Cecil Husk (1847-1920) was a British professional singer and spiritualist medium.

Biography

Husk was a professional singer and member of the Carl Rosa Opera Company. His eyesight deteriorated and he became a full-time medium. It was alleged he could materialize spirits and perform

psychokinesis Telekinesis () (alternatively called psychokinesis) is a purported psychic ability allowing an individual to influence a physical system without physical interaction. Experiments to prove the existence of telekinesis have historically been cri ...

. In 1891 at a public

séance A séance or seance (; ) is an attempt to communicate with spirits. The word ''séance'' comes from the French language, French word for "session", from the Old French , "to sit". In French, the word's meaning is quite general and mundane: one ma ...

with twenty sitters Husk was exposed as a fraud. He was caught leaning over a table pretending to be a spirit by covering his face with

phosphor A phosphor is a substance that exhibits the phenomenon of luminescence; it emits light when exposed to some type of radiant energy. The term is used both for fluorescent or phosphorescent substances which glow on exposure to ultraviolet or ...

material. It was noted by investigators that the materializations of Husk had fine singing voices and sounded similar to himself. Husk also claimed to have the

psychic A psychic is a person who claims to use powers rooted in parapsychology, such as extrasensory perception (ESP), to identify information hidden from the normal senses, particularly involving telepathy or clairvoyance; or who performs acts that a ...

ability to push his entire arm through an iron ring with a size that did not allow its passage over the hand, however, it was discovered that he performed the trick by using a local

anesthetic An anesthetic (American English) or anaesthetic (British English; see spelling differences) is a drug used to induce anesthesia ⁠— ⁠in other words, to result in a temporary loss of sensation or awareness. They may be divided into t ...

on his hand. Alfred Edward Turner attended séances with Husk. He became convinced that Husk could materialize spirits and defended the medium in various newspaper articles. During one of the séances he stated that he had witnessed the materialization of W. T. Stead. The magician Will Goldston exposed the fraudulent mediumship of Husk. During a séance that Goldston attended a pale face materialization appeared in the room. Goldston wrote that "I saw at once that it was a gauze mask, and that the moustache attached to it was loose at one side through lack of gum. I pulled at the mask. It came away, revealing the face of Husk." Goldston, Will. (1942). ''Tricks Of The Masters''. G. Routledge & Sons, Ltd. p. 4

Biography

References

Further reading