Maria Silbert

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 engrave cigarette cases under the table during her séances.^[1] She allowed some lighting in her séances but did not allow investigators to look under the table where most of her phenomena was said to occur.^[2]

In 1925, the British psychical researcher Harry Price investigated Silbet and caught her using her feet and toes to move objects in the séance room.^[3]

Walter Franklin Prince in 1927 discovered how Silbert performed the cigarette trick. She had developed the ability to maneuver a stiletto using only her feet and was thus able to write names on the cigarette cases when they were held under the table.^[1] Another researcher Theodore Besterman investigated Silbert in 1928 and observed that the "spirit raps" only occurred when Silbert had her legs under the table or in front of the chair which suggested that she tapped the furniture herself with her feet to make the sounds.^[2]

Adalbert Evian supported Silbert and wrote the book The Mediumship of Maria Silbert (1936). The psychical researcher Eric Dingwall in a review wrote "As a work of scientific interest it is worthless, but as illustrating the minds of those over whom Frau Silbert cast her influence it is by no means without value."^[4]

Footnotes

1 2 Massimo Polidoro. (2001). Final Seance: The Strange Friendship Between Houdini and Conan Doyle. Prometheus Books. p. 103. ISBN 978-1573928960
1 2 C. E. Bechhofer Roberts. (1932). The Truth about Spiritualism. Kessinger Publishing. pp. 130-132. ISBN 978-1417981281
↑ Lewis Spence. (1991). Encyclopedia of Occultism & Parapsychology. Gale Research Company. p. 1522. ISBN 978-0810301962
↑ Trevor H. Hall. (1984). The Enigma of Daniel Home: Medium Or Fraud?. Prometheus Books. p. 44. ISBN 978-0879752361

Spiritualism and spiritism

History and beliefs	Automatic writing Cross-correspondences Ectoplasm Materialization Mediumship Séance Spirit guides Spiritual healing Spirit obsession Spirit photography Spirit possession Spirit world Table-turning Theism

Spiritualists	Derek Acorah Rosemary Altea Charles Bailey Ada Besinnet Eddy Brothers Bangs Sisters Stephen E. Braude Rosemary Brown Sylvia Browne Eva Carrière Doris Collins Florence Cook Mina Crandon William Crookes Geraldine Cummins Pearl Curran Frank Decker Arthur Conan Doyle Helen Duncan Harry Edwards John Edward William Eglinton Colin Evans Fox sisters Leslie Flint Arthur Ford Colin Fry Eileen Garrett Kathleen Goligher Rita Goold Jan Guzyk Robert Hare Alec Harris Gordon Higginson Richard Hodgson Daniel Dunglas Home Elizabeth Hope William Hope Cecil Husk Swami Laura Horos James H. Hyslop Allan Kardec Franek Kluski Gladys Osborne Leonard Oliver Lodge Heinrich Melzer Carmine Mirabelli Francis Ward Monck William Usborne Moore William Stainton Moses Einer Nielsen Eusapia Palladino Leonora Piper Ethel Post-Parrish James Van Praagh Bert Reese Estelle Roberts Jane Roberts William Roy Rudi Schneider Maria Silbert Henry Slade Doris Stokes Emanuel Swedenborg Rosina Thompson Stanisława Tomczyk Ena Twigg George Valiantine Jack Webber Etta Wriedt

Organizations	List of Spiritualist organizations Spiritualist churches Spiritist centres National Spiritualist Association of Churches Spiritualists' National Union Spiritualist Association of Great Britain Spiritual Church Movement Arthur Findlay College International Spiritualist Federation

Skeptics	David Abbott John Henry Anderson George Miller Beard Ruth Brandon Lionel Branson Derren Brown William Carpenter Milbourne Christopher Edward Clodd Edmund Smith Conklin Tony Cornell Millais Culpin Stuart Cumberland Eric Dingwall Joseph Dunninger Henry Evans Chris French Martin Gardner G. Stanley Hall Trevor Hall William A. Hammond C. E. M. Hansel Carlos María de Heredia Carl Hertz Terence Hines Harry Houdini Joseph Jastrow C. E. M. Joad Stanley LeFevre Krebs Rose Mackenberg David Marks John Nevil Maskelyne Henry Maudsley Joseph McCabe Henry C. McComas Georgess McHargue Charles Arthur Mercier Albert Moll John Mulholland Fulton Oursler Joe Nickell Ernest Clephan Palmer Ronald Pearsall Frank Podmore Massimo Polidoro Harry Price Julien Proskauer James Randi Joseph Rinn C. E. Bechhofer Roberts Chung Ling Soo Gordon Stein Amy Tanner Ivor Lloyd Tuckett Lyttelton Winslow Richard Wiseman

Authority control	WorldCat Identities VIAF: 300221634 GND: 1034108360

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Maria Silbert

Biography

Footnotes

Further reading