A statistical approach for the determination of the time interval between succesive reincarnations.

During the 7th ENLIHPE (last August 20 2011), we have the opportunity to present the work: "A statistical approach for the determination of the time interval between succesive reincarnations." 

As it is well known, Spiritism as introduced by A. Kardec, was the first spiritualist movement in the West to fully understand the importance of reincarnation. Reincarnation is the only mechanism that can simultaneously explains many anomalies in the human personality but also show a world view more in accordance to principles of a natural justice and equity. Therefore, it is important to undestand the consequences of reincarnation not only for all of us (as individuals) but as a social and demographic phenomenon.  Assuming reincarnation as universal law of Nature, it is valid for all human beings and, therefore, it surely has collective consequencies.

The aim of this work was to build a numerical model to calculate the time interval between sucessive reincarnations of a human individuality. The work is based on the following principles:

1. There is a single base of time that can be used to determine the time interval between two lives (what we call 'erraticity time');
2. There is conservation of 'individuality', that is, the human personality survives physical death and conserves consciousness (which is, in fact, the source of personality). Consciousness is conserved in a nonmaterial unit called 'Spirit' (note the capital letter "S");
3. Spirits can not be 'destroyed' (there is no 'second death');
4. To each Spirit a single body is associated during a reincarnation;
5. To reincarnate, there is competition among distinct disembodied populations of the spirit world (we distinguish between the imediate vicinity of the physical world - that we called 'spirit plane' -  and 'other planes' or spirit world zones far from earth).  
6. On the physical plane (our physical world) each individual is born from two other individuals. However, as far as the birth of Spirits is concerned, there is no known mechanism for the Spirit´s birth. In fact, the origin of the Spirits is a mystery. For all practical purposes, we can assume the existence of a infinite reservoir of disembodied individualities in the spirit world (since the Universe is infinite);
7. Human exisistence on the physical plane is limited by the life of the physical body. There is no upper limit for the existence of the Spirit (assuming principle #3)

Principles stated above are based on many answers provided by Spirits in 'The Book of Spirit' (SB). For example: principle #1 is stated in SQ-Q#224; principle #2 in SB-Q#92 and 150; principle #3 in SB-Q#83; principle #4 in SB-Q#137; principle #5 in SB-Q#172 and 173, principle #6 in SB-Q# 81 and, finally, principle #7 in SB-Q#68. 

In the work, we made several predictions concerning the way populations on both physical and spirit planes interact. Such prediction are based on the principles described above and some other hypothesis. We finally made some numerical calculations showing that the 'erraticity time' (the time between sucessive reincarnations) is hidden in the birth rate of the physical population.

Graph below shows the time evolution of life expectancy on the physical plane (left) and the erraticity time (right) in years for the Brazilian population as calculated by our model. Both intervals are given as a function of time from 1970 and 2000.

How could such predictions be validaded ? If it were possible to track the previous life of a group of individuals (for a restricted population, say 100 people) by finding the date of the previous death - to a certain degree, this was shown to be possible in some cases (Stevenson, 1966) - erraticity time could be statistically calculated since the birth date of the present life is already known. 

Such results show the heuristic fertility of spiritist principles that not only admit that we all survive physical death but that our personality evolves through many lives on the physical plane. 

References

Kardec A. (1857). 'The Spirit´s Book. There are several editions in English of this work;

Stevenson I. (1966) Twenty Cases Suggestive of Reincarnation. (1966). (Second revised and enlarged edition 1974), University of Virginia Press, ISBN 0813908728.

Book review by M. E. Tymn: Chico Xavier, Medium of the Century

By Michael E. Tymn

Although little is known of him outside of Brazil and other parts of the Portuguese-speaking world, Francisco Candido "Chico" Xavier is considered by those who knew him and witnessed him to be one of the greatest mediums ever. His biographer, Guy Lyon Playfair of the United Kingdom, a long-time investigator of psychic phenomena, subtitles his book, "Medium of the Century."

Xavier, who dropped out of school at age 13, produced, by means of automatic writing, 458 books with sales in excess of 50 million. All of the royalties were donated to charity as Xavier lived on a very modest income from his government job and pension. In 2000, a newspaper in the Brazilian state of Minas Gerias asked its readers to vote for "person of the century." With more than 700,000 readers responding, Xavier won the vote over an aviation pioneer, a former president of the country, and the legendary soccer player, Pelé. More than 120,000 people lined up in a queue over two miles long to file past Xavier's coffin and 30,000 joined in the funeral procession. The state governor declared three days of mourning. A stamp honoring Xavier on the 100th anniversary of his birthday on April 2, 2010 was issued by the Brazilian post office. 

Playfair informs us that young Chico began demonstrating psychic abilites at the age of four but it was not until 1927, at age 17, that he became a practicing medium. His 421-page 1932 book entitled "Parnassus From Beyond the Tomb," became a best seller in the Portuguese-speaking world. It contains 259 poems signed by 56 different deceased Brazilian poets, all of them judged by experts to be in the style and character of the individual poets when they were alive. 

Xavier's books include literature, history, science, and Spiritist doctrine, the content going far beyond Xavier's education and knowledge. In discussing one of the science books, Playfair states that "it reveals an immense knowledge of several sciences that no ordinary writer, even a qualified scientist, could have assembled without copious research and note-taking." A book on first century Rome runs to 553 pages. 

Playfair extracts some very interesting passages from Xavier's books. For example, he quotes spirit communicator Andre Luiz, who had been a Brazilian doctor when incarnate, as complaining of the difficulty of finding words to explain the spirit world. "Death merely dilates our concepts and clarifies our introspection, illuminating our moral sense. But in no way does it solve the problems which the Universe poses at every step with its display of grandeur." 

André further communicates that "all matter is essentially energy made visible" emanating from a divine source that even he, in his new environment, was incapable of comprehending. "André Luiz strips the next world of all its metaphysical aspects and presents it as something just as real as this one," Playfair offers. 

Xavier's credibility and reputation were such, Playfair further informs the reader,that messages received through his hand were accepted as evidence in a court of law. 

Xavier did not take credit for the books and in each case stated the name of the spirit person who dictated it to him. Playfair points out that had Xavier taken credit for the writing himself, he would have received much greater acclaim than he did, and he would have been a very rich man. One is left with the impression that Xavier was a very humble and sincere person. 

While the book runs to only 98 pages, it is filled with interesting and intriguing facts about Chico Xavier and about the "other world," as communicated through his hand. It has prompted me to search for books by Xavier which have been translated into English.

Book details

Title: Chico Xavier, Medium of the Century,
Publisher: Roundtable Publishing; 1st edition (October 1, 2010)
ISBN-10: 095644931X
ISBN-13: 978-0956449313