William Eglinton

William Eglinton
	William EglintonWilliam Eglinton
Nascimento	; Inglaterra, Inglaterra
Nacionalidade	inglês
Ocupação	Médium de efeitos físicos da Era vitoriana
Religião	Espiritualismo

William Eglinton, também conhecido como William Eglington (1857–1933) foi um médium espiritualista britânico desmascarado fraudando as sessões mediúnicas que protagonizava.^[1]^[2]^[3]^[4]

Biografia

Eglinton nasceu em Islington, Londres. Ele alegava materializar espíritos em suas sessões.^[5] Descobriu-se que as materializações eram falsas.^[6] Em 1876 uma fraude de Eglinton foi descoberta quando o parapsicólogo Thomas Colley aproveitou a materialização do "espírito" e cortou uma parte do seu manto. Descobriu-se que a peça cortada correspondia a um tecido encontrado na mala de Eglinton.^[7] Colley também puxou a barba da materialização e foi revelado que ela era falsa, semelhante a outra encontrada na mala de Eglinton.^[8]

Em 1882, o mágico americano Harry Kellar ficou perplexo com uma suposta levitação de Eglinton.^[9] Massimo Polidoro escreveu que Kellar não "impôs qualquer forma de controle" e "não conseguia ver nada" na sala escura da sessão escuro, mas ainda assim se convenceu que Eglinton levitou.^[3] De acordo com o mágico Harry Houdini, embora Kellar tenha inicialmente sido confundido pela levitação de Eglinton, quando ele analisou o assunto de forma mais completa foi capaz de reproduzir os mesmos fenômenos através de truques.^[10] Houdini escreveu que "não era de se estrnhar que Kellar não tivesse detectado os métodos de Eglinton imediatamente, nem é estranho que ele reconheceu que ele estava confuso. Nenhum mágico está imune de ser enganado e isso não depõe contra a dignidade de um mágico ou é humilhante para a reputação profissional admitir abertamente que ele não pode sempre confiar naquilo que ele pensa que vê".^[11] O historiador de magia Barry Wiley escreveu que Eglinton foi desmascarado como fraudulento vários anos depois.^[9]

Em 1886 o espiritualista John Stephen Farmer escreveu uma biografia de Eglinton.^[12]

Eglinton escrevia mediunicamente em lousas de ardósia e seus principais críticos foram os pesquisadores psíquicos Eleanor Sidgwick e Richard Hodgson.^[13] Em 1886 e 1887 uma série de publicações de S. J. Davey, Hodgson and Sidgwick na revista da Society for Psychical Research apresentaram os truques de escrita na lousa de Eglinton.^[14] Devido a esses artigos críticos, Stainton Moses e outros membros espiritualistas proeminentes abandonaram a SPR.^[15]^[16]

Hereward Carrington escreveu que Eglinton estava envolvido com Madame Blavatsky na produção fraudulenta das cartas dos mestres ascensionados.^[1] Frank Podmore escreveu que "Eglinton, em pelo menos duas ocasiões, foi observado simulando fenômenos ocultos fraudulentamente... Além disso, diversos observadores afirmaram ter visto Eglinton escrevendo nas lousas com as próprias mãos." Em uma sessão com Eglinton o professor Carvill Lewis ouviu-o escrevendo nas lousas e observou seus movimentos de escrita.^[17] Lewis também descobriu que Eglinton consultava um dicionário para responder às perguntas que lhe eram feitas.^[18]

Eglinton em livro espírita

Apesar de ter sido desmascarado ainda no século XIX, alguns adeptos da doutrina espírita consideraram genuínos os fenômenos por ele produzidos. Em 1972, no livro espírita "ABC do Espiritismo", o autor e divulgador dessa doutrina Vítor Ribas Carneiro, faz vários elogios e defesas de Eglinton, concluindo a seção sobre o médium nos seguintes termos:^[19]

“	E as mensagens eram obtidas, graças à faculdade de Eglinton, a quem o mundo muito deve pelo seu notável trabalho de prova da sobrevivência do Espírito após a morte do corpo.	”
	— página 189.

As edições mais recentes do mesmo livro, publicadas pela Federação Espírita do Paraná excluíram as menções a Eglinton.^[20]

Ver também

Referências

↑ ^a ^b Carrington, Hereward (1920) [1907]. The Physical Phenomena of Spiritualism, Fraudulent and Genuine; Being a Brief Account of the Most Important Historical Phenomena, A Criticism of Their Evidential Value, and a Complete Exposition of The Methods Employed in Fraudulently Reproducing the Same (em inglês). Nova Iorque: Dodd, Mead & Company. p. 84–90. 479 páginas. Consultado em 13 de abril de 2015. Cópia arquivada em 20 de junho de 2006
↑ Simeon Edmunds. (1966). Spiritualism: A Critical Survey. Aquarian Press. p. 105. ISBN 978-0850300130 "1876 also saw the first of several exposures of another physical medium, William Eglington, in whose trunk a false beard and a quantity of muslin were found by Archdeacon Colley. He was exposed again in 1880, after which he turned to slate-writing. In this he was exposed by Richard Hodgson and S. J. Davey of the SPR in 1885. Davey a clever conjuror, was able to duplicate all Eglington's phenomena so perfectly that some spiritualists, notably Alfred Russel Wallace, insisted that he too was really a genuine medium."
↑ ^a ^b Massimo Polidoro. (2001). Final Séance: The Strange Friendship Between Houdini and Conan Doyle. Prometheus Books. p. 51. ISBN 978-1573928960
↑ Paul Kurtz. (1985). A Skeptic's Handbook of Parapsychology. Prometheus Books. p. 277. ISBN 978-0879753009 "The most important bogus medium in history was William Eglinton, who began his corrupt activities in adolescence. Important because the ultimate effect of his slate-writing trickery was to revolutionize psychical investigations."
↑ Raymond Buckland. (2005). The Spirit Book: The Encyclopedia of Clairvoyance, Channeling, and Spirit Communication. Visible Ink Press. p. 125. ISBN 978-1578592135
↑ Montague Summers. (2010). Physical Phenomena of Mysticism. Kessinger Publishing. p. 114. ISBN 978-1161363654
↑ Joseph McCabe. (1920). Is Spiritualism based on Fraud?: The Evidence Given by Sir A.C. Doyle and Others Drastically Examined. London: Watts & Co. p. 115. "The English medium Eglinton adopted and improved his methods, and he was one of the bright stars of the Spiritualist world for twenty years. He was detected in fraud as early as 1876. At that time he gave materialization-stances, at which the ghostly form of Abdullah" appeared. Archdeacon Colley found the beard and draperies of Abdullah in his trunk."
↑ Roy Stemman. (1976). The Supernatural. Danbury Press. p. 62
↑ ^a ^b Barry Wiley. (2012). The Thought Reader Craze: Victorian Science at the Enchanted Boundary. McFarland. p. 35. ISBN 978-0786464708
↑ Harry Houdini. (1922). Spirit Compacts Unfilled. The Sun. 30 October.
↑ Harry Houdini. (2011 edition). A Magician Among the Spirits. Cambridge University Press. p. 263. ISBN 978-1108027489
↑ John Stephen Farmer. (1886). Twixt Two Worlds: A Narrative of the Life and Work of William Eglinton. The Psychological Press, London.
↑ Ronald Pearsall. (1972). The Table-Rappers. Book Club Associates. pp. 109–110. "The leading exponent of slate writing was William Eglinton; his leading critics were Mrs Sidgwick and Richard Hodgson. Hodgson had created a stir by his expose of theosophy, and neither he nor Mrs Sidgwick was impressed by Eglinton."
↑ Janet Oppenheim. (1988). The Other World: Spiritualism and Psychical Research in England, 1850–1914. Cambridge University Press. pp. 139–140. ISBN 978-0521347679
↑ Roger Luckhurst. (2002). The Invention of Telepathy, 1870–1901. Oxford University Press. p. 57. ISBN 978-0199249626
↑ Rhodri Hayward. (2014). Resisting History: Religious Transcendence and the Invention of the Unconscious. Manchester University Press. p. 47. ISBN 978-0719095375
↑ Frank Podmore. (2011 edition). Modern Spiritualism: A History and a Criticism. Volume 2. Cambridge University Press. p. 206. ISBN 978-1108072588
↑ Georgina Byrne. (2010). Modern Spiritualism and the Church of England, 1850–1939. Boydell Press. p. 52. ISBN 978-1843835899
↑ Ribas Carneiro, Victor (1972). ABC do Espiritismo. Curitiba: Edição do autor. p. 187-189. 233 páginas
↑ Ribas Carneiro, Victor (1996). ABC do Espiritismo 5 ed. Curitiba: Federação Espírita do Paraná. ISBN 857365001X

Bibliografia

Edward Clodd. (1917). The Question: A Brief History and Examination of Modern Spiritualism. Grant Richards, London. pp. 50–106
Carvill Lewis. (1887). The Alleged Physical Phenomena of Spiritualism: An Account of Two Séances. Journal of the Society for Psychical Research. Part XI.
Walter Mann. (1919). The Follies and Frauds of Spiritualism. Rationalist Association. London: Watts & Co. pp. 66–69
Eleanor Sidgwick. (1886). Mr. Eglinton. Journal of the Society for Psychical Research 2: 282–334.

Ligações externas

Spiritualism and Theosophy by William Eglinton

[carrington1920-1] Carrington, Hereward (1920) [1907]. The Physical Phenomena of Spiritualism, Fraudulent and Genuine; Being a Brief Account of the Most Important Historical Phenomena, A Criticism of Their Evidential Value, and a Complete Exposition of The Methods Employed in Fraudulently Reproducing the Same (em inglês). Nova Iorque: Dodd, Mead & Company. p. 84–90. 479 páginas. Consultado em 13 de abril de 2015. Cópia arquivada em 20 de junho de 2006

[2] Simeon Edmunds. (1966). Spiritualism: A Critical Survey. Aquarian Press. p. 105. ISBN 978-0850300130 "1876 also saw the first of several exposures of another physical medium, William Eglington, in whose trunk a false beard and a quantity of muslin were found by Archdeacon Colley. He was exposed again in 1880, after which he turned to slate-writing. In this he was exposed by Richard Hodgson and S. J. Davey of the SPR in 1885. Davey a clever conjuror, was able to duplicate all Eglington's phenomena so perfectly that some spiritualists, notably Alfred Russel Wallace, insisted that he too was really a genuine medium."

[Polidoro2001-3] Massimo Polidoro. (2001). Final Séance: The Strange Friendship Between Houdini and Conan Doyle. Prometheus Books. p. 51. ISBN 978-1573928960

[4] Paul Kurtz. (1985). A Skeptic's Handbook of Parapsychology. Prometheus Books. p. 277. ISBN 978-0879753009 "The most important bogus medium in history was William Eglinton, who began his corrupt activities in adolescence. Important because the ultimate effect of his slate-writing trickery was to revolutionize psychical investigations."

[5] Raymond Buckland. (2005). The Spirit Book: The Encyclopedia of Clairvoyance, Channeling, and Spirit Communication. Visible Ink Press. p. 125. ISBN 978-1578592135

[6] Montague Summers. (2010). Physical Phenomena of Mysticism. Kessinger Publishing. p. 114. ISBN 978-1161363654

[7] Joseph McCabe. (1920). Is Spiritualism based on Fraud?: The Evidence Given by Sir A.C. Doyle and Others Drastically Examined. London: Watts & Co. p. 115. "The English medium Eglinton adopted and improved his methods, and he was one of the bright stars of the Spiritualist world for twenty years. He was detected in fraud as early as 1876. At that time he gave materialization-stances, at which the ghostly form of Abdullah" appeared. Archdeacon Colley found the beard and draperies of Abdullah in his trunk."

[8] Roy Stemman. (1976). The Supernatural. Danbury Press. p. 62

[Wiley2012-9] Barry Wiley. (2012). The Thought Reader Craze: Victorian Science at the Enchanted Boundary. McFarland. p. 35. ISBN 978-0786464708

[10] Harry Houdini. (1922). Spirit Compacts Unfilled. The Sun. 30 October.

[11] Harry Houdini. (2011 edition). A Magician Among the Spirits. Cambridge University Press. p. 263. ISBN 978-1108027489

[12] John Stephen Farmer. (1886). Twixt Two Worlds: A Narrative of the Life and Work of William Eglinton. The Psychological Press, London.

[13] Ronald Pearsall. (1972). The Table-Rappers. Book Club Associates. pp. 109–110. "The leading exponent of slate writing was William Eglinton; his leading critics were Mrs Sidgwick and Richard Hodgson. Hodgson had created a stir by his expose of theosophy, and neither he nor Mrs Sidgwick was impressed by Eglinton."

[14] Janet Oppenheim. (1988). The Other World: Spiritualism and Psychical Research in England, 1850–1914. Cambridge University Press. pp. 139–140. ISBN 978-0521347679

[15] Roger Luckhurst. (2002). The Invention of Telepathy, 1870–1901. Oxford University Press. p. 57. ISBN 978-0199249626

[16] Rhodri Hayward. (2014). Resisting History: Religious Transcendence and the Invention of the Unconscious. Manchester University Press. p. 47. ISBN 978-0719095375

[17] Frank Podmore. (2011 edition). Modern Spiritualism: A History and a Criticism. Volume 2. Cambridge University Press. p. 206. ISBN 978-1108072588

[18] Georgina Byrne. (2010). Modern Spiritualism and the Church of England, 1850–1939. Boydell Press. p. 52. ISBN 978-1843835899

[19] Ribas Carneiro, Victor (1972). ABC do Espiritismo. Curitiba: Edição do autor. p. 187-189. 233 páginas

[20] Ribas Carneiro, Victor (1996). ABC do Espiritismo 5 ed. Curitiba: Federação Espírita do Paraná. ISBN 857365001X

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