Piérart, Z. J. (d. 1878)

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Piérart, Z. J. (d. 1878)

Founder of the rival branch of Spiritualism in France against the Spiritism of Allan Kardec. As a more traditional Spiritualist than Kardec, Piéare did not accept the doctrine of compulsory reincarnation.

At one time, Piérart was a professor at the College of Maubeuge and afterward secretary to Baron du Potet. In 1858, he founded the Spiritualist journal La Revue Spirtualiste which engaged Kardec's journal La Revue Spirite in debate. Eventually Kardec's journal was sufficiently successful to overwhelm La Revue Spiritualiste, which was discontinued during the 1860s. It was revived in 1870 under the title Concile de la Libre Pensée, but in 1873 it was suppressed under pressure generated by clerical authorities.

Among the ideas Piérart advocated was a form of psychic vampirism. He though vampires were the ghostly or astral bodies of deceased persons which vampirized the living to keep their physical bodies (still in graves) vitalized. His idea would explain why some bodies that were later dug up showed signs of life.

Sources:

Rogo, Scott. "In-depth Analysis of the Vampire Legend." Fate 21, no. 9 (September 1968): 77.