Physical Mediums
By far the most spectacular figures in Victorian spiritualism, physical mediums dominated parlors and stages throughout the era. The category was broad, encompassing everything from simple rappings on a table to full-blown musical concerts and feats of levitation. One of the biggest celebrities of the era was medium Daniel Dunglas Home. Given his astounding fame across Europe and America, it is puzzling that history seems to have left him behind. Home exemplified the genre, causing accordions to play by themselves, bells to ring, and pianos to rise from the ground. He, himself, famously rose from the ground at least twice, along with British medium Mrs. Guppy. The following images are just a few examples of the treasure trove of physical medium artifacts and stories.
Henry Spicer, Sights and Sounds: The Mystery of the Day, London: Thomas Bosworth, 1853. Harry Price Library of Magical Literature, Senate House Library, London, UK.
Spirit rappings are the enduring hallmark of the spiritualist séance. Still depicted in popular culture, the practice of asking a spirit to knock on a table in answer to a question dates back to the origins of the movement itself. In 1848, Kate and Margaretta Fox (ages 12 and 15) purported to communicate with spirits in their Hydesville, NY home through a series of knockings. The most common critique of the sisters’ mediumship centered around their joints; namely, skeptical onlookers believed they made the sounds through loudly cracking their toes or knees.
This text and illustration addresses the anatomical concerns at play in the Fox Sisters’ debunking. (Spiritualists would rightly observe that the sisters and those who followed staged far more spectacular feats than rappings.)
Letter, girl to friend, regarding psychic phenomena, 1862, Box: 40, Folder: 9. Michael McDowell Death Collection, AS10. Charles Deering McCormick Library of Special Collections.
As spiritualism spread, music began to dominate séance phenomena. This letter describes a quintessential sitting with musical medium Jennie Lord. Though Lord was not the first musical medium, her séances defined the style through the 1850s and ‘60s, and many others would employ flying, self-playing instruments such as those described here. Keep scrolling for transcription.
“My folks here are spiritualists, Julia and they have a ‘musical medium’ Miss Jenny Lord, here now, and I’ve got so I don’t dare to go to bed alone. The ‘medium’ goes into a trance or deep sleep. She sits perfectly still with folded hands and a circle is formed round her. Then guitars, fiddles, tambourines sail round in the air playing one tune in perfect harmony and as far as we can see unaided by mortal power. Two drums are hung up in one corner of the ‘circle room’ and drumsticks placed upon it and the bass and tenor drums chime in... The dancing of unseen feet is heard, and Oh! gracious!”
Print, Frank Leslie’s Illustrated Newspaper, “Spirits and their manifestations--An evening séance”, 1887-04-02, Item 2, Oversize: 43, Item: 2. Michael McDowell Death Collection, AS10. Charles Deering McCormick Library of Special Collections.
This image from Frank Leslie’s Illustrated Newspaper captures the essence of a typical physical séance.
“Programme/playbill for regular performances of ‘light and dark séances’ by Miss Annie Eva Fay at the Queen's Concert Rooms, Hanover Square, London.” Harry Price Collection, Senate House Library, London, UK, HPF/5A/21.
Long before Arthur Conan Doyle and Harry Houdini famously feuded over spiritualism, stage magicians were attempting to debunk physical mediums. Stage mediums like Annie Eva Fay and the Davenport Brothers, who toured the world with spectacular spiritualist performances, were particular targets. This distinctly Victorian playbill from a Fay séance highlights all the flair and theatricality of these events.