Cecil Husk

Cecil Husk (1847-1920) was a British professional singer and spiritualist medium.

Biography

Husk was a professional singer and member of the Carl Rosa Opera Company. His eyesight deteriorated and he became a full-time medium. He claimed to materialize spirits and be able to perform psychokinesis.^[1]

In 1891 at a public séance with twenty sitters Husk was exposed as a fraud. He was caught leaning over a table pretending to be a spirit by covering his face with phosphor material. It was noted by investigators that the materializations of Husk had fine singing voices and sounded similar to himself.^[2]

Husk also claimed to have the psychic ability to push his entire arm through an iron ring with a size that did not allow its passage over the hand, however, it was discovered that he performed the trick by using a local anesthetic on his hand.^[3]

The magician Will Goldston also exposed the fraud mediumship of Husk. In a séance Goldston attended a pale face materialization appeared in the room. Goldston wrote "I saw at once that it was a gauze mask, and that the moustache attached to it was loose at one side through lack of gum. I pulled at the mask. It came away, revealing the face of Husk."^[4]

References

1. Lewis Spence. (2003). Encyclopedia of Occultism & Parapsychology. Kessinger Publishing. p. 445. ISBN 978-1161361827
2. Rodger Anderson. (2006). Psychics, Sensitives and Somnambules. McFarland & Company. p. 90. ISBN 978-0786427703
3. Harry Price. (1939). Fifty Years of Psychical Research. Kessinger Publishing. p. 203. ISBN 978-0766142428
4. Will Goldston. (1942). Tricks Of The Masters. G. Routledge & Sons, Ltd. p. 4