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I F O E L C Atcep S E H T L Lu Si O N I L F L M A G U O I C S . T H E C , D & O I N E M O I T P L M N H L I C E . E C L A H I T A T P T Y T F M O A R C R H O A N E E P S T H E SPECTACLE O F ILLUSION MAGIC, THE PARANORMAL & THE COMPLICITY OF THE MIND MATTHEW L. TOMPKINS EXPERIMENTAL PSYCHOLOGIST & MAGICIAN These ACT TWO This leather box This leather box INTRODUCING THE MASTER THE ILLUSION MAGICIANS ( 014 ) ( 052 ) ( 016 ) ( 106 ) SPIRIT PHOTOGRAPHY GHOST-HUNTING KIT ACT ONE ACT THREE images purport to show the presence of the paranormal. They are are the paranormal. They of the presence to show purport images Dingwall to investigate apparent instances of the paranormal. instances of apparent to investigate Dingwall part of the archive once owned by psychic investigator Harry Price. investigator psychic by owned once the archive part of pages 10–11 contains the variety of tools used by psychic investigator Eric investigator psychic tools used by of contains the variety this page EARLY MESMERIC & the psychical SPIRITUALIST PHENOMENA researchers ACT FOUR THE PARAPSYCHOLOGICAL CODA INVESTIGATORS These devices were were These devices American stage magician ( 164 ) ( 214 ) ( 196 ) ( 218 ) MAGIC POSTER RAPPING HANDS ACT FIVE AFTERWORD: A.R. HOPWOOD & HONOR BEDDARD THE PSYCHOLOGY EXHIBITION CURATORS, OF ILLUSION SMOKE & MIRRORS by the medium who was conducting the session. conducting the medium who was by Harry Kellar implies in this 1894 poster that he owed the success of of the success implies in this 1894 poster that he owed Harry Kellar many of his spiritualist-inspired tricks his spiritualist-inspired to the devil. of many used during séances to ‘rap out’ replies to questions asked to questions asked replies to ‘rap out’ used during séances pages 6–7 pages 8–9 ENDNOTES & FURTHER READING INDEX British magician British ( 219 ) ( 222 ) From the 18th-century 18th-century the From ( 221 ) ( 224 ) S O U R C E S O F ABOUT THE AUTHOR ILLUSTRATION & ACKNOWLEDGMENTS SORCERY MANUAL ‘AUTOMATIC WRITING’ Clavis Inferni Sive Magia Alba et Nigra Approbata Metatrona Approbata Nigra et Alba Magia Sive Inferni Clavis have allegedly been produced by a spiritual presence may be faked. be may presence spiritual a by produced been allegedly have text text William S. Marriott demonstrates one way in which messages that messages which in way one demonstrates Marriott S. William page2 pages4–5 (‘The Key of Hell with White and Black Magic Proven by Metatron’). by Proven Magic Black and White with Hell of Key (‘The INTRODUCING THE ILLUSION YOU SHOULD HAVE BEEN THERE. YOU SHOULD HAVE SEEN IT. THE NATURAL MAGIC magic: consisting of all sorts of amusing and useful Published between 1789 and 1805, it features a Die natürliche Magie: aus allerhand belustigenden tricks’) is a twenty-volume encyclopedia by Johann wide range of magic tricks and illusions, together und nützlichen Kunststücken bestehend (‘The natural Christian Wiegleb and Gottfried Erich Rosenthal. with electrical, optical and magnetic efects. E veryone’s heard, and most of us have told, a story about an these ideas themselves arguably distract from the to extra-sensory perception. Each of these marvels uncanny or supernatural-seeming experience. Accounts of wondrous, broader cognitive implications. Magicians have can be efectively duplicated using the same kinds impossible phenomena are common around the world and go back at long known, and scientists are becoming increasingly of magic tricks. Today’s fraudulent bomb-detecting least as far as we have written records: history is riddled with stories of aware, that misdirection can encompass much machines are quite probably simply the latest gods and monsters, witches and ghosts, prophecies and premonitions. more than simply influencing where a spectator variation of Victorian table-tilting phenomena People have heard dead men speak, seen objects inexplicably vanish looks. Used efectively, misdirection can afect not and dowsing. Far from being dated tales of archaic and reappear, and watched ectoplasm ooze from unexpected orifices. just what we see, but how we reason and remember. superstitions, these weird and apparently inexplicable These extraordinary events ofen seem to be facilitated by extra- Most of us recognize that we cannot always trust phenomena represent timeless stories of human ordinary individuals: sorcerers, spiritual mediums, psychic sensitives. our eyes, but a deeper, more uncomfortable truth curiosity, credulity, ingenuity and guile. They are, Such phenomena have even been reported under ‘test conditions’, is that we cannot always trust our minds. by turns, comic and tragic, but consistently fascinating witnessed by scientists – men professionally trained in the practice Historically, many magicians have taken a nonetheless. They highlight how illusions can combine of empirical observation. The German astrophysicist Johann Karl professional satisfaction in exposing self-proclaimed with powerful emotional experiences, such as the Friedrich Zöllner, for example, asserted that he had shaken hands spiritualists and psychics who also make use of fear of death or sorrow at a loss, to create what seem with the disembodied limb of an extra-dimensional spirit being – trickery and misdirection. Instead of acknowledging to be extraordinary paranormal experiences that ‘a friend from another world’. British chemist and physicist William their feats as illusions, such charlatans have attributed appear to be unexplainable by our current natural Crookes reported that he had not only photographed a ghost, but their powers to magnetic fields, spirits, or extra- scientific conceptions of the world. had also taken its pulse and cut of some of its hair. The American sensory perception. Paradoxically, exposure of such While neither magicians nor scientists can ever philosopher and psychologist William James wrote that he had chicanery has sometimes itself involved elaborate really ‘prove’ that past testimonies of supernatural spoken to his deceased father through a spirit medium. Researchers hoaxes and deceptions. Harry Houdini donned phenomena are fraudulent or mistaken, contemporary at Washington University believed that they had discovered a elaborate disguises and employed networks of spies researchers regularly demonstrate how eccentricities pair of psychics with the ability to move objects using only the to infiltrate and disrupt spiritualist organizations. of healthy human perception, memory and cognition power of their minds. Physicists in the employ of the United States James Randi orchestrated an elaborate hoax that can result in vivid and robust illusions. In many cases, government have spent decades trying to weaponize spoon benders. ran for several years, in which fake psychics infiltrated scientific explanations of how our minds can produce But while scientists are trained in gathering evidence based on a parapsychological lab. In efect, these plans involve such illusions are at least as wondrous as the proposed empirical observations, they are not necessarily trained in deception. stacking lies atop lies in an attempt to reach the truth. supernatural explanations. For example, we now know Perhaps, in some circumstances, well-intentioned researchers One of our prevailing cultural narratives is that healthy adults who are on the brink of sleep can, are actually more prone to illusory experiences than the average that scientific understanding of the world has been under some circumstances, experience vivid dreams observer. Afer all, microscopes and other laboratory equipment steadily marching forward in a neat, linear fashion. that blend seamlessly with their waking world. Indeed, might malfunction and produce inaccurate readings, but they won’t And certainly, we have made remarkable progress. some scientists are increasingly turning to magic as deliberately lie to you for the purpose of achieving fame and fortune. But if you look closely, you might notice that many a tool to explore how sane, intelligent individuals Enter the professional magician. Like psychics and mediums, debunked concepts have a tendency to recur over can experience remarkably weird illusory episodes. magicians present themselves as exceptional individuals who can facilitate and over again with slight variations. At one time, Barring a genuine ability to psychically project impossible phenomena. But, unlike spiritualists, magicians are artists paranormal practitioners might claim to receive your consciousness backwards through time, you cannot who make it clear that they achieve these phenomena through trickery messages from spirits; later, they might claim that truly re-experience historic accounts of these wondrous and illusion. The term ‘misdirection’ tends to evoke thoughts of smoke these messages were obtained through telepathy; phenomena. You weren’t there. You didn’t see it. and mirrors or the quickness of the hand deceiving the eye. However, and later still, they might attribute their powers But this book can help reveal what you missed. INTRODUCTION ( 14 ) ( 15 ) INTRODUCING THE ILLUSION EARLY MESMERIC ACT ONE & SPIRITUALIST PHENOMENA INDUCING A MESMERIC TRANCE ADVERT Such events were STEREOSCOPE CARD SKULL Allegedly of Emanuel ANDREW JACKSON A SEANCE IN SESSION This illustration, from An illustration of the invisible magnetic forces that mesmerists billed both as entertainment and A hypnotist gestures to manipulate Swedenborg: phrenologists DAVIS The Seer of the late 19th century, shows Andrew Jackson Davis presiding claimed to harness (c. 1845). scientific demonstration (1885). magnetic forces (undated). robbed the mystic’s grave (1910). Poughkeepsie (c. 1870). over a sitting (undated). As you read this, you are under the influence of gathering his magnetic forces. While Mesmer did Mesmer maintained that his theories were Neptune and Pluto were ofcially discovered). He of invisible forces. These forces are always around achieve some remarkable results, his methods and grounded in science, but the mystical elements of was less accurate with some of his other predictions, you, unseen. They constrain you, just as they reasoning were met with scepticism. In 1784, the his procedures resonated strongly with the public, however, such as the existence of round-headed constrain distant stars.
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