The spiritist teacher could divide the class into two or more teams to perform this technique (if there’s a small number of youth, they can be grouped into one single team).
The Spiritist teacher will have to divide the room as follows:
| Start |
End |
|
| TABLE | ||
Place a table in the centre of the room, leaving enough space for the youth to perform the activity. All youth should be at end of the table in the beginning of the technique (Start). Each individual will do the group technique on his/her own. All participants grouped into the same team should perform the tasks at the same time. Once their time is up, another group will do it.
The five phases of the group technique should be placed on the table in order.
The youth who complete the group technique should position him/herself at the other end of the room (End).
These are the only instructions that should be given to the youth group at the beginning of the activity.
The remaining instructions should be written at the beginning of each phase, so that the youth can read them individually and silently; not letting others know the rules in advance.
The phases should be placed on the table as follows:
| Phase 1 | Phase 2 | Phase 3 | Phase 4 | Phase 5 | ||||
| Instruction 1 |
Instruction 1 |
Instruction 1 |
Instruction 1 |
Instruction 1 |
In the beginning, every youth should take a coloured paper from the box indicated by the spiritist teacher. Each coloured paper will correspond to a different time. (The time won’t be put on paper; only the spiritist teacher should know it - this will be the time given to each youth to complete the tasks. Please note the spiritist teacher should time the time given to each person to perform the activities. This will represent the time of our incarnation, in this technique. This theme could be explored in another lesson).
If the youth’s time is up, the spiritist teacher should ask him/her to go to Phase 5, no matter what he/she is doing at that point.
Phase 1:
Materials: place several books on Spiritism at the table. Place enough paper for each youth to take one paper, within some of the books. Virtues to be developed should be written on each of these papers (e.g. humility, compassion, patience...)
Instruction 1: inside these books there are papers hidden. Look for one paper and take it with you.
Phase 2:
Materials: a pencil box with different colours.
Instruction 2: grab some pencils of your own preference. They will follow you until the end of the path.
Phase 3:
Materials: a small piece of paper for each youth.
Instruction 3: Take a piece of paper and use your tools to work on them.
Phase 4:
Materials: a large cardboard, some gouache paint tubes and brushes.
Instruction 4: In this phase you can use paints, in addition to your materials, to create your work on this larger paper.
Phase 5:
No need for material; only the statement.
Instruction 5: you disincarnated. Go to the end of the race.
If the youth’s time is up at any point, the spiritist teacher should ask him/her to go to Phase 5, no matter what he/she is doing.
After everyone completed the race, get them to reflect on it, explaining that:
- Phase 1 represents what we can achieve in life through the study; this continues with us until after our disincarnation. What did we conquer? Did we strive to get as much as possible in the first round?
- Phase 2 represents all tools we have to operate in our lives: health, allowing us to work; will, wish, determination... How many different instruments did we take? Could we have tried to pick the best ones?
- The small piece of paper found in the third phase represents our life. Did we use our tools well to paint our lives? Did we dedicate ourselves to do it?
- The large paper found in the fourth phase represents the social aspect. How is our community? (this paper remained blank at the various times when this group technique was applied) Reflect on what we do/can do for the common good.
This technique may lead to considerations such as: reincarnation, law of evolution, law of cause and effect, how much we strive to learn, how much we put into practice what we learn, if we use what we know and what we have in hand to improve our lives, how much we cooperate for the good of the community, how we use the time we have in this life. We don’t know how long we will live, so it’s best not to leave anything for later... other issues might also arise at this point of the discussion.
Translation: Carolina von Scharten, London, linked to BUSS - The British Union of Spiritist Societies.
