The Seance - History and Origins

A dark room, a mysterious woman; floating objects; knocking sounds; an unworldly voice. This is a seance, where a mysterious medium attempts to contact, or at least pretend to contact, the dead so that they may communicate with the living they have left behind.

Seance, the word that has become associated with communicating with the dead, has its roots in a far less provocative meaning. In French, the word seance originally meant a seated meeting of any type. Eventually, however, both in French and English the word became associated specifically as a means to communicate with the dead in another, unearthly world. It is, in effect, the close-up examination of, and communication with, the spiritual world. The Seance - History and Origins - Read Full Story

Houdini

Harry Houdini grew up as Erich Weiss in Milwaukee where, for a time, he worked as an apprentice to a local locksmith. Those locksmith skills came in handy when Erich later took the name Houdini, the last name of a famous French magician, and moved to New York to become a magician himself. Houdini, of course, soon became well known throughout the world for his magic in general but especially for his sometimes death-defying escapes. Houdini - read full story