This post looks at Houdini’s answers to questions posed in an earlier post.
No. 1
What is meant by a clairaudient?
“Clairaudient” is French for “clear-hearing,” and “clairvoyant” is French is “clear-seeing.” A clairaudient, in the parlance of the spiritualists, is a medium who hears spirit voices, and a clairvoyant is one who sees spirit forms. The word “clairvoyant,” however, usually includes both meanings.
No. 2
Believing that most people approach the hour of death with fear and apprehension, regardless of the scientific proofs of the existence of psychic phenomena, don’t you think that belief in the religion of spiritualism is to be encouraged if only that it helps to relieve this fear and that it would, too, assuage the grief of those who mourn for a departed one.
No, I do not think the belief in spiritualism ought to be encouraged until it is definitely proved to be honest, unless you wish to take the viewpoint that we ought to believe there is a Santa Claus. I would like to believe in Santa Clause, I think, but you don’t find fraud mediums who look upon their work as of a Santa Clause nature. I believe that one ought to face the inevitable with all the courage possible, knowing full well that we must face the great disintegration.
No. 3
I have before me a well known spiritualism publication which devotes a lot of space to your activities in the world of magic and escapes. In view of your present stand on the subject of spiritualism, I am curious to learn what you have to say concerning the following:
“The controversy raging round the performance of a lady entertainer, who, posing as a ‘medium,’ recently mystified an audience composed of people well known in spiritualism and psychical research, re-opens the question as to the possibility of conjurers doing some of their sensational tricks by means other than normal. For example, Houdini opening a jail cell door in under 3 seconds with the keyhole sealed or Houdini opening a new strong room, secured by the latest time-locks.
As my work consists of a willing acknowledgment of manipulation, and as I accomplish it by my knowledge of the construction of locks, I do not believe you would ask me to expose my secrets. However, any time that you meet me personally, I will explain how I opened the time lock, but I do not care to broadcast this information at present time.
No. 4
I am curious to hear your views on sleep. Do you think that when you lie down and fall asleep (you cannot remember the moment you do) that you pass from one state of existence into another?
You ask for my views on sleep. Strange to say, we spend almost a third of our lives in this peaceful state. Some humans require more sleep than others. I rarely take more than six or seven hours out of the twenty-four. I use sleep as a necessity; others as a luxury; and still others as a life-waster. There are a number of books on the subject. I believe that sleep rests the energy of life, and that the tenant (yourself) who occupies your body permits the landlord (nature) to make repairs in your abode while you sleep. If human beings would realize that they hold only a limited lease on their bodies, then they would not abuse them so unknowingly.
No. 5
Do you believe that a person who suddenly lost a very dear friend would naturally be in a better position to communicate with the departed than one less acquainted, if there actually is such a thing as communication with the dead?
Yes, I positively believe that any person who has lost a dear friend or relative would be in a much better position to communicate with the lost ones. I think that is why the shock of suddenly losing loved ones often causes persons to imagine things.
No. 6
Have you heard of John Slater, whose home was in California? I think he is the man who comes to Lilly Dale every summer and lectures and gives readings. What do you think of his work?
You ask my opinion of John Slater. What do you mean, as a human being, as a clairvoyant, as a spiritualistic evangelist, or as an impossible lecturer before a high-grade audience?
No. 7
In the first installment of your story, The Spirit Fakers of Hermannstadt,” you state that you were playing Vienna at the time. If I am not mistaken , I had the pleasure of viewing one of your performances, though it might have been Berlin. I was very much interested in the story, and, knowing as I do the superstitions of those people, I can appreciate the predicament you were place in. I await your further experiences with interest.
Yes, I have appeared in Berlin a number of times. My first appearance there was at the Berlin Winter Garden about twenty-five years ago. I played there consecutively for almost fifteen years, and was then brought back as a feature of the Hippodrome Circus by Director Busch. As a matter of record, I have played almost every principal city in the world, except in South Africa and South America.
No. 8
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No. 9
You say that you want to expose fraud mediums. But are there not also legitimate mediums, who can stand every test imposed on them?
Perhaps there are such, but I have never met any. To show you how difficult it is to find a genuine medium, let us go back to 1857, when the “Boston Courier” offered $500 for a medium who could successfully meet the test. Such offers have been repeatedly made since, and a similar offer was backed up by the $60,000 willed to the University of Pennsylvania by Henry Sybert. In rough figures, during the past sixty years there has been offered almost one hundred thousand dollars for a medium who could meet a genuine test, yet no one has ever been granted any bonus for meeting such a test.
No. 10
What is the ritual of “Black Mass”? Looking for a detailed description.
Rarely will you find references to the “Black Mass.” My opinion is that it is a sort of convention of devils, and there the witches, wizards and sorcerers confess. This is supposed to take place on the Devil’s Sabbath.
I have never seen a complete description of the “Black Mass” and the rituals. Some of it, if my memory serves me right, was photographed in Sweden, and was of such a nature that the picture, which cost a fortune, had never been seen by the public. It was called, I believe, “Superstition of the Age.” I saw this film run, but up to the present it has never been seen outside of a private projection room. It took more that two years to make it.
According to Funk & Wagnalls, “Black Mass” is a burlesque on the Christian mass.
No. 11
Is Swami Bhakta Vishita, Hindoo master and author of “The Development of Seership, Hindoo and other Oriental Methods” a fraud? Also, what about a lady that came this winter from Lilly Dale, N.Y. and has been conducting a spiritualist church in the Moose Hall in Daytona Florida all season and professes to be a medium.
Hindoo psychics in all branches are the most guarded against. I do not what good it will do to read their books, unless you are able to read upon them and eventually refute their teachings. If anyone of them possessed one-third of the power the Hindoo psychics all claim to possess, he could come forward and claim the huge rewards awaiting true psychics. This applies to all who did not come forward for the public test. Incidentally, you mention Lilly Dale, That is the breeding place for psychic fanatics, who are consciously and subconsciously frauds.
No. 12
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No. 13.
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No. 14.
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No. 15.
I am seeking the supreme ruling powers. Can you enlighten me?
There is but one supreme Creator. I believe He has no proxies to perform spiritualistic phenomena. Our destiny is in His hands, and we must be submissive to His mandates.
No. 16
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