Spiritism or Kardecism is a reincarnationist and spiritualist doctrine established in France in the mid-19th century by writer and educator Hippolyte Léon Denizard Rivail. Kardec considered his doctrine to derive from a Christian perspective. He described a cycle by which a spirit supposedly returns to material existence after the death of the old body in which it dwelled, as well as the evolution it undergoes during this process. Kardecism emerged as a new religious movement in tandem with spiritualism, the notions and practices associated with spiritual communication disseminated throughout North America and Europe since the 1850s.
Allan Kardec, portrait from L'Illustration, 10 March 1869
Parisian salon with people practicing three variations of table-turning using a ring, a table, and a hat. (L'Illustration, Histoire de la semaine, May 14, 1853).
"To be born, to die, to be reborn yet again, and to constantly progress, such is the law", in French on Kardec's tomb.
Publication of The Spirits' Book from 1860 in Paris
Santería, also known as Regla de Ocha, Regla Lucumí, or Lucumí, is an Afro-Caribbean religion that developed in Cuba during the late 19th century. It arose amid a process of syncretism between the traditional Yoruba religion of West Africa, the Roman Catholic form of Christianity, and Spiritism. There is no central authority in control of Santería and much diversity exists among practitioners, who are known as creyentes ("believers").
A group of Santería practitioners performing the Cajón de Muertos ceremony in Havana in 2011
A figure at the Templo Yemalla, a casa (house of worship) devoted to the oricha Yemaja in Trinidad, Cuba
One of the most prominent oricha is Eleguá, who is represented by small cement heads kept in the home.
Offerings before a statue of Saint Lazarus in Havana; this saint represents the oricha Babalú Ayé