FEATS OF FAKIRS.

Otago Witness, Issue 3775, 20 July 1926, Page 65

FEATS OF FAKIRS.

THRILLING DEMONSTRATIONS. (Frou Oub Own Correspondent.) LONDON. Mapr 4. Rahman Bey. a man of 26. from Eritrea, and Tahra Bey, two rival Egyptian fakirs, have been giving demonstrations of their prowess to audiences in London, the purpose being to show "that the human will, when properly exercised, and controlled, can obtain almost unlimited ascendency over the body.” Rahman Bey first per-

formed before a small audience at the Savoy Hotel, whereas Tahra Bey made his initial appearance at the New Scala Theatre on a stage surrounded by a committee of eminent medical men. Those present oh each occasion saw wondrous, feats about which they had often read but hardly expected ever to witness. Rahman Bey has come to England to spread the gospel of the Egyptian Psychic Union, and a doctor who saw his display agrees that it well demonstrates the powers of hypnotism and of auto-suggestion that are achieved by fakirs. The phenomena produced are. of course, entirely unfitted for public exhibition, although unusual and interesting enough for close observation by medical men. The Egyptian threw himself into a state of catalepsy, his body sprung itself into rigidity with the backbone bent backwards into a bow. In this state he lay on sharpedged supports under h.y ankles and his neck. In a dazed condition of semi-trance he stuck needles through his cheeks, his arms and breast without drawing blood. He hypnotised kicking rabbits into bodies as stiff as a board. He hypnotised a man into singing and dancing like an animated puppet. Stripped to the waist, he lay' on a bed of nails, with a man standing on bis stomach. Finally, he gave the most remarkable exhibition of thought-reading that has probably ever been witnessed in London. WONDERFUL BUT REPELLENT. Ilis first experiment (says the special representative of the Morning Post) was wonderful, but repellent. He stood with both hands over his eyes, spasmodic quivers shaking hjs body from head to foot. Then suddenly there was a convulsive shudder, a horrid hissing intake of breath, and nis body sprang into a bow, backwards like a spring that has been released. At the same time he fell, and waiting assistants caught him and balanced him on his ankles and his neck on two inverted half-moon shaped knife-edges. He stayed thus for two minutes. Then with another sharp intake of breath he regained a condition of semiconscioueness, his whole body quivering for a while. In this condition he took the needles from his assistants, and, with as little emotion as a lady sticking pins into a cushion, he stuck them through his cheeks from both sides, right through the mouth. With no sign of pain he pinched up flesh over each breast and stuck needles through it to the depth of a quarter of an blob. . He did the same on his biceps. Skewered with the needles he walked calmly about the rooms, and then as calmly removed them. Except in the case of the biceps, here a tiny

spot of blood appeared, there was nothing to show where the needles had been inserted. No blood flowed, though he explained through his interpreter that if he had relaxed mental control it would have done so. -* REAL NAILS. “Then, with the nonchalance of a man retiring for the night, he lay on a bed of nails. There was no trick about those nails. I pricked my finger with one, A heavy young .man then stepped on his stomach, pressing the naked flesh hard on to the spikes, which were spaced every two inches. Afterwards I examined his back, and though naturally enough there were light indentations in the skin, it was auite unbroken all over. The indentations, however, showed the pressure with which his back had been forced on to the nails. THOUGHT READING. "Then came the thought-reading experiments. These, it was explained depended on the extraction by the fakir of the ‘magnetic fluid’ of the person whose thoughts were read. If this was lacking the experiment would not work. In the first experiment a journalist wrote down on paper that he wished the fakir to go up to a colleague in the audience and remove his cigarette holder. The paper was passed round the audience, but neither the fakir nor his assistants saw it. The journalist was then told to concentrate on the matter on hand, and the fakir commenced to dance in front of him, waving his arms with staccato passes. For all the worl 1 he was like a butterfly dodging from flower to flower as he danced across the room, his ‘medium,’ the journalist, following. From time to time he would stop, his arms flickering round the ‘medium/ as if seeking to extract the ‘magnetio fluid.” Finally, he danced up to the man whose name was written on the paper, and removed his pocket book. When it was explained to him that he had got the wrong object he danced back again and seized the cigarette holder. IMPRESSIVE TESTS. "With a woman as ‘medium* he danced across the room and took a glass off the piano. With another man as ‘medium/ who was a friend of mine, and who in this case did not confide the thought he was concentrating on to anyone, he danced round and round the room. As he approached me I kept edging awav to let him pass. Finally ne cornered me, plucked the watch from my pocket and showed my friend the time. "Perfectly blindfolded, with tha assistance of the concentrated thoughts of his audience he followed accurately a wavy chalk line on the carpet, and then read

with speed and accuracy the name ‘Turin/ which'was written at the end of it. This was, perhaps, the most impress! j of all the tests, though the least spectacular. "The most spectacular episode of Tahra Bey’s demonstration was when he was buried alive, ‘in a state of catalepsy/ in a coffin covered with sand. He tnrew himself into this state in the same way as his rival, except that he gave a more awe-inspiring ‘death rattle” sound as he did so. His mouth and nostrils were then plugged with cotton wool, and in a state of complete rigidity he was lifted into his coffin Sand was heaped on his face, and the coffin buried entirely. He had previously arranged to wake himself up after 10 minutes, and at the end of this time the coffin was opened, the stiff figure gave a groan, and collapsed limply out of it on to the arms of his attendants.

"Then occurred a remarkable scene. The fakir had announced that some of his magical powers, during his sleep in the coffin, would be transmitted to a bagful of paper slips, inscribed with old Egyptian charms, which was buried with biin. He announced that the recipient of each slip would dream of any question that was perplexing him or her and would receive an answer to it, which, he asserted, was a phenomenon of the subconscious mind. Covered with sand, the fakir was helped to the front of the stage, and the audience fought for the charms Doctors, scientists, business men and their wives united in a scramble for charms with all the eagerness of children at a school treat. Charms were distributed like a cloud of snowflakes. “Tahra Bey also hypnotised a subject who read the thoughts of members of the audience. Prophetic powers were claimed. The fakir gave some thought-reading experiments, ‘psychometrizing,’ as the spiritualists say. the writing contained in sealed envelopes. ” ’Hie Morning Post representative describes the methods of the two fakirs as much the same, except that while Rahman Bey asserts that the powers of the fakirs have nothing to do with the supernatural, Tahra Bey conveys the impression that this is not so. In fact, the audience was told that fakirs can call up "good or bad spirits,” while the bagful of charms was enviously intended to make an appeal to the superstitious rather than to the scientist. Tahra Bev defines his object as "rationalising occultism.” Rahman Bey is out to fight "Western materialism.” Whatever the real objects,, however, the audience made no protest against some of Tahra Bey’s unpleasant self-mutilation with a dagger piercing his throat, though there was an outcry against any attempt being made to hypnotise animals. Among the audience were many eminent doctors. Most of them were eager to see the phenomena under more scientific conditions and with some of the delicate instruments with which they were familiar. Rahman Bey has let it be known that he has no intention of making money out of his visit to Europe. ‘‘Whatever money may accrue from my visit will be sent to the union. It will not come to me. It is known that fakirs existed for 5000 years. There is an authentic story of a number of fakirs who were buried alive for 20 years and then dug up. They wer e revived, and lived for another year. I myself have been buried for five days.”