HOUDINI'S
FAILURE
(Investigator
36, 1994 May)
In seeking to defeat
the confines of death and communicate with the living world, the
world's greatest escape trickster failed.
Harry Houdini
(1874-1926) attracted audiences by appearing to risk death. He was
handcuffed and buried alive. He was tied up and immersed under water in
boxes. He hung in strait-jackets from cranes or skyscrapers. He threw
himself, weighted with chains, into rivers. Houdini, however, was not
reckless. He always successfully escaped — proof of careful scientific
preparation.
When his
mother
died Houdini became obsessed with finding proof of life after death. In
the process he dealt the credibility of Spiritualism serious blows by
unmasking numerous fake mediums who claimed contact with the dead. This
wrecked his friendship with Sir Arthur Conan Doyle — scientist,
inventor of Sherlock Holmes, believer in fairies, and Spiritualist.
Modern
Spiritualism began in 1848 when the Fox sisters began snapping their
toes and pretending the sounds came from ghosts. (Investigator No.16)
Spiritualism has since had a history of fraud! For example, the
greatest, most famous, medium of all, Daniel Dunglas Home (1833-1886)
used his discarnate spirits, in 1866, to persuade a rich
London widow, Mrs Lyon, to adopt him and pay him 60,000 pounds!
Despite being addicted to Spiritualism Mrs Lyon later recognized
the fraud and sued Home in court to recover her money. The judge
described her as "saturated with delusion" and ruled in her favour.
Houdini
was not
the first magician to expose charlatan spirit mediums. The pioneer
in this field was the English magician John Nevil Maskelyne
(1839-1917). Even earlier, however, the French government, in 1856,
sent conjurer Robert Houdin (1805-1871) to Algiers to destroy the
influence of the Dervishes by exposing their faked miracles.
A Typical Early 20th
Century Report on Spiritualism from
The Weekly World News, 1910,
October 15
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PROFESSOR JAMES'S "MESSAGE FROM BEYOND"
American
spiritualists are greatly interested just now because well-esteemed
members of their fraternity declare that Professor William James has
kept his promise to communicate with his friends "from the other side."
Professor James, the brother of the novelist, Mr. Henry James, and
professor of psychology at Harvard University, was one of the founders
of the American Spiritualistic Research Society, which seeks to
enroll true disciples of the spiritualistic faith, as distinguished
from mere table-rappers and wirepullers.
One would judge
that the air has been literally vibrating with messages from the dead
professor, because several friends, living at far-distant points,
presumably received identically the same assurances. Mr. Ayer, a Boston
business man, and the head of the "Ayer's Tabernacle Bond of
Spirits," says that he was present lately at his home when the
distinguished scientist spoke most clearly to him. The medium
employed for the sitting was one who served with the Ayer's Bond of
Spirits, and one who could be relied on, it is said, to
obtain the best possible results.
"The medium is a
healthy, splendidly-trained, intellectual woman," said Mr. Ayer, "and
has devoted much of her life to the art of attuning herself
mentally and spiritually to the lives of the Tabernacle Bond of
Spirits." Through this medium the professor is reported to have said:-
"I am at peace
... with myself and, all mankind. I have awakened to a life far
beyond my highest conception while a denizen of the earth. Tell my
brothers that I will transmit a message through this instrument that
will prove my individuality when I can manifest myself more
clearly than at this time. I did not realise how difficult it would be
to manifest from this place of life to the mortal place. There is much
for me to learn, and many conditions to overcome."
Mr. Ayer added:-
"This message is
given by Professor James to us. It means that in a short time he will
be able to accustom himself to his surroundings, to the extent that he
will be able to give the world a much longer, clearer, and more
satisfying message. Like all who pass out, Professor James
was bewildered upon his awakening to the highest consciousness, and he
has not yet regained the condition necessary to the execution of his
clear purpose to enlighten the world in the matter of spiritualism.
This will come."
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Despite repeated
exposes of Spiritualist frauds by magicians many Spiritualists appealed
to the talent of magicians as proof of Spiritualist claims. For
example, Doyle believed Houdini to be a medium with genuine magical
powers — this although Houdini himself attributed his escapes to skill
and careful preparation.
Similarly,
J.
Hewat McKenzie, founder of London's College of Psychic Studies, was
perplexed at Houdini's ability to escape from a steel,
water-filled, milk can. In his book Spirit
Intercourse: Its
Theory and Practice (1916) McKenzie seriously claimed that
Houdini
dematerialized inside the milk can, passed through the steel sides and
rematerialized on stage.
Before his
death
Harry Houdini arranged with his wife a secret message he would transmit
if he entered an afterlife which allowed communication with the
material world.
For ten
years
after Houdini died in 1926 Beatrice Houdini attended seances by
Spiritualists. She backed her search by offering a $10,000 reward for
the secret code words. All mediums failed!
However,
in
Detroit on October 31, 1928, one medium, Reverend Arthur Ford claimed
to receive a message from Houdini's mother. The message included
the word "forgive" which was one of the key code words!
Mrs
Houdini
announced this to be the first message "which has any appearance of
truth." Later she withdrew this qualified acknowledgement. The
reason was that the key code words had been published in the book
Houdini: His Life Story
(1928) by Harold Kellock. Furthermore The
Brooklyn Eagle of March 13 1927 had quoted Beatrice Houdini
stating
that a genuine message must include "forgive".
Mrs
Houdini continued to offer the reward.
The final
effort to contact her husband took place October 31, 1936 the tenth
anniversary of Houdini's death.
On the
roof of
Hollywood's Knickerbocker Hotel the 300 guests included journalists,
Spiritualists and magicians. On a stool in full view of the audience
were a bell, pistol, slate, trumpet, chalk and handcuffs. Houdini's
stage music was played. Then repeatedly Dr Saint, who presided, called
on Houdini to give a sign by using any of the items supplied.
Nothing
happened
except an unexpected downpour which drenched the audience. Death was
too great a barrier even for the world's greatest escape artist!
(BM)
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