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Spiritualists: The Passion for the Occult in the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries
Libro usado en buenas condiciones, por su antiguedad podria contener señales normales de uso
315 pages, Paperback
Published January 1, 1984
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
July 14, 2022
This one is okay. If you aren’t used to academic books, it’ll be a slog I think.
March 28, 2025
A SKEPTICAL HISTORY OF THE SPIRITUALIST MOVEMENT
Author Ruth Brandon wrote in the first chapter of this 1984 book, concerning the famous Fox sisters [Maggie and Kate], “In 1951 Mrs. Culver [a neighbor] gave a deposition about what Kate had told her: … she revealed to me the secret. The raps are produced with the toes. All the toes are used… [Kate] told me to warm my feet… I found that heating my feet did enable me to rap a great deal easier.’” (Pg. 6-7)
She reports, “By the time the 20th anniversary of the Rochester Rappings [the Fox sisters] came round, it was estimated that there were eleven million believers in America alone. The numbers increased, but the forms remained remarkably consistent. The methods of ‘communication’ established during the first few years continue in use, many of them virtually unchanged, to this very day. In this characteristic some of them might truthfully be described as cultural fossils, since the forms were dictated so very much by the particular time and place from which they spring.” (Pg. 37)
She notes that by 1850, “anyone could get started in spiritualism. But in fact it was unlikely that one would do so if one had no previous personal experience of the phenomena. Spiritualism, and especially mediumship, was like a contagious infection, now running in epidemic form.” ( Pg. 43)
She recounts that future Theosophical founder Helena Petrovna Blavatsky “learned many of the tricks which she later used from the master sorcerer [Daniel Dunglas Home] himself… if it is true that Home was never exposed in fraud, it is equally true that Madame Blavatsky was, thoroughly and comprehensively. Home’s interlude at the French court was not, however, to be long-lived. In 1857, very suddenly and not all voluntarily, he left under a cloud.” (Pg. 65)
She explains, “Mrs. Guppy was a leading figure of the London spiritualist scene at this time. She was at once grotesque, comical and more than somewhat sinister… Mrs. Guppy’s size might preclude the possibility of her being lighter than air, but in other respects she seems to have found it no disadvantage. Her hugely voluminous skirts might be used to great effect. It was widely suspected that this was how many ‘apports’ arrived unseen in previously inspected rooms… On at least one occasion an observer saw them provide refuge for a materialization called ‘Abdullah,’ whence he was able, some time later, to re-emerge.” (Pg. 105)
Of Eusapia Palladino, she comments, “these tricks, or phenomena, were, in various forms, part of Eusapia’s regular stock-in-trade, and she was at different times… caught cheating while producing them. The explanation usually given was that, owing to her lax moral tone in all departments, she would certainly take any opportunity for cheating allowed her, since this was infinitely less effort than producing her effects supernaturally… However, everybody seemed to agree that, in 1894, in the south of France, she did not cheat, and could not have done so. What, then, could have happened? There are two possible explanations. One… was that Eusapia really did possess the powers claimed for her. The other is that, despite what they thought they saw and the control they thought they maintained, the distinguished observers were nevertheless, somehow, duped.” (Pg. 132-133)
She records that “On 21 October 1888… in front of a packed house including representatives of all the American press, Maggie Fox publicly confessed that spiritualism, as far as she was concerned, had been nothing but an imposture from the beginning… Why had Maggie suddenly felt impelled, after so long, to take this astonishing action, which … instantly destroyed her livelihood? The answer was that this was no sudden decision. For many years now, both she and Kate… had been leading hellish lives… they declined into squalor. Both, now, were miserable drunkards; both, now, widows…” (Pg. 228-229)
She continues, “Did this bombshell, which received great publicity, then mark the end of spiritualism?... it did not. Too much had been invested by too many people for the ravings of a poor alcoholic to be credited if they could be dismissed---and what could be easier to dismiss than the ravings of a poor alcoholic?... She was soon destitute. She appealed to Henry Newton, a kind and wealthy man and a leading spiritualist, to help restore her standing with the movement. She offered to recant her lecture in a written confession which he could publish. He accepted the offer, but the confession was so incoherent that it was never published---only a statement that she had retracted… she died in 1895, and was buried in a pauper’s grave.” (Pg. 229-230)
She acknowledges, “D.D. Home was never exposed in fraud, and the essence of his reputation lies in the intellectual quality of those who tried to to expose him---or anyway set out to examine his phenomena in detail---and failed to detect any trickery. Of these the most persistent and eminent was Sir William Crookes, later to become President of the Royal Society. The two particular feats studied by Crookes were the movement of a balance by ‘psychic force’ and Home’s resistance to heat, as for instance his ability to handle hot coals with no deleterious effects… The scientists were in no doubt whatever about the correctness of their diagnosis that the resistance to heat was a supernatural power…” (Pg. 259)
This book will be of great interest to those seeking a skeptical history of the Spiritualist movement.
Author Ruth Brandon wrote in the first chapter of this 1984 book, concerning the famous Fox sisters [Maggie and Kate], “In 1951 Mrs. Culver [a neighbor] gave a deposition about what Kate had told her: … she revealed to me the secret. The raps are produced with the toes. All the toes are used… [Kate] told me to warm my feet… I found that heating my feet did enable me to rap a great deal easier.’” (Pg. 6-7)
She reports, “By the time the 20th anniversary of the Rochester Rappings [the Fox sisters] came round, it was estimated that there were eleven million believers in America alone. The numbers increased, but the forms remained remarkably consistent. The methods of ‘communication’ established during the first few years continue in use, many of them virtually unchanged, to this very day. In this characteristic some of them might truthfully be described as cultural fossils, since the forms were dictated so very much by the particular time and place from which they spring.” (Pg. 37)
She notes that by 1850, “anyone could get started in spiritualism. But in fact it was unlikely that one would do so if one had no previous personal experience of the phenomena. Spiritualism, and especially mediumship, was like a contagious infection, now running in epidemic form.” ( Pg. 43)
She recounts that future Theosophical founder Helena Petrovna Blavatsky “learned many of the tricks which she later used from the master sorcerer [Daniel Dunglas Home] himself… if it is true that Home was never exposed in fraud, it is equally true that Madame Blavatsky was, thoroughly and comprehensively. Home’s interlude at the French court was not, however, to be long-lived. In 1857, very suddenly and not all voluntarily, he left under a cloud.” (Pg. 65)
She explains, “Mrs. Guppy was a leading figure of the London spiritualist scene at this time. She was at once grotesque, comical and more than somewhat sinister… Mrs. Guppy’s size might preclude the possibility of her being lighter than air, but in other respects she seems to have found it no disadvantage. Her hugely voluminous skirts might be used to great effect. It was widely suspected that this was how many ‘apports’ arrived unseen in previously inspected rooms… On at least one occasion an observer saw them provide refuge for a materialization called ‘Abdullah,’ whence he was able, some time later, to re-emerge.” (Pg. 105)
Of Eusapia Palladino, she comments, “these tricks, or phenomena, were, in various forms, part of Eusapia’s regular stock-in-trade, and she was at different times… caught cheating while producing them. The explanation usually given was that, owing to her lax moral tone in all departments, she would certainly take any opportunity for cheating allowed her, since this was infinitely less effort than producing her effects supernaturally… However, everybody seemed to agree that, in 1894, in the south of France, she did not cheat, and could not have done so. What, then, could have happened? There are two possible explanations. One… was that Eusapia really did possess the powers claimed for her. The other is that, despite what they thought they saw and the control they thought they maintained, the distinguished observers were nevertheless, somehow, duped.” (Pg. 132-133)
She records that “On 21 October 1888… in front of a packed house including representatives of all the American press, Maggie Fox publicly confessed that spiritualism, as far as she was concerned, had been nothing but an imposture from the beginning… Why had Maggie suddenly felt impelled, after so long, to take this astonishing action, which … instantly destroyed her livelihood? The answer was that this was no sudden decision. For many years now, both she and Kate… had been leading hellish lives… they declined into squalor. Both, now, were miserable drunkards; both, now, widows…” (Pg. 228-229)
She continues, “Did this bombshell, which received great publicity, then mark the end of spiritualism?... it did not. Too much had been invested by too many people for the ravings of a poor alcoholic to be credited if they could be dismissed---and what could be easier to dismiss than the ravings of a poor alcoholic?... She was soon destitute. She appealed to Henry Newton, a kind and wealthy man and a leading spiritualist, to help restore her standing with the movement. She offered to recant her lecture in a written confession which he could publish. He accepted the offer, but the confession was so incoherent that it was never published---only a statement that she had retracted… she died in 1895, and was buried in a pauper’s grave.” (Pg. 229-230)
She acknowledges, “D.D. Home was never exposed in fraud, and the essence of his reputation lies in the intellectual quality of those who tried to to expose him---or anyway set out to examine his phenomena in detail---and failed to detect any trickery. Of these the most persistent and eminent was Sir William Crookes, later to become President of the Royal Society. The two particular feats studied by Crookes were the movement of a balance by ‘psychic force’ and Home’s resistance to heat, as for instance his ability to handle hot coals with no deleterious effects… The scientists were in no doubt whatever about the correctness of their diagnosis that the resistance to heat was a supernatural power…” (Pg. 259)
This book will be of great interest to those seeking a skeptical history of the Spiritualist movement.
June 4, 2020
If you were ever thinking of getting involved with spiritualism, Or indeed knew anybody who was thinking of doing so, then this book should stop that dead in its tracks.
Brandon gives us biographies of all the main players in the spiritualist movement from the Fox sisters onwards and comprehensively demonstrates that they were all fakes and frauds for at least some part of their careers and relates how the supposed scientific observers ties of themselves in knots trying to excuse the inexcusable.
This could have been done in a humorous, tongue in cheek manner but the author takes the subject seriously and endeavours to indicate why people were taken in by, or wished to believe in, what they were supposedly witnessing. Conan Doyle for example concluding that Houdini was a medium in denial, rather similar to those who would suggest that Lovecraft is a similar occultist.
There are some excellent photos of purported spirits and ectoplasm, which to the 21st century mind seem laughable and crude in the extreme (ie the Cottingly fairies) but there is also an undeniable sexual frisson in the images (which stretches into the prurient when one reads accounts of the seances), which extends(oo-er..) well past the rise (ooe-er again..) of Freudian theory. Quite how the observers failed to notice this in themselves almost beggars belief.
If after reading this book you did want to take up spiritualism, then there is an excellent appendix which gives a list of the mediumistic tricks and how to effect from yourself. It would make the evenings fly by.
Brandon gives us biographies of all the main players in the spiritualist movement from the Fox sisters onwards and comprehensively demonstrates that they were all fakes and frauds for at least some part of their careers and relates how the supposed scientific observers ties of themselves in knots trying to excuse the inexcusable.
This could have been done in a humorous, tongue in cheek manner but the author takes the subject seriously and endeavours to indicate why people were taken in by, or wished to believe in, what they were supposedly witnessing. Conan Doyle for example concluding that Houdini was a medium in denial, rather similar to those who would suggest that Lovecraft is a similar occultist.
There are some excellent photos of purported spirits and ectoplasm, which to the 21st century mind seem laughable and crude in the extreme (ie the Cottingly fairies) but there is also an undeniable sexual frisson in the images (which stretches into the prurient when one reads accounts of the seances), which extends(oo-er..) well past the rise (ooe-er again..) of Freudian theory. Quite how the observers failed to notice this in themselves almost beggars belief.
If after reading this book you did want to take up spiritualism, then there is an excellent appendix which gives a list of the mediumistic tricks and how to effect from yourself. It would make the evenings fly by.
June 11, 2023
The author makes a great effort to document much of the fraud in 19th century spiritualism. What I find interesting is that some aspects - DD Home, Mrs. Piper - remain unexplained even with her efforts to expose them. Mrs. Brandon castigates investigators who believe and has great empathy for those who don't. The content resembles more of an opinion piece as much as evidentiary. I find the obvious bias a distraction. Otherwise an interesting read.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 8, 2009
Engaging, thorough story of the Spiritualist movement essentially beginning with the Fox sisters and continuing through Houdini and a bit beyond.
I loved it, but -- my God, is it DRY! It also assumes a certain basic knowledge of some of the background of Spiritualism and the historic milieu in general. But it's still a very well-done, thoroughly referenced book and a great survey.
I loved it, but -- my God, is it DRY! It also assumes a certain basic knowledge of some of the background of Spiritualism and the historic milieu in general. But it's still a very well-done, thoroughly referenced book and a great survey.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews