     spiritism is a spiritualist doctrine codified in the 19th century by the french educator allan kardec, proposed to the study of "the nature, origin, and destiny of spirits, and their relation with the corporeal world".moreira-almeida, alexander (2008). allan kardec and the development of a research program in psychic experiences. proceedings of the parapsychological association & society for psychical research convention. winchester, uk. spiritism soon spread to other countries, having today 35 countries represented in the international spiritist council.international spiritist council, members website. spiritism postulates that humans are essentially immortal spirits that temporarily inhabit physical bodies for several necessary incarnations to attain moral and intellectual improvement. the inscription on the tomb of kardec sums it up: "to be born, die, again be reborn, and so progress unceasingly, such is the law". it also implies the beneficent or maleficent possible influence of disembodied spirits on spirits embodied, through passive or active mediumship.lucchetti g, daher jc jr, iandoli d jr, gonÃ§alves jp, lucchetti al. historical and cultural aspects of the pineal gland: comparison between the theories provided by spiritism in the 1940s and the current scientific evidence.. neuro endocrinol lett. 2013;34(8):745-55. indexed on pubmed. the first appearance of the term occurred in french literature with the publication of the the spirits' book. in this book, kardec sought to distinguish spiritualism and spiritism. spiritism has influenced a social movement of healing centers, charity institutions and hospitals involving millions of people in dozens of countries, most of them in brazil. ==origins==  spiritism is based on the five books of the spiritist codification written by french educator hypolite lÃ©on denizard rivail under the pseudonym allan kardec reporting sÃ©ances in which he observed a series of phenomena that were attributed to incorporeal intelligence (spirits). his work was later extended by writers like lÃ©on denis, gabriel delanne, arthur conan doyle, ernesto bozzano, gustav geley, chico xavier, divaldo pereira franco, waldo vieira, alexandr aksakov, [[william crookes
New_religious_movements Spiritism