Sixdeniers
Bordeaux, February 11, 1861. Sixdeniers was described as an excellent and kind-hearted man who died in an accident by drowning. He had been personally known by the medium during his life on Earth. After his death, his spirit was evoked in order to describe what he experienced after passing into the spirit world.
AllanCan you give me any details concerning your death?
SixdeniersAbout what happened after the drowning... yes.
AllanWhy not before?
SixdeniersBecause you already know those details.
The medium indeed already knew the circumstances of his death.
AllanPlease describe what you felt after your death.
SixdeniersIt was a long time before I recovered consciousness.
SixdeniersBut with the grace of God and the help of the friends around me, when the light finally became visible to me, I was flooded by it.
SixdeniersBe hopeful.
SixdeniersWhen you arrive here, you will find far more than you expected.
SixdeniersThere is nothing material here.
SixdeniersEverything is perceived through senses that remain hidden from you during life on Earth.
SixdeniersYou perceive things that can't be seen by the eyes or touched by the hands.
SixdeniersDo you understand what I mean?
SixdeniersIt is a wonder experienced by the spirit itself... something beyond your power to fully understand.
SixdeniersNo words can truly explain it.
SixdeniersIt can only be felt by the soul.
SixdeniersMy awakening was very happy.
SixdeniersLife on Earth now seems to me like one of those dreams that can only be described as a nightmare.
SixdeniersImagine dreaming that you are locked inside a filthy dungeon.
SixdeniersImagine your body being devoured by worms that gnaw into your bones.
SixdeniersImagine yourself suspended above a furnace of fire.
SixdeniersImagine your mouth burning with thirst and unable to find even a breath of fresh air.
SixdeniersImagine your terrified spirit surrounded by monsters ready to devour you.
SixdeniersImagine every horrible and terrifying thing the worst nightmare could invent.
SixdeniersAnd then imagine being instantly transported into a paradise of delight.
SixdeniersImagine waking from that nightmare and finding yourself surrounded by all those you once loved and mourned.
SixdeniersImagine seeing their beloved faces smiling at you joyfully.
SixdeniersImagine breathing the most wonderful fragrances.
SixdeniersImagine cooling your burning throat with living water.
SixdeniersImagine yourself carried upward through infinite space as lightly as a flower carried by the breeze.
SixdeniersImagine feeling yourself surrounded by Infinite Love just as a baby is surrounded by the love of its mother.
SixdeniersImagine all of this...
SixdeniersAnd even then, you would still have only a faint idea of the transition that follows death.
SixdeniersI have tried, through these comparisons, to explain the happiness awaiting human beings after death.
SixdeniersBut it is something impossible to fully describe.
SixdeniersCan the infinity of the sky be explained to a blind cripple whose eyes have never seen light and whose limbs have never carried him beyond his prison?
SixdeniersIf I wished to give you one idea of the happiness of eternity, I would say only this:
SixdeniersLove.
SixdeniersBecause only love can give you a glimpse of that happiness.
SixdeniersAnd true love can't exist together with selfishness.
AllanWas your condition immediately happy when you entered the spirit world?
SixdeniersNo.
SixdeniersI still had to pay the debt of my life on Earth.
SixdeniersIn my heart, I had sensed the existence of a future spiritual life.
SixdeniersBut I did not possess an active faith in that future.
SixdeniersSo, I had to atone for my indifference toward my Creator.
SixdeniersBut God’s mercy took into account the little good I had been able to do.
SixdeniersIt also took into account the sufferings I had endured with acceptance, despite the pain they caused me.
SixdeniersDivine Justice weighs all things according to laws human beings can't fully understand.
SixdeniersAnd that Justice weighed my merits with such kindness and love that my faults were quickly erased.
AllanWill you give me news of your daughter?
His daughter had died four or five years before him.
SixdeniersShe is fulfilling a mission on Earth.
AllanIs she happy in this reincarnation?
AllanI hope my question is not indiscreet.
SixdeniersI can't see it as indiscreet.
SixdeniersI see your thoughts before me as clearly as a picture.
SixdeniersNo... her life on Earth is not happy.
SixdeniersOn the contrary, she must endure many of the troubles of your world.
SixdeniersBut through her example, she will demonstrate the noble virtues about which people so often speak without practicing them.
SixdeniersI will help her.
SixdeniersShe won't have great difficulty overcoming the obstacles before her.
SixdeniersHer present life is not an atonement... but a mission.
SixdeniersBe at peace concerning her.
SixdeniersAnd accept my thanks for your kind remembrance.
At this moment, the medium suddenly experienced difficulty writing and said aloud:
MediumIf this is a suffering spirit trying to take control of my hand, I ask that spirit to write its name.
ValeriaI'm one who is very unhappy.
AllanPlease tell me your name.
ValeriaValeria.
AllanWill you tell me what caused your punishment?
ValeriaNo.
AllanDo you repent of your wrongdoing?
ValeriaYou can already see that I do.
AllanWho brought you here?
ValeriaSixdeniers.
AllanFor what purpose did he bring you here?
ValeriaSo that you may help me.
AllanWas it you who prevented me from writing just now?
ValeriaHe allowed me to take his place.
AllanWhat connection exists between you?
ValeriaHe guides me.
AllanAsk him to join in the prayer we are about to offer for you.
After the prayer, Sixdeniers again took control of the medium’s hand.
SixdeniersThank you for her.
SixdeniersYou understood what she needs.
SixdeniersContinue thinking of her.
AllanDo you guide many suffering spirits?
SixdeniersNo.
SixdeniersBut as soon as we bring one back onto the right path, we take another in hand.
SixdeniersEven so, we don't lose sight of those we previously helped.
AllanHow can you possibly oversee so many spirits over such immense periods of time?
SixdeniersThose whom we guide back toward goodness gradually become purified and advance.
SixdeniersThey then require less help from us.
SixdeniersAnd while helping them rise, we ourselves also rise.
SixdeniersAs we rise, our abilities increase.
SixdeniersAnd our influence spreads more widely according to our degree of purity.
Allan Kardec then adds an observation.
Lower spirits are therefore helped by higher spirits whose mission is to guide them toward improvement.
This responsibility does not belong only to people living on Earth, although people on Earth should also participate in it because doing so helps their own spiritual progress.
When a lower spirit interrupts a communication, as happened in this case, the interruption is not always caused by bad intentions.
Higher spirits sometimes allow such interruptions as a test of the medium’s patience, or so that the medium may help improve the suffering spirit causing the interruption.
The more stubborn the obsession becomes, the greater the spirit’s need for help often is.
So, it is wrong to reject such spirits.
Instead, they should be treated like beggars in need of charity.
One should say:
“Here is an unhappy spirit sent to me by higher spirits so that I may help educate and improve him.”
“If I succeed, I will rejoice at having guided a wandering soul back toward goodness and shortened its suffering.”
The task is often difficult.
It would certainly be more pleasant to receive only beautiful communications from elevated spirits.
But by seeking only our own satisfaction and turning away from opportunities to do good, we would not deserve the protection of higher spirits.