Astral City: A Spiritual Journey - Official US Trailer

Based on the best selling book by medium Chico Xavier. The film brings to the screen what life is like at the Astral City that hovers in the upper layers of the Earth's atmosphere.

Fascinating but I do not necessarily buy the ideas..

Admin wrote:Fascinating but I do not necessarily buy the ideas..

It looks watchable and I agree I don't buy the ideas aswell, very much like Borgias unseen world which never really fitted for me neither.

Subtitles.
Not for me.
It's all very Latino these days is Spiritism and yet Kardec was a bourgeois Frenchman. I expect that reflects its popularity and evolution in South America.
Had a go at his Mediums Book once. Very much of its time very worthy and rather dull . One gets the impression that he took Spiritualism with its unitarian and universlist protestant 'shape'and attempted to render that palatable to an essentially Roman Catholic culture.
All sorts of exotic bolt ons to it since his day. Voodoo Santorini bit of this bit of that.
Very odd. Then again so are we to some........

Kardec did come up with semiotics though [signs as signifiers] and the French postmodernist 'philosophers' [PoMos] of the 60s blatantly plagiarised that without acknowledgement. Foucault & Lacan for two. Dreadful stuff. My EdD supervisor was a PoMo [went on to be a Buddhist monk in Thailand]. I still have the nighmares sometimes.

Interesting thoughts Katy and of course Kardec was against Spiritism being a religion. It has nonetheless become one, just as Spiritualism has. It is probably even more mixed up than Spiritualism. At one end it is non religous working comfortably aklongside Catholicism, at the other end, as a Brazilian once told me it is way out among the more extreme elements of voodoo.

They cook a lovely chicken stew do Brazilian spiritists.

Never any shortage of dead chickens.

Absolutely but I prefer mine cooked.

We'd best be careful Jim. Don't want a visit from that exceptionally tall black guy as wears the top hat!
OK for you in oz but its nearly midnight here in blighty.

Yes and its sunny here after the shock of a full days rain yesterday. So the guy in the top hat would stand out a wee bit here.

Mark74 wrote:

Admin wrote:Fascinating but I do not necessarily buy the ideas..

It looks watchable and I agree I don't buy the ideas aswell, very much like Borgias unseen world which never really fitted for me neither.

Why not?

A body that doesn't grow old, get sick or injured, or die. . . no heat, cold, rain, or nighttime. . . fascinating ways to spend your time. . . no need to work to earn money, no need for money. . . a confortable house, no rent, mortgage, utilities, or repairs. . . beautiful scenery, lakes you can swim in or sail on but can't drown in . . . advanced spirits from higher realms to visit and teach you. . .

I'll take your share, if you don't want it!

Jim

Admin wrote:Interesting thoughts Katy and of course Kardec was against Spiritism being a religion. It has nonetheless become one, just as Spiritualism has. It is probably even more mixed up than Spiritualism. At one end it is non religous working comfortably aklongside Catholicism, at the other end, as a Brazilian once told me it is way out among the more extreme elements of voodoo.

We have a subculture of this here in New Orleans. I should say, a subterranean culture. Best avoided.

Mark74 wrote:Based on the best selling book by medium Chico Xavier. The film brings to the screen what life is like at the Astral City that hovers in the upper layers of the Earth's atmosphere.

Is this going to be a real theatrical production, Jim? I mean, as in the "coming soon to a theatre near you" sense?

Sub titles movies tend not to get a general distributorship in England.
They're not short of dosh the Spiritists. Unlike us they do actively proselytise. You can see some of their missionary vids on here so maybe this is a general release in South America funded in full or part by the religion.
Very strange people. A million miles away from what Kardec envisaged.

KatyKing wrote:
Very strange people. A million miles away from what Kardec envisaged.

In what sense, Peter?

I don't know much about contemporary Spiritists. Or about Kardec's teachings, for that matter.


Jim

Well Kardec was pretty much a spiritualist. He lifted the concept wholesale then bolted on reincarnation.
Very French though, he counsels only heeding those spirits who agreed with him and ignoring any other messages. hence all messages tended to be filtered through his circle right up until he passed. he was a bit of a 'pope' to them.
Lots of Roman Catholic saints in his 'accepted list' of spirit communicators. One suspects he was a bit of a snob. But different days = different ways.
It took off fine style in South America in countries where there was a tradition of Indian animism plus African practices imported with the slaves.
Also very popular amongs the 'pied noir' (Algerian Born white French colonials).
They have their Billy Grahams too. That odious chancer Chico Xavier (Spirit wants you rich) lifted his spiel and schtick wholesale from the prosperity gospel neo-pentecostalist evangelists (Kenneth Copeland et al) and pitched it to the poor.
The spiritist apostle/healer/evangelists are all filthy rich and their 'marks' for the most part are undereducated poverty stricken folk from the barrios (slums).

Probably there are well intentioned spiritist but nothing I've seen of it's public face and the contexts it works in and from causes me to have anything but utter contempt.
Mind you I am a grumpy old man.

You can get Kardec's 'Mediums Book' for pennies via Amazon Kindle Jim.
There may even be a Google Book freebie as it's long out of copyright.
Will have a looksee and send a link if I find one.

http://www.geae.inf.br/en/books/codification/sb.pdf

There ya go. I can't find a Mediums Book freebie but this is his first one 'The Spirits Book'

Via the New Zealand Spiritist Association!!
(Who knew?)

No wonder they keep beating England at rugby!
Must be all those voodoo spells

Well, the trailer has grabbed my interest into wanting to watch it... if nothing else I enjoy a good film and if along the way it wets my appetite or stirs my imagination a little more - then all the better

Let me know if you get hold of a DVD or a e-link please Les. I'll give it a go too.

Thanks, Peter. The Mediums Book is the only one of Kardec's that I have read. I would like to read The Spirits Book, one of these days.

Here you go Jim all the Kardec books can be found here http://www.ssbaltimore.org/e-books.html
and a whole range of other books here
http://www.sgny.org/e-books/

Interesting I am not sure about Spiritism or the teachings of Kardec but I have not reached Katy's level of dislike ...yet. In honesty some of the modern Spiritualist Churches are nearly as whacky as the extremes of Spiritism, especially here and in the States. Some her incorporate everything both imaginable and beyond the imagination of some of us.

What Spiritism does, far better than Spiritualism is the web sites and the level of academic work. Spiritists like Dr. Anabela Cardoso have been the leaders in ITC and EVP. You can download one of her papers here http://sedna.no.sapo.pt/death_scresearch/pdf_docs/cardoso2003.pdf also on this site you can find the paper David Fontana wrote about her https://www.spiritualismlink.com/t108-annabella-cardosa-and-evp-a-paper-david-fontana

I suspect that, just as in Spiritualism, there are good and bad bits. I know Rev Stephen Herman from the US loves his bi annual visits to eth Spiritist groups in the Phillipines.

Fair comment Jim I'd insufficiently emphasised my focus on South American Spiritism. Seen that first hand. Nasty business. Can't imagine it would be remotely like that in New Zealand.