1 00:00:00,423 --> 00:00:03,340 (mysterious music) 2 00:00:04,620 --> 00:00:07,370 Can we communicate with spirits? 3 00:00:07,370 --> 00:00:09,800 An enigmatic figure in the French capital of Paris 4 00:00:09,800 --> 00:00:11,930 maintained it was possible. 5 00:00:11,930 --> 00:00:15,540 His name was Allan Kardec, and what he achieved 6 00:00:15,540 --> 00:00:17,653 shook people's beliefs to the core. 7 00:00:18,806 --> 00:00:20,038 (speaking French) 8 00:00:20,038 --> 00:00:21,920 Kardec died on March 31st, 1869. 9 00:00:23,310 --> 00:00:25,990 This was the start of an enthusiasm and a movement that 10 00:00:25,990 --> 00:00:27,363 has lasted to this day. 11 00:00:29,230 --> 00:00:30,810 In the mid-19th century, 12 00:00:30,810 --> 00:00:33,433 Kardec established spiritism in Paris. 13 00:00:35,403 --> 00:00:37,160 Can we communicate with the dead? 14 00:00:37,160 --> 00:00:40,053 This is one of the city's most mysterious affairs. 15 00:00:41,150 --> 00:00:44,040 If we want to discover the truth, this is where we 16 00:00:44,040 --> 00:00:45,223 must investigate. 17 00:00:48,084 --> 00:00:50,834 (dramatic music) 18 00:00:54,430 --> 00:00:55,893 I'm Jean-Marc Leri. 19 00:00:57,060 --> 00:01:00,610 I've devoted my life to understanding Paris' history, 20 00:01:00,610 --> 00:01:04,683 studying its secrets, and wandering its maze of streets. 21 00:01:06,200 --> 00:01:08,943 The city holds many centuries-old mysteries. 22 00:01:09,950 --> 00:01:12,438 Often these cases are dismissed 23 00:01:12,438 --> 00:01:16,263 as occult phenomena, myths, legends, or popular beliefs. 24 00:01:18,530 --> 00:01:20,900 Things have happened here, though. 25 00:01:20,900 --> 00:01:24,330 There are facts, consistencies, 26 00:01:24,330 --> 00:01:26,093 and bonafide witnesses. 27 00:01:29,480 --> 00:01:32,560 Historians, scientists, and investigators 28 00:01:32,560 --> 00:01:35,123 of all sorts have been unable to solve them. 29 00:01:37,386 --> 00:01:40,020 (dramatic music) 30 00:01:40,020 --> 00:01:43,920 It is time to reveal the most plausible theories 31 00:01:43,920 --> 00:01:46,493 and to get as close as possible to the truth. 32 00:01:48,380 --> 00:01:51,913 Here's Paris as you've never seen it before. 33 00:01:52,943 --> 00:01:55,693 (dramatic music) 34 00:02:05,296 --> 00:02:07,796 (eerie music) 35 00:02:20,030 --> 00:02:23,913 Our investigation begins in Paris' biggest cemetery, 36 00:02:25,740 --> 00:02:28,213 a place of secrets and mystery: 37 00:02:29,060 --> 00:02:30,023 Pere Lechaise. 38 00:02:34,361 --> 00:02:35,740 (eerie music) 39 00:02:35,740 --> 00:02:37,150 It is home to the grave of 40 00:02:37,150 --> 00:02:41,637 one of Paris's most enigmatic figures, Allan Kardec. 41 00:02:43,632 --> 00:02:46,080 Kardec established a movement, spiritism, 42 00:02:47,190 --> 00:02:50,160 based on the idea that it's possible to communicate 43 00:02:50,160 --> 00:02:51,870 with spirits. 44 00:02:51,870 --> 00:02:54,683 His grave is the most visited in Pere Lachaise. 45 00:02:55,580 --> 00:02:58,530 Almost 150 years after his death, 46 00:02:58,530 --> 00:03:01,693 Kardec still draws people from all over the world. 47 00:03:04,870 --> 00:03:08,863 Making contact with the beyond, communicating with the dead. 48 00:03:12,060 --> 00:03:15,850 Allan Kardec's assertions still fascinate those who believe 49 00:03:15,850 --> 00:03:17,053 in his tenets. 50 00:03:19,580 --> 00:03:21,093 What if it were true? 51 00:03:23,200 --> 00:03:26,260 Did Allan Kardec really find the means of communicating 52 00:03:26,260 --> 00:03:27,173 with the dead? 53 00:03:30,010 --> 00:03:32,323 The answer lies here in Paris. 54 00:03:35,185 --> 00:03:37,685 (eerie music) 55 00:03:46,540 --> 00:03:49,380 To better understand the whole business, 56 00:03:49,380 --> 00:03:51,603 we have to go back a few years. 57 00:03:52,655 --> 00:03:55,155 (eerie music) 58 00:03:59,970 --> 00:04:02,190 It all began in the United States 59 00:04:02,190 --> 00:04:05,673 with the birth of spiritualism in the 1840s. 60 00:04:07,690 --> 00:04:12,050 The Fox sisters participated in the movement's development. 61 00:04:12,050 --> 00:04:16,690 On the night of March 31st, 1848, in a small farmhouse 62 00:04:16,690 --> 00:04:19,483 in Hydesville near Rochester, New York, 63 00:04:23,070 --> 00:04:28,070 Margaret and Kate, the daughters of a blacksmith, John Fox, 64 00:04:28,130 --> 00:04:30,113 made contact with a spirit. 65 00:04:31,114 --> 00:04:33,890 (eerie music) 66 00:04:33,890 --> 00:04:36,760 The being communicated by rapping on the walls 67 00:04:36,760 --> 00:04:38,523 and moving the furniture. 68 00:04:39,627 --> 00:04:44,627 (eerie music) (distant knocking) 69 00:04:48,590 --> 00:04:51,770 The events in Hydesville were far-reaching, 70 00:04:51,770 --> 00:04:55,900 giving rise to a nationwide craze that soon spread across 71 00:04:55,900 --> 00:04:56,933 the Atlantic. 72 00:04:59,980 --> 00:05:03,970 People communicated with spirits at table-turning seances, 73 00:05:03,970 --> 00:05:07,473 where mediums acted as channelers or transmitters. 74 00:05:10,270 --> 00:05:13,610 When spiritualism reached Paris with the gripping myth 75 00:05:13,610 --> 00:05:15,630 of the Fox sisters, 76 00:05:15,630 --> 00:05:18,060 it sparked the interest of a teacher 77 00:05:18,060 --> 00:05:21,847 by the name of Hippolyte Leon Denizard Rivail. 78 00:05:23,525 --> 00:05:25,749 (eerie music) 79 00:05:25,749 --> 00:05:27,490 Rivail was 50 at the time. 80 00:05:27,490 --> 00:05:31,463 He taught chemistry, physics, anatomy, and astronomy. 81 00:05:32,730 --> 00:05:35,950 He'd written a number of school science textbooks, 82 00:05:35,950 --> 00:05:38,070 and he was interested in somnambulism, 83 00:05:38,070 --> 00:05:39,963 magnetism, and hypnotism. 84 00:05:41,290 --> 00:05:44,033 Rivail was motivated by two things: 85 00:05:45,070 --> 00:05:48,590 the scientific progress of the 19th century 86 00:05:48,590 --> 00:05:51,283 and the explanation of occult phenomena. 87 00:05:53,432 --> 00:05:56,349 (mysterious music) 88 00:06:01,860 --> 00:06:04,610 One day, some friends told him about the table-turning 89 00:06:04,610 --> 00:06:05,780 phenomenon. 90 00:06:05,780 --> 00:06:07,930 Rivail was intrigued. 91 00:06:07,930 --> 00:06:10,440 He devoured reports on the topic. 92 00:06:10,440 --> 00:06:13,143 It gradually became his passion. 93 00:06:14,103 --> 00:06:17,250 (dramatic music) 94 00:06:17,250 --> 00:06:19,050 This is where it all began, 95 00:06:19,050 --> 00:06:21,230 a stone's throw from the Opera House 96 00:06:21,230 --> 00:06:23,780 and department stores like Printemps, 97 00:06:23,780 --> 00:06:25,513 which would open 10 years later. 98 00:06:29,171 --> 00:06:30,004 In 1855, Rivail met a magnet healer named Fortier 99 00:06:34,840 --> 00:06:37,510 who took him to Madame de Plainemaison 100 00:06:37,510 --> 00:06:40,890 at number 18 rue de la Grange-Bateliere 101 00:06:40,890 --> 00:06:42,403 one Tuesday at 8 P.M. 102 00:06:43,291 --> 00:06:46,291 (suspenseful music) 103 00:06:48,620 --> 00:06:51,810 Madame de Plainemaison was known for hosting seances 104 00:06:51,810 --> 00:06:53,260 to communicate with the dead. 105 00:06:55,800 --> 00:06:58,033 For Rivail, it was an eye-opener. 106 00:06:59,370 --> 00:07:02,800 He made contact with a spirit named Zefiro 107 00:07:02,800 --> 00:07:06,774 who gave him the task of speaking for the deceased. 108 00:07:06,774 --> 00:07:09,691 (mysterious music) 109 00:07:11,380 --> 00:07:14,930 He then stopped choosing the name Rivail because the spirit 110 00:07:14,930 --> 00:07:19,930 told him, "We lived together a very long time ago 111 00:07:20,037 --> 00:07:21,227 "in Gaul. 112 00:07:21,227 --> 00:07:25,597 "We were friends and your name was Allan Kardec." 113 00:07:25,597 --> 00:07:28,097 (eerie music) 114 00:07:37,060 --> 00:07:40,510 How does communication with spirits work? 115 00:07:40,510 --> 00:07:43,860 How do mediums speak to the dead? 116 00:07:43,860 --> 00:07:45,833 Is it through thought transmission? 117 00:07:47,640 --> 00:07:48,473 (speaking French) 118 00:07:48,473 --> 00:07:50,840 There are slightly more sophisticated explanations about 119 00:07:50,840 --> 00:07:52,300 how mediums work. 120 00:07:52,300 --> 00:07:54,820 It's thought that mediumship is actually the ability of 121 00:07:54,820 --> 00:07:57,860 a medium to penetrate the unconscious minds of the people 122 00:07:57,860 --> 00:07:58,693 around them. 123 00:07:59,630 --> 00:08:02,650 Some psychoanalysts, some psychiatrists, experience this 124 00:08:02,650 --> 00:08:04,120 with their patients. 125 00:08:04,120 --> 00:08:05,560 These phenomena exist. 126 00:08:05,560 --> 00:08:08,440 They have been recorded well beyond spiritism. 127 00:08:08,440 --> 00:08:11,150 They're found in all civilizations, in all societies, and 128 00:08:11,150 --> 00:08:13,463 this is still very much the case today. 129 00:08:13,463 --> 00:08:15,240 (mysterious music) 130 00:08:15,240 --> 00:08:17,720 Spiritualism was born in the United States 131 00:08:17,720 --> 00:08:19,600 with the Fox sisters. 132 00:08:19,600 --> 00:08:22,143 It was exported to Paris with Allan Kardec. 133 00:08:23,370 --> 00:08:25,673 He named the movement "spiritism". 134 00:08:26,780 --> 00:08:29,620 Kardec developed this doctrine and maintained it was 135 00:08:29,620 --> 00:08:32,270 possible to communicate with the spirits of the dead. 136 00:08:33,420 --> 00:08:37,110 Some adept today regard spiritism as the fourth revealed 137 00:08:37,110 --> 00:08:41,493 religion after Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. 138 00:08:45,212 --> 00:08:46,070 (speaking French) 139 00:08:46,070 --> 00:08:50,290 If I had to define spiritism in very simple terms, I would 140 00:08:50,290 --> 00:08:54,230 say it's a philosophy of life whose goal is the improvement 141 00:08:54,230 --> 00:08:55,283 of the individual. 142 00:08:56,470 --> 00:08:59,847 Allan Kardec wrote several books, the most famous being 143 00:08:59,847 --> 00:09:03,580 "The Spirits Book", which was first published in 1857. 144 00:09:06,940 --> 00:09:10,503 There are 1,058 questions in the most recent edition. 145 00:09:12,050 --> 00:09:15,640 The book was very popular and it has been translated 146 00:09:15,640 --> 00:09:16,943 into many languages. 147 00:09:21,430 --> 00:09:24,180 Spiritism took off in a big way in Paris. 148 00:09:27,760 --> 00:09:32,730 On January 1st, 1858, Kardec launched the "Revue Spirite" 149 00:09:32,730 --> 00:09:36,163 at his home in the Passage Sainte-Anne at number 59. 150 00:09:37,488 --> 00:09:40,000 (dramatic music) 151 00:09:40,000 --> 00:09:42,900 In it, he published the messages of famous spirits from 152 00:09:42,900 --> 00:09:46,343 down the centuries as well as ordinary peoples' accounts. 153 00:09:49,100 --> 00:09:51,700 The periodical was a huge success. 154 00:09:51,700 --> 00:09:54,770 Three months later, he founded the Parisian Society 155 00:09:54,770 --> 00:09:56,623 of Spiritist Studies. 156 00:09:57,850 --> 00:10:01,420 Spiritist meetings were held at 8 Rue Des Martyrs from 157 00:10:01,420 --> 00:10:06,291 mid-October 1857 to April 1st, 1858. 158 00:10:06,291 --> 00:10:08,791 (eerie music) 159 00:10:10,080 --> 00:10:13,300 How could someone walking down this street today possibly 160 00:10:13,300 --> 00:10:17,647 imagine that this door once led to the beyond? 161 00:10:17,647 --> 00:10:20,147 (eerie music) 162 00:10:30,500 --> 00:10:33,240 Some people maintained it was possible to converse with 163 00:10:33,240 --> 00:10:35,283 the spirits in different ways. 164 00:10:38,810 --> 00:10:43,810 Mediumship, rapping on objects, voices from the invisible 165 00:10:43,840 --> 00:10:45,423 fluids of the spirits. 166 00:10:48,340 --> 00:10:52,400 Well before spiritualism and spiritism, table-turning had 167 00:10:52,400 --> 00:10:54,493 existed since time and memorial. 168 00:10:56,380 --> 00:11:00,640 Here is what a spiritist seance was like in Kardec's day. 169 00:11:00,640 --> 00:11:02,483 Nothing has really changed. 170 00:11:07,240 --> 00:11:11,323 Day or night, a small group of people you know, 171 00:11:12,390 --> 00:11:17,390 friends, acquaintances, relatives, 172 00:11:17,430 --> 00:11:19,103 no more than six or seven. 173 00:11:20,940 --> 00:11:22,853 Hide mirrors with a veil. 174 00:11:24,130 --> 00:11:26,363 Make sure the room is dark. 175 00:11:27,580 --> 00:11:29,470 Dim lights. 176 00:11:29,470 --> 00:11:30,483 Candles. 177 00:11:33,070 --> 00:11:36,870 A small dining table or a pedestal table. 178 00:11:36,870 --> 00:11:40,483 Place both hands on the table, but very lightly. 179 00:11:42,220 --> 00:11:46,163 One person will conduct the seance from start to finish. 180 00:11:49,830 --> 00:11:54,230 If you intend to summon a specific spirit, think very hard 181 00:11:54,230 --> 00:11:57,993 about this spirit and wish for it's manifestation. 182 00:12:00,720 --> 00:12:02,643 Complete silence. 183 00:12:04,110 --> 00:12:04,943 Wait. 184 00:12:09,623 --> 00:12:11,627 Call this spirit. 185 00:12:11,627 --> 00:12:13,867 "Is there anyone there?" 186 00:12:15,380 --> 00:12:19,900 A slight lifting of the table or a circular movement. 187 00:12:19,900 --> 00:12:23,610 If something goes wrong and suddenly distress you, 188 00:12:23,610 --> 00:12:25,323 stop immediately. 189 00:12:31,500 --> 00:12:34,680 The practice of table-turning caught on among the Paris 190 00:12:34,680 --> 00:12:35,513 smart set. 191 00:12:38,490 --> 00:12:41,540 Big names from the arts and literary worlds joined 192 00:12:41,540 --> 00:12:42,463 the movement. 193 00:12:45,610 --> 00:12:48,750 Many attended spiritism seances to communicate with 194 00:12:48,750 --> 00:12:49,583 the dead. 195 00:12:54,580 --> 00:12:57,910 The playwright, Victorien Sardou, tried his hand at 196 00:12:57,910 --> 00:13:01,000 psychic art because he was convinced the French Renaissance 197 00:13:01,000 --> 00:13:06,000 ceramist, Bernard Palissy, was invisibly guiding him. 198 00:13:06,339 --> 00:13:08,839 (eerie music) 199 00:13:10,461 --> 00:13:13,610 Author Theophile Gautier wrote short stories dealing 200 00:13:13,610 --> 00:13:14,787 with spiritism. 201 00:13:16,460 --> 00:13:19,605 The astronomer Camille Flammarion regularly saw the ghost 202 00:13:19,605 --> 00:13:20,923 of Galileo. 203 00:13:22,730 --> 00:13:26,740 In 1887, while creating "Sherlock Holmes", Arthur Conan 204 00:13:26,740 --> 00:13:29,623 Doyle hosted spiritism seances. 205 00:13:29,623 --> 00:13:32,123 (eerie music) 206 00:13:37,110 --> 00:13:40,410 But the most famous adept of the movement Kardec launched 207 00:13:40,410 --> 00:13:41,550 was this man: 208 00:13:41,550 --> 00:13:45,370 the great author, Victor Hugo, one of the 19th centuries 209 00:13:45,370 --> 00:13:46,963 most famous figures. 210 00:13:49,480 --> 00:13:53,020 His house on the Place des Vosges, in the heart of Paris' 211 00:13:53,020 --> 00:13:56,150 Marais district, still stands today. 212 00:13:56,150 --> 00:14:00,160 In exile and surrounded by family and friends, Hugo began 213 00:14:00,160 --> 00:14:03,170 to engage in table-turning seances. 214 00:14:03,170 --> 00:14:05,463 Initially, without success. 215 00:14:06,690 --> 00:14:10,636 Then one day, after several fruitless attempts. 216 00:14:10,636 --> 00:14:12,124 (speaking French) 217 00:14:12,124 --> 00:14:14,824 The table talked at last and everyone recognized the 218 00:14:15,692 --> 00:14:18,460 spirit communicating with them as Leopoldine Hugo, 219 00:14:18,460 --> 00:14:19,883 Victor Hugo's daughter. 220 00:14:24,756 --> 00:14:28,300 Leopoldine had died 10 years earlier, a few months after 221 00:14:28,300 --> 00:14:29,133 her wedding. 222 00:14:30,380 --> 00:14:32,530 She and her husband drowned in a boating accident on 223 00:14:32,530 --> 00:14:33,773 the Seine. 224 00:14:34,970 --> 00:14:37,153 Victor Hugo was devastated by her death. 225 00:14:38,190 --> 00:14:41,150 It was a huge shock for the entire family, and it sparked 226 00:14:41,150 --> 00:14:43,123 an obsession with talking tables. 227 00:14:43,990 --> 00:14:46,956 They held spiritism seances every night and sometimes 228 00:14:46,956 --> 00:14:48,263 in the daytime, too. 229 00:14:50,040 --> 00:14:53,030 And this led to Victor Hugo producing some absolutely 230 00:14:53,030 --> 00:14:54,503 astonishing writings. 231 00:14:56,397 --> 00:14:59,047 "You speak to me as bodiless souls. 232 00:14:59,047 --> 00:15:01,407 "Speak to the living in my sleep. 233 00:15:01,407 --> 00:15:04,737 "Your windblown robe flutters and rolls 234 00:15:04,737 --> 00:15:07,880 "like spray blown from the deep." 235 00:15:07,880 --> 00:15:11,190 Hugo seemed to lose himself in spiritism in his endless 236 00:15:11,190 --> 00:15:13,430 search for his beloved daughter. 237 00:15:13,430 --> 00:15:16,083 Leopoldine was just 19 when she died. 238 00:15:17,985 --> 00:15:18,818 (speaking French) 239 00:15:18,818 --> 00:15:20,790 The fact that such a prominent figure as Victor Hugo 240 00:15:20,790 --> 00:15:24,730 had practiced spiritism and made tables talk was incredibly 241 00:15:24,730 --> 00:15:27,610 important for the new spiritist circles and, 242 00:15:27,610 --> 00:15:30,810 in Allan Kardec's periodical, a number of articles were 243 00:15:30,810 --> 00:15:32,373 devoted to Victor Hugo. 244 00:15:33,556 --> 00:15:36,690 (suspenseful music) 245 00:15:36,690 --> 00:15:38,950 The movement grew. 246 00:15:38,950 --> 00:15:42,560 Like Victor Hugo and his friends, everyone in paris wanted 247 00:15:42,560 --> 00:15:44,053 to turn tables. 248 00:15:46,190 --> 00:15:49,450 Kardec was hailed as God's chosen one. 249 00:15:49,450 --> 00:15:52,963 People wanted to see him, meet him, hear him speak. 250 00:15:54,480 --> 00:15:56,800 Kardec's books were read in humble dwellings 251 00:15:56,800 --> 00:15:58,680 and palaces alike. 252 00:15:58,680 --> 00:16:01,293 More and more followers embraced his doctrine. 253 00:16:03,852 --> 00:16:05,880 He seemed to have been entrusted with an almost 254 00:16:05,880 --> 00:16:06,993 divine mission. 255 00:16:07,950 --> 00:16:11,060 The emperor, Napoleon III, invited him to the Tuileries 256 00:16:11,060 --> 00:16:13,250 Palace so they could talk. 257 00:16:13,250 --> 00:16:16,350 Kardec thought spiritism could become the universal religion 258 00:16:16,350 --> 00:16:17,253 of mankind. 259 00:16:18,140 --> 00:16:20,890 (dramatic music) 260 00:16:22,690 --> 00:16:26,860 Kardec's ideas spread around the world and, notably, 261 00:16:26,860 --> 00:16:28,340 to Brazil. 262 00:16:28,340 --> 00:16:29,748 (speaking French) 263 00:16:29,748 --> 00:16:32,610 When spiritism began to be disseminated in France it was 264 00:16:32,610 --> 00:16:34,293 the preserve of the elite, 265 00:16:35,160 --> 00:16:37,703 of the intellectual elite of science. 266 00:16:39,720 --> 00:16:42,600 There were all of these phases of experimentation, 267 00:16:42,600 --> 00:16:43,823 of investigation. 268 00:16:44,980 --> 00:16:48,193 But in Brazil, there was a totally different approach. 269 00:16:52,361 --> 00:16:55,290 Spiritism really took hold there through the implementation 270 00:16:55,290 --> 00:16:58,030 of the doctrine's moral aspect. 271 00:16:58,030 --> 00:17:00,480 You have to know that Brazil has the largest number of 272 00:17:00,480 --> 00:17:04,150 spiritists in the world, in the region of three and a half 273 00:17:04,150 --> 00:17:05,063 to four million. 274 00:17:06,980 --> 00:17:10,460 Also, because of the extreme poverty in the country, 275 00:17:10,460 --> 00:17:13,670 the moral charity organized by the spiritists immediately 276 00:17:13,670 --> 00:17:16,973 found a huge and highly receptive audience. 277 00:17:23,610 --> 00:17:27,850 When Kardec died on March 31, 1869, it triggered an 278 00:17:27,850 --> 00:17:31,293 enthusiasm and a movement that has lasted to this day. 279 00:17:32,511 --> 00:17:36,220 (suspenseful music) 280 00:17:36,220 --> 00:17:39,020 Paris provides evidence of this, too. 281 00:17:39,020 --> 00:17:41,920 Many Brazilian followers regularly come to pay their 282 00:17:41,920 --> 00:17:46,463 respects at Allan Kardec's grave in Pere Lachaise cemetery. 283 00:17:48,349 --> 00:17:50,849 (eerie music) 284 00:17:54,212 --> 00:17:57,310 Kardec had passed away, but all sorts of hoaxes would be 285 00:17:57,310 --> 00:18:00,053 exposed in table-turning seances. 286 00:18:06,650 --> 00:18:10,340 One of the two Fox sisters, Margaret, expressed remorse 287 00:18:10,340 --> 00:18:13,330 at the end of her life and confessed to the hoax in 288 00:18:13,330 --> 00:18:16,123 a lengthy article in an American newspaper. 289 00:18:19,150 --> 00:18:21,370 Many people refused to believe her, though, 290 00:18:21,370 --> 00:18:22,963 and the movement survived. 291 00:18:26,290 --> 00:18:30,460 Daniel Dunglas Home, a famous medium idolized at the time, 292 00:18:30,460 --> 00:18:33,930 was unmasked as a fraud during a seance with the French 293 00:18:33,930 --> 00:18:35,613 empress Eugenie. 294 00:18:37,710 --> 00:18:41,010 So, too, were the Italian psychic, Eusapia Palladino, 295 00:18:41,010 --> 00:18:44,870 and the Russian occultist, Helena Blavatsky, both darlings 296 00:18:44,870 --> 00:18:47,470 of the science world and the royal courts of Europe. 297 00:18:51,310 --> 00:18:53,398 Myths were exploded. 298 00:18:53,398 --> 00:18:58,398 (tape reeling) (film playing) 299 00:18:59,430 --> 00:19:02,800 Georges Melies, the celebrated illusionist and future 300 00:19:02,800 --> 00:19:06,130 creator of the cinematic spectacle, was called as an 301 00:19:06,130 --> 00:19:06,963 expert witness. 302 00:19:08,400 --> 00:19:11,070 With his knowledge of special effects and illusions, 303 00:19:11,070 --> 00:19:13,750 he revealed how the spiritists experiments 304 00:19:13,750 --> 00:19:15,345 were pure trickery. 305 00:19:15,345 --> 00:19:17,928 (film playing) 306 00:19:22,076 --> 00:19:26,243 Spiritism, mediumship, clairvoyance, somnambulism, 307 00:19:27,120 --> 00:19:29,493 conjuring, there was confusion. 308 00:19:30,560 --> 00:19:34,256 The boundaries between science and magic had been blurred. 309 00:19:34,256 --> 00:19:36,589 (piano rag) 310 00:19:46,280 --> 00:19:48,883 What parts did Kardec play in all this? 311 00:19:49,900 --> 00:19:52,900 (light waltz music) 312 00:20:01,320 --> 00:20:05,530 In 1835, the city of Paris awarded a contract to a 313 00:20:05,530 --> 00:20:09,480 physicist magician called Lacaze, who sold all sorts 314 00:20:09,480 --> 00:20:12,703 of physics and magic accessories in his store. 315 00:20:15,455 --> 00:20:17,960 (firework exploding) 316 00:20:17,960 --> 00:20:22,110 After the Revolution of 1848, he opened a small theater 317 00:20:22,110 --> 00:20:25,020 in the Carre Marigny, just off the Champs Elysees, 318 00:20:25,020 --> 00:20:27,940 where he put on shows combining amusing physics, 319 00:20:27,940 --> 00:20:32,130 phantasmagoria, and curiosities, summoning rapping spirits 320 00:20:32,130 --> 00:20:34,870 well before the advent of spiritism. 321 00:20:34,870 --> 00:20:37,870 (light waltz music) 322 00:20:50,080 --> 00:20:52,980 Originally called the Chateau d'Enfer, or Castle of 323 00:20:52,980 --> 00:20:56,650 the Underworld, his theater was known as the Pavillon Lacaze 324 00:20:59,000 --> 00:21:03,000 before it became the Folies Marigny in 1865, 325 00:21:03,000 --> 00:21:04,290 then the Theatre Marigny. 326 00:21:05,193 --> 00:21:08,193 (light waltz music) 327 00:21:28,063 --> 00:21:30,593 And Kardec had a ring-side seat. 328 00:21:31,430 --> 00:21:34,610 In the days when he was still known as Rivail, he had 329 00:21:34,610 --> 00:21:38,743 worked as a stage manager for Lacaze at the Carre Marigny. 330 00:21:40,772 --> 00:21:43,987 So he was obviously aware of the magician's tricks. 331 00:21:45,260 --> 00:21:48,740 He knew all about the devices used to create illusions 332 00:21:48,740 --> 00:21:50,263 in these spectacles. 333 00:21:52,390 --> 00:21:55,423 This is surely one of the keys to the mystery. 334 00:21:57,800 --> 00:21:59,333 A question remains, though. 335 00:22:00,360 --> 00:22:03,187 Why was there such a craze for spiritism? 336 00:22:06,850 --> 00:22:08,273 The answers are many. 337 00:22:09,290 --> 00:22:12,883 It was the age, people needed to believe. 338 00:22:14,470 --> 00:22:17,720 In the first half of the 19th century, the search was on 339 00:22:17,720 --> 00:22:20,273 to satisfy existential anxiety, 340 00:22:21,460 --> 00:22:24,460 and understanding of electricity meant you could make 341 00:22:24,460 --> 00:22:25,993 visions appear. 342 00:22:30,500 --> 00:22:34,640 Different beliefs, scientific advances, freak shows, 343 00:22:34,640 --> 00:22:36,433 everything was jumbled up. 344 00:22:38,560 --> 00:22:41,053 Maybe Rivail sincerely believed. 345 00:22:43,470 --> 00:22:46,003 Maybe he got tangled up in a lie. 346 00:22:47,200 --> 00:22:48,033 Who knows? 347 00:22:55,634 --> 00:22:59,134 (suspenseful piano music) 348 00:23:00,840 --> 00:23:03,970 The enthusiasm for Allan Kardec reflects our interest 349 00:23:03,970 --> 00:23:05,843 and fascination for the hereafter. 350 00:23:07,240 --> 00:23:10,290 This investigation into the world of spiritism has shed 351 00:23:10,290 --> 00:23:11,863 some light on the mystery. 352 00:23:15,550 --> 00:23:17,653 But Paris has other mysteries. 353 00:23:18,920 --> 00:23:21,930 The clues and keys to these enigmas are to be found in 354 00:23:21,930 --> 00:23:26,310 old books, lost in the capital's libraries, in the city's 355 00:23:26,310 --> 00:23:29,350 streets, or beneath its buildings, 356 00:23:29,350 --> 00:23:33,600 by the light of a candle, or in the dead of night, 357 00:23:33,600 --> 00:23:37,763 by cross-checking documents, archives, and records. 358 00:23:40,760 --> 00:23:44,833 Paris has not yet revealed all of its secrets. 359 00:23:47,138 --> 00:23:50,971 (eerie organ and piano music)