Allan Kardec-THE Spirit's Book_ The Principles of Spiritist Doctrine (1989)

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ALLAN KARDEC
469. By what means can we neutralise the influence of evil spirits?
"By doing only what is right, and putting all your trust in God, you repel the influence of
inferior spirits, and prevent them from obtaining power over you. Take care not to listen to
the suggestions of spirits who inspire you with evil thoughts, stir up discord among you, and
excite in you evil passions. Distrust especially those who flatter your pride, for, in so doing,
they attack you on your weakest side. This is why Jesus makes you say in the Lord's Prayer,
'Let us not succumb to temptation, but deliver us from evil.'"
470. Have the spirits who seek to lead us into evil, and who thus put our firmness in rectitude
to the proof, received a mission to do this; and, is so, are they responsible for the
accomplishment of such a mission?
"No spirit ever receives a mission to do evil; when he does it, he does it of his own will, and,
therefore, undergoes the consequences of his wrongdoing. God may let him take his evil way,
in order to try you; but He does not command him to do so, and it is for you to repel him."
471. When we feel a sensation of vague anxiety, of undefinable uneasiness, or of interior
satisfaction, without any assignable cause, do these sensations proceed simply from our
physical state?
"They are almost always an effect of the communications which you unconsciously receive
from the spirits about you, or which you have received from them during your sleep."
472. When spirits wish to excite us to evil, do they merely take advantage of the
circumstances in which we find ourselves, or can they themselves bring about the
circumstances which may favour their designs?
"They take advantage of the occurrence of any favourable circumstances, but they also often
bring them about, by urging you on, without your being aware of it, towards the object of
your unwise desire. Thus, for instance, a man picks up a roll of banknotes by the wayside.
You must not imagine that spirits have brought this money to this particular spot, but they
may have suggested to the man the idea of going that way; and, when he has found the
money, they may suggest to him the idea of taking possession of it, while others suggest to
him the idea of