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related to
parapsychological phenomena,
Spiritism,
miracles, and
psychic healing. In addition, the Center offers seminars and short
courses in parapsychology during the year.
The stated goal of the Center listed in a publicity leaflet
is to
disseminate scientific parapsychology in order to clarify the miscon-
ceptions and superstitions produced by the lack of understanding of
psychic phenomena. The content of their
publications, however,
seems to indicate that the real objective of the Center has been to
destroy
Spiritism and
its belief system because
it contradicts the
church’s teachings. Consequently, the Center has been ruled by a
religious ideology.
Discussion of Brazilian parapsychology must focus essentially on
the work of Quevedo, because his work and publications have been
the major source of scientific parapsychology not only for Brazil but
also for other Ibero-American countries since the 1960s.
It
is nec-
essary also to emphasize his publications because they are well re-
spected and are considered by many
to be representative of the
Catholic school in Brazilian parapsychology.
Father Quevedo has published several books on parapsychology,
some of which have become best sellers in the Spanish language as
well as in Portuguese, reaching a surprising number of editions.9
Among
his books
are
a
general
introduction
to
parapsychology
(1969/1973),
a
discussion of ESP and
other mental phenomena
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He has also authored other polemical books on healing (1976/1977)
and possession (1989).
According to a well-known Spanish parapsychology journal,
Quevedo has offered numerous seminars and courses throughout
Ibero-America, often drawing audiences of more than 200,000 peo-
ple. He has also appeared in over 200 hours of television. Quevedo’s
impact, spreading what
is his version of parapsychology, has been
astonishing in
its education of the lay person (Fernandez Briones,
Jimenez Visedo, & Capel, 1975).
Unfortunately, however, what could have been one of the most
important contributions to scientific parapsychology in Ibero-Amer-
ica
is overshadowed by Quevedo’s zealous campaign against Spirit-
7 A promotional leaflet published by CLAP entitled “O porque do CLAP."
8 For further discussions of Brazilian parapsychology, see Hess (1990) and Play-
fair (1975).
9 In Portuguese alone, 90 editions of 30,000 copies each, and more than 20 edi-
tions in Spanish and Italian (Parra & Pedroza, 1991).
ism, in which he explains Spiritist findings as fraud or psi by living
organisms, and his equally strong defense of Catholic beliefs. Not
only has Quevedo separated himself from the real goals and objec-
tives of the CLAP, but he has also used parapsychology as an ideo-
logical weapon in a fight to further his particular conceptual per-
spective. As Hess (1987) pointed out:
Oscar Gonz&Iez Quevedo reinterpreted the parapsychology of the
United
States and Europe
in
light of Catholic Church doctrine ... to
challenge the scientific basis of claims of Spiritism, Umbanda, and the
Afro-Brazilian religions, (p. 26)
In
fact, to accomplish
his goals, Father Quevedo has distorted
parapsychology in
his books, seeking most of the time to accom-
modate church dogmas. He sometimes goes to the extreme of mak-
ing subtle changes in the content of classical writings on parapsy-
chology so as to support his own views (Martinez Taboas, 1978) and
to deny any possible explanation that may be close to the Spiritist
point of view. In doing this, Quevedo has used investigations con-
ducted for many years by centers around the world, together with
numerous
references
from
classical
works,
including
those
con-
ducted by the Rhines and others at the Duke Parapsychology Lab-
oratory. As David Hess (1990) has further pointed out:
Both
Spiritists and Catholics
will
still appropriate PA parapsychology
and the older studies of psychical research for their own purpose. They
like to have the foreigners do the empirical research (the “dirty work”),
while they sit back and put
it into their own philosophical or theological
framework, (p. 110)
The system of parapsychology Quevedo developed has an en-
tirely different conceptualization of the field and completely differ-
ent
goals from
those of the
parapsychological
research done
in
other parts of the world. For Quevedo, parapsychology helps to es-
tablish a dichotomy between what he considers natural phenomena
and the supernatural, or phenomena that cannot be explained by
any paranormal mechanisms
(e.g., the miracles of Lourdes and of
various
saints). Quevedo
divides
the
causes of parapsychological
phenomena into three types. The natural ESP abilities, classified as
paranormal, are manifestations of the soul, which was created per-
fect and
possessed
unlimited
psychic
abilities but was
restricted
when the
first man sinned. Such
abilities, Quevedo says, are occa-
sionally manifested by people during mental disturbances such as a
trance. Another category is those phenomena that are beyond such
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human abilities, that is, the phenomena are supernatural. According
to Quevedo, when a parapsychological explanation cannot account
for the manifestation of certain psychic phenomena, the explanation
should be left to the theologian. Quevedo also includes another in-
teresting category that for many would not be considered parapsy-
chology—what he
calls “extraordinary normal phenomena,” phe-
nomena that can be explained by normal or unusual psychological
and physiological processes. For example, Quevedo uses the term
pantomnesia (unlimited unconscious memory)
as a mechanism that
can explain some types of xenoglossy phenomena. When someone
manifests this phenomenon, Quevedo believes it means that the per-
son once heard the language and
is merely repeating previously
learned phrases. Another phenomenon
classified under
this
cate-
gory
is indirect hyperesthesia. According to Quevedo,
all our
thoughts have an equivalent physiological reaction and are reflected
in our bodies. For example,
if
I am thinking about something,
I
produce very subtle physical movements or signals that other per-
sons near me can decode unconsciously. The information obtained
unconsciously can then be transformed into actual knowledge.
Quevedo (1964/1974) uses this concept to explain most of the phe-
nomena exhibited by mental mediums.
Moreover, according to his system, Quevedo (1969/1973) views
the excessive manifestation of psychic phenomena in individuals as
a pathological problem that should be treated with psychotherapy.
Although he considers such manifestations to be natural, an excess
of them denotes pathology. Consequently, the manifestation of ESP
abilities should never be encouraged or developed. That sets his tra-
dition completely apart from the one that seeks to develop psi and
to understand conditions that enhance its manifestation.
Quevedo’s conclusions, however interesting, are not derived
from empirical research. Rather, his procedure is to review the writ-
ings of different authors, especially those from the classical works,
and use the material to develop his own conclusions. In a thorough
review of three of Quevedo’s books, the Puerto Rican psychologist
Alfonso Martinez Taboas (1978) identified numerous contradictions,
omissions, distortions of the evidence, and dogmatic statements by
Quevedo. Quevedo’s book Las Fuerzas Fisicas de la Mente alone had
70 problems of this sort. One example of his exaggerated statements
appears on page 289 of his book El Rostro Oculto de la Mente. In this
passage Quevedo concludes the following about precognition:
Very few
established
facts
about Chemistry and
Physics and
other
branches of science have been so well established as precognition
in
Parapsychology in the Ibero-American World
185
parapsychology— And the most important thing
is that thousands of
laboratory experiments have scientifically proved without any doubt that
man posseses this ability. (1964/1974, p. 289)
Without any empirical evidence to support his theory, Quevedo
limits the operative range of precognition to two centuries. He does
this to prove that man possesses limited temporal abilities, a conclu-
sion supporting the Church dogma that only biblical prophecy is un-
limited by time, for
it is divine in nature and
is the result of God’s
intervention; that is,
it is a miracle.
The CLAP
also used
to publish a magazine
called Revista de
Parapsicologia, which summarized the
activities of the Center and
contained mostly theoretical
articles. More
recently, however, the
Center closed down, apparently because of a prohibition imposed
by the Church as a result of a polemical book published by Quevedo
(1989) entitled Antes Que Os Demonios Voltem [Before the Demons Re-
turn].
In
this book Quevedo,
ironically,
uses parapsychology
to
make skeptical commentaries on Catholic dogmas concerning de-
monic possession; he also
tries to explain demonic possession
through parapsychological mechanisms. He criticizes the traditional
Church use of the Rituale Romanum in determining the causes of
demonic possession. Essentially, Quevedo points out the shortcom-
ings of the Rituale Romanum, which does not include psychic phe-
nomena as an alternative explanation that might account for most
of the cases of demonic possession.
There
is no doubt that in developing his system Quevedo has
extensively surveyed the whole field of parapsychology. In a review
of some of his books, George Zorab (1971) states:
These three volumes, comprising nearly 1000 pages,
fully inform the
reader about all the various aspects of modern parapsychology.
It is at
the same time a fair and reliable guide. In a sense
it
is unique in the
present day literature of the subject, for since Richet’s Trade de Metapsy-
chique (1922) and F. Moser’s Okkultismus (1935) no such comprehensive
work covering the whole extensive field of modern parapsychology has
been put on the market,
(p.
142)
I certainly would agree with Zorab’s opinion on the astonishing
amount of work carried out by Quevedo, work that certainly de-
serves recognition.
I would not, however, characterize his work as
fair and reliable as far as the handling of the evidence is concerned.
To a certain extent, Quevedo’s position is justified when, he tries to
fight superstition such as that spread by the psychic healers, who are
very popular in Brazil. In a sense he
is a minority in a society with
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a high concentration of Spiritists whose beliefs threaten the estab-
lished Catholic dogmas. However, when he uses parapsychology
evidence of certain phenomena
as a
scientific backup
to
establish
facts, when
this same evidence
is
still very controversial for many
parapsychologists,
his position
is untenable. Nonetheless,
his work
has
to be seen
in
the
cultural and
ideological background from
which he has worked (Alvarado, 1991).
Another dimension of Brazilian psychical research is the work by
researchers
with
Spiritist
orientation. One example
is
that
con-
ducted by the engineer and psychical researcher Hernam Guimar-
aes Andrade, who in 1963 founded the Brazilian Institute of Psy-
chobiophysical Research (IBPP). The name was chosen
to make
it
clear that the Institute intended to explore biological and physical
as well as purely psychical phenomena. One of the most significant
things about this Institute is that it emerged from within the Spiritist
movement
(Playfair,
1975). Andrade, a
Spiritist himself, has con-
ducted
well-planned and
detailed
investigations of reincarnation
cases along the lines of Ian Stevenson’s work. His poltergeist cases
are
particularly interesting—for example, the one published
in a
monograph entitled 0 Poltergeist de Guarulhos (1984). These cases in-
volve very dramatic phenomena: apports, damage to furniture and
persons, apparitions of strange creatures, and spontaneous fires. In
i.
:^t<»rr.rPiino- the cases. Andrade leans toward the dis-
Sometimes with possible witchcraft com-
ponents (Alvarado,
1984b; Andrade,
1984).
Also,
as Michel-Ange
Amorim (1990) has remarked about Andrade’s interpretation ol the
cases:
Andrade interprets the different types of occurrences present
in
this
case [the Guarulhos’s case] as supportive of a Spiritist world view in the
Umbanda tradition. The Umbanda tradition has several million adher-
ents especially in the bigger cities. It combines African, Catholic
Indian,
and
Spiritist elements and may be characterized
as a relatively extra-
ecclesiastic of popular Catholicism with ancient Afro-Brazihan sects,
(p.
199)
According to Amorim, not only does Andrade interpret his cases
along the Spiritist lines but he also accepts the central beliefs of this
religion, such as the existence of all sorts of spirits,
like Exus and
Umulums. He
also
believes
that
the
sorcerer
is
able
to
practice
magic within the terreiros
(a place specialized m these procedures)
to harass victims according to Quimbanda laws (the black magic side
of the Umbanda religion).
.
Concerning Andrade’s interpretation of the aforementioned case
of Guanal^s, Amorim (199^fe^Pr Please 2000/08/11
:
Thus, he
rejects the usual attributions of RSPK outbreaks
to a living
agency. In defense of his position he points to the fact that a psycho-
logical examination of Noemia [a participant in the case], the most prob-
able RSPK agent, was conducted by two psychologists belonging to the
IBPP team. He states, “Mrs. Noemia didn’t display any form of psychi-
cal abnormality that could justify viewing her as belonging to the ‘psy-
chokinetic agent of a poltergeist’ category in conformity with the theo-
retical patterns suggested by the current hypothesis.” ... He adds that
his macro-PK tests ... of her capacities were also negative,
(p. 199)
It
is important, however, to point out that to some extent the
cases investigated by Andrade and his associates seem to reflect the
influence of the beliefs and culture of Brazilian society (Hess, 1990).
Andrade has also published one of the
first systematic treatises of
parapsychology
in
Portuguese
entitled
Parapsicologia
Experimental
(1967). A
basic
introductory manual of the
quantitative method
used in parapsychology,
it includes a detailed description of the sta-
tistical model used in experiments with ESP cards.
There are other groups in Brazil who are interested in a more
scientific approach to psychical research. One of these groups is the
recently established ECLIPSY-Instituto de Investigates Cientfficas
em Parapsicologia. This group aims to pursue a different approach
one separate from the more traditional approaches associated with
Spiritist or Catholic orientations typical of most Brazilian research
centers. It received support from the University of Sao Francisco to
organize its first conference in parapsychology, held in 1990, which
included
participants from
the
University
as
well
as
researchers
from Argentina,
Brazil, and Mexico. The group plans
to conduct
experimental research that will be reported in its new journal, called
Revista Brasileira de Parapsicologia. According to
its president, Wel-
lington
Zangari,
it
will include
abstracts
in English
as
well
as m
Spanish. The journal will also include translations from major ex-
perimental and
theoretical
articles
published
in
the
English-lan-
guage journals.
,
.
.
n
There are also other groups involved in parapsychology in Brazil
that are beyond the scope of this paper because of limitations of
space and because of our
initial goal of evaluating Brazilian para-
psychology from the perspective of its impact on the Ibero-Ameri-
can countries.
CIA-RDP96-00792R0007i
anking country in
rimental parapsychological research.