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Mexico has been known for a long time as the land of the sacred
mushroom or peyod, a plant used by the Indian shaman to induce
an altered state of consciousness, which allegedly facilitates the man-
ifestation of psychic powers. This country has also been a major
source for many parapsychological researchers interested in unor-
thodox psychic healing practices. Famous curanderas (healers) such
as Maria Sabina and Dona Pachita have been extensively
investi-
gated by
Stanley
Krippner and
other famous
parapsychologists
(Krippner & Villoldo, 1986).
Although Mexico has been a major source of study for many
parapsychologists from foreign countries, psychical research has not
flourished there as
it has in other countries such as Argentina and
Spain. Moreover, even though the country
is located on the south-
ern border of the United States and has been subject to very strong
American cultural influence in almost every aspect of life, the dom-
inance of the United States has not been a factor in the develop-
ment of parapsychology. Even though in the United States there are
more parapsychological research centers than anywhere else in the
world, very little is known in Mexico of their research. Most of what
is known about serious parapsychology comes from Latin American
countries such as Brazil. For example, the writings of Quevedo are
well known in Mexico, and also most of what
is known generally
comes from popular magazines.
Early efforts to study psychical research within a scientific frame-
work in Mexico began in 1919 with the isolated efforts of such re-
searchers as the German-born medical doctor Gustav Pagenstecher,
the first researcher to conduct serious psychical research in Mexico.
Pagenstecher was a very well-known and respected physician in the
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197
Mexican medical community
as
well
as
in
political
circles. In the
course of his career he delivered speeches before two presidents of
Mexico, Diaz and Obregtin (Allison, 1943).
A respected member of the medical
profession, Pagenstecher
said he had been a materialist for forty years when he had his first
encounter with the paranormal.
It was during a hypnosis treatment
of one of his patients who had insomnia that he discovered the re-
markable psychical gifts of Maria Reyes de Zierold. Pagenstecher be-
gan a series of psychometric experiments with her in 1919. The re-
sults were so striking that he brought them to the attention of the
Mexican medical
society, which appointed a commission to verify
them. Pagenstecher
also decided to write to the ASPR and send
some of*the results he had obtained. The results induced Walter
Franklin Prince, Research Officer of the ASPR, to go to Mexico to
investigate the case. After a series of experimental sittings with Zier-
old, Prince was so impressed with the results that he decided to pub-
lish them in the Journal of the ASPR in 1920 (Pagenstecher, 1920).
Prince later published another paper in which he discussed the ex-
periments in which he participated (Prince,
1921b). Moreover, the
ASPR published a monograph by Pagenstecher entitled Past Events
Seership: A Study of Psychometry (Pagenstecher, 1922).
According to William Roll (1967), Pagenstecher contributed to
turn moinr QrpQs in naramvrhnloiTv:
lllMJV/x «.
...
J
Y~ 1
O/
[He was], as far as
I know the
first investigator to use hypnosis as a
means to cultivate ESP in a gifted subject— Pagenstecher’s studies were
also,
1 believe, the
first to indicate that the (parapsychological) associa-
tion of objects may be governed by the same laws that govern the (psy-
chological) association of ideas, (p. 238)
Pagenstecher showed great courage in undertaking these exper-
iments. He jeopardized his professional standing as well as his med-
ical practice by trying to substantiate the claims for Zierold’s psychic
abilities. The Medical Commission appointed to investigate the case
was skeptical of the reported phenomena. Fortunately, however, the
Commission’s leading experts obtained successful results in the ex-
periments
in which they
participated (Gomezharper de Trevino,
1990).
11 Obreg6n was a revolutionary military leader, later President of Mexico. Walter
Franklin Prince (1921a) relates an interesting psychic experience witnessed by Ob-
regdn, about a precognitive dream Obregdn’s brother had about the death of their
mother.
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198
Another development in parapsychological
activities in Mexico
occurred in 1937. A team of medical doctors, headed by Dr. En-
rique Aragon, formed a special commission to investigate an alleged
case of poltergeist activity surrounding a thirteen-year-old Mexican
boy named Joaquin Velazquez Villavicencio. As part of the investi-
gation, the team tried to measure the level of RSPK energy, using
a special apparatus called a sthenometer designed by the French
psychical researcher Paul Joire to detect PK forces (Gomezharper de
Trevino, 1990). Aragon’s contributions were important to parapsy-
chology in Mexico because of his prestigious position and his aca-
demic attainments. Aragon was at one time president of the Uni-
versity of Mexico and was also founder and Director of the Institute
de Psiquiatrla y Psicologla there. He conducted
field research on
haunting cases, precognitive dreams, and fraud in Spiritism.
In 1939, Aragon founded the Clrculo de Investigaciones Meta-
pslquicas de Mexico.
12 The aim of the
Institute was to conduct a
scientific investigation of a case of alleged materialization produced
by the most famous medium in the history of Mexico, Luis Marti-
nez. The medium started his activity when he was six years old and
allegedly could produce incredible phenomena, such as lights, ap-
points,
direct
writing,
direct
voices,
levitations of
objects, and
so
forth. The attention drawn by the case led to the participation of
medical and
political men
in the
sessions. Two ex-presidents of
Mexico were
said
to have participated
in the seances (Garofano,
1988). Other work worth mentioning is that conducted by the Jesuit
priest and psychical researcher Carlos Maria Heredia. He recorded
several observations and experiments in which odors (or other stim-
uli) associated with forgotten experiences were presented to the sub-
ject, theoretically causing an imbalance in the subject’s subconscious
memories associated with the odor which, in turn, induced a tele-
pathic transmission of the forgotten experience to a nearby perci-
pient (Heredia, 1931/1945).
For Heredia, telepathy and spontaneous case occurrences were
fairly acceptable; however, phenomena of the seance room were to
him anathema. Having developed some
skills
as an
illusionist, he
used to tour the country demonstrating mediumistic manifestations,
Parapsychology in the Ibero-American World
199
as he supposed, by his methods of nonspiritual conjuring. He wrote
a book along these
lines debunking the mediumistic phenomena
claimed by Spiritists;
it was called Los Fravdes Espiritistas y
los Feno-
menos Metapsiquicos (1931/1945). Unfortunately these efforts to or-
ganize
serious
centers and
societies
to study
psychic phenomena
from a more empirical approach never led to a more formal type
of organization; most of these centers and investigations were short-
lived.
Since the 1930s, very little
is known of any other serious efforts
to introduce scientific parapsychology to Mexico. After 1940, as
I
mentioned at the beginning of this section of the paper, the best
known studies have been conducted by anthropologists and para-
psychologists interested in nonorthodox practices of healing, partic-
ularly those of the shamanistic variety.
Among the healers was the famous Oaxacan shaman, Barbara
Guerrero, best known as “Pachita,” who practiced as a psychic sur-
geon and who in the 1960s became the subject of enormous atten-
tion. Pachita was studied by Krippner and Villoldo (1986) and oth-
ers. Another
healer,
perhaps
the
best known of
all, was Maria
Sabina, who drew worldwide attention because of her use of hallu-
cinogenic mushrooms in her unusual healing practices.
It was not until 1974 that the first Mexican parapsychological so-
ciety was created, the Sociedad Mexicana de Parapsicologla, headed
by Carlos Trevino, a psychiatrist and an Associate Member of the
Parapsychological Association. The Society at the present time rep-
resents the most critical approach to parapsychology in Mexico.
It
trains researchers and provides education both to the Church and
to lay persons concerning alleged cases of demonic possession and
other manifestations of psychic phenomena. The Society also offers
courses in parapsychology to the general public in an attempt to
correct misconceptions about the nature of scientific parapsychol-
ogy. For example, in Mexico the common belief is that parapsychol-
ogy
is a mixture of magic, demonology, and
sorcery. A parapsy-
chologist
is thought
to be
a person who reads Tarot cards and
coffee grounds and prepares horoscopes. Under these circum-
stances an average Mexican tends to dismiss such beliefs, particu-
larly since they are deeply rooted in their tradition and cultural her-
itage (Gomezharper de Trevino, 1990).
Along with courses for the general public, the Mexican Society
is the only organization that offers an officially required course for
candidates to the priesthood studying at the Institute de la Arque-
diocesis de Mexico. Members of the Society have also conducted ex-
12 This research group later changed
its name to Instituto Mexicano de Investi-
gaciones Siquicas, which also published a detailed account of the stances with the
medium Luis Martinez which lasted for over ten years. The publication was called
Una Ventana al Mundo Invisible [A Window to an Invisible World] (Instituto Mexicano
de Investigaciones Siquicas, 1960). Another interesting dimension of this case
is the
participation in the stances of two well-known Mexican psychical researchers, Gustav
Pagenstecher and Carlos Maria Heredia.
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200
The Journal of Parapsychology
perimental research with Kirlian photography (Trevino, 1975) and
field investigations of haunting cases and poltergeists.
Some parapsychological conferences have been organized in
Mexico—for instance, the Congreso Intemacional de Parapsicologla
held in 1984 in Mexico City. The Society also organized the Primer
Simposio de Parapsicologla Cientlfica held in 1984. At this meeting
a number of PA members presented papers, among them Marilyn
Schlitz and Stanley Krippner (Gomezharper de Trevino, 1990).
Another conference worth noting
is the one organized by the
newly created Sociedad Mexicana para
la Investigacidn Esc£ptica.
The
first Latin American skeptics’ conference was cosponsored by
CSICOP and convened in Mexico City in 1989. The conference in-
cluded speakers such as Ray Hyman and James Alcock, as well as
several psychologists from the University of Mexico. The new Mex-
ican society of skeptics headed by Mario Mendez has launched a
journal called El Investigador Esceptico, which will be made available
throughout Latin America for Spanish-speaking readers.
An example of the attention to parapsychology given by high-
ranking political figures in Mexico was the visit of the wife of the
former president of Mexico, Carmen L6pez Portillo, who visited the
Institute
for Parapsychology
in North Carolina
to
participate
in
some testing demonstrations of ESP.
It
is also interesting to note
that the
president’s
sister,
Margarita L6pez
Portillo, prepared
a
video about the life of the famous Mexican healer “Pachita.” There
are also some isolated researchers in Mexico such as Jacobo Grin-
berg who in 1977 conducted research in dermo-optic perception.
It is unfortunate that one can find no serious parapsychological
publications in Mexico at the present time. There are only some
popular magazines on the topic, such as Duda [Doubt].
Conclusion
So far,
I have surveyed the past and present positions of para-
psychology in several Ibero-American countries. But what does this
conglomeration of names,
societies, and
research
centers mean?
First of all, as I have pointed out, my purpose was to familiarize the
English-speaking parapsychologists with the work of their colleagues
from other countries, especially those researchers who have been in
15 Duda
is a magazine that
is widely published nationally.
It includes sensational
articles on mixed topics such as UFOs, ESP phenomena, cryptozoology, and so on.
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Parapsychology in the Ibero-American World
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the
field of parapsychology for many years but whose work and
publications have been
neglected
in
the major English-language
journals. Second,
I have reviewed a variety of parapsychological ac-
tivities so as to provide the reader with insight into the different
approaches
to psychical research in different countries as well as
into the cultural, geographical, and historical factors that have col-
ored parapsychology in those countries. Some of the information
provided
is new and, may I say, very interesting. The different re-
search methodologies pursued by
the
parapsychologists m
these
countries range from the empirical quantitative approach of the Ar-
gentinian group, who follow the Rhinean School, to the theoretical
and
Spiritualistic approach shaped by the influence of ideological
and
cultifral constructs of the Brazilian
Spiritists and Catholic re-
searchers. However,
in a way,
these
different approaches
to the
study of psychic phenomena are reflections of the cultural milieu in
which the research has evolved.
.
Another important feature that emerges from an examination ot
the developments of parapsychology in these countries is that most
Ibero-American researchers are in the main plagued with the same
practical and theoretical problems common to most other countries
involved in psychical research. Common problems are the struggle
to gain recognition in their own scientific communities and the lack
monnc
tr» cnrmnrt research.
UI CLAJiAWimv.
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r I
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1*
•
Still another unfortunate pattern is the isolation of individual re-
searchers in these Ibero-American countries from their counterparts
in the English-speaking parapsychological community. Some ol
these researchers, such as J. Ricardo Musso and Naum Kreiman
from Argentina, have been doing research and publishing exten-
sively since the 1950s but remain virtually unknown outside their
own countries. Very few of the researchers from those countries
have ever belonged to the Parapsychological Association. A bnel re-
view of the most recent
list reveals that even
at the present time
there are very few Ibero-American members in the PA, an organi-
zation that claims to be international.
It is my hope that this brief summary will bridge the gap created
by the language barrier and will remedy the previous lack of infor-
mation, thus fostering communication between Ibero-American re-
searchers and
their English-speaking colleagues. The increase ol
communication with parapsychologists in the Ibero-American coun-
» Ibero-American members account at the present time for less than 8% of the
Parapsychological Association members (Parapsychological Association, 1991).
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