The legacy of Martha Gallego Thomaz within Spiritism is unquestionable, and her work is intertwined with the history of the Spiritist Federation of the State of São Paulo (FEESP). The good she did for those who were beginning in the doctrine at the time, and who felt insecure about their mediumship, can be attested through the countless testimonies of those who remain grateful to this day for her dedication and teaching ability. Many remember her joy, her musicality, her partnership with the spirit Noel Rosa (1910–1937), as well as her friendship and work alongside Edgard Armond (1894–1982). Her pursuit of knowledge and her ability to organise working groups and discover new contributors to the doctrine made her one of the pioneers in the Spiritist field of São Paulo. A native of Rio de Janeiro, born on 24 March 1915, author of two dictated books and three psychographed works, among them The Institute of Universal Fraternity and the Fraternities of the Spiritual Realm (FEESP), Martha understood the suffering that mediumship can bring when the basic principles of the doctrine are unknown. From the age of three, she began to see spirits, in an experience that was difficult and poorly understood by her Catholic family. She witnessed her father being tormented by an unhappy spirit that also threatened her. This situation only changed when she was twelve years old, when an aunt from Rio de Janeiro invited her to come and join her in performing a distant treatment for her father, who was already in a psychiatric hospital. At her aunt’s house, they met a clairvoyant with exceptional ability, who told Martha not to be afraid, as fear attracted the spirit that tormented her. She advised her to focus firmly on Jesus, and she would no longer see it. Martha learned to concentrate in this way, although she remained highly clairvoyant: she saw both good and bad things.

This continued until, from the age of thirty onwards, a new period of torment began for her, with attacks from spirits that eventually led to physical illness. On the advice of friends, she began attending Umbanda, where she remained for three years, until she was guided to seek out a Spiritist centre where she could study and educate her mediumship. She then moved to Atibaia, in the state of São Paulo, and began attending Mrs Eletra’s centre, where she had her first contact with the spirit Noel Rosa. Together, they held sessions of physical effects, always reminded by the spirits of the need to study. This led Martha, in 1956, to attend the Spiritist Federation in the capital, where she was able to deepen her knowledge and better prepare for her task. There, Armond subjected her to a test, asking her to say what was inside a sealed envelope, which she correctly identified. Even after confirming the quality of her mediumship, Armond told her she was not yet ready to join the institution’s council of mediums. Martha argued that they could be better because they had already studied, whereas she had not, and she then began attending the School of Apprentices and Mediums. After three years, she joined the council of mediums. She went on to devote more than fifty years of work to FEESP, in addition to her dedication to the Evangelical Spiritist Alliance and to the Noel Group, which she founded in 1977 in Vila Mariana. From 1956 to 1967, she worked with Edgard Armond, assisting him in identifying, through clairvoyance, groups of spirits that presented themselves and were linked to work helping the incarnate, as he conducted various studies and research on the subject.

Eliana Franco, a speaker at FEESP, recounts that she was invited by Martha to participate in spiritual assistance for children, and that it was remarkable to observe how she guided mediums, preventing vanity regarding their mediumistic abilities and the work performed. “She always identified the communicating spirits, and on the occasions when she did not comment, it was because a spirit such as Meimei or Anália Franco was present. The care taken was to ensure that we would not form a higher opinion of ourselves than we should,” she explains. In an interview with Planeta magazine, Martha said that through mediumship she acquired extensive knowledge: “I only completed primary school. Once, we assisted a gentleman whose astrocytes were weak—something that does not appear on a scan. I consulted my physician friends, and they clarified it for me. Astrocytes nourish neurons; with them weakened, the brain also weakened. It was mediumistic work that gave me this knowledge.” She passed away on 3 September 2014, in São Paulo, at the age of 99, leaving a legacy of joy and responsibility that has marked all those who worked with her, especially in the vibration practices she established and led for many years, bringing together hearts united in the search for peace and the hope for a better world.