In the shadow of the double: Psychiatry and spiritism in Cuba.

This article traces the history of Cuba's first and only Spiritist mental clinic, founded in the 1940s in the central province of Camagüey and shut down by the revolutionary government in the 1960s. It analyzes the history of the clinic with respect to the virtual absence of institutional psychiatric care outside of Havana in these decades, but also in the context of a more enduring problematic: the persistent preference shown by Cubans for religiously grounded forms of mental healing. Namely, "In the Shadow of the Double" explores the broader geography of mental care within which Spiritists defined the uniqueness of their healing practice, vis-à-vis both institutional psychiatry, to which they theorized a relationship of strategic complementarity, and other forms of religiously grounded healing, which they disparaged as "backwards" and even dangerous. It is precisely this liminal status within the psychotherapeutic marketplace, I argue, that made their healing practice uniquely appealing to some, but also vulnerable to revolutionary atheism and public health extension after 1959. (PsycINFO Database Record

El Instituto Psicológico Argentino (1892). Teosofía, hipnosis y charlatanería en los orígenes de una iniciativa olvidada / The Argentine Psychological Institute (INSTITUTO PSICOLÓGICO ARGENTINO) (1892). Theosophy, hypnotism and quackery in the origins of a forgotten enterprise

En octubre de 1892 llegó a Buenos Aires un extraño personaje, que decía ser conde y poseer título médico. De inmediato comenzó a efectuar con la ayuda de su esposa demostraciones de hipnosis, de telepatía y de clarividencia. Ofreció además conferencias sobre esos asuntos. Muy pronto, a mediados de diciembre de ese año, fundó el Instituto Psicológico Argentino, tarea para la que contó con la colaboración de espiritistas y científicos locales. Todas esas actividades fueron informadas con detalle por los periódicos de la ciudad y por una de las revistas del espiritismo porteño. Al poco tiempo el Departamento de Higiene logró la clausura del Instituto, a pesar de lo cual Sgaluppi continuó con sus demostraciones y conferencias. El objetivo de este artículo es reconstruir en detalle esa historia, sobre todo con el auxilio de fuentes periódicas de la época. Nuestro cometido es iluminar un capítulo poco conocido de la historia del hipnotismo en Buenos Aires, poniendo de relieve dos aspectos: el valor que las disciplinas esotéricas tuvieron en la cultura científica de fines de siglo, y las dificultades que tuvieron las autoridades sanitarias para hacer valer sus regulacion

In October 1892 a strange man arrived to Buenos Aires, who claimed to be a Viscount and to posses a medical degree. Immediately he began to perform with the help of his wife some demonstrations oh hypnotism, telepathy and clairvoyance. He also delivered lectures on these matters. Soon, in mid-December of that year, he founded the Argentine Psychological Institute (Instituto Psicológico Argentino), an enterprise for which he was assisted by local spiritualists and scientists. All these activities were reported in detail by local newspapers and by a spiritualist magazine. Soon the Health Office managed to close down the Institute, but nevertheless Sgaluppi continued with his performances and lectures. The aim of this paper is to explore those events, especially with the aid of primary sources. Our aim is to illuminate a tittle-known chapter in the history of Buenos Aires hypnotism, highlighting two aspects: the value that esoteric disciplines had in the fin-de-siècle scientific culture, and the difficulties experienced by health authorities to enforce their regulations

As investigações dos fenômenos psíquicos/espirituais no século XIX: sonambulismo e espiritualismo, 1811-1860 / Investigations of psychic/spiritual phenomena in the nineteenth century: somnambulism and spiritualism, 1811-1860

Resumo No início do século XIX, investigações sobre a natureza de fenômenos psíquicos/espirituais como transes e supostas aquisições de informações indisponíveis aos canais sensoriais normais geraram grande debate no meio científico. Este artigo discute as principais explicações oferecidas pelos pesquisadores dos fenômenos psíquicos entre 1811 e 1860, concentrando-se nos dois movimentos principais no período: sonambulismo magnético e espiritualismo moderno. As investigações desses fenômenos geraram diversas teorias, sem que se chegasse a consenso, mas trouxeram implicações para a compreensão da mente e de seus transtornos, notadamente na área do inconsciente e da dissociação, constituindo-se como parte importante da história da psicologia e da psiquiatria.

Abstract In the early nineteenth century, investigations into the nature of psychic/spiritual phenomena, like trances and the supposed acquisition of information unattainable using normal sensory channels, prompted much debate in the scientific arena. This article discusses the main explanations offered by the researchers of psychic phenomena reported between 1811 and 1860, concentrating on the two main movements in the period: magnetic somnambulism and modern spiritualism. While the investigations of these phenomena gave rise to multiple theories, they did not yield any consensus. However, they did have implications for the understanding of the mind and its disorders, especially in the areas of the unconscious and dissociation, constituting an important part of the history of psychology and psychiatry.

[Investigations of psychic/spiritual phenomena in the nineteenth century: somnambulism and spiritualism, 1811-1860]. / As investigações dos fenômenos psíquicos/espirituais no século XIX: sonambulismo e espiritualismo, 1811-1860.

In the early nineteenth century, investigations into the nature of psychic/spiritual phenomena, like trances and the supposed acquisition of information unattainable using normal sensory channels, prompted much debate in the scientific arena. This article discusses the main explanations offered by the researchers of psychic phenomena reported between 1811 and 1860, concentrating on the two main movements in the period: magnetic somnambulism and modern spiritualism. While the investigations of these phenomena gave rise to multiple theories, they did not yield any consensus. However, they did have implications for the understanding of the mind and its disorders, especially in the areas of the unconscious and dissociation, constituting an important part of the history of psychology and psychiatry.

Los prodigios del hombre encarnado. Víctor Melcior y la redefinición de la mediumnidad (1901) / The marvels of the incarnated man. Víctor Melcior and the redefinition of mediumship (1901)

A finales del siglo XIX, mediante el estudio científico de los fenómenos espiritistas, nuevos enfoques médicos y psicológicos se aplicaron a la mediumnidad. La idea del médium espiritista fue sustituida por la noción del médium como un ser desequilibrado, capaz de emanar fuerzas psíquicas inconscientemente. Este trabajo analiza la redefinición de la mediumnidad a través de unos polémicos artículos del médico catalán Víctor Melcior. Esta microhistoria sirve, por un lado, para situar el debate local dentro del contexto científico internacional y, así, mostrar las relaciones entre el espiritismo, la medicina y la psicopatología del momento. Por otro lado, permite analizar las reacciones de algunos espiritistas a las teorías de Melcior, así como las consecuencias que este debate tuvo para el espiritismo en general (AU)

Towards the end of the 19th century, new medico-psychological approaches were applied to mediumship through the scientific study of spiritualist phenomena. The spiritualist idea of the medium was replaced with the notion of the medium as an unstable human being capable of emanating psychic forces unconsciously. This paper analyses the redefinition of mediumship through the polemical articles of the Catalan physician Víctor Melcior. On one hand, this microhistory allows the local debate to be placed within the scientific international context, describing the relationships among spiritualism, medicine and psychopathology at that time. On the other hand, it permits analysis of the reactions of some spiritualists to Melciors (AU)

Press coverage of the new psychology by the New York Times during the progressive era.

Press coverage of psychology by the New York Times was examined for the Progressive Era. Following a period in which psychology was associated with spiritualism, psychoanalysis, and the Emmanuel movement, the Times gave editorial preference to reports about psychology's applications. Reaching an audience that was both affluent and influential, the topics emphasized by the Times included the lie detector, psychological applications in the work place, mental tests, and child psychology. These areas reflected issues of social concern to Progressives, publicized the rise of the psychologist as expert, and aided psychology in its challenge to common sense.

Ideomotor signaling: from divining spiritual messages to discerning subconscious answers during hypnosis and hypnoanalysis, a historical perspective.

Ideomotor movements account for non-conscious motions of the hand held pendulum and Ouija board planchette that once were attributed to external spirits. Chevreul and Carpenter in the mid-1800s pioneered our scientific understanding of ideomotor movements. The intention or thought is transmitted to the motor cortex at a subconscious level, coordinated by the cerebellum, and sent down spinal nerves to the appropriate muscles, inducing micromovements not visible to the naked eye but amplified by the hand held pendulum or by the slow ratchet-like cumulative movements of a finger or other body part. This ideomotor phenomenon has been utilized during hypnotic trance to provide nonverbal communication of "yes" or "no" or "I don't want to answer" using finger signals or hand held pendulum. LeCron first used this ideomotor form of communication in conjunction with psychosomatic hypnoanalysis. Cheek expanded and more recently Hammond, Walsh, Ewin and others have refined its use.

Interiors, intentions, and the "spirituality" of Islamic ritual practice.

The Arabic term niyya (intention) is prominent in texts of Islamic ritual law. Muslim jurists require niyya in the "heart" during such ritual duties as prayer, fasting, and pilgrimage. Western scholars often treat niyya as a "spiritual" component of Islamic ritual. Muslim jurists, however, consistently treat niyya as a formal, taxonomic matter, a mental focus that makes a given act into the specific named duty required by religious law. Although the effort to thrust niyya into a "spiritual" role is meant to defend Islam from charges of "empty ritualism," it subtly reinforces the characterization of Islam as rigidly legalistic. Much scholarship on niyya belies the scholars' own definition of "proper religion" centered on an inner, individual, nonmaterial dimension of the self. Instead of trying to wash away the formalism of niyya, I argue that scholars ought to recognize that such embodied practices are properly religious rather than spiritually defective.

A mediunidade vista por alguns pioneiros da área mental / Mediumship seen by some pioneers of mental health

As vivências tidas como mediúnicas são descritas na maioria das civilizações e têm um grande impacto sobre a sociedade. Apesar de ser um tema pouco estudado atualmente, já foi objeto de intensas investigações por alguns dos fundadores da moderna psicologia e psiquiatria. Foi revisado o material produzido por Janet, James, Myers, Freud e Jung a respeito da mediunidade, com ênfase em dois aspectos: suas causas e relações com psicopatologia. Esses pesquisadores chegaram a três conclusões distintas. Janet e Freud associaram mediunidade com psicopatologia e a uma origem exclusiva no inconsciente pessoal. Jung e James aceitavam a possibilidade de um caráter não-patológico e uma origem no inconsciente pessoal, mas sem excluírem em definitivo a real atuação de um espírito desencarnado. Por fim, Myers associou a mediunidade a um desenvolvimento superior da personalidade e tendo como causa um misto entre o inconsciente, a telepatia e ação de espíritos desencarnados. Como conclusão, é apontada a necessidade de se conhecer os estudos já realizados para dar continuidade nessas investigações em busca de um paradigma realmente científico sobre a mediunidade.