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Since the early nineteenth century, mesmerists, mediums and psychics have exhibited extraordinary phenomena. These have been demonstrated, reported and disputed by every modern generation. We continue to wonder why people believe in such things, while others wonder why they are dismissed so easily. Extraordinary Beliefs takes a historical approach to an ongoing psychological problem: why do people believe in extraordinary phenomena? It considers the phenomena that have been associated with mesmerism, spiritualism, psychical research and parapsychology. By drawing upon conjuring theory, frame analysis and discourse analysis, it examines how such phenomena have been made convincing in demonstration and report, and then disputed endlessly. It argues that we cannot understand extraordinary beliefs unless we properly consider the events in which people believe, and what people believe about them. And it shows how, in constructing and maintaining particular beliefs about particular phenomena, we have been in the business of constructing ourselves.

Parapsychology. --- Psychology --- Cognitive Psychology. --- Metaphysics (Parapsychology) --- Paranormal phenomena --- Parapsychology --- Psi (Parapsychology) --- Psychic phenomena --- Psychical research --- Occultism --- Health Sciences --- Psychiatry & Psychology

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"Two renowned historians of stage magic team up to produce this definitive, engaging history of stage magic, from Ancient Egypt to David Copperfield. Fifty glorious illustrations throughout. This is the story of how conjurors managed to survive in a world of modern wonders. It is a history of unbelievable tales. Behind the tall tales is an extraordinary truth. If you read the standard history of magic, you learn that it begins in ancient Egypt, with the resurrection of a goose before the Pharaoh. You discover how magicians were tortured and killed during the age of witchcraft. You hear colorful tales of conjurors who used their unique skills to deceive the enemy in war. The history of magic is full of such stories, which turn out not to be true. Behind the smoke and mirrors, however, lies the real story of magic. It is a history of people from humble roots, who made and lost fortunes, and who deceived kings and queens. In order to survive, they concealed many secrets, yet they revealed some and they stole others. They exposed the methods of mediums and psychics. They engaged in deception, exposure, and betrayal, in a quest to make the impossible happen. An ongoing series of technological wonders appeared, which previous generations would have considered magical. And yet in a world in which the most sophisticated technology is now taken for granted, we can still be astonished by tricks that were performed hundreds of years ago. The Secret History of Magic reveals what really happened, and how it was done. It is about why this matters in a world that no longer seems to have a place for magic, but which desperately needs a sense of wonder"-- "A history of stage magic from Ancient Egypt to David Copperfield"--

Magic tricks --- PERFORMING ARTS / Theater / Stagecraft. --- History.

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Artist Tony Oursler has amassed a vast personal archive of objects and ephemera relating to magic, the paranormal, film, television, phantasmagoria, pseudoscience, and technology. This publication features up to 2,500 objects from Oursler's collection, including photographs, prints, historic manuscripts, rare books, letters, and objects. Additional topics include stage magic, thought photography, demonology, cryptozoology, optics, mesmerism, automatic writing, hypnotism, fairies, cults, the occult, color theory, and UFOs. Linking these wide-ranging materials is Oursler's underlying interest in belief systems and human nature; the suspension of disbelief, or perhaps just our propensity to believe. The material in Oursler's collection broadens recent explorations of technology and mystical cultural production, investigating the relationships between science, pseudo-science, religion, and the occult with visual and archival documents that demonstrate the power of images to carry and challenge our most cherished beliefs.

Oursler, Tony, --- kunst --- eenentwintigste eeuw --- Oursler Tony --- hekserij --- spiritisme --- vliegende schotels --- UFO's --- Mesmer Franz Anton --- 7.071 OURSLER --- archivering --- archieven --- Verenigde Staten --- twintigste eeuw --- magie --- Exhibitions --- Oursler, Tony, - 1957 --- -Oursler, Tony, - 1957-