In the 19th century, we find various accounts of people who, without specific medical knowledge, gave prescriptions to the sick. Known as «médins receitists» or «healing mediums», these individuals had a different role to that of the well-known healers. Claiming to be assisted by powerful spiritual entities, detached from other religions, they claimed the presence of spirits intervening in the material world. This religious manifestation was very close to the work of the Frenchman Allan Kardec, who in 1857 systematised the knowledge of the spiritism doctrine in his work «The Spirits’ Book». Soon, in the following decade, the first copies of this work appeared on Brazilian soil. At the same time, the first Brazilian spiritism groups were formed.

One of the first and most famous enthusiasts of the new religious practice was Bezerra de Menezes, who, upon converting to the new belief, believed he was experiencing the pinnacle of the Christian faith. This historical figure of Brazilian spiritism embraced the new religion influenced by his experience with the medium João Gonçalves do Nascimento, who practised healing in the city of Rio de Janeiro.

The wide acceptance of spiritism was due to its ability to combine cultured and popular elements, in which a person of simple origins could incorporate prestigious figures. Many of the adherents of the time were keen to point out how the new religion was in line with the liberal and scientific principles in vogue at the time. A clear example of this association can be seen in the fact that many Republicans and abolitionists were sympathetic to spiritism.

However, the new religion suffered great opposition in a historical context in which Catholicism had a strong presence. In the law codes of the time and in the prescriptions of some psychiatrists, spiritism was considered a manifestation of mental insanity. The strong opposition was countered with the creation of the Brazilian Spiritism Federation in 1884. The work of recognition carried out by the FEB aimed at systematising the practices and doctrines rooted in the new religious denomination.

The growth of the spiritism doctrine in Brazil gained momentum, especially with the emergence of an emblematic figure of this religion: the medium Francisco Cândido Xavier, or Chico Xavier. Through his psychographic works, he began to popularise Spiritism even more. Among his works, «Brazil, Heart of the World, Homeland of the Gospel» stands out, in which he recounts the intervention of spirits in different events of national history. With time, Spiritism acquired greater prestige among the different classes and institutions. On the other hand, many Afro-Brazilian cults still suffer greatly from the mistrust of the forces of law and order. One of the reasons for the greater acceptance of Spiritism is its welfare policy. Charity, being a fundamental point of Spiritism, brought the positive vision of this faith closer to reason.

In recent decades, Brazil's role in the direction taken by the spiritism doctrine has been notorious. One of the most interesting affirmations of this central role can be seen in the fact that people of other denominations sympathise with Spiritism. Perhaps with this we can understand why Brazil has a larger contingent of spiritism practitioners and denominations apathetic to this same belief.