The Flying Cow

The Flying Cow presents Guy Lyon Playfair’s investigations into reported psychic phenomena in Brazil, drawing on his involvement with the Brazilian Institute for Psychobiophysical Research. Its subjects include celebrated and controversial figures such as Chico Xavier, Mirabelli, Zé Arigó and Edivaldo, alongside accounts gathered during Playfair’s fieldwork.

The book ranges across poltergeist outbreaks, claims of survival after death and reincarnation, psychic surgery, trance artists and children said to remember previous lives. Playfair also records observations of a poltergeist-affected house and examines the ideas of Brazilian researcher Hernani Guimarães Andrade. The result is an early account of Brazilian psychical research, presented through case reports, personal encounters and the author’s interpretation of events.