Spiritist centre

A Spiritist Centre, also called Spiritist Society or Spiritist House, is the basic unit of organisation of Spiritism. In the legal aspect they are ordinary non-profit associations, whose members are in charge of providing funds to run the centre itself and the various charity activities kept by it. Each centre is run by a "president" or one or more "directors" elected for a term.

Besides the legal and corporeal aspects of its existence, a Centre is also believed by its members to have an informal and incorporeal level of existence in the spirit world which comprises its patron and a series of protector spirits (which may be shared by other centres in the world).

Types of societies

There are many types of Spiritist organisations, depending on their goals, formal organisation, size, etc.

* Familiar societies (often termed "Spiritist Groups") do not have legal existence and conduct their meetings in private homes. Most of the social works provided by such societies is also informal and irregular.
* Public societies (the "Spiritist Centres" in the proper sense) must have legal existence and host their meetings in dedicated buildings. They have a fairly large number of members (ranging from about 100 to thousands) and usually provide significant social work, in form of schools, clinics, food distribution for the poor, etc.
* Regional and national entities are groups that organise and coordinate the activities of Spiritism state or nationwide.

As of 2006 some spiritists claim that some websites, like [http://www.espirito.org.br this one] or [http://br.geocities.com/edsonbsouza/ this one] , both in Brazil, are really worth considering as candidates for a fourth type of Spiritist society: the virtual society.

Activities

Spiritist Centres are complex to define because they are not, in the strictest sense, ordinary religious entities. The activities carried on by a spiritist centres are of many types:

Formation of followers

A Spiritist centre should be founded by someone well-versed in the doctrine and its primordial activity should be that of preparing the members for further activities that will be carried on.

Formation of followers is a process that never stops -- though it is of the utmost importance in the early years. Doctrinal classes have a twofold goal: 1) to share the knowledge available in the books and brought by the founders 2) to identify potential mediums and workers.

Most centres conduct the following courses:

* Basic course for beginners -- intended for newcomers, are based on the general aspects of the doctrine.
* Study of The Spirits Book
* Study of The Mediums Book
* Studies of the Gospels and/or The Gospel According to Spiritism
* Advanced studies (including The Genesis According to Spiritism, Heaven and Hell, and works of other writers, like Léon Denis, Chico Xavier, Gabriel Delanne and others, which are regarded as complementary to Kardec.
* Basic course for children
* Short courses -- meetings in which other books are studied.

The first three courses are almost universal.

Proselytism

The only form of proselytism found in Spiritism is the disclosure of the doctrine (or aspects of it) to the general public. Divulgation of doctrine is carried on in many ways:

* Workshops
* Radio transmissions
* Websites
* Staging of plays featuring the doctrine
* Management of a public library containing mostly books on the doctrine or written by mediums

piritual assistance

Spiritual assistance comprises disobsession, healing and blessing (directed to the followers and occasional visitors) but also medium meetings in which several types of "spiritual" assistance is directed to spirits of deceased people. Spiritist understand the term "Spiritual assistance" very literally, meaning "assistance to the spirit" of either a living person or a deceased one.

Spiritual assistance is intended to fight the four greatest foes of mankind -- suicide, murder (which includes abortion), addiction and envy (which is the cause of most other problems) -- thus reducing the suffering of mankind.

The ultimate goal of spiritual assistance is to help our planet to make it through its current stage of evolution, ceasing to be a "world of penance" to become a happier one.

Material assistance

Spiritist centres also carry on social works directed to outsiders which are "in need of help". Material assistance is intended to provide relief to the immediate needs of the poor and the unhappy.

In Brazil, Spiritist centres characteristically maintain the following types of charities:

* Crèches
* Kindergartens
* Orphanages
* Distribution of food for the homeless
* Distribution of medicines for the ill (including contraceptives for the poor)

Bigger centres may keep clinics, schools, publishing houses, etc.

It is noteworthy that, in spite of their respect for homoeopathy, the kind of medicine practised in clinics maintained by spiritist centres and the medicines they give to the poor are both nearly always mainstream.

ee also

* Spiritism
* Spiritist doctrine
* Allan Kardec

External links

* [http://www.ssbaltimore.org Spiritist Society of Baltimore]
* [http://www.sssandiego.org Spiritist Society of San Diego]