Through the course of history, man has progressively received information
about the afterlife according to his ability to assimilate it. During his brief sojourn on
Earth, man is generally too involved in his worldly affairs to be able to readily conceive
of an invisible plane of life. This being the case, his spiritual education could not but
move at an exceedingly slow pace from its beginning centuries ago.
Revelations pertaining to a spiritual world permeate the scripture of all major
religions in various degrees. These revelations, or instructions, however, were
necessarily limited in scope, and at times cautiously veiled in fragmentary statements of
allegorical language. It is interesting to note, for example, how this instruction process
gradually develops in the Old Testament beginning with the idea of a paradise, and
continuing with references to angels or spiritual messengers, and then to chariots and
horses of fire, followed by the notion of a lower world or Hell, and many other similar
statements implying a transcendental world. In the New Testament, somewhat more
detailed descriptions are added, such as the state of Lazarus and the Rich Man after
death, the Lord’s reference to “many mansions” (John, 14:2), the great and small in the
Kingdom of Heaven, and the “legions of angels” (Matthews, 26:53). There are also
details in some of the Apostles’ writings, specially in the epistles of Paul of Tarsus and in
Revelation. A more significant step is taken in the latter to describe prophetic scenes of
what appears to be a real, inhabited world with horsemen, angelic beings, a city with
twelve gates, and the “pure river of the water of life” (Revelation, 22:1). The mechanics
of judgment and the importance of our deeds are also described in Revelation.
After the Biblical period, only sporadic descriptions of the life beyond were
recorded, and these were sometimes separated by centuries. Among the better known
are to be found in the Mohammedan scriptures, in Dante’s and St. Theresa’s visions, and
in the writings of Emmanuel Swedenborg, Johan Kaspar Lavater and Joseph Smith. The
centuries that passed were apparently necessary for mankind to ponder, analyze and
digest the older revelations. In the mid-nineteenth century, however, this pattern
changed, and the information process began to accelerate. This change was marked
specially by a worldwide outburst of mediumship with an abundant flow of spirit
messages, and by Allan Kardec’s codification of the Spiritist Doctrine in France. In the
century that followed, more information concerning the beyond was available to man
than in all past centuries combined.
Spirit communications have always cause, and are still causing, a stir. They have been misunderstood and misused at times, but regardless of man’s reaction to
them, they are here for a lofty purpose and they bear the sanction of both The Old and
The New Testaments. Needless to say, these communications, to be constructive, must
be approached with a responsible and reverent attitude.
The Astral City is undoubtedly one of the most remarkable works contributing
to this new awareness. It stands as one more sign that a new era of transcendental
knowledge is in process, and that the age of veiled references to the life beyond is
receding. Furthermore, it presents to us a Spirit world of an amazingly realistic nature. At times, we tend to be surprised at the quasi-material aspects of 'The Astral
City' colony. After careful consideration, however, we begin to see the wisdom of God's
laws which afford the spirit a gradual adaptation to a life without the grosser
material body. It has been repeatedly confirmed by reliable messages that the etherical
replicas of the physical world are a common event in the next plane of existence.
Indeed, the similarities of the two worlds are at times so confusing to the newly
departed that the spirit mistakes them for material life, often ignoring the fact that
death has occurred and that he has lost his physical body. Bearing in mind these and
other basic principles of transition expounded by The Astral City we begin to conceive of
a hereafter that is within the realm of Nature; a realm equally ruled by just laws of cause
and effect. The environment André Luiz describes in this book apparently belongs to the
category of an etheric advanced type of Earth life where spirits dwell while in
preparation for higher, more imponderable worlds or for the return to another
experience in the flesh.
The lay reader may at this point be asking about André Luiz and his relation to
Francisco Cândido Xavier. In most mediumnistic works, at least two entities are
involved: the medium and the communicating discarnate entity. In the present case, the
medium is Xavier and the spirit author André Luiz, which is a pen name the spirit chose
in order to disguise his former identity on Earth for reasons explained elsewhere in the
book. The only available information about the identity of this spirit is that he was a
fairly well known physician who lived in the early part of this century in Rio de Janeiro.
The many attempts, motivated by natural human curiosity, to further identify him have
resulted in mere speculations. André Luiz has transmitted to the medium Xavier, mainly
through automatic writing, other books as relevant and revealing as The Astral City most
of which were published by the Brazilian Spiritist Federation in Brazil. Several of André
Luiz books and many of his individual messages have also been translated into other
languages.
Francisco Cândido Xavier, or Chico Xavier, as everybody knows him, is a
medium all of Brazil admires and loves. His stupendous spiritual gifts and great literary
success (close to 250 books. Xavier has donated the copyrights of all his works, which to
date have sold in the neighborhood of six million copies) have not affected his goodness
and humility. Soon after his fortieth year of spiritual and social service, Brazil seemed to
awaken to Chico’s effort and dedication. He was then proclaimed an honorary citizen of
Uberaba, the city where he now lives. This official gesture was followed by many other
cities and towns throughout the country, each also making him their honorary citizen.
His appearances before panels of intellectual on Brazilian television networks, some
lasting several hours, have earned him national respect for the wisdom with which he
answered, under spiritual guidance, the controversial questions put to him.
It is with great satisfaction that we present to the English speaking reader this
highly significant book. We feel sure that after pondering its contents, our readers will
agree with us that the old saying “no one ever returned to tell” is seriously challenged
by this work and that, through it, greater light is shed on the words of the Master Jesus:
“In my Father’s house are many mansions” (John, 14:2).
August, 1986.
S J Haddad
Reviewed by Márcio Varela
From the book The Astral City "Nosso Lar" - GEAE Grupo de Estudos Avançados Espíritas - October 15 2000
