After a long hiatus...

Here I am, after keeping myself from writing here for a while. I've been sort of busy with personal issues, and I'm trying now to reorganize all my projects. For the ones who have been here looking for new articles, my sincere apologies.

When I started The Germ, some months ago, my intention was to create an universalist journal, which could talk about several subjects concerning to the spirituality in general. These last weeks, reflecting about the importance of the diffusion of the Spiritst doctrine through people and countries that are not familiar with it, I came to the conclusion that I should focus more in the exposition of the fundaments of the Spiritism in itself, since it represents a good basis for any other spiritualist practice. The spiritist phenomenon was exhaustively studied by Kardec in the 19th century, by a real scientific method, and should be taken in account more seriously for all the ones who intend to dedicate to the study and practice of every spiritualist path.

I decided to replace the name "universalist" to "spiritist" in the journal description, since the term universalist may not be well understood,as the term spiritist defines more adequately the purpose of this site.

I'd really appreciate your opinions and suggestions in order to improve this journal. Questions will be very welcome also, since they can provide good subjects to be discussed in our articles.

DNA upgrades and the new times

I've always been watching with interest the discoveries of science, mainly the ones regarding to the human body. It's simply wonderful to see how science, more and more, has been confirming many of the things that the ancient occult traditions brought to us. No doubt, we are facing the rise of a new paradigma; we can't live with the old mechanicist ideas anymore. They simply no longer fit in the new conscience of the planet, and the facts walk towards this direction.

The spiritualist studies already talked about the importance of the DNA, and how its function go beyond of simply carrying informations about our physical body. This interview with Dr. Berrenda Fox, doctor in physiology and naturopathy and holistic practicioner of the Avalon Wellness Centre in Mt Shasta, California, brings amazing informations about the theme.

Global warming - we can't be late!

The United States, by itself responsible for 1/3 of the emission of pollutant gases in the environment, did not sign the Kyoto protocol. Thanks to the profits of the industries of carbon-based fuels, a real campaign of disinformation is being disseminated throughout the country. They say that there's no proof that the human action is causing the global warming.

Meanwhile, thousands of people die due to the action of hurricanes, and millions of dollars are spent to fix the losses.

Lots of information here.

We still have time. But we can't be late.

Free will - are you ready?

Are you free?

What makes you think you do?

I've been watching what have been going on in our contemporary times, times in which we think we can do everything. There are so much information being thrown down our throats, that we end up by not filtering them. The result is the repetition of concepts which are not exactly of our own. We are anxious by this contemporaneity, anxious by the new; and this new has brought dangerous illusions. We live now in a terribly individualistic world. We have strong necessity of self-affirmation, and we want to fit in behaviour standars that exaltate the right of choice and the power on ourselves - big, controversial questions... Many people even declare the non-existence of God - and I wonder to what point they don't really believe - to justify their points of view. But those are only masks that hide the enormous fear we have to assume our own lives.

Have you ever stopped to think about how difficult is to be really free?

You could, for example, robbing a bank, if you wanted. It would be enough having a gun and courage for such thing. But you jusnt don't do it because it would surely result in other things, not really "amusing". You could lost your freedom, or even being killed. Would you blame your "fate", if it happen, or would you blame your bad choice of violating the order?

Having free will means we can manage our lives, creating options, deciding what is the best for us - since we don't harm anybody else. Choosing what ways we must get is a job of our own. If not for it, we'd be simple puppets, or machines. It's our free will that leads us to growth. It wouldn't be evolution or merit if was not this way. However, we can't exercise freedom without responsibility. The freer we are, the more responsible we have to be before the world and our equal ones, since we are all interdependent. I talked about it in a former article, about what the lack of responsibility has been causing, especially to our environment. Responsibility - this is just the most difficult part. Not all of us are ready to it. Otherwise, we prefer don't cultivate it. It's easier to blame other things, concepts, philosophies, the horoscope, the government, the marriage. Or fate, or the karma. We live surrounded by excuses. We live walking with crutches in order to excuse us for our inertia and unpreparation. We living excusing ourselves for the fear of being free.

"Free will is doing gladly that which I must do", said Jung.

Are you ready to be free?

Intimate life

When you think about pain, you are evoking the presence of the misfortune. When you meditate about evil, you intensify its continuation. When you think about sadness, you increase the sorrow. When you harbor distrustful thoughts, you weaken your own faith. When you stop to acknowledge the suffering of others, the world transforms itself into a hospital in your eyes. When you allow yourself to enjoy pleasures of a lower standard, you invite negative forces that will serve you in a deplorable manner. When you allow yourself to become exasperated and rebel, the Earth transforms itself into an unhappy prison.

When you think, however, of the pleasure of the work, the work will become joyous to you. When you meditate about goodness, goodness will come to your aid. When you think about the Divine Benevolence, the struggle will seem like a blessing. When you have an understanding of faith, optimism and security will protect your struggling soul. When you recognize the merits in your brothers, the fraternity will illuminate your eyes towards your life's goal. When you exert effort in improving yourself, Heaven will manifest itself in your favor. When you cultivate humility , the Law of God will recognize your spiritual evolvement.

Do not abandon your inner evolvement.

Your desire = your goal.

Your conscience = your guide.

The currents that lead us either to the resplendent summits of life or to the darkest precipices of death are born in our own heart.

From: Ismael Souto, through the mediumship of Francisco C. Xavier.

Hope in the prison of despair, Evelyn de Morgan

Whose is the responsibility?

This morning, when I read the newspapers, I was introduced to a terrible new: an earthquake in the border of India-Pakistan, which killed about 20 thousands of people. In just few weeks after the hurricanes Katrina and Rita, who devastated coastal areas of the United States, a new like that is at least scary. I believe that we never feel ourselves so vulnerable in front of nature and its power of devastation. Later, surfing on internet in search of more informations and opinions, I've found some intrigued and scared people; many of them believe in the Apocalypse, others affirm that the current facts are nothing more than a punishment of God.

But God doesn't punish. We punish ourselves, with our ignorance about the laws the rule the universe. Laws that were created just to maintain order and balance. Breaking these laws, we promote unbalance, and unbalance always lead to suffering in a minor ou major degree.

Lots of things could be said about the natural catastrophes and the collective deincarnations. But I'd like, so far, to stop on the question of the harmony of the world and the universe. As part of the creation, and gifted with intelligence and free will, we're direct agents of this harmony. We are supposed to use what was given to us with justice and wisdom. But unfortunately, it's not what we have done. We reached an incredible degree of intelectual evolution, but, in what concerns to moral, we are still far from any signal of perfection.

What most people ignore is that we are part of a bigger organism: the planet Earth. It’s not just the place we live, the soil we step on and the atmosphere in which planes cross through. Earth is like a living body. A body in which we have introduced toxic substances for decades. We’ve been acting like microorganisms that, far from working to keep the balance of the big body we belong to, use their intelligence to prejudice it, like cancerous cells or lethal viruses. And the Earth is only using mechanisms to defend itself from our action, like our body uses to defend itself from illnesses - the response to our devastation throughout the decades.

Humanhood has been committing many crimes against life. Not only crimes against the environment, but against every living being. If you think that all the things are linked together in an extense web of magnetism, working like a huge energy station, it's easy to think that every action, good or bad, will result in a similar reaction. This is a golden rule we have to keep in mind in every acts of our daily life. From love acts, you'll be creating love. From destruction, all you can expect is destruction. Hope it's not too late for us to assume our responsibility in front of the harmony of the planet.

F.A.Q.

What you should know about this journal before starting.

1. Who are you?
- My name is Patricia, and I am a Brazilian artist and art educator living in Kentucky, USA. I am 35 and married. I am a very normal person, who likes art, cats, rock'n'roll, comics, illustration and writing fantasy tales.

2. What's the purpose of this site?
- Sharing a bit of my ideas, beliefs and knowledge. Providing an alternative way of thinking. Divulging the Spiritist doctrine. Since I arrived in United States, I've been noticing that the access to spiritist/spiritualist studies and resources are sort of rare in some areas. In Brazil, my homeland, they are part of our daily life and culture. We have a vast spiritist/spiritualist literature in Portuguese, as well as magazines, newspapers, and even a 24 hours radio station. I think that any contribution to increase the amount of information in English is important, since English is an universal language and many people can benefit of it.

3. Why The Germ?
- The Germ is how was called the Pre-Raphaelites (artistic movement of the 19th century) publication focused in divulging and sharing their ideal. As a passionate Pre-Raphaelitism fan, I thought it could be a good name for the journal since it fits perfectly in its context, and, at the same time, paying a tribute to this enchantig art period. Most of the Pre-Raphaelite artists were dedicated to symbolic, religious and spiritual themes.

4. In what do you base your texts?
- The texts of this site are based in the Spiritist doctrine codified by the French educator Allan Kardec, which I've been studying for over 16 years. This admirable philosophy has been my "touchstone" for everything else I've been researching and studying. Its progressist, scientific character fits perfectly in my vision of things.

5. What's your religion?
- None. Even having a spiritist orientation, I don't consider myself as having a religion in the sense people make of it, and, actually, I have some reservations about them. I don't really believe in human institutions, which can be so fallible as men themselves. I believe in the religare, latin word that means "to bind", which evokes the meaning of "to bind to the divine". If we consider the Divine as being pure love, any belief system that promote intolerance, selfishness, exclusion and hate can't be associated with this idea. And I can't support or believe in them.

6. Do you believe in God?
- If we consider God as the supreme intelligence who gave origin to life in all of its manifestations, and not in the antropomorphic God of the human religions, yes, I do. We'll have the chance to discuss the concept of God opportunely.

7. I don't agree with your points of view.
- Ok, I don't expect you do. Divergences offer chances to grow. You are free to expose your opinions and comments. They will surely open space for good discussions.

8. Can I suggest topics for discussion or ask you questions?
- Sure. They are very welcome. Just leave a comment or write me: mondhaus@hotmail.com. I don't mean I have all the answers, but if I am able to help you, I will.