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Harry Houdini’s Fight Against Spiritual Fraudsters
In 1913, Harry Houdini’s mother Cecilia Weiss died. She was his “angel on earth” and he was overwhelmed with grief. He spent hours at the cemetery lying on her grave, talking to the earth. He hoped there was life after death. If only there was a way to communicate with the dead.
Spiritualism peaked in the early-20th Century. This pseudo-religion postulated that departed souls communicate with the living. The process required the assistance of a medium, a person who can contact a spirit directly through séances or telepathic sessions. In Houdini’s early years as a struggling magician, he faked séance performances as a way to pay the bills. He wanted to believe in Spiritualism but he knew the tricks of the trade and was not easily fooled.
Houdini was the most popular entertainer of his day. He was an escape artist, illusionist, magician and movie star. In 1920, he toured Britain and became friends with Arthur Conan Doyle, author of the Sherlock Holmes detective novels. Doyle’s books were worldwide bestsellers and advanced rationalism as a means of understanding the world.
Surprisingly, Doyle was an avid believer in Spiritualism. His wife Jean (aka Lady Doyle) was a practicing Spiritualist medium. They conducted séances in their Sussex home through the intervention of a spirit guide named Phineas. Their belief took hold after their son Kingsley was killed in World War I. Doyle believed he contacted his dead son six times and his dead brother twice. Doyle popularized the Spiritualist cause by publicly advocating the practice and donating money to popular mediums.
During Houdini’s tour of England, he invited the Doyles to a performance at the Brighton Hippodrome. The next day, the Doyles invited Houdini and his wife Bess to lunch. Houdini performed magic for the Doyle’s three children. Afterwards, the conversation turned to Spiritualism. Lady Doyle confessed she could contact dead relatives in séances. Houdini was skeptical but kept his doubts to himself. He asked Doyle to recommend a medium and said, “I promise to go there with my mind absolutely clear and willing to believe.”
Houdini visited Annie Brittain, England’s most famous medium. He experienced the same tricks he once utilized in his own fake séances: flickering candles, rocking…
