14.3

Dead Media Halloween Special: Dead media for the spirit medium mediating the dead! //Source(s): "An Exposure of Mediums' Tricks and Rackets," by C. Samuel Campbell. LITTLE BLUE BOOK NO. 1746. (Edited// by E. Haldeman-Julius) Slate Writing "Slates, prepared and unprepared, have played an important part in the spiritualistic racket. An unprepared slate against the under surface of a table by the medium's fingers, his thumb resting on the top of the table. Yet the slate will be handed to you in a few moments with scrawled writing on it. The medium uses a thimble arrangement with a piece of slate pencil attached to write the message with one of his fingers." "Again, a slate and a piece of chalk may be placed on the floor under the table. Although the subject may hold the medium's hands across the top of the table and place his feet on the medium's feet under the table, writing appears. The medium has simply slipped his foot out of the loose-fitting shoe which has a steel toe -- leaving the subject with the impression that he still has the foot under control -- and written the message with his toes, the front of his sock being cut out to permit their free use." "A false, paper-thin flap of silicate has been used to cover writing on a slate. Held under the table, the flap is slipped onto a shelf and the slate produced with the message written on it." The Reaching Rod "An indispensible tool of the medium is the reaching rod. It is used to pick up spirit trumpets and tambourines, to float ghosts about the room and to aid in the production of countless other phenomena. Constructed on the fishing-rod telescope principle, it can be folded into the size and form of a thick fountain pen. Extended, it may reach as far as ten feet. The end is generally equipped with a small hook or pincers device to be used in picking up objects." Spirit Music "To cause spirit music, one medium used an old style Swiss music box fastened under the table." "Still other methods of getting music from the air are the concealed musician method and the radio phonograph method." Trumpet Seances "When the mediums learn that spirits could be made to whisper through trumpets or megaphones instead of dumbly rapping out "yes" and "no" on a table or wall panel, psychic communication took a vast step forward." "Sometimes a small trumpet not over eight inches in length stands in the middle of the table. A circle is formed about the table, with hands clasped and the medium's feet under control. When the lights go out, spirits speak through the trumpet. The medium has merely leaned forward and picked it up with his teeth by the suitably constructed mouthpiece, whispering his messages through it." "At times a length of garden hose is put into the trumpet, by which it can then be elevated; and the medium, talking through the hose, produces whispers at a greater distance." "Sometimes a medium dares to give a light seance, though this is not often as it is too risky. In such cases the principle of radio is used, coils being secreted under rugs and elsewhere." Spirit Photographs "Double exposure is the method mostly used, the spirit being previously photographed against a black background of velvet or some similar material that will not reflect light. Instead of a complete double exposure however, some are made by exposing one-half of the plate for the spirit and the other half for the sitter. A trick slide is used with such a method." "Figures are sometimes painted with sulphate of quinine on the back screen. While such figures are not visible to the eye, they appear on the photograph directly behind the sitter." "A medium may lay the plates you bring on an innocent-looking table top and print the spirit on them before placing them in the camera. A ghost face is painted in lead on the undersurface of the tabletop, and it is printed on the plate by X-rays. Often the plates thus treated are not even exposed, the face appearing merely through the medium's having prayed over them." "Another method . . . is one in which the medium palms a much reduced copy of the photograph of the spirit. This picture, painted with luminous paint, is transfered to the plate by the medium simply bringing the two into contact for a moment." " . . . a special flashlight with the message written on the lens may be pressed secretly against the plate at an opportune moment, thus giving the appearance of a photographed spirit message." "Spirit Readings. One of the tricks of the medium is to answer sealed questions." (Several paragraphs describe methods for reading answers using sleight-of-hand.) "The same principle is employed when the subject places the card upon which he has written his question between the leaves of a Bible. The center of the back and most of the pages have been cut out, permitting the medium to read the question as he did through the opening in the card in the above trick. But this trick becomes more effective when performed in the following manner. The question is written on a piece of paper and slipped into an envelope. The Bible, hollowed out as above, has two batteries and two three-volt lamps in it, and a piece of glass cemented into the opening in the back binding. Under the pretext of writing a birth date or a name on it, the medium places the envelope on the Bible, which he has been reading, for more solid support. Having actually placed it on the glass window, he switches on the lamps and reads the question through the envelope." Bill Wallace (austex23@aol.com) and William Wallace (noted trick-or-treater)
 * Dead medium: The Spirit Racket**
 * From: Austex23@aol.com  (Bill Wallace)**