Approved For Release 2003/09/10 : CIA-RDP96-00792R000700320001-5 186 The Journal of Parapsychology a high concentration of Spiritists whose beliefs threaten the estab- lished Catholic dogmas. However, when he uses parapsychological 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 Hernani Guimar- ses 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 lan Stevenson’s work. His poltergeist cases are particularly interesting—for example, the one published in a monograph entitled O Poltergeist de Guarulhos (1984). These cases in- yolve very dramatic phenomena: apports, damage to furniture and persons, apparitions of strange creatures, and spontaneous fires. In evaluating and interpreting the cases, Andrade leans toward the dis- carnate agencies hypothesis, sometimes with possible witchcraft com- ponents (Alvarado, 1984b; Andrade, 1984). Also, as Michel-Ange Amorim (1990) has remarked about Andrade’s interpretation of 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-Brazilian 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 in these procedures) to harass victims according to Quimbanda laws (the black magic side of the Umbanda religion). Concerning Andrade’s interpretayi n of the aforementioned case of Ganmulhos, Amorim (1990) ee AR roved orR elease 2003/09/10 : CIA-RDP96-0079 Parapsychology in the Ibero-American World 187 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 Noémia [a participant in the case], the most prob- able RSPK agent, was conducted by two psychologists belonging to the IBPP team. He states, “Mrs. Noémia 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 parapsythology 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 Investiga¢goes Cientificas 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 S40 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 in Spanish. The journal will also include translations from major ex- perimental and theoretical articles published in the English-lan-. guage journals. 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. ee ay sabidakaee For many years Argentina has been the top-ranking country ir SereriTt - yesepexchological research