A Little History - The Secrets of Mentalists.

True mentalism did not really appear until the nineteenth century, when psychic research, or spiritual science, was notably explored by Jean-Eugène Robert-Houdin (1805–1871), the father of modern conjuring. Assisted by his son, he performed telepathic experiments on stage while blindfolded. In his book How One Becomes a Sorcerer, he gives his readers very detailed descriptions of these experiments and defines the practice as “a material influence on the will of the spectators, anticipated through ingenious stratagems, and often forced by highly skillful subtleties.”

His successors in the field of telepathic experiments were the Frenchman Alexander Herrmann (1844–1896), known as “Herrmann the Great,” who was both a doctor and a magician-illusionist, and his brother Carl Herrmann, who drew inspiration from his techniques.

John Henry Anderson (1814–1874), a Scottish magician known as the “Great Wizard of the North,” was one of the pioneers of the art of street magic. His success came from his extensive use of advertising and popular shows. He opened his first theater in London in 1840, where he presented numerous performances as an illusionist.

One of the greatest celebrities of the nineteenth-century metapsychic world was the Scotsman Daniel Dunglas Home (1833–1886), whose American fame came from his levitation performances. He gave hundreds of demonstrations in Europe in 1855. In his book Lights and Shadows of Spiritualism, published in 1877, he described in detail the tricks used by fake mediums. He was suspicious of anyone who claimed to possess powers that he himself could not demonstrate, especially those who claimed to materialize objects. Rumors said that he was able to enter and leave through a window, float through space, and stretch his body as far as he wished. His mediumistic powers have never been explained.

Irving Bishop (1855–1889), an excellent American telepath, was best known for his famous “blindfolded car” performance: he drove through city streets with a blindfold over his eyes. He became an “anti-Spiritualist” and, in 1880, wrote Second Sight Explained, which described the methods used by mediums. Considered one of the most brilliant representatives of mentalism at a time when Spiritualism still reigned, he denounced fake mediums and other charlatans.

Victor Segno (1870–1930), an American pseudo-mentalist, claimed to be able to emit brain waves that promised healing from illness and personal success to those who joined his movement for one dollar. He gained around 12,000 followers worldwide! His method consisted of sending positive mental vibrations remotely to his subscribers, vibrations that could supposedly be received and therefore produce a beneficial effect in each person.

He was nevertheless the author of remarkable works on personal development, including the creation of the American Institute of Mentalism, which would truly take on its full scope at the very beginning of the century, after the worldwide circulation of his main book, The Law of Mentalism, which defined mentalism as follows:

“It is the source of all intelligence, as well as of every physical, social, mental, spiritual, scientific, artistic, and mechanical achievement and advancement; the foundation of all knowledge; the cause of all happiness as well as all misfortune, of health or sickness, of success or failure.”

“It is the harmonious action of the three most powerful faculties of the mental organization. The first is thought, the second is ethereal energy, and the third is will.”