A hand writes quickly, without stopping, and the text comes out in a handwriting that is not quite that of the person holding the pen. It is the most well-known scene of Brazilian Spiritism, and also the most poorly explained.
Psychography is the transmission of a Spirit's thought through writing made with the hand of the medium. Allan Kardec classified it among the intelligent effects of mediumship, and those who have this faculty are called writing mediums or psychographers.
This guide explains what the doctrine defines and what the three types of mediumistic writing are. It also shows how the practice happens in a Spiritist center, how a message is evaluated, and what the courts decided about psychographed letters.
What is psychography according to Kardec
Kardec addresses the theme in The Book of Mediums, from 1861, the second work of the Codification. Chapter XIII is dedicated to psychography, and chapter XV describes writing mediums.
For the codifier, writing is the best available channel. He records that it is the simplest, most convenient, and most complete means of communication, and recommends that it be encouraged with insistence. The reason is practical: in writing, the Spirit better reveals its own nature.
In the early years, communications passed through instruments such as small baskets with pencils and clipboards. Kardec called this indirect psychography. When the Spirit begins to move the medium's hand, we have direct or manual psychography, which is the current form today.
“What matters to be known is not the instrument, but the way in which the communications are obtained.” (The Book of Mediums, item 158)
The three types of mediumistic writing
This is the part that almost every text on the subject simplifies. In chapter XV, Kardec separates three forms, in items 179, 180 and 181.
| Type | What happens | Consciousness of the medium |
|---|---|---|
| Mechanical | the Spirit acts on the hand, with an impulse independent of the medium's will | none; the thought arrives after writing |
| Intuitive | the Spirit acts on the soul, and the medium directs their own hand | total; the thought arrives before the writing |
| Semi-mechanical | a mixture of the two, with the hand being propelled and the words forming | partial and simultaneous |
Kardec summarizes the contrast in a dry phrase: the mechanical medium works like a machine, the intuitive acts as an interpreter.
A detail that rarely appears: in item 181, the encoder records that the semi-mechanicals are the most numerous. The purely mechanical form, which is the most impressive to watch, is also the rarest.
Still in the same chapter appear the inspired mediums, who receive without a trance and whose mark is spontaneity. Kardec includes artists, scientists, and writers in their moments of inspiration.
Psychography, psychophony, and pneumatography
Three similar words name different phenomena, and the confusion between them is the most common error on the theme.
| Phenomenon | What is it | Class |
|---|---|---|
| Psychography | the Spirit transmits through writing, using the hand of the medium | intelligent effect |
| Psychophony | the Spirit acts upon the medium's speech organs | intelligent effect |
| Pneumatography | writing produced without a human intermediary, with the paper untouched | physical effect |
Keep the difference of the last line. Pneumatography, also called direct writing, is not psychography. Kardec treats it in chapter XII, among the physical effects, and describes it as a rare phenomenon.
How psychography happens in the spiritist center
The practice has a rule, and it is public. The Brazilian Spiritist Federation published the manual Orientation for mediumship practice in the spiritist center, in an open PDF, which describes the functioning of the meetings.
To join a mediumship group, the house usually asks for physical and emotional conditions, prior doctrinal study, participation in the house activities, and a commitment to attendance. Children do not participate in mediumship meetings, even with ostensive mediumship.
The meeting has three stages:
- Preparatory: objective prayer and brief reading of a doctrinal excerpt, without comments
- Development: the manifestations, which should not exceed sixty minutes
- Closing: vibrations, final prayer, and the reading of the psychographed messages
The manual also brings a division of roles that helps to understand the place of writing. Psychograph mediums usually receive messages from mentors and from good Spirits, while psychophonic mediums transmit communications from spirits in need.
There is one point that matters to those who arrive through mourning. The guidance is that communications occur in a spontaneous way, avoiding evocations. A serious spiritist house does not call a Spirit to order, and there is no psychographed letter by request or for payment.
How the doctrine evaluates a message
Kardec was the first to be suspicious. The Book of Mediums has entire chapters dedicated to contradictions, mystifications, and charlatanism, and chapter XXIV deals with the identity of the Spirits.
The criteria he left are these:
- The language gives away the author. If a Spirit signs an illustrious name and writes trivialities, it is not who it claims to be
- Calligraphy proves nothing. Kardec warns that there are also counterfeiters in the spirit world
- The teaching is worth more than the signature. A good communication is worth its quality, not the name it brings
- Rudeness denounces inferiority. A single expression of lowliness compromises the rest, no matter how good it may seem
Add to this the universal control of the Spirits' teaching, the method that Kardec used in the Codification. Applied to psychography, it means one simple thing: an isolated letter never becomes doctrine.
Chico Xavier and Divaldo Franco
Brazil produced the two most voluminous cases of psychography on record, and both share the same mark: gratuity.
Chico Xavier psychographed 412 works between 1932 and 2002, with about fifty million copies sold. He donated all copyrights to charity institutions and lived on a public servant's salary. He debuted with Parnaso de Além-Túmulo, and his most read spiritual author was André Luiz, from Nosso Lar. The complete list is in Chico Xavier books.
Beyond the books, he delivered thousands of letters of consolation to mourning families, always without charging. This is the fact that defines his practice.
Divaldo Pereira Franco, born in Feira de Santana in 1927, psychographed more than 250 books, attributed mostly to the spiritual mentor Joanna de Ângelis. He founded the Mansão do Caminho in Salvador in 1952, and assigned the copyrights to the institution by deed. Divaldo passed away on May 13, 2025, at 98 years old.
Psychographed letters in the courts
Here the article needs to be exact, because the information circulating is outdated.
A analysis published in the Revista do Ministério Público do Rio de Janeiro maps at least eleven Brazilian cases in which psychographed letters entered proceedings. All are criminal, and all with the letter presented in defense of the defendant.
The best known is that of José Divino Nunes, in the 1970s, accused of the death of Maurício Garcez Henrique. The first instance judge acquitted him supported by a psychographed letter by Chico Xavier. The court overturned the decision, and at the jury, the defendant ended up acquitted by six votes to one.
Not every letter was authentic. In the Panissa case, the defendant presented a letter attributed to Chico Xavier, and the medium himself declared in court not to have psychographed it. The episode turned into an inquiry for ideological falsehood.
The final point came on November 5, 2025. The Sixth Panel of the Superior Court of Justice decided, unanimously, that a psychographed letter cannot be used as judicial evidence. The rapporteur, minister Rogerio Schietti Cruz, based the decision on the lack of epistemic reliability.
The argument deserves to be cited with honesty. For the rapporteur, belief in psychography is an act of faith, which by definition dispenses with rational demonstration, and therefore moves in the opposite direction of acts of proof. The Panel ordered the removal of the letter from the records.
This does not invalidate anyone's faith. It merely separates two planes: what is believed and what is proven in a legal process. The spiritist doctrine itself never promised scientific proof.
Frequently asked questions
What is psychography?
It is the communication of a Spirit through writing made by the hand of the medium. Kardec classifies it among the intelligent effects of mediumship, alongside psychophony. Whoever exercises the faculty is called a scribe medium or psychograph, and the message can come in prose, verse, or a personal letter.
What is the difference between psychography and psychophony?
In psychography, the Spirit communicates through writing, using the hand of the medium. In psychophony, it acts on the speech organs, and the medium in general is not aware of what they say. Both are intelligent effects. Different from them is pneumatography, writing produced without a human intermediary.
Who can psychograph?
The faculty cannot be bought or forced. According to the guidance of the Brazilian Spiritist Federation, the medium needs doctrinal study, emotional balance, a link with a spiritist house, and assiduity in the mediumistic meeting. Children do not participate in mediumistic meetings, even if they present ostensive mediumship.
How to get a psychographed letter from a loved one?
There is no ordering. The spiritist guidance is that communications should be spontaneous, and evocations are avoided in serious houses. No spiritist center charges for this, and paid services for psychographed letters are outside the tradition of gratuity that Chico Xavier consolidated.
Does a psychographed letter count as proof in Court?
No. On November 5, 2025, the Sixth Panel of the Superior Court of Justice decided, unanimously, that psychographed letters cannot be used as judicial evidence. Before that, some letters even influenced juries, especially in the 1970s and 1980s, always in defense of defendants.
Where to find the works and study material
At Joia Mística Laroyê, you find support for the study of the Spiritist Doctrine:
- The Mediums Book: the work in which Kardec defines psychography and classifies the mediums
- Codification Works: the basic titles for those who want to start from the source
- Psychographed books: works by Chico Xavier and other Brazilian mediums
- White candles: for moments of prayer, study, and the gospel at home
- Soft incense: to prepare the environment for reading and meetings
Visit our physical store in Extrema, Minas Gerais and we ship all over Brazil. If you are just starting now, talk to us via WhatsApp for a reading recommendation.
To go straight to the source, the chapter on writing mediums is available on KardecPedia. And for those who want the academic perspective, UNESP published The letters of Chico Xavier, by Cintia Alves da Silva, a semiotic analysis of the style of the letters.
References
- Brazilian Spiritist Federation: Guidance for mediumistic practice in the spiritist center, in PDF
- Rio de Janeiro Public Ministry Magazine: article by Juliana Melo Dias about psychographed letters in judicial processes
- Superior Tribunal de Justiça: news about the Sixth Chamber decision banning psychographed letters as evidence
- KardecPedia: chapter XV of The Mediums Book, about writing mediums or psychographers
