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This May, The Spiritist Radar turns toward a figure whose life touched millions across the world: Divaldo Pereira Franco. On May 13, it will be one year since Divaldo returned to the spiritual world — and if his eight decades of work pressed one truth upon us, it is that "return" is exactly the right word. Divaldo did not end. He changed addresses.
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It is tempting, on an anniversary like this, to be solemn. But solemnity would betray the very message Divaldo carried to 2,500 cities across 71 countries: that death is not a wall but a doorway, that life is continuous, and that the work of the spirit does not pause at the grave. Divaldo spent his life demystifying death and showing us the beauty of immortal life. The most faithful way to mark this year, then, is not to mourn him — it is to celebrate him, and to recognize that he is still very much at work. In essence, that is one of the central messages of Spiritism.
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And what a life to celebrate: more than 20,000 lectures, 260 published books with over 10 million copies sold, the co-founding of the Mansão do Caminho — which still serves more than 5,000 people every day — and a home opened wide enough to raise more than 650 adopted children. Numbers like these are staggering on paper. Lived out, one day at a time, across seventy years of service, they are simply astonishing. This edition holds that celebration at its center.
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You'll also find a powerful new book on moving through grief, fresh episodes from our video series, a full calendar of gatherings from Connecticut to Belgium, and our monthly walk through Spiritist history — which, fittingly, includes Divaldo's own birthday. Let us know what's on your radar!
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ON THE RADAR
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- Registration Now Open for 20th US Spiritist Symposium: Registration has opened for the 20th US Spiritist Symposium, a landmark anniversary edition, taking place Saturday, November 7, in Dania Beach, Florida. An early-bird discount is available for those who register soon.
- 4th International Spiritist Congress Joanna de Ângelis: Registration Now Open: Registration is officially open for "Overcoming the Pains of the Soul: The Path to Mental Health," to be held August 28–30 in Fátima, Portugal.
- Plenitude Spiritist Society Celebrates 10 Years: Warm congratulations to the Plenitude Spiritist Society of Orlando, Florida, marking a decade of study, service, and fellowship this month.
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The Prism of Grief — by Jussara Pretti Korngold
In The Prism of Grief, Jussara Pretti Korngold invites you to look at your sorrow through a different lens. Drawing on the insights of transcendental psychology and a spiritual perspective, the book traces the "colors" of loss — from the blue shadows of childhood to the silvering of maturity. This is not a book about "getting over" loss; it is an active healing itinerary for the metamorphosis that occurs when we move through it. It guides the soul from the fragmentation of the self toward a state of Reintegrated Light — a place where every shadow of your history is woven into a new, brilliant whole.
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NEW RESOURCES
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Watch
Let's Listen To It Again:
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Spiritist Conversation 8: Who is Divaldo Franco?
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In this conversation, Julio Carvalho, Cristiane Soares, and Marcelo Netto join Flavio and Dan in Boston to talk about Divaldo Franco — one of the great mediums of our time, and the humanitarian behind a body of work and a life of service we celebrate throughout this edition. A perfect companion to this month’s theme.
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Coming Up:
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- May 31: Spiritism in the Arts: Cacá Rezende & Special Guests (Milford, CT - USA)
- June 21: 23rd Family Spiritist Retreat (Trumbull, CT - USA)
- June 27–28: Spiritual Film Days with Wagner de Assis — five of the director's spiritual films, including the new Fox Sisters (Copenhagen, Denmark)
- August 28–30: 4th International Spiritist Congress Joanna de Ângelis: "Overcoming the Pains of the Soul — The Path to Mental Health" (Fátima, Portugal)
- September 4–6: 3rd CEEJA-ZH Retreat, "In the Light of the Gospel of Jesus" (Zurich, Switzerland)
- September 12: Integrating Well-being: Spirituality, Spiritism & Science — a one-day gathering with Jeffrey Mishlove, PhD; Helané Wahbeh, ND, MCR; Haroldo Dutra Dias, PhD; and Alexander Moreira-Almeida, MD, PhD. Simultaneous Portuguese translation provided. (Davenport, FL — USA)
- September 18–20: 9th European Spiritist Gathering + 1st Youth European Spiritist Gathering (Wegimont, Belgium) — for more information, contact european.spiritist.meeting@gmail.com
- October 10–11: 19th Spiritist Conference of Georgia: "The Spiritist View of Afflictions" (Georgia, USA)
- November 7: The 20th US Spiritist Symposium: "The Compass for Spiritual Progress" — a landmark anniversary edition! (Dania Beach, FL — USA)
For our French-speaking readers: the 25ème Symposium pour la Francophonie, organized by the Ligue du Mouvement Spirite Francophone, also takes place this month in Wégimont, Belgium — event page"
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Do you know of an event in which our readers would be interested? Let us know!
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THE SPIRITIST TIME MACHINE
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- May 1, 1880: Eurípedes Barsanulfo, Brazilian educator and prominent Spiritist medium, is born. He is best known as the founder and first headmaster of Colégio Allan Kardec, one of the first Spiritist schools in the world.
- May 2, 1823: British writer and medium Emma Hardinge Britten is born in London. Her books Modern American Spiritualism (1870) and Nineteenth Century Miracles (1884) are detailed accounts of Spiritualism in America.
- May 2, 1827: French publisher Pierre-Gaëtan Leymarie is born in Tulle, France. An early Spiritist exponent, he became editor of the Revue Spirite in 1870, after Kardec's passing.
- May 5, 1927: Renowned author, medium, speaker, and philanthropist Divaldo Pereira Franco is born in the state of Bahia, Brazil. He co-founded the Mansão do Caminho, providing education and social assistance to thousands daily.
- May 7, 1856: Allan Kardec receives a message from the spirit Hahnemann, through the mediumship of Ms. Japhet, confirming his mission to codify a new body of knowledge.
- May 7, 1861: Poet, spiritual philosopher, and 1913 Nobel Prize laureate Rabindranath Tagore is born in Kolkata, India. Divaldo Pereira Franco received psychographed messages from Tagore's spirit beginning in 1949.
- May 8, 1852: The Spiritual Telegraph, the first Spiritualist journal in the United States, is first published. It reported on séances, spirit communications, and debates within the early Spiritualist movement.
- May 9, 1879: Amália Domingo Soler witnesses, for the first time, a spirit communication from Father Germano, her spirit guide, who urges her to persist in her spiritual work.
- May 12, 2021: Suely Caldas Schubert, Brazilian medium and author of many books on mediumship, discarnates. A close friend of Chico Xavier, she made significant contributions to the study and dissemination of the Spiritist doctrine.
- May 16, 1918: Eusapia Paladino, Italian medium, discarnates in Naples, Italy. One of the most famous mediums in Spiritualism's history, she was studied by renowned scientists who often could not explain the phenomena she produced.
- May 18, 1862: Albert von Schrenck-Notzing, German physician, psychiatrist, and notable psychical researcher, is born in Oldenburg, Germany. He was a prominent figure in the early-20th-century study of psychic phenomena.
- May 19, 1985: Hemendra Nath Banerjee, Indian reincarnation researcher, discarnates in Los Angeles. He conducted pioneering research on reincarnation cases, seeking scientific validation for spiritual concepts.
- May 20, 1837: Eugène Auguste Albert de Rochas, a leading French parapsychologist and writer, is born. He wrote Successive Lives and was part of the committee that studied the medium Eusapia Paladino.
- May 22, 1859: Scottish physician-turned-writer Arthur Conan Doyle is born. The creator of Sherlock Holmes dedicated much of his life to Spiritualism, speaking and writing on the subject prolifically.
- May 22, 1885: Victor Hugo, French writer and dedicated Spiritist, discarnates in Paris, France. Hugo continues to write, having authored a number of books through the mediumship of Divaldo Franco and Zilda Gama.
- May 23, 1734: German physician Franz Anton Mesmer is born. Mesmer is well known for his study of "animal magnetism" — later known as "mesmerism" — as a factor in healing.
- May 26, 1861: Amélia Rodrigues, famous Brazilian educator, writer, and poet, is born in Santo Amaro, Bahia. She has written beautiful books about early Christianity through the mediumship of Divaldo Franco.
- May 26, 1925: William Fletcher Barrett, British/Jamaican physicist and psychical researcher, discarnates in London, UK. He was professor of experimental physics at the Royal College of Science in Dublin.
- May 27, 1832: Renowned Russian scientist and psychic researcher Alexander Aksakof is born in Gorodishche, Russia. He coined the term "telekinesis" and conducted pioneering research in psychic phenomena.
- May 30, 1431: French medium Joan of Arc is burned at the stake by the Inquisition. In a considerable turn of events, she would eventually be recognized as a saint by the Catholic Church in 1920.
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We hope you enjoyed what's on our radar for this month.
Do you have suggestions about what we should feature? Email us!
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Have a passion for promoting Spiritism in English?
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The Spiritist Radar is a publication of The Spiritist Institute.
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