,
,
„
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red, thin, shiny and short as that of a cougar’ (p. 4). Noemia, while feeling some
neighbourT Mrs
t0 a gorilla - Pedro caded his
neighbours, Mrs.
Zina
and her husband,
in order
to witness the cuts
The
woman was quite skeptical.
But
as she was questioning Noemia about
the
apparition, she saw an enormous hand passing in front of her and she fainted
She dedared having seen in the twinkling of an eye this hairy and dark thing
During
the
Stage
incidents Noemia
perceived,
on
three
occasions
a
wolfhound shape on the wardrobe as she went to sleep while Marcos only felt!
me
shivers. She also stated having seen a hairy hand trying
to seize
her
husband by his neck (pp. 59-61 ). In Stage 2 at the same moment as Marcos had
h,s left arm cut
2 May, 1974) Noemia saw a ‘hairy beast, like a cougfr or ft was
a gorilla
a monkey
, something horrible with a face in fire and big tfeth (p
11))
after
^
$7Pe P888"* in the house towards the bedroom where
after this Marcos was hit by a brick as they prayed there (pp. 44-46) And in
emftv
in
C
the
§ t0
r^
arC°S
(
rPP ‘^ She Started
‘ t0 have a'dia^e wfth^e
tity
in the guise of Satan, of a man, with a totally distorted face
teeth outside
and throwing
fire when he spoke’.
Ruth, during the period oVher
fits
at
Raouem
l
bCaSt
’ a Cat ’ a dog (P- 21 )‘ In S4e 3 she still saw it and
aquel (2 years) said she saw a horse (p, 37) which description corresponds with
the one the sensitives of the Church gave during an evangelic exoreftm inT
house b> reporting the presence of an animal shape ‘in the form of a horse’ (p
son' in f
an° dier 0C
f
a*10n
(Sta§e 2 )> as Pedro was praying with his wife and theft
son-in-law, he saw a figure
1 .5 m high, with a strong thorax, in a not black color
but half-caste, very dark’ two meters from them
(p. 55). Finally Pedro led a
magical struggle’ against an invisible assailant (May
1974), one abundantly
described in the monograph (pp. 50-56). He claimed indeed having won
this
ike7£ewhichP,2
C er ‘ llt
7,
V,d
'f
n
‘;maginary’ sword
> a» this while in a trance-
like state, which Pedro considered to be ‘the management ofGod Spirit’ (p. 55)
(3) Possession-like trances began in Stage 2, two weeks after the moving of Marcos’s
family mto their new house (the second) in Guarulhos. At 2 a.m. Rmh woke up
(p 2lTl7^7l77
hat She
. Wa" seeinS beasts °n the wardrobe, a wild cat, a dog
would her
hlS da
m°
n the
J
chlld wou ld have attacks, once or twice a day. She
^a? wer7an
P
F
e
F
C
G
CSS ^ 77^ w?uId tura PurP le ’ Shc was ^en to a
epilepsy 7n Sta7 3 R T7
r’
' n°thing abnormal wa* found: no signs of
face
ands
’
,
(*T
f°Ur^ °ld) Sti11 had her fits l during these her
een a‘r
dS
7; 7r77r
Uid
t
iSted - Again She screamed ^ ** had
a-
i
jP
"
u
Later durmg Eliza’s stay in the family (September 1976)
she too displayed the possession symptoms; her eyes and face would seem to
become
contorted
p.
38). Of interest
here
is
that when Ruth was
at
her
grandmother s home, she had no such fits; similarly, Elza showed no abnormal
behaviour outside Marcos s house (p. 67).
dte dtvZ°/tM7°
US
a ^
't
6 fifSt °CCarrenCe °fStage 2 - 11 typically occurred in
daytime
till
/ or 8 p.m. It consisted oApproK/SBdl IB6clR^te^n|Q^^^^^
11 0
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The Guarulhos Poltergeist
Ann nnd 700 a
According to Pedro ‘the stones didn’t seem to be thrown but
,
,g
,
>
Tn
&
Fehruarv 1975 during this interview, Pedro estimated
dropped on the house -in February is u,aui mg
Witnesses
that about 20 kg of such materials had been taken off the roof (p. 9). Witnesses
Staae
ill
April
1975)
a
fall of stones began at
a.m.,
consist
g
FnaUv so™of the missionaries
of the Church,
after an e^tosm
October 1976) in stage 3, were also hi. (p. 41 ). Marcos noted however that these
storings of people didn't actually hurt anyone (p. 3/).
T 19?
In Suratto also (Stage 2) objects were broken or throw,,
l.ke
Bible
(n
30) The same afternoon
(at 3 p.m.) the family was in the kitchen praying
with dseir Chinch Minister, Lamarline Eibeiro and his
among other c p
g
a g-ble^placed on a
little table, among other books,
two guests were going,
P
Stage
as
the disturbances
“thc'ncwhouse foGuaraihos, Marcos witnesses his shoe leviUKrand
forcefully hi, the bedroom ceiling stucco where it left a mark and dten dl on the
bed; this recurred several times durmg the mgh, (pp. 21-22)^ n Stage
durbtg°tlris short ly^^rr^y,
frrsrisible^gent’ see^ned^to^J^i^uo^ them
set and crashed on the floor (pp.
as siaieu uy
,
,
succeeded
and glasses coming out ofclosed cupboards was commom
eard
:lA-R^P^|^^j^flQ7^O3(50eoi^ts taken out and damaged,
i ney omy
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the noise when they
fell down and crashed! During prayers such occurrences
were common’ (p. 32).
(6)
‘Apport’-like phenomena seemed
to occur during the whole poltergeist case.
Disappearance of money was especially frequent. Once (Stage
1) they found in
its place a piece of paper with a red cross drawn on it (p. 8). Sometimes, after a
certain period (the same day or some days later) a part of the'stolen’ money or
all of it would reappear (Stage 2) in places hard to get to, following a knock on the
wall (pp. 18, 31—32). At Artur Alvim (Stage 2), money which had been taken was
ostensibly thrown (folded in a paper red on one side and white on the other) on
the floor near the sink in the kitchen where the mother-in-law, the spouse of
Marcos and he himselfwere present. As Andrade states ‘the money was thrown
on the floor or on some furniture, within everybody’s sight; but
it wasn’t seen
from where nor how it came
(p. 20). In Stage 3 Elza’s purse disappeared and
was found some days later at the roadside near the house, with all her documents
but without
the money
(pp.
42-43). Marcos noted
that
the money didn’t
disappear if he kept it with him in his pocket or at his mother’s home (p. 36). In
Stage 2 branches of rosemary also appeared (May
1974)
in Marcos’s jacket
pockets and on the window sill (pp. 12-13). Some months after (August 1974)
when they moved into their second house, Marcos found under the bed some
plates which had disappeared in the first house; then the poltergeist activity
began again
(p. 20). In Stage 3 when they first moved into their third hous’e
(September 1975) they found crossed knives and rosemary (the plant) under
their bed and the mattress
(pp. 46-49). These occurrences ceased
after the
Church minister’s intervention but recommenced two months later. They also
found in the same period
lit white candles in their bedroom (pp. 35-36). This
coincided with the visit of two women who came twice to bless the house, but
Noemia didn’t let them come in the house. Once Noemia saw that one of these
unknown
persons had white candles and rosemary
in
her transparent bae
(pp. 46-49).
v
s
(7)
Spontaneous fires also occurred during the poltergeist events. In Stage 2 (May
1974) two floor-polishers (their own and the neighbours’) exploded into flames
while Noemia and Judite were using them. Marcos stated that it wasn’t a short-
circuit
(p.
13). While the whole family had definitely
left the
first house
in
Guarulhos, Marcos had
left behind some of his belongings. Included among
these were his working tools and materials and a bedside
table; these latter
caught fire (Stage 2, n.d.) while nothing belonging to the new occupants had
been touched. They claimed to have perceived the fire when Marcos’s belongings
were already completely burned (p. 25). At about the same time, Pedro, living in
Guainazes, was
told by a sensitive that she saw in the bedside table a ‘bad
element
(p. 26). The first
true
parapyrogenesis (PPG) occurred, during the
family s stay at Artur Alvim, behind a meat safe. It was Marcos’s father-in-law
who ran up and extinguished
the
fire
(p.
20). Some clothes within -a closed
wardrobe (p. 42, n.d.) also caught fire in that house. In the third Marcos’s house
in Guarulhos (Stage 3) PPG often occurred behind the wardrobe where some
newspapers were kept, which were the fire target (pp. 35-36) near Marcos’s tools
(P- 42).
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(8)
Noemia’s strange dream (p. 44).
the help of her
^
>* —
with half-root red (sic)!
Andrade’s iNTERPRETATtoN oe the Phenomena and Alternative
H
riTinterPrets the
supportive of a spiritist world view
jn the bigger cities. It combines
religion has several million adherents
P
Y ^
®S
be characterized as a
African, Catholic, Indian, and spin
. n of popu iar Catholicism with
relatively recent extra-ecclesias ic c
(Greenfield, 1987; Bronson, 1986;
de„,
m
Braziliatp.
Montagno,
1985) have: rea
>
V
within and outside hospitals. ^
Spiritist tradition healing pract c
of this religion, i.e., the existence
Andrade accepts (p. 63
.
.
.) tne cenirai
g?4 & 1974b
; he also
of all sorts of spirits like Exus ans Umulums (Paging
^ ^thin
,h.
believes that the sorcerer wou
e
Ja t0 trouble someone according
‘terreiros’ (place specialized in
-
T tmbanda). Thus, he rejects the usual
to Quimbanda laws (black magic si
e o
In defense of his position he
attribution of RSPK outbr^*
t° a
j
exa^ i4tion ofNoemia, the most probable
points to the fact that a psychologic!^exammat o
.
to the IBPP team
.
RSPK agent, was conducted by wo pJ
of psychical abnormality that
He states ‘Mrs Noemia didn't ^^S^SMnntof.polnirgd.t'
could justify viewing her as
;
belonging
,
p
jttems suggested by the current
CSK r;'
bis macro-PX
tests' (which are desenbed
below) of her capacities were also negative (p. 71).
\
(1) For Andrade there's little doubt
rf onr
the result of a disruptive dtscarnate ngen
jBPP presenting such
world (pp. 73-76). lhiSmSlbu
t
y
in
fiv ofS Ibcases reviewed by Roll (1977)
teT™i pe^'w«e ’wounded or slapped by some unknown agency or
stigmata appeared on their bodies
(P-
)-
fi
n
p,,
furniture
But
let
us
consider other
happening in the absence of peop
Qf the house. This expectancy
led to a growing expectancy
torn
.be o^ams^ ^ ^ ^
genufae pK
based upon
apparent PK
could,
opie The psvchodynamics
phenomena
the cutting acmauy
(1984)'and others, in
hereTaSrPKW whereby Ae
‘fuzziness’
of the
situation
contributes to the evocation of true paranormal phenomena.
“ In a recent letter exchange, An^ade
f^
psychologists) used Pfister’s projective test,, m»l
g^
dg^ giyes a
'normative’ assessment of
that the test, which doesn
t demand hig
icnt didn
’
t show significant personality
the individual’s personality. According
^
socio_economico-cultural environment
.
; GIA-KLMi’:96itOO792R®O670O3
15@
10O
c
l
rson in her socio-economico-cultural environment’.
199
f,u
o >
r
n
,
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reasons;
1'^
^
Batchc,dorian
lhlmcwork seems
appropriate
for
several
(a)
Belief in psi (or the supernatural), a necessary psychological condition
is
present since Pentecostal churches emphasize Spiritual Gifts fcharismata) such
glossolaha, prophetic utterance, healing, etc. (Gentz, 1986).
(b) In Stage
1, some individuals in the Church (including the daughter ofPedro)
g eat event
in Pedro s family, in which there would be blood. This itself could
have established an expectancy set (Hastings & Ivrippner, 1961) for ‘bleeding’
I
events
(e.g., cutting of people in Stage 2).
seeding
(c) The absence of an epicentre of the phenomena (a PK-agent) may have freed
members of the family from ‘ownership resistance’
(the reluctance to identify
S S' (riZeTh°
f
RS
DpT
0rma '
Ih'
of,he
intervention
eVentS ‘° SUPernaturaI (^ritual or magic-related)
The cutting of Noemia could have been
either hypnotically-induced
self-
mutilations (Malon et al„ 1987) or stigmata. Implicit Lid explicit suggestions
°f thC Batchel
donan framework (Isaacs,
1984) and
P
group hypnosis
StevLLnTgSTs'"
L° PSych0S0matic changes ^Azuma &
rnte L
88) '
WC S
.
Ha11 SCe ln ltem
(2 ) hypnosis may well have played a
iSt
9^
present case ' And Marcos’s cut on his arm, while he was sleeping
state
ge
t£Vac7th?t sh
a
rd
been
by N°gmia ’ while she was in a dissociated
(2)
For
Andrade,
the
apparitions
and
visions
reinforce
the
Spiritist
explanation (pp. 50-65). Right from the start of the monograph (p. 4) he writes
that some (people) saw enormous claws belonging to a strange being
perhaps
an
inhabitant
of another
dimension’,
referring
to
the
fashionable
fourth
imension idea
Rucker, 1984). He uses the idea of lycanthropy to account fij
ti e
transformation
of these
spirits
into
the
witnessed
black doj
"ilia
‘
I
’
’’ ?.lvcn
1 1<U
^
(lrst descriptions of the monster coincide with those of
an Umbandist author he
cites
(p.
68). However lycanthropy- the reputed
ability of certain individuals to take on the external form of a wild animal -has
been
largely demystified by
Rawcliflc
(1959) 3 and Andrade chooses
not
u>
Fe
S\
ty
A
nd
i°
f thC PresumabIy crucial issue of the
materializations 4 "
he
^
l°
the
ect0Plasmic
ai.za.ions j^oduced by
die i920s European mediums (pp. 64-65)
but
finally opts for the discarnate agent explanation.
In Africa such beliefs have been turned
to hideous advantage bv secret societies
F
1 o
t,
imagined
(p. 263).
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From a psychological perspective one must note that the apparitions had the
characteristics of eidetic imagery4 (El), i.e., they were autonomous
constructive
and dynamic, displaying natural progressions and movement. The fact that they
weren’t
collectively
witnessed
(e.g., Marcos
never saw
one)
points
to
the
subjective (rather than consensual) nature of the experience.
In the case ofNoemia, we can notice that she was predisposed to such an event
since at the age of 1 7 she already experienced it. She indeed often saw a black big
dog on her bedside; she would shout for help from her mother and when the light
would be turned on there would be nothing. As we have seen this particu ar
vision recurred during the RSPK events years later (cf. the wolfhound shape on
the wardrobe, Stage 2). Of course in the case of Noemia, these visions seem at
times to have been quite elaborate, as in her dialogue with the ‘Satanic creature
(Stage 4)
However this
latter fact could simply underline her proneness
to
fantasv or dissociation (Marks,
1988). Similarly, Pedro’s struggle against
‘monster’
could
have
been
the
result
of expectancies,
autosuggestion
or
dissociation.
It
is
conceivable
that
his
choice
to become an
exorcist was
motivated by a dissociative personality syndrome similar to Noemia s.
If in
this
poltergeist case there reallytwas a sorcery component,
as seems
reasonable to suppose
(p.
12), then we ckn hypothesize that the sorcerer, via
MOBIA5 (Mental or Behavioral Influence of an Agent), contributed
to the
triggering ofEl in the witnesses’ minds. Insofar as eidetic images areevoked by a
thought, suggestion, idea, or memory image (Marks & McKellar, 1982
1 it seems
plausible to'entertain
that they could be evoked by a
psi-based
idea,
also
especially when such images are consistent with the culturally shared stereotypes
of the people involved (Evans,
1984). The work of Janet, Richet, Myers and
Vasiliev about
telepathic
or PK-induced hypnosis
(Leloup,
1978) and
the
presence of a particular expectancy set are helpful in accounting for such events.
However
it
would
have
been
interesting
to
conduct
a
quantitative
investigation of the recurrent apparition (Maher & Schmeidler, 1975) in order to
bring more useful information.
(3)
The
possession
symptoms
or
the
children
remind
Andrade ^of the
mediumislic ‘incorporation’ of spirits frequenting ‘Quimbanda sessions
(Exu
& Umulum). As he put it ‘By our personal experience in this held (more than 50
vears of observation in mediumistic sessions), we have strong reasons ^support
such
an
occurrence’
(p.
66).
Lack
of evidence
for
epilepsy m
the EEG
examination certainly
is consistent with the spiritist interpretation. Moreover
the symptoms displayed by
the victimized children don’t point
to a specific
phvsiologically-based neuropathology of spiritual possession (Beyerstein, 1988).
Still, alternative explanations are possible.
It could be that t..e
Pos
sl
)
ssl° 14
symptoms constitute a culture-bound neurotic disorder, as suggested by Ward &
+ El
is defined as any mental imagery projected onto the sensory environment which cannott be
attributed to a material change in sensory input and which is known to the imager to be subject
.
The relevant work of Marks & McKellar (1982) applies the concept of El to account for reports of
apparitions collected by Sidgwick, Gurney and Myers.
.
,
. H
"’Term suggested by Rex G. Stanford
(1974)
as a new term
for ‘active-agent telepathy
. He
proposes dial the agen( can play an active role in telepathy and that such
telepathy
is really
of psychokinesis. MOBIA
is regarded and the most common PMIR function of PK.
ClA-RDP96p90
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200
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[-y0 ]
ggQ
‘nvest'Sat'on ofspiri, possession in a
the TW
“
,grouP- Besides the authors noted: ‘It is significant that
the
Pentecostals
themselves view
possession
as
spiritual
disorder and
offer
treatment by means of exorcism’ 7
.
Or, we
could
adopt
E.
Bourguignon’s
(1976)
stress on
the
therapeutic
component ofpossession trances, the ‘cathartic aspects of the experience’
In the
p esent
case,
the
interpersonal
event of the possession
trances could
be
a
culturally (Pentecostahsm) sanctioned method of conflict resolution related to
e persons involved (Marcos’s family) and the situation (RSPK outbreaks)
However that may be, in a recent article Pattison
et al. (1986) described a
variety of trance and possession
states, in terms of modes of consciousness
!
C
^
Vloral mamfestations, and contextual interpretations. They concluded that
such states, per se, are not pathological, but may be experienced and interpreted
as either normal or pathological personal experiences’.
P
(4) Andrade by citing another case (p. 33), stressed the fact that ‘strong noise’
hitZ ?h
C
aCdVity ‘ Another interesting fact is that tinstones
hitting the persons didn
t hurt them: in many RSPK cases this seems to be a
frequently related effect (Roll, 1977) 8
. Stone-throwing RSPK episodes Ire not
rare and can even constitute the main occurrence of a poltergeist (Rogo
1987)
This is quite interesting, for throughout human history (and particulfrlv in the
monotheistic religions) stoning has been related to punishment. LiSetere
Pedro explained (February 1975) the disturbances as a punishmentThis son
who was
drifting away from Evangelical principles’ (p. 53), this was ‘revealed
of h" rT ifo
(Oct0bcr
' 976
>
perLdi™se')S“
S™Km
a
,"v ,7 ra
a
H
clu" ,h
r
“ ‘‘ral)alho ' <m‘sic work> had
'
b“" d“'
efem T
?
y
[P
• 72) - However’ lfwe consider Pedros’s interpretation of the
events, the stone-throwing symbolic occurrence makes much sense. Especially if
we agree that paranormal phenomena correspond to or have some relation with
hat'sTanTslitefoT^F
(McGull>’ 1981 )- n should be added
or
is
thft laden with
1,7 WUh 3 St°ning: is that simP>y a coincidence
Classical’ RSPK nl
meaninS? If ^nu.ne one can
classify such events
as a
classical RSPK phenomenon, ,f not its symbolic aspect remains ofimportance
Of course it s understandable that Andrade would infer that the stones flunc at
people involved an
invisible agent’, a stone-thrower. Surely such inferences are
not
sufficient ground
to invoke a
spiritist explanation.
After
all
Andrade’s
Ob™?, plr,?,?cke?“
ded in Sed"8 <h' ,raj“Kry °f ‘h'
witnl On tbC 0ttl
^
T'. 8and
must not forget that sometimes people did directly
tness moving objects phenomena,
e.g., Marcos’s ‘shoe levitation’ (Stage 2)
the
invisible agent’ pursuit of Marcos’s family at night, and especially the
crockery-throwing episode’ with the Church Minister and his wife Maria The
fact that here the Bibles seem
be focal objects
(Roll,
,977)
is foSStfog'
Alvarado (Ssir
00""' °f
iSSUC °f exordsm
*<= present case, the Reader should refer to
seenyo he aimed at someone, and to™
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The Guarulhos Poltergeist
IA-
the two books were moved and cut on different occasions. Pedro attributed this to
the fact that they used to read Psalm 91
‘a powerful prayer in the fight against
such kinds ordisturbance’. Andrade quotes another case with persons belonging
to an evangelical sect too: the poltergeist ‘pulled out and just removed the page
containing Psalm 91’ (p. 27). Such a focal object is predictable in a family where
the Evangelical principles outline the conduct of all members!
According to Andrade such macro-PK events were the product of a discarnate
agency; but
it’s curious to see how Noemia’s failures at showing any PKMB
ability ’(while the family was watching a TV show presenting Uri Geller) or of
some PK influence upon a compass are interpreted by him as proof that she
could not be the RSPK agent, though he states that
‘this single session with
negative results
is meaningless’
(p.
71). Anyway even
if there was really no
epicentre or focal person here, one could explain the witnessed movement pf
objects phenomena by an unconscious PK collective agency (Owen & Sorrow,
1976).
(6)
In
Andrade’s
perspective
the
‘qpport’ phenomena
suggest
that
‘the
incorporeal agent has direct access to anyplace of our space’ (p. 74) from its own
parallel dimension. The
last events, with
the two visiting women and
their
‘materials’, are very suggestive of evil action at a distance by means of sorcery,
according to him. On the other hand, it may suggest more mundane happenings.
The women’s second visit coincided with Ruth’s birthday
(4 October,
1976).
They came back trying to enter the house by offering a piece of cake for Noemia
and
the
children
(p.
47)
but
unsuccessfully.
This
points
to
their
precise
knowledge of the family’s life. The two women didn’t belong to the same Church.
During their first visit indeed they came by saying that ‘someone had sent them
to bless the house (p. 46), and Noemia refused to let them in, for in her Church
they anoint, they do not bless.
It seems plausible that the women had some
precise knowledge of the family’s
life, and may have been behind some of the
seemingly paranormal phenomena. The similarity with other cases investigated
by the IBPP led Andrade to the sorcery-related conclusion, even while stating
‘we’re aware of the unorthodox aspect of such an assumption, which could incur
discredit for this work’
(p. 49). Certainly there
is some evidence for a sorcery
component in this case, as suggested by the appearance of rosemary, used in
sorcery rituals (p. 12). But to state that the appearance of crossed knives, plants
and
lit candles are really the result of teleportation, simply because Marcos
asserts that this occurred while the house was closed and nobody could enter, is
to underestimate the possibilities of skeleton keys or the dexterity of certain
housebreakers! After all despite being so categorical Marcos couldn’t explain on
this occasion the incense smell he found when coming into his house (p.
9).
During these apport-like events, the fact that a knock in the wall preceded the
ostensibly paranormal events (p.
18)
is interesting, being consistent with Ro
(1977) suggesting that ‘a greater number of [RSPK] cases with movements were
preceded by sound’. As for the disappearance of money or of Elza s purse °r of
some plates (which had disappeared in the first house and were found in the
second, p. 20), there could be other explanations than teleportation. Even
it
ro’s family could pick up the money because
rraccordance with the evangelical precepts’
203