several years because he talked with spirits. Francisco's father got married again, Cidália Batista the second wife, demanded that the father should gather the nine children once for all. Francisco was then, seven years old. The couple had yet, six more children. Francisco was enrolled in a public school. Within this period, the spirit of his mother stopped making contact with him. Francisco, started to work very young in order to help with the expenses at home, he would sell vegetables produced at home. At school, as well as in church, Francisco's claimed paranormal power constantly would put him into trouble. Once, while in his fourth year of primary school, he claimed to have seen a man who had dictated all his school essays, but no one seemed to pay him any attention; and not even the teacher seemed to care about it. One of his memorial school compositions on the centenary of the independence of Brazil won an honorable mention in a state contest. In 1922 he faced skepticism from colleagues and friends, who accused him of plagiarism; such accusations lasted all his life. Challenged to prove his gifts, Francisco was submitted to the challenge of improvising an essay (with the help of a spirit) about sand grain: the topic was thought up without preparation and at that very moment, and he succeeded. Cidália, his step mother, asked Francisco to ask the spirit of his late mother about how to prevent the neighbor from stealing her vegetables, and the spirit said; put her in charge of the kitchen garden, the advice was followed and brought an end to the vanishing vegetables. Scared about the mediunity of the young boy, his father decided to hospitalize him. Father Scarzelli; the Catholic priest examined him, and concluded that hospitalizing the boy would be a mistake, since it was only "children's fantasy". Scarzelli simply advised the family to restrict his reading (he believed they were the reason for the fantasies) and put him to work; Francisco then was hired to work in a textile factory where he was submitted to rigorous discipline of extended working hours. That brought serious consequences that lasted for the rest of his life. In 1924, he finished primary school and never went back to school. He was hired as a sales clerk working long hours. Despite his Catholic devotion and uncountable penances, along with all the restrictions imposed