It was at the behest of the second Latin American Spiritist Congress held in Mexico City in 1908, of which he was a leading organizer, that Francisco I. Madero undertook to both write and publish a work aimed at converting presumably Catholic and literate (but not necessarily well-educated) Mexicans to Spiritism, a doctrine imported from France in the latter half of the 19th century.

Though he signed the preface 1909, Madero finished writing his Spiritist Manual in 1910, and it was published the following year, 1911. Five thousand copies were printed. In Mexico at that time this represented a very substantial print run.

Madero took his pen name, Bhima, from a warrior in the Hindu holy book, the Bhagavad-Gita. In his correspondence with fellow Spiritists, he urges that his identity as the author not be revealed; he was concerned that this proseltyzing could undermine his political agenda in a time when, on the one hand, the Catholic Church, and the other, Mexico's intellectual elite— the so-called scientíficos—would have been hostile. They all knew who Madero was, for, under his real name, he was the author of a sensational book published in 1909, La sucesión presidencial en 1910 (The Presidential Succession in 1910), a polemic that, literally, launched the Mexican Revolution.

Apart from its extraordinary content, and the fact that Madero's Spiritist Manual is one of the earliest Spanish language manifestos of this new religion, what stands out about this work is that it was prepared precisely during the period when Madero's political career was rocketing to its apex: he was campaigning throughout the country for the Mexican Presidency, then fighting the Mexican Revolution both in Mexico and, variously, from exile in Texas and New Orleans; and then, running again for the presidency— which, later in 1911, he was to win.

As Mexican historians Enrique Krauze, Yolia Tortolero, Alejandro Rosas and Manuel Guerra, among others, have emphasized, Madero's Spiritism undergirded his political philosophy and actions as candidate for the presidency, as leader of the Revolution, and as President, many of which were incomprehensible to and/or misinterpreted by both his supporters and his adversaries. For this reason, the Spiritist Manual is a fundamentally important work for anyone who would study Madero and the Mexican Revolution.

It is also a vital work in the history of both Spiritism itself and modern gnostic Christianity. Whatever one's personal beliefs may be, it would be intellectually naïve to dismiss Madero's Spiritism as mere superstition, as most people who first hear of it and indeed, most of his biographers, do. Spiritism emerged in a context of the mid- to late 19th century's far-reaching scientific experientation; moreover, it has its place alongside other religions that emerged in the same century, among them, Christian Science, Mormonism, Spiritualism, and Theosophy.

The doctrine of Spiritism was formulated by Hippolyte Léon Dénizard Rivail, aka Allan Kardec (1804-1869), a French educator, in his several books, among them, Le Livre des Esprits, 1857 (The Book of the Spirits) and Le Livre des Médiums, 1861 (The Mediums' Book). Inspired by American Spiritualism, Kardec's works are based on his own extensive interviews with spirits who purportedly communicated with him through French mediums. These interviews led him to conclude, departing from the American Spiritualists, that spirits reincarnate as, in life after life, they evolve into ever greater states of consciousness.

According to its adherents, Spiritism is at once a science, a philosophy, and a religion. The science examines the nature of spirits and the invisible world, while the philosophy, among other things, holds that humanity evolves through multiple reincarnations; and the religion, presented in Christian terms—Jesus Christ as, to quote Kardec, "the epitome of the moral perfection to which humanity can aspire on Earth"— that the universe is a creation of a loving God.

A slender book of less than 100 pages, Madero's Spiritist Manual is in the tradition of Kardec's works, emphasizing Jesus and including anecdotes from the lives of various Catholic saints; however, it incorporates ideas from more contemporary Spiritists, citing various writers and scientists in the Spiritist, Spiritualist and Theosophist traditions, as well as ideas from Hindusim and the Hermetica—the ancient Egyptian philosophy of Thoth / Hermes, a mythological sage/ god, whose writings were preserved through fragments of Greek translations and brought into Western culture during the Renaissance.

The book is divided into six sections: first, a brief overview of the doctrine of Spiritism; second, some historical background covering the "divine missionaries," Krishna, Hermes, Moses, and Jesus, and the Spiritist revelations which began with the phenomenon of "table tipping" earlier in the 19th century, first in New York, and later in Europe. The third section examines mental and spiritist phenomena; a fourth, the philosophical, covers Spiritist theories of the perispirit, astral projection, phantoms, mechanical writing, apparitions, reincarnation, and God; the fifth, morality; and finally, the sixth section supplies a summary.

The prose and syntax are simple and the tone both formal yet as friendly as, say, a retired schoolteacher come for a chat with some open-minded and beautifully behaved young people. But at times, and in particular, where the author places himself upon a pedestal of authority, the language ascends to professorial heights and passive constructions, e.g., "According to Mr. Maspero, an expert Orientalist and distinguished archeologist, the affirmation of the fundamental unity of the Divine One is expressed in formal terms and with great energy in texts that predate the Christian era by thousands of years," and: "I could cite many examples that have all the characteristics of authenticity, however, I will limit myself to telling you that, in truly unusual conditions, our modern experts have had the opportunity to prove satisfactorally some phenomena of this nature."

The material is presented in the form of question and response. At times, to this translator, working a century later, the questions of this imaginary listener seem quaintly overpolite, e.g., "What you have told me about astral projection is surprising. To conclude about mental phenomena, I beg you to tell me something about ecstasy," and so on.

Although now an antique, in its time, Madero's Spiritist Manual was a work in the esoteric vanguard. It is also a work that was offered by its author in a spirit of immense generosity. Just as, now that we enjoy sinks and faucets, we may no longer use the jug and wash basin, perhaps, nonetheless, we can find a bunch of flowers for them. I mean to say, this is a book that, for various reasons, if not necessarily those intended by the author, surely deserves a place on our bookshelves.