CONTENTS

Editorial Note II
Preface 1

PART ONE:

DISTINCTIONS AND NECESSARY PRECISIONS

1. Definition of Spiritism 9
2. The Origins of Spiritism 16
3. Beginnings of Spiritism in France 28
4. The Modern Character of Spiritism 36
5. Spiritism and Occultism 52
6. Spiritism and Psychism 64
7. Explanation of Spiritist Phenomena 78

PART TWO:

EXAMINATION OF SPIRITIST THEORIES

1. The Variety of Spiritist Schools 107
2. The Influence of the Milieu 114
3. Immortality and Survival 125
4. Representations of the Afterlife 133
5. Communication with the Dead 154
6. Reincarnation 166
7. Reincarnationist Extravagances 191

8 The Limits of Experimentation 208
9 Spiritist Evolutionism 231
10 The Question of Satanism 253
11 Seers and Healers 277
12 Antoinism 294
13 Spiritist Propaganda 307
14 The Dangers of Spiritism 327
Conclusion 339
Index 345