Hello,

I am looking for resources to learn tricks that faith healers of old used. Particularly things such as having needles appear inside an egg.

Does anyone know the tricks I mean?

I'm partial to the old "slap someone up-side the head and declare them healed in a loud voice". There's also the burn blister that mysteriously appears on your finger and just as mysteriously disappears when "healed."

[quote]On Mar 21, 2018, jimgerrish wrote:
I'm partial to the old "slap someone up-side the head and declare them healed in a loud voice".

You can always tell how much they are healed by the size of the knot it leaves.

There are publications on these frauds, perhaps someone from the bizarre section more knowledgeable than me can chime in. I did google the subject and plenty came up. I'd also look as an entry level into "The Georgia Wonder: Lulu Hurst" not exactly faith healing but very good knowledge anyway on an interesting subject.

The Georgia Wonder.is a great.book but I Don't think this is what the poster is looking for. Still worth the read.

James Randi has written books about faith healing and flim flam. It's been a while since I read them but they might be what you're looking for.

Mr. Dural

May I ask why you are looking for this information?

Really flim flam! That book is laughable. The method actually used are much easier to do than what was written up in that book. I personally think most of what what was written in that book was made up and should be placed in fantasy land. Along with Magician among the Spirits, Another work of miss information that was largely made up. One could figure out if one went to an actual seance. Any way if your looking for a few good laughs read it. If you're looking for actual and real methods it's a waste of time. Just sayin.

I agree.

If you are going to present from a mesmeric influence angle then the Georgia Magnet type stuff is great, but it is in the framing. In Aikido, they have the unliftable body and unbendable arm ruotines all in the guise of "extending Ki" (Qi/Chi, Prana, Yadayada, etc.) This stuff is widely accepted in certain segments of the new age/ alternative medicine crowd.

Personally if Ki Kai Aikido isn't your trip, book in for a qigong, touch for health, pranic healing and/or reiki course If you can't walk the walk and talk the talk in energy medicine / faith healing circles after that then it's time to retire Then all of Lulu's bag of tricks can be used well. Personally I would steer the original poster toward "Beyond the Incredibles: Skills of the Vagabonds 2" by Leung Ting. So much goodness in so few pages. Anthony Jacquin and I are both big fans of this hidden treasure of the martial arts book store. I know it is not exactly what the original poster is after, but mix this stuff with the descriptions you get from old Spiritualist texts, Theosophy treatises and Yoga Sutras, etc and you'll have some impressive demonstrations/ routines available to you.

On a different tangent, it seems strange that people offer psychic surgery,but not psychic plastic surgery; which would have to be far more lucrative.

I can't believe I forgot to point you to the Shiela Ostrander books regarding Soviet Psychic Research, some of the older material was preserved behind the Iron Curtain.

I can highly recommend Jim Rose - Snake Oil, A really great book.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Snake-Oil-Calcu......jim+rose

Mr. Dural,
Not sure this is exactly what you're looking for but here's a couple things on the subject of faith healing that are informative as well as entertaining. Much can be learned watching these. Hope you find them useful.

Leap of Faith
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0104695/

Derren Brown: Miracles for Sale
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1950134/

Dear Mr. Dural,
Here is an old favorite. I found.

FAITH HEALING: LEG LENGTHENING "MIRACLE"

The set-up for the trick: The subject/victim/mark is told to sit in a chair and then lift their legs straight toward the "healer"... lo and behold, one leg is shorter! That must be the source of all of their problems! The "healer" then does his/her incantation, grabs the legs and tugs.. and miraculously, the "short" leg "grows out" to match the "normal" one! Proof of God! Give money!"
More experienced "healers" may simply command the leg to grow, usually followed by some other exclamation, like "LOOK, IT'S GROWING!" And suddenly a "miracle" happens...

Here is the simple basis for why this short-leg growth trick always works as it does; people don't sit perfectly straight when they sit down. They usually lean slightly toward one butt cheek or another and in fact it is hard to sit perfectly straight and balanced even when ordered to do so. Uneven weight distribution causes ones pelvis to tilt slightly, which of course also affects how long your legs APPEAR to be relative to each other. If you don't understand this, you should probably read a first year anatomy book before proceeding.

So when the mark/victim/subject holds his/her legs out straight, the pelvis angle will make it appear that one leg is shorter than another. When the "healer" tugs on the legs it causes the victim to shift his/her weight and sit straighter, changing the angle of the pelvis, so the short leg "grows."

In the command (no touch) method of this trick, there is some loud declaration of a miracle happening right now! This is screeched so that the victim/subject/mark will lean forward to see if his her leg is actually growing-it is the leaning forward that causes the victim/mark's weight to shift so the miraculous "growth" can occur.

In the unlikely event that the victim/mark accidentally manages to sit completely flat in the beginning so that both legs are viewed as the same length, the phony miracle worker always has a backup plan: The faith healer simply pulls slightly on one shoe as he/she lifts the legs up, pulling one heel out and making one leg appear longer temporarily than the other. The phony Man/Woman of God then slides the shoe back into place again as he/she prays, making the legs suddenly appear the same length. This takes a little practice at sleight of hand work so that nobody sees what you are doing, but it's still pretty easy.

A certain amount of showmanship is required to make this trick work well: You have to get everyone watching to believe that one leg is shorter FIRST, then you have to make enough noise and motion with your hands as the "miracle" happens so that nobody sees what you are really doing.

This is an observational trick easily confirmed by YOU: The reader can get together with his/her friends and try it. But please don't be unethical-don't be a liar-like these phony "healers" and claim it is a miracle of God. It's just a trick and a pretty cheesy one at that.

As a former ardent religious zealot, I was present and personally witnessed this trick being performed on a number of occasions. Some of these events were performed by famous evangelists including the healing duo popular in the 80's, "The Hunters"-Charles and Frances Hunter http://happyhunters.org/

This particular piece of cheesy stage magic is covered in the book "The Faith Healers" by James Randi (pages 128-130, complete with pictures). As bad as it is, however, it appears that tens of thousands of people are still fooled.

Another is the cursed egg trick. There are various methods. Here is one:
https://www.csicop.org/sb/show/gypsies_great_trick This is not my favorite method.
Supposedly noted magician Juan Tamariz has 18 methods of doing the same card trick.
Just in case you are contemplating slipping into the, financially well, Dark Side, as some
magicians do. Take a warning from the novel, Nightmare Alley, by William Lindsay Gresham.
You do not want to wind up as a carnival geek biting off the heads of live chickens.

Years ago I was studying and taking notes at a revival given by A.A. Allen.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A._A._Allen I was advised to leave, or else my legs would be broken. Being street wise I departed.
Sincerely,
miistermagico

Dear Mr. Dural,
I have decided to keep the secrets of healing warts and ringworm that I learned as a child to myself.
I prefer to keep the wonder alive. It is doubtful these methods would be believed.
Besides the methods now used by science have greatly improved.
Sincerely,
miistermagico

Especially for mystery performers,
It has been many years since I had an enlightening conversation with an official exorcist of the
Catholic church. But if I remember correctly, the ill subject must turn their head 360 degrees
13 times, levitate in and out of doors in full light, while being tied to surrounding others, and spell the total Book of Revelation in koine Greek backwards, letter by letter out of their butt hole. The sprouting of 9 horns
from the top of the head and the subject's body turning crimson with green spots is a necessity.
The subject must also, by their own free will, pull out their eye balls and devour them. The eyeballs
reappear on the palms of the hands and sight is restored. All of this bizarre phenomena must be
presented before a genuine possession and exorcism is even considered.
Insiders are well aware official exorcisms are extremely rare. Usually there are psychiatric problems
caused by the subjects belief in possession. This is found among primitive peoples.

Others are ill informed. Some priests are confident sprinkling holy water and salt
on a possessed person will cause them to burst into flame. This is utter nonsense and superstition
still popular in the 21st century in the USA.
Sincerely,
miistermagico

I saw this performed in a revival back in the 70's. Most of the people at this Pentecostal church were not highly educated and neither was the pastor (6th grade) who allowed this evangelist to come in and hold the revival. When I saw this performed, I knew how it worked because I was educated in biology, anatomy, and the sciences, but since not even the evangelist was highly educated I wondered if he wasn't a shut-eye to this effect and thought it actually was a miracle. Perhaps he had learned a technique from an open-eye or another shut-eye but had no idea how it worked. He just went through the motions and was as amazed as the people. Obviously, the people gathered around watching were awe struck to see the leg grow. From this experience I began to go to miracle revivals and observe the techniques they used to do their miraculous healing. None of the ones I attended were really what was said they were in later articles about them. There was a lot of exaggeration in the press.

Dear Mr. Dural,
If you google: Faith healers tricks exposed! miracles for sale
Benny Hinn exposed by NBC dateline
You may find more of the information you are seeking.
Sincerely,
miistermagico

Dear Mr. Dural and fellow Mystery Entertainers,
Please forgive me but I have genuine curiosity, enjoy learning new things and tend to ramble on
about subjects that catch my interest. I found the following very informative. Perhaps you will too.
Please google: Ex-faith healer Mark Haville explains the tricks of the faith healing trade
Sincerely,
miistermagico

I think miistermagico is pulling my leg.

:D

Brynmore14 is on target. Both of the Vagabonds books are gold.