A MODERN WIZARD

Hawera Star, Volume XLV, 30 January 1926, Page 9

A MODERN WIZARD

'pAKIS and London, in turn, have boon astounded by the feats of an Egyptian fakir, Tahra Bey. He is neither an illusionist nor a ‘’super-juggler. is a wizard of will-power, the “eighth wonder” of the world. His role is to be that of a healer * l,v proving that the soul, til rough the \ medium of the harnessed and obedient will, can dominate the body, cure it of its diseases, make surgical operations of less import tnan the taking of i pill, and, in short, alter the whole outlook of human ..fe, asserts a London journalist. Tahra Bey is a young man of 28, an ! looks even younger. He is a qualified doctor. By race he is an Egyptian and a Chibk —a member of a caste or tribe of fakirs. He is full of fun, with high boyish spirits. He must not marry. No woman must enter his life. He lias an ancestry thousands of years old. His own astounding gifts are inherited. but he wants others to acquire them. What does he dot First, by wi 1power he puts himself into a cataleptic state, and after a time resumes consciousness. He then invites any member of his audience to push knives into his body, to insert hatpins through lbs cheeks —to do, in short, what they will. Doctors on the Continent, eager to test a:-jd possibly expose him, have accepted the challenge. He has asked whether or not they would like blood to issue from the wound. If their choice is the latter, no blood comes; if the former, blood flows. There is no pain, however, ami, most amazing of all, no scars! He ‘‘wills” that there shall be no pain, no blood, or some blood! The material part of him is absohit< • lv under his own control. He has been put into a coffin; the latter Ims been filled with sand, sealed down, and .buried under more hundredweights of isand—and he has remained there, unImurt, for whatever time has first bee i named. In the coffin he is cataleptic, but returns to consciousness in 15 or 20 minutes, or longer. Can “See” Your Thoughts. If you ask what is the secret, Tahrt Bey smiles. There is none. He is but doing with his will what thousand* do daily by their wills.

“ THE EIGHTH WONDER ” FAKIR IN LONDON.

Talira Bey claims no supernatural powers. He ‘‘wills” to come out or the cataleptic state at the stipulated time —and does. . . And what of disease? Again it is simple. To arrest in himself, or in others, the circulation ot the blood means that germs die! The age-long problem of pain—not. entirely banished by modern anaesthetics, for there lie tlu» after-pains* —would seem to been solved bv Talira Bev. He h'.often placed himself on the points ol four poised swords, had a large stone laid on his chest, and let men smash the stone with hammers. He has “willed” that there should be no pain, and there is none. ft is obvious, of course, that he is submitting to extremely severe tests. That is why his “performances,” it one must use that term, arc not continuous. The strain is severe —a thousand times greater than would be required bv an ordinary person in ordinary circumstances. He has to last toi two or three days before being buried in the coffin, as neither gas nor food must be in the body. He is a thought-reader, too, but not of till' usual type. He bids you think of something, and instantly rcvoais your thought. He “wills” that the vision of your thought shall be seen by him, and it is! Astounding, but true.

He has touched the cataleptic nerv • of a hare and it has instantly go'-. rigid and then obeyed his will and done ridiculous things. He has but to touen human beings in the same way to place them in a trance. In that lie can heal their diseases. All this may seem either incredible or too good to be true. But Tahra Bey is no ‘‘.fake,” if a fakir. thousands of Continental doctors have witnessed his demonstrations. They ha- • gone in sceptical mood and have come away wondering and puzzled. They admit results, but with true medical conservatism are shy of admitting that the cause is will-power. What he docs is not just a show. It is propaganda with a high purpose behind it. All that he is paid goes to form a fund for the establishment of a ‘‘school” at j- torouco where the world, if it will set aside its scepticism, may learn to do as he does.