Everton de Oliveira Maraldi, Sonali Marwaha & Jorge Moll
D’Or Institute of Research and Education, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Laboratories for Fundamental Research, Palo Alto, CA
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Introduction: In the annals of modern science, few subjects are as enigmatic and perplexing as the investigation of physical phenomena in modern Spiritualism. This phenomenology, which involves the materialization of spirits and other reports of extraordinary phenomena, such as the spontaneous movement of tables or other furniture, captured the imagination of millions and received close attention from towering figures of the scientific mainstream of their time, including Charles Richet, Sir William Crookes, and Marie and Pierre Curie, only to become a fringe topic later on. Still today, these experiences are reported in the context of Spiritualist gatherings and sitter groups (who may or may not have a spiritualist motivation but meet regularly to experience or document séance-like phenomena). Why is this unusual subject an interesting and timely one? One of the answers is that the variety of unusual perceptions and sensations typically reported during Spiritualist séances makes them privileged settings for investigating the phenomenology, cognitive features, and psychosocial impact of anomalous experiences in the nonclinical population. A series of psychological explanations were developed over time to account for these experiences, from deception and self-deception to cognitive illusions and ideomotor action. On the other hand, coming from skepticism and ruling out detectable fraud and other biases, many eminent academics were convinced that some strange effects during séances were genuine, though unexplainable by available methods and frameworks. It is truly remarkable to verify the deep fascination and commitment of some highly reputable scientific figures to the exploration of these paradoxical occurrences. Despite the ridicule that their ideas attracted among mainstream academics, the fact is that part of the evidence they obtained remained without explanation. After more than a century, this remains a poorly understood and controversial area of research. To better comprehend the physical phenomena of Spiritualist séances and their underlying mechanisms, it is important to systematically examine the evidence and applicability/usefulness of existing hypotheses.
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Everton de Oliveira Maraldi is the Past President of the Parapsychological Association. He is a professor of Religious Studies at the Pontifical Catholic University of São Paulo, Brazil, and a research associate at the D’Or Institute for Research and Education (Rio de Janeiro). He was a postdoctoral research fellow at Coventry University (Brain, Belief, and Behaviour Lab) and University of Oxford (SCIO—Scholarship and Christianity in Oxford), UK. He has a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Guarulhos University, as well as master’s and doctorate degrees in social psychology from the Institute of Psychology of the University of São Paulo, Brazil.
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The Parapsychological Association is an international professional organization of scientists and scholars engaged in the study of psi (or ‘psychic’) experiences, such as telepathy, clairvoyance, psychokinesis, psychic healing, and precognition. The primary objective of the PA is to achieve a scientific understanding of these experiences.
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Published on March 5, 2026
