These three gentlemen get a mention in my book, Metaphysical Odyssey Into the Mexican Revolution, in the introductory chapter which provides some background, relevant for my subject, Francisco I. Madero, about 19th century psychic research-- though they are researchers of the 20th and 21st centuries. Sheldrake, a biologist, and Tiller, a Stanford University physicist (emeritus), are active as I write; Mack, a member of Harvard University's Medical School faculty, passed away in 2004. Sheldrake's TEDx talk was removed from the website; Tiller has encountered no end of resistance to his ideas; and the Dean of Harvard's Medical School attempted to revoke Mack's tenure. My point is simply that the Torquemadas of orthodoxy persist.
For those interested in a fascinating bit of surfing:
Rupert Sheldrake's homepage
Rupert Sheldrake talk at TEDx Whitechapel
The controversy about his TEDx talk
William Tiller's The Tiller Foundation: Institute for Psychoenergetic Science.
Meryn José's Merlian News Podcast interview with Dr Tiller
John Mack Biography
John Mack Institute
And--not for the faint-of-heart--John Mack and Budd Hopkins in conversation in 1997.
Among the scientists on Francisco I. Madero's radar were Sir William Crookes, a distinguished Oxford University chemist whose psychic research earned him no end of disrespect, and French Nobel -prize winner Charles Richet, who did--there is no other word-- wild experiments with Italian medium Eusapia Palladino and who coined the term ectoplasm.
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Showing posts with label Eusapia Palladino. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Eusapia Palladino. Show all posts
Henry Ridgely Evans' Hours with the Ghosts or Nineteenth Century Witchcraft
Like Madero, Evans was a 33 degree Mason, and intensely interested in anomalous phenomena. Madero was a convinced Spiritist and, though influenced by the Theosophists, in particular their enthusiasm for the Hindu epic the Baghavad-Gita, from his correspondence we know that he apparently, if diplomatically, disapproved of Madam Blavatsky, et al.
Evans, born in Baltimore and a long-time resident of Washington DC, was not a Spiritist but an expert magician and prolific author-- and he disparaged Madame Blavatsky and other Theosophists at length in one of his best known books, Hours with the Ghosts or Nineteenth Century Witchcraft (Laird & Lee Publishers, 1897). A very rare and astronomically expensive collector's item, fortunately for us, a digital edition of this book is now in the public domain and available free online at archive.org.
In Hours with the Ghosts, Evans looks at many of the more popular mediumistic displays of the age-- slate writing, table tipping, levitation, apports, spirit photography and so on-- with a magician's practiced eye. While he debunks many of mediums as mere entertainers, he nonetheless remains open to the possibility that there may be some unexplained psychic phenomena operating in some cases (notably Eusapia Palladino), and he accepts telepathic communication, again, in some instances.
Here's the fake "spirit photograph" Evans made to illustrate how it was done:
My favorite Evans quote (gives you a flavor of his tone):
Everyone loves mysteries, especially when they are of the Egyptian kind. Cagliostro, the High Priest of Humbug, knew this when he evolved the Egyptian Rite of Masonry, in the eighteenth century.
(Evans also wrote a biography of Calgiostro; an article by Evans in The Monist is available on archive.org: Cagliostro: A Study in Charlatanism.)
P.S. The second edition of my translation of Madero's 1911 Spiritist Manual, with my all new book-length prologue, Metaphysical Odyssey Into the Mexican Revolution, will be available in October.
***UPDATE Dec 2013 My book, Metaphysical Odyssey Into the Mexican Revolution, is now available***
COMMENTS always welcome.
The Ghost Hunters: William James and the Search for Scientific Proof of Life After Death by Deborah Blum
For those new to my blog and Mexican history: Francisco I. Madero was the leader of Mexico's 1910 Revolution and Mexico's democratically elected President from 1911-1913, when his government was overthrown and he was murdered. For this reason alone, his Spiritist Manual, an evangelical statement of faith and political philosophy, stands as a key document in Mexican history. When I first came upon it, in his archive in Mexico's Ministry of Finance, I was astonished to learn that no one-- no one in 100 years-- had translated it. So I decided to do it, and without really understanding what would be involved, for the material is exceedingly strange. What to make of the parts about interplanetary reincarnation, for example? Was Madero mad, as his detractors claimed? It turns out, it's not so simple. His Spiritist Manual, exotic as it may appear, sits firmly within the tradition of 19th century American and European metaphysical tradition.
Stay tuned: the new edition with my revised and expanded introduction will be available soon in both Kindle and iBook, plus paperback.
Apropos of that, I just finished reading a book I wish I'd read sooner, for it is so well researched, so elegantly written, and provides a solid context for Madero's (and his fellow Spiritists') perception of Spiritism as science: Ghost Hunters: William James and the search for Scientific Proof of Life After Death. Its author is Deborah Blum, one of the most outstanding science journalists in the country. (No doubt I'll be adding it to my annual Top 10 Books Read.)
Spiritists (French and Latin American followers of the closely related Spiritualism-- note the "u" in the latter) believed that theirs was both a religion and a science-- and in the late 19th century and early 20th, paid special attention to the efforts of scientists such as Harvard University's William James, British physicist Sir Oliver Lodge, and Nobel prize winning medical researcher Charles Richet. This particular trio conducted research with mediums such as Leonora Piper, who would fall into a trance and channel various personalities, among them, including "Imperator," and the flamboyant Neapolitan Eusapia Palladino, whose seances were remarkable for their psychokinetic phenomena such a billowing curtains, floating mandolins and ectoplasmic hands. Just as today, a minority of scientists found this compelling while the majority of their peers met it with severe skepticism and even hostility.
P.S. Check out this fascinating interview with Deborah Blum.
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