The Magic Circle, the world's premier magic society Forgotten your Username OR Password? Interested in becoming a member? As a member of The Magic Circle you can proudly claim membership of the most prestigious magic club in the world. 1000+ images about Magicians on Pinterest | World famous, Chinese water torture and Crates Ali Bongo, (8 December 1929 – 8 March 2009) was a British comedy magician and president of The Magic Circle who performed an act in which he was known as the "Shriek of Araby" More Magic Organizations - Magicpedia Happy New Year! Help us get to over 4,000 biographies in 2017. If you know of a past magician not listed in MagicPedia, start a New Biography for them or Email us your suggestion. Magic Organizations Magic Organizations, Fraternities and Societies. Contents 12 References Prior to 1900 There were not many formally organized fraternities of magic in the world in prior to the 1900s outside of local social clubs.

L'Academie was the first French Society and possibly the first in the world, although there were very early German and Indian clubs and The Conjurers' Club in Florence, Italy was in existence in 1887. By the late 1800s, there were small groups in the United States gathering, like those that assembled in the " Martinka 's Little Back Shop." Known among themselves as "SATURDAY KNIGHTS," for the fact that it was mostly a Saturday night event. These gatherings resulted in a series of social entertainments. Quite possibly the first for magicians by magicians, which were initially held in a little private theater of Martinka & Co. in New York. The first real impetus of creating a club for magicians most likely came as a direct result of the first periodical published in United State devoted to the interests of magic, Mahatma , which began publishing in 1895. This periodical introduced magicians to each other and fostered a fraternal feeling as can be seen in a letter published in Vol 3, No. 10 of Mahatma: "If all readers of MAHATMA will send their address to E. L.

Kiley, 32 Franlilin St., Cleveland, Ohio, steps will be taken to organize a "Mahatma Club," for the self improvement of the followers of the art." The Society of Detroit Magicians , was possibly founded just prior to that in 1894. Also in 1895, W. D. LeRoy of Boston, Massachusetts proposed the "Grand Lodge of The Magic Mystic Fraternity ". On January 14, 1896, the Secretary of the Commonwealth of the State of Massachusetts issued a charter for a corporation to be known as "The Magic Mystic Fraternity." Its objective was to "unite fraternally, acceptable men who are recognized performers of ability in the art of magic or sleight-of-hand, or who possess some skill in legerdemain, and the establishment and maintenance of a place for social meetings". However, the Magic Mystic Fraternity did not seem to have gotten any further than to "incorporate," and nothing more was heard of it. LeRoy would later organize and become the first President of The Conjurers' Club in Boston.

The slogan for the club was "Work-Eat-Play", which was still going strong in 1918. 1900s In March, 1902, the Sphinx magazine began publishing. In its May issue that year the editorial stated: "Last November I devised a scheme for creating a friendship among all magicians and lovers of magic. I called my society "The Order of The Sphinx." W. D. LeRoy , the Boston agent for the Sphinx at the time, was one of the first to send in his application for membership. However, a few weeks later after learning about the existence of the newly formed Society of American Magicians (S.A.M.) in New York at Martinka's magic shop (made up of those "Saturday Knights"), "The Order of The Sphinx" was disbanded. They decided to put their efforts into the helping the SAM. LeRoy became member 33 when he was admitted at the first regular monthly meeting of the S.A.M. on June 7, 1902. At the end of 1902, they already had over 100 members.

December 1903, the A.S.A.P ( Association Syndicale des Artistes Prestidigitateurs ) was founded in France. Become the A.F.A.P. (Association Française des Artistes Prestidigitateurs) in 1945 and the F.F.A.P. (Fédération Française des Artistes Prestidigitateurs) in 2008. By early 1905, word was spreading around the world about the S.A.M. and magicians from London, England even made inquiries for information regarding organization of a Society of Magicians overseas. However, later that year the British Magical Society and independent Magic Circle of Great Britain was formed in England. On May 27, 1905, the first "Annual Dinner" Banquet of the S. A. M. was held at Hotel Vendome in New York. Also in 1905, George E. Closson of Troy, New York began sending out a "Prospectus of the Brotherhood of Magicians ". By the following year, Closson official formed and became the president of the Brotherhood of Magicians. This organization was most likely used to promote his magic business.

By September, 1907, Australian magicians had asked the S.A.M for information that might prove of service to them in organizing a society. The Society of Australian Magicians, as they were going to be called, change their name to the "Australian Society of Magicians" (A.S.M.) to avoid confusion. It was not until 1908 that the first formal move was made by the S.A.M. toward including magicians outside of the United States. Letters were mailed by the president to the Australian Society, London and Germany. David Devant wrote back with sympathy in the movement, but when nothing was heard from Australia or Germany the movement went no further. Also in 1908, The Magic Club of Vienna (MAGISCHER KLUB WIEN) in Austria was founded. The Mystics were founded in 1909 at Cambridge University and lasted to the outbreak of war in 1914. Some of the other local independent clubs, after the S.A.M.

was created, were the Knights of Magic in New York, Demons Club of Baltimore, the Los Angeles Society of Magicians, Spokane Magic Club, Nashville Cercle Magique, The Magic Masters of Chicago (1910). Later came the Chicago Magicians Club and the Chicago Conjurers Club which took over the charter for the Chicago Assembly #3, Society of American Magicians. 1910 The Magicians' Club of London was formed in 1911 by Harry Houdini along with others including Servais Le Roy , Chris Van Bern , Carl Stakemann, and Stanley Collins . The National Conjurers' Association was formed in 1911 by Charles J. Hagen. It became the first competitor to the S.A.M. and after it started to grow in number, efforts were made by the S.A.M. to combine but nothing ever developed. In 1917, the Pacific Coast Society of Magicians based in San Francisco, merged with SAM as the Golden Gate Assembly. In 1918, George E. Closson handed the Brotherhood of Magicians over to "Mystic," G. E. Heath of Carroll, Iowa and soon that organization fizzled out.

The Pentacle Club was founded in 1919, consisting of members of Cambridge University who were interested in magic as the successor to "The Mystics". 1920 In the March 1920 issue of the Sphinx , C. Roswell Glover proposed an "amalgamation" of the current magic organization. Just as each specific branch of industry had its own union (carpentry, electricians, butchers) and was governed by one head (the American Federation of Labor), Glover proposed an "American Federation of Magicians" to help govern all the current magic organizations. In 1920, The Mystic Twelve was founded by Fred Burnette in Glasgow, Scotland and the Sheffield Circle of Magicians formed with Mr. David Devant as Honorary President. In 1922, The International Brotherhood of Magicians (I.B.M.) was founded by Len Vintus of Canada, and Gene Gordon of the United States, mostly as a group of magicians that wanted to correspond with each other via their Linking Ring magazine. The Society of Osiris Magicians was founded by Thomas Worthington in March, 1923 and became incorporated in Maryland.

The Scottish Conjurers' Association was the fourth magical society to be founded in the city of Glasgow founded by Duncan Johnstone, Jimmy Findlay, De Vega (Alex M. Stewart) and Richard Armour in 1924. 1930 The Mystic Thirteen was organized in 1932 in a novelty and magic store owned by Ed Schutz. Charter members were Robert Gunther and Carl Stenquist. That same year the Pacific Coast Association of Magicians (PCAM) was established in the western USA and the Wizard's Club was organized in the Midwest. In 1933, the Hull Magicians' Circle was founded by Bert Dexter and Jasper Maskelyne served as Honorary President from 1934 until his death in 1973. In 1937, Caryl Fleming with the Pacific Coast Association of Magicians tried to unite organizations around the world as the International Alliance of Magicians . It lasted a few years until Fleming passed away and start of World War II in the 1940s.

In 1938, the Magician Alliance of Eastern States (MAES) became into existance as an outgrowth of the Keystone State Federation of IBM Rings, which held conventions during the 1930s. 1940 Around 1942, the Magician's Guild of America started in New York City to support professional magicians with the slogan: "For good entertainment, demand a Magician". The Magic Dealers' Association was formed in 1946 and incorporated in Maryland in 1947 offering networking and services to magic supply retailers. In 1948, The Fédération Internationale des Sociétés Magiques (FISM) (International Federation of Magic Societies) was founded as international body coordinating dozens of national and international clubs and federations around the world. The Magic Collectors’ Association was founded in 1949 in New York City by several prominent collectors of that era. 1950 In 1951, the first attempt incarnation of the Academy of Magical Arts was started in April 1951 by William W. Larsen, Sr. , whom subscribers to his magazine Genii became instant members.

But the organization faded away when Bill Larsen Sr. died in 1955. In 1953, the Invisible Lodge was founded as a club for Masonic Magicians by Sir Felix Korim of England. Also in 1959, Ring 116 of the International Brotherhood of Magicians in Windsor, Ontario, Canada. broke away from the International Brotherhood of Magicians and use the local membership fees to create and fully support their own new local independent club called the Windsor Magic Circle . 1960 In 1961, when William W. Larsen, Sr.'s younger son, Milt Larsen , started to create the Magic Castle , he convinced his brother Bill Larsen Jr. that it would be a good time to resurrect the Academy of Magical Arts. The first members were again current Genii subscribers. In 1968, Tony Hassini founded the International Magicians Society in July with the fundamental purpose of promoting and preserving the art of magic. 1970 In the early seventies, President Johnny Ould of the Windsor Magic Circle encouraged the club to get reinstated as Ring 116 of the IBM.

In 1978, the Psychic Entertainers Association was formed as an international organization of members with a serious interest in the ethical performance of psychic entertainment. 1980 The New England Magic Collectors Association (NEMCA) was founded in 1980 as a non-profit organization devoted to collecting books, memorabilia, and apparatus related to magic and the allied arts. In 1984, the Society of Young Magicians (S.Y.M.) was established by the Society of American Magicians for magicians under the age of 18. 1990 In 1998, the Canadian Association Of Magicians was formed with a goal to join FISM to sponser Canadian magicians. That same year, a concerned group of professional magicians met at The Magic Castle to discuss how best the magic community could combat the exposure being televised on the FOX-TV series "Breaking the Magicians Code...Magician's Secrets Finally Revealed" and formed the World Alliance of Magicians . It disbanded a few years later after shifting its focus to trying to stop the rip-off of magic builders and dealers in the magic world.

References THE ADVENT AND BRIEF HISTORY OF MAGIC FRATERNAL SOCIETIES IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA By Oscar S. Teale, Sphinx, January, 1928 thru June, 1928. Magical Societies and the Amateur by Russell Walsh , Sphinx , March 1951. See this page as a MindMap Whats in the magicians bag of tricks? | Daily Mail Online Whats in the magicians bag of tricks? By MARCUS BERKMANN Last updated at 12:01 16 November 2007 For such an abstruse activity, an awful lot of books have been published about magic. The Magic Circle, the notorious glee club for prestidigitators and illusionists, has about 9,000 such volumes in its library, and as Michael Bailey puts it, 'offers an unrivalled resource... for magicians who believe one of the best ways of learning their art is by reading.' Bailey should probably know. He was president of the Circle between 1998 and 2003, and has been performing professionally for more than 35 years.

He is the insider's insider. The big question is: how much is he willing to tell us? His book is a strange combination: in part an informal history of magic, telling you exactly when rabbits started to be pulled out of hats and women sawn in half, and in more detail a history of the Magic Circle itself. The club came into being in 1905, with its motto indocilis privita loqui — very loosely translated as 'keep your trap shut' — and now occupies quarters in North London, a sort of private museum to the conjuring arts. Visitors are let in by invitation Now you see it... Conjurers guard their secrets fiercely only, so for magic obsessives without the right contacts, this book may represent the only means of entry. Along the way Bailey also tells of the ancient origins of the cups-and-balls trick (3rd century BC, no less), pooh-poohs the Indian rope trick (which no one has ever managed to achieve) and gives us potted biographies of all the greats: Jean Eugene Robert-Houdin, John Nevil Maskelyne, David Devant, Harry Houdini, Robert Harbin, Tommy Cooper... But there are problems.

From all magic books, the general reader probably expects at least the occasional hint into how these tricks are performed. We're not expecting full disclosure, we're not unreasonable. But the odd little tidbit would be nice. Bailey's discretion, though, is absolute. He is as likely to give away a secret as he is to burst into flames. The Magic Circle remains unbreached. There's also the tone. As several recent books have shown, magicians have often been fierce rivals, constantly stealing each other's tricks and undermining each other's reputations. Bailey can hint at this, with slight distaste; but in his version, everyone is great friends and all controversy is exaggerated. This can make for a rather dry read, and when he starts listing all the officers of the club, the dinners they attended and the good works they all did, it can become a struggle to stay awake. 'The society was fortunate to have him serve; he was an enthusiastic, popular and modest president' — Bailey says this, or something like it, about almost everyone. Sometimes it's like reading a particularly boring old boys' school magazine. Bailey even adds an exclamation mark when he tells a joke! Just so you don't take it seriously!

And, needless to say, he skirts right past the issue for which The Magic Circle became notorious in recent years: their absolute refusal to admit women, or 'the fairer sex' as Bailey calls them without irony. They have let them in now, so that's all right then. Finally it dawns on you that Bailey has written an entire book about the Magic Circle and told you almost nothing you want to know. A conjuring trick in itself, I suppose, if not a particularly entertaining one. Magic | Magic Wiki | Fandom powered by Wikia Edit The term "magic" etymologically derives from the Greek word mageia (μαγεία). In ancient times, Greeks and Persians had been at war for centuries, and the Persian priests, called magosh in Persian, came to be known as magoi in Greek. Ritual acts of Persian priests came to be known as mageia, and then magika—which eventually came to mean any foreign, unorthodox, or illegitimate ritual practice. Performances that modern observers would recognize as conjuring have been practiced throughout history. For many recorded centuries, magicians were associated with the devil and the occult.

During the 19th and 20th centuries, many stage magicians even capitalized on this notion in their advertisements. The same level of ingenuity that was used to produce famous ancient deceptions such as the Trojan Horse would also have been used for entertainment, or at least for cheating in money games. They were also used by the practitioners of various religions and cults from ancient times onwards to frighten uneducated people into obedience or turn them into adherents. However, the profession of the illusionist gained strength only in the 18th century, and has enjoyed several popular vogues since. Magic tricks Edit The first book containing explanations of magic tricks appeared in 1584. Englishman Reginald Scot, published The Discoverie of Witchcraft, part of which was devoted to debunking the claims that magicians used supernatural methods, and showing how their 'magic tricks' were in reality accomplished. Among the tricks discussed were 'sleight-of-hand' manipulations with rope, paper and coins. At the time, fear and belief in witchcraft was widespread and the book tried to demonstrate that these fears were misplaced.

All obtainable copies were burned on the accession of James I in 1603 and those remaining are now rare. It began to reappear in print in 1651. During the 17th century, many similar books were published that described in detail the methods of a number of magic tricks, including The Art of Conjuring (1614) and The Anatomy of Legerdemain: The Art of Juggling (c.1675). Until the 18th century magic shows were a common source of entertainment at fairs, where itinerant performers would entertain the public with magic tricks, as well as the more traditional spectacles of sword swallowing, juggling and fire breathing. In the early 18th century, as belief in witchcraft was waning, the art became increasingly respectable and shows would be put on for rich private patrons. A notable figure in this transition was the English showman, Isaac Fawkes, who began to promote his act in advertisements from the 1720s - he even claimed to have performed for King George II.

One of Fawkes' advertisements described his routine in some detail: He takes an empty bag, lays it on the Table and turns it several times inside out, then commands 100 Eggs out of it and several showers of real Gold and silver, then the Bag beginning to swell several sorts of wild fowl run out of it upon the Table. He throws up a pack of cards, and causes them to be living birds flying about the room. He causes living Beasts, Birds, and other Creatures to appear upon the Table. He blows the spots of the Cards off and on, and changes them to any pictures. From 1756 to 1781, Jacob Philadelphia performed feats of magic, sometimes under the guise of scientific exhibitions, throughout Europe and in Russia. Modern stage magic Edit A founding figure of modern entertainment magic was Jean Eugène Robert-Houdin , originally a clockmaker, who opened a magic theatre in Paris in 1845. He transformed his art from one performed at fairs to a performance that the public paid to see at the theatre. His speciality was constructing mechanical automata that appeared to move and act as if alive.

Many of Robert-Houdin's mechanisms for illusion were pirated by his assistant and ended up in the performances of his rivals, John Henry Anderson and Alexander Herrmann . John Henry Anderson was pioneering the same transition in London. In 1840 he opened the New Strand Theatre, where he performed as The Great Wizard of the North. His success came from advertising his shows and captivating his audience with expert showmanship. He became one of the earliest magicians to attain a high level of world renown. He opened a second theatre in Glasgow in 1845. John Nevil Maskelyne , a famous magician and illusionist of the late 19th century. Towards the end of the century, large magic shows permanently staged at big theatre venues became the norm. The British performer J N Maskelyne and his partner Cooke established their own theatre, the Egyptian Hall, in London's Piccadilly, in 1873. The show incorporated stage illusions and reinvented traditional tricks with exotic (often Oriental) imagery. The potential of the stage was exploited for hidden mechanisms and assistants, and the control it offers over the audience's point of view.

Maskelyne and Cooke invented many of the illusions still performed today - one of his best-known being levitation. The model for the look of a 'typical' magician—a man with wavy hair, a top hat, a goatee, and a tailcoat—was Alexander Herrmann (February 10, 1844 – December 17, 1896), also known as Herrmann the Great. Herrmann was a French magician and was part of the Herrmann family name that is the "first-family of magic." The escapologist and magician Harry Houdini took his stage name from Robert-Houdin and developed a range of stage magic tricks, many of them based on what became known after his death as escapology. Houdini was genuinely skilled in techniques such as lockpicking and escaping straitjackets, but also made full use of the range of conjuring techniques, including fake equipment and collusion with individuals in the audience. Houdini's show business savvy was as great as his performance skill. There is a Houdini Museum dedicated to him in Scranton, Pennsylvania. The Magic Circle was formed in London in 1905 to promote and advance the art of stage magic.

As a form of entertainment, magic easily moved from theatrical venues to television specials, which opened up new opportunities for deceptions, and brought stage magic to huge audiences. Famous magicians of the 20th century included Okito , David Devant , Harry Blackstone Sr. , Harry Blackstone Jr. , Howard Thurston , Theodore Annemann , Cardini , Joseph Dunninger , Dai Vernon , Fred Culpitt , Tommy Wonder , Siegfried & Roy , and Doug Henning . Popular 20th and 21st century magicians include David Copperfield , Lance Burton , James Randi , Penn and Teller , David Blaine , Criss Angel , Hans Klok , Derren Brown and Dynamo . Well known women would include Dell O'Dell and Dorothy Dietrich . Most TV magicians perform before a live audience, who provide the remote viewer with a reassurance that the illusions are not obtained with post-production visual effects. Many of the principles of stage magic are old. There is an expression, "it's all done with smoke and mirrors", used to explain something baffling, but effects seldom use mirrors today, due to the amount of installation work and transport difficulties.

For example, the famous Pepper's Ghost, a stage illusion first used in 19th-century London, required a specially built theatre. Modern performers have vanished objects as large as the Taj Mahal, the Statue of Liberty, and a space shuttle, using other kinds of optical deceptions. Categories of effects Edit Opinions vary among magicians as to how to categorize a given effect, and disagreement as to what categories actually exist. For instance, some magicians consider "penetrations" a separate category, while others consider penetrations a form of restoration or teleportation. Some magicians today, such as Guy Hollingworth and Tom Stone have begun to challenge the notion that all magic effects fit into a limited number of categories. Among magicians who believe in a limited number of categories (such as Dariel Fitzkee, Harlan Tarbell, S.H. Sharpe), there has been disagreement as to how many different types of effects there are. Some of these are listed below.

Production The magician produces something from nothing—a rabbit from an empty hat, a fan of cards from thin air, a shower of coins from an empty bucket, a dove from a pan, or the magician himself or herself, appearing in a puff of smoke on an empty stage—all of these effects are productions. Vanish: The magician makes something disappear—a coin, a cage of doves, milk from a newspaper, an assistant from a cabinet, or even the Statue of Liberty. A vanish, being the reverse of a production, may use a similar technique, in reverse. Transformation: The magician transforms something from one state into another—a silk handkerchief changes color, a lady turns into a tiger, an indifferent card changes to the spectator's chosen card. Restoration: The magician destroys an object, then restores it to its original state—a rope is cut, a newspaper is torn, a woman is cut in half, a borrowed watch is smashed to pieces—then they are all restored to their original state.

Transportation: The magician causes something to move from one place to another—a borrowed ring is found inside a ball of wool, a canary inside a light bulb, an assistant from a cabinet to the back of the theater, a coin from one hand to the other. When two objects exchange places, it is called a transposition: a simultaneous, double transportation. A transportation can be seen as a combination of a vanish and a production. When performed by a Mentalist might be called teleportation. Escape: The magician (an assistant may participate, but the magician himself is by far the most common) is placed in a restraining device (i.e., handcuffs or a straitjacket) or a death trap, and escapes to safety. Examples include being put in a straitjacket and into an overflowing tank of water, and being tied up and placed in a car being sent through a car crusher.

Levitation: The magician defies gravity, either by making something float in the air, or with the aid of another object (suspension)—a silver ball floats around a cloth, an assistant floats in mid-air, another is suspended from a broom, a scarf dances in a sealed bottle, the magician hovers a few inches off the floor. There are many popular ways to create this illusion, including Asrah levitation, Balducci levitation, and King levitation. The flying illusion is often performed by David Copperfield and more recently by Peter Marvey. Harry Blackstone floated a light bulb over the heads of the public. Penetration: The magician makes a solid object pass through another—a set of steel rings link and unlink, a candle penetrates an arm, swords pass through an assistant in a basket, a saltshaker penetrates the table-top, a man walks through a mirror. Sometimes referred to as "solid-through-solid." Prediction: The magician predicts the choice of a spectator, or the outcome of an event under seemingly impossible circumstances—a newspaper headline is predicted, the total amount of loose change in the spectator's pocket, a picture drawn on a slate. Many magical routines use combinations of effects.

For example, in "cups and balls" a magician may use vanishes, productions, penetrations, teleportation and transformations as part of the one presentation. The methodology behind magic is often referred to as a science (often a branch of physics) whilst the performance aspect is more of an art form. Secrecy Edit Traditionally, magicians refuse to reveal the methods behind their tricks to the audience. Exposure is claimed to "kill" magic as an art form, but time has proven this to be untrue. There have been many TV shows, and YouTube channels dedicated to 'revealing' magic's secrets. However, there are often many ways to achieve a single illusion, so the 'secret' is merely an example of how it "could" work. Most often, the most efficient and most devious methods are never released publicly. It is argued that once the secret of a trick is revealed to a person, that one can no longer fully enjoy subsequent performances of that magic, as the amazement is missing. Although, in many cases, people have a greater appreciation for the magic art form with some understanding of the methods employed. Many believe that keeping the secrets preserves the mystery of professional magicians.

In all actuality, magicians are able to employ various methods of entertaining an audience, and the "secrets" are less important than people believe. Without studying the art of magic in depth, it is difficult to really understand how a secret of one trick might apply to others. This has been illustrated by Penn and Teller, as they will supposedly "reveal" a secret of magic, and then later in their show will use that same method without the audience realizing it. Membership in professional magicians' organizations often requires a solemn commitment to the Magician's Oath never to reveal the secrets of magic to non-magicians. The Magician's Oath may vary, but typically takes the following or similar form: "As a magician I promise never to reveal the secret of any illusion to a non-magician, unless that one swears to uphold the Magician's Oath in turn. I promise never to perform any illusion for any non-magician without first practicing the effect until I can perform it well enough to maintain the illusion of magic." Once sworn to the Oath, one is considered a magician, and is expected to live up to this promise.

Magicians who reveal secrets, either purposely or through insufficient practice, may find that other magicians are unwilling to teach them any more secrets. They are then no longer eligible to join IBM (International Brotherhood of Magicians) and are banned from magic society. However, it is traditionally permissible to reveal secrets to individuals who are determined to learn magic and become magicians. It is typically a sequential process of increasingly valuable and lesser known secrets. The secrets of almost all magical effects are available to the public through numerous books and magazines devoted to magic, available from the specialized magic trade. Web sites offer videos, DVDs and instructional materials. In this sense, there are few classical illusions left unrevealed, but this does not appear to have diminished the appeal of performances. In addition, magic is a living art, and new illusions are devised with surprising regularity. Sometimes a 'new' illusion is built on an illusion that is old enough to have become unfamiliar. Some magicians have taken the position that revealing the methods used in certain works of magic can enhance the appreciation of the audience for cleverness of magic.

Penn and Teller frequently perform tricks using transparent props to reveal how they are done, for example, although they almost always include additional unexplained effects at the end that are made even more astonishing by the revealing props being used. Often, what seems a revelation of a magical secret is merely another form of misdirection. For instance, a magician may explain to an audience member that the linking rings "have a hole in them" and hand the volunteer two unlinked rings, which the volunteer finds to have become linked as soon as he handles them. At this point the magician may shove his arm through the ring ('the hole in the ring'), proclaiming: "See? Once you know that every ring has a hole, it's easy!" Learning magic Edit Dedication to magic can teach confidence and creativity, as well as the work ethic associated with regular practice and the responsibility that comes with devotion to an art. The teaching of performance magic was once a secretive practice. Professional magicians were unwilling to share knowledge with anyone outside the profession to prevent the laity from learning their secrets. This often made it difficult for an interested apprentice to learn anything but the basics of magic. Some had strict rules against members discussing magic secrets with anyone but established magicians.

From the 1584 publication of Reginald Scot's The Discoverie of Witchcraft until the end of the 19th century, only a few books were available for magicians to learn the craft, whereas today mass-market books offer a myriad titles. Videos and DVDs are a newer medium of tuition, but many of the methods found in this format are readily found in previously published books. However, they can serve as a visual demonstration. Persons interested in learning to perform magic can join magic clubs. Here magicians, both seasoned and novitiate, can work together and help one another for mutual improvement, to learn new techniques, to discuss all aspects of magic, to perform for each other—sharing advice, encouragement, and criticism. Before a magician can join one of these clubs, they usually have to audition. The purpose is to show to the membership they are a magician and not just someone off the street wanting to discover magical secrets. The world's largest magic organization is the International Brotherhood of Magicians ; it publishes a monthly journal, The Linking Ring. The oldest organization is the Society of American Magicians, of which Houdini was a member and president for several years.

In London, England, there is The Magic Circle, which houses the largest magic library in Europe. Also PSYCRETS—The British Society of Mystery Entertainers—caters specifically to mentalists, bizarrists, storytellers, readers, spiritualist performers, and other mystery entertainers. Davenport's Magic in London's The Strand is the world's oldest family-run magic shop. The Magic Castle in Hollywood, California, is home to the Academy of Magical Arts. Types of magic performance Edit Magic performances tend to fall into a few specialties or genres. Stage illusions are performed for large audiences, typically within a theatre or auditorium. This type of magic is distinguished by large-scale props, the use of assistants and often exotic animals such as elephants and tigers. Famous stage illusionists, past and present, include Harry Blackstone, Sr ., Howard Thurston , Chung Ling Soo , David Copperfield , Lance Burton , Siegfried & Roy , and Harry Blackstone, Jr . Parlor magic is done for larger audiences than close-up magic (which is for a few people or even one person) and for smaller audiences than stage magic.

In parlor magic, the performer is usually standing and on the same level as the audience, which may be seated on chairs or even on the floor. According to the Encyclopedia of Magic and Magicians by T.A. Waters, "The phrase [parlor magic] is often used as a pejorative to imply that an effect under discussion is not suitable for professional performance." Also, many magicians consider the term "parlor" old fashioned and limiting, since this type of magic is often done in rooms much larger than the traditional parlor, or even outdoors. A better term for this branch of magic may be "platform," "club" or "cabaret." Platform magic (also known as cabaret magic or stand-up magic) is performed for a medium to large audience. Nightclub magic and comedy club magic are also examples of this form. The use of illusionettes (small tabletop illusions) is common. This genre includes the skilled manipulation of props such as billiard balls, card fans, doves, rabbits, silks, and rope. Examples of such magicians include Jeff McBride , Penn & Teller , David Abbott , Channing Pollock , Black Herman , and Fred Kaps .

Micromagic (also known as close-up magic or table magic) is performed with the audience close to the magician, sometimes even one-on-one. It usually makes use of everyday items as props, such as cards, coins, and seemingly 'impromptu' effects. This may be called "table magic", particularly when performed as dinner entertainment. Ricky Jay , Mahdi Moudini and Lee Asher , following in the traditions of Dai Vernon , Slydini and Max Malini , are considered among the foremost practitioners of close-up magic. Escapology is the branch of magic that deals with escapes from confinement or restraints. Harry Houdini is a well-known example of an escape artist or escapologist. Pickpocket magicians use magic to misdirect the audience while removing wallets, belts, ties and other personal effects. It can be presented on a stage, in a cabaret setting, before small close-up groups, or even for one spectator. Well-known pickpockets of the past and present include James Freedman , David Avadon , Bob Arno and Apollo Robbins . Mentalism creates the impression in the minds of the audience that the performer possesses special powers to read thoughts, predict events, control other minds, and similar feats.

It can be presented on a stage, in a cabaret setting, before small close-up groups, or even for one spectator. Well-known mentalists of the past and present include Alexander , The Zancigs , Axel Hellstrom , Dunninger , Kreskin , Derren Brown , Rich Ferguson , Guy Bavli and Banachek . Theatrical séances simulate spiritualistic or mediumistic phenomena for theatrical effect. This genre of stage magic has been misused at times by charlatans pretending to actually be in contact with spirits. Children's magic is performed for an audience primarily composed of children. It is typically performed at birthday parties, preschools, elementary schools, Sunday schools or libraries. This type of magic is usually comedic in nature and involves audience interaction as well as volunteer assistants. Online magic tricks were designed to function on a computer screen. The computer essentially replaces the magician. Some online magic tricks recreate traditional card tricks and require user participation, while others, like Plato's Cursed Triangle, are based on mathematical, geometrical and/or optical illusions.

One such online magic trick, called Esmeralda's Crystal Ball, became a viral phenomenon that fooled so many computer users into believing that their computer had supernatural powers, that Snopes dedicated a page to debunking the trick. Mathemagic is a genre of stage magic that combines magic and mathematics. It is commonly used by children's magicians and mentalists. Corporate magic or trade show magic uses magic as a communication and sales tool, as opposed to just straightforward entertainment. Corporate magicians may come from a business background and typically present at meetings, conferences and product launches. They run workshops and can sometimes be found at trade shows, where their patter and illusions enhance an entertaining presentation of the products offered by their corporate sponsors. Pioneer performers in this arena include Eddie Tullock and Guy Bavli . Gospel magic uses magic to catechize and evangelize. Gospel magic was first used by St. Don Bosco to interest children in 19th-century Turin, Italy to come back to school, to accept assistance and to attend church. Street magic is a form of street performing or busking that employs a hybrid of stage magic, platform and close-up magic, usually performed 'in the round' or surrounded by the audience.

Notable modern street magic performers include Jeff Sheridan and Gazzo. Since the first David Blaine TV special, David Blaine: Street Magic aired in 1997, the term "street magic" has also come to describe a style of 'guerilla' performance in which magicians approach and perform for unsuspecting members of the public on the street. Unlike traditional street magic, this style is almost purely designed for TV and gains its impact from the wild reactions of the public. Magicians of this type include David Blaine and Cyril Takayama . Bizarre magic uses mystical, horror, fantasy and other similar themes in performance. Bizarre magic is typically performed in a close-up venue, although some performers have effectively presented it in a stage setting. Charles Cameron has generally been credited as the "godfather of bizarre magic." Others such as Tony Andruzzi have contributed significantly to its development. Shock magic is a genre of magic that shocks the audience. Sometimes referred to as "geek magic," it takes its roots from circus sideshows, in which 'freakish' performances were shown to audiences. Common shock magic or geek magic effects include eating razor blades, needle-through-arm, string through neck and pen-through-tongue.

Comedy Magic is the use of magic in which is combined with stand-up comedy. Famous comedy magicians include Ed Alonzo , Penn & Teller and Levent . Misuse of magic Edit Some modern illusionists believe that it is unethical to give a performance that claims to be anything other than a clever and skillful deception. Most of these performers therefore eschew the term "magician" (which they view as making a claim to supernatural power) in favor of "illusionist" and similar descriptions; for example, the performer Jamy Ian Swiss makes these points by billing himself as an "honest liar." Alternatively, many performers say that magical acts, as a form of theater, need no more of a disclaimer than any play or film; this viewpoint is reflected in the words of magician and mentalist Joseph Dunninger, "For those who believe, no explanation is necessary; for those who do not believe, no explanation will suffice." These apparently irreconcilable differences of opinion have led to some conflicts among performers.

For example, more than thirty years after the hugely successful illusionist Uri Geller made his first appearances on television in the 1970s to exhibit his self-proclaimed psychic ability to bend spoons, his actions still provoke controversy among some magical performers, because he claimed he was not using conjuring techniques. On the other hand, because Geller bent—and continues to bend—spoons within a performance context, the Dunninger quote may be said to apply. Less fraught with controversy, however, may be the use of deceptive practices by those who employ conjuring techniques for personal gain outside the venue of a magical performance. Fraudulent mediums have long capitalized on the popular belief in paranormal phenomena to prey on the bereaved for financial gain. From the 1840s to the 1920s, during the greatest popularity of the Spiritualism religious movement as well as public interest in séances, a number of fraudulent mediums used conjuring methods to perform illusions such as table-knocking, slate-writing, and telekinetic effects, which they attributed to the actions of ghosts or other spirits. The great escapologist and illusionist Harry Houdini devoted much of his time to exposing such fraudulent operators.

Magician James Randi, magic duo Penn & Teller, and the mentalist Derren Brown have also devoted much time to investigating paranormal, occult, and supernatural claims. Fraudulent faith healers have also been shown to employ sleight of hand to give the appearance of removing chicken-giblet "tumors" from patients' abdomens. Con men and grifters too may use techniques of conjuring for fraudulent goals. Cheating at card games is an obvious example, and not a surprising one: one of the most respected textbooks of card techniques for magicians, The Expert at the Card Table by Erdnase, was primarily written as an instruction manual for card sharps. The card trick known as "Find the Lady" or "Three-card Monte" is an old favourite of street hustlers, who lure the victim into betting on what seems like a simple proposition: to identify, after a seemingly easy-to-track mixing sequence, which one of three face-down cards is the Queen. Another example is the shell game, in which a pea is hidden under one of three walnut shells, then shuffled around the table (or sidewalk) so slowly as to make the pea's position seemingly obvious.

Although these are well known as frauds, people still lose money on them; a shell-game ring was broken up in Los Angeles as recently as December 2009. Researching magic Edit Because of the secretive nature of magic, research can sometimes be a challenge Many magic resources are privately held and most libraries only have small populist collections of magicana. However, organizations exist to band together independent collectors, writers, and researchers of magic history, including the Magic Collectors' Association, which publishes a quarterly magazine and hosts an annual convention; and The Conjuring Arts Research Center, which publishes a monthly newsletter and biannual magazine, and offers its members use of a searchable database of rare books and periodicals. Performance magic is particularly notable as a key area of popular culture from the mid-19th to mid-20th centuries. Many performances and performers can be followed through newspapers of the time. Many books have been written about magic tricks; so many are written every year that at least one magic author has suggested that more books are written about magic than any other performing art. Although the bulk of these books are not seen on the shelves of libraries or public bookstores, the serious student can find many titles through specialized stores catering to the needs of magical performers.

Several notable public research collections on magic are the WG Alma Conjuring Collection at the State Library of Victoria; the R. B. Robbins Collection of Stage Magic and Conjuring at the State Library of NSW; the H. Adrian Smith Collection of Conjuring and Magicana at Brown University; and the Carl W. Jones Magic Collection, 1870s–1948 at Princeton University. Mysterial - The Paranormal Community Magicians Who Endorsed Psychic Phenomena Published on: 28/01/08 at 04:33:53 GMT Submitted by: ooosyadady Originally published in The Linking Ring [monthly magazine of the International Brotherhood of Magicians], August 1990, Volume 70, No. 8, pp. 52-54 By George P. Hansen Conjurors have long played a role in psychical research. Many people are under the impression that magicians are total skeptics when it comes to psychic phenomena. It comes as a surprise to many (including some magicians), to learn that this is by no means the case. A number of the most prominent magicians in history have endorsed the reality of psychic phenomena.

A surprising roster of modern-day conjurors also have positive views. In this article I will list favorable opinions and comments of conjurors from the past and present. Some of these are prominent figures included in any standard history of magic while others are not quite so well known. The end of the article includes a list of original sources. These may be of interest to historians of magic and other scholars. Many more references could have been included, but these give the views I cite in this article. Some magiciansï¿½ positive statements regarding psychic phenomena might be looked upon with some skepticism. In the mentalist literature, performers are frequently urged to claim genuine abilities even if they donï¿½t believe in them. In other instances, magicians might make positive statements for publicity purposes. Such practices have led some to doubt any positive opinions magicians claim on the matter. There is considerable controversy regarding statements made by mentalists like Joseph Dunninger, David Hoy, and Kreskin. However, I have not yet come across anything that would lead me to doubt the statements and views cited in this article. They seem to truly reflect the honest opinions of those stating them. If anyone has contrary information, I would much like to know.

Historical Figures It is well known that J. Nevil Maskelyne reaped much publicity for his attacks on mediums. In fact, Maskelyne and Cooke began their rise to fame with performances of an anti-spiritualist demonstration. Maskelyne testified in court against several Spiritualists. However, in an article in the Pall Mall Gazette Maskelyne described witnessing table turning that he thought was genuine and said ï¿½myself and a few friends . . . produced movements of the table . . . I believe, in my own mind, that it must have been some psychic or nerve force which . . . neutralized the laws of gravitationï¿½ (page 5). He emphatically denied that spirits were involved however. Thus he rejected a supernatural explanation but accepted the natural physical reality of the phenomena. Professor Hoffmann (Angelo Lewis), author of Modern Magic and other classic texts, expressed some skepticism regarding psychic phenomena. But he said that he thought that certain slate-writing phenomena of mediums were probably genuine and not all due to trickery. He was consulted by investigators of the Society for Psychical Research and sat in on a number of seances with Mr. Eglinton, a spiritualist medium.

His published report was detailed, balanced, and could serve as a model for todayï¿½s magician-investigators. Harry Kellar has also written of his experiences with Eglinton; Keller observed him levitate. Kellar too rejected a spiritualistic interpretation but accepted the physical reality of the event. Kellarï¿½s account indicated that the levitation occurred in darkness, thus the strength of his account must be evaluated accordingly. Samuel Bellachini was the Court Conjuror for Emperor William I at Berlin. Bellachini investigated the controversial American medium Henry Slade. The sittings were not only held in darkness, but some were in full daylight. Bellachini was convinced that the results were not due to trickery. The famous historical medium, Eusapia Palladino, readily admitted herself that she used trickery when she could. Skeptics have often thus dismissed positive reports of her phenomena. But no less than Howard Thurston believed in some of her results and said so in the New York Times. Thurston was nevertheless well aware of her trickery.

Given that someone of Thurstonï¿½s stature endorsed the phenomena, perhaps skeptics and investigators should reevaluate the policy of automatically dismissing all positive evidence when trickery is found in other instances. Thomas Worthington produced a short biography of Thurston in which he described a premonition of Thurston himself. Worthington mentioned that Thurston had a deep interest in Eastern philosophy. First-hand accounts from Jean Eugene Robert-Houdin are difficult to come by. A brief statement of Robert-Houdinï¿½s was reprinted in a book on animal magnetism by Edwin Lee. Robert-Houdin attested to the clairvoyant ability of Alexis Didier. Will Goldstonï¿½s book Crystal Gazing, also reprinted statements of Robert-Houdin describing his experiences with Didier. Samri Baldwin, known as ï¿½The White Mahatmaï¿½ may have been the first magician to do a stage escape from handcuffs. He wrote one book titled Spirit Mediums Exposed. In another, The Secrets of Mahatma Land Explained, which also explained spiritualistic tricks, he stated that he did believe in psychic forces.

He made a point of saying that he did not use them in his performances though. Some might consider the statements of Baldwin more suspect than others mentioned in this article because he performed as a mentalist. But in Magic: A Pictorial History of Conjurers in the Theatre, David Price noted that Baldwin was associated with a Spiritualist church near the end of his life. It seems most likely that Baldwinï¿½s statements reflected his true opinions. Henry Ridgely Evans was a journalist and magic historian who wrote several books exposing fakery of mediums. He too believed in telepathy and said so in his Hours With the Ghosts. David Abbott wrote Behind the Scenes With the Mediums, a classic expose. He was involved with the American Society for Psychical Research investigation of Mrs. Blake, a trumpet medium. Mrs. Blake gave Abbott details about deceased relatives which she had no way of knowing. Henry Hardin (E.A. Parsons), a magic inventor and music professor, was also involved and also received strikingly accurate information. Father Carlos de Heredia was a Jesuit and also an amateur magician. As a boy, he was able to study under Herrmann.

In his book Spiritism and Common Sense he explained tricks of the mediums, and he too acknowledged that some psychical phenomena do exist. John Mulholland authored the book Beware Familiar Spirits. Mulholland was generally skeptical, but at the end of the book he included a chapter with accounts of paranormal occurrences from others. Among those was one by Fulton Oursler describing a premonition involving himself and Howard Thurston. In a biography by Ourslerï¿½s son, it was noted that ï¿½Fulton did have prophetic dreams all his life.ï¿½ Oursler was an amateur magician, and a well known editor and writer. One of his best known works was The Greatest Story Ever Told. Some of his magical writings appeared under the name Samri Frikell, including a book Spirit Mediums Exposed. Another writer who dabbled in magic was Lewis Carroll (Charles Lutwidge Dodgson). He had a strong interest in spiritualism and psychical research and stated that not all the phenomena could be explained by trickery. He was one of the charter members of the Society for Psychical Research. Julien Proskauer served as president of the S.A.M.

and also wrote two books attacking fake spiritualist mediums; one was titled The Dead do not Talk. In his other book, Spook Crooks!, he noted that ï¿½there have been some inexplicable phenomena during seances.ï¿½ Eric Dingwall was an honorary vice president of the Magic Circle when he died in 1986 (see John Boothï¿½s column of August 1988). In the early part of this century, he investigated numerous mediums and published many journal articles on his investigations. Dingwall came to rather favorable conclusions regarding St. Joseph of Copertino (a saint who levitated), and for Daniel Dunglas Home (an extraordinary medium). He also has written an extended discussion of Eusapia Palladino. These are recounted and evaluated in his most appropriately titled books, Very Peculiar People and Some Human Oddities. Later in life he wrote some scathing attacks on psychical researchers, but he did not explain some of his own extraordinary observations. Will Goldston wrote more than 50 books (e.g., Exclusive Magical Secrets), and founded the Magiciansï¿½ Club of London. It is not as well known that Goldston was heavily involved in encounters with the psychic.

In his Secrets of Famous Illusionists he describes a number of table levitations he witnessed and also mentioned that he himself practiced automatic writing. He took part in investigations of the medium Rudi Schneider. The eminent psychic researcher, Walter Franklin Prince, was an amateur conjuror and published a book titled Noted Witnesses for Psychic Occurrences. The titled well describes the contents. Prince reprinted letters and other accounts from such persons as Mark Twain, Luther Burbank, and Charles Dickens (an amateur conjuror). The magicians included Henry Ridgely Evans, John Nevil Maskelyne, and Fulton Oursler. Wallace Lee, for whom Ring 199 is named, was a friend of J.B. Rhine, the father of modern parapsychology. Lee had a chance to observe firsthand some of the early tests of Rhine. He wrote about his involvement in The Linking Ring and declared that he saw no flaws in Rhineï¿½s procedures. Second part of article: The Linking Ring, September 1990, Volume 70, No. 9, pp. 63-65, 109. Magicians Who Endorsed Psychic Phenomena By George P.

Hansen Modern Day Magicians As we have seen, many magicians of the past have endorsed the reality of psychic phenomena. Among them were some of the foremost members of the profession. Many of these were active in exposing fraudulent mediumship and psychic trickery. Even today this tradition continues. The renowned writers, Walter B. Gibson and his wife Litzka, are two modern-day figures who have had much involvement with the psychic realm. They co-authored a number of books on divination methods and psychic development. In their book The Mystic and Occult Arts, they recount in detail a number of their own personal psychic experiences. Walter was a member of the American Society for Psychical Research. Daryl Bem is a professor of psychology at Cornell University and also a mentalist. He was featured in Psychology Today, March 1984, for his use of magic in teaching. Recently he helped prepare a revision of Introduction to Psychology, one of the largest selling introductory textbooks for college courses in psychology. The section on parapsychology gives a favorable view of modern ESP experiments. The name of Uri Geller often sparks a dispute among magicians. In 1975 Abb Dickson and Artur Zorka investigated Geller.

Their report described events which they could not explain. Several skeptics have sought to discredit the account by writing of second- and third-hand rumors of conversations with Abb Dickson, supposedly indicating discrepancies. I personally have spoken with Dickson, and he affirmed the essential accuracy of the report and said that he did know how Geller accomplished the feats observed during their investigation. Magic historian and biographer William Rauscher has had a long involvement with psychical research. He has not only written biographies of John Calvert and Servais LeRoy, but he was instrumental in helping with the book The Psychic Mafia which described the shenanigans of fake mediums. The Spiritual Frontier describes his activities in the psychic realm giving both skeptical and favorable views of various phenomena. That book, as well as Arthur Ford: The Man Who Talked with the Dead (written with Allen Spraggett), give considerable information on the controversy surrounding the Houdini code (the message Houdini was to have communicated to his wife after death). Mentalist and magician Ormond McGill is well known for his books on hypnosis and mentalism. He was featured on the cover of the February 1989 Linking Ring.

Among magicians however, it is not so known that he has traveled extensively in some of the most exotic parts of the world investigating psychic, mystical, and religious phenomena. His writings display a highly positive evaluation of some of his encounters. In the September through November 1985 issues of The Linking Ring, anthropologist-magician Howard Higgins described some of his experiences among the Tahltan Indians in northwestern British Columbia. He did observe some magic tricks but also reported a strikingly accurate premonition by one of the Indians. He was forced to conclude that there was likely no normal explanation for it. The San Francisco Bay Area is home to Loyd Auerbach, a well-known proponent of psychic research and author of a book on investigations. Auerbach has served as president of an S.A.M. assembly. He has investigated a number of hauntings and has made very positive statements about parapsychology. A Scientific Poll of Magicians In 1981 Polly Birdsell, owner of California Magic & Novelty Co. in Pleasant Hill (on the eastern side of the San Francisco Bay Area), completed a masters thesis on the opinions of magicians and the relation of the occult to modern magic.

She explored how magicians view their art in relation to the supernatural. For part of her project, she polled a group of magicians and found that 82% of them expressed a positive view regarding the existence of ESP. Her thesis has recently been published in book form. Magician Editors Magicians who are open minded toward psychic occurrences are found in some surprising places. Donald Michael Kraig, editor of Fate, a popular magazine dealing with paranormal topics, has been a professional magician as has Mark Chorvinsky, editor of Strange, a magazine devoted to what is known as ï¿½Forteana.ï¿½ Marcello Truzzi, who holds a neutral position about psychic phenomena edits Zetetic Scholar, an occasionally produced journal devoted to scientific controversies on the paranormal. Truzzi has been active in the Psychic Entertainers Association and has served as Territorial Representative for the I.B.M. He is a sociologist and has authored a number of important papers regarding the psi controversy. Summary and Concluding Remarks It should not be surprising that so many magicians have and do accept the genuineness of psychic occurrences. After all, we magicians are mostly like normal people!

Recent polls have shown that over half of the general population believe in ESP. Clearly there is a disagreement, not only among magicians, but among scientists and government bodies as well. Physics Nobel laureate, Brian Josephson, is very positively inclined toward the existence of ESP; whereas physicist Stephen Hawking is critical. The U.S. Army Research Institute commissioned a study which came to rather negative conclusions about parapsychology, yet a project of the U.S. Congressional Office of Technology Assessment came to much more positive decision. Readers wanting more information about these two reports might consult the January and October 1989 issues of the Journal of the American Society for Psychical Research (the journal can be found in many large college and university libraries). For well over one hundred years, scientists have been debating the existence of paranormal phenomena such as extrasensory perception (ESP) and psychokinesis (PK). A recent example appears in the December 1987 issue of Behavioral and Brain Sciences, a psychology journal devoted to dialogue and debate. Over 100 pages were given to parapsychology with more than 50 commentators. Several of the participants in this scientific debate were magicians.

Readers interested in other writings on the role of magicians in parapsychology might wish to look at an article in the March-April 1985 issue of Parapsychology Review and another in the January 1990 Journal of the American Society for Psychical Research. Also, Marcello Truzzi, professor of sociology at Eastern Michigan University (Ypsilanti, Michigan), has an extensive report in preparation which I hope will soon see print. Most skeptics are unfamiliar with the best scientific evidence for psychic phenomena such as that in the Journal of Parapsychology. Most believers are unaware of the strongest arguments against the reality. It will likely be a while before the scientific controversy is resolved, but in any event, magicians will undoubtedly play a role. Authorï¿½s Note: I thank William Rauscher and Lupe Ah Chu for comments and help with the preparation of this article. Editorï¿½s Note: George Hansen is a civil engineer who has been employed in parapsychology research laboratories for eight years. He has been a member of the I.B.M. since 1983. References Abbott, D.P. (1913).

The history of a strange case: A study in occultism. Proceedings of the American Society for Psychical Research, 7, 652-702. A Spiritualistic Expose. - I & II: A Chat With Mr. Maskelyne. (1885). Pall Mall Gazette. April 18, Pp. 4-5, April 20, Pp. 4-5. Atkinson, R.L., Atkinson, R.C., Smith, E.E., & Bem, D.J. (1990). Introduction to Psychology (10th Ed.). San Diego, CA: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich. Auerbach, L. (1986). ESP, Hauntings and Poltergeists: A Parapsychologistï¿½s Handbook. New York: Warner Books. Baldwin, S.S. (1895). The Secrets of Mahatma Land Explained. Brooklyn, NY: T.J. Dyson & Son. [see page 104] Birdsell, P.G. (1989). How Magicians Relate the Occult to Modern Magic: An Investigation and Study.

Simi Valley, CA: Silver Dawn Media. Carrington, H. (1954). The American Seances With Eusapia Palladino. New York: Garrett Publications. [see pages 255-258 for account by Howard Thurston] Cohen, M.N. (Ed.). (1979). The Letters of Lewis Carroll. New York: Oxford University Press. [see pages 467, 471, 472 of Volume 1] Dingwall, E.J. (1947). Some Human Oddities: Studies in the Queer, the Uncanny, and the Fanatical. London: Home & Van Thal. Dingwall, E.J. (1962). Very Peculiar People: Portrait Studies in the Queer, the Abnormal and the Uncanny. New Hyde Park, NY: University Books. [see pages 9-37, 162-171 for Joseph of Copertino] Dingwall, E.J., & Langdon-Davies, J. (1956). The Unknown ï¿½ Is it Nearer? New York: New American Library.

[see pages 142, 173] Evans, H.R. (1897). Hours with the Ghosts or Nineteenth Century Witchcraft. Chicago: Laird & Lee. [see pages 12 and 32] Gibson, L.R., & Gibson, W.B. (1969). The Mystic and Occult Arts: A Guide to Their Use in Daily Living. West Nyack, NY: Parker Publishing Company. [see pages 37, 47, 48, 51, 52, 110, 131, 132, 143, 144] Gibson, W.B. (1927). The Science of Numerology: What Numbers Mean to You. New York: George Sully & Co. Gibson, W.B. (1969). Dreams. New York: Constellation International. Gibson, W.B. (1973). Witchcraft. New York: Grosset & Dunlap. Gibson, W.B., & Gibson, L.R. (1966). The Complete Illustrated Book of the Psychic Sciences.

Garden City, NY: Doubleday & Company. Gibson, W.B., & Gibson, L.R. (1973). The Complete Illustrated Book of Divination and Prophecy. Garden City, NY: Doubleday & Company. Goldston, W. (n.d.). Crystal Gazing, Astrology, Palmistry, Planchette, and Spiritualism. London: A.W. Gamage, Ltd. [preface dated 1906, see page 22 for statement of Robert-Houdin] Goldston, W. (1933). Secrets of Famous Illusionists. London: John Long, Limited. [see pages 110-114] Heredia, C.M. de. (1922). Spiritism and Common Sense. New York: P.J. Kenedy & Sons. [see page 109] Higgins, H. (1985). An anthropologist looks at magic. The Linking Ring, September, pp. 46, 47, 56; October, pp. 57, 58; November, pp. 48-50, 65.

Kellar, H. (1893). High caste Indian magic. North American Review, 156, January, 75-86. [For a detailed examination of Kellarï¿½s claims see: Indian magic and the testimony of conjurers, by Richard Hodgson in Proceedings of the Society for Psychical Research, 1894, 9, 354-366.] Lee, E. (1866). Animal Magnetism and Magnetic Lucid Somnambulism. London: Longmans, Green, and Co. [see pages 162-163 for statement by Robert-Houdin] Lee, W. (1952). Dr. J.B. Rhine and his work. The Linking Ring. October, Pp. 29-31, 106. Lewis, A.J. (1886). How and what to observe in relation to slate-writing phenomena. Journal of the Society for Psychical Research, 2, 362-375. Maskelyne, J.N. (1885). ï¿½Mr.

Maskelyne and the spiritualists.ï¿½ Pall Mall Gazette, April 23, P. 2. McGill, O. (1973). The Secret World of Witchcraft. Cranbury, NJ: A.S. Barnes. McGill, O. (1977). The Mysticism and Magic of India. Cranbury, NJ: A.S. Barnes. McGill, O., & Ormond, R. (1976). Religious Mysteries of the Orient. Cranbury, NJ: A.S. Barnes. Mulholland, J. (1938 ). Beware Familiar Spirits. New York: Charles Scribnerï¿½s Sons. [see pages 326-29 for statement by Fulton Oursler] Ormond, R., & McGill, O. (1959). Into the Strange Unknown. Hollywood, CA: The Esoteric Foundation. Oursler, W. (1963). Family Story. New York: Funk & Wagnalls Co. [see page 192-193] Price, H. (1930).

Rudi Schneider: A Scientific Examination of His Mediumship. London: Methuen & Co. [see pages 135-138 for account by Will Goldston] Prince, W. F. (1928 ). Noted Witnesses for Psychic Occurrences. Boston: Boston Society for Psychic Research. Proskauer, J.J. (1928 ). Spook Crooks! London: Selwyn & Blount. [see page 288] Rauscher, W.V. with Allen Spraggett. (1977). The Spiritual Frontier. Garden City, NY: Doubleday & Company. Spraggett, A. with Rauscher, W.V. (1973). Arthur Ford: The Man Who Talked with the Dead. New York: New American Library. [see pages 99 and 100 for statements by Thurston] Thurston, H. (1910). Believes in Palladino: Magician Thurston offers $1,000 if it be shown she depends on fraud. New York Times, May 14, P. 2. Worthington, T.C. (1938 ).

Recollections of Howard Thurston Conjuror, Illusionist and Author. Baltimore, MD. [see pages 25 and 26] Zoellner, J.C.F. (1881). Transcendental Physics. Boston: Colby & Rich, Publishers. [see pages 213 and 214 for statement by Bellachini] Zorka, A. (1976). Official report: Society of American Magicians, Assembly 30, Atlanta chapter. In Charles Panati (Ed.) The Geller Papers (pp. 157-167). Boston: Houghton Mifflin. For archive news post 12/1/8 click on articles for all other news click on forums

Question: What is the name of the London based society for conjurors and magicians, founded in 1905?
Answer: The Magic Circle