Experimental Demonstration of the Immortal Soul  

The first questions that needed to be addressed were: What are these spirits? What is their role in the Universe? To what end do they communicate with us? The answers to those questions brought serious proof of not only the existence of the soul, but also of the soul's survival and continued individuality after death.  

The facts themselves, Kardec writes, "fall into 2 categories: those that are spontaneous and those that are provoked. Among the former are the visions and apparitions, the noises and movement of objects without a material cause, and a great number of uncommon effects that we used to look upon as supernatural. The latter are those obtained through mediums."

In that category of mediumistic "data," were included communications that provided information about people, places, and times often previously unknown to anyone present, sometimes in languages completely unknown to the medium.  There were even written messages that were received in the medium's native language despite the illiteracy of that particular medium! 

The science of experimental Spiritism began to emerge in its true role, which Gabriel Delanne describes, in the book "O Fenomeno Espirita" (Spiritist Phenomena), as "a science, whose purpose is the experimental demonstration of the existence of the soul and its immortality, by way of the communication with those who we inappropriately call 'the dead'." (quotation as cited by Barbosa in the book, "Basic Spiritism").  

In these communications, the spirits revealed that they were the souls of former men and women on Earth.  Furthermore, they told about the habits and behaviors that they had in past lives and shared how the consequences of such affected their present state.  These communications revealed, in detail, the kinds of suffering or rewards that result from the choices we make in using our free will.

As one can imagine, each new piece of information revealed only brought more philosophical questions.  This process resulted in a collection of information so significant that Kardec, following instructions from the higher spirits, published several questions and answers in the first book of Spiritism's codification, titled "The Spirits' Book".

The practice of observation and analysis that resulted in the birth of Spiritism is still alive and active today.  With time and progress, we continue to learn more about the nature of our world and the divine laws under which it is governed.

Kardec, Allan. Christian Spiritism (a compilation of two Kardec books: Spiritism Reduced to Its Simplest Expression and What is Spiritism).  Trans. Allan Kardec Educational Society (translated from original French editions, published 1860 and 1859, respectively). Philadelphia, PA. Allan Kardec Educational Society. 1985. 4; 59; 193-195.

Barbosa, Pedro Franco. "O Espiritismo Cientifico" [Scientific Spiritism] Espiritismo Basico [Basic Spiritism]. 3rd ed. Rio de Janeiro-RJ, Brazil: Federação Espírita Brasileira [Brazilian Spiritist Federation].1987. 105-106.