343. When we have evoked the spirits of our relations and friends, or those of celebrated personages with a view to ascertaining their opinions on questions of general interest, we are often at a loss as to what to say to them, and are sometimes in danger of falling into commonplaces and futilities. Many persons suppose, moreover, that The Spirits' Book has exhausted the series of moral and philosophical questions that may be profitably addressed to the people of the other world; but this is an error, as we are about to show.

344. If the evocation of illustrious spirits is eminently useful through the instructive statements they make to us, that of ordinary spirits is not less so, because, although the latter are incapable of answering questions of high import, their very inferiority is instructive, through the light it throws on the subject of our intellectual and moral progress, and on the conditions of existence beyond the grave, as we explained above (No 281).

An inexhaustible mine of observation is therefore furnished by the statements of all those whose earthly life has presented some peculiarity, however trifling, whether in the manner of their death, their age, their good or bad qualities, their social position, their habits, mental state, etc, as compared with their state in the spirit world. With elevated spirits, the area of investigation is still farther enlarged besides the psychological questions we may address to them, but which have their limit in the present state of our faculties and scientific knowledge, we may propose to them an infinity of moral problems concerning the various positions and uses of the earthly life, the best method of acting under certain circumstances, our reciprocal duties, etc. The value of the answers we receive on any subject, whether moral, historical, philosophical, or scientific, depends, it is hardly necessary to say, on the degree of elevation of the spirit interrogated; it is for us to judge of this value with the aid of examination and of reason.

345. Besides evocations, the spontaneous statements often made by spirits afford an endless variety of subjects for study. Thus, in spiritist meetings, we may either make a direct appeal to some spirit previously determined on, or we may await the manifestations of spirits who may present themselves spontaneously, as they sometimes do most unexpectedly, and whose statements may give rise to a multitude of interesting questions.

346. The occupations of meeting for study may be divided under the following heads:

1. Reading of spirit communications obtained at the previous meeting.

2. Reading of reports, correspondence, and communications obtained elsewhere. Relation of facts bearing on Spiritism.

3. Consideration of given subjects in conjunction with spirits. Spontaneous dictations by spirits, through the mediums present. Questions on various moral subjects addressed to the spirits who take part in the meeting. Evocations.

4. Analytical and critical examination of the communications obtained. Discussion of points of the spiritist doctrine.

347. Spiritist groups, in their early stages, are sometimes impeded by the want of mediums; and even those which possess several mediums may accidentally find themselves without any. Scientific societies have not always their instruments of experimentation at hand, yet they are seldom at a loss to find subjects upon which to discourse; in the absence of poets and orators, literary societies comment upon the works of ancient and modern authors; religious societies meditate on the Scriptures, and so on, Spiritist Societies should follow these examples; and, in the absence of mediums, may read and comment upon everything connected with Spiritism, both for and against it. From discussions of this sort, to which each member brings the tribute of his reflections, much light may be elicited, especially in the larger societies, including members of intelligence and experience, such as would rarely be found in private groups.

Besides distinctively spiritist subjects, the daily press presents a constant succession of facts, narratives, events, traits of virtue and of vice, which involve weighty questions of morality that can only be answered by the spiritist theory, connected as it is with every department of natural law and of social order. (No 207 in chapter Training of mediums)