Hoaxbuster Harry Houdini's Spiritualist Swindlers (Promo)

[KuriousKatKommittee]

All quotes courtesy of Houdini's "A Magician Among the Spirits" (1924).

I N T R O D U C T I O N (by Harry Houdini):

[...] (p. 15)
"The tricks the brain can play without calling in
Spiritualistic aids are simply astounding, and only those
who have made a study of morbid as well as normal
psychology, realize the full truth of this."
I have read with keen curiosity the articles by leading
scientists on the subject of psychic phenomena, particularly
those by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and Sir Oliver
Lodge, in which they have discussed their respective
conversions to a belief in communication with the dead.
There is no doubt in my mind that some of these scientists
are sincere in their belief but unfortunately it is through
this very sincerity that thousands become converts. The fact
that they are scientists does not endow them with an
especial gift for] detecting the particular sort of fraud
used by mediums, nor does it bar them from being
deceived, especially when they are fortified in their belief
by grief, for the various books and records of the subject
are replete with deceptions practised on noted scientists
who have essayed to investigate prominent mediums. It
is perfectly rational to suppose that I may be deceived
once or twice by a new illusion, but if my mind, which
has been so keenly trained for years to invent mysterious
effects, can be deceived, how much more susceptible
must the ordinary observer be."

[...] (p. 16)
"In the course of my intense investigations I have
met most of the famous mediums of our time. I have
submitted to conditions imposed by them and religiously
awaited results, hut I still question any so-called proof
of the existence of Spirits who are interested in any
way, physically or mentally, in the welfare of mortal
men."

[...] (p. 17)
"I have accumulated one of the largest
libraries in the world on psychic phenomena, Spiritualism,
magic, witchcraft, demonology, evil spirits, etc., some
of the material going back as far as 1489, and I doubt
if anyone in the world has so complete a library on
modern Spiritualism, but nothing I ever read concerning
the so-called Spiritualistic phenomena has impressed
me as being genuine. It is true that some of the things
I read seemed mystifying but I question if they would
be were they to be reproduced under different circumstances,
under test conditions, and before expert mystifiers
and open minded committees. Mine has not been an
investigation of a few days or weeks or months but
one that has extended over thirty years and in that
thirty years I have not found one incident that savored
of the genuine. If there had been any real unalloyed
demonstration to work on, one that did not reek of fraud,
one that could not be reproduced by earthly powers, then
there would be something for a foundation, but up to the
present time everything that I have investigated has been
the result of deluded brains or those which were too
actively and intensely willing to believe."

t. HOUDINI

[KuriousKatKommittee]

CHAPTER 1
Founders of Modern Spiritualism (Fox Sisters)
excerpts

(p. 20)
THE story of modern spirit manifestations, so called,
dates from 1848 and the "solitary farmhouse" of John
D. Fox and his wife in the village of Hydesville, in New
York State, and centres around their two little girls, Margaret,
eight, and Kate, younger by a year and a half.
Successfully exploited while still children; credited with
occult power; becoming world-famous as "The Fox Sisters,"
-their record is, without exception, one of the most
interesting in the history of spiritualism.

John Fox and his wife appear to have been of the "good,
honest," but not mentally keen type of farmer folk. Of
the two, the wife was the more "simple minded," and
w hen the " nervous, superstitious woman " began to hear
unusual noises which she could not account for, and which
seemed in some peculiar manner connected with her children,
she concluded at once that the sounds were "unnatural"
and began to brood over the matter. Her fears
increased with the persistent recurrence of the mysterious
sounds, and before long she took some of the neighbors
into her confidence. They were as puzzled as the mother,
the Fox home became an object of suspicion and the neighborhood
set itself the task of solving the mystery.

With the increase of interest came a proportionate increase
in the noises, which commenced to be known as
"rappings," and which, in spite of the Positive denials by
the children of any knowledge of how they were pro-
duced, regularly answered by an uncanny code questions
asked the two girls. The possibility of duplicity in
such children never occurred to anyone in Hydesville,
with the result that the timid hint of a "disembodied spirit"
soon became a theory."

[...] (p. 24)
Then Margaret Kane found temporary solace in the Catholic Church.
But there were still more months of struggle before she finally found
courage to tell the story of the world-famous "rappings"
in a signed confession given to the press in October, 1888.*
"I do this," she said, "because I consider it my duty,
a sacred thing, a holy mission, to expose [spiritualism].
I want to see the day when it is entirely done
away with. After I expose it I hope Spiritualism will
be given a death blow. I was the first in the field and
I have a right to expose it.

"My sister Katie and I were very young children when
this horrible deception began. I was only eight, just a
year and a half older than she. We were very mischievous
children and sought merely to terrify our dear mother,
who was a very good woman and very easily frightened.
"When we went to bed at night we used to tie an apple
to a string and move the string up and down, causing the
apple to bump on the floor, or we would drop the apple
on the floor, making a strange noise every time it would
rebound. Mother listened to this for a time. She would
not understand it and did not suspect us as being capable
of a trick because we were so young.

"At last she could stand it no longer and she called
the neighbors in and told them about it. It was this
that set us to discover a means of making the raps more
effectually. I think, when I reflect about it, that it was
a most wonderful discovery, a very wonderful thing that
children should make such a discovery, and all through
a desire to do mischief only. *
[...]
"And that is the way we began. First, as a mere
trick to frighten mother, and then, when so many people
came to see us children, we were ourselves frightened,
and for self-preservation forced to keep it up. No one
suspected us of any trick because we were such young
children. We were led on by my sister purposely and
by mother unintentionally. We often heard her say:
" 'Is this a disembodied spirit that has taken possession
of my dear children?'

"That encouraged our fun and we went on. All the
neighbors thought there was something and they wanted
to find out what it was. They were convinced that some
one had been murdered in the house. They asked the
spirits through us about it and we would rap one for the
spirit answer 'yes,' not three as we did afterwards. The
murder they concluded must have been committed in
the house. They went over the whole surrounding country
trying to get the names of people who had formerly
lived in the house. Finally they found a man by the
name of Bell, and they said that this poor innocent man
had committed a murder in the house and that the noises
came from the spirit of the murdered person. Poor Bell
was shunned and looked upon by the whole community
as a murderer."

""I do not want it understood that the Catholic Church
has advised me to make these public exposures and confession.
It is my own idea. My own mission. I would
have done it long ago if I could have had the necessary
money and courage to do it. I could not find anyone to
help me--I was too timid to ask.""

[...] (p. 33)
"The exposure attracted widespread attention. Letters
poured in from far and wide begging for confirmation,
explanation or denial. The rest of the tribe of mediums
naively hinted that if there had been fraud it was well
to have it exposed but of course they were genuine."

[KuriousKatKommittee]

CHAPTER 3
Daniel Dunglas Home
excerpts

"It is strongly intimated that the gifts which Home
received were in many cases suggested by the Spirits he
invoked and his spirit guide seems to have always kept a
sharp eye on his need for earthly sustenance even to the
point of satisfactorily bedecking his person with jewelry.
This was always materialized for him when required, and
since he, personally, could not be held responsible for
what wicked spirits might do, and as they used good
judgment in picking victims, nothing was said about it
and he escaped the prison fate of Ann O'Delia Diss Debar."

[...] (p. 67)
In view of this fondness for jewels
an incident which occurred just prior to Home's
leaving the Russian Court is interesting. The story was
told me by Stuart Cumberland. I have heard him repeat
it to others and he also tells it in his book, "That Other
World," from which I quote.
"Whilst in Petrograd-so at least, a famous diplomat
assured me when I was there--Home did a feat of dematerialization
before the Court which, had it not been for
the favor in which he wa! held in high places, might have
curtailed his liberty for a period.

"He had dematerialized a splendid row of emeralds lent
the "dear spirits" for the purpose of the test; hut up to
the time of his departure from the seance, the emeralds,
for some occult reason, had declined to materialize and
he given back to the confiding owner. They were, of
course, in the spirit land engaging the attention of the
spooks, who seemed to have a pretty taste for valuable
jewels. But the chief of police had not that faith in
spiritual probity generally accepted at the Court, and
before leaving the palace, Home was searched, and-so
the story came to me-the dematerialized emeralds were
found materializing in his coat-tail pocket. They had been
placed there by an evil spirit, of course, but the chief of
police impressed upon the medium that the climate of
the Russian Capital might not be good for his healththat
an early departure would probably benefit it. Home
took the hint and his early departure. To his dying day,_
I think he regretted the interference of the evil spirit (or
the police) . It would have been so much more satisfactory
for the jewels to have remained dematerialized in
the spirit land, to be materialized at will with no interfering
police around, for they, the jewels, were of great
earthly value."

[KuriousKatKommittee]

CHAPTER 6
Dr. Slade
excerpts

(p. 107)
While touring Europe in 1920 I had the pleasure of
meeting Sir Ray Lankester and hearing from him an account
of Dr. Slade's undoing. Both he and Donkin were
physicians. They had been laying their plans to expose
two other mediums, Herne and Williams, but Slade's unexpected
arrival in London changed these plans and instead
they plotted the seance which proved to be Slade's
downfall. Donkin was away from London at the time but
Sir Lankester wired him and while waiting for his return
attended one of Slade's seances. He pretended to Slade
that he came to see if the Spirits would write a message on
the slates if he held them himself. Slade assured him
that they would and arrangements were made for a second
sitting. Before Sir Lankester left Slade asked him if he
had been in communication with any departed relatives.
"No, but I have an Uncle John," Sir Lankester replied.
Consequently at the second sitting the following message
was received:
"I am glad to see you here again.-lohn."
"But have you an Uncle John?" I asked.
"No, Houdini," he replied smiling[.]

[...] (p. 72)
I believe that those who witnessed the
feat were sincere in giving credence to it but that it was
an illusion and they were deceived by Home, for the mind
of the average person accepts what it sees and is not willing
to apply the laws of physics, no matter how much or
how glaringly the act defies the fundamental principles
upon which our very existence depends."

[KuriousKatKommittee]

For more: https://www.theapricity.com/forum/sh...79#post5845979

[Harkonnen]

[KuriousKatKommittee]

This part cracked me up (cursive emphasis Houdini's; bold, black emphasis mine).

D'Albe say[s]

"I had gone to Belfast fresh from Eva C's seance with
a strong conviction of reality and with firm faith in Dr.
Crawford's reliability and accuracy. I expected a gifted
medium surrounded by her honest folks, but then came
the blows: first, the contact photographs, then the evidences
of trickery. The sight of the 'medium' raising
a stool with her foot, filled me with bitter disappointment.
The simple, honest folks all turned out to be
an alert, secretive, troublesome group of well-organized
performers. "

Here is the experience of a man, who, with a mind
prejudiced in favor, entered upon a series of tests expecting
full confirmation of impressions already gotten from
his experiences with Eva C., but though ready to believe
not biased against the conclusions or rational deduction.

His summary [...] is worthy of note:

"The Goligher Circle has repeatedly been urged, by
myself and others, to submit to further investigations by
a fresh investigator, but so far without success. If it
does consent, I can predict two things with confidence:

I. No genuine psychic phenomena will be observed.
II. No evidence of fraud will be obtained, as the
members of the Circle are exceedingly wary, and the
evidence of trickery which I obtained was gathered under
conditions which they had not foreseen, but which they
will doubtless avoid in the future.

I also feel safe in predicting that if Miss Goligher's
feet and hands are controlled, and the cooperation of the
other sitters eliminated, there will be no levitation of any
kind.

(Signed) E. E. Fournier d'Albe."

Lmao this d'Albe nigga went through a, dare I say Kafkaesque, experience.

[KuriousKatKommittee]

(p. 199)

Professor Huxley
refused to have anything to do with the investigation
and in the following letter, written in answer to
the Committee's invitation, he terms Spiritualism a
"gross imposture.":

"Sir,―I regret that I am unable to accept the invitation
of the Council of the Dialectical Society to co-operate
with a Committee for the investigation of 'Spiritualism',
and for two reasons. In the first place, I have no time
for such an inquiry, which would involve much trouble
and (unless it were unlike all inquiries of that kind I
have known) much annoyance. In the second place,
I take no interest in the subject. The only case of 'Spiritualism'
I have had the opportunity of examining into for
myself was as gross an imposture as ever came under my
notice. But supposing the phenomena to be genuine―they
do not interest me. If anybody would endow me with
the faculty of listening to the chatter of old women and
curates in the nearest cathedral town, I would decline the
privilege, having better things to do.
"And if the folk in the Spiritual world do not talk
more wisely and sensibly than their friends report them
to do, I put them in the same category.
"The only good that I can see in a demonstration of
the truth of 'Spiritualism' is to furnish an additional
argument against suicide. Better live a crossing-sweeper
than die and be made to talk twaddle by a 'medium' hired
at a [dollar] a seance.

"I am, Sir, &c .,
"T. H. Huxley."
"[January 29, 1869]."

Blown the FUCK out. How can any nigga be so, dare I say, based AND redpilled?

[KuriousKatKommittee]

(from the appendix section of the book. Part F, Judge Edmonds.)
Judge Edmonds was born in Hudson, N. Y., in 1799, received
a college education and studied law. In 1819 he entered
the law office of President Van Buren. In 1828 he was appointed
Recorder of Hudson and in 1831 was elected to the
State Senate by an unprecedented majority. In 1843 he was
appointed Inspector of the State Prison at Sing Sing holding
the position until 1845 when he resigned to become a Circuit
Judge of the First Judicial District. Later he was elected Judge
of the State Supreme Court and finally in 1851 became a
member of the Court of Appeals. These various offices gave
him experience in the widest range of judicial duties; he had a
greatly developed mentality and was known as the shrewdest
judge of his time.

In 1850 he lost his wife with whom he had lived for over
thirty years. He was very much affected by her death and his
mind became occupied with inquiries concerning the nature and
conditions of death, frequently spending the greater part of
the night reading and reflecting on the subject. One midnight
he seemed to hear the voice of his wife speaking a sentence to
him. It was his doom. He started as though shot and from
that time on devoted all his time, money and energy to Spiritualism.
His faith did not waver to the end. On his death bed
he claimed to be surrounded by Spirit forms and declared that
by reason of entering their sphere in an advanced state of
spiritual development he would be able to send back messages
and proofs of Spiritualism at once. He died April 5th, 1874
(the very date of my birth). I doubt if the history of Spiritualism
can point out a man of greater brilliancy who ruined
his life following up this "will-o-the-wisp" to relieve his grief.

>the very date of my birth
>the very date of my birth