Spiritual family

By Valdir Aguilera

When we think about family, we are reminded of a group of people, usually parents and children, who live under one roof. Besides parents and children, it is not rare to find grandparents, uncles, cousins and other relatives under the same roof. In these cases the concept of family is extended to the whole group.

The term "family" has other meanings that do not require people to live under the same roof. For example, family can refer to a group of people united by the same surname, interest or conviction. It is not in cases like these or the one previously mentioned that we will deal with. We will consider a situation that covers all of them and others more. Let's talk about a spiritual family.

In old editions of "Rational and Scientific Spiritism (Christian)", one can read: "Even in our days, scholars like Buchner affirm that human souls are daughters of the sun, and therefore have their origin in that star". The phrase persisted for several editions and then was deleted, along with other portions of the book, possibly to simplify the content and stick to more important philosophical issues of immediate interest to the reader.

Buchner (Ludwig) wrote several books. His statement above can be found in his work Lumière et vie, Paris, 1883, p. 77. He was right, without being aware of the scope of his statement. That is what we shall see next.

Before we talk about souls (spirits) we must understand what life is and what its origin is.

Life, in the whole Universe, is a manifestation of the astral light and this is emitted by the worlds of light. And what is the origin of the worlds of light? These astral worlds are expressions of the Universal Intelligence, or Great Focus. They have, then, their origin in it. Physical worlds are particular achievements of the manifestations of the Universal Intelligence. Among the various physical realizations of the astral worlds are the celestial bodies and among these the stars.

Stars may have an associated planetary system. The Sun, for example, has associated with it the already known planets, and perhaps others not yet discovered. We will limit ourselves to the solar system, although the conclusions we will reach are valid for any planetary system.

Life in the solar system, as mentioned above, has its origin in the corresponding world of light. It is in the Sun that light, astral and physical, originates, which will give life in its broadest sense to the whole planetary system. 

Life in its broad sense? What does this mean? Is there any other meaning to life? Yes, there is, life in its restricted sense, that is, life existing in physical worlds, as on Earth for example. Life in its restricted sense also has its origin in a light, a physical light, a stellar light, the sunlight in the case of Earth.  In other words, earthly life is due to sunlight and this is a manifestation of the astral light that floods our entire planetary system. The Sun, therefore, is a world of light, from which all life emanates, in its broad or restricted sense, which animates the solar system.

Life has its origin in a world of light, we have already said, and we have added that the forces that maintain this life also have their origin in this world of light. Returning to the solar system, we concluded that life and all the forces associated with it have their origin in the Sun. When we speak of all the forces, we must include the spirits, for they are also forces, which maintain the life of human bodies. Spirits, therefore, have their origin in the astral world, the world of light, associated with the Sun.

Thus, we come to what Luiz de Mattos said in the first editions of the book already mentioned: "These are the worlds [stars] home of the particles of Universal Intelligence also called spirits or souls". In later editions, the 19th for example, practically the same thing is stated: "The physical manifestation of life depends on sunlight, which is material, but in all of space life is astral light. Some of the sparkling points [of the universe], luminous bodies, some of them being worlds that offer landing to millions of spirits"

What Buchner said, without knowing exactly what he was saying, was clarified by Luiz de Mattos.

Humanity is, therefore, a group of spirits that form a family, an astral family, a solar family. In this family we are all brothers in essence. More than enough reason to help each other.