Episode 18: The Spiritualism of Harry Houdini Part 2
Harry had moved beyond the reach of mortal contact, and as such, it was time for the world to let him go….
Episode Transcript
Robert Houdin was born on a brisk December day in 1805. He being the son of a successful clockmaker, lead a fairly affluent childhood in the town of Blois, France.
When he was 11 his father sent him to the university of orleans and encouraged him to focus his studies on law. However, upon his graduation, Robert decided to instead follow in his father’s footsteps and eventually began apprenticing as a watchmaker.
Now from a very young age, Robert had been particularly fascinated by mechanical devices. So it should come at surprise when I say that he was always trying to learn more about the timepieces he was making.
In the mid-1820s, for instance, Robert saved up his earnings and bought a two-volume set of books on the topic of Clockmaking. Robert had intentions of reading those books from cover to cover in an effort to further improve on his craft. So you can imagine his disappointment, when a different set of books arrived instead.
Now with the words Scientific Amusements being embossed along the bindings, the texts weren’t exactly what he had ordered. But even so, something about the title was intriguing. Robert picked up volume one, began flipping through the pages, and by the time he was done reading, Robert had grown passionately fascinated with the world of Magic and illusion.
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Robert Houdin never gave up his aspirations of becoming a fully trained clockmaker. Although these goals were outpaced by slightly bigger dreams. In fact, Robert went on to lead very successful career. Not as a clockmaker, but as an illusionist.
Throughout the course of his work, Robert built a whole repertoire of tricks that included everything from his debut act titled second sight to the much more intricate illusion that he called The Marvelous Orange Tree. Robert even traveled to French Algeria, on behalf of the Monarchy, to make peace with the local tribes through the power of magic.
Needless to say, Robert Houdin lead a very vibrant and magical life. Which is why he was given the title father of modern conjuring upon his death in 1871.
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Years later, a young Hungarian-American magician would break into the mainstream, performing acts as an escapologist. And in honor of his idol, this young illusionist adopted a stage name that paid homage to houdin’s legacy.
This name would, of course, become synonymous with the arts of illusion and escapism. So much so, that this renowned magician, could supposedly even escape death itself.
I’m Courtney Hayes and you’re listening to haunts. Stay tuned…
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Wilhelmina Beatrice Rahner—or Bess for short—was raised in the bustling suburb of Brooklyn during the 1870s. Born to German immigrants, Gebhard and Balbina Rahner, Bess grew up in a devout Catholic household that nurtured her passion for singing and performance.
Bess was 18-years-old, working as a singer at Coney Island, when she met a young magician who went by the name Harry. Fate intervened as the whirlwind romance unfolded. Harry and Bess soon became inseparable, so within just one week of meeting, they were married in a civil ceremony.
It was a pure and unwavering love story. Although, their union wasn’t exactly conventional. As I said, Bess had been raised in the Catholic faith, while Harry, deeply committed to his Jewish heritage, held different beliefs.
Needless to say, this wasn’t a very common pairing back in those days, and as an unfortunate result, Mr. and Mrs. Rahner, were fairly unhappy with the daughters recent nuptials. Although, Harry’s mother Cecilia more than made up for this, welcoming Bess into the family with open arms.
As we all know by now, Bess and Harry Houdini spent the first several years of married life traveling the globe as illusionists, while simultaneously dabbling into the realm of spiritualism. Harry would put on elaborate shows where he himself claimed to be possessed by otherworldly forces.
To the casual observer, these spectacles likely would have seemed quite haunting. But I can almost certainly assure you that this was nothing more than a meticuously crafted gimmick. An illusion, another trick up harry Houdini’s sleeve.
And that checks out when you think about it. I mean, after all, Harry did turn out to be quite skeptical of spiritualism during his later years. But as I mentioned in part one of this series, I can’t buy into the argument that Harry Houdini was a staunch nonbeliever.
Why, you might ask? Well, there is one minor detail that doesn’t exactly fit into that narrative.
You see, Bess Houdini remained quite interested in the spiritualism movement—even after her husband shifted his attention to more adrenalized endeavors. And in light of that, the couple made a pact. Of the two of them, whoever was the first to pass would come back to the other for one final farewell. That is, of course, if such a feat was actually possible.
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Over the course of our discussions on the spiritualism movement, we have examined several different methods of spirit communication. We have delved into the rich history of the ouija board, debated the legitimacy of spirit photography, and even touched on the practice of automatic writing in our previous episode. But there is one element of spiritualism that we have yet to explore. And that of course is the seance.
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Now it likely goes without saying that the remainder of this episode will heavily revolve around this topic. So before to dig any deeper into the story of Bess Houdini and the life she lead after her husbands death, I think it would be best if we first discuss what a seance even is.
The term “seance” is derived from the French word for “session.” And if you trace those roots back even further, the term is almost synonymous to the Old French phrase seoir, or rather "to sit".
It’s a fitting moniker when you really stop to think about it. I mean, I’m sure most of us at least have seen those antiquated photos of people sitting around a cloth covered table—their hands pressed against the woodwork.
It’s these photographs that document some of our very first attempts to contact the great beyond. And although the phrase was still actively used by French speakers in reference to more mundane circumstances, well in the English language, the term séance quickly took on a more spirited meaning.
By the utmost basic definition, a seance is simply a meeting at which people attempt to make contact with the departed. This feat is usually accomplished through the agency of a trained spirit medium. Although, theoretically, anyone with the right tools could hold a seance for themselves.
So people did. And as a result, several different variants of these sessions came to be. There were of course the spiritualist or rather religious seances that were wildly popular at the end of the 19th century. There was also the informal social seance that approached the practice without any religious affiliation or influence.
Oh and let’s not forget the stage variety that the Houdini’s themselves were all too familiar with, but did their seances actually work? Truth be told, if you had asked Harry during his life, the answer the that question would have likely been an unequivocal no. But in death on the other hand? Well he may just have a slightly different answer.
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As the sun began to set over the city of Detroit, a chilling and bitter loneliness fell upon Bess Houdini. It was All Hallows Eve 1927, the perfect night to reach through the veil and ask the spirits for some much needed company.
Of course, Bess had held her fair share of seances over the years. But rarely without her husband, Harry, who tragically was now all but gone from this world.
It was a cold hard truth that likely would have been difficult to face. But even still, Bess had made her late husband a promise—one that she had every intention in keeping, no matter how much it hurt.
So on this, the first anniversary of Harry Houdini’s death, Bess sat down at the head of a large table. There, in front of a handful of witnesses, she called out her husband’s name and thus began a rather haunting tradition.
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In the decade that followed his death, Bess held an annual Halloween seance during which she would attempt to contact the spirit of Harry Houdini. She hired the best psychic mediums that money could buy,furnished each session with props and tools, and generally spared no expense when it came to these somber soirées.
Now I know what many of you are likely thinking. If Bess hired psychic mediums instead of performing these seances first hand, then any results would have been easy to fake, right? Well, that assumption wouldn’t be too far from the truth.
But keep in mind, during his life, Harry was quite skeptical of the spiritualism movement. After all, at least from his perspective, he had been burned by a handful of self proclaimed spirit mediums. So he had already taken such falsehoods into account when he and Bess first devised this plan.
I should explain. Back when the couple first met met at the vaudeville shows on Coney Island, bess was popular for her rendition of a song entitled Rosabelle. And as they started their lives together, the song became the soundtrack of Bess and Harry’s love story. In fact, Bess even had the name “Rosabelle” engraved onto her wedding band.
Then as continued their careers, the houdini’s developed a secret code that they would use during their mind reading act. Now this was a code that only the two of them knew and understood. So as they formulated these spirited plans, it only made sense for them incorporate the code to some degree.
“Rosabelle – answer – tell – pray, answer – look – tell – answer, answer – tell.” This was the coded message that Bess Houdini listened for at each and every seance. Yes, to the untrained ear this likely sounds like a bunch of gibberish, but as we all know, there was at least some logic behind these words.
Because Bess and her husband were the only two people who knew this code at the time, then at least in theory, if a medium uttered these words during a séance, Bess would know that this was a legitimate message from the great beyond. A fact that would ultimately prove that Harry Houdini, the king of cuffs himself, could even escape the shackles of his own death.
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Soon Bess Houdini’s hope and perseverance would falter.
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Gathered atop the illustrious Knickerbocker Hotel in Hollywood, California, on the eerie night of October 31, 1936, an enchanting gathering unfolded. It was sure to be a séance the likes of which the world had never seen.
It had been ten years since her beloved, Harry, had left this earthly realm. And although she was beginning to feel that her ongoing efforts to contact her husband were all for not, Bess Houdini, was determined to reach out to him one last time. So, with an intimate group of friends and family by her side, Bess prepared for an extraordinary event that would soon captivate the world.
News of the séance spread through the media like wildfire, igniting curiosity and fascination in its stride. Journalists from far and wide flocked to the rooftop, their pens poised to document the unfolding spectacle. The air crackled with anticipation, as everyone wondered if Bess Houdini would truly succeed in establishing a connection with the spirit of her late husband.
Now, the chosen location, the Knickerbocker Hotel, held a touch of magic itself. Nestled in the heart of the cinematic wonderland that was Hollywood, California the hotel seemed a fitting backdrop for a paranormal encounter.
It stood as a symbol of the city's thriving entertainment industry. And if the allure of the silver screen wasn’t enough to lend an aura of mystique to the night's proceedings, then it’s worth mentioning that the knickerbocker hotel was said to be haunted in its own right. But more on that in a future episode.
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As the séance commenced, Bess Houdini took center stage, as she had done in countless occasions when Harry was still by her side.
She was surrounded by her loyal companions and a handful of curious spectators. Now the exact number of attendees still remains a mystery. But it’s safe to say that this was a rather exclusive gathering, which no doubt created an atmosphere of both intimacy and intensity.
As the night went on, Bess resolutely followed the age-old rituals associated with the séance—all in an effort to establish the ideal conditions for communication with the spirit world. It looked a little something like this:
With Bess at the helm, together the participants formed a circle, their hands tightly intertwined, as they beckoned to the beyond. The group was surrounded by an array of Harry’s personal effects along with a few photographs that were to act as trigger objects during the séance.
After a few moments of silence, Bess finally called out to Harry, her voice resonating with love and longing. With every word uttered, she hoped for a sign, for that coded message which would ultimately bridge the gap between the realms of the living and the dead.
All eyes were on Bess Houdini as she made a silent call to the other side—one that in the end, would tragically remain unanswered.
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Even in spite Bess Houdini's unwavering sincerity, the séance of 1936 yielded no tangible proof of contact with Harry Houdini's spirit. In the end, whispers of paranormal phenomena and ghostly messages were regrettably absent from the accounts that reached the public eye—leaving many disheartened by the lackluster results.
And to make matters worse, a rather somber announcement was made as the seance concluded. You see, as a parting word, Bess Houdini made a public declaration that this would be the last organized attempt to reach out to her late husband.
Her determination, once unyielding, now rested—finally granting Bess a bit of peace. She was now sure the unwavering silence was confirmation that Harry had moved beyond the reach of mortal contact. And as such, it was time for the world to let him go.
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Bess Houdini pass away just 7 years later. And although her loss mourned around the globe, I can’t help but think that this was ultimately a joyous reunion.
And as the decades passed, fans of these renowned illusionists carried on this spirited tradition. In fact even to this day, Houdini Seances are commonly held on the anniversary of Harry’s death.
But even in spite of these subsequent attempts, no conclusive evidence of successful communication has emerged, leaving the mystery surrounding Harry Houdini’s life and afterlife enshrouded in an eternal veil.
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Sources
https://www.cultofweird.com/paranormal/harry-houdini-seance/
https://blogs.loc.gov/loc/2020/10/hollywood-houdini-and-the-halloween-seance-of-1936/
https://www.victoria-kelly.com/amp/ten-amazing-facts-about-bess-houdini
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean-Eugène_Robert-Houdin
https://www.wildabouthoudini.com/p/bess-houdini.html?m=1
https://www.magictricks.com/houdini-seance.html#
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Séance
https://www.iue.edu/blogs/library/2020/10/12/harry-houdini-fake-news-fighting-pioneer/
http://www.geniimagazine.com/wiki/index.php/The_Houdini_Code