[UA] Extraordinary Popular Delusions & the Madness of Crowds

[Alex Duncan]

(I coulda sworn there was a Plutomancy spell by that name, but I just
looked and there isn't.  Anyway...)

I've been hearing about this book all my life, but just recently noticed
it on the library shelf and decided to give it a try.  Although it was
written in 1841, it has quite a bit of UAable stuff in it.

There's a section of short biographies of all the major alchemists of
the 13th thru 18th centuries, including the real Comte de Saint-Germain.
Most of them seemed to have lived and died as sordidly as your average
UA adept, though the Comte himself was naturally an exception.

There are a lot of interesting rituals, mostly for reading the future.
This is one of my favorites:
"Twenty-ninth of February.  --This day, as it only occurs once in four
years, is peculiarly auspicious to those who desire to have a glance at
futurity, especially to young maidens burning with anxiety to know the
appearance and complexion of their future lords.  The charm to be
adopted is the following:  Stick twenty-seven of the smallest pins that
are made, three by three, into a tallow candle.  Light it up at the
wrong end, and then place it in a candlestick made out of clay, which
must be drawn from a virgin's grave.  Place this on the chimney-place,
in the left-hand corner, exactly as the clock strikes twelve, and go to
bed immediately.  When the candle is burnt out, take the pins and put
them into your left shoe; and before nine nights have elapsed your fate
will be revealed to you."

And here's a wonderful proto-Epideromantic technique from the section 
on Mesmerism:
"It was believed that a _sympathetic_alphabet_ could be made on the
flesh, by means of which persons could correspond with each other, and
communicate all their ideas with the rapidity of volition, although
thousands of miles apart.  From the arms of two persons a piece of flesh
was cut, and mutually tranplanted, while still warm and bleeding.  The
piece so severed grew to the new arm on which it was placed; but still
retained so close a sympathy with its native limb, that its old
possessor was always sensible of any injury done to it.  Upon these
transplanted pieces were tattooed the letters of the alphabet; so that,
when a communication was to be made, either of the persons, though the
wide Atlantic rolled between them, had only to prick his arm with a
magnetic needle, and straightaway his friend received intimation that
the telegraph was at work.  Whatever letter he pricked on his own arm
pained the same letter on the arm of his correspondent."

I'm currently just over half-through with it.  The only complaint I have
so far is that I found the first 100 pages, dealing with a couple of
17th century financial panics, very dull going-- but you could be
smarter than me and just skip them.

--



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