George P. Hansen on magicians who endorsed psychic phenomena

[PainKiller]

George P. Hansen (a parapsychologist) has written a piece:

"Magicians Who Endorsed Psychic Phenomena"

http://www.tricksterbook.com/ArticlesOnline/MagWhoEndors.htm

I have managed to find some errors in Hansen's article.

Error number 1.

Harry Kellar has also written of his experiences with Eglinton; Keller observed him levitate. Kellar too rejected a spiritualistic interpretation but accepted the physical reality of the event. Kellar’s account indicated that the levitation occurred in darkness, thus the strength of his account must be evaluated accordingly.

Although Harry Keller had originally endorsed the levitation, he later retracted this claim and re-produced the same levitation of Eglinton by trickery (Houdini, 1922).

According to Harry Houdini "It was not strange that Kellar did not detect Eglinton's method instantly nor is it strange that he acknowledged that he was baffled. No magician is immune from being deceived and it is no way beneath a magician's dignity or demeaning to professional reputation to openly admit that he cannot always account for what he thinks he sees." (Houdini, 1924)

It is thus incorrect to list Kellar as a magician who endorsed paranormal phenomena.

Error number 2.

Julien Proskauer served as president of the S.A.M. and also wrote two books attacking fake spiritualist mediums; one was titled The Dead do not Talk. In his other book, Spook Crooks!, he noted that “there have been some inexplicable phenomena during seances.”

This is seriously taken out of context, and the quote-mine is from the last page of Proskauer's book.

Julien Proskauer was a skeptic, he did not endorse any paranormal phenomena. Admitting there have been some unexplainable phenomena in the séance room on the last page of his book is not the same as advocating psychic phenomena.

The full quote from Proskauer:

And Now the book is ended. Not that there are not hundreds, yes, even thousands of cases which could be rightfully included, but no book ever printed is large enough to hold the stories of the damage wrought by Spook Crooks who, under their smug guise of possessing supernatural powers, wreck the lives of thousands yearly.

The author hopes that by now the reader realizes

1. Communication between the living and dead is not yet established, although there have been some inexplicable phenomena during seances. Genuine and sincere spiritualists do not give advice on marriage, travel, love, affairs, financial matters or business.

2. Futures of individuals are not predictable by any process.

3. No one possesses supernatural powers. Reading of sealed messages is done by material means, not mystic powers.

4. "Miracles" of fortune tellers, fake spirit mediums, mind readers, etc., are merely the application of some sleight-of- hand, chemical process or unseen manipulation.

5. Astrology, numerology, palmistry, tea leaf reading and there other pseudo-sciences are false doctrines invented to impress the credulous and make the operator wealthy.

The book is online, so we can check this:

https://archive.org/stream/1932Pros...__proskauer___spook_crooks#page/n297/mode/2up

Does that sound like a magician who endorsed psychic phenomena? The evidence reveals the opposite to what Hansen says.

Error number 3.

Daryl Bem is a professor of psychology at Cornell University and also a mentalist. He was featured in Psychology Today, March 1984, for his use of magic in teaching. Recently he helped prepare a revision of Introduction to Psychology, one of the largest selling introductory textbooks for college courses in psychology. The section on parapsychology gives a favorable view of modern ESP experiments.

I dispute the fact that the parapsychologist Daryl Bem is a professional mentalist. According to Bem himself, he took interest in mentalism in his youth. I believe it is incorrect to list Bem as a magician who endorses psychic phenomena. He endorses psychic phenomena because he is a parapsychologist, there is no evidence he is a magician.

Well that is a start, I will cover more later. If anyone else wants to chime in be my guest.

Notes

Houdini, Harry. (1922). Spirit Compacts Unfilled. The Sun. 30 October.
Houdini, Harry. (1924). A Magician Among The Spirits. Harper and Brothers.

 

[Foolmewunz]

The article you're quoting is from 1990. Notwithstanding that, a good start but see the Rationalwiki on Hansen for more.

http://rationalwiki.org/wiki/George_P._Hansen

 

[PainKiller]

Error Number 4.

Another writer who dabbled in magic was Lewis Carroll (Charles Lutwidge Dodgson). He had a strong interest in spiritualism and psychical research and stated that not all the phenomena could be explained by trickery. He was one of the charter members of the Society for Psychical Research.

Lewis Carroll was an English writer famous for "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland". There is no evidence he was a professional magician. He was indeed a member of the SPR, but I do not understand why Hansen lists Carroll in a paper of magicians who endorse psychic phenomena. It is incorrect to refer to Carroll as a magician.

Error Number 5.

The eminent psychic researcher, Walter Franklin Prince, was an amateur conjuror and published a book titled Noted Witnesses for Psychic Occurrences. The titled well describes the contents. Prince reprinted letters and other accounts from such persons as Mark Twain, Luther Burbank, and Charles Dickens (an amateur conjuror).

I have deep respect for Walter Franklin Prince because he was a critical psychical researcher who explored the subject in depth. But there is no evidence he was a professional magician. his background was actually an Episcopal minister. it is incorrect to list Prince as a magician.

 

[Mackenberg]

Painkiller, if you'd like to develop this into a rebuttal article, I bet we could find a place for it on theghostracket.com.

 

[PainKiller]

Painkiller, if you'd like to develop this into a rebuttal article, I bet we could find a place for it on theghostracket.com.

Thanks for the suggestion, that looks like a decent website. At the moment I am putting my effort into researching Samuel Bellachini.

Hansen writes:

Samuel Bellachini was the Court Conjuror for Emperor William I at Berlin. Bellachini investigated the controversial American medium Henry Slade. The sittings were not only held in darkness, but some were in full daylight. Bellachini was convinced that the results were not due to trickery.

Slade was a fraudulent slate-writing medium.

I am skeptical about statements regarding Samuel Bellachini endorsing mediums, they are also second or third hand in occult or spiritualist sources.

Henry Slade was caught in fraud by many observers. I find it unlikely that Bellachini endorsed his phenomena. Apparently he endorsed Slade in a written letter. But again this is second-hand and only mentioned in spiritualist books (nobody has the original letter), for example Arthur Conan Doyle and other believers mentions it. I can't find any primary sources that back these claims up.

I will get to the bottom of this. Needs proper in depth research. I will report back here shortly after I have looked into this.

 

[blutoski]

Where's Doug Henning in all this? I would have expected Hansen to include Henning in his overview of 'Modern Day Magicians'