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ILLUSION

MAGIC, THE & 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 ) 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 investigator . 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 ) 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

‘’

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 -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 , 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 . Far from being dated tales of archaic and reappear, and watched ooze from unexpected orifices. just what we see, but how we reason and remember. , 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 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 , 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. 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 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 ; 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 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 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. While they can’t be directly French king Louis XVI established a committee particularly once news of his practices had spread psychic ‘people’ on the planet Saturn and the claim observed, evidence of their power is everywhere. to assess the scientific validity of Mesmer’s claims. across the Atlantic. At the time mesmerism was gaining that animal life could be spontaneously generated Go ahead: pick something up and drop it. While the Among the investigators were Benjamin Franklin – popularity, a staggering variety of religious ‘awakenings’ by heating chalk dust inside a sealed jar. In 1847, precise details can get a bit complex, the presence of better known as one of the instigators of the American were taking place in America. Conventional mystical Davis published a prophecy on the topic of ‘spiritual gravity is relatively uncontroversial. It doesn’t seem Revolution – and Joseph-Ignace Guillotin – better and religious traditions sometimes became strangely communion’: ‘[The] truth’, he declared, ‘will ere long particularly magical but, with the right presentation, known for his revolutionary decapitation machine. blended with internationally sourced pseudo- present itself in the form of a living demonstration. it can be made to seem almost mystical. The committee concluded that there was no evidence scientific practices, including mesmerism and And all the world will hail with delight ushering It was upon this foundation that Franz for Mesmer’s proposed magnetic life fluid, and phrenology. In particular, the region that is now in of that era.’ Never one to underplay his hand, Friedrich Anton Mesmer (1734–1815) began to attributed his successes to ‘imagination’ on the New York State saw a steady and eclectic parade he added that such fluent communications between develop his rather more controversial theory of part of his patients. Despite his questionable of Doomsday cults, , seers and saviours. the living and the dead were already being enjoyed ‘’. A German physician with an mechanistic explanations, Mesmer’s results arguably Some of these movements would develop into by our extraterrestrial neighbours on , interest in , Mesmer reasoned that the life laid a foundation for modern psychological work what are now relatively mainstream sects, such as and Saturn. The popularity of Davis’s writing and of a human body was a kind of magnetic fluid, on hypnotism, suggestion and placebos. To this Mormonism or the Church of the Latter-Day Saints. the timing of his prediction of a new spiritual era which, when not in proper balance, brought about day, clinical psychologists use the word ‘rapport’ Echoes of Mesmer’s theories resonated contributed to the attention that would be brought illness. Mesmer initially suggested that this substance to describe the relationships that they establish especially with the Andrew Jackson Davis to bear on the the following year. was subject to the gravity of celestial objects, just as with their clients, a term that originates in Mesmer’s (1826–1910), a.k.a. ‘The Poughkeepsie Seer’. He was Most religious believers endorse the idea that the Moon causes changes in the tides, and went on descriptions of the relationship between a magnetizer a prolific author who claimed that by entering a the spirit or survives beyond physical death. But to propose that perhaps other invisible forces – such and subject. Modern-day researchers and clinicians mesmeric trance, he was able to psychically project proponents of take this a controversial as magnetism – could also influence it. He began using continue to explore the scientific problem of how his consciousness across space and time. Davis first step farther, claiming that the spirits of the dead can magnets in an attempt to manipulate his patients’ life trance states alter patients’ consciousness and lead published descriptions of his ‘journeys’ in 1847. He physically interact with the living world – and what’s fluid and thereby restore them to ‘balanced’ health. to physical changes in their bodies. In other words, just wrote that he was not merely inspired by the ideas more, that these interactions can be empirically Eventually, he did away with physical magnets, on as Franklin and the investigative committee discovered, of the Swedish mystic Emmanuel Swedenborg demonstrated. The birth of modern spiritualism the basis that he could summon magnetic forces using some aspects of mesmeric healing do seem to work, (1688–1772), but that he had been in direct contact can be traced back to one particular house on one the energy within his own body. In practice, this but definitely not for the reasons that Mesmer claimed: with Swedenborg’s spirit. Davis’s track record as a particular night. The location was the town of involved waving his hands over (or laying them on) the efects seemed to be induced through the minds prophet turned out to be somewhat mixed. He did Hydesville, in upstate New York. The house in his patients – who were ofen young women. Mesmer of the patients themselves rather than via a mysterious make a number of surprisingly accurate predictions, question was the home of the Fox family. The occupants established elaborate procedures in which he would outside physical force. Despite the lack of support such as the development of mechanical typewriters included John and Margaret Fox, their two youngest treat groups of patients sitting in a circle. During these for Mesmer’s mechanistic explanations, the practice and the popularization of personal cars powered by daughters – Margaretta (also known as Maggie), then proceedings, he wore a purple robe and waved a metal of animal magnetism, or ‘mesmerism’ as it came internal combustion engines. He even wrote about fourteen, and Catherine (also called Kate), aged 26 wand, claiming that both served the scientific purpose be known, would spread around the world. two additional planets in our solar system (before eleven – plus a mysterious invisible ‘entity’.

ACT ONE ( 18 ) ( 19 ) EARLY MESMERIC & SPIRITUALIST PHENOMENA above MESMERIC TREATMENT Taken from opposite MAGNETIC SLEEP Two 1840s The Magnetic and Botanic Family Physician (1887), by D. Younger, daguerreotypes demonstrate the concept of ‘magnetic fluid’, these photographs illustrate various stages of the mesmeric process. thought to pass from practitioner to patient via touch.

ACT ONE ( 20 ) ( 21 ) EARLY MESMERIC & SPIRITUALIST PHENOMENA TEACH YOURSELF HYPNOTISM The the prospect of practical techniques that one could learn independently methods for curing your own ailments without either drugs, (1901) and boasted fanciful captions: (above, bottom lef) ‘The fascination with hypnotic trance escalated in the 19th century. at home. Professor L. A. Harraden’s complete mail course (above, top doctors, expense or exposure.’ The photographs of a hypnotist young gentleman believes himself to be once again a nursing infant Seen here is a selection of related books and booklets, ofering lef) ofered ‘Self-treatment and self-healing: the wonderful hypnotic at work are from W. Wesley Cook’s Practical Lessons in Hypnotism while the young lady thinks she is a nurse in a foundling asylum.’

ACT ONE ( 22 ) ( 23 ) EARLY MESMERIC & SPIRITUALIST PHENOMENA above COSMIC AFTERLIFE A Stellar opposite SPIRIT WORLDS From The Seeress Key to The Summer Land (1867), by Andrew Jackson Davis, of Prevorst, Being Revelations Concerning the Inner-Life ofered ‘scientific and philosophical evidences’ of a world of Man, and the Inter-Difusion of a World of Spirits in afer death. the One we Inhabit (1845).

ACT ONE ( 24 ) ( 25 ) EARLY MESMERIC & SPIRITUALIST PHENOMENA MAGGIE AND KATE FOX, SPIRIT THE FOX FAMILY COTTAGE This modest house A SEANCE WITH A SPIRIT RAPPING HAND During séances, MEDIUMS FROM ROCHESTER, NEW YORK in Hydesville, NY, was the site for the ‘paranormal’ activities reported in The table appears to be levitating in this photograph, taken on 25 November such props could be used to ‘rap out’ messages, ostensibly from Daguerreotype, c. 1852, by Thomas M. Easterly. 1848. In 1915, it was moved to Lily Dale, NY, where it burned down in 1955. 1898. The venue was the Paris home of astronomer . beyond the grave, although actually controlled by the medium.

Throughout the spring of 1848, the young Fox sisters citizens, who had been primed for a breakthrough noises in her childhood home. The girls had used complained to their parents of being disturbed by by Davis’s recent prophecies. In consultation with an apple tied to a piece of string: they hung the apple knocks or rapping noises. The family searched the the increasingly gregarious spirits, Leah and her beneath their bed and pulled the string up and down, house, but failed to discover a source. On the night supporters arranged for a demonstration of spirit causing the apple to bounce of the floor and the bed of 31 March 1848, a little afer 8 p.m., the Fox family rapping to be held in Corinthian Hall on 14 November AND THAT frame. Maggie claimed that, as she and Kate were confronted the invisible entity. The raps had been 1849. It was advertised ambiguously as being either IS THE WAY so young, they had been considered innocent of any especially insistent that evening, and as the family a revelation of ‘new and startling developments or intentional deception. Later, managed by their sister huddled together, Kate made a major breakthrough: the exposure of one of the most cunningly devised WE BEGAN. Leah, they developed new means of generating ‘spirit ‘Here Mr Split-foot,’ she said, ‘do as I do.’ She snapped and long-continued impositions ever practiced in raps’, including snapping the knuckle joints of their toes. her fingers. And each snap was answered by a this or any other community’. It was also pay-per- FIRST, AS A Despite the press attention, these admissions appeared to knock. Upon request, the entity was able to knock view. Like a magic show, but without a disclaimer do little to impede the rise of the spiritualist movement. out the ages of the sisters, and their thirty-five-year that the demonstration would involve tricks or MERE TRICK Ironically, Maggie herself later stated that her confession old neighbour. It knew how many Fox children had illusions. Admission was set at 25 cents, or 50 cents of fraud was itself fraudulent and tried – unsuccessfully been born (seven) and how many were still living for a gentleman and two ladies. The evening received TO FRIGHTEN – to resume her work as a professional medium. (six). Finally, Margaret asked, ‘Are you a man that somewhat mixed reviews, with a combination of MOTHER, AND Maggie’s revelation was re-published under knocks?’ She was met with silence. Next, she asked it sceptical and credulous reactions to the mysterious the somewhat optimistic title The Death Blow to to knock twice, ‘If you are a spirit.’ She was answered knocking that accompanied Maggie. That said, she THEN, WHEN SO Spiritualism. But on the contrary, by 1888, spiritualism with a definitive knock-knock. Afer further, more played to a full house of four hundred. was an international movement; its popularity was detailed interrogations, the family concluded that Despite their popularity, doubts about the Fox MANY PEOPLE far too great to be checked by one medium’s self- ‘Mr Split-foot’ must be the spirit of one Charles B. sisters’ paranormal abilities were not in short supply. debunking. In spite of, and perhaps because of, their Rosna, a peddler who, years earlier, had reportedly Perhaps the most compelling evidence against their CAME TO SEE controversial claims that they had paranormal powers, been murdered and buried in their basement. spiritual communications actually came from Maggie the Fox sisters’ escapades sparked a movement that News of the Fox sisters’ ability to communicate Fox herself, albeit forty years afer the initial events. US CHILDREN, would flourish internationally from the 1840s through with the spirits of the dead spread quickly, first to Having spent her adult life working professionally WE WERE… to the 1920s and beyond. Across the world, people the local community and then beyond. Local lawyer as a spirit medium, she set out to expose the methods ‘discovered’ latent mediumistic abilities, then made E. E. Lewis interviewed the Fox family and their behind what she now maintained was a fraudulent FORCED TO them public and started charging for their services. neighbours and published a pamphlet titled A Report practice. On 21 October 1888, Maggie took to the stage Spiritual mediums sprung up around America, and of the Mysterious Noises Heard in the House of Mr John of the New York Academy of Music to publicly confess KEEP IT UP. subsequently throughout Europe, including , D. Fox, in Hydesville, Arcadia, Wayne Country (1848), her deception and describe the methods she had used , and Italy. Many self-proclaimed which was internationally circulated. A second major to accomplish it. A description of her presentation, MAGGIE FOX, 1888 magnetic healers and mesmerists quickly adapted to development in the Fox sisters’ story came when their along with a signed confession, was published the the new paradigm, and began advertising themselves older sister, Leah, aged thirty-five, began introducing same day in the New York World. Maggie explained as spiritual mediums who could put paying 36 the girls to a variety of spiritually curious Rochester that it was she and Kate who had generated those customers in touch with the dead.

ACT ONE ( 26 ) ( 27 ) EARLY MESMERIC & SPIRITUALIST PHENOMENA SPIRIT TRUMPET Made out of metal, this the lights. Once the room was dark and the session had begun, SPIRIT LOCK (Top) This spirit lock was made during (Bottom) This spirit bell and wand dates from the 1920s. The apparatus is around 36.5 cm long. During a séance, the the trumpet would mysteriously begin to rise and float in the 1940s by magician and mechanic John Martin. The design bell is suspended in the air, apparently free from any interference, medium would have placed it on a table and then dimmed the air, emitting ‘spirit voices’ and perhaps even ectoplasm. was inspired by Karl Germain (a.k.a. ‘Germain the Wizard’). but magically rings in response to questions from a spectator.

ACT ONE ( 28 ) ( 29 ) EARLY MESMERIC & SPIRITUALIST PHENOMENA above GHOSTLY PRESENCE German magician opposite FLOATING WORLD Again, Jacoby-Harms overleaf A SEANCE IN PROGRESS Magician This was one of many glass lantern slides used by psychic investigator Jacoby-Harms (a.k.a. Hans Joachim Jacob Harms) appears to be is bemused by objects floating above. Both photographs were William S. Marriott stands in the background, ostensibly witnessing Harry Price in his talks, to demonstrate the methods and equipment overcome at the sight of airborne instruments in this 1866 image. created by F. A. Dahlström, using double exposures. the emergence of a female apparition carrying a ‘spirit’ bird and flowers. regularly used by fraudulent mediums at the time.

ACT ONE ( 30 ) ( 31 ) EARLY MESMERIC & SPIRITUALIST PHENOMENA ACT ONE ( 32 ) ( 33 ) EARLY MESMERIC & SPIRITUALIST PHENOMENA A MEDIUM’S TOOLS OF THE TRADE Another wigs and cheesecloth that might serve as ectoplasm. Unconvincing MARRIOTT AND THREE OMINOUS The magician worked tirelessly to expose the tricks that mediums used example from Harry Price’s archive, this photograph shows props that in the light, these would assume an altogether more impressive MATERIALIZATIONS William S. Marriott seems lost to exploit credulous individuals, who may well have been seeking contact disreputable mediums sometimes used. Seen here are masks, dummies, character in the tense atmosphere of a séance in a dark room. in deep thought as a trio of mysterious spirit forms approach him. from recently deceased loved ones. The photograph dates from 1910.

ACT ONE ( 34 ) ( 35 ) EARLY MESMERIC & SPIRITUALIST PHENOMENA IF MR EGLINTON IS A CONJURER HE IS UNDOUBTEDLY ONE OF THE CLEVEREST WHO EVER LIVED. MASKELYNE AND COOK [SIC] ARE NOT A PATCH UPON MR EGLINTON.

WESTERN MORNING NEWS, 1876

And simple rapping communications were just the séances. Furniture and even people might appear beginning. Increasingly elaborate and spectacular to levitate and float with no discernible means ‘proofs’ of spiritual communication quickly developed. of support. In some cases, spirits would animate Some mediums, such as William ‘Willie’ Eglington musical instruments, ringing bells or even operating (1857–1933), practised ‘slate writing’ or psychography. accordions. (1833–86) was In a typical psychographic séance, Eglington would famous for his reported ability to fly – multiple be seated at a small table with three or four other witnesses claimed that they had seen him float out participants (a.k.a. ‘sitters’) and would ask one of a high window and soar more than 85 feet above of them to direct a question to the spirits. Eglington the ground. With ‘apports’ – another class of spectacular would then display a pair of chalk writing slates, events – objects and people would mysteriously wink of the kind that were common in schoolrooms at the into and out of existence. In a sign of the times, even time, and demonstrate that they were free of writing. seemingly mundane experiences such as misplacing Next, he would produce a small piece of chalk and keys were attributed to mischievous (or incompetently arrange the slates on the table so that one was resting helpful) spirits who had either levitated them or atop the other, with the chalk sandwiched between absconded with them into a parallel dimension. them. Eglington might then hold the slates above the Some ‘ mediums’, including Madam table, in full view of the sitters. Sitters ofen reported d’Esperance (1855–1919), made the miraculous hearing a distinctive scratch-scratch sound, and appearance of flowers a signature of their séances. finally Eglington would separate the slates to reveal Other mediums produced somewhat grosser a message that had appeared. The exact nature of souvenirs for their sitters. Eusapia Palladino (1854– the wording varied between diferent mediums and 1918) was an Italian medium famous for producing individual circumstances – typically, the message elaborate physical demonstrations of spirit agency. was either short and specific or lengthy and vague. During her séances, she seemed to be able to move In each case, however, the communication, which objects in the room around her with no more than was apparently dissociated from any worldly agency, a thought and gesture. Sometimes, these forces were would be attributed to spirits. invisible to the sitters. On other occasions, Palladino As time passed, a sort of psychic arms race would manifest supernumerary limbs composed of developed in the spiritualist community, with a semi-visible whitish substance. In later life, she was mediums establishing increasingly direct lines of described as a ‘small, elderly peasant woman’, but her communication with the spirit world. Apparent supernatural extra arm was reportedly capable of manifestations of the dead had long been a feature exerting forces that far exceeded the strength of grown of smoke-and-mirrors-style stage entertainment men. Although she began by holding private gatherings, in phantasmagoria shows, but spiritualists’ Palladino went on to develop a reputation that demonstrations ofered something diferent: empirical attracted the attention of Italian scientists, including evidence of a new religion. Trance mediums asserted Dr Ercole Chiaia (c. 1850–1905), whose reports of that their bodies could be directly controlled by her gravity-defying powers drew curious scrutiny the spirits of the dead, which could speak via the from researchers worldwide. One of Palladino’s most medium’s voice and write using the medium’s hands. notorious séances was witnessed by physicist Oliver EUSAPIA PALLADINO These images were taken at a but conceded in 1926: ‘It may be most truthfully said of her that no Spiritualists’ demonstrations were not limited Lodge (1851–1940), Nobel Prize-winning physiologist séance held by the Italian medium on 12 July 1906. The table appears medium has ever more certainly been proved to have psychic powers, to be levitating. Sir was a staunch supporter, and no medium was ever more certainly a cheat upon occasions.’ to communications. A variety of other physical (1850–1935) and psychical 43 phenomena were reportedly on show during researcher Frederic Myers (1843–1901).

ACT ONE ( 36 ) ( 37 ) EARLY MESMERIC & SPIRITUALIST PHENOMENA MESSAGES FROM THE AFTERLIFE? The Fred P. Evans, Known as the ‘Independent slate-writer’ (1893), by SLATE-WRITING TECHNIQUES (Clockwise the medium is sitting on; the use of a magnet to trace the passage of completed slates seen here are all taken from Psychography: Marvelous J. J. Owen. ‘The grave is no longer voiceless,’ the introduction of the book from top lef) using part of a pencil attached to a thimble to write a pencil, containing iron filings, on the slate; a piece of chalk attached Manifestations of Psychic Power Given through the of boldly claimed. ‘It speaks to us with myriad tongues and in many ways.’ on the slate from beneath a table; changing one slate for another that to part of an umbrella rib is inserted between two plates tied together.

ACT ONE ( 38 ) ( 39 ) EARLY MESMERIC & SPIRITUALIST PHENOMENA opposite SPIRIT ART Seen here are pages from Samuel above TRANCE DRAWINGS These intricate, Guppy’s Mary Jane: Or, Spiritualism Chemically Explained, with geometric artworks, made between 1924 and 1934, were created Spirit Drawings (1863). ‘Mary Jane’ was a spirit in the household. by artists in when semi-conscious or allegedly possessed by a spirit.

ACT ONE ( 40 ) ( 41 ) EARLY MESMERIC & SPIRITUALIST PHENOMENA THERE PROCEEDED FROM HER BODY MATERIAL FORMS HAVING THE APPEARANCE OF LIFE, WHICH I SHALL DESCRIBE… UNDER THE NAME OF ECTOPLASMS.

CHARLES RICHET, 1923

The sitting took place in 1894, at Richet’s home on the demonstrations served as the foundation for Mediterranean island of Ile Roubaud. In a darkened spiritualist claims. But in 1862, a Boston-based room, the men sat on either side and held Palladino’s photographer named William H. Mumler (1832–84) arms tightly. According to their subsequent report, began advertising that, for a very reasonable fee of $5, she was indeed able to move furniture about through he could produce photographs of ghosts. Mumler’s mysterious forces: a small flick of her wrist could spirit photos proved immensely popular; his clients apparently cause a heavy table on the other side were able to glimpse the forms of their deceased of the room to rock and slide across the floor. The friends and loved ones. Following the assassination men reported being groped and patted by what of president Abraham Lincoln, his widow Mary Todd felt like invisible hands, and at one point Palladino Lincoln sat for one of Mumler’s portraits. The finished was even able to manifest a visible supernumerary product depicted a sombre Mrs Lincoln gazing into ghostly limb that extended out from her body. the lens, while the semi-transparent form of what Charles Richet coined the term ‘ectoplasm’ appeared to be the president’s shade stood over her. to describe the extraordinary substance that made Mumler was able to raise his prices to $10. He even up Palladino’s mysterious supernatural limbs. set up a mail-order service. At the height of his career, Ectoplasm would go on to become a staple of Mumler was arrested and tried for fraud. His trial physical mediumship demonstrations: subsequent was sensational. P. T. Barnum, who had previously practitioners would claim to manifest not just achieved fame by charging spectators to see a supernumerary appendages, but faces and even entire ‘mermaid’, which was actually a taxidermied monkey figures. Mediums produced ectoplasmic excretions stitched to a fish, took the stand for the prosecution. from every conceivable orifice, although whenever Somewhat paradoxically, the notorious huckster was investigators were able to secure samples, the called to act as an expert in hoaxing, and he declared substance was usually indistinguishable from either Mumler and his attorney to be ‘humbugs’. Barnum cheesecloth or animal intestines. Lodge and Myers even presented his own (explicitly fake but visually would both go on to become outspoken supporters similar) Lincoln ghost portrait. In contrast, Mumler’s of scientifically testing mediums. Lodge acknowledged defenders compared the spirit photographer directly that some of what they saw included ‘the kinds of to Galileo, arguing that scepticism about spiritualism things conjurers have sought to imitate under their was akin to past scepticism about the heliocentric own conditions’, but he maintained that some of the solar system. Ultimately, Mumler was acquitted, phenomena must have been genuine. the judge noting that while his photos were almost Subsequent investigations of Palladino were certainly faked, the prosecution had been unable to less supportive. She was frequently caught cheating prove so. Mumler always maintained his innocence. and denounced by a variety of observers, including Fascinatingly, not even open admissions of the magicians (1839–1917) deception were sufcient to shake some people’s faith and Harry Houdini (1874–1926) and the psychologist in spirit photos. At another trial in France, Parisian Hugo Münsterberg (1863–1916), each of whom spirit photographer Edouard Isidore Buguet (1840– reported a variety of ways that they had seen Palladino 1901) explicitly confessed to fraudulently manufacturing IN THE PRESENCE OF ANOTHER The images between 1862 and 1875. In the wake of the American Civil War, surreptitiously free herself from what were supposed his otherworldly portraits. Afer he was arrested, above come from a carte-de-visite album of spirit photographs created Mumler had many clients whose relatives had died in the conflict. to be restrictive scientific controls. the police seized a variety of paraphernalia by the American photographer William H. Mumler. They were made Afer his trial, however, his credibility was ruined and his career ended. Overall, in the early days of the spiritualist from his studio, including a mannequin 49 movement, eyewitness testimonies of mediumistic with a range of interchangeable heads.

ACT ONE ( 42 ) ( 43 ) EARLY MESMERIC & SPIRITUALIST PHENOMENA MYSTERIOUS MANIFESTATIONS This sometimes worked with J. Evans Starling. Boursnell was later album of spirit pictures was produced c. 1897 by London-based discredited, as the ethereal forms in his spirit photographs British medium and photographer Richard Boursnell, who could frequently be traced to existing images in books.

ACT ONE ( 44 ) ( 45 ) EARLY MESMERIC & SPIRITUALIST PHENOMENA A SPIRIT KNEELS A ghostly figure appears at the only noticed the otherworldly presence afer the photograph ‘THE BROWN LADY OF RAYNHAM magazine photographers Captain Hubert C. Provand and his altar of St Nicholas Anglican church in Arundel, West Sussex. was developed. It has been suggested that the image is that HALL’ Supposedly the spirit of Dorothy Walpole (sister assistant in 1936 at a country house in Norfolk. The figure’s The picture was taken c. 1940 by a visitor, who reportedly of a robed priest in prayer. of Walpole) this image was captured by Country Life name derived from its brocade dress, said to be brown.

ACT ONE ( 46 ) ( 47 ) EARLY MESMERIC & SPIRITUALIST PHENOMENA