If You're Out There Harry Houdini -- Give Us a Sign!

What better moment than now -- just a few hours before the sun sets and the true "spirit" of Halloween kicks in -- that we should bow our heads in honor of the greatest master-of-illusion of all time: Harry Houdini. Houdini was (and perhaps still is) the most recognizable magician and escape artist the world has ever known. But it's easy to overlook that when Harry Houdini wasn't wresting himself free from straight-jackets and locked jail cells, he was also trying to "pass over" -- to make contact with the spirit world.

Houdini's interest in spiritualism started shortly after the death of his mother (see photo). Harry Houdini wasn't the first "only child" to have an especially close relationship with his mom and he certainly won't be the last. But when Harry's beloved mother died, Houdini began a long and ultimately unfilled quest to contact his deceased mother. In fact, according to www.magictricks.com after she died, he was observed many times at the cemetery where she was buried, lying face down on her grave and holding long conversations with her. He felt that he had to communicate with her and that was when he turned to Spiritualism.

What began as an earnest effort at breaking through ultimately wound up as an almost zealot-like campaign to bring spiritualists to their knees, as every attempt Houdini made at contacting his mother came up short. In the process, Houdini became convinced that most -- if not all -- mediums were frauds. Daring mediums to "put up or shut up" soon became an integral part of the magician's stage show.

Despite his skepticism -- Harry Houdini maintained a glimmer of hope. In fact, the magician and his wife (and stage assistant) Bess devised a "secret message" that was to be used to test the validity of any so-called spirit message coming from either of them, should one or the other die. For Houdini that moment arrived a lot sooner than he expected when -- according to www.smithsonianmag.com -- he died on Halloween in 1926, at age 52. Houdini's death certificate blames a ruptured appendix, but rumors circulated that he may have been murdered. In fact, a recent biography -- The Secret Life of Houdini by William Kalush and Larry Sloman, has caused many people, including the magician's great-nephew, to reconsider these rumors of murder. Houdini, they believe, may have been poisoned by Spiritualists - the same group of people Houdini dedicated countless hours to exposing.

But getting back to Harry Houdini's efforts to contact his wife, Prairighost.com points out that the "Houdini Code" was based on both sentimentality and an old vaudeville mind-reading routine. The message was, "Rosabelle- answer- tell- pray, answer- look- tell- answer, answer- tell". Bess' wedding band bore the inscription "Rosabelle", the name of the song she sang in her act when they first met. The other words correspond to a secret spelling code used to pass information between a magician and his assistant during a mentalist act. Each word or word pair equals a letter. The word "answer" stood for the letter "B", for example. "Answer, answer" stood for the letter "V". Thus, Houdini's secret phrase spelled out the word "BELIEVE".

And so -- points out magictricks.com -- for ten years after Houdini's death, his wife Bess conducted a séance on October 31^st. The Houdini séance's brought Harry Houdini a new level of fame (and fortune) and were attended by the top names in magic, as well as personal friends of the great magician. But despite claims to the contrary, Houdini never popped in for a visit at any of these séances.

According to www.prairighost.com, the last "official" Houdini séance was held on Halloween night of 1936, ten years after Houdini had died. A group of friends, fellow magicians, occultists, scientists and Bess Houdini herself gathered in Hollywood, on the roof of the Knickerbocker Hotel. Coverage for the Final Houdini Séance was provided by radio and it was broadcast all over the world. Eddy Saint took charge of the proceedings and started things off with the playing of "Pomp and Circumstance", a tune that had been used by Houdini to start his act in the later years. He noted for radio audiences that "every facility has been provided tonight that might aid in opening the pathway to the spirit world. Here in the inner circle reposes a "medium's trumpet", a pair of slates with chalk, a writing tablet and pencil, a small bell and in the center reposes a huge pair of silver handcuffs on a silk cushion."

Tonight -- at the Houdini Museum in Scranton, Pennsylvania, the official Houdini Séance continues to be conducted. Will Houdini show up this year? Who knows for sure. But why not join hands with your friends and invite the master magician to make an appearance at your house this Halloween!