Participants would place their fingers upon a planchette on top of a board and let the spirit guide them to the correct letters or numbers to spell out the answers to questions they asked. Often, people created or bought their own ouija board made up of numbers, letters and a variety of other symbols, through which they hoped to receive messages directly from spirits without the help of a medium. In the hopes that they could connect with the dead, people flocked to séances and latched on to anyone who claimed to be able to speak to spirits. Thousands of people lost loved ones through warfare or disease and the practices of the Occult, mystics, mediums, theosophers and magicians became appealing as a result. The wars of the 18th and 19th centuries led to a rise in the belief in spiritualism. The exhibition is split into three parts: The Medium, Misdirection, and Mentalism, which have all been or are undergoing examination by psychologists and neuropsychologists. In recent years, scientists have begun to understand how they utilise the gap between what spectators think they perceive and what they actually see. In a free exhibition, Smoke and Mirrors: The Psychology of Magic, visitors are given the opportunity to see magic props up close, including spirit photographs, Derren Brown’s gorilla suit, Tommy Cooper’s fez and Paul Daniels’ sawing-in-half box.įor centuries, magicians have stunned audiences with extraordinary acts that leave people believing in magic. This year, the Wellcome Collection explores the worlds of psychology and entertainment to discover the truth about deception. Knowing how the mind works is an important skill for those in the magic business – a vital element for all astonishing feats of trickery.
The psychology of the human mind, sleight of hand, misdirection and (occasionally) a gullible audience, are key parts of a magician or conjurer’s act. A magician promises to deceive you and he does.”
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