A closer look
Most people go to Parisian cafes for the croissants, but Allan Kardec went to aggressively cross-examine the furniture. A respected educator, Kardec became fascinated by the 'turning tables' craze of the 1850s. Instead of writing it off as a party trick, he brought a list of deep philosophical questions and spent years compiling the tables' tapping responses. He published this as 'The Spirits' Book,' which completely redefined reincarnation and birthed Spiritism—a religion that is still massively popular in Brazil today, all thanks to some noisy wood.
