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The Journal of Parapsychology
these have not been successful as yet. Since
its inception, however,
members of the Society have been very active in organizing numer-
ous educational activities and seminars at different universities. The
seminar offered by the president of the Society, Ramos Perera Mo-
lina, at the Universidad Autdnoma de Madrid in 1975 drew distin-
guished and prominent figures such as Prince Juan Carlos of Spain
and his wife and the minister of education.
Since
1975, the Society has also published a biannual journal,
entided
Psi
Comunicacidn, which
includes
English
abstracts. The
journal covers both the activities of the Society and a wide range of
topics in parapsychology, some of which have been mentioned. In
addition, their journal includes a section for national and interna-
tional news on parapsychological activities around the world. Mem-
bers of the Society have published several books summarizing its re-
search activities.
I have already mentioned the books by Fernandez
Briones (1983). Other books include an anthology, entitled La Nueva
Parapsicobgb:
Introducci&n a b Parapskologb
Cientifica
[The New
Parapsychology: An Introduction to Scientific Parapsychology] ed-
ited by Fernandez Briones (1981a), a valuable introduction to the
field, and Mario Capel’s La Supervivencia Despuis de b Muerte: Evi-
dence Esponbnea y Experimental [Survival after Death: Spontaneous
and Experimental Evidence] (1981) reviewing some of the research
and phenomena related to the issue of survival after death.
Although parapsychology has been negligible in Spain until re-
cent times,
it is important to point out that we are now witnessing a
boom in parapsychological activities in that country. Unfortunately,
even though the Society seems to be the best organized, and to have
the most resources in the Ibero-American world,
its members have
not participated in the broader international parapsychological con-
ferences, such as that of the Parapsychological Association, possibly
because of the language barrier. In addition,
it
is unfortunate and
disheartening to find that such a large, productive, and well-orga-
nized society has no member in the PA.
At
the
1990 Parapsychologk^A|^&tion convention,
David
Hess, who has made severalijgj^^^^o study Brazilian parapsy-
chology, presented a pmjj^^nwhich n^^^ribed Brazilian para-
psychology in the f^J^FTng terms:
Brazil does d^Tiave a coherent community of academic parapsycholo-
gists, and there are few if any people in Brazil who research and publish
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Parapsychology in the Ibero-American Worb
181
at the standards of the Parapsychological Association. Instead, what
is
called “parapsychology” in Brazil
is largd* defined by rival groups of
Catholic and Spiritist (Kardecist) intellectual (Hess, 1990)
To dtelerstand parapsychology in Bra*, we need to be familiar
with the Sutural milieu from which it hasyevolved, one that is dom-
inated by\fro-Brazilian cults and CatJplicism. On the one hand,
we have th^bpiritist tradition that c/e from France through the
teachings of\llan Kardec; Spiritists URieve that spiritual progress is
effected by aVries of compulsory tfffiicamations. They believe that
mediumship pfcvides opportuniti/to communicate with deceased
individuals. Mo\over, Spiritism /strongly influenced in Brazil by
the Afro-Brazilialk cults such as/mbanda and Candomble derived
from the- African \igions brou/t to Brazil through the slave trade
(Bastide, 1971; Gieter, 1985)./
This spectrum o\ Spiritis/beliefs and Afro-Brazilian
religions
has crept in and mix^l in ^/zilian society (Hess, 1987), creating a
variety of belief systeA f/n which Brazilian brands of parapsy-
chology have evolved. \/e are many interesting combinations of
the Kardecist type of Srantism and
all sorts of Brazilian religious
movements that essential^^ccept possession, the influence of spirits
of deceased individuals/is tell as the belief that divinities can pos-
sess individuals and c/ effect healing (Parra Alvarez, 1981).
On the other hai/, therete the Catholic tradition that has de-
veloped a system tha/ises parapsychology as an ideology with which
to fight and eventu/y destroy * the movements the church sees as
superstition and tljeats to the established Catholic dogmas (Hess,
1990). This systei/has been developed mainly through the work of
one of the most/nfluential and tespected “parapsychologists” in
Ibero-America/ather Oscar Goro&lez Quevedo, a Spanish-born
Jesuit priest li/ig in Brazil. PadrelQuevedo (as he
is known) and
Luis Ferreira/a
Silva cofounded lie Latin American Center of
Parapsycholajp', CLAP, of the AncMeta College of Sao Paulo
in
1970.
F
\
,
.
.
The C«ter, which was closed do\« in 1982 and reopened m
1989 MViFc reduced circumstances, use^to offer clinical counseling
for peome suffering from psychological problems related to
reli-
gious /tperiences and
practices
(e.g., qbmonic
possession). The
f-— .
..*211
on imnrp«ivp lihrarv
of rkoks on parapsychology,
in 1982 and reopened in
i to offer clinical counseling
•problems related to
reli-
q^monic
possession). The
Cent/ still has an impressive library
6 of Ikoks on parapsychology,
whi/ used to be housed in huge facilities mat also accommodated
an/xperimenta! and
clinical laboratory
anfll a museum of objects
F One of the biggest parapsychology libraries in Latin America with approximately
Cooo volumes.
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