Presences of Authors and Mediums in Spiritist’s Chilean Press: ¿A dónde vamos? Revista mensual de Estudios Psicológicos (1902-1905); Reflejo Astral. Revista espiritualista (1901), Revista de Estudios Psíquicos (1905-1919) and La Voz de los Muertos. Hoja Espiritista (1907-1909).

Abstract

Through the publication of several articles, advice to readers and studies published in the periodical press, ¿A dónde vamos? Revista mensual de Estudios Psicológicos, Reflejo Astral, Revista de Estudios Psíquicos and La voz de los muertos, printed mainly by spiritualists associations and later the theosophical doctrine, this article proposes to explore in which way Chilean women keen to this knowledge started to build themselves a presence, through articles and opinions disseminated in these specialized journals. These female writing, will take place generally by using a pseudonym, signing with initials or under the signature “a lady”. In this way, their gradual entry into these media and publications will be possible. However, this fact complicates the notion of female authorship in Chile at the beginning of the 20th century (Doll, 2014). Thus, these signatures will conform being spectral presences, or even transvestites, as I will illustrate on this text. Therefore, this initial moment of circulation of esoteric, theosophical and spiritualist knowledge will later give place to a massification and interest in this knowledge, spreading its practice in Chile during the 20th century, especially by a social and intellectual elite. The presence of women both as mediums and as authors of texts for these publications will make their presence as fundamental and representative, but also will place them as the main disseminators of these new doctrines. So, these incipient female authorships and veiled presences also refer to new forms of sociability, to alternative networks that esoteric knowledge, as well as the important role of mediums, facilitated. Thus, giving place to build what I have called a “spectral archive” of which this article reports in part, as it is a portion of a larger investigation regarding spiritualism and women in Chile.