his hand hastily, astounding even the Americans and left Mrs. Phyllis amazed. One of the articles, titled "Family," soon began with a description of the first impressions of the afterlife:

“Tremendous surprise takes place in our mind at the moment of death. Contrary to our own former opinions we are alive. The body came back to the inorganic Kingdom as subject of universal change and we recognize that death is rebirth.”

Waldo Vieira was not left behind and also would present texts signed by O'Brien: 

“On what basis shall we localize the problem of death? Of course, there is no death. Life itself demands death as a rebirth.”

Suicide would be a pure loss of time. Life is inevitable.

Between a lesson and a "message", Chico Xavier would write books and he would occasionally take a walk with the hosts throughout the city. Mrs. Phyllis remembered two phrases of Chico during the sojourn:

“We must forgive seventy by seven times daily.”

“And a lot more patience every day.”

After Washington , they traveled to New York City . There, Chico met the doctor Eurípides Tahan, the companion of Maria Olina in the Sheila Spiritist Center. Tahan was studying for his MD in research for liver transplant and stimulated by Chico , both enrolled for an English course. For three weeks the mineiro of Pedro Leopoldo participated in the course. The teacher was impressed with Chico ’s ability towards learning the English language.

At the end of one of the classes, a young man from Nicaragua approached Chico and Eurípedes and uttered in relief: he was facing problems with his wife and needed help. That same night, Chico decided to visit his house. The doctor followed him and was astounded by his behavior in the house of the Nicaraguan. Right after arriving in the man’s house he started talking with his wife in fluent Spanish. The conversation lasted for forty minutes. Chico seemed to be another person. When they left the house Chico explained to him: "It was her grandmother helping her and giving her advice..."

Afterwards, Chico and Waldo had left the United States and landed in France . Chico , indeed, embarked on a quest to visit Allan Kardec’s tomb, which is located in the Père la Chaise’s cemetery. There he prayed and wept. Before returning to Brazil , they had passed by Lisbon , where they left written texts in Portuguese. In one of them, signed by Emmanuel, the following warning was issued.

“Let us take care of charity that suppresses the sufferings of the flesh, but do not diminish the aid to the necessities of the soul. Let us divulge the light of the Spíritist Doctrine. Let us assist our neighbor in helping him to discern and to think.”

Chico would repeat the words of Christ:

“Learn the truth and it will set you free.”

Emmanuel would complete with a firm statement: “Free to be happy in our obligations and to be more responsible before God.”

In this first trip, Chico and Waldo had launched the seeds of the Doctrine codified by Allan Kardec (Spiritism) abroad. In the following year, they would return to the United States in order to look after the plantation.

Chico Xavier has initiated this trip with the aim of taking an important step in the goal of disseminating the teachings of the Spiritist Doctrine in the United States and other countries abroad by launching the English version of one of his books: Ideal Espírita. To attract more readers, the book was translated into English with the title: The World of the Spirits and reached the stores with the label of the respected Philosophical Library. Chico was very excited and the trip was a success. Mrs. Phyllis Haddad had contributed to intensify the spiritist author’s optimism. Inspired she proved to be in tune with the beyond and touched in one of the most sensible points of Chico : she wrote in a paper a message signed by a certain Maria João de Deus. 

The trip would be profitable. Books such as Christian Agenda and Our Home (The Astral City ) would be translated into English, Japanese and Czech. The Spiritist Doctrine would start cradling in the United States . A Spiritist Center named Centro de Sheilla would be inaugurated in Miami , besides two others Spiritist Centers. New York would soon host three spiritist centers, California would host two others and Philadelphia another one in the next thirty years. Statistically, it was not an exciting achievement. “The World of the Spirits" would sell 216 issues in the first year. Chico was happy and thought it was excellent, though."

As a result of this trip, Francisco Cândido Xavier and Waldo Vieira published a fascinating book in 1966: Entre Irmãos de Outras Terras (Between Brothers of Other Lands).

The second part of the book is comprised of a number of messages that were dictated in English through the spirits Ernest O’Brien and Anderson. These messages are available at GEAE’s homepage.

Many spirits, one of which is a very dear and celebrated writer known to all Americas as William James, dictated one of the enlightening messages that comprise this very interesting book.

The message can be found on page 23 of the book and is titled: Vinte Assuntos Com William James (Twenty Subjects with William James). This message was already translated into English by A. L. Xavier Jr. (one of the members of GEAE’s Editorial Board) with the title: An Interview With William James and included in the newsletter Spiritist Messenger # 30.

The message will be transcribed below with few changes in regard to the first translation, which was permitted by the translator Ademir Luiz Xavier Jr.

AN INTERVIEW WITH WILLIAM JAMES

Taking into account the specific cultural environments of the Spiritist Movement in the USA and Brazil , we present below 20 questions that were asked Dr. William James, the eminent American physician, psychologist and philosopher whom departed the material plane in 1910. The interview was held in the night of his visit to our prayer and assistance group (*):

Question 1. Dear friend, since we are here in New York to visit some Brazilian friends, we would like to take advantage of this opportunity to inquire about whether or not you are still collaborating with those who are currently working in the search for truth.

Answer. Yes, indeed. Even after death, we generally maintain the same line of interests that we once had on our Earthly journey. If these interests were of some benefit to us, and if such interests presented a way of helping us in ridding ourselves of vices and imperfections, we ought to take advantage of opportunities that will eventually come to us.

Question 2. Do you retain the same enthusiasm regarding Spiritualism studies as you have before?

Answer. Absolutely. The principles of the New Revelation constitute a field of infinite possibilities.

Question 3. Is there anything you would like to tell us about the application of scientific research regarding Spiritualist matters?

Answer. I now understand how important and urgent the scientific approval is for widespread acknowledgement of the afterlife. Nevertheless, we must understand that the researchers (with a few exceptions), waste much time repeating exhaustive experiments, trying to escape from the moral consequences that the matter implies.

Question 4. Do you believe that it would be fair to restrain scientific cooperation from the subject of Doctrinal study of Spiritism?

Answer. It would be unwise to imply that scientific research is not needed. Rather, we would like to affirm that the researchers are not exonerated from the duties of listening to their own conscience. A wise man is not merely a machine that creates technical terminology, but rather a spirit who acquired a vast amount of knowledge. Due to this position he is called forth by a Superior Order to work towards the improvement of human life.

Question 5. What do you think about parapsychology?

Answer. This subject is actually as old as mankind. We will find numerous examples in the Bible. In the II Book of Kings, chapter 12, verse 6, it is written that the prophet and medium Elisha absorbed telepathic transmissions originating from the King of Syria, much like the best “sujets” of experiments undertaken by Rhine and others.

Question 6. What do you think about Spiritist collaboration in Para psychological research?

Answer. We understand that Spiritists should cooperate with the development of parapsychology in order to avoid the possibility that the research should fall into the hands of those less compromised with truth, be they religious or scientific personnel. However, in our opinion, this will occur only if the worker does not forget about his own obligations towards progress.

Question 7. How would you define the level of knowledge regarding Spiritism on the planet Earth?

Answer. The knowledge of Spiritism in a plain and simple way is required in order to balance the moral aspect of the personality, as it is important to get rid of the euphoric exacerbation that affects the physical part of the being and supplies it with healthy hygiene.

Question 8. Would you care to expand on your definition of Spiritist knowledge?

Answer. The Spiritist knowledge is an orientation of the profound and essential life of the being. Obviously, the law of evolution applies to all living beings, but Spiritism intervenes in the conscious plane, providing us with behavioral guidelines, which are capable of carving a path towards the ascension of the soul, free from obstructions which can lead to suffering.

Question 9. Do you believe that Spiritism plays a decisive role in guiding human will?

Answer. Certainly. If the spirit does not abide by the evolutionary principles, and refuses to attend to his earthly obligations, his reincarnation is nothing but a repetitive cycle that yields no benefits throughout the span of the millenniums.

Question 10. What can you tell us about mediumship?

Answer. As a resource for incarnated spirits to gain access to Superior Spheres, Mediumship has yet to receive the earthly recognition that it deserves.

Question 11. Do you believe that it is required for mediums to receive extensive and adequate instructions?

Answer. In order to allow the seed to produce, we must guarantee its protection. How is possible to strengthen and conserve the foundations of mediumship without educational resources?

Question 12. Is it possible for more advanced spirits to overcome the difficulties of mediumship?

Answer. The Spirit benefactors are able to fulfill great achievements in our world. Nevertheless, in order to do so, they require our aid as interpreters. How would it be possible for a symphony to function without the use of instruments?

Question 13. Does a spirit, even one belonging to the highest hierarchy, require the aid of the medium in order to interact in the physical plane?

Answer. Until science is capable of establishing an unbarred channel between incarnate and discarnate entities, the latter depend on the mediums to communicate with the former, much like the soul requires a mother’s womb in order to enter the physical plane.

Question 14. Would it be reasonable to assemble a special group of well-developed mediums for the purpose of promoting more persuasive demonstrations of the phenomena of the afterlife?

Answer. We must not forget that the mediumistic resources are at the disposal of all human beings, who will manage them according to their own level of spiritual advancement. By improving himself, the medium will attract other well-improved spirits. However, we must not isolate these mediumistic resources to a select handful of individuals, for we risk creating partitions and stimulating a quagmire among them for the possession of mediumship.

Question 15. We know that the medium has the duty of improving himself. Besides this, what is in your opinion the fundamental requirement in order to develop his faculties?

Answer. The development of a medium’s psychic energies is not necessarily excruciatingly difficult. However, since this development extends the frontier of his relationship with the spiritual world, the biggest problem still lies in the mediums’ ability to remain loyal to his companions from the beyond.

Question 16. How do you analyze the physical mediumship and the intellectual mediumship?

Answer. Every mediumnistic faculty is important, but I believe that without proper discretion, physical mediumship will do little to fulfill the requirements for improving our inner world. Therefore, we believe that intellectual mediumship will provide better access to superior learning, thus it should be utilized more often than physical mediumship, in order for the medium to avoid escaping from his moral duties to which he is responsible for in his corporeal life.

Question 17. In your opinion, what is the main task of mediumship in the work of Spiritism?

Answer. We believe that mediumship is an important tool in the service for the enlightenment of men in the planet earth, especially in helping those who suffer from the torments of obsession, whose number presently reaches thousands in every corner of the planet.

Question 18. Is articulated language a basic factor in the communication between discarnate spirits from the same country through mediums located in different countries?

Answer. We know that thought is a universal idiom. However, this is only an immediate reality in the domain of telepathy. It is possible to ease a sick person with the idea of peace, optimism, healing and hope; however, we are unable to immediately give him signs of healing without using the proper language to communicate with him. On the other hand, the phenomena of xenoglossy could be obtained in the same manner that we would organize a show. Therefore it is necessary to understand that in the current stage of humanity, the barrier of articulated language is inevitable, for the wide majority of discarnate spirits usually maintain themselves tightly bound to their home environment. Henceforth, the spiritual friends connected to the United States who aspire to be heard without delay in Brazil must generally study Portuguese and vice versa. This is clear according to the common system of linguistics, because progress does not accept miracles.

Question 19. When do you believe Spiritism will be better known on the Earth?

Answer. That depends on the time and goodwill of people. Any human being may delay his access to the gate of truth, but no one may avoid it.

Question 20. Would you care to provide the Brazilian companions  (both incarnate and discarnate) with any particularly wise words regarding the work of Spiritism?

Answer. We have learned that stability does not result from improvisation. The Spiritist cause requires well-seeded Spiritist principles. Furthermore, there will be no efficient results without the dedication of those who are working for the cause. We must seek to broaden our individual participation and elevate the level of understanding toward our responsibilities to Spiritism. We will count solely on whatever we are able to achieve. The laws of the universe are fair. In this sense, every companion, every group and every country will be responsible for how they choose to utilize Spiritism for the good of their own future. We understand that we may summarize the main guidelines for all of us as follows:  to maintain self-control, to think in an elevated manner, to communicate constructively, to constantly study and to serve more.

 (*) The reader should note that the interview was spoken in English. The Spirit author, Andre Luiz, translated it into Portuguese to facilitate the communication with the medium. Later, we translated the text back into English. (Translator note)

(**) II Kings, 6:12 - "And one of his servants said, None, my lord, O king: but Elisha, the prophet that [is] in Israel, telleth the king of Israel the words that thou speakest in thy bedchamber."

We hope that by publishing this article we will motivate those who know more regarding the first steps taken in the past towards the establishment of Spiritism in the United States of America to come forth and make them available to the public.