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Modernism and Magic
University of Huddersfield Repository Gledhill, Jennifer Modernism and Magic Original Citation Gledhill, Jennifer (2016) Modernism and Magic. Masters thesis, University of Huddersfield. This version is available at http://eprints.hud.ac.uk/id/eprint/29081/ The University Repository is a digital collection of the research output of the University, available on Open Access. Copyright and Moral Rights for the items on this site are retained by the individual author and/or other copyright owners. Users may access full items free of charge; copies of full text items generally can be reproduced, displayed or performed and given to third parties in any format or medium for personal research or study, educational or not-for-profit purposes without prior permission or charge, provided: • The authors, title and full bibliographic details is credited in any copy; • A hyperlink and/or URL is included for the original metadata page; and • The content is not changed in any way. For more information, including our policy and submission procedure, please contact the Repository Team at: [email protected]. http://eprints.hud.ac.uk/ Modernism and Magic Jennifer Gledhill A Thesis Submitted to the University of Huddersfield in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of MA by Research January 2016 2 Contents Introduction………………………………………………………………………………………3 Chapter One: Magicians and Spiritualism…………………………………………… 13 Chapter Two: Fasting and Spiritualism…………………………………………………. 36 Chapter Three: The Freak show and Spiritualism…………………………………. 54 Conclusion………………………………………………………………………………………….. 74 Bibliography………………………………………………………………………………………. 83 Word Count: 25316 3 Introduction This dissertation will look at how modernist writers incorporated the idea of fraud into their work through the use of popular culture spectacles. -
Spirit Magic" Story of the Davenport Brothers - Nandor Fodor
Chapter 22: Being the Instruments of "Spirit Magic" Story of the Davenport Brothers - Nandor Fodor - THE MAIN difference between the performance of a magician and a medium is that the magician is always master of ceremonies, whereas the medium has to submit to the conditions imposed upon him. Magicians never attempt stage demonstrations under the control to which the medium is subjected. Without preparation, equipment and assistance they are helpless. Travesties of mediumistic performances they have given often enough in the past, but many masters of leger-de-main have also acknowledged the inexplicability of mediumistic phenomena. If, then, mediums can beat the magicians at their own game, as the sceptic would put it, why don't they choose fame and fortune on the stage as magicians instead of abuse and vilification which they get as mediums? Never in the eighty-four years' history of modern Spiritualism has a medium changed colours and set himself up as a magician. Only a few gave seances from the stage. Either the nature of their power could not stand a large and promiscuous audience, or they learnt from the bitter lesson of the American Davenport Brothers. At Hull, Huddersfield and Leeds, in 1864, they barely escaped lynching because they refused to declare themselves magicians. Those who too lightly dismiss their mystery as one of leger-de-main never face the psychological issue which their pathetic cry presents: "Were we mere jugglers we should meet with no violence, or we should find protection. Could we declare that these things done in our presence were deception of the senses, we should, no doubt, reap a plentiful harvest of money and applause. -
Theory in Magic a Capstone Course for Majors in Religious Studies
Theory in Magic A Capstone Course for Majors in Religious Studies David Walker University of California, Santa Barbara Institutional Setting: The University of California at Santa Barbara, one of ten UC campuses, is a large public institution with some 18,000 undergraduate and 3,000 graduate students. Although boasting certain strengths in the natural and social sciences (financial resources, number of faculty, and number of majors), UCSB has excellent programs also in the humanities and fine arts, and the university has worked to develop and promote them since the 1960s. Among these is the program in Religious Studies, and it is both an indicative and special case of UCSB’s focus on the humanities: formed in 1964, the Department of Religious Studies is by far the largest such department in the UC system, with over 25 faculty members and continuing lecturers, offering a BA degree program and MA and PhD degrees in several subfields. The department is unique also nationally and internationally, being one of the first public academic programs supporting a secular approach to the study of matters religious; and it ranks consistently among the top programs in the field. There are currently 6 faculty members working in the subfield of Religion in the Americas. Curricular Setting: The Department of Religious Studies has been working to provide greater cohesion to its undergraduate major. Whereas the graduate programs are tracked through a series of complementary and cumulative classes, the department has hesitated to implement such a structure for the undergraduate degree. This is in part because many undergraduates declare majors towards the end of their time at UCSB, rather than at the beginning; and the department worries that too many prerequisite or sequenced courses may frustrate students’ ability to “find their niche” without “backtracking” to lower-level offerings. -
Magicians on the Paranormal: an Essay with a Review of Three Books
Magicians on the Paranormal: An Essay with a Review of Three Books GEORGE P. HANSEN’ ABSTRACT: Conjurors have written books on the paranormal since the 1500s. A number of these books are listed and briefly discussed herein, including those of both skeptics and proponents. Lists of magicians on both sides of the psi controversy are provided. Although many people perceive conjurors to be skeptics and debunkers, some of the most prominent magicians in history have endorsed the reality of psychic phenomena. The reader is warned that conjurors’ public statements asserting the reality of psi are sometimes difficult to eval- uate. Some mentalists publicly claim psychic abilities but privately admit that they do not believe in them; others privately acknowledge their own psychic experiences. Thme current books are fully reviewed: EntraSensory Deception by Henry Gordon (1987), Forbidden Knowledge by Bob Couttie (1988), and Secrets of the Supernatural by Joe Nickel1 (with Fischer, 1988). The books by Gordon and Couttie contain serious errors and are of little value, but the work by Nickel1 is a worthwhile contribution, though only partially concerned with psi. Magicians have been involved with paranormal controversies for cen- turies, and their participation has been far more complex and multifaceted than the usual stereotype of magicians as skeptical debunkers. In this paper, I review three fairly recent skeptical books by magicians, but before these are discussed, some remarks are in order concerning conjurors’ in- volvement with psi and psi research because there has been little useful discussion of the topic in the parapsychology literature.’ It is important to understand this background because several magicians have had an impact on scientists’ and the general public’s perception of psychical research, and some have played a major role in the modem-day skeptical movement (Hansen, 1992). -
The Davenport Brothers Religious Practitioners, Entertainers, Or Frauds?
INVESTIGATIVE FILES JOE NICKELL The Davenport Brothers Religious Practitioners, Entertainers, or Frauds? hey have become legendary in Dishes and cutlery danced about the behind a curtain. Later the curtain was the history of spiritualism and family's kitchen table and young Ira— replaced by a specially designed "spirit continue to spark interest and when alone—sometimes claimed the cabinet" (Mulholland 1938, 52). This T spirits had whisked him to distant spots. controversy. The question persists: Were resembled a huge armoirc with built-in the Davenport Brothers "probably the At household seances, the boys demon- benches on either side to which the boys greatest mediums of their kind that the strated their flying ability. As magician were secured by lengths of rope (Jay world has ever seen," as Sherlock John Mulholland explained in his 1987, 229; Houdini 1924,21). Holmes's creator Sir Arthur Conan Beware Familiar Spirits (1938, 51): On the floor of the cabinet were Doyle wrote (1926, 226), or was magi- "That is, at the beginning of the seance placed musical instruments such as vio- cian Harry Houdini (1924, 26) correct Ira Erastus would be sitting on a chair at lins, guitars, concertinas, and tam- in reporting that he had facts "more one side of the room, and when the bourines. Then the doors were shut and than sufficient to disprove their having, lights were turned up after it was over, the lights turned down. Soon, the or even claiming, spiritualistic power"? the chair and boy would be on the other instruments were heard to play, and My research into the recently discovered side of the room." This transpired in the phantom hands were seen to wave eerily Davenport scrapbook sheds new light dark, so credulous spectators simply through small diamond-shaped win- on these claims and the fierce disagree- assumed the youth had flown. -
Magic in the Moonlight
Magic in the Moonlight Presentation from Wikipedia by Peter Anderson Magic in the Moonlight is a 2014 American romantic comedy film written and directed by Woody Allen. The film stars Colin Firth, Emma Stone, Hamish Linklater, Marcia Gay Harden, Jacki Weaver, Erica Leerhsen, Eileen Atkins, and Simon McBurney. Set in the 1920s on the French Riviera, the film was released on July 25, 2014, by Sony Pictures Classics. Magic in the Moonlight received a generally mixed reception. Critics praised the performances of Firth and Stone, but criticized the clichéd scriptwriting. Critical response Magic in the Moonlight has received mixed reviews from critics. On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has a rating of 50%, based on 151 reviews, with an average rating of 5.8/10. The site's consensus states: "While far from a failure, Magic in the Moonlight is too slight to stand with Woody Allen's finest work." Review aggregator Metacritic assigns the film a score of 54 out of 100, based on 40 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". Rex Reed, writing for The New York Observer , gave the film a largely positive review, calling it "a masterstroke of enchantment" and praising Colin Firth's acting. Jordan Hoffman of Film.com also enjoyed the film, stating, "This picture isn’t as showy or obvious as one of his (many) masterpieces, but it is quite good and deserves your time and respect." In The New Yorker , David Denby agreed that Colin Firth "carries [the film] through." (to carry sth through: sostenere e salvare) . He added that one scene is reminiscent of To Catch a Thief . -
The History Spiritualism
THE HISTORY of SPIRITUALISM by ARTHUR CONAN DOYLE, M.D., LL.D. former President d'Honneur de la Fédération Spirite Internationale, President of the London Spiritualist Alliance, and President of the British College of Psychic Science Volume Two With Eight Plates Sir Arthur Conon Doyle CHAPTER I THE CAREER OF EUSAPIA PALLADINO The mediumship of Eusapia Palladino marks an important stage in the history of psychical research, because she was the first medium for physical phenomena to be examined by a large number of eminent men of science. The chief manifestations that occurred with her were the movement of objects without contact, the levitation of a table and other objects, the levitation of the medium, the appearance of materialized hands and faces, lights, and the playing of musical instruments without human contact. All these phenomena took place, as we have seen, at a much earlier date with the medium D. D. Home, but when Sir William Crookes invited his scientific brethren to come and examine them they declined. Now for the first time these strange facts were the subject of prolonged investigation by men of European reputation. Needless to say, these experimenters were at first sceptical in the highest degree, and so-called ‘tests’ (those often silly precautions which may defeat the very object aimed at) were the order of the day. No medium in the whole world has been more rigidly tested than this one, and since she was able to convince the vast majority of her sitters, it is clear that her mediumship was of no ordinary type. -
Read Book Houdini & Conan Doyle : the Great Magician and The
HOUDINI & CONAN DOYLE : THE GREAT MAGICIAN AND THE INVENTOR OF SHERLOCK HOLMES PDF, EPUB, EBOOK Christopher Sandford | 283 pages | 20 Oct 2011 | Prelude | 9780715643761 | English | United Kingdom Houdini & Conan Doyle : The Great Magician and the Inventor of Sherlock Holmes PDF Book More filters. Utilizator nou. Leo Hevia July 9, at AM. This book is not yet featured on Listopia. After Houdini's death in , Sir Arthur published The Edge of the Unknown about his life experiences with spiritualism, and he dedicated an entire chapter to his thesis that Houdini actually had supernatural powers, but knowingly lied about them, pretending all his skills were of earthly origin. Douglas Jones rated it really liked it Jun 26, I acquired several photos from Marie Blood, of Harry and Sir Arthur together, for the final time, in Denver, Colorado, where their paths crossed. Magician Mike Super is appearing here down the block from us next Saturday May 7. The photos were annotated by someone probably Bess , indicating the identities of everyone in them. Adequate, well-illustrated, very unpretentious. The shaman is found either still bound or free at the end of the ceremony, and the audience has no doubt in these cases that spirits have been summoned. The city of Williamsport is putting up a display at City Hall because of our discoveries of Houdini's several appearances in that city that they were not even aware of. Not only did Holmes become more famous than his writer, but he outlived him. Arthur Conan Doyle and Harry Houdini first met in , brought together by a mutual interest: spiritualism. -
Hours with the Ghosts, Or, Nineteenth Century Witchcraft : Illustrated
&* \3 1<* .• J& ^ *ti ._$& - C> * *> v .'* v %. & «\ : - ^ • ^ r o. **?CT* A • Av 0* »°JL** "*b * . 4* V ,>^>- V%T' , >*."• xWV/,.aA :- ^d* • ,*- **'*0n« .'j w e$^ ,v^. .c, tfv -.- <r% i^^ V S\ r «^ ••«•" ^ ** ' V ^ ** \& ..**' t?' .'J&l-*** V > G°* .^>>o ^o< • * ^ **•:? 0* • L^L'* '^TVi* A o, **T.T« A <> * *£_ %\ % 4» ^-\y V^-'V \y*l*z>\# Sir.- ^% ^ r-\ ..«, A* 1 • o > Ao * ^ i> v;^>°u>;; ^\^^'^, f-' y A C *• #°+ / aO v*^?r- # -^ ,» *. "%/' % ^ i^ /js |: V** :*»t ;*; — Hours With the Ghosts OR NINETEENTH CENTURY WITCHCRAFT Ltf ILLUSTRATED INVESTIGATIONS Phenomena of Spiritualism and Theosophy Henry Ridgely' Evans The first duty we owe to the world is Truth—all the Truth—nothing but the Truth. "Ancient Wisdom." CHICAGO LAIRD & LEE, PUBLISHERS £681 LZ 100 rA *<V Entered according to act of Congress, in the year eighteen hundred and ninety-seven. By WILLIAM H. LEE, In the office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington. TO MY WIFE — ' " It is no proof of wisdom to refuse to examine certain phe- nomena because we think it certain that they are impossible, as if our knowledge of the universe were already completed. ' —Prof. Lodge. ' ' The most ardent Spiritist should welcome a searching in- quiry into the potential faculties of spirits still in the flesh. Until we know more of these, those other phenomena to which he appeals must remain unintelligible because isolated, and are likely to be obstinately disbelieved because they are impos- sible to understand." F. W. H. Myers: "Proceedings of the Societyfor Psychical Research^ Part XVIII, April, 1891. TABLE OF CONTENTS. -
Exhibition Guide & Event Highlights Staging Magic
EXHIBITION GUIDE & EVENT HIGHLIGHTS STAGING MAGIC A warm welcome to Senate House Library and to Staging Magic: The Story Behind the Illusion, an adventure through the history of conjuring and magic as entertainment, a centuries-long fascination that still excites and inspires today. The exhibition displays items on the history of magic from Senate House Library’s collection. The library houses and cares for more than 2 million books, 50 named special collections and over 1,800 archives. It’s one of the UK’s largest academic libraries focused on the arts, humanities and social sciences and holds a wealth of primary source material from the medieval period to the modern age. I hope that you are inspired by the exhibition and accompanying events, as we explore magic’s spell on society from illustrious performances in the top theatres, and street and parlour tricks that have sparked the imagination of society. Dr Nick Barratt Director, Senate House Library INTRODUCTION The exhibition features over 60 stories which focus on magic in the form of sleight-of-hand (legerdemain) and stage illusions, from 16th century court jugglers to the great masters of the golden age of magic in the 19th and early 20th centuries. These stories are told through the books, manuscripts and ephemera of the Harry Price Library of Magical Literature. Through five interconnected themes, the exhibition explores how magic has remained a mainstay of popular culture in the western world, how its secrets have been kept and revealed, and how magicians have innovated to continue to surprise and enchant their audiences. -
Mediums, Spirits, and Spooks in the Rocky Mountains: a Brief History of Spiritualism in Colorado 1860-1950
Mediums, Spirits, and Spooks in the Rocky Mountains: A Brief History of Spiritualism in Colorado 1860-1950. “Scarcely another cultural phenomenon affected as many people or stimulated as much interest as did Spiritualism in the ten years before the Civil War and, for that matter, throughout the subsequent decades of the nineteenth century…. ‘in 1856, it seemed more likely that Spiritualism would become the religion of America than in 156 that Christianity would become the religion of the Roman Empire, or in 756 that Mohammedanism would be that of the Arabian population.’”1 Introduction During the second half of the nineteenth-century, the country was swept off of its feet by spiritualistic phenomena. Broadly defined, Spiritualism is the belief that the dead survive as spirits and can communicate with the living through the use of mediums or people with a special otherworldly perceptiveness or sensitivity that enables them to detect the presence of and communicate with spirits. Although documented happenings of otherworldly communication and paranormal phenomena have occurred around the world since the beginnings of written history, it was not until the year 1848, with the emergence of organized Spiritualism in the United States, that communication between the living and dead necessitated the assistance of a medium.2 The development of this Modern Spiritualism (the version that requires a medium) began in 1848 with the Fox sisters in Hydesville, New York. After the “Hydesville episode” of 1848, Spiritualism rapidly spread throughout the rest of the United States, starting a very popular trend that appealed to politicians of great import, quintessential authors, the elite of society, and the under classes alike. -
Def the Medium on the Stage
View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by Loughborough University Institutional Repository Simone Natale University of Torino, Italy 536 Rue Rose-de-Lima, H4C 2L4 Montreal – Quebec, Canada Email: [email protected] The medium on the stage: Trance and performance in nineteenth-century spiritualism Simone Natale University of Torino (Italy) Abstract Whilst historians of spiritualism have been eager to focus on its political and social implications, less attention has been given to the fact that spirit communication was also a matter of visual spectacle. This article aims to analyze spiritualist séances as a form of spectacular entertainment. Relying on a wide array of spiritualist sources, it argues that séances were not only meant as moments of religious and scientific inquiry, but also as a brilliant amusement where theatrical effects embellished an exciting shared experience. The intermingling of religion and entertainment can thus be seen as one of the defining characteristics of the spiritualist experience. After sketching the history of the presence of spiritualist mediums on the stage and discussing the involvement of professionalism in mediumship, the article will then focus on the trance as a specific performance strategy. It will examine how the trance combined issues of automatism, theatricality and absorption, and contributed to the coexistence in spirit séances of spectacular features and claims of authenticity. Keywords: spiritualism; trance; automatism; performance; stage magic. One afternoon in the 1880s, the spiritualist John Wetherbee and his two friends were uncertain about what to do, and looked over the list of local mediums performing that day: “'Well,' said they, after the civilities were over, 'what is there going on this afternoon? Where can we go and see something?' - meaning spiritual manifestations.