The Birth of Espiritismo

In the mid-1800s, Spain issued a law that gave people a greater degree of personal religious freedom than ever before. Across Europe, the Catholic Church was losing some of its hold over people as well. As a result, freemasonry societies, esoteric schools, and Spiritualism gained popularity all over the continent. It was at this time that a new philosophy and esoteric spiritualistic practice known as Spiritism (Espiritismo in Spanish) emerged.

Spiritism shared many of the aspects of Spiritualism. It provided a method of communicating with the spirit world. Both practices used séances to communicate with spirits from the “other side.” The difference

between them was the purpose of those communications. Spiritists also believed in one God, the reincarnation of spirits, various planes of existence, and the ability of spirits to interact with people. They focused on the power of this communication and interaction to help humanity develop consciously and socially.

Spiritism teaches that certain individuals have or can develop the powers to communicate with the spirit world. These individuals are known

as mediums, or espiritistas, and they communicate with the spirits through séances—meetings at which people attempt to contact the dead or the spirits in order to get answers from the “other side.” These séances came to be

known as sessiones in Spanish.

Among its practitioners, Spiritism was considered the “scientific” method of spirit communication. Thus, it was not regarded as a religion at all, but rather as a new wave of science. In fact, in the early years of Espiritismo, many Spiritist sessions were led by medical doctors, lawyers, journalists, and other intellectuals. It was, in effect, the forerunner of what is now called parapsychology—the study of mental phenomena that are inexplicable by orthodox scientific means. This includes hypnosis, telepathy, psychic gifts, and other methods.

Professor and researcher Allan Kardec is generally recognized as the founder of Spiritism. Although not a medium himself, Kardec compiled the findings of many other mediums. He taught that Spiritism was a philosophy that presented a new view of the world and codified it as a method of research into the evolution of man. Although Spiritism was not a religion, he claimed, it could give people a deeper understanding of spiritual things. Thus, at first it wasn't considered a major threat by the Catholic Church. Kardec's form of Spiritism was also known as Scientific Spiritism. In the mid-1800s, many wealthy families in Puerto Rico started sending

their children to universities back in Europe. The island simply couldn't provide access to the educational resources that were available there. In Europe, these children were exposed to the teachings of Kardec and brought them back to Puerto Rico.

Kardec's Spiritism proved to be a perfect fit for many of the upper- and middle-class Creole elites who had grown tired of the Catholic Church's political power. Although many were Catholic themselves, they sought freedom and socio-political progress that was not forthcoming from the Church. They wanted radical changes in the way society functioned and felt that Kardec's Scientific Spiritism could support that vision. The who followed Kardec's teachings created many public hospitals, schools, community centers, and spiritual centers based on his principles. They introduced free or community-based centers for health and education. They also sought to bring social services to the public at large.

Kardec's Scientific Spiritism didn't reach only the island of Puerto Rico. In fact, it reached many of the other islands in the region and much of South America as well. Mexico, Brazil, Venezuela, Cuba, and many other countries have their own forms of Espiritismo that blended Kardec's philosophy with local influences. And many of these local variants have come to influence Puerto Rican Espiritismo as well. 

In the mid-1870s, however, the freedom granted earlier in the century was withdrawn by the Church and the law restored its political power.

Catholic and Apostolic Religions were declared the new state religions in Puerto Rico. A new law was issued stating that ceremonies or public manifestations other than those of the state religion would not be permitted. People still managed to practice their religious beliefs in private, but the Church worked hard at shutting down Espiritismo on the island.

In 1898, the Spanish lost a war with America and ceded ownership of Puerto Rico to the United States in the Treaty of Paris. This ushered in a new era on the island that nullified the Church's political power. Thanks to

this, Puerto Rican Espiritismo experienced a major growth spurt. By the 1920s, Kardec's books on Scientific Spiritism had outsold the Bible on the island. It was estimated at that time that 90 percent of all Puerto Ricans practiced Spiritism.

(Original source Espiritismo, Puerto Rican Mediumship & Magic)