James Hewat McKenzie (1869–1929) was a

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

parapsychologist, and the founder of the British College of Psychic Science. McKenzie was born in

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

, Scotland, on 11 November 1869 and died on 29 August 1929, in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

.Buckland, Raymond (2005). ''The Spirit Book: The Encyclopedia of Clairvoyance, Channeling, and Spirit Communication''. Visible Ink Press. pp. 246-247

Biography

Through years of study and experimentation with hypnotists and

mediums Mediumship is the practice of purportedly mediating communication between familiar spirits or spirits of the dead and living human beings. Practitioners are known as "mediums" or "spirit mediums". There are different types of mediumship or spir ...

, Mckenzie wrote what is considered his main work, ''Spirit Intercourse: Its Theory and Practice'' in 1917. A number of pamphlets on the related topics also bear his name including his 1917 work ''If a Soldier Die'' in and ''Personal Experiences in Spiritualism'' 1920. He left his practice as a psychologist and psychoanalyst in 1900 to pursue parapsychology and the occult sciences as a result of being disenfranchised by traditional theology and science not being able to reconcile themselves. He devoted his time to helping spiritual mediums develop their abilities. Such mediums included

Gladys Osborne Leonard Gladys Osborne Leonard (28 May 1882 – 19 March 1968) was a British trance medium, renowned for her work with the Society for Psychical Research. Although psychical researchers such as Oliver Lodge were convinced she had communicated with spiri ...

Franek Kluski Franek Kluski, real name Teofil Modrzejewski (1873-1943), was a Polish physical medium criticized by trained magicians and skeptics as a fraud. Kluski was best known for his séances in which alleged "spirit" molds of hands materialized. It was l ...

Maria Silbert Frau Maria Silbert (1866–1936) was an Austrian spiritualist medium. Biography Silbert was born in Waltendorf, Graz and claimed powers of apportation and psychokinesis as well as the ability to produce "spirit raps". Her famous trick was to ...

and Eileen J. Garrett. He spent a number of years touring and lecturing in the United States both seeking and studying mediums he also spent quite some time in the middle east, Germany, Austria, and Poland for this same purpose, finally returning home to England in 1920. McKenzie's contributions to

parapsychology Parapsychology is the study of alleged psychic phenomena (extrasensory perception, telepathy, precognition, clairvoyance, psychokinesis (also called telekinesis), and psychometry) and other paranormal claims, for example, those related to near ...

and its coming of age in the great spiritual movement of the early 20th century can be considered his greatest legacy, paving the way for future study of

clairvoyance Clairvoyance (; ) is the magical ability to gain information about an object, person, location, or physical event through extrasensory perception. Any person who is claimed to have such ability is said to be a clairvoyant () ("one who sees cl ...

extrasensory perception Extrasensory perception or ESP, also called sixth sense, is a claimed paranormal ability pertaining to reception of information not gained through the recognized physical senses, but sensed with the mind. The term was adopted by Duke Universi ...

and

remote viewing Remote viewing (RV) is the practice of seeking impressions about a distant or unseen subject, purportedly sensing with the mind. Typically a remote viewer is expected to give information about an object, event, person or location that is hidden ...

. However, allegations of fraud and mismanagement, as well as hoaxing, plagued McKenzie's research. It is stated in the ''Gale Encyclopedia of Occultism & Parapsychology'' "A devoted Spiritualist, McKenzie had no scientific training. Characterized by a strong, assertive personality, he was known to cover up evidence of fraud when he discovered it."

British College of Psychic Science

The British College of Psychic Science was founded in April 1920 in London by McKenzie and his wife to study psychical phenomena, similar to the

Institut Métapsychique International The Institut Métapsychique International (IMI) is a French parapsychological organization that studies paranormal phenomena. It was created in 1919 by Jean Meyer, Gustav Geley and Professor Rocco Santoliquido. Notable past presidents have included ...

in Paris. In December 1938 the college merged with the International Institute for Psychical Research, becoming the Institute for Experimental Metaphysics. During World War II the institute closed, and in 1947 all of its library and records were destroyed.

Harry Houdini

In his book ''Spirit Intercourse: Its Theory and Practice'', McKenzie claimed the magician

Harry Houdini Harry Houdini (, born Erik Weisz; March 24, 1874 – October 31, 1926) was a Hungarian-American escape artist, magic man, and stunt performer, noted for his escape acts. His pseudonym is a reference to his spiritual master, French magician ...

's feats such as being able to unbolt locked doors and escape from handcuffs were the result of

psychic A psychic is a person who claims to use extrasensory perception (ESP) to identify information hidden from the normal senses, particularly involving telepathy or clairvoyance, or who performs acts that are apparently inexplicable by natural laws, ...

power.Houdini, Harry (2011 reprint edition). Originally published in 1924. ''A Magician Among the Spirits''. Cambridge University Press. pp. 211-215 McKenzie also claimed in his book that Houdini had the power to materialize and dematerialize objects and other stage mentalists such as

Anna Eva Fay Anna Eva Fay Pingree (March 31, 1851 – May 12, 1927) was a famous medium and stage mentalist of the twentieth century. Biography Fay was born Ann Eliza Heathman in Southington, Ohio. She married Henry Melville Cummings, a medium, who went by ...

and

Julius and Agnes Zancig Julius and Agnes Zancig were stage magicians and authors on occultism who performed a spectacularly successful two-person mentalism act during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Julius Zancig (1857–1929) – born Julius Jörgensen in Copen ...

had genuine psychic powers. Houdini referred to this as "one of the most, if not the most flagrant instances of mal-observation" and in his book ''Magician Among the Spirits'' wrote a response to McKenzie "I do claim to free myself from the restraint of fetters and confinement, but positively state that I accomplish my purpose purely by physical, not psychical means. The force necessary to "shot a bolt within a lock," is drawn from Houdini the living human being and not a medium. My methods are perfectly natural, resting on natural laws of physics." Psychical researcher

Eric Dingwall Eric John Dingwall (1890–1986) was a British anthropologist, psychical researcher and librarian. Biography Born in British Ceylon, Dingwall moved to England where he was educated at Pembroke College, Cambridge (M.A., 1912), and the Unive ...

wrote regarding McKenzie that "In spite of his massive credulity and disregard of scientific evidence he was a remarkable example of the spiritualist business-man; and it is better to remember him for his many good qualities than to stress his naïve belief in Houdini’s "psychic" powers".Hankey, Muriel Winifred Arnold. (1963). ''James Hewat McKenzie, Pioneer of Psychical Research: A Personal Memoir''. Garrett Publications. p. 139

Publications

''Spirit Intercourse: Its Theory and Practice''
(1917)

Biography

British College of Psychic Science

Harry Houdini

Publications

References

Further reading