What do you think?
The Psychic Mafia
M. Lamar Keene, who came to be known as the "Prince of the Spiritualists," enjoyed the riches and fame that accompany the life of a sought-after medium. He claimed to be clairvoyant and to produce objects out of thin air. He conducted seances in which participants talked with and even touched the dead.
Yet every miracle Keene performed was a fraud, a lie, and a trick played on willing, gullible victims. In this powerful and brutally honest book, Keene exposes the secrets of the seance room, including ghostly apparitions, floating trumpets, "spirit sex," and other tricks used by mediums to exploit believers.
Originally published in 1976 and long out of print, this classic work is a fast-paced autobiographical account of a confessed charlatan who was one of the first mediums to admit his deception.
Yet every miracle Keene performed was a fraud, a lie, and a trick played on willing, gullible victims. In this powerful and brutally honest book, Keene exposes the secrets of the seance room, including ghostly apparitions, floating trumpets, "spirit sex," and other tricks used by mediums to exploit believers.
Originally published in 1976 and long out of print, this classic work is a fast-paced autobiographical account of a confessed charlatan who was one of the first mediums to admit his deception.
Paperback
First published January 1, 1976
About the author
M. LaMar Keene
2 booksMorris Lamar Keene was a spirit medium in Tampa, Florida, Camp Chesterfield, Indiana, and Lily Dale, New York, where he was known as the "Prince of the Spiritualists." Keene coined the term "true-believer syndrome" in his book The Psychic Mafia in which he confessed that he, and many of his colleagues, were essentially con artists using trickery rather than actually consulting spirits. After publication of his book, he received death threats. In 1979, as he was leaving his office, he was very seriously wounded in a drive-by shooting. He lived the rest of his life under a sort of self-imposed witness protection.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews
October 21, 2014
This was a famous book in its day, and I'm surprised I didn't read it years ago. Keene was a renowned "medium" in the 1950s-1970s before his conscience finally got the better of him. This book, in which he names some (but alas not all) names and reveals plenty of details of the outright swindling practiced in fake spiritualism, brought him death threats and seemingly a couple of actual assassination attempts. Of course, it didn't affect the business of the phonies much if at all. And remember, since the dishonest earnings of these fraudsters are tax-exempt, for religious reasons, your tax dollars are actually subsidizing the crime.
In a similar vein, Keene reveals how easy it is to get yourself into tax-exempt status. Your basic cost is that for a lawyer to draw up your articles of incorporation, saying you're a church. After that, you can marry people, conduct funerals, and rake in all manner of tax-free cash. I recently read (but haven't yet made notes on here) James Randi's The Faith Healers, which memory tells me came over a decade after Keene's book; it too details blatant criminality on the part of the "healers", all perpetrated at taxpayer expense, and cries out -- far more vociferously than Keene -- that something be done about it. But of course . . .
The Psychic Mafia is a fast, fluent and easy read. I consumed it in an evening, laughing several times and also swearing angrily several times. Spraggett, Keene's "co-author" on this, also cowrote a biography of the medium Arthur Ford, revealing him as another phony; I'm now quite keen to find a copy of that book.
In a similar vein, Keene reveals how easy it is to get yourself into tax-exempt status. Your basic cost is that for a lawyer to draw up your articles of incorporation, saying you're a church. After that, you can marry people, conduct funerals, and rake in all manner of tax-free cash. I recently read (but haven't yet made notes on here) James Randi's The Faith Healers, which memory tells me came over a decade after Keene's book; it too details blatant criminality on the part of the "healers", all perpetrated at taxpayer expense, and cries out -- far more vociferously than Keene -- that something be done about it. But of course . . .
The Psychic Mafia is a fast, fluent and easy read. I consumed it in an evening, laughing several times and also swearing angrily several times. Spraggett, Keene's "co-author" on this, also cowrote a biography of the medium Arthur Ford, revealing him as another phony; I'm now quite keen to find a copy of that book.
December 18, 2011
Got this book as a free download which I posted to my kindle. I don't think it is still available in print - if you want to read it let me know and I'll dig out the link.
M. Lamar Keene was a big name psychic in America during the 60's and 70's until he got a conscience and published this book to expose all the fradulent techniques he and his fellow psychics had been using. The level of deceipt is astounding - with a country wide network of fradulent mediums (not that there's any other type) sharing information about gullible punters, who kept coming back for more and loosing their life savings in the process. When you see how easy it was for people to be deceived in the 60's and 70's without access to the Internet and the potential for huge databases of information on sitters - just think how easy it is for the likes of psychic sally and derek akora.
Despite his coming out and admitting his fraudulent behaviour some people in his old church still chose to believe. It's a shame that some people have so much invested in these beliefs that even when faced with the truth in such a direct manner they still choose to believe. That's why books like this are important if we are ever going to get the majority of the population to engage in some critical thinking.
M. Lamar Keene was a big name psychic in America during the 60's and 70's until he got a conscience and published this book to expose all the fradulent techniques he and his fellow psychics had been using. The level of deceipt is astounding - with a country wide network of fradulent mediums (not that there's any other type) sharing information about gullible punters, who kept coming back for more and loosing their life savings in the process. When you see how easy it was for people to be deceived in the 60's and 70's without access to the Internet and the potential for huge databases of information on sitters - just think how easy it is for the likes of psychic sally and derek akora.
Despite his coming out and admitting his fraudulent behaviour some people in his old church still chose to believe. It's a shame that some people have so much invested in these beliefs that even when faced with the truth in such a direct manner they still choose to believe. That's why books like this are important if we are ever going to get the majority of the population to engage in some critical thinking.
December 29, 2018
For forty years I have loved this book. The book contains accounts of one person's life defrauding and deluding people for money, and accounts about the thousands of people who engage in that activity. The author noted that "psychics" are predatory, unethical, and immoral, yet their victims love to pay for the service of being deluded. As the writer noted, no one in the "psychic" profession has ever seen a paranormal event, let alone performed one.
September 14, 2025
Spiritualism is entirely fake, or at least the version was which the author knew, and the Spiritualist leaders whom he interacted with.
What makes this book particularly interesting is how the author explains precisely the tricks which he used to convey a false sense of Spiritualism. Each chapter works through a set of issues, like money, or fake predictions or fake manifestations of objects (apports), etc. Perhaps the most bizarre chapter is the one on the various sexual trickeries which the author discovered being perpetrated by other Spiritualists.
The final chapter raises some particularly interesting questions. The author’s conscience overwhelms him and he confronts his spiritualist church about the fact that they are all tricking and defrauding people. He reports that his colleagues begrudgingly agree with him, and yet they continue exactly as they were. Its not a case of knowing that they are doing wrong, and ignoring the wrong-doing. It is an even more bizarre situation where they hear about the fraud, and yet do not seem to be able to process it, and thus blank that information. It produces a mind-set which the author refers to as ‘true-believer syndrome.’
In describing it as ‘true believer syndrome’ the author effectively popularised that phrase as a description of an inability to see beyond an irrational belief. For despite being confronted with the black and white evidence of fraud, in the form of direct admissions by those doing the actual trickery, the congregation and leaders of the Spirituality Church nevertheless insist on the genuineness of the Spiritualist seances which they have been doing.
The extraordinary nature of that bizarre mental disconnect is so jarring and so question begging, that it feels as if there is a chapter missing from the book, which explores the phenomenon more widely. Otherwise the oddness is so peculiar that it is tempting to wonder if the book is accurate. How can someone possibly believe that what a witness reported is true, when the same witness confesses to having lied?
Perhaps the weakest aspect of the book is that it is just a narration of the author’s viewpoint and confession, without any attempt to explain or contextualise what happened at Chesterfield, in terms of wider factors. For example, the author confessed to the police and to the tax authorities, but they declined to get involved? The author opines that maybe that is because of ‘religious liberty’ but is that really so? Other televangelists have been arrested for tax crimes, so was there something different in this case which explains why there was no follow up? Matters are all left hanging.
Overall, this is a relatively simple confession story. Its style makes it very easy to read, and to read relatively quickly in just a couple of hours or so. The book provides useful information about a particular context of Spiritualist defrauding, and it provides a fascinating glimpse into a ‘true believer’ mindset. But it doesn’t press matters more thoroughly, in a more investigative or explorative way. Readers also need to be mindful that this book was published fifty years ago.
What makes this book particularly interesting is how the author explains precisely the tricks which he used to convey a false sense of Spiritualism. Each chapter works through a set of issues, like money, or fake predictions or fake manifestations of objects (apports), etc. Perhaps the most bizarre chapter is the one on the various sexual trickeries which the author discovered being perpetrated by other Spiritualists.
The final chapter raises some particularly interesting questions. The author’s conscience overwhelms him and he confronts his spiritualist church about the fact that they are all tricking and defrauding people. He reports that his colleagues begrudgingly agree with him, and yet they continue exactly as they were. Its not a case of knowing that they are doing wrong, and ignoring the wrong-doing. It is an even more bizarre situation where they hear about the fraud, and yet do not seem to be able to process it, and thus blank that information. It produces a mind-set which the author refers to as ‘true-believer syndrome.’
In describing it as ‘true believer syndrome’ the author effectively popularised that phrase as a description of an inability to see beyond an irrational belief. For despite being confronted with the black and white evidence of fraud, in the form of direct admissions by those doing the actual trickery, the congregation and leaders of the Spirituality Church nevertheless insist on the genuineness of the Spiritualist seances which they have been doing.
The extraordinary nature of that bizarre mental disconnect is so jarring and so question begging, that it feels as if there is a chapter missing from the book, which explores the phenomenon more widely. Otherwise the oddness is so peculiar that it is tempting to wonder if the book is accurate. How can someone possibly believe that what a witness reported is true, when the same witness confesses to having lied?
Perhaps the weakest aspect of the book is that it is just a narration of the author’s viewpoint and confession, without any attempt to explain or contextualise what happened at Chesterfield, in terms of wider factors. For example, the author confessed to the police and to the tax authorities, but they declined to get involved? The author opines that maybe that is because of ‘religious liberty’ but is that really so? Other televangelists have been arrested for tax crimes, so was there something different in this case which explains why there was no follow up? Matters are all left hanging.
Overall, this is a relatively simple confession story. Its style makes it very easy to read, and to read relatively quickly in just a couple of hours or so. The book provides useful information about a particular context of Spiritualist defrauding, and it provides a fascinating glimpse into a ‘true believer’ mindset. But it doesn’t press matters more thoroughly, in a more investigative or explorative way. Readers also need to be mindful that this book was published fifty years ago.
August 3, 2021
I'm going to give this book a higher star rating than the writing deserves. LaMar Keene was not a writer and Allen Spraggett, who is credited with the actual writing, apparently isn't much of a writer either. Also, I didn't learn all that much that I hadn't already read in the one other exposé where I found this book mentioned. But, having said that, what we have here is an insider's view. LaMar Keene was actually a successful medium himself, confessing to his own con game.
What also gives this book a little more gravitas is that, after it was published, LaMar Keene lived a very low-key, almost reclusive existence because of the continued threats. So this book hit some con artists very close to home. Finally, one of those people hunted him down and shot him. He was very seriously wounded and was in the hospital for some time. The stress probably contributed to his death at age 59.
One thing that puzzled Keene about his followers, is still unexplained. He suggested on page 151 that what he calls "True-believer Syndrome" should be studied by scientists. Even after he confessed that he was a con artist and that mediums were using tricks to pretend that they talked to the dead, the true-believers continued to believe in other mediums using the same tricks and sometimes even in him. No amount of logic could shatter their faith in something that was based on a lie. They had turned "into unthinking zombies."
What also gives this book a little more gravitas is that, after it was published, LaMar Keene lived a very low-key, almost reclusive existence because of the continued threats. So this book hit some con artists very close to home. Finally, one of those people hunted him down and shot him. He was very seriously wounded and was in the hospital for some time. The stress probably contributed to his death at age 59.
One thing that puzzled Keene about his followers, is still unexplained. He suggested on page 151 that what he calls "True-believer Syndrome" should be studied by scientists. Even after he confessed that he was a con artist and that mediums were using tricks to pretend that they talked to the dead, the true-believers continued to believe in other mediums using the same tricks and sometimes even in him. No amount of logic could shatter their faith in something that was based on a lie. They had turned "into unthinking zombies."
March 29, 2018
A very interesting read.
A great exploration of the tricks, frauds, and cons employed by mediums and spiritualists both in the U.K. and the USA.
Made all the more interesting by being written by one of those self-same spiritualist mediums.
Good introduction into how those sorts of cons were (and in some cases still are) carried out, and a revealing insight into just how far they go to trick the unsuspecting victims, to relieve them of considerable money and property, and to protect their grubby enterprise.
A great exploration of the tricks, frauds, and cons employed by mediums and spiritualists both in the U.K. and the USA.
Made all the more interesting by being written by one of those self-same spiritualist mediums.
Good introduction into how those sorts of cons were (and in some cases still are) carried out, and a revealing insight into just how far they go to trick the unsuspecting victims, to relieve them of considerable money and property, and to protect their grubby enterprise.
May 15, 2019
Poorly written, self-aggrandizing, and low on substance. I learned a few interesting anecdotes, but the sheer amount of references in the bibliography would suggest more detailed descriptions and factual information. Anyone already credulous about mediums and faked spirituality (nor anyone who accepts that psychics and ghosts are real) will have their minds changed by this book.
February 10, 2023
Must-read. Indispensable look at the mindsets and mechanics of fraud and falsehood. It can (and should) open one's eyes to the deeper realities of deceit. Furthermore, a breezy and entertaining read, written in a distinctly likable and charismatic voice that gives the book a nicely cinematic touch.
November 21, 2022
Interesting topic...but mostly anecdotical
Wikipedia is a more informative read on this
Wikipedia is a more informative read on this
September 22, 2012
Found this an interesting topic from a man who became a talented actor, perfected his craft and essentially gave people exactly what they expected. The spiritual movement history is rich. Becoming a whistleblower is never an easy decision most especially when one reveals his own dishonesty in the process. Mr. Keene to be sure found few friends in the writing/release of his book. One need not be psychic to see a new profession was in his near future.
January 19, 2009
I can't say I learnt too much from this book. I just come away still not understanding how people can actually believe in psychics and mediums when to me they are so obviously either frauds or self deluded. It was still quite an interesting read and I would recommend it to anyone who believes or doesn't know either way, as it may help to open your eyes.
October 14, 2012
Really enjoyed this book. It was good fun. Its no literary masterpiece but a good break between heavy books :P
You can't fault Keenes brutal honesty. Its nice that he doesn't try to take everyone else down with him too and accepts the blame and responsibility. Really interesting reading although I still don't know how people ever fell for it!!!
You can't fault Keenes brutal honesty. Its nice that he doesn't try to take everyone else down with him too and accepts the blame and responsibility. Really interesting reading although I still don't know how people ever fell for it!!!
February 7, 2016
Originally published in 1972, this is a fascinating expose of the spiritualism racket.
It also has a side effect of making the reader think every human on the planet is either a greedy, conscienceless POS too stupid to live.
It also has a side effect of making the reader think every human on the planet is either a greedy, conscienceless POS too stupid to live.
January 4, 2009
This is a unique book.
It has that, first time I heard santa claus was a ruse, kind of effect.
You can't really refute it.
So if you think it's better not to know,
then it's not for you.
It has that, first time I heard santa claus was a ruse, kind of effect.
You can't really refute it.
So if you think it's better not to know,
then it's not for you.
February 10, 2015
Sadly, besides entertaining to a few, this book is not going to change much.
May 23, 2015
Must Read: 3
Important: 3
Accessible: 5
Kept My Attention: 5
Well-Written: 3
Important: 3
Accessible: 5
Kept My Attention: 5
Well-Written: 3
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews