An Encyclopedia of Claims, Frauds, and Hoaxes of the Occult and Supernatural

by James Randi

  See acupuncture.

  Shipton, Mother

  No reference to Mother Shipton prior to 1641 is in existence. It is thus difficult to determine whether this English prophet actually existed as she is represented in folklore, though writings seriously ascribed to her are being reproduced even today. There were several women who claimed to be her, but it is a Yorkshire claimant who has won the title.

  Mother Shipton was Ursula Southill (or Sowthiel, or Southiel), the incredibly ugly daughter of Agatha Southill, known locally herself as a powerful witch. She is supposed to have been born in a cave at Dropping Well, Knaresborough, Yorkshire, in 1488, and because of her unfortunate appearance and reputed powers, was widely rumored to be the child of Satan.

  Sometime about 1512, she married a wealthy builder from York named Tobias Shipton. She soon attained considerable notoriety throughout England as “The Northern Prophetess,” and her prognostications received great public attention, were printed in pamphlets, and were widely distributed. Though copies of these publications still exist, most of what can be found today are mere forgeries, and many meteorological and astrological almanacs published as late as the nineteenth century used Mother Shipton's name freely. An 1838 book gives an idea of the overblown claims made for such tomes. It is titled The New Universal Dream-Book; or The Dreamer's Sure Guide to the Hidden Mysteries of Futurity — By Mother Shipton.

  A 1686 book attributed to Edwin Pearson, The Strange and Wonderful History of Mother Shipton, because of its similarity to another book, Life and Death of Mother Shipton, was probably actually written by Richard Head, who also wrote The English Rogue, a racy account of his experiences with various tricksters, cheats, and rascals of his day.

  Many localized prophecies were invented to use the Shipton name to advantage. In a 1740 book by John Tyrrel, Past, Present and To Come: or, Mother Shipton's Yorkshire Prophecy, is quoted what might well have been issued as a genuinely pre-event prediction:

  Time shall happen A Ship shall sail upon the River Thames, till it reach the City of London, the Master shall weep, and cry out, Ah! What a flourishing City was this when I left it! Unequalled throughout the World! But now scarce a House is left to entertain us with a Flagon.

  This prophecy has all of recorded time in which to be fulfilled, since no date is given or even suggested. Also, no cause of this calamity is specified. War, earthquake, or fire could all produce the cited effect. In fact, no disaster of a physical nature is inferred. Believers have declared that this is a prophecy of the Great Fire of London (1666), which is also said to have been foretold by Nostradamus and other seers.

  A perfect example of an unquestionably true Shipton “prediction” is the often-quoted and misquoted:

  Eighteen hundred and thirty-five,

  Which of us shall be alive?

  Many a king shall end his reign

  Many a knave his end shall gain.

  Though one can hardly argue with this question and the two statements, the verse was resurrected at the end of 1934 with the change of “Eighteen” to “Nineteen.”

  The famous seeress died at age seventy-three in 1561 and is believed to be buried at Clifton, just outside the city of York. On her memorial is carved:

  Here lies she who never ly'd

  Whose skill so often has been try'd

  Her prophecies shall still survive

  And ever keep her name alive.

  This is said to be the only such tribute to a witch in all of England, since the usual memorial — if there is any — consists of nothing more than a cairn of stones to mark the spot where such a person was hanged or burned.

  New inventions on behalf of Mother Shipton continue to be published even today.

  Showers, Mary Rosina

  (circa 1890-?) Born in India, the teenage daughter of a military family, Mary Showers was a spirit medium who worked with Florence Cook. She was famous for her “full-form” spirit materializations, done under very unsatisfactory (for the skeptic, but ideal for her) conditions. When placed under adequate controls, Showers failed to produce and was, in fact, exposed as a cheater.

  Both mediums, Showers and Cook, were known for producing spirit forms that were indistinguishable from real people. In fact, sitters often remarked that their ghosts not only looked, felt, walked, smelled, and behaved exactly like the mediums themselves, but were identical to them in every possible way, except for costume. The message inherent in that observation seems to have escaped the believers.

  In March 1874, Cook and Showers gave a demonstration, a séance, for Sir William Crookes at his home. This was attended by several witnesses, among them Sergeant E. W. Cox. Such a séance always took place in a dimly lit room, a curtained-off section at one end in which the medium, usually dressed in black, either sat in a chair or reclined on a couch, supposedly in a trance. The ghost, garbed in white, would either peek through the curtain or actually emerge and walk about among the spectators.

  Following this séance, Sergeant Cox felt called upon to clearly state his observations. In The Spiritualist (a prominent journal of the day) of May 15 of that year, he reported of the supposed ghost forms:

  They were solid flesh and blood and bone. They breathed, and perspired, and ate. . . . Not merely did they resemble their respective mediums, they were facsimiles of them — alike in face, hair, complexion, teeth, eyes, hands, and movements of the body. . . . No person would have doubted for a moment that the two girls who had been placed behind the curtain were now standing [in person] before the curtain playing very prettily the character of ghost. . . . There was nothing to avoid this conclusion but the bare assertion of the forms in white that they were not what they appeared to be, but two other beings in the likeness of Miss Cook and Miss Showers; and that the real ladies were at this moment asleep on the sofa behind the curtain. But of this their assertion no proof whatever was given or offered or permitted. The fact might have been established in a moment beyond all doubt by the simple process of opening the curtain and exhibiting the two ladies then and there upon the sofa, wearing their black gowns. But this only certain evidence was not proffered, nor, indeed, was it allowed us — the conditions exacted from us being that we should do nothing by which, if it were a trick, we should have been enabled to discover it.

  Cox's report effectively put an end to belief in the validity of the séances offered by these two charlatans. In a further report, he described an 1894 séance during which he and a spectator had actually pulled aside the curtain and all present discovered Miss Showers wearing a headdress, poking her head through the curtain. The chair in which she was supposed to be sitting, in a trance, was empty. Following this debacle, Cox made the incredible statement that he believed that on this occasion, Showers had been “entranced” and had donned the headdress unconsciously.

  It is not recorded whether Sergeant Cox was awarded the Supreme Gullibility Medal for 1894.

  Shroud of Turin

  One of several cloths said to be the burial shroud of Jesus Christ, this is by far the most famous. It consists of a large linen cloth bearing a very faint image outline of a human figure that is said to be that of Jesus Christ, deposited there by some unknown process.

  The object first showed up in 1355 as a relic in the Church of Our Lady of Lirey in north-central France. It became an object of veneration, and pilgrims flocked from all over Europe to view it and to ask for miracles in its presence. From Lirey it traveled all over France, passing from church to church, being purchased, donated, and repurchased by the pious rich who wanted recognition. It eventually (1578) ended up in Turin (Torino) in Italy, where it still resides.

  Much has been made of the fact that when a photographic negative of the image on the cloth is viewed, it appears much more “lifelike.” All the expected wounds of the crucifixion process, along with bloodstains, appear on the cloth.

  Definitive tests prove absolutely that it is a forgery. The evidence shows:

  1. The cloth itself could not date from the corre
ct period or from that area of the world, simply because that particular weave of cloth was not made then or there.

  2. Wrapping of a body in that size and shape of cloth was not done in Palestine at that period. Such wrapping disagrees with the biblical description as well.

  3. The representation of the face of Christ on this cloth and in all paintings and sculptures is and always has been a formalized guess. This version matches the “accepted” one. We know nothing about Christ's actual appearance.

  4. Carbon dating of the fabric, done in three independent labs, showed that the linen fabric was woven about the year 1350.

  5. The “bloodstains” are not only red in color (they could not be, after that period of time), but they were shown by chemical analysis to be paint of the composition used in the fourteenth century.

  6. The bishop of Troyes (Lirey) knew who the artist was who painted the cloth and when and how he did it, and so reported to Pope Clement VII. The document still exists and has been shown to be unquestionably authentic.

  In spite of this (and much more) evidence that the Shroud of Turin is merely an artifact turned out by an artist, there is a large group of “sindonologists” — a special designation for those who believe this object to be genuine — who continue to insist on its validity. A New York Times editorial of December 4, 1981, quoted some of the evidence that the shroud was a fake, then added:

  We excel over our medieval forebears in many things, no doubt, but should try not to outdo them in credulity.

  Shut-Eye Medium

  A trade term for the closed medium who is innocent and believes in his or her powers.

  See also open medium.

  Siddhis

  A series of supernatural abilities that certain gurus claim to teach disciples, notably in the Transcendental Meditation movement. Clairvoyance, invisibility, invulnerability, levitation, super strength, telepathy, and other wonderful powers taken from Book III of the third century B.C. guru Patanjali's Yoga Aphorisms are taught by various mystic movements, but none have so far been observed to work.

  Sign, Astrological

  See zodiac.

  Silva Mind Control

  A system developed by José Silva (1914- ) that claims to develop improved memory, learning ability, and paranormal powers like telepathy. Much of the course consists of “visiting” absent persons imagined by students and performing diagnoses on them. No tests of the validity of this practice have been done; such tests are discouraged by the teachers of the system.

  Simon Magus

  (Simon the Magician) The Bible mentions the Samaritan magician Simon in Acts 8:10, saying that he used sorcery to bewitch the people of Samaria. His teacher was said to be Dositheus, and he was believed to have many magical powers, among them invisibility, being able to pass through fire, the ability to cure the sick and to raise the dead, and the ability to fly.

  Simon Peter (Saint Peter) followed him around, outmiracling him at every opportunity and finally encountering him in Rome. In desperation, Simon Magus announced that he would fly to heaven from a specially erected tower in the Campus Martius. Despite his claims to flight, he fell from the tower when Saint Peter prayed to have him fail in his attempt. Simon broke both legs and subsequently died of his injuries.

  In Irish folklore, Simon Magus appears associated with Druidic practices and is referred to there as Simon the Druid.

  Sitter

  A person who participates, usually as a paying customer, at a séance or other spiritualistic procedure. He or she is warned to maintain unwavering faith in the observed phenomena, to never touch the medium or the ectoplasm, and to cooperate fully with instructions from those in charge.

  Skeptics Society

  An international organization that sponsors a monthly lecture series at the California Institute of Technology and publishes Skeptic magazine, devoted to the investigation of fringe groups, extraordinary claims, revolutionary ideas, and the promotion of science and critical thinking. Skeptic has investigated such fringe groups as the Holocaust deniers, and controversial subjects such as cryonics, Afrocentrism, race, intelligence, I.Q., and the relationship between science and religion.

  The Skeptics Society can be reached at: 2761 N. Marengo Avenue, Altadena, CA 91001. E-mail: skepticmag@aol.com.

  Slade, Dr. Henry

  (1840-1905) “Dr.” Henry Slade developed the art of slate writing and toured all over the world with his act. Slade was a spiritualist faker who could produce apparently spirit-written messages on school slates that had been washed and then sealed together, face-to-face. The trick was a simple one, but it fooled several scientists, including a prominent German astrophysicist named Zöllner, who even wrote a comprehensive book, Transcendental Physics, based on his observations of Slade's tricks and his firm belief that they were not tricks.

  In 1876, the famous British conjuror J. N. Maskelyne was a prominent witness against Henry Slade when Slade was charged in the U.K. with fraud. The court case caused great excitement, and though the renowned physicist Lord Rayleigh (1842-1919) had publicly declared Slade to be genuine, Maskelyne was easily able to demonstrate to the satisfaction of the court that Slade's slate writing was brought about by trickery.

  Slade was convicted and sentenced to three months at hard labor, but a technicality in the way the charge was worded caused a mistrial, and Slade left England hurriedly before a new trial could get under way. He never returned to the British Isles.

  In Europe and in America, Slade was a great success until repeated exposures brought about his downfall. He finally signed a definitive confession of his fakery, faded from view, and at last died in a sanitarium in Michigan.

  Slate Writing

  See Slade, Dr. Henry.

  Smith, Hélène

  See automatic writing.

  Smith, Joseph

  (1805-1844) Joseph Smith, who was to become founder of the Mormon church, worked at first as a conjuror in New York State. At one point, he was charged and convicted in court with being “a disorderly person and an imposter,” having claimed to be able to divine “hidden treasures in the bowels of the earth,” booty to which he said he could direct any willing and paying clients. There were many.

  Then he claimed that at age twenty-two he had unearthed some “plates of gold” which bore “revised Egyptian hieroglyphics” that told the story of a lost book of the Bible, which he called The Book of Mormon. Fortunately there were two special optical instruments found with the plates, which enabled Smith to dictate to chosen scribes a translation of the sacred text. He did this from behind a curtain, since he was the only person privileged to see the plates or to see or handle the instruments. Indeed, to this very day, no one else has ever seen either the plates or the instruments. Where could they be?

  In 1830 he founded the Mormon church, which went through many difficulties, as did Smith. While he was held in prison at Carthage, Illinois, a mob attacked and lynched him.

  See also The Book of Coming Forth by Day.

  Smyth, Charles Piazzi

  See Great Pyramid of Giza.

  Soal, Dr. Samuel George

  (1889-1975) Dr. Soal was a mathematician who became president of the Society for Psychical Research (SPR) in 1950. He studied spirit materialization, mediumship, automatic writing, telepathy, and clairvoyance.

  In the period 1936-39, Soal began replicating the experiments of the American Dr. J. B. Rhine, who he greatly admired. His results were astonishingly good, and he enjoyed considerable fame as a result. Soon, skeptics began to question his methods, offering many theories on how errors — or cheating — could have taken place. But it was only after Soal's death in 1975 that a well-meaning supporter of his at the Society for Psychical Research, seeking to remove the suspicions that had been expressed, found instead through a computer program that Soal had cheated in grand style by changing the figures on the score sheets.

  Soal's later work (in 1955) with two thirteen-year-old Welsh boys, Glyn and Ieuan Jones, showed that apparen
tly he, too, could be deceived. The boys performed astonishing tests with Soal, being paid well for their success, and the result was The Mind Readers, a highly naive book by Soal that was a best-seller sensation overnight. Sir Cyril Burt raved over the work, which he accepted completely.

  The Jones boys could transmit to one another — apparently by ESP — words, numbers, and the names of cards with animal pictures. The protocol used was farcical, with so many possibilities for communication between the two boys that one cannot believe that Soal was actually fooled. Whenever conditions were improved to defeat signaling, the score dropped to chance and the boys complained loudly. Immediately, the protocol would be relaxed and the scoring would improve.