Episode 17: The Spiritualism of Harry Houdini Part 1

May 15

Was the Spiritualism Movement nothing more than an illusion?

Episode Transcript

If it’s alright with you, I’d like to share a quick story. It goes a little something like this:

There once was a sailor, who after, enduring some particularly rough seas, found himself stranded on a desert island. Immediately upon washing onto to shore a sense of helplessness fell over him. He was hopelessly alone. So right there on the beach, he fell to his knees and began to pray.

He begged god for a way off of the island—pleading that he send a boat, a plane, something or someone who could come to his rescue. Only no one ever came.

Instead, the sailor spent months stranded on that very beach. He even eventually built a shelter that he filled with supplies he had gathered from around the island.

It wasn’t much, but in time the sailor became comfortable with his new lot in life. Well, that is until one day when he returned to his camp to find his shelter engulfed in flames.

Once again, he fell to his knees. Only this time,he cursed his God—asking how he could let such a tragedy happened after everything the sailor had already endured.

The sailor spent that night laying restlessly on the cold wet sand. But by morning, something miraculous happened. There on the horizon was a rather large sailboat forging full speed ahead towards his small desert island.

As the vessel approached, the sailor swam out into the waters to greet them. And when he finally climbed aboard the ship, he asked his rescuers how they had found him.

Their answer was simple. The crew saw a tower of smoke on the horizon and knew that someone was likely in distress. Yes, thanks to his so-called tragedy, the sailor was rescued at long last.

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This anecdote is a rather long-winded way of saying that things aren’t always as they seem— that more often than not, there is something larger working away in the background of our every day lives.

Sure, on the surface our circumstances could seem dark and gloomy. But in the end, those appearances turn out to be nothing more than an illusion.

The only question is, are these illusions purely an act of man or could they be the result of something more?

I’m Courtney Hayes and you’re listening to haunts. Stay tuned…

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There aren’t many of us who don’t know the name Harry Houdini.

Sometimes going by more exuberant titles, like Harry “handcuff” Houdini or the King of Cuffs, the world knew Harry as an illusionist, escapetologist, and entertainer. However, it wasn’t until recently that I discovered that the renowned Harry Houdini was also a spiritualist—just not in the way that you might think.

You see, Houdini’s rapid success just so happened to coincide with the rise of spiritualism—a practice which Houdini felt was closely related to that of an illusionist.

Now we have discussed the spiritualism movement in detail in my episodes covering spirit photography and the history of the ouija board—both of which I will have linked in todays show notes just in case you missed them. But for now, I think the following definition is worth considering:

Spiritualism is a belief system and religious practice based on the notion that we can commune with the dead. This feat is primarily accomplished through the intervention of a trained medium who will presumably enter into some sort of trance, channel a spirit, and supposedly, interact with the great beyond.

Now it should come at no surprise that the legitimacy of mediumship is still widely debated. Just as it was back in the 1890s when the spiritualism movement was at its height.

Yes, even back in those days, it was often argued that seances, channeling, and the like was nothing more than smoke and mirrors. Just another illusion or at least that’s what Houdini claimed.

But before he came to this skeptical conclusion—before even he became the skilled illusionist we know today—Harry Houdini was simply just a another boy with a dream.

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Little Erich Weiss was born in Budapest in the year 1874. His parents, Mayer and Cecilia, weren’t particularly wealthy, but they were determined to give their children a better life. Which is precisely why the family emigrated to Appleton, WI in 1878. The family settled into a home on Appleton Street and his father promptly took up work as the local rabbi.

Now even in spite of his modest upbringing, Erich was by most accounts a happy child. He had a close knit group of friends and together they found all sorts of ways to entertain themselves and their neighbors. For instance, when Erich was 9, the group formed a 5 cent circus with Erich playing the role of trapeze artist.

Outside of this group of friends, Erich was especially close with his mother, Cecilia, who almost assuredly saw the spark of a performer in her son. Although, even she couldn’t have known who young Erich was destined to be.

Erich’s relationship with his father on the other hand was slightly more complicated. Of course there was love shared between the boy and his father. But, Erich was just 1 of 6 children and as a sign of the times, Mayer Weiss was the sole breadwinner of this sizable family.

Now again, the Weiss family was not wealthy by any means—even in spite of Mayer’s educational background and work history. So eventually, the man was forced to enlist the help of his 3 sons in order to make ends meet.

From a very young age, Erich Weiss picked up odd jobs whenever he could. Throughout his young life, Erich was everything from a shoeshiner to paper boy to general errand runner.

He even eventually found work apprenticing for local locksmith. And it was this profession that ultimately made young Erich an expert in the way lock picking.

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Now I should mention, Erich was not opposed to helping his farther provide for their family. Quite the opposite actually. In fact, as Erich got older, his dedication to his family proved to be what I can only describe as divine intervention.

Because as we all know by now, young Erich had a passion for performance. And when his father left Appleton in search of more prosperous work opportunities, it was this passion and the love he had for his family that pushed Erich to do the same.

So at just 12 years old, Erich Weiss slipped out of his parents house on Appleton Street and followed his dreams to the Big Apple.

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It was the year 1894 when Erich Weiss gave up his name. He had spent the better half of the last decade picking up odd jobs around the city of New York, while moonlighting as a trapeze artist in vaudeville shows. However, by the time he was 20, Erich decided to place his focus on something a bit more theatrical.

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Harry Houdini was the stage name Erich coined when he first took up work as an illusionist. And although Houdini is a household name by today’s standards, at the time well Harry was pretty much a nobody.

But even so, he was nothing if not resourceful. And beyond that Harry Houdini understood the importance in taking advantage of trending topics.

You see, it was around this time that he met his wife Bess. And by the time that they were married the couple began traveling around the globe, performing magic as spiritualists. Yes, you heard that right, at the start of his career, Harry Houdini incorporated mediumship into his act as an illusionist.

Now I should mention that I’m not entirely sure if Houdini truly believed in his abilities as a medium at the time, or if he was simply trying to capitalize on the growing popularity of the spiritualism movement. But either way, Houdini’s act at this point in his career was, well, frightening.

According to one source, at least, Harry Houdini would channel spirits throughout each of his shows. The spirits would supposedly enter his body, which would then contort in ways that shouldn’t have been humanly possible.

Apparently Harry’s showmanship was so disturbing in these moments that members of his audience would often run from the theater in horror which likely only added to the dramatic affect.

Now from what I can tell, these rather spooky performances didn’t remain in Harry’s act for long. And really they didn’t need to. Because as it turned out, mediumship wasn’t exactly Harry Houdini’s specialty.

No instead Harry had a rather special gift for picking locks. So when he was ultimately discovered by stage manager Martin Beck, he was urged to start a career as an escape. And as I’m sure you already guess it was this advice that pushed Harry Houdini into the mainstream.

But, even amidst this whirlwind success, the topics of spiritualism and mediumship stayed at the forefront of Harry Houdini’s mind. This became especially true, when his beloved mother passed away in the summer of 1913. Leaving Harry devastated, yet determined to contact Cecilia on the other side.

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Upon receiving the news that Cecilia Weiss had passed away, Harry Houdini uttered the following words:

Quote “If God in his greatness ever sent an angel on Earth in human form, it was my mother.” End quote.

His words, of course, were heartfelt, but I can’t be the only one who finds them a bit creepy. I mean let’s face it if I were to tell you that that was a direct quote from Norman Bates you’d probably believe me.

But suffice to say, Harry Houdini held an absolute adoration for his mother. So it comes at no surprise that he spent the first several years following Cecilia’s death trying to contact her from beyond the grave.

Being that her death fell in line with the height of the spiritual is a movement Harry spent years attending countless séances in an attempt to contact his late mother. Only these sessions never seemed to work—a fact that was troubling and down right offensive to Harry who missed his mother more than he would bare.

Now according to a handful of my sources, this lack of success in contacting Cecilia’s spirit turned Harry Houdini into a bitter skeptic, who begrudgingly renounced spiritualism and its practitioners. And while I’m sure he was disappointed by with his results, I can’t say that I buy into his staunch skepticism.

You see, one of Harry’s closest friends and confidants is none other than Sir Arthur Conan Doyle—who studied medicine at the University of Edinburgh well simultaneously chipping away at the creation of his beloved character Sherlock Holmes. And as I’m sure you may have guessed Arthur Conan Doyle was an avid spiritualist.

Now I should mention that Harry Houdini did in fact lead a bit of a crusade against the many fraudulent mediums of the era. But I will say it seems that he did so with an open mind. More on that during next weeks episode but in the meantime, I think this is worth considering.

Together Arthur and harry wrote their own book on spiritualism, that they entitled A Magician Among the Spirits. Which was more or less an inquisition on the spiritualism movement with the intention to prove or disprove the existence of the spirit world.

As always, I will link a copy of A Magician Among the Spirits in todays show notes. And if you’re in learning more about their theories and arguments, I encourage you to give this book a read. But for now I’ll leave you with one question to consider: do all of these investigative efforts truly sound like the work of a bitter old skeptic?

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As the years passed, Harry Houdini continued his research into spiritualism, mediumship, and the paranormal as a whole. In fact, he was somewhat of a pioneer when it comes to the field of paranormal research.

He attended hundreds of seances around the world in an effort to expose the truthful as well as the fraudulent. And although many historians would likely argue otherwise, it seems as though he never once gave up hope that he might make contact with this mother.

In 1922, for instance, Harry attended a séance with none other than lady Doyle, who like her husband was an avid spiritualist as well as a trained psychic medium. Now, lady Doyle in specific specialized in the art of automatic writing.

As a quick aside here, the topic of automatic writing could likely be an episode in itself. So if that’s something you’re interested in, let me know and I can look more into it. But I think this simple definition will suffice for now.

Automatic writing is a supposed psychic ability where a medium will channel is spirit and scribe a written that messages on their behalf. I know, intriguing right? Well, the Doyle’s certainly thought so. Which is exactly why lady Doyle used her abilities to contact Cecelia Weiss.

Or so she claimed, but Harry, on the other hand was not entirely convinced. And although this was the wife of one of his closest friends, Harry wasn’t shy about his skepticism—which ultimately created a rift between him and Arthur.

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Now it’s worth mentioning that Lady Doyle wasn’t the only self proclaimed medium, who Harry Houdini was skeptical of. For example, in 1924, Harry accused the celebrated Boston medium Mina “Margery” Crandon of being a fraud—an accusation that ultimately led to a two year-long feud between two of the hottest celebrities of the era.

Oh, and to add fuel to that fire, in 1926 Harry Houdini testified in front of Senate and House subcommittees for a bill aiming to prosecute anyone fraudulently posing as a spirit medium for compensation. So I guess maybe he was understandably a bit bitter.

But be that as it may, he was never able to prove or disprove the existence of the spirit realm. Or at least not to the entire world. But sadly, in the fall of that year, Harry Houdini finally got that answer for himself.

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October 31, 1926 was a fitting day for Harry Houdini to finally reunite with his mother. Although it wasn’t exactly a joyous occasion.

You see, in the days prior, Harry had unknowingly been suffering with appendicitis. And without immediate treatment, well there wasn’t much hope in saving this renowned magician.

So it was on all hallows eve, when Harry Houdini left the world of the living and slipped through that thin veil to the other side. It was surely a solemn day for illusionists and spiritualists alike.

But don’t get me wrong, this is only the beginning to this story. Because even through the king of cuffs was gone from this world, Harry Houdini‘s investigation of the spiritualism movement was far from over.

But that dear listeners is a story for next time.

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Credits

Sources

Disclaimer: The following may include affiliate links and I may earn a small commission when you make a purchase. This will come at no additional cost to you. As an Amazon Affiliate, I earn from qualifying purchases!

A Magician Among the Spirits

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/two-girls-one-ghost/id1271249164?i=1000569474735

https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/houdini-timeline/

https://www.wildabouthoudini.com/2012/05/houdini-joins-circus.html?m=1

https://www.britannica.com/biography/Harry-Houdini

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/for-harry-houdini-seances-and-spiritualism-were-just-an-illusion-180978944/

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mediumship

https://academictips.org/blogs/things-are-not-always-as-they-appear/

https://www.acrosswalls.org/houdinis-relationship-with-his-mother/

https://blogs.loc.gov/loc/2020/10/hollywood-houdini-and-the-halloween-seance-of-1936/#:~:text=For%20the%20family%20and%20friends,to%20be%20stuff%20and%20nonsense.

https://www.notablebiographies.com/amp/Ho-Jo/Houdini-Harry.html

https://www.ducksters.com/biography/entertainers/harry_houdini.php