‘From India to the Planet Mars’ by Théodore Flournoy, translated by Daniel B. Vermilye, offers a riveting and skeptical exploration of the extraordinary experiences of the 19th-century French medium, Hélène Smith, born Catherine-Elise Muller. Flournoy delves into Smith’s world of automatic writing and psychic visions, phenomena that resemble contactee accounts from the mid-20th century.

Hélène, under the influence of her spirit guide ‘Leopold, ‘ claimed to have psychically visited diverse historical and cosmic locales – from being a doomed 15th-century Indian princess to embodying Marie Antoinette in 18th-century France. Most intriguing are her accounts of Mars, where Flournoy meticulously documents the supposed Martian language and writing. The book includes hand-drawn illustrations depicting Martian scenes and vignettes, alongside over forty short texts in ‘Martian, ‘ with translations in French and English.

While this publication brought Hélène Smith fame, she disapproved of Flournoy’s critical perspective and severed ties with him after its release. Over a century later, ‘From India to the Planet Mars’ remains an influential and fascinating work, capturing the intersection of psychology, spirituality, and the exploration of otherworldly experiences.