Psychic, fortune teller, crystal-gazer; medium, spiritualist; telepath, mind-reader, bunkum!
The days are now past for believers in spiritualism and spirit manifestations, as the present age is growing more enlightened, and the majority of people look upon these feats as being clever tricks, and the performer is applauded accordingly. It is the height of foolishness for any performer now to stand before the public and profess to do such-and-such a feat assisted by spirits, because the public would look upon him as an impostor. It is not unusual, however, to find some person more simpleminded than others, who really believes what the performer says; but such people are indeed simple and foolish to put their faith in such twaddle. I have included the chapter not for the sake of exposing these feats, but simply as a guide for those who wish to amuse others, and who in the first place must know how these feats are done before they themselves are able to perform them.
The Art of Modern Conjuring: For Wizards Of All Ages, by Professor Henri Garenne, Chapter 11, Spiritualist Illusions, Sances, And Manifestations, Spiritualism: An Imposture (1886).
Long ago, a little scientific invention known as the planchette was introduced, which was so constructed the unconscious and involuntary action of the mental powers, when one touched this apparatus, caused certain results. The instrument consisted of a plain board, to which were attached two delicately constructed castors, and a pencil of sufficient length to mark a paper placed beneath it. The fingers of the operators were laid gently on the board, and by concentrating his whole attention on the experiment, the imperceptible action of his will upon the muscles of the hand caused the delicate mechanism of the board to produce marks of the paper which were accepted as answers to various questions asked. There are people so foolish and superstitious as to believe that replies thus obtained were messages from another world, and many invariably applied to the planchette for advice before speculating upon any great event.
The Art of Modern Conjuring: For Wizards Of All Ages, by Professor Henri Garenne, Chapter 12, Plancette (1886).
When I started to investigate Spiritualism more than twenty-five years ago, I did so with an open mind and a sincere desire to learn if truth was involved in Spiritualism. During all those years, more than a quarter of a century, and up to the present moment, I have not received any convincing evidence, and all of the mediums I have encountered, not one of them has satisfied me with the genuineness of psychical phenomena. To the contrary, I have never failed to detect a fraud, or at least a possible solution on a perfectly rational basis. I am not an irretrievable sceptic, I am not hopelessly prejudiced. I am perfectly willing to believe, and my mind is wide open; but I have, as yet, to be convinced. I am perfectly willing, but the evidence must be sane and conclusive.
Harry Houdini
Mr. Houdini engaged in repartee with various fortune tellers. Once he issued a general challenge to them to tell just what his mother called him when he was a boy, but no Spiritualist ventured to furnish the information, and Houdini did not offer it.
The New York Times, February 27, 1926
Mr. Houdini: In thirty-five years, I have never seen one genuine medium. Millions of dollars are stolen every year in America, and the Government has never paid any attention to it....
[Mediums] pretend that they are looking into the past and the future by mediumship.... If there are any genuine mediums, I have not met one.
You will stop people from being robbed under the guise of mediumship. It is time to do something in this regard. If you were to die and your wife went to a medium, [the medium] would rob her of every penny claiming to bring your spirit back.
[Turning to the audience] Tell me the name my mother called me when I was born. [No response.] Tell me the pet name my father used to call me. [No response from the mediums.]
Extracts from the Congressional Report of the Sixty-Ninth Congress, First Session, Hearing of Committee, - 69th Congress, H. R. 8989, Feb. 26, May, 19, 20 and 21, 1926. May 20, 1926
Hon. Clarence J. McLeod, Chairman of Subcommittee of Judiciary, Committee on the District of Columbia, House of Representatives, Washington, D. C.
My dear Sir: I hereby wish to change the condition of the $10,000 challenge, especially for today, if any medium present will read and properly answer five sealed questions that I will write; if they will put the sign of the cross on a slate, or if they will make any inanimate object move three times in my presence; in fact, if they will do any physical manifestation which they claim to do by spirit agency - should I fail to detect, expose and duplicate what they have done, they may imediately take possesion of the $10,000.The Congressmen present are to act as judges.
HOUDINI
James Randi Education Foundation], we offer a one-million-dollar prize to anyone who can show, under proper observing conditions, evidence of any paranormal, supernatural, or occult power or event. The JREF does not involve itself in the testing procedure, other than helping to design the protocol and approving the conditions under which a test will take place. All tests are designed with the participation and approval of the applicant. In most cases, the applicant will be asked to perform a relatively simple preliminary test of the claim, which if successful, will be followed by the formal test. Preliminary tests are usually conducted by associates of the JREF at the site where the applicant lives. Upon success in the preliminary testing process, the "applicant" becomes a "claimant."
To date, no one has passed the preliminary tests
The Reporter: Playing with hope, by Alex Ballingall Spiritualism Exposed: Margaret Fox Kane Confesses Fraud - The New York World, October 21, 1888.
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