A Magician Among the Spirits

by Harry Houdini

S. S. Baldwin, an acknowledged expert in Spiritualistic and Telepathic tomfoolery, was bamboozled by a Dr. Fair, according to his own story which he told to me in December, 1920. He received a message on a slate held by himself under a table, and afterwards, at the suggestion of the Doctor, made a thorough examination of the table, the room, and everything in sight, but failed to discover a concealed door in the wainscot of the wall through which a man in black garments could find his way to space under a sofa and thence to the table, which was a rather large one, do the Spirit writing and then make his exit while Mr. Baldwin was fully occupied holding the slate under the table with his eyes fixed on space above it.

One of the very best mediumistic tricks, and one that has made the reputation of more than one well-known medium, is done with a number of small slates and one large one. The size of the slates is immaterial but the large one should be three or four inches larger each way than the others. The manner of presentation differs somewhat with different performers but in general is as follows.

When the sitters arrive the slates are piled near one corner of the table, the larger one at the bottom and eight or nine smaller ones on top of it. The medium stands at the end of the table nearest the slates and after a few casual remarks he picks up the top slate with his left hand, changes it to his right and passes it to the sitter to be examined and cleaned if desired. When he is quite satisfied the medium takes it back, glances at both sides, and then places it on the table directly in front of the sitter. This is repeated with the remaining small slates, which are not stacked up evenly but left in a haphazard pile. While the last small slate is being placed on the pile with the medium’s right hand he picks up the large slate with his left and rests it on top of the others, at the same time passing the sitter a pencil and asking him to write a few lines on it requesting the Spirits to favor him with a message and to sign his name to it. He is at liberty to examine this slate also and to write his message on either side.

The large slate is then placed at the right of the sitter and he is asked to place his right hand on it. The small slates are then evened up by the medium, secured by a heavy rubber band and then placed in the center of the table. The medium then takes a seat at the table opposite the sitter and they clasp hands at the sides of the slates. After a sufficient pause the slates are unbound by the sitter and on a slate near the center of the stack a message is found written in chalk or slate pencil and signed by a departed friend.

The secret of this startling effect is extremely simple. Concealed beneath the big slate at the beginning of the seance is a smaller slate with the message already written on it. This is picked up with the larger one when the latter is placed on the stack for the sitter to write on it and dropped on the others, written side down. The extra slate is never noticed as the pile has not been counted and the business of passing the slate pencil occupies the sitter’s attention so that he does not realize that the large slate rests on the small ones before he examines it.

The medium then takes about half the small slates, evens them up and lays them to one side and repeats with the remaining ones, laying them evenly on the others. This is a perfectly natural move as the whole stack makes more than a handful and by means of it the slate with the message is placed in the middle of the stack. The stack is then set on end, the rubber band placed around it, and it is then ready to be placed in the middle of the table for conclusion of the seance.

Two methods of writing between locked or sealed double slates when only one or two words were needed puzzled the investigators for a long time. The first was worked with a strong magnet. The bit of slate pencil which was put between the slates was specially prepared with either powdered soapstone mixed with iron filings, water, and glue, or a small piece of iron was used covered with a paste of soapstone, water, and mucilage. By holding the magnet under the slates and tracing the words backwards the prepared pencils would follow the magnet and write the words. The other method was worked with an electro magnet set in the table, the necessary wires running down one leg and making contact with a copper plate in the floor under the rug by means of a sharp metal point on the end of the leg.

Since the introduction of “raps”[71] by the Fox Sisters various methods have been devised for producing them. One of the simplest expedients is for the medium to slightly moisten the fingers and slide them very gently on the top of the table. A little experimenting soon shows the amount of pressure necessary to produce the desired amount of sound and of course the medium is cautious to let the fingers move only the desired distance and that too when no one is looking.

Another simple method is to place the thumbs close together in such a manner that the nail of one overlaps the other a trifle. Then while the thumbs are pressed hard on the table if one nail is slipped up or down distinct raps are produced which seem to come from the top of the table.

Some mediums produce raps by slipping a knee up and down against a table leg. Others have been known to fasten blocks of wood to the knee under the skirt and rap on the table leg with a sidewise motion of the knee. Still others strike the table leg with the heel of the shoe or press the side of the heel against the table leg and by moving the heel up and down the friction of the leather against the wood produces raps.