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Post by tannis on Jul 11, 2008 20:25:08 GMT
HOUDINI: from the other side... on the telephone...Is the man featured on The Dreaming's cover in the Houdini pose Del Palmer? KB: "That's for me to know and you to find out." Kate's KBC article, Issue 16 gaffa.org/garden/kate18.htmlKB: "I worked for two or three nights just to find one line that was right. There were so many alternatives, but only a few were right for the song. Gradually it grew and began to piece together, and I found myself wrapped up in the feelings of the song--almost pining for Houdini. Singing the lead vocal was a matter of conjuring up that feeling again and as the clock whirrs and the song flashes back in time to when she watched him through the glass, he's on the other side under water, and she hangs on to his every breath. We both wait." Kate's KBC article, Issue 12 (Oct 1982), About The Dreaminggaffa.org/garden/kate14.html#houdiniI: And in fact Houdini's wife in that particular track was, as it were, possessed, there was quite a lot of distortion. How did you achieve that effect? KB: "Well the idea is that it's as she's watching him go off into his tank of water for the last time, and it's the idea that she is this sort of possessed demon that's terrified of him going. And I drank about a pint of milk before I did the vocal and ate like two bars of chocolate. And the great thing about those sort of foods is it really creates a lot of mucus and normally that's the last thing you want when you sing, you normally want a very pure voice, but I wanted to get all that sort of spit and gravel in the thought. [Clears thought] So I worked on bringing the gravel out and then we also... as I sung the track we sped the track up a bit so that when it was played back the voice would just be slightly deeper, just have slightly more weight in it." Dreaming Debut, Radio 2, Sept 13, 1982gaffa.org/reaching/ir82_r2.htmlI: How did you get into all this? KB: "I just heard about it. I don't even remember how I first heard about the big thing of exposing mediums. I mean, that was what started it, because it was such a strange story, the fact that he should be so obsessed with proving that they weren't real... And then I started hearing how his wife was involved, because I hadn't even known he was married; and as soon as there was an emotional contact with that bit--there was some woman who was really in love with him through it all--it became a perfect angle to write from, really. Especially when you thought about how, even when he was dead, she spent all her time trying to be with him. It's very strong stuff, I think. Beautiful." I: The credits on the album. There's two mentioned, there's Gordon Farrell. Who's that? KB: "He was my singing teacher!" I: Really? KB: "Yeah! Years ago I used to go every week for these lessons, and really it was great, 'cause he gave me loads of confidence in singing, which is what I needed more than anything. I just used to go to him half an hour a week, and by the end of the year I felt a lot more confident in myself as a singer. He worked wonders! And on Houdini, I don't know if you noticed at the end there are these sounds, [like the backing vocal that accompanies the very last 'You and I and Rosabel believe' lyric, just after the strings section]; and that's him." I: So you gave him a mention from that point of view? KB: "Yeah. He sang in it." I: And the "Rosabel, believe!" bit? KB: "Ah, well, that's actually the words that were the code, between him and her." I: Between Houdini and his wife? KB: "Yeah, and they were the words that proved to her that it was him, and only him." I: And why do you put Del Palmer's name next to that? KB: "Because he was the one who actually pretended to be him, in the song. The idea in the song is that it was the voice of Houdini, perhaps from the other side, and in fact it was Del on the telephone."The Dreaming Interview, 1982 Picture Disk gaffa.org/reaching/im82_pd.html
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Post by rosabelbelieve on Jul 11, 2008 22:03:35 GMT
^ I love the story behind Houdini... and the vocals that Kate does for 'With your spit still on my lips you'd hit the water!' are amazing. One of my favorite lines on The Dreaming.
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Post by Al Truest on Jul 12, 2008 1:07:17 GMT
^ I love the story behind Houdini... and the vocals that Kate does for 'With your spit still on my lips you'd hit the water!' are amazing. One of my favorite lines on The Dreaming. That delivery rivals 'I love life' (from PotP); in commitment to the storyline. It is, IMO, one of her top five most unique and quirky performances. I did not know early on about passing the key, but I loved the line antway.
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Post by tannis on Jul 12, 2008 3:46:41 GMT
^ I love the story behind Houdini... and the vocals that Kate does for 'With your spit still on my lips you'd hit the water!' are amazing. One of my favorite lines on The Dreaming. That delivery rivals 'I love life' (from PotP); in commitment to the storyline. It is, IMO, one of her top five most unique and quirky performances. I did not know early on about passing the key, but I loved the line antway. Yes, Rosa and Al, I agree! KaTe produces amazing vocal 'distortions' on Houdini. They capture Bess's terrified anticipation (the before) as well as her knowledge that Houdini entered the tank for the last time (the after). Indeed, KaTe's distorted throaty singing suggests that Bess is possessed of a dreadful premonition.I: How did you get into all this? KB: "I just heard about it. I don't even remember how I first heard about the big thing of exposing mediums. I mean, that was what started it, because it was such a strange story, the fact that he should be so obsessed with proving that they weren't real..." The Dreaming Interview, 1982 Picture Diskgaffa.org/reaching/im82_pd.htmlIt seems from the bootleg Dreaming interview that Kate got to learn of Bess and Houdini through an interest in mediums and the paranormal. There's also something magical and paranormal about telephonic transportation. And the use of a telephone to suggest Houdini saying "Rosabel believe" from the other side brings to mind Spiritualism, "psychic telephone" experiments, Jürgenson, Raudive, and electronic voice phenomenon. Many of your songs contain references to occult and esoteric philosophy. Is this a particular interest of yours, or are you just widely read? KB: "I don't think I am particularly interested in the occult, but I do have an interest in the human mind, and the unusual situations that occur, or are said to occur, to human beings in extreme religious or spiritual states. But surely we all have a curiosity for things that we know little about." Kate's KBC article, Issue 16 gaffa.org/garden/kate18.htmlSo now when they ring I get my machine to let them in...All The Love and Houdini both feature the manipulation of telephone mechanisms. In Houdini, Bess receives a phone call from the dead Houdini ("Rosabel, believe!"), and in All The Love there are all those waiting messages. In both songs, telecommunications are used as a means of contacting the other side.
Indeed, the other side of The Dreaming is very much its far side... Do you believe in the paranormal? KB: "Yes, I do." Is that it? KB: (Smiling:) "Yes." Q, "Booze, Fags, Blokes And Me", December 1993gaffa.org/reaching/i93_q.htmlsee more: All the Love: telephone answering messages katebush.proboards6.com/?board=dreaming&action=display&thread=1705&page=2
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Post by tannis on Jul 12, 2008 5:57:08 GMT
MILK AND CHOCOLATE: The Divine Confections of the Gods... These distortions...Is this the track that she would coat her throat with milk to achieve the lower range? Yes, Al, it is... Kate did once explain that in order to get the rough yet remarkably rich fortissimo vocal sounds in Houdini ("We pulled you from the water!" etc.)... Kate prepared by consuming a lot of milk and chocolate, in order to "build up mucus in the throat". Now that's hi-tech voice-processing for you. DREAMING: The Best of Love-Hounds 1985-1995: NOTSgaffa.org/dreaming/td_nots.htmlI: How did you achieve that effect? KB: "Well the idea is that it's as she's watching him go off into his tank of water for the last time, and it's the idea that she is this sort of possessed demon that's terrified of him going. And I drank about a pint of milk before I did the vocal and ate like two bars of chocolate. And the great thing about those sort of foods is it really creates a lot of mucus and normally that's the last thing you want when you sing, you normally want a very pure voice, but I wanted to get all that sort of spit and gravel in the throat. [Clears throat] So I worked on bringing the gravel out and then we also... as I sung the track we sped the track up a bit so that when it was played back the voice would just be slightly deeper, just have slightly more weight in it." Dreaming Debut, Radio 2, Sept 13, 1982gaffa.org/reaching/ir82_r2.html
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Post by tannis on Aug 13, 2009 0:27:39 GMT
The Strait-Jacket Release by Houdini While in St. Johns I met a Dr. Steves, who then was in charge of a large insane asylum, and received an invitation from him to visit his institution, which I accepted. After showing me the various wards, he eventually showed me the padded cells, in one of which, through the small bars of the cell door, I saw a maniac struggling on the canvas padded floor, rolling about and straining each and every muscle in a vain attempt to get his hands over his head and striving in every conceivable manner to free himself from his canvas restraint, which I later on learned was called a strait-jacket. Entranced, I watched the efforts of this man, whose struggles caused the beads of perspiration to roll off from him, and from where I stood, I noted that were he able to dislocate his arms at the shoulder joint, he would have been able to cause his restraint to become slack in certain parts, and so al-low him to free his arms. But as it was that the straps were drawn tight, the more he struggled, the tighter his restraint encircled him, and eventually he lay exhausted, panting and powerless to move. Previous to this incident I had seen and used various restraints such as insane restraint muffs, belts, bed-straps, etc., but this was the first time I saw a strait-jacket and it left so vivid an impression on my mind that I hardly slept that night, and in such moments as I slept I saw nothing but strait-jackets, maniacs and padded cells! In the wakeful part of the night I wondered what the effect would be to an audience to have them see a man placed in a strait-jacket and watch him force himself free therefrom. The very next morning I obtained permission to try to escape from one and during one entire week I practised steadily and then presented it on the stage, and made my escape there from behind a curtain.[/color] The two accompanying illustrations show a front view and a back view of strapping on a strait-jacket, such as is used on the murderous insane. It is made of strong brown canvas or sail cloth and has a deep leather collar and leather cuffs; there cuffs are sewn up at the ends, making a sort of bag into which each arm is placed; the seams are covered with leather bands, attached to which are leather straps and steel buckles which, when strapped upon a person, fit and buckle up in back (see illustration No. 2), The sleeves of this jacket are made so long that when the arms of the wearer are placed in them and folded across the chest (see illustration No. 1), the leather cuffs of the sleeves, to which are attached straps and buckles, meet at the back of the body, one overlapping the other (see illustration No. 2). The opening of the strait-jacket is at the back, where several straps and buckles are sewn, which are fastened at the back as is shown in illustration No. 2. sjfloats.tripod.com/houdini/conjurer.html
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Post by tannis on Sept 11, 2009 13:27:46 GMT
One of the most monumental "psychic" hoaxes ever perpetuated on the American public... not 9/11, but the case of Harry Houdini's message to Bess!
I wait at the table And hold hands with weeping strangers Wait for you To join the group Inside the Medium's Cabinet (Joseph Dunninger, 1935) CHAPTER V - THE MESSAGE THAT MISSED
AS PREFACE TO THE EVENTS WHICH concerned the so-called Houdini message, I shall ask the reader to carefully consider the statements as presented. It will be noted that they consist chiefly of facts that were placed on public record. The Reverend Arthur Ford played a large part in those events. He produced a message; he attributed the exploit to the wrath of Fletcher. In this he claimed sincerity; and his claim is justifiable. There is good reason to allow that Ford believed that he heard words through Fletcher. I have already credited Arthur Ford with high intelligence. His own keenness should have informed him that the message, as he delivered it, was not the sort that would have come from Houdini. Many persons have heard "voices" and in that experience have not weighed their own utterances when they have repeated the statements. Word by word, so Ford claimed, the Houdini code was gained by Fletcher from Houdini's spirit. An oddity in itself, for if Fletcher had communicated with Houdini on the spirit plane, he would have received the words all at once; or not at all. I never knew Fletcher; but I had known Houdini. I speak from personal recollection of Houdini's ways. The big smash struck on Tuesday, January 8, 1929. It clanked from the pink from page of the New York Evening Graphic, that lamented tabloid that once thrilled the public with manufactured news and pieced-together photographs. I quote the Graphic:
From the depths of the great unknown, the voice of Harry Houdini came back to-day to allay the feverish suffering of his widow, Beatrice, as she tossed restlessly on a sick bed in her home at 67 Payson Avenue. Although near death herself, Mrs. Houdini has not the slightest doubt that the voice from the grave was that of her beloved husband, for it spoke in a code known only to the great magician and his faithful helpmeet on earth. Slowly, the words, nine in all, fell from the lips of the medium, who, with a party of spectators, were grouped about the sick bed. "Rosabelle--answer--tell--pray, answer--look--tell--answer, answer--tell----" And, according to the code devised by Houdini some four years ago, the mystic utterance translated signifies the single word: "BELIEVE" Two years before his death, Houdini had fashioned the code, known only to himself and Mrs. Houdini. They used it on the stage in mind-reading demonstrations and the only copy of it in existence is locked in the vaults of the Manufacturer's Trust Company. "If it is possible for the spirit to return to this mundane sphere, I shall come back to you," the magician told his wife at the time. "You will know it is I, not the imaginings of fake mediums, because I shall converse in this code." Since Houdini's death the widow had been literally swamped with letters from persons in all parts of the world, seeking to collect the $10,000 reward she offered for proof of spiritualism.
The Graphic continued with the statement that Mrs. Houdini had learned that the Reverend Arthur Ford had received a ten word message, with instructions to deliver it to her. Consequently, the séance was arranged; and the story resumed:
Doctor Ford went into his trance shortly after noon. He communicated with a spirit he referred to as Fletcher, and to those within hearing of his voice it seemed that Fletcher was the only on from whom he could glean Houdini's message. "Hello, Fletcher," Doctor Ford began. Then he turned to the auditors and said: "The man is coming through--the same man as the other night." The medium quoted that Fletcher told him Houdini was saying: "I want to speak to my sweetheart and repeat my message." Then came the mystic words which meant nothing to those grouped about, but which seemed to startle and obsess the sick woman on the bed. She cried out for their meaning. . . . "The message is a single word from Houdini," said the medium. "The word is 'believe'."
"Rosabel, believe!" The account concluded with a final statement from Doctor Ford. One which purported to be the voice of Fletcher, speaking for Houdini. Words which Ford, himself, could guess would be hurled into print. They are worth reading; for they so closely resemble the usual patter that a medium glibly gives to a group of sitters. That is, words which a medium would give, if possessed of diction as excellent as that of Doctor Ford's:
Spare no time or money to undo my attitude of doubt while on earth. Now that I have found my way back, I can come often, sweetheart. Give yourself to placing the truth before all those who have lost the faith and want to take hold again. Believe me, life is continuous. Tell the world there is no death. I will be close to you. I expect to use this instrument many times in the future. Tell the world, sweetheart, that Harry Houdini lives and will prove it a thousand times.
Personally, I have attended many séances and have heard the "spirits" of once intelligent persons converse, all using the same grammatical errors that are peculiar to the medium. This statement from the "spirit" of Houdini was merely a reversal of the usual. In speech, Houdini was direct, blunt, and unemotional when delivering an important statement. Perhaps, transmitting through Fletcher and Ford, he found those "instruments" to be dramatic amplifiers. It is rather difficult to picture Houdini himself adopting the language of a juvenile lead. The news of the mid-day séance was exclusively a Graphic story. It was written by a young woman named Rea Jaure; and it appeared promptly that same afternoon, a fact that was to hold significance later. But before I discuss the sensational sequel, I shall present some previous facts that introduced themselves into this case. A reference to the account of the séance in May, 1928, will show that Mrs. Houdini had placed a reward of $10,000 for any one who could deliver her husband's message. That offer was part of a $31,000 total, backed by Science and Invention Magazine. Mrs. Houdini's share formed a portion of the fund, during 1928. Then, some weeks before Ford's séance, Mrs. Houdini withdrew her $10,000 from the fund. That, in itself, denoted apprehension of a definite sort. Mrs. Houdini had impressed every one with her sincerity regarding the cash award. We believed quite firmly that she would gladly have paid the money in the case of a genuine message. But it is quite as certain that she would not have wanted the cash paid for a doubtful message. Mrs. Houdini's withdrawal of the award was possibly, therefore, an indication of anticipated doubt. On January 9th the day after the séance, she made a statement which through its wording fits directly with this opinion. The statement was as follows:
Regardless of any statements made to the contrary, I wish to declare that the message in its entirety, and in the agreed upon sequence, given to me by Arthur Ford, is the correct message prearranged between Mr. Houdini and myself. Beatrice Houdini
It is interesting to observe that the statement merely says that the message was correct. It does not state that Mrs. Houdini believed it was obtained by psychic means. As a matter of fact there were several very easy ways in which the message could have been obtained. When these became known the séance episode burst like a bubble. On a night previous to the séance I met Miss Daisy White, formerly a magician's assistant, who not only knew Houdini and Mrs. Houdini; but claimed acquaintance with Arthur Ford. Miss White told me that a big story was due to break. Hence I was not surprised when the account appeared in the Graphic. On the next day, January 10th, I gave a demonstration for newspaper men in which I correctly read ten words which were written and concealed from me. I did this partly to offset any coming claim for the remainder of the award; it was my purpose to prove that words unseen and unknown at the outset, could be learned so long as they were in the mind of a living person. Inasmuch as Mrs. Houdini knew the words which Ford uttered, they were words known to a living person. His demonstration gave no proof whatsoever that the message had come through Houdini's spirit. Before I had an opportunity to proceed further with this matter, another story broke in the New York Graphic. It appeared simultaneously with other newspapers that carried accounts of my test. This story was as sensational as the first. Its headlines were twice as large. It declared that the Houdini message was a hoax. I quote from its paragraphs:
The Graphic today is in a position to expose one of the most monumental "psychic" hoaxes ever perpetuated on the American public--the purported communication from the spirit world of Harry Houdini to his widow, Beatrice. Evidence gathered by this newspaper shows that the sensational message was carefully rehearsed prior to its quotation's premier. The truth of the affair is that Rea Jaure, a Graphic reporter, prepared her story 24 hours before the séance was held. Miss Jaure held up her information pending an opportunity to get all the facts in connection with the hoax rather than public a premature and inconclusive story.
The account stated that Miss Jaure had made an appointment with Arthur Ford on the evening following the séance; that Ford made his appearance at the Jaure apartment twenty minutes after eleven. Hidden in the breakfast room of the apartment were two representatives from the Graphic. In the course of the conversation Miss Jaure voiced her inside knowledge of the story, mentioning that she had possessed a copy of the code one day before the séance. This produced apprehensions on the part of the Rev. Mr. Ford. The Graphic quoted him as saying: "But you must play ball. Really I'd be glad to make financial compensation." Rejecting this offer Miss Jaure brought the discussion to the matter of the code itself. Regarding this code she asked Mr. Ford directly: "You didn't get it spiritualistically, did you?" Ford's reply, as printed in the Graphic, was: "You know, Rea, I couldn't have done that."
It is unnecessary to discuss in detail any reason that the Graphic may have had for printing a reversal of its original story. Inasmuch as the Graphic subsisted upon coined news, the opportunity of making two stories out of one could have been sufficiently attractive to that tabloid journal. The vital point is this: The séance story was given to the Graphic exclusively. Whatever reliance was we may place upon the original story must also be given to the second. If Mr. Ford denies his admission to Rea Jaure he is also denying the accuracy of the only newspaper reporter who reported the séance itself. My investigations were concentrated upon the code, and possible ways in which it was obtained. I was quite willing to believe that Arthur Ford delivered the correct code and message to Beatrice Houdini. Her signed statement to that effect is plain enough. The code was simply one which was originally used for a pretended telepathy act. Each word stood for a figure. There were ten words in all as follows: Pray 1, Answer 2, Say 3, Now 4, Tell 5, Please 6, Speak 7, Quickly 8, Look 9, Be Quick 10
Through these words separately or in combination it is possible to signal any number. The words also stood for letters of the alphabet in rotation. Thus we translate the code: Answer (B); Tell (E); Pray, answer (L); Look (I); Tell (E); Answer, answer (V); Tell (E).
Facts were misstated regarding this code through which Arthur Ford produced the word "Believe." It was not specially prepared by Houdini only two years before his death. The code was more than a century old and had been used by the Houdinis in an act of their own for thirty years. It was an antiquated type of code that could have been passed to any number of mind reading teams; and is probably being used verbatim by side show performers today. This code did not have to be told to Arthur Ford, or any spirit control such as Fletcher. The code was already in print. It had appeared on page 105 of Houdini's biography, which appeared soon after the magician's death. All than any one needed to know in order to reveal a message was that Mrs. Houdini expected to receive it in that code. Moreover, it was also publicly known that any message for Mrs. Houdini was to come in some form of code. That fact was printed by the newspapers at the time of my investigation of Nino Pecoraro, as quoted in the previous chapter. With her secret dependent upon such slim threads, it is small wonder that Mrs. Houdini decided to withdraw her prize offer of ten thousand dollars. Considered impartially, that action in itself would prove to an astute observer that some clue was available. Any one hoping to bring a message from Houdini should logically have read his biography as the best source to learn about Houdini. The code would have impressed itself upon any searcher for information. Coupled with the facts that Mrs. Houdini expected a message in code and had withdrawn her prize offer, there was every chance to form conclusions. Arthur For did not trust the "Fletcher" message to a chance séance. Instead, he first had a letter delivered to Mrs. Houdini, stating that he had received a message in coded words, which he quoted. It was after he had learned of the remarkable effect of this letter that he went through with the séance. These facts do not alter my willingness to believe in Arthur Ford's sincerity. What I disclaim is that the message ever came from Houdini. The facts show that happenings on this earthly plane could have accomplished results more effectively than any between the shades of Houdini and Fletcher.
When one depends upon "voices" to produce an answer which perplexes him, it is rather much like gaining a hunch. No intent is necessary on the part of the individual to form a definite conclusion. It comes subconsciously; and can be sincerely attributed to any unusual qualification which the individual thinks that he possesses. From the standpoint of the psychologist, we can consider the possibility that Arthur Ford, conversant with facts about Houdini, identified certain conclusions with the scene that he had pictured: namely, a spirit conversation between Houdini and Fletcher. While such hypothesis exists, supported by such tangible facts as the printed code, a code message expected, and the withdrawal of the prize offer; no sane investigator would be justified in thrusting this case from the solid province of the psychological into the doubtful realm of the psychical. There were other facts, however, that came into the case, I knew that Mrs. Houdini had been ill and worried; that is was possible that she might have thoughtlessly repeated bits of information that could have carried. Such, even if they had not reached Doctor Ford, would certainly show that no message could be considered genuine. My investigation proved that there were others beside Mrs. Houdini who could have held clues. A nurse who was present at Houdini's death was said to have heard Houdini murmur his wife's pet name "Rosabelle," together with a reference to the code. Another person to be considered was Daisy White. She is said to have admitted that she had gained similar information. I had not forgotten her "tip-off" that she had given me prior to the séance. I sought to gain more facts from Daisy White; while so occupied, I was approached by a man named Joseph Bantino, who lived in the same apartment house. Bantino offered to make a statement. He was allowed to do so, in the presence of reporters; at the home of Mrs. Houdini. I quote from the New York Telegram of January 15th, 1929:
Bantino opined that Ford received the message from Daisy White, who in turn had the code from Houdini long before he ever became a spirit.
The opinion was Bantino's; not mine. I have included it as a matter of record, only. My own opinion is simply this: Whether or not future statements may be made, the fact stands that every detail necessary to the production of a code message from Houdini was available to any one in a position to use it. When Arthur Ford delivered the message, he had no need of a spirit control to accomplish his supreme test. So far as pressing any charges of fraudulence against Arthur Ford, it was the spiritualists themselves who took the action. Once, Arthur Ford had told me that if ever I ran across a medium who was a member of his church and who was proved to be deluding subjects, he would consider it his duty to have that person ejected from the organization. Such conscientious virtue seemed to be universal among the New York spiritualists. They expelled the Reverend Arthur Ford from membership in the Manhatten group of the United Spiritualist League. Their charge was "conduct unbecoming a spiritualist minister." This statement was printed in the Sun, on January 25, 1929. One month later, the Graphic of February 26, announced that Ford was cleared by the United Spiritualist League. This move followed the lead of the First Spiritual Church, which claimed there was not enough evidence against the medium. Although Ford considered this a vindication from the charge that the Houdini message was not genuine, he announced that he would make no attempt to claim the $21,000 still standing as prize money to the medium who successfully communicated with Houdini. This was worthy of note; since there were other persons who expected messages from Houdini. One was Regimus Weiss, in Philadelphia, an opponent of spiritualism. Another was Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, whose sympathy for mediumship was high. Mrs. Houdini, quite disturbed during the commotion that followed the expose, had suggested that skeptics--or others--try to produce these messages. Why not Ford? His control, Fletcher, was presumably en rapport with Houdini's spirit. Through that same spirit guide, Ford had brought the alleged statement from Houdini:
Spare no time or money to undo my attitude of doubt while on earth. . . . Give yourself to placing the truth before all those who have lost the faith. . . . I expect to use this instrument many times in the future. . . . Harry Houdini lives and will prove it a thousand times . . .
Time? Money? Why did Ford not gain the $21,000 for the cause? He had only to learn the other messages, to which he could have had no access. Why has Ford, the instrument, not been used? To prove Houdini's choice of him? The answer? Perhaps it was because one statement--unsponsored by a spirit control--told more than that gush of words attributed to Houdini. Those printed words: "You know, Rea, I couldn't do that."
The case of the Houdini message is closed. Stripped to a skeleton, it hangs in the closet of the mediumistic fraternity. Occasionally, they open the door and rattle the bones; but only when believers are present. For spiritualistic believers are the best of all believers/ They believe anything. When they see a skeleton rattle, they suppose that a psychic force has impelled it--not a string. Particularly when it danced to a tune from which the sour notes have been carefully removed. The dance of this particular skeleton is, accordingly, rare and brief. The astral orchestra went off key, the day after Arthur Ford's great séance. Spirit mediums may tell the first chapter of that episode. But--spiritualistically speaking--the story ends where it really should begin. Viewed from the perspective of the present, the supposed Houdini message loses all of the ephemeral importance which it possessed for a single day. Arthur Ford still has his followers. Perhaps they have all forgotten the singular incidents that involved the so-called Houdini message. It would not be surprising if Ford's followers were forgetful. Ford, himself, has shown an ability to disremember certain of his own statements. I quote from Arthur Ford's own page, in the magazine "Immortality" for December 1927--an issue that appeared prior to the time of the Houdini message. Following a paragraph in which he criticises magicians as a group, Ford states:
On the other hand, a few of the more intelligent magicians have taken a more reasonable attitude . . . [Then, continuing in the same paragraph]. . . . Dunninger, the most famous Mentalist in America discussed the matter at length with me the other day and I find him really intelligent on the subject. He has an open mind and is a gentleman. He has agreed that if he undertakes an exposé of Spiritualism, he will state the name of the medium exposed and say whether said medium is a member in good standing in the Spiritualist movement, or whether it is merely a person engaged in mediumistic work on an independent basis. He is fair enough to admit that the Spiritualist movement cannot be held responsible for the practices of persons in no way connected with the organization. He will find Spiritualist leaders as much interested in cleaning out these charlatans as he could possibly be. . . .
I have quoted what Arthur Ford said before the incident of the Houdini message. What has happened to his well-formed opinions and definitely expressed statements since that episode? I quote from the New York Post of Friday, March 22, 1935. This was the day after Arthur Ford accompanied a party of believers in an airplane flight, during which they heard spirit voices. Airplanes, it seems, ride closer to the astral plane. They are also free from excess weight, such as reporters and investigators. When I called the plane séance questionable, the following replay was printed in the Post:
"Dunninger is only a vaudeville performer who has no standing whatever in serious psychical research circles," Ford said. "The only time he ever gets his name in the paper is when he attacks some one who is doing serious work. No one who knows anything about the question takes him seriously."
A comparison of the second statement with the first might indicate that the Rev. Arthur Ford has included himself among the class who know nothing about psychic matters, since he personally took me seriously enough in his article published some years before. Perhaps the episode of the Houdini message altered his viewpoint. It was the one occurrence that could well have produced the change. But it is to be remembered that during my exposé of the Houdini message, I lived up to my agreement with Arthur Ford. I stated the name of the medium--Ford, himself--and where he stood in the Spiritualist movement. This side-light on the opinions, past and present, that are held by the Rev. Arthur Ford are not of great value in determining the final status of the supposed Houdini message that was piped through from astral sources on January 8, 1929. The one person qualified to deliver a valid opinion on the subject of the message is Beatrice Houdini. Restored to health, relieved of the pressure and confusion which caused her to deliver conflicting statements, she is able to answer for herself. She has done so. I quote from the Los Angeles Examiner of July 22, 1935:
Nine years ago Harry Houdini, master magician, died. Before he died, he had made a strange compact with his wife. It was this . . . that he would seek to communicate with her from the beyond, and he gave her certain code signals whereby she might know when he spoke. But to date, though her vigil has never relaxed, there has come no word across that dread border. Mrs. Houdini had been married thirty-three years to her famous husband when he died. "I received many messages that are supposed to come from Houdini through mediums and strange séances," she explained, "but they never mean anything to me. Very often I go to séances, hoping and praying that the signals Houdini gave me will be heard. No message comes to me while I am waiting to hear."
This is conclusive. Whatever the claims of mediums; whatever the delusions of those who have been present at their séances; one fact alone can be acceptable to thinking persons who do not mix absurdities with logic. Harry Houdini has never spoken from beyond the grave.Other seances were attempted on the Halloween anniversary of his death. But Bess gave up in 1936. She said ten years was long enough to wait for any man. Besides, she said, the secret code had been revealed making further seances pointless. Mrs. Houdini died February 11, 1943 at age 67, on a train from Los Angeles to the East Coast. Before her death, Bess told friends that if a medium ever announced a message from her, it would be a fraud. "When I go," she said, "I'll be gone for good. I won't ever try to come back."Morphine Gone For Goodwww.youtube.com/watch?v=4Rb-tTiCtPc
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