Immortals among us

A seemingly universal human trait is the fear of death. To some extent we all find ways to deal with the reality that one day, the life we live now, will come to an end. Historically, man has created tales of afterlives and heavens/paradises as a means of coming to terms with the inevitability of death. Another interesting wrinkle in the equation is the idea of immortality. That someone can find a way to completely conquer death and therefore live forever. Within the paranormal/fortean realm, the concept of immortality takes on a few forms which I want to spend some time talking about today.

The Comte de Saint Germain

A few months back, Greg Bishop interviewed the enigmatic Red Pill Junkie (of The Daily Grail, Mysterious Universe, and Intrepid Magazine fame) on Radio Misterioso. During their enlightening conversation (part 1, part 2), which I recommend you give a listen, RPJ mentioned a particular book which he found to be worth reading. I didn’t remember hearing about the book before, so I promptly went to amazon and ordered it. The book is The Morning of the Magicians, which I came to learn is considered a classic work on esotericism from the mid-1960’s. Topics within the book include; the works of Charles Fort, the ‘teachings’ of Gurdjieff, Alchemy, Fulcanelli, and possible ancient advanced civilizations.  I haven’t completely finished the book yet as there is a ton of content to digest. However the authors discussion on Alchemy really grabbed my attention and sent me off on a variety of internet web searches. The searches ended with me learning of the bizarre personage known as: The Comte de Saint Germain.

St. Germain is widely believed to have been born in 1690. He claimed to be the son of Francis II Rákóczi, the Prince of Transylvania, although Francis’ will claimed that he only had one heir, a Leopold George who is said to have died at age four. Other more extreme theories hold that Germain was born around the time of Christ and was actually in attendance at the wedding where Jesus is said to have turned water into wine. Regardless, actual historical evidence exists of a person named St. Germain who was often in the company of the aristocracy of 18th century Europe and France. Germain arrived on the scene around 1742 and began courting favor with the rich and famous of the time period. By all accounts Germain was an odd character who seemed to have great deal of knowledge on a variety of topics. Here are some attributed characteristics and facts about St. Germain courtesy of Stephen Wagner from paranormal.about.com:

• He could play the violin like a virtuoso.
• He was an accomplished painter.
• Wherever he traveled, he set up an elaborate laboratory, presumably for his alchemy work.
• He seemed to be a man of great wealth, but was not known to have any bank accounts. (If it was due to his ability to transmute base metals into gold, he never performed the feat for observers.)
• He dined often with friends because he enjoyed their company, but was rarely seen to eat food in public. He subsisted, it was said, on a diet of oatmeal.
• He prescribed recipes for the removal of facial wrinkles and for dyeing hair.
• He loved jewels, and much of his clothing - including his shoes - were studded with them.
• He had perfected a technique for painting jewels.
• He claimed to be able to fuse several small diamonds into one large one. He also said he could make pearls grow to incredible sizes.
• He has been linked to several secret societies, including the Rosicrucians, Freemasons, Society of Asiatic Brothers, the Knights of Light, the Illuminati and Order of the Templars.

Another interesting story about St. Germain comes from a 1760 meeting between St. Germain and a Countess von Georgy. Wagner relates the following:

An anecdote from 1760 most likely gave rise to the notion that Saint-Germain could be immortal. In Paris that year, Countess von Georgy heard that a Count de Saint-Germain had arrived for a soiree at the home of Madame de Pompadour, mistress of King Louis XV of France. The elderly countess was curious because she had known a Count de Saint-Germain while in Venice in 1710. Upon meeting the count again, she was astonished to see that he hadn't appeared to age, and asked him if it was his father she knew in Venice.

"No, Madame," he replied, "but I myself was living in Venice at the end of the last and the beginning of this century; I had the honor to pay you court then."

"Forgive me, but that it impossible!" the perplexed countess said. "The Count de Saint-Germain I knew in those days was at least forty-five years old. And you, at the outside, are that age at present."

"Madame, I am very old," he said with a knowing smile.

"But then you must be nearly 100 years old," said the astonished countess.

"That is not impossible," the count told her matter-of-factly, then continued to convince the countess that he was indeed the same man she knew with the details of their previous meetings and of life in Venice 50 years earlier.

The official record of The Comte de Saint Germain comes to an end on 1784 with his death. The unofficial record of St. Germain was just beginning. If, as he alluded to Countess von Georgy, Germain was an immortal (or discovered the secret of immortality through alchemy) it should come as no surprise that Germain continued to be sighted long after his death. Although it was often under an assumed name. I suppose continuing to use the same name after you’ve “died’ could prove problematic.  Stephen Wagner tells of a few encounters with Germain, or persons who claimed to be him, after his “death”:

• In 1785 he was seen in Germany with Anton Mesmer, the pioneer hypnotist. (Some claim that it was Saint-Germain who gave Mesmer the basic ideas for hypnotism and personal magnetism.)
• Official records of Freemasonry show that they chose Saint-Germain as their representative for a convention in 1785.
• After the taking of the Bastille in the French Revolution in 1789, the Comtesse d'Adhémar said she had a lengthy conversation with Count de Saint-Germain. He allegedly told her of France's immediate future, as if he knew what was to come. In 1821, she wrote: "I have seen Saint-Germain again, each time to my amazement. I saw him when the queen [Antoinette] was murdered, on the 18th of Brumaire, on the day following the death of the Duke d'Enghien, in January, 1815, and on the eve of the murder of the Duke de Berry." The last time she saw him was in 1820 - and each time he looked to be a man no older than his mid-40s.

Wagner continues:

After 1821, Saint-Germain may have taken on another identity. In his memoirs, Albert Vandam wrote of meeting a man who bore a striking resemblance to Count de Saint-Germain, but who went by the name of Major Fraser. Vandam wrote:

"He called himself Major Fraser, lived alone and never alluded to his family. Moreover he was lavish with money, though the source of his fortune remained a mystery to everyone. He possessed a marvelous knowledge of all the countries in Europe at all periods. His memory was absolutely incredible and, curiously enough, he often gave his hearers to understand that he had acquired his learning elsewhere than from books. Many is the time he has told me, with a strange smile, that he was certain he had known Nero, had spoken with Dante, and so on."

Major Fraser disappeared without a trace.

Coming full circle back to The Morning of the Magicians, the famed occultist Madame Helena Blavatsky and others of her Theosophical Society claimed many contacts with the still living Comte de Saint Germain as late as the early 20th century. Blavatsky stated that Germain was hard at work helping the spiritual development of the West, which just so happens to have been Blavatsky’s stated goal. A sad final note to the tale of St. Germain is related by Stephen Wagner again. He notes:

The most recent appearance of a man claiming to be Saint-Germain was in 1972 in Paris when a man named Richard Chanfray announced he was the legendary count. He appeared on French television, and to prove his claim apparently turned lead into gold on a camp stove before the cameras. Chanfray later committed suicide in 1983

Who or what was/is Comte de Saint Germain? Could he have actually been an immortal? Could it be that he was just an exceptionally bright individual which has had their legend grow overtime? If he was actually an immortal, he should still be out there somewhere right now. If that is the case, surely he would be doing what I know I would do in his position; Google himself. Assuming he is, if you’re reading this and I’ve misspoke about your history, St Germain, please drop me a line I’d be happy to edit as needed!

Immortal Celebrities

Moving on from more likely candidates who may have achieved immortality, we will now take a look at some less than credible speculation courtesy of everyone’s favorite website; Above Top Secret! A thread I stumbled across entitled Celebrity vampires/Time Travel, reminded me about the strange doppelganger effect some folks have noticed between modern day celebrities and photos from antiquity. This thread collates a variety of the many immortal celebrity stories which have been making the rounds on the internet.

As seen in the photo above, the idea that Nicholas Cage may be immortal first came out in 2011. A Civil War era photo popped up on ebay with the seller claiming that the photo was proof that Cage is immortal, although the seller came at it from the Vampire angle. He was asking a substantial amount of money for the photo, which did eventually sell. Cage refuted the claims on the David Letterman show, because why not?

The thread brings to light some other examples that I wasn’t familiar with previously. Writing for Examiner, Tom Rose discussed the possibility that funnyman Zach Galifianakis too was an immortal, or had time traveled. Rose writes:

On Jan. 22, 2013, another man, Steven Canfield Crowley, posed the same question about the actor Zach Galifianakis after unearthing a tintype photograph from the 1880s which bears a striking resemblance to the comedian.

In a YouTube video, Crowley makes the same claim. What's going on here?

Again, the resemblance is startling. The unidentified man in the tintype is somewhat older, but the two men could literally be brothers. Does time travel work in reverse as well?

Other examples from the thread include; Jay-Z, Keanu Reeves, and Queen Latifah. I highly recommend you take the opportunity to check out the thread and follow the various links you’ll find there to examine the “evidence” for this phenomena yourself. How do we explain the resemblances between the celebrities and their historical doppelgangers? Coincidence? Over-active imagination? Immortality? While it’s fun to look at these photos and imagine “What if?”, I have to say that, at least for the moment, I’m going to say it’s unlikely that these photos show proof of immortality. But like everything else, who knows?

Immortality: Nature vs Science

Our journey through the world of immortality ends with an examination of the possible future scientific breakthroughs in immortality. Could it be that one day, and maybe not that far off, science could effectively “cure” death? Some scientists seem to be hard at work doing just that. A quick Google search for “science of immortality” reveals a plethora of recent scientific articles which deal with this very idea.

A somewhat related idea to this is the “promise” of immortality which is sought by the Transhumanist movement. Believing that they can potentially achieve immortality by transcending the human body by way of technology.  This is thought to be achievable by perhaps reconstructing human consciousness in a computer or digital construct. Interesting stuff to be sure, but I’m not quite as optimistic about this technologies arrival as one of it’s main proponents, Ray Kurzweil is.

Along these same lines, I have to wonder if it’s not possible that someone has already discovered the key to immortality. There seems to be a lot about some ancient civilizations which was lost to us. Could it be that they knew this secret and passed it down only to the initiated, many of whom would still be alive today? Alchemical traditions speak of the concept of the Philosopher’s Stone which could, along with transmuting lead into gold, grant eternal life.  It’s entirely likely that modern science/medicine is simply retreading well-worn ground.

Conclusions?

Where do we go from here? It’s hard to settle this issue with any finality.  It’s likely that as long as we age and die, we will probably always entertain the ideas of immortality. As is often the case our fantasies of living forever don’t deal with the day-to-day issues which might come along with immortality.,We would watching family and friends age and die, dealing with advances in knowledge and technology, etc. So long as we continue to fear death, I imagine we will continue to invent ways to deal with it. Whether this takes the form of building up legends of already extraordinary people, “seeing” modern celebrities in images from the past, or literally making advances to wipe out death, it will go on and on.

The Enigma of Demonic Possession

Demonic possession is a fascinating topic for me. To be honest, I feel a bit out of my element when it comes to this topic. I’m agnostic about religion much like I am most things in this world. I wasn’t raised in a particularly “religious” household, so I don’t have a very Christian background. And while I fully admit there is “evil” in this world, the concept of “demons” hasn’t really been one I’ve ever put too much stock into. Additionally I’ve never watched The Exorcist (please don’t judge me, I’ve gotten bored every time I tried to watch it). In my defense, however, I have watched most of the other demon possession films, including the amazing Repossessed starring the late Leslie Nielsen and Linda Blair, somewhat loosely “reprising” her role from The Exorcist which, regardless of what IMDB suggests, I remember being a funny movie. Although I was probably seven when I first watched it, so that probably flowers my perceptions a little. Perhaps more than that though, as a psychology major, I find myself torn when it comes to determining the causal agent behind the phenomenon known as demonic possession. Is demonic possession simply a leftover superstitious term for medical illnesses which were not well understood by our ancestors? Are there evil entities which are taking control of people, wreaking havoc in their lives and causing despair and anguish?

I’m not too interested in really old cases as it’s harder to rule out the possibility of mental illness being the root cause of the experience, though you could argue the same thing for modern examples as well I suppose. Instead I wish to review some of the more (in)famous modern cases below. What makes some of these modern cases more compelling to me is the amount of documentation that exists on some of the cases. Photographs, recordings, and, in one case, video footage, has been secured which gives a unique glimpse into  the cases which will follow. As always, I will allow you to come to your own conclusions as to what may, or may not, be happening in these experiences.

Anneliese Michel

Probably one of the more  famous modern cases is the sad tale of Anneliese Michel. Born on September 21, 1952, Michel was diagnosed with having temporal lobe epilepsy at the age of 16. Michel was a German Catholic who lived in Leiblfing, Bavaria, West Germany. Her family is said to have been very religious and apparently attended Mass at least twice a week. Not having familiarity with Catholicism I can’t say whether that represents a normal amount or an “extreme” amount. Ido think its worth noting her and her families deeply held religious convictions. I believe these beliefs may have played a part in the events which would unfold in her life. Around the time that Michel had gone off to college, in the 70’s, she suffered a third seizure while at a hospital where she was being treated for tuberculosis. The picture gets a little fuzzy here, though an author( whose name I can’t seem to find on the site) wrote an extensive blog post detailing this case which you should certainly check out here, has much more information than I could possibly provide. Instead I wish to give a thumbnail view of the major points.

Upon her third seizure, Michel was treated with medications which seemed to not have an impact on her symptoms. Around this same time, she began to have severe depression. During these episodes of depression, Michel started to become intolerant towards religious items and reported hearing voices which spoke to her and began tormenting her. Doctors prescribed her medicine which would be used in the treatment for Schizophrenia, largely because auditory hallucinations are one of the hallmarks of Schizophrenia.

Michel and her family believed that she was being targeted by demonic forces. The family sought out an exorcism from their local Priest. By all accounts, the Priests and local Bishops were extremely hesitant to perform the ancient ritual. I don’t wish to speculate too much, but it may be that the Priests were unconvinced that Michel was truly exhibiting demonic possession and not simply suffering from a mental illness. After much persistence, in 1975 two Priests finally relented and agreed to perform an exorcism.

For a period of about 10 months, exorcisms were regularly performed on Michel. Her family stopped seeking medical treatment, instead relying solely on the ritual of exorcism to save their daughter. Eventually, Michel would stop eating and drinking, stating that the demons did not want her to. On June 1st 1976 Anneliese Michel died due to malnourishment and emaciation. Both her parents and the priests who performed the exorcism would later be charged with negligent homicide. Her story would eventually be adapted into screenplay of a not so great “horror” movie in 2005 called The Exorcism of Emily Rose. To read more on the case, including the graphic images and disturbing recordings of the exorcisms, be sure to check out The Entire Case History of Anneliese Michel blog post.

Roland Doe

As I said earlier  I’ve not seen The Exorcist movie before. Although it would be hard for me to deny the cultural impact the film has had. Fortean Times just released their April issue which is all about Exorcisms and celebrates 40 years of The Exorcist movie. Besides it being a great film (allegedly), the movie probably stands out to many people because it is said to be based on a true story.  The name “Roland Doe”, and later changed to “Robbie Mannheim”, are both pseudonyms for an anonymous Maryland boy who was said to have been possessed by demons and was apparently successfully exorcised. Roland’s story begins with the death of an Aunt, when he was around the age of 14 somewhere around 1949 or so. At this time, strange and unexplained phenomenon began occurring around the home. Objects began moving around the house, unusual noises were said to be heard throughout the hose. Honestly, it all sounds a lot like the child may have been experiencing poltergeist phenomena which fits in nicely with both his age and apparent emotional stress level. The family in this case appears to have been quite religious as well, which appears to be a common trait amongst those who are believed to experience demonic possession and subsequently request exorcisms. They turned to their Lutheran pastor, Rev. Luther Miles Schulze. The child had been examined by both medical and psychiatric doctors, according to what the Reverend told a local newspaper, and neither were able to offer an explanation as to what was happening to the child. It was determined that the best course of action would be to have an exorcism performed.

Eventually, Roman Catholic priests would be called in after the Lutheran Exorcism Rite failed to produce any positive results. By the end of it all, exorcisms were performed on the child over 30 times. Various “demonic” manifestations were said to accompany these exorcisms, all of which are recorded in a diary which was kept by the lead priest in the ritual, Father William S. Bowdern. Some of these include objects flying around the room, the bed shaking and lifting off of the floor, and the child making strange sounds with his voice. During the final exorcism, it was reported that the words “evil” and “hell” actually manifested themselves on the childs body. There is a happy ending to this tale, unlike in Michel’s case. After what would be the final exorcism, no more paranormal activity was reported by either the child or his family. Roland had been cured of whatever had been afflicting him. Once again, our unnamed blogger has written up an excellent post about this case as well. I recommend you read The Entire Case History of Robbie Mannheim.

Anna Ecklund

This case takes us back in time a little to the early part of the 20th century. Born in 1882 in the Midwestern United States, Ecklund was (as our pattern suggests) raised as a devout Catholic. Around the age of 12 she began to display the signs of “possession”, which included the usual aversion to religious icons. It also included what’s referred to as “disturbing thoughts about sexual acts”, which seems fairly normal to me for a teenager but I digress. It’s reported that Ecklund had her first exorcism about this time which was performed by Father Theophilus Riesinger. This exorcism was supposed to have been quite effective. However, around the age of 14, Ecklund was “cursed” by her Father ( an account of which I can’t find, but I can’t imagine what the circumstances were behind this event or what it would have done to her mental state). Because of this curse, Ecklund is supposed to have been possessed by a multitude of demons, chief among them Beelzebub.

Rosemary Ellen Guiley tells of this story in her book, The Encyclopedia of Demons & Demonology. It wasn’t until 1928 that Ecklund would be exorcised a final, and apparently successful, time. Why it took until she was 46 before an exorcism was again performed is a mystery to me. During the exorcism many strange feats were supposed to have manifested themselves. Ecklund was said to have levitated and stuck to the wall above the door, at other times her body would become as heavy as lead threatening to break the bed she was in, and she was said to have been able to expose the sins of those who were present around her.  After many long days and nights, Father Theophilus Riesinger was able to free Ecklund from her demonic possession. If you wish to read more on this case I suggest reading Martha Decker’s write up about the case.

Final thoughts

The above cases are interesting food for thought. They represent only a tiny handful of the countless tales of demonic possession, not only throughout time, but even into the 21st century. Only just a few months ago a huge story of alleged demonic possession was reported by the news of a family in Indiana. I still don’t know what to make of these cases. On the one hand, the ages of some of the victims and the attendant phenomenon sound strikingly like poltergeist activity. That’s not to say that the “demons” could not be manifesting this as a form of trickery or deceit, but it’s an interesting parallel to note.  Also, some of the less paranormal aspects of these cases sound a lot like mental illness. Again, I can’t say that the “demonic” influence manifests itself in ways which are similar to mental pathology, but it’s hard to rule out that the person’s may not simply be suffering from mental illnesses. Finally we have the fact that, at least in the cases I cited above, there is a history of devout religious beliefs. Could this be influencing or coloring these events? I’m inclined to suspect that it probably is. I’m extremely interested in hearing what you all think about these cases and demon possession in general. Hit me up in the comments section or drop me an email and let me know your thoughts.

Charles Fort's X-Men

One of Charles Fort’s books which I haven’t spent a lot of time with in the past is his final one; Wild Talents. In this work, Fort collects reports and accounts of human beings with occult or paranormal gifts or powers. If he had been so inclined, Fort might have collected these individuals together and formed his own ‘School for Gifted Youngsters’. For those not aware, the school is the headquarters and training grounds of Marvel’s X-Men. At this school, Charles Xavier (Professor X) recruits mutants, beings with incredible powers, and teaches them to harness and control their powers so that they can live in harmony with human beings.

Though Professor X and his school may be fictional, Fort documents case after case of people in the real world who exhibit similar kinds of amazing feats. OK, so you don’t have a guy with claws coming out of his hands who also  has an amazing regenerative abilities, but you get the idea. I’ve picked out a few to highlight, though I highly suggest you read his book for yourself.  In some of the instances cited below, it might be more appropriate to label the perpetrators as “super-villains” rather than “super-heroes” as many of the persons used(abused) their “powers” for more material gains.

First up, Fort talks about a bank which was robbed. In broad daylight. In front of multiple witnesses. By an unseen, or invisible, criminal. The story is as follows;

"A bank in Blackpool was robbed, in broad daylight, on Saturday, in mysterious circumstances"—so says the London Daily Telegraph, Aug. 7, 1926. It was one of the largest establishments in town—the Blackpool branch of the Midland Bank. At noon, Saturday, while the doors were closing, an official of the Corporation Tramways Department went into the building, with a bag, which contained £800, in Treasury notes. In the presence of about twenty-five customers, he placed the bag upon a counter. Then the doorman unlocked the front door for him to go out, and then return with another amount of money, in silver, from a motor van. The bag had vanished from the counter. It was a large, leather bag. Nobody could, without making himself conspicuous, try to conceal it. Nobody wearing a maternity cloak was reported.

In the afternoon, in a side street, near the bank, the bag was found, and was taken to a police station. But the lock on it was peculiar and complicated, and the police could not open it. An official of the Tramways Department was sent for. When the Tramways man arrived with the key, no money was found in the bag. If a bag can vanish from a bank, without passing the doorman, I record no marvel in telling of money that vanished from a bag, though maybe the bag had not been opened.

Fort tells of more burglaries committed by person’s who could neither be seen nor apprehended by the police:

New York Evening Post, March 14, 1928—people in a block of houses, in the Third District of Vienna, terrorized. They were "haunted by a mysterious person," who entered houses, and stole small objects, never taking money, doing these things just to show what he could do. Then, from dusk to dawn, the police formed in a cordon around this block, and at approaches to it stationed police dogs. The disappearances of small objects, of little value, continued.

Two more strange thefts before we move on to other display’s of occult power:

Upon the afternoon of June 18, 1907, occurred one of the most sensational, insolent, contemptible, or magnificent thefts in the annals of crime, as viewed by most Englishmen; or a crime not without a little interest to Americans. On a table, on the lawn back of the grandstand, at Ascot, the Ascot Cup was upon exhibition, 13 inches high, and 6 inches in diameter; 20-carat gold; weight 68 ounces. The cup was guarded by a policeman and by a representative of the makers. The story is told, in the London Times, June 19th. Presumably all around was a crowd, kept at a distance by the policeman, though, according to the standards of the Times, in the year 1907, it was not dignified to go into details much. From what I know of the religion of the Turf, in England, I assume that there was a crowd of devotees, looking worshipfully at this ikon. It wasn't there.

About this time, there were a place and a time and a treasure that were worthy the attention of, or that were a challenge to, any magician. The place was Dublin Castle. Outside, day and night, a policeman and a soldier were on duty. Within a distance of fifty yards were the headquarters of the Dublin metropolitan police; of the Royal Irish Constabulary; the Dublin detective force; the military garrison.

It was at the time of the Irish International Exhibition, at Dublin. Upon the 10th of July, King Edward and Queen Alexandra were to arrive to visit the Exhibition. In a safe in the strong room of the Castle had been kept the jewels that were worn by the Lord Lieutenant, upon State occasions. They were a barbaric pile of bracelets, rings, and other insignia, of a value of $250,000. And of course. They had disappeared about the time of the disappearance of the Ascot Cup: sometime between June firth and July 6th.

Within the Marvel universe there are a number of super-powered persons that have fire as their source of power. So too in reality do we have a few accounts of pyrokinetics. Fort tells us about the following cases:

New Zealand Times, Dec. 9, 1886—copying from the San Francisco Bulletin, about October 14—that Willie Brough, 12 years old, who had caused excitement in the town of Turlock, Madison Co., Cal., by setting things afire, "by his glance," had been expelled from the Turlock school, because of his freaks.

His parents had cast him off, believing him to be possessed by a devil, but a farmer had taken him in, and had sent him to school. "On the first day, there were five fires in the school: one in the center of the ceiling, one in the teacher's desk, one in her wardrobe, and two on the wall. The boy discovered all, and cried from fright. The trustees met and expelled him, that night." For another account, see the New York Herald, Oct. 16, 1886.

Another:

New York Herald, Jan. 6, 1895—fires in the home of Adam Colwell, 84 Guernsey Street, Greenpoint, Brooklyn—that, in 20 hours, preceding noon, January 5th, when Colwell's frame house burned down, there had been many fires. Policemen had been sent to investigate. They had seen furniture burst into flames. Policemen and firemen had reported that the fires were of unknown origin. The Fire Marshal said: "It might be thought that the child Rhoda started two of the fires, but she cannot be considered guilty of the others, as she was being questioned, when some of them began. I do not want to be quoted as a believer in the supernatural, but I have no explanation to offer, as to the cause of the fires, or of the throwing around of the furniture."

….

Captain Rhoades, of the Greenpoint Precinct, said: "The people we arrested had nothing to do with the strange fires. The more I look into it, the deeper the mystery. So far I can attribute it to no other cause than a supernatural agency. Why, the fires broke out under the very noses of the men I sent to investigate."

Sergeant Dunn—"There were things that happened before my eyes that I did not believe were possible."

We shall end our tour of Fort’s X-Men with his musings on the ‘poltergeist’ phenomena and how it may actually represent a kind of occult power or a re-imagining of the old stories of “witchcraft”. Fort tells us:

My general expression is against the existence of poltergeists as spirits—but that the doings are the phenomena of undeveloped magicians, mostly youngsters, who have no awareness of their powers as their own—or, in the cases of mischievous, or malicious, persecutions, are more or less consciously directed influences by enemies—or that, in this aspect, "poltergeist disturbances" are witchcraft under a new name.

He then provides us with some accounts which seem to suggest that witchcraft may still be alive and well:

New York newspapers reported three cases, close together, in the year 1927. New York Herald Tribune, Aug. 12, 1927—Fred Koett and his wife compelled to move from their home, near Ellenwood, Kansas. For months this house had been bewitched—pictures turned to the wall—other objects moving about—their pet dog stabbed with a pitchfork, by an invisible.

New York Herald Tribune, Sept. 12, 1927—Frank Decker's barn, near Fredon, N. J., destroyed by fire. For five years there had been unaccountable noises, opening and shutting doors, and pictures on walls swinging back and forth.

Home News (Bronx), Nov. 27, 1927—belief of William Blair, County Tyrone, Ireland, that his cattle were bewitched. He accused a neighbor, Isabella Hazelton, of being a witch—"witch" sued him for slander—£5 and costs.

And lastly:

An elderly woman, Mme. Blerotti, had called upon the Magistrate of the Ste. Marguerite district of Paris, and had told him that, at the risk of being thought a madwoman, she had a complaint to make against somebody unknown. She lived in a flat, in the Rue Montreuil, with her son and her brother. Every time she entered the flat, she was compelled by some unseen force to walk on her hands, with her legs in the air.

The woman was detained by the magistrate, who sent a policeman to the address given. The policeman returned with Mme. Blerotti's son, a clerk, aged 27. "What my mother has told you, is true," he said. "I do not pretend to explain it. I only know that when my mother, my uncle, and myself enter the flat, we are immediately impelled to walk on our hands." M. Paul Reiss, aged fifty, the third occupant of the flat, was sent for.

"It is perfectly true," he said. "Everytime I go in, I am irresistibly impelled to walk around on my hands." The concierge of the house was brought to the magistrate. "To tell the truth," he said, "I thought that my tenants had gone mad, but as soon as I entered the rooms occupied by them, I found myself on all fours, endeavoring to throw my feet in the air."

The magistrate concluded that here was an unknown malady. He ordered that the apartments should be disinfected.

As someone who grew up on comic books and various other forms of fantasy, it doesn’t take much to convince me that some people, consciously or unconsciously, have access to abilities or powers beyond what the rest of us have. Could there be more prosaic explanations for these accounts, possibly. I certainly don’t rule it out. But the sheer volume of the reports, many which have similar circumstances, seem to suggest that something else is going on. Perhaps these powers or abilities are vestigial remains from pre-history, as Fort has suggested in Lo!. Maybe they represent the next step in gradual human evolution, not unlike the X-Men comics.