  
|
||
 
 
|
||
|
|
||
|
|
||
In the late 19th century Spiritualism, the belief that the dead manifest themselves through mediums to the living,reached its peak. The popular form of entertainment at the time was the s`eance. Mediums would communicate with the spirit world and draw miraculous powers from the underworld.
Most of these miracles and the mediums were later proven to be false. The mysterious powers of Daniel Dunglas Home (1833-86) dazzled everyone for ages and to this day remain unexplained. Home was especially popular in England his audience consisted of lords, earls and aristocrates.
In 11868 Home was giving a s`eance in Norwood, England. lord Adare kept a detailed report of the nights eerie events. He begins with Home in a trance. Home became fascinated with the fire and began to stir the coals with a poker.
with his hand stirred the into a flame; then kneeling down, he placed his face right among the burning coals, moving it about as though bathing it in water. Then, getting up, he held his finger for some time in ht flame of the candle. Presently, he took the same lump of coal he had previously handled and came over to us, blowing upon it to make itbrighter. He then walked slowly round the table, and said," I want to see which of you will be the best subject. Ah! Adare will be the easiest, because he has been most with Dan." [Home was referring to himself] Mr. Jencken held out his hand, saying, "Put it in mine," Home said, "No no, touch it and see," he touched it with tip of his finger and burnt himself. Home then held it within four or five inches of Mr. Saal's and Mr. Hurt's hands, and they could not endure the heat. He came to me and said, "Now if you are not afraid, hold out your hand"; I did so, and having made two rapid passes over my hand, he placed the coal in it. Imust have held it for half a minute, long enought to have burned my hand fearfully; the coal felt scarcely warm Home then took it away, laughed, and seemed much pleased. As he was going back to the fire-place, he suddenly turned round and said," Why, just fancy , some of them think that only one side of the ember was hot." He told me to make a hollow of both my hands; I did so, and he placed the coal in them, and them put both his hands on top of the coal, so that it was completely covered by our four hands, and we held it there for some time. Upon this occasion scarcely any heat at all could be perceived.
Home often demonstrated his immunity to fire, and his ability to pass that immunity on to faithful members of his audience. Lord Lindsay recounted several events of this type before the Commitee of the Dialecitcal Society during their 1869 investigation fo the spiritualistic phenomena. Lindsay testified that often during a s`eance Home would hold hot coals in his hands. Lindsay stated that on eight seperate occasions he himself had held hot coals in his own hands. Lindsay once reached out and touched a coal on his own. He severly burnt the middle finger on his right hand. Not until Home himself would place the cal in his hand, would he be able to handle the coal without injury.
Home was even so bold as to place a burning hot coal on his freind Samuel Hall's head. When Hall was questioned if the coal was hot he replied, "warm, but not hot!" Home believed he gained his powers from the spirit world. Before his amazing demonstrations he would often confere with the spirits to get his power. The following is a description of such a conference recorded by W. Stainton Moses, a noteable medium:
[Mr. Home] then went to the fireplace, removed the guard, and sat down on the hearthrug. there he seemed to hold a conversation by signs with a spirit. He repeatedly bowed, and finally set to work to mesmerise his head again. He ruffled his bushy hair until it stood out like a mop, and then deliberately lay down and put his head in the bright wood fire. The hair was in the blaze, and must, under ordinary circumstances, have been singed off. His head was in the grate, and his neck on a level with the top bar. This was repeated several times. He also put his hand into the fire, smoothed away the wood and coal andpicked out a live coal, which he held in his hand for a few seconds, but replaced soon, saying the power was not sufficient. He tried to a hot coal to Mr. Crookes, but was unable to do it.
Sir William Crookes a leading chemists and phusicists of the 19th century, began a scientific investigation of the spiritualistic movement. He joined one of Home's s`eances in London the night of Apirl 28, 1873, he rocorded these events:
... Mr. Home told me to leave my seat and come with him to the fire. He asked me if I should be afraid to take a live coal (ember) from his hand. I said, no, I would take it if he would give it to me. He then put his hand among the hot coals (embers), and deliberately picked out the brightest bit and held it in his hand for a few seconds. He appeared to deliberate for a time, and then returned it to the grate, saying the power was too weak, and he was afraid I might be hurt. During this time I was kneeling on the hearthrug, and am unable to explain how it was he was not severely burnt.... After Home had recovered from the trance I examined his hand with care to see if there were any signs of burning or of previous preparation. I could detect no trace of injury to the skin, which was soft and delicate like a woman's.
Note: Many of the mediums Crookes investigated later turned out to be frauds, no one is sure how he reached his false conclusions.
Home was also famous for his levitations. His first levitation occured when he was 19. Home himself seemed completly surprised when he lifted off the floor. Over the next 40 years he performed these miracles many more times all of these remain unexplained.
F.L. Burr records the events of Homes first levitation. To the surprise of everyone present, especially Home he rose a foot off of the floor. Home was overcome with emotions and so choked up he couldn't speak. Three times he lifted off of the floor. The third time he managed to touch the ceiling.
Home learned to control these amazing flights and performed before such notables as, emperor Napoleon III and Mark Twain. One of his greatest performances was recorded by Lord Linksay:
I was sitting on December 16, 1868, Lord Adare's rooms in Asley Place, London, S.W., with Mr. Home and Lord Adare and cousin of his. During the sitting, Mr. Home went into a trance, and in that state was carried out of the window in the room next to where we were, and was brought in at our window. The distance between the windows was about seven feet six inches, and tere was not the slightest foothold between them, nor was there more than a 12 in projection to each window, which sereced as a ledge to put floweres on. We heard the window in the next room lifted up, and almost immediately after we saw Home floating in the air outside our window. The moon was shinning full into the room; my back was to the light, and I saw the shadow on the wall of the windowsill, and Home's feet about six inches above it. He remained in this position for a few seconds, then raised the window and glided into the room feet foremost and sat down.
Lord Adare then went into the next room to look at the window from which he had been carried. It was raised about 18 inches, and he expressed his wonder how Mr. Home had been taken through so narrow an aperture. Home said (still in a trance) " I will show you," and then with his back to the window he leanced back and was shot out of th the aperture head first, with the body rigid, and then returned quite quietly. The window is about 70 feet from the ground.
Many debated this levititation but an explanation was never found. Did Home draw extraordinary powers from the spirit world? Or was Daniel Dunglas Home the cleverest trickster of all time?