“It takes a flimflammer to catch a flimflammer.” – Houdini
Friends,
Autumn is my favorite time of year. Why? Well, because I love pumpkin spice lattes. And sweatshirts.
But mainly because this is the time of year when I get to talk about what I love best—myths, legends, and mysteries. The next four months are chock-full of snippets of historical background, religious beliefs, and uncommon practices.
A time of year when the unexplainable becomes acceptable.
Except when it doesn’t…
A shift in belief systemsMagic…
Ah, the cornerstone of all myths and legends.
But magic is not just casting spells and changing shapes. It comes in all forms of ‘unexplainable events.’ Take, for instance- magicians. They wow the audiences with their death-defying tricks, quick hand movements, and ability to draw the eye to the left hand while the right is doing something else.
Magic in its purest forms. No hocus pocus. No reason for anyone to scream ‘devil worshipper.’ Just good old-fashioned fun.
Which brings me to my favorite magician of all time- Harry Houdini.
Now, before you think, this is another blog about how he escaped some of the most terrifying restraints known to man… let me set the record straight.
This is not about his magic. This concerns his relationship with spiritualism and his friendship with Sir Author Conan Doyle.
A bromance
Sir Author Conan Doyle – the Scottish author of Sherlock Holmes, and if you follow my books- a minor character in The Writer and The Librarian. A guy who used to play cricket with JM Barrie, author of Peter Pan. Also, a man who helped get a conviction overturned for a man wrongly accused of murder.
Side note- he also believed in Fairies.
Now on the outskirts, Houdini and Sir Doyle are not a likely pair for a budding friendship. Sir Doyle was a Scottish Victorian gentleman, and Houdini was a Hungarian immigrant. Their paths should have never crossed. But it did, and they became friends.
Not over magic. But over Spiritualism.
The foundation is set.Sir Doyle avidly believed in spiritualism and had a widespread following in the U.S. and the U.K. He spent thousands of dollars (millions in today’s economy) trying to prove that the dead did, in fact, exist.
What is spiritulaism? In its simplest form, it is the belief that spirits can communicate with the living using a medium. If you have read my book The Witch and The Prophet, you will know that I discuss the Witch of Endor, a ‘medium’ used by King Saul to raise Samuel’s soul. How did I discover her story? I read the Old Testament.
Yup, the bible.
So, the idea of mediums being used is really not that far-fetched. At least historically speaking.
On the other hand, Houdini was not a believer. Why would he be? He spent his whole career proving he could pull something out of nothing. But Houdini didn’t have proof that mediums were frauds, and Sir Doyle refused to believe that Houdini didn’t have magical powers.
Yet, unlike in modern society, the two men could put aside their differences and have open and candid conversations about their different belief systems.
Unfortunately, what happened next would rattle the world…
Not so clear cut.
It all started when Sir Doyle invited Houdini to a séance led by no one other than Sir Doyle’s wife, Lady Jean Doyle, a self-proclaimed medium. Now, looking back, this could have gone one of two ways. Lady Doyle could have just ‘called up’ a random spirit, knocked the table a few times, rang a bell or two, and they could have all had a good laugh.
Or Lady Doyle could get ahead of herself and cross a line.
She went for broke.
Lady Doyle decided to ‘call up’ Houdini’s beloved mother, Cecelia Weisz, who had died nine years earlier. A death that rocked Houdini to his core because he wasn’t there when she passed away. A woman for whom he held in the highest esteem and would do anything for.
Not only did she play with fire, but she also threw gasoline on the flames. Communication with Cecelia was done through psychography, better known as ‘auto-writing, ‘ a trick used by some mediums to prove that the spirits were present without actually having to ‘talk’ to them.
Lady Doyle wrote a 15-page letter from Cecelia to her son, which was signed, sealed, and delivered with a cross in the upper corner.
Problem was it was written in English- a language she didn’t speak.
And Cecelia was Jewish. She would have never used a cross.
The nail in the coffin? It was Cecelia’s birthday, and she hadn’t mentioned it once in the letter.
The stage was set.Houdini was speechless. Sir and Lady Doyle assumed it was because emotions overcame him. And that’s not far from the truth. It just wasn’t the emotion they were hoping for.
Houdini was pissed.
He holds his tongue for a moment, and then, bam, out of the blue, he announces to the public that there is NOTHING that could convince him that spiritualism is true.
Obviously, Sir and Lady Doyle are hurt by this proclamation mostly because Houdini didn’t say anything to them before the bombshell.
To make matters worse, Houdini is on Scientific American magazine’s panel of judges, searching for anyone who can scientifically prove the existence of ghosts. He attends séances in disguise and exposes the ‘frauds’ and their use of props.
Then, in 1926, Houdini testified in front of Congress to get a bill passed that would regulate mediums and fortune tellers.
Plot twist…Ironically, Houdini and his wife, Bess, had a pack. If one of them should die, the deceased would try to communicate with the living spouse using a ‘special, predetermined code.’ For ten years, Bess held a séance, hoping to hear from her husband.
He never showed up.
Final thoughtsI could spend months on spiritualism and its murky waters of religion vs. reality. To some, the belief that there is an afterlife in which loved ones can communicate with the living brings a tremendous amount of relief and peace.
Spiritualism became popular in the aftermath of war, in the U.S. after the Civil War and worldwide after World War I. I am hard-pressed to find it in myself to attack the belief system because of what it meant and still means to so many people.
How Houdini pursued the mediums may have been a bit brutal. Regardless of whether the mediums were frauds, and I genuinely believe that most people knew them to be, they did bring something to the table—no different than a pastor or a priest. They brought closure.
As with all my historical blogs, the final decision is up to you. I only provide a brief overview of the facts. Was Lady Doyle in the wrong for trying to fool the master fooler? Or was Houdini the bad guy for attacking a religious belief just because he found a few bad apples?
Until next time, my friend, Keep Reading and Stay Caffeinated.
If you’re looking for your next favorite read, I invite you to check out my book, The Raven Society. It is a spellbinding historical fantasy series that takes us on a heart-pounding journey through forgotten legends and distorted history. Uncover the chilling secrets of mythology and confront the horrifying truths that transformed myths into monstrous realities. How far will you go to learn the truth?
The Writer and The Librarian (Book 1):
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https://rlgeerrobbins.com/product/the-writer-and-the-librarian-the-raven-society-book-1/
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