My favorite author as a child was Robert Louis Stevenson. He wrote The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Did he have any connection to the occult?
He appears to be quite cool. Although he's swimming in a really toxic elite culture, I've seen no evidence from his writings or associations that he was himself into the dark stuff
Arthur Conan Doyle, a medical doctor who created the character of Sherlock Holmes was a leading Spiritualist with an interesting relationship/history with Houdini, as you describe. Harry Houdini spent the final years of his life campaigning against fraudulent psychics and fortune tellers. Blaming them for conning his mother out of her savings and drawing her into fantastical delusions that broke her, preyed on her desire to contact a loved one who passed:
Spiritualists and mediums had devotees and public supporters, including many powerful and influential leaders. Mary Lincoln even held seances in the White House:
Houdini went after mediums and Spiritualists with all of his conviction and time, even helped focus the attention of Congress on them, believing they were dangerous frauds, preying on vulnerable people. He wrote a pamphlet, Houdini Exposes the Tricks, and said, “the more highly educated a man is along certain lines, the easier he is to dupe” and “It takes a flim-flammer to catch a flim-flammer.”:
Curious to know if you've read Foucault's Pendulum by Umberto Eco. It takes a satirical voyage into the occult in much the same way as RAW's Illuminatus! Even beyond RAW actually, in that he points to the danger of being taken too seriously when writing about this stuff. That's what happened to a friend of mine many years ago. He became obsessed with Illuminatus! which wasn't helping his schizophrenia one bit, although I may be confusing cause and effect here. I know RAW got a lot of unwanted attention because of that book, and so did the KLF, who based a lot of their music on his work. Got to be quite a problem to hear them tell it. Just wondering if you've run into any of that yourself?
On the theme of ritual killings, look into the murders of Barry and Honey Sherman, whose bodies were posed in a way that's significant in an occult way. The belts around their necks are red flags. They attended an elite college with heavy freemasonic recruitment (my own experience). Lots of medical and nursing students and abortion advocacy. Invitations to black masses, toga parties, and initiations in nearby steam tunnels. Familial ties to Nazi/Fascist wartime military organizations. And, an angel you could have nightmares about: http://renew.newcollege.utoronto.ca/index.php/issue-5-2017-behind-the-scenes-edition/of-angels-space-and-place/
Ah such a vast topic.
Haven’t read this yet, but I just want to say that I appreciate your interesting choices of topic/angle.
My favorite author as a child was Robert Louis Stevenson. He wrote The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Did he have any connection to the occult?
He appears to be quite cool. Although he's swimming in a really toxic elite culture, I've seen no evidence from his writings or associations that he was himself into the dark stuff
That's a relief. I love Treasure Island!
Arthur Conan Doyle, a medical doctor who created the character of Sherlock Holmes was a leading Spiritualist with an interesting relationship/history with Houdini, as you describe. Harry Houdini spent the final years of his life campaigning against fraudulent psychics and fortune tellers. Blaming them for conning his mother out of her savings and drawing her into fantastical delusions that broke her, preyed on her desire to contact a loved one who passed:
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/for-harry-houdini-seances-and-spiritualism-were-just-an-illusion-180978944/
Spiritualists and mediums had devotees and public supporters, including many powerful and influential leaders. Mary Lincoln even held seances in the White House:
https://www.whitehousehistory.org/seances-in-the-red-room
Seances continued in the White House even into the Coolidge administration:
https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-cincinnati-enquirer-houdini/53938992/
Houdini went after mediums and Spiritualists with all of his conviction and time, even helped focus the attention of Congress on them, believing they were dangerous frauds, preying on vulnerable people. He wrote a pamphlet, Houdini Exposes the Tricks, and said, “the more highly educated a man is along certain lines, the easier he is to dupe” and “It takes a flim-flammer to catch a flim-flammer.”:
https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-brooklyn-daily-eagle-houdini-margery/4691118/
Houdini was a trickster. Who spotted the tricks.
Bloody Insane British Upper Class: twisted minds with too much time on their hands!
Hello Matthew,
Curious to know if you've read Foucault's Pendulum by Umberto Eco. It takes a satirical voyage into the occult in much the same way as RAW's Illuminatus! Even beyond RAW actually, in that he points to the danger of being taken too seriously when writing about this stuff. That's what happened to a friend of mine many years ago. He became obsessed with Illuminatus! which wasn't helping his schizophrenia one bit, although I may be confusing cause and effect here. I know RAW got a lot of unwanted attention because of that book, and so did the KLF, who based a lot of their music on his work. Got to be quite a problem to hear them tell it. Just wondering if you've run into any of that yourself?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XP5oHL3zBDg
On the theme of ritual killings, look into the murders of Barry and Honey Sherman, whose bodies were posed in a way that's significant in an occult way. The belts around their necks are red flags. They attended an elite college with heavy freemasonic recruitment (my own experience). Lots of medical and nursing students and abortion advocacy. Invitations to black masses, toga parties, and initiations in nearby steam tunnels. Familial ties to Nazi/Fascist wartime military organizations. And, an angel you could have nightmares about: http://renew.newcollege.utoronto.ca/index.php/issue-5-2017-behind-the-scenes-edition/of-angels-space-and-place/
So weird.
https://montanarcc.substack.com/p/role-reversal-the-collective-west