Carmine Mirabelli: Brazil’s Greatest Medium

Carmine Mirabelli stands as one of the most remarkable and controversial figures in the history of mediumship. This Italian-Brazilian spirit medium reportedly produced phenomena so extraordinary that they attracted investigations by scientists, physicians, and government officials throughout the 1920s and 1930s. If the accounts are accurate, Mirabelli demonstrated abilities that have never been equaled.

Early Life

Carmine Mirabelli was born in 1889 in Botucatu, Brazil, to Italian immigrant parents. From childhood, he reportedly experienced strange phenomena. Objects moved in his presence. He fell into trances and spoke in voices not his own. His parents, devout Catholics, were deeply troubled by their son’s abilities.

As a young man working as a shoe salesman, Mirabelli’s phenomena became public when objects in his employer’s shop began moving seemingly of their own accord. Word spread, and Mirabelli came to the attention of Brazilian spiritualist circles.

The Investigations

Between 1919 and 1930, Mirabelli was investigated by multiple academic and scientific groups. The most significant investigation was conducted by the Cesare Lombroso Academy of Psychical Studies in São Paulo, which subjected him to 392 sittings under controlled conditions.

The investigation committee included physicians, engineers, scientists, politicians, and military officers. The Brazilian president and multiple cabinet ministers attended sessions. Witnesses were required to sign declarations attesting to what they observed.

Trance Speaking

In trance states, Mirabelli reportedly spoke and wrote in twenty-eight different languages, including several he had never studied. He produced automatic writing in German, French, Dutch, English, Czech, Arabic, Japanese, Chinese, Hebrew, and various African languages.

Linguists examined these communications and declared them grammatically correct and contextually appropriate. In some cases, Mirabelli reportedly conducted conversations in these languages with native speakers present.

More remarkably, he allegedly wrote on technical subjects far beyond his education. He produced texts on medicine, law, astronomy, and philosophy, sometimes writing at incredible speed with both hands simultaneously on different topics.

Physical Phenomena

The physical phenomena attributed to Mirabelli exceeded those of any other medium on record. Witnesses reported full-body materializations of deceased persons who were recognized by relatives present. These materialized forms allegedly spoke, moved about the room, and allowed themselves to be examined by physicians.

In one documented session, the materialized form of Dr. Bezerra de Menezes, a deceased Brazilian physician, appeared and was examined by medical professionals who declared he had pulse, breath, and body temperature. He spoke for several minutes before dematerializing in full view of the witnesses.

Mirabelli reportedly also levitated, rising several feet into the air and remaining suspended for extended periods. On one occasion, he allegedly levitated from the window of one building to another across a street, witnessed by spectators below.

The Materialization Photographs

Photographs were taken of Mirabelli’s materialization phenomena. These images, reproduced in various publications, showed spectral figures appearing alongside the medium. Critics have noted that the photographs appear to show cardboard cutouts or double exposures, raising serious questions about their authenticity.

The photographic evidence remains the most contested aspect of Mirabelli’s case. Supporters argue that the images document genuine phenomena. Skeptics consider them obvious frauds that cast doubt on all other claims about Mirabelli.

Scientific Opinions

Scientists who investigated Mirabelli were divided. Some declared his phenomena genuine and inexplicable by any known science. Others suspected fraud, though they often could not explain how the deceptions were accomplished given the controls in place.

The investigations were conducted before modern standards of scientific protocol were established for parapsychological research. Controls that seem reasonable today were often absent. Witnesses were predisposed to believe, and conditions were not always fully documented.

Fraud Accusations

Mirabelli was caught in apparent fraud on at least one occasion. During a séance in which he claimed to materialize a deceased person, investigators discovered that the “spirit” was a living confederate who had been smuggled into the room.

This exposure damaged Mirabelli’s reputation but did not end his career. Supporters argued that even genuine mediums sometimes resort to fraud when their powers fail them, and that the exposure did not invalidate the hundreds of phenomena witnessed under better conditions.

Later Years

Mirabelli continued his mediumistic work throughout the 1930s and 1940s, though with diminishing publicity. His phenomena reportedly weakened as he aged. He died in 1951 in São Paulo, struck by a car while crossing the street.

The circumstances of his death struck some as ironic or meaningful. A medium who claimed contact with the spirit world died in such an ordinary, accidental manner.

Legacy

Mirabelli remains a figure of enormous controversy. If even a fraction of the phenomena attributed to him were genuine, he would represent the most powerful medium ever documented. The scale and variety of his alleged abilities exceed anything else in the spiritualist literature.

However, the fraud exposure, the questionable photographs, and the unreliable conditions of many investigations leave his case permanently disputed. He represents either the greatest evidence for spirit communication ever documented or one of the most elaborate and successful frauds in the history of the paranormal.