Madame Anais Gourdon
Madame Anais Gourdon was a very young woman known for her gentle nature and exceptional moral qualities. She belonged to a humble family of coal miners near Saint-Etienne. After her death in November 1860, her spirit was evoked at the request of her husband and father, who deeply wished to hear from her again.
AllanAre you here?
The medium’s hand begins writing...
Madame Anais GourdonI'm here.
AllanYour husband and father asked us to evoke you.
AllanThey will be very happy to receive a message from you.
Madame Anais GourdonI'm happy to give them this communication, just as they will be happy to receive it.
AllanWhy were you taken away from your family so young?
Madame Anais GourdonBecause my earthly trial had been completed.
AllanDo you sometimes return to visit them?
Madame Anais GourdonI'm very often beside them.
AllanAre you happy as a spirit?
Madame Anais GourdonI'm very happy.
Madame Anais GourdonI trust.
Madame Anais GourdonI wait.
Madame Anais GourdonAnd I love.
Madame Anais GourdonThe spirit world holds no fear for me.
Madame Anais GourdonI wait with love and confidence for the unfolding of my white wings.
AllanWhat do you mean by “wings”?
Madame Anais GourdonI mean that I hope to become a fully purified and radiant spirit...
Madame Anais GourdonLike those heavenly messengers whose brilliance dazzles me whenever I'm allowed to glimpse them.
Allan Kardec then adds an explanation.
The “wings” attributed to angels and higher spirits are symbolic rather than literal.
They represent the speed and freedom with which spirits travel through space.
Spirits don't require physical wings because their spiritual nature allows them to move by thought alone.
However, spirits may sometimes appear with such forms in order to match human ideas and expectations, just as spirits often appear wearing the same appearance they had during life on Earth so they may be recognized.
AllanIs there anything you would like your relatives to do?
Madame Anais GourdonI would like those whom I love so dearly to stop grieving so heavily for me.
Madame Anais GourdonThey know that I'm not lost to them.
Madame Anais GourdonLet them think of me with peace, hope, and cheerfulness.
Madame Anais GourdonThen the memory they keep of me will remain light and beautiful within their hearts.
Madame Anais GourdonI passed through life on Earth like a flower.
Madame Anais GourdonMy brief passage should not leave behind sorrow and sadness.
AllanHow is it that your language is so poetic and refined?
AllanIt seems very different from the humble surroundings in which you lived on Earth.
Madame Anais GourdonIt is because it is my soul speaking to you.
Madame Anais GourdonI had already acquired much knowledge and refinement during previous incarnations.
Madame Anais GourdonAdvanced spirits are often born among rough and simple people in order to give them a glimpse of qualities they themselves will later acquire and understand during future existences.
Allan Kardec then adds an observation.
Without the explanation offered by reincarnation, it would be difficult to understand why some individuals display refinement, intelligence, and moral elevation far beyond their upbringing and environment.
In life on Earth, we often see advanced spirits born among less developed people, while less advanced spirits are sometimes placed among morally elevated families and surroundings.
More advanced spirits are born among less advanced people in order to help them progress.
Meanwhile, less advanced spirits are placed among more elevated individuals so they may learn more rapidly through contact with better examples.
Such contact also serves as a useful trial for advanced spirits themselves.
According to Spiritism, the theory of successive existences explains these apparent inequalities and contradictions in human life.