A Parisian teacher named Hippolyte Léon Denizard Rivall published a book in 1857 under a pseudonym. The book, Le Livre des Esprits (The Spirits’ Book), claimed to be a collection of dialogues dictated by discarnate spirits. The author called himself Allan Kardec. Across the Atlantic in the same decade, the Fox sisters were rattling walls in Hydesville, New York, and Andrew Jackson Davis was preaching a “Harmonial Philosophy” from a trance state. The three movements shared a root — the belief that the dead could communicate with the living — but they grew into different trees. Allan Kardec’s Spiritism is a codified doctrine with a moral framework and a scientific method, distinct from the more spontaneous, medium-driven American Spiritualism of the Fox sisters and Davis, and from the esoteric Theosophy that followed.
What Is Allan Kardec’s Spiritism, and How Did It Begin?
Allan Kardec (1804–1869) was a French educator, a student of Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi, who had no initial interest in the paranormal. In 1854, a friend showed him the “table-turning” phenomenon then sweeping Europe. Kardec attended a séance, observed the raps and movements, and concluded that the phenomena were not tricks but the actions of intelligent beings. He began to question the spirits systematically, using a method he called “universal control” – comparing answers from multiple mediums across different circles. The result was a series of books: The Spirits’ Book (1857), The Mediums’ Book (1861), The Gospel According to Spiritism (1864), and Heaven and Hell (1865). Kardec defined Spiritism as “a science that deals with the nature, origin, and destiny of spirits, and their relation to the corporeal world.”
The American movement called Spiritualism began earlier, with the reported rapping communications of the Fox sisters in Hydesville, New York, in 1848. Andrew Jackson Davis, a self-taught clairvoyant, had already published The Principles of Nature, Her Divine Revelations, and a Voice to Mankind in 1847, which he claimed was dictated while in a trance. Unlike Kardec’s systematic approach, Davis’s writings were intuitive, poetic, and focused on a pantheistic harmony with nature. The Fox sisters’ phenomena were raw, physical, and often contested. Kardec built his system on the principle that spirits are not static but evolve through multiple lives. American Spiritualism, by contrast, largely rejected reincarnation and emphasized immediate proof of survival.
How Did Their Methods of Investigation Differ?
Kardec insisted on a controlled, scientific method. He would pose a set of questions to a group of mediums, then compare the answers. If the same answer came from different mediums in different cities, he considered it validated. He called this “the concordance of communications.” The goal was to extract a coherent philosophy, not to entertain or produce phenomena. “We never rely on a single medium,” he wrote in The Mediums’ Book.
The Fox sisters operated differently. They held séances where the “rappings” and table movements were the main event. The spirits answered yes/no questions through knocks. There was no systematic questioning; the focus was on demonstrating that the dead could communicate. Andrew Jackson Davis worked entirely in trance. He would lie on a couch, slip into a state of clairvoyance, and dictate lectures that were later published. He did not cross-check sources; he claimed direct access to a universal intelligence.
Emma Hardinge Britten, another prominent figure in early Spiritualism, was a trance speaker and later a historian of the movement. Her style was theatrical and improvisational. Kardec looked at these methods and found them unreliable. He believed that without control, the medium’s own mind could interfere, or mischievous spirits could deceive. The difference was not just temperament; it was a fundamental disagreement about how to discern truth from illusion.
What Doctrines Separated Kardec from the Others?
The most significant doctrinal difference is reincarnation. Kardec’s Spiritism teaches that spirits incarnate multiple times, progressing morally and intellectually with each life. This is central to his system: the spirits told him that the soul’s journey is a series of earthly experiences, each one a chance to learn. American Spiritualism, particularly in its early decades, largely rejected reincarnation. The Fox sisters and Davis taught that the spirit continues in a “summerland” of rest and growth, but does not return to Earth. This split was deep. When Kardec’s books reached America, many Spiritualists dismissed them as “French” and foreign.
Another difference is the role of Jesus. Kardec’s The Gospel According to Spiritism treats Jesus as a model of moral perfection, a spirit who had reached the highest state before incarnation. The teachings of Jesus are interpreted through the lens of spirit communication. American Spiritualism, especially in the early 1800s, was often anti-clerical and avoided any specific religious doctrine. Some Spiritualists were Christian, but many were deists or pantheists. Davis’s Harmonial Philosophy spoke of “God as the great central sun” and had no need for a personal savior.
The structure of knowledge also differs. Kardec produced a closed canon of books. The spirits had spoken, and the codification was complete. American Spiritualism remained open-ended. New revelations could come through any medium, and there was no central authority. This made the movement flexible but also prone to fragmentation.
How Did the Movements Spread and Influence the World?
Kardec’s Spiritism took root first in France, then in Spain, and most powerfully in Brazil. The first Spiritist group in Brazil was founded in 1865, and by the early 20th century, it had become a major religious movement. Brazilian Spiritism (Espiritismo) is intensely doctrinal, using Kardec’s books as scriptures. Mediums are trained to produce “psychography” (automatic writing) and to give “passes” (energetic healing). The influence is visible in the works of Chico Xavier (1910–2002), who psychographed over 400 books, many attributed to spirits. Xavier’s work is read by millions.
American Spiritualism spread through lecture circuits and camp meetings, such as Lily Dale in New York, founded in 1879. It influenced the mental health movement, the women’s suffrage movement (many mediums were women), and the New Thought movement. But it never produced a single canonical text. The Fox sisters eventually confessed to fraud (and later retracted), which damaged the movement’s credibility. Kardec’s Spiritism, by contrast, weathered criticism by emphasizing its philosophical coherence over its phenomena.
Theosophy, founded by Helena Blavatsky in 1875, also emerged from the spiritualist milieu, but Blavatsky explicitly rejected Kardec’s methods. She claimed that the true masters were not dead humans but ascended adepts in Tibet. Her doctrine included reincarnation, but in a much more complex system of cosmic cycles, not the straightforward moral progression of Kardec. Theosophy became a competitor to Spiritism, especially in Europe and Asia.
What Are the Common Misconceptions About These Founders?
A common error is treating Kardec as the inventor of spirit communication. He did not invent the phenomena; he organized them. The Fox sisters and Davis preceded him. Another is the belief that “Spiritism” and “Spiritualism” are interchangeable. They are not. Spiritism implies a specific philosophy with reincarnation, a moral code, and a set of books. Spiritualism is a broader term for the belief that the dead can communicate, without a fixed doctrine.
Some people assume Kardec’s work was based on fraud. There is no evidence that Kardec faked anything. He was a skeptical observer who applied scientific standards insofar as he could in the 19th century. The spirits he consulted were real to him, but the question of their objective reality is outside the scope of this article. We note that the library’s own position is that the phenomena are worth studying, regardless of one’s belief in their origin.
FAQ
Did Allan Kardec actually speak to spirits?
Kardec believed he did, and he recorded dialogues with spirits that he identified as Socrates, Saint Augustine, and others. He used a method of comparing answers from multiple mediums to verify consistency.
What is the difference between Spiritism and Spiritualism?
Spiritism is a specific doctrine founded by Allan Kardec, centered on reincarnation and moral evolution. Spiritualism is a broader movement that believes in communication with the dead but does not necessarily accept reincarnation.
Why is Kardec so popular in Brazil?
Brazilian Spiritism grew rapidly because it combined Kardec’s philosophy with existing Afro-Brazilian traditions and offered a framework for mediumship and healing. Chico Xavier’s psychographic works cemented its popularity.
Are the Fox sisters considered founders of Spiritism?
No. They are founders of American Spiritualism, but not of Spiritism, which is a distinct system. The two movements diverged on reincarnation and method.
A Closing Observation
The differences between Allan Kardec and his contemporaries are not just historical curiosities. They shape how millions of people today practice mediumship, understand reincarnation, and communicate with the dead. To explore the methods of mediumship further, we invite you to our guide to mediumship practices. For a deeper look at the concept of reincarnation, visit our glossary entry on reincarnation. And if you wish to understand how to conduct a controlled séance in the Kardecist tradition, see our how-to guide on mediumship. The spirits may speak, but the method matters.