History of spiritism in Brazil

With the outbreak of modern spiritism phenomena in Hydesville, United States, through the mediumship of the Fox sisters (1848), these quickly spread to Europe where, in France, the so-called "turning tables" became a popular fad. In France, this type of phenomenon, in 1855, caught the attention of the educator Hippolyte Léon Denizard Rivail. As a result of his research, he published the first edition of The Spirits' Book (Paris, 1857), under the pseudonym "Allan Kardec". The foundation of the Spiritist doctrine is contained in this book and four others published later: The Mediums' Book, 1861; The Gospel According to Spiritism, 1864; Heaven and Hell, 1865; The Genesis According to Spiritism, 1868. These combined books are called the "Kardecist Pentateuch".