Carmine Carlos Mirabelli (2 January 1889 – 30 April 1951) was a Brazilian physical medium and Spiritualist.Anderson, Rodger. (2006). ''Psychics, Sensitives and Somnambules: A Biographical Dictionary with Bibliographies''. McFarland & Company. p. 121.

Biography

Mirabelli was born in Botucatu, São Paulo, Brazil, of Italian parents. He studied Spiritism at an early age and was introduced to the writings of

Allan Kardec Allan Kardec () is the pen name of the French educator, translator, and author Hippolyte Léon Denizard Rivail (; 3 October 1804 – 31 March 1869). He is the author of the five books known as the Spiritist Codification, and the founder of S ...

. As a teenager he worked in a shoe shop and claimed to have experienced poltergeist activity where shoe boxes would literally fly off the shelves. He was placed in a lunatic asylum for observation and psychologists said there was something wrong with him, but he was not physically sick. Mirabelli later became a medium and it was alleged he could produce automatic handwriting, materializations of objects and people ( ectoplasm),

levitation Levitation (from Latin ''levitas'' "lightness") is the process by which an object is held aloft in a stable position, without mechanical support via any physical contact. Levitation is accomplished by providing an upward force that counteract ...

s and movement of objects. Mello, Antônio da Silva. (1960). ''Mysteries and Realities of This World and the Next''. Weidenfeld & Nicolson. pp. 382–385 In the 1920s, Mirabelli was tested by the Academia de Estudos Psychicos Cesare Lombroso in São Paulo and a report published in 1926 wrote that in more than 300 sittings genuine materializations had been observed. When the report was published in English, it was challenged by various

psychical researchers Parapsychology is the study of alleged psychic phenomena (extrasensory perception, telepathy, precognition, clairvoyance, psychokinesis (also called telekinesis), and psychometry) and other paranormal claims, for example, those related to near- ...

. In 1928, the German scientist Hans Driesch investigated Mirabelli and found that some objects had been moved in the

séance A séance or seance (; ) is an attempt to communicate with spirits. The word ''séance'' comes from the French word for "session", from the Old French ''seoir'', "to sit". In French, the word's meaning is quite general: one may, for example, spe ...

room but that there was no evidence for his supposed abilities of materialization or apportation. Mirabelli later began giving public mediumship demonstrations which were described as theatrical displays. Throughout his life Mirabelli had been involved with 15 lawsuits for the illegal practice of

witchcraft Witchcraft traditionally means the use of magic or supernatural powers to harm others. A practitioner is a witch. In medieval and early modern Europe, where the term originated, accused witches were usually women who were believed to have ...

. He was suspected of utilizing tricks. It was alleged that Mirabelli could move bottles of magnetized water on a table without contact with them. This was disputed by Antônio da Silva Mello who noted that such a trick could have been performed "by means of a thread led to the table or by several other means, principally by the help of a partner who in this particular case was suspected by several persons present to be the medium's wife."

Society for Psychical Research Investigation

In 1934

Theodore Besterman Theodore Deodatus Nathaniel Besterman (22 November 1904 – 10 November 1976) was a Polish-born British psychical researcher, bibliographer, biographer, and translator. In 1945 he became the first editor of the ''Journal of Documentation''. From ...

, a research officer for the Society for Psychical Research, visited Brazil to investigate Mirabelli. He discovered that some of the witness reports from the Academia de Estudos Psychicos Cesare Lombroso were unreliable and it was not an independent organization but one that was associated with Mirabelli and his personal friends. Whilst investigating the séances, Besterman claimed to have detected trickery.

Levitation trick

In 1990, Dr. Gordon Stein found a levitation photograph of Mirabelli in the Society for Psychical Research (SPR) collection at the

Cambridge University Library Cambridge University Library is the main research library of the University of Cambridge. It is the largest of the over 100 libraries within the university. The Library is a major scholarly resource for the members of the University of Cambri ...

. It was inscribed by Mirabelli to Besterman from his visit in 1934. Stein, Gordon. (1996). ''Carlos Mirabelli''. In ''The Encyclopedia of the Paranormal''. Prometheus Books. pp. 400–404. The levitation in the photograph was discovered to be a trick as there were signs of chemical retouching under Mirabelli's feet. The retouching showed that Mirabelli was not levitating but was standing on a ladder which was erased from the photograph. Nickell, Joe. (2005). ''Camera Clues: A Handbook for Photographic Investigation''.

University Press of Kentucky The University Press of Kentucky (UPK) is the scholarly publisher for the Commonwealth of Kentucky, and was organized in 1969 as successor to the University of Kentucky Press. The university had sponsored scholarly publication since 1943. In 194 ...

. p. 178. According to Stein: :The fact that the fraudulent photo has been inscribed by Mirabelli to Besterman means that Mirabelli, then at the very peak of his powers was at least in pan, a fraud. He knowingly passed off a fraudulent photo of himself as authentic. It should make us cautious about accepting hearsay statements of Mirabelli's followers about the many wonders he had performed. More importantly, it should make us very cautious about accepting at face value other photographs of Mirabelli's marvels.

Biography

Society for Psychical Research Investigation

Levitation trick

References

Further reading