Spiritualism and spiritual surgeries

Abstract

In this article we will present Spiritism as a religion and the work of “spiritual surgery” as a healing activity, forming a peculiar type of gift system. To do this, we will use bibliographical research and field analysis, showing the activities and experience of the healing medium João Berbel, resident in Franca – SP and who works in spiritual surgery practices. In this sense, we will give conceptual emphasis to the idea of ​​the leader's charisma, combined with the recognition of the gift system as an important factor in Kardecist spiritualism, forging the exchange of non-equivalent values ​​within the logic of giving, receiving and reciprocating. At the Instituto de Medicina do Além, the research site, activities such as lectures are carried out; studies on doctrine; disobsession work; training and recreational activities with children, in addition to the aforementioned spiritual surgery. The latter is based on the belief that the medium carries out, in partnership with his mentor (a spirit), religious work, as in the case of João Berbel and his mentor Dr. Ismael Alonso, who was a doctor in the city of Franca in the 20th century. In this sense, we made use of reports from the center's collaborators, collected through semi-structured interviews, as well as the use of Weber's theories on the idea of ​​charisma and Marcel Mauss's gift system.