194 Thejournkppro 2001/03/07 arayseycloFor Release ogy minished by increasing communication and collaboration with for- eign parapsychologists. Puerto Ricolo Early psychical research in Puerto Rico was strongly influenced by the nineteenth-century Spiritualist movement that had also spread to other countries. Mediumistic s6ances in which raps and communication with the spirits were common drew attention mostly from people with a religious interest. It was perhaps this influence that led Agapito Morales to publish in 1904 a more critical examination of these phenomena. In his booklet Breve Tratado de Hipnotismo, Magnetisnzo, Espiritismo y Suges- toterapia, Morales contended that all those occurrences could take place without assuming the action of spirit agencies. He interpreted possession as being autosuggestion and attributed paranormal phe- nomena to our own psychic faculties. He considered that all of the experiments made until today demonstrate that there is an invisible force in our being that is capable, for instance, of playing a guitar, lifting a table, or lifting our own bodies. According to him this force is under our control. He also believed that mediumistic communi- cation could be explained by means of telepathy between the me- dium and the sitter. Another major influence in the formation of a more empirical and critical approach to parapsychology was the work of Francisco Ponte, a dentist who became president of the Puerto Rican Feder- ation of Spiritists. Ponte visited Europe in 1912 to familiarize him- self with the work of several Spiritualistic centers, as well as psychi- cal research centers. He had had the opportunity to participate in mediumistic s6ances in Italy with famous mediums such as Lucia Sordi and Eusapia Palladino. During these s6ances he witnessed manifestations of apparent telekinesis and materializations (Alva- rado, 1987; Ponte, 1914). Later Ponte returned to Puerto Rico and tried to reproduce the same phenomena with local mediums. He reported some of his find- ings on materializations of body parts during s6ances to Walter Franklin Prince, then Research Officer of the ASPR. Ponte's work was important because of the critical and empirical approach he brought to his research on s6ance phenomena (Alvarado, 1979a). "This section on Puerto Rican parapsychology partly summarizes information contained in an article by Alvarado (1979a). -00792ROO0700730001 -0 CIA-RDP96 Parapsychology in the Ibero-American World 195 ii ne Eneoreucai icieas oi: icaipn u. aierra are aiso interesting. Sierra, who was interested in the psychology of ESP, believed that to develop telepathy it was necessary to develop first an internal state of tranquility so that the electrical activity of the brain did not interfere with the telepathic process (Sierra, 1966). Some of the most important developments, however, took place during the last two centuries. At the educational level, it is impor- tant to note the work of Celinda Madera who, during the 1970s, offered a series of courses and lectures at different campuses of the University of Puerto Rico. Madera's courses focused on the human- istic and transpersonal aspects of psi. She herself had received train- ing at Duke University's Parapsychology Laboratory (Alvarado, 1979a). In 1914, Nestor A. Rodriguez Escudero, a lawyer, published a series of essays about parapsychology and Spiritualism in his book Los Caminos de Dios. He discussed a great variety of paranormal phe- nomena. His main objective was to show that parapsychology dem- onstrates the spiritual aspect of man (Rodriguez Escudero, 1974). Another development in 1977 was the creation of the Insfituto de Investigaciones Psicofisicas at the University of Puerto Rico, May- agiiez: campus. Founded to conduct investigations in parapsychology and related areas, the Institute carried out studies of various param- eters of Kirlian photography and of the effects of hypnosis on ESP. However, these research investigations were never made available for publication. During this period Alfonso Martinez Taboas began to publish a newsletter Explorando lo Paranormal, a semipopular mag- azine later edited by Carlos Alvarado starting in 1976. Martinez Taboas and Carlos Alvarado wrote articles on parapsy- chology in Spanish for the Spanish journal Psi Comunicaci6n; they also published in other journals. Their articles covered a wide range of topics. Among these, Alvarado wrote on experimental studies of OBEs (1976), historical precedents of the so-called psychic discov- eries behind the Iron Curtain (1978), the use of historical knowl- edge (1 979b), and on J. B. Rhine (1980). Martinez Taboas published a review of the problem of repeatability in parapsychology (1979), critiques of psychological and physiological concepts of poltergeist research (1977, 1980, 1984; Martinez Taboas & Alvarado, 1981), and a discussion of the concept of parsimony applied to parapsy- chology (1983). The work of Martinez Taboas and Alvarado has been very im- portant in the effort to bridge the language barrier between the Spanish researcher and the non-Spanish-speaking researcher. This Approved For Release 2001103107 CIA-RDP96-00792ROO0700730001-0 '196 The journal of Parapsychology Parapsychology in the Ibero-American World 197 is particularly true of Alvarado's book reviews (1984a, Mexican me,@Ica community as well as in political 1985) and his circles. In the discussion of language ;e of his tr -barrier problems in parapsychology (1989a) couri I eer he delivered speechks efore two preside& of @ QMoreover, Alvarado, a former research assistant at the 5), 1 Division of Mexico, Diaz a Obreg6n (Allison' 191 f P 1 -1L l h Di i i h i i v , on o A respected mber of the medi profession, Pagenst0her ersonal o e s es) at the Uni- ty Stud ogy (now t ,I Parapsyc aversity of Virginia, has maintained a constant flow of information said he had been aterialist for for years when he had hiSirst Q encounter with the ranormal. It w during a hypnosis Qon parapsychological activities in Latin America to treafaent research centers M in the United States for the last eight years. In addition, among the of one of his patien ho had inso ia that he I- discovered t re- 18 Q Ibero-American parapsychologists, he is the one who markable psychical i f Maria es de Zierold. has published Pagenstecher-be- Q 91 most extensively in the English-language journals and gan a series of psycho ric exp ents with her the only one in 1919. TIS re- Q ever to be elected a member of the Board of Directors of the Para- sults were so striking th he b ht them to the attention dEthe i 9 l A i i h l o Mexican medical society, hic ppointed a commission ca to Wy ssoc at on. Q psyc og W C*4 them. Pagenstecher also to write to the ASPR Mexico and ;k&d some ofthe results he ha. tained. The results induced V ter 9 Q . 9 Mexico has been kn for a long time as the land of the Franklin Prince, Research cer of the ASPR, to sacred go to Me to investigate the case. fter e s of experimental CD mushroom or peyotl, a p t used by the Indian shaman sittings with er- to:),&duce it old, Prince was so i pres the results that he , i te in decided to%ub- a- an altered state of conscio es hich allegedly fac' ita an- s,w lish them in the Jo 1. t A in 1920 (Pagenstecher, Cifestation of psych ic ower This country has also a 1&0). major p I 0@_source for many parapsycho *cal researchers inte d Prince later published t er p . r in which he in unor- discussed thr@ex_ 5thodox psychic healing practic Famous curand healers) periments in which h rticipate (Prince, 1921b). such MoreoveVhe Oas Maria Sabina and Dofia Pa '*ta have been, ensively ASPR published a in ,' graph by enstecher entitled investi- Past Events Seership: A Study of harnetry (Page echer, 1922). gated by Stanley Kripprier an ther fam parapsychologistsenstecher c to Accordin am Roll (1967) a to ontributg Q(Krippner & Villoldo, 1986). , g g M Although Mexico has been a rn r ce of study for many two major areas i rapsychology: Q arapsychologists; from foreign countr sychical research * has not Q ourished there as it has in other co es such as Argentina[He was], as as I know the first inve and gator to use hypnosis4V a 25pain. Moreover, even-though the nt is located on the means to culd e ESP in a gifted subject... agenstecher's south- studies q*re Qprn border of the United State also, I believ the first to indicate that the has b subject to very strong arapsychological) asspa- , don of obje may be governed by the same ws that U) merican cultural influence in ost every ect of life, govern the fpsy- the dom- 6 Stat chological) @ociation of ideas. (p. 238) - Onance of the United es not been a tor in the develop- 4D ent of parapsychology. E though in the U d States there Pagens er showed great courage in und taking are these ex@er- Ot ore parapsychological arch centers than an here else iments. H eopardized his professional standin in the well as his ned- Ovorld, very little is kn in Mexico of their resea Most of what aims lerc ical prac by trying to substantiate the cl f Zi )Id's ps@4hic Uis known about seri . parapsychology comes from tin abilities he Medical Commission appointed to American i stigate the9se ' gountries such as zil. For example, the writings o uevedowas sk tical of the reported phenomena. Fortunat are , however,@fie 8vell known in ico, and also most of what is kno generallyCorn sion's leading experts obtained successful r Its in theLex- mes from lar magazines. perim CL @ ts in which they participated (Gomezharp de r Trevab, Early e to study psychical research within a scien c 1990). frame-