Dead Media Halloween Special:
Dead media for the spirit medium mediating the dead!
Source(s): "An Exposure of Mediums' Tricks and Rackets," by C. Samuel Campbell. LITTLE BLUE BOOK NO. 1746. (Editedby E. Haldeman-Julius)
Slate Writing
"Slates, prepared and unprepared, have played an important
part in the spiritualistic racket. An unprepared slate
against the under surface of a table by the medium's
fingers, his thumb resting on the top of the table. Yet
the slate will be handed to you in a few moments with
scrawled writing on it. The medium uses a thimble
arrangement with a piece of slate pencil attached to write
the message with one of his fingers."
"Again, a slate and a piece of chalk may be placed on the
floor under the table. Although the subject may hold the
medium's hands across the top of the table and place his
feet on the medium's feet under the table, writing
appears. The medium has simply slipped his foot out of the
loose-fitting shoe which has a steel toe -- leaving the
subject with the impression that he still has the foot
under control -- and written the message with his toes,
the front of his sock being cut out to permit their free
use."
"A false, paper-thin flap of silicate has been used to
cover writing on a slate. Held under the table, the flap
is slipped onto a shelf and the slate produced with the
message written on it."
The Reaching Rod
"An indispensible tool of the medium is the reaching rod.
It is used to pick up spirit trumpets and tambourines, to
float ghosts about the room and to aid in the production
of countless other phenomena. Constructed on the fishing-
rod telescope principle, it can be folded into the size
and form of a thick fountain pen. Extended, it may reach
as far as ten feet. The end is generally equipped with a
small hook or pincers device to be used in picking up
objects."
Spirit Music
"To cause spirit music, one medium used an old style Swiss
music box fastened under the table."
"Still other methods of getting music from the air are the
concealed musician method and the radio phonograph
method."
Trumpet Seances
"When the mediums learn that spirits could be made to
whisper through trumpets or megaphones instead of dumbly
rapping out "yes" and "no" on a table or wall panel,
psychic communication took a vast step forward."
"Sometimes a small trumpet not over eight inches in length
stands in the middle of the table. A circle is formed
about the table, with hands clasped and the medium's feet
under control. When the lights go out, spirits speak
through the trumpet. The medium has merely leaned forward
and picked it up with his teeth by the suitably
constructed mouthpiece, whispering his messages through
it."
"At times a length of garden hose is put into the trumpet,
by which it can then be elevated; and the medium, talking
through the hose, produces whispers at a greater
distance."
"Sometimes a medium dares to give a light seance, though
this is not often as it is too risky. In such cases the
principle of radio is used, coils being secreted under
rugs and elsewhere."
Spirit Photographs
"Double exposure is the method mostly used, the spirit
being previously photographed against a black background
of velvet or some similar material that will not reflect
light. Instead of a complete double exposure however,
some are made by exposing one-half of the plate for the
spirit and the other half for the sitter. A trick slide
is used with such a method."
"Figures are sometimes painted with sulphate of quinine on
the back screen. While such figures are not visible to
the eye, they appear on the photograph directly behind the
sitter."
"A medium may lay the plates you bring on an innocent-
looking table top and print the spirit on them before
placing them in the camera. A ghost face is painted in
lead on the undersurface of the tabletop, and it is
printed on the plate by X-rays. Often the plates thus
treated are not even exposed, the face appearing merely
through the medium's having prayed over them."
"Another method . . . is one in which the medium palms a
much reduced copy of the photograph of the spirit. This
picture, painted with luminous paint, is transfered to the
plate by the medium simply bringing the two into contact
for a moment."
" . . . a special flashlight with the message written on
the lens may be pressed secretly against the plate at an
opportune moment, thus giving the appearance of a
photographed spirit message."
"Spirit Readings.
One of the tricks of the medium is to answer sealed
questions."
(Several paragraphs describe methods for reading answers
using sleight-of-hand.)
"The same principle is employed when the subject places
the card upon which he has written his question between
the leaves of a Bible. The center of the back and most of
the pages have been cut out, permitting the medium to read
the question as he did through the opening in the card in
the above trick.
But this trick becomes more effective when performed in
the following manner. The question is written on a piece
of paper and slipped into an envelope. The Bible,
hollowed out as above, has two batteries and two three-
volt lamps in it, and a piece of glass cemented into the
opening in the back binding. Under the pretext of writing
a birth date or a name on it, the medium places the
envelope on the Bible, which he has been reading, for more
solid support. Having actually placed it on the glass
window, he switches on the lamps and reads the question
through the envelope."
Bill Wallace (austex23@aol.com)
and William Wallace (noted trick-or-treater)