History of spiritism in Brazil

Following the emergence of modern Spiritualist events in Hydesville, New York, United States, via the mediumship of the Fox sisters (1848), the phenomena 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".