Mr. Felicien

Mr. Felicien was rich, well educated, a noted poet, kind, courteous, and honorable. After being ruined by unlucky financial speculation at an age when he felt too old to start over, he gave way to discouragement and hanged himself in his bedroom in December 1864. He was neither a materialist nor an atheist, but he had given little thought to the future life. Four months later, out of personal sympathy, people who had known him called his spirit.

The medium’s hand begins writing...

Mr. FelicienI regret the Earth.

Mr. FelicienI had many disappointments there.

Mr. FelicienBut fewer than I have here.

Mr. FelicienThe world of spirits contains a very mixed company.

Mr. FelicienIt would take a great deal of sorting out to make it bearable.

Mr. FelicienI am in constant amazement.

Mr. FelicienWhat scenes of spirit life could be drawn from this place.

Mr. FelicienBalzac should take up the work.

Mr. FelicienIt would be difficult even for him.

Mr. FelicienBut I have not seen him.

Mr. FelicienWhere are those clever minds that so strongly whipped the vices of the human race?

Mr. FelicienThey ought to stay here, as I am doing, before going any higher.

Mr. FelicienIt is a curious chaos.

Mr. FelicienAnd watching it amuses me, so I stay here.

His way of speaking sounded so much like his old character that the group recognized him, but the fact that he didn't mention how he died caused a moment of doubt.

MediumCan you tell us what you died of?

Mr. FelicienWhat did I die of?

Mr. FelicienFrom the kind of death I had chosen.

Mr. FelicienI had spent a long time thinking about how I would get rid of life.

Mr. FelicienI confess I have not gained much by it.

Mr. FelicienI freed myself from Earth's worries only to find myself tormented by others in this life that are far more serious and painful.

Mr. FelicienAnd I cannot see their end.

MediumIs it really Mr. Felicien who is replying?

MediumThis careless way of speaking seems strange in one who committed suicide.

Mediums’ GuideYes.

Mediums’ GuideBut from a feeling that is understandable in his condition, he did not want to reveal how he died.

Mediums’ GuideThat is why he talked on lightly at first.

Mediums’ GuidePressed by your question, he finally admitted it.

Mediums’ GuideBut he is deeply troubled at having to do so.

Mediums’ GuideHe suffers terribly for his regrettable folly.

Mediums’ GuideAnd he avoids, as much as he can, whatever would remind him of it.

MediumWe were all the more grieved by your death because we foresaw the sad consequences it would bring.

MediumAnd for my part, I have not forgotten how kind and obliging you always were to me.

MediumI would be very glad if I could help you.

Mr. FelicienAnd yet I saw no other way to escape the troubles of my financial situation.

Mr. FelicienNow I need your prayers.

Mr. FelicienPray especially that I may be freed from the horrible companions around me.

Mr. FelicienThey persecute me with their laughter, their cries, and their hellish jeers.

Mr. FelicienThey call me a coward.

Mr. FelicienAnd they are right.

Mr. FelicienIt is cowardice to leave life on Earth.

Mr. FelicienThis makes four times I've failed under the same trial.

Mr. FelicienAnd yet I had promised myself so firmly that I would not fail again.

Mr. FelicienWhat weakness.

Mr. FelicienAh, pray for me.

Mr. FelicienWhat tortures I am going through.

Mr. FelicienHow miserable I am.

Mr. FelicienYou will do more for me by praying than I did for you while I was on Earth.

Mr. FelicienBut the trial I've failed so often stands before me as something I can't escape.

Mr. FelicienAfter some time, I must go through it again.

Mr. FelicienWill I have the strength to bear it to the end?

Mr. FelicienAh...

Mr. FelicienHow sad it is to have to begin life on Earth so many times.

Mr. FelicienTo struggle for so long, and still be pulled by events into new failures, in spite of your resolutions.

Mr. FelicienIt drives one to despair.

Mr. FelicienThat is why I need strength.

Mr. FelicienThey say prayer gives strength.

Mr. FelicienPray for me.

Mr. FelicienI too will pray.

Kardec says this ordinary-looking case of suicide shows an important point: the same temptation can come back again and again in successive lives until the spirit grows strong enough to resist it.

The medium’s hand begins writing...

MediumThink carefully about what I am going to say.

MediumWhat you call fate is nothing more than your own weakness.

MediumThere is no such thing as blind fate forcing a person to do wrong.

MediumHuman beings are always free.

MediumAnd that freedom is their noblest gift.

MediumGod did not make man a machine, acting and obeying under some outside force.

MediumThis freedom makes a person capable of falling.

MediumBut it also makes him capable of getting better.

MediumAnd it is only by becoming better that he reaches the highest happiness.

MediumPride leads people to blame destiny for their troubles on Earth.

MediumYet in general, they have only their own carelessness to blame.

MediumIn your last existence, you were a striking example of this.

MediumYou had everything the world calls good fortune.

MediumYou had intelligence, talent, wealth, and general esteem.

MediumYou had no destructive vices.

MediumOn the contrary, you had many excellent qualities.

MediumHow then was your earthly position so seriously damaged?

MediumSimply through lack of foresight.

MediumIf you had acted more prudently, if you had been satisfied with the fine share of wealth you already had instead of trying to add to it unnecessarily, you would not have been ruined.

MediumThere was no fate in your case.

MediumYou could have avoided the misfortunes you brought upon yourself.

MediumYour trial was a chain of circumstances meant to present you, not with compulsion, but with the temptation of suicide.

MediumSadly, in spite of your intelligence and education, you did not rise above those circumstances.

MediumAnd now you must pay the price of your weakness.

MediumThis trial, as you correctly foresee, will be renewed.

MediumIn your next existence, events will again stir up thoughts of suicide in your mind.

MediumAnd it will continue to be so until you conquer the temptation.

MediumInstead of blaming fate, recognize the goodness of God.

MediumRather than condemning you forever for your failings, He gives you new chances to improve and begin again.

MediumYour suffering will not be endless.

MediumIt will last only as long as you keep giving in to the temptation you're meant to overcome.

MediumIt now depends on you to prepare yourself through sincere repentance, firm resolutions, and prayer for the help of higher spirits.

MediumThen, when you return to Earth, you will be stronger against temptation.

MediumOnce you overcome this weakness, your progress will move quickly, because in many other ways you are already morally advanced.

MediumOnly one victory still remains for you.

MediumWe will help you with our prayers.

MediumBut those prayers will remain powerless unless you support them by your own efforts.

Mr. FelicienThanks.

Mr. FelicienThanks for your wise advice.

Mr. FelicienI need it greatly.

Mr. FelicienI am unhappier than I was willing to let show.

Mr. FelicienI promise you I will profit from it.

Mr. FelicienI will prepare myself so thoroughly for my next incarnation that I won't fail again.

Mr. FelicienFor I long to escape the low company that's tormenting me now.