Sara Weiss

Sara Weiss
Born
Sarah Ditto McBride

Rushville, Ohio, USA
Died(1904-03-23)23 March 1904
St. Louis, Missouri, USA
Notable worksJourneys to the Planet Mars or, Our mission to Ento (Mars): Being a Record of Visits Made to Ento (Mars) by Sara Weiss, Psychic, Under the Guidance of a Spirit Band, For the Purpose of Conveying to the Entoans a Knowledge of the Continuity of Life, Transcribed Automatically by Sara Weiss, Under the Editorial Direction of (Spirit) Carl De L'Ester (1903)

Sara Weiss (née Ditto McBride, died 23 March 1904) was an American spiritualist and author. She claimed that her debut work Journeys to the Planet Mars... (1903) was a factual work about Mars that had been communicated to her via psychic messages.

Biography

Weiss' birth date is uncertain.[1] She was born in Rushville, Ohio,[2] to a farmer and had little formal education.[3] She was married to A. M. Weiss,[3] who outlived her.[4]

Weiss was a spiritualist medium.[5] She claimed that her debut work Journeys to the Planet Mars... (1903) was a factual work that had been communicated to her via psychic messages,[6][7] from 6 October 1892 to 16 September 1894, which she wrote as an amanuensis.[8] The book covered the history of a peaceful utopian society on the plant Mars[6] and depicted a heroic Martian race which had advanced transportation and feats of civil engineering, such as canals.[9][10] The book also included thirteen botanical drawings of "Martian flora" and a note about pronunciation of the Martian language.[11] The book was intended to validate spiritualism.[12]

Her second work Decimon Hûŷdas: A Romance of Mars...[13] was published posthumously in 1906.[3] This recounted the story of two lovers and described the Martian religion.[5]

Weiss died in St. Louis, Missouri, on 23 March 1904.[14]

Publications

  • Journeys to the Planet Mars or, Our mission to Ento (Mars): Being a Record of Visits Made to Ento (Mars) by Sara Weiss, Psychic, Under the Guidance of a Spirit Band, For the Purpose of Conveying to the Entoans a Knowledge of the Continuity of Life, Transcribed Automatically by Sara Weiss, Under the Editorial Direction of (Spirit) Carl De L'Ester (1903)[6][11][15]
  • Decimon Hûŷdas: A Romance of Mars: A Story of Actual Experiences in Ento (Mars) Many Centuries Ago, Given to the Psychic Sara Weiss and by her Transcribed Automatically Under the Editorial Direction of Carl De L'Ester (1906)[6][11][15]

References

  1. ^ Calanchi, Alessandra (June 11, 2024). ""Renewed in health": Meeting Giordano Bruno on planet Mars". Between. 14 (27): 93–109. doi:10.13125/2039-6597/5444. ISSN 2039-6597. Retrieved September 28, 2025.
  2. ^ "Summary Bibliography: Sara Weiss". The Internet Speculative Fiction Database (ISFD). Retrieved September 28, 2025.
  3. ^ a b c Clark, Stuart (November 10, 2022). The Book of Mars: An Anthology of Fact and Fiction. Bloomsbury Publishing. ISBN 978-1-80110-929-1.
  4. ^ Edmunds, Albert Joseph (1913). Has Swedenborg's "lost Word" Been Found?". p. 274.
  5. ^ a b Caterine, Darryl; Morehead, John W. (February 18, 2019). The Paranormal and Popular Culture: A Postmodern Religious Landscape. Routledge. pp. 111, 138–139. ISBN 978-1-351-73181-2.
  6. ^ a b c d Clute, John (November 18, 2024). "Weiss, Sara". The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction (SFE). Retrieved September 28, 2025.
  7. ^ Partridge, Christopher (January 1, 2015), "Channeling Extraterrestrials: Theosophical Discourse in the Space Age", in Guttierez, Cathy (ed.), Handbook of Spiritualism and Channeling, Brill, p. 394, doi:10.1163/9789004264083_019, ISBN 978-90-04-26408-3, retrieved September 28, 2025
  8. ^ Brooks, Landon (2012). "Reading the Red Planet". Science Fiction Studies. 39 (2): 313. doi:10.5621/sciefictstud.39.2.0313. Retrieved September 28, 2025.
  9. ^ Crossley, Robert (November 1, 2008). "Mars and the Paranormal". Science Fiction Studies. 35 (Part 3): 466–484. doi:10.1525/sfs.35.3.0466. ISSN 0091-7729. Retrieved September 28, 2025.
  10. ^ Lewis, James R. (March 9, 1995). The Gods Have Landed: New Religions from Other Worlds. SUNY Press. p. 4. ISBN 978-0-7914-2330-1.
  11. ^ a b c Crossley, Robert (January 3, 2011). Imagining Mars: A Literary History. Wesleyan University Press. pp. 140–142. ISBN 978-0-8195-7105-2.
  12. ^ Partridge, Christopher (November 12, 2012). UFO Religions. Routledge. p. 38. ISBN 978-1-135-25159-8.
  13. ^ Davin, Eric Leif (December 7, 2005). Partners in Wonder: Women and the Birth of Science Fiction, 1926-1965. Bloomsbury Publishing USA. p. 59. ISBN 979-8-7651-8410-3.
  14. ^ "St. Louis Globe-Democrat". Newspapers.com. March 24, 1904. p. 4. Retrieved September 28, 2025.
  15. ^ a b Smith, Geoffrey D. (August 13, 1997). American Fiction, 1901-1925: A Bibliography. Cambridge University Press. p. 711. ISBN 978-0-521-43469-0.
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