Daniel Dunglas Home: First Psychic

He became a legend in his lifetime. The spirits were kind to him and their help, he performed feats that made scientist bite their nails. For the layman, he was a person with extraordinary powers, who could invoke spirits and make them do his bidding. Daniel Home remained an enigma throughout his life. He kept on proving the existence of spirits and his control over them. Astonished at his feats, famous scientist William Crookes had to admit that Home made science look dwarf before his achievements. Nobody has been able to unravel the secrets of his magical world. DANIEL HOME could be called an unsolved puzzle. Tall and lithe, he was not endowed with physical strength, but he derived his "supernatural powers" from his friendly spirits. He had no parallel as far as his control over spiritual powers was concerned. These spirits seemed to have influenced him from his early childhood. Father Stove declared him to be possessed by evil spirits. During his childhood, he had to live in his own solitary world with only a piano as company.

He was a forceful speaker from an early age. He devoted his time to studies and became a preacher. His voice had magic in it and people stood spellbound as this 13-year-old preacher spoke to them.

The first miracle of his life occurred when he was a child. It happened in 1846, when he was living with his aunt. One night, he woke her up and told her that Edwin's spirit came to him. his aunt wondered if he had gone mad. Home threw his hands in the air three times and like a seasoned soothsayer declared that his friend Edwin was dead. His aunt went to sleep, but soon she came to know that Edwin died in an accident three days back.

Four years after, he proclaimed that his mother would die at the age of 42. But, he would be able to keep contact with her soul for three years. This also proved true. After her death, Home was all alone in this world. He had established his reputation as a preacher. Though he had none whom he could call his own in this world, the doors of another world were always open to him. The spirits were ever ready to guide him through his life. The people had come to know that Home invoked spirits and were eager to see his miracles.

He became a legend in his life time because of his "friendship" with spirits. During his life, Home remained a challenge for the top scientists who could not explain this phenomenon.

Home used to disappear before hundreds of spectators. he would fly in the air with the spirits and dance with them. Many times he turned into smoke, then a dot. his head separated from his body and went out of the window. The spectators were dumbfounded and looked at these feats breathlessly. The next moment they found him on a chair amongst them.

The whole work has astonished at his magical power. World famous physical chemist, William Crookes, wrote about him in the July 1, 1871, issue of 'Quarterly Journal of Science', "When I recollect what I saw, my mind gets clouded. Logic says that from the point of view of science this is impossible. I can assert with certainty that I have not discovered any trick or sleight of hand. How he does all this beyond my comprehension. It is really strange that Home has dwarfed the achievements of science. In comparison, his feats seem taller."

During the first phase of his world tour, he went to Willmantinck where he stayed with Hieden. during his stay he met Dr. George Bush, a professor in New York University. It was a mere coincidence that Dr. bush was interested in supernatural things and was doing a lot of studies to know about it. He took Home along with him, when he lectured on the subject. The audience paid more attention to the simple talk of home as they failed to understand the highly intellectual and verbose language of Dr. Bush. Home made his audience aware of the unknown and mysterious world of supernatural elements. They were deeply impressed.

As his reputation spread, a team of intellectuals of Europe came to see him. The members of this delegation were poet Calin Brant, B.K. Wills, William Edward and David A. Wills, who were renowned scholars. They were simply astonished by what he demonstrated. Poet Brant became so enamored of Home's prowess that he called him 'the golden ray of dawn'. This delegation prepared a document and signed it. They wrote. "We were sitting around a large table. We saw that the table started moving up and was flying in the air. The chairs, on which we were seated, also started moving of their own. Then we found ourselves floating in the air."

"When Mr. Wills tried to hold on to the table, some invisible hand pushed him away, and he found himself on the table." The poet Brant wrote, "I could see the floor in tremor. home was cautioning everyone to keep their feet firmly planted. The room was full of light in which we could see everything clearly. we were in full control of our senses. as such, we can assert that we were not deceived in any manner."

Home then went to New York. The intellectual of the city revived him warmly. A delegation comprising the well-known homeopath Dr. John Gray, Justice John W. Edmons of New York and Dr. Robert Hare, professor of chemistry in Pennsylvania University, came to see his miracles. After the demonstration, these eminent people were all praise for Home and wrote, "We saw the presence of spirits with our own eyes. Their presence was luminous like electricity. We saw that blue light emitted from the tips of fingers and toes of these denizens of the world of spirits."

Editor, F. Elbwer saw Home's demonstration on August 8, 1852, and wrote in his paper, "A blue light materialized and engulfed Home. Then Home started rising towards the ceiling. Home said that his feet were not on the floor. I personally saw that he rose like a balloon and stopped at the ceiling. Then, he gradually came down as if a balloon had been pricked with needle. As soon as he touched the floor, flowers showered from above. Some flowers fell on my and my friends' head and shoulders."

Elbwer wrote in his paper about another breathtaking demonstration by Home. According to him, "It was a beautiful night in the room was flooded with the light of the stars. Everything was clearly visible. Ward, Saith, john and Cheney were sitting along with me around a table. The room also had a large-sized bell. Suddenly, the bell started ringing loudly and the shining hand of a spirit was seen in the room. The hand took the bell towards the ceiling. Then the same hand put the bell on the table. This hand shook hands with Cheney brothers and then disappeared."

Ward Cheney has written about another incident. "It was a Sunday. Daylight flooded the room. Suddenly, the table in the room started tossing about like a ship engulfed in a storm. We felt as if ocean waves were lashing the room. Daniel started pronouncing letters from alphabet. When these letters were put together, they constituted the name of a friend of Nick Chester who was sitting in the room. Home then declared that his friend died by drowning in the sea. His spirit had just visited us. Later, this turned out to be absolutely true."

Home had a millions of admirers throughout the world because of the miraculous demonstrations. Bishop Clarke called him a unique magician and wrote, "Ordinary magicians show their tricks with the help of a bag, springs, gloves, iron rods and many other such items. Home is a man of extraordinary powers and has changed the life-stream of many people."

Home fell sick during his stay in America. Two well-known physicians, Dr. Gerald and Dr. Gray, had already told him in 1853, that his left lung had collapsed. Home did not bother. Continuous demonstrations and travel had badly affected his health. He returned to England leaving his admirers behind in America.

Here too, he was surrounded by admirers. Dr. Wilkinson wrote in Morning Adviser, "I have seen the miracles performed by Home with my daughter. The table in the room moved on its own. Then, it started flying and touched the ceiling, as if it had grown wings. The bell rang without anybody touching it. To top it all, the accordion kept in the room started playing tunes. My daughter was surprised to see all this. Suddenly some invisible spirit started singing on the accordion in a melodious voice: God save the king and Home, sweet Home, sweet Home."

Home had regained his strength in England. He planned a world trip. He first went to Florence which prove momentous to him. Home later admitted that his trip to Florence was more important that his journey in England and America. He was simply adored Florence. Hundreds of people lined the roads when he went for a morning walk. But, there was also no dearth of opponents and many people were jealous of his popularity. Some people asked him to leave Florence and even threatened to kill him.

As a matter of fact, a sort of decline had set in his life. "The spirits had taken leave him claiming that they were no longer suitable medium for Home. He had to remain separated from them for some time."

It was the night of February 10, 1857. Home felt that an invisible hand was caressing his body. Home heard a voice that said, "Daniel be happy." Now that loving hand was caressing his forehead. Daniel was overjoyed. His eyes were full of tears of happiness. His magical world has taken a re-birth.

He gave his demonstration before Napoleon III and Queen Eugene on February 13, 1857. Horrible sounds echoed in that royal room. The doors shut with loud bangs. Suddenly a lot of pigeons appeared in the room. The emperor shouted to anger to stop this display of pigeons. In a moment all the pigeons vanished and rose petals started raining in the room. The queen felt that somebody was pulling her dress. She shrieked out of fear. Home said, "please remove your hand from the table. You will not be afraid then."

As soon as she removed her hand from the table, she burst out with joy and exclaimed, "This hand is of my father." When the emperor touched the hand it shone like silver.

Home made another astonishing demonstration before the emperor. Smoke filled the room and then gradually it converted itself into a child's hand. This hand moved towards the people like an arrow. The chandeliers in the room were shattered to pieces and the glass scattered. Everything in the room shook. Melodious tunes were heard on the accordion. Knots appeared on the silk handkerchief of the queen. Silver bells floated in the room. In the end, the miraculous hand wrote on a paper "Napoleon'. The emperor admitted that it was the hand of Napoleon I.

Home went to Paris. He got a tumultuous reception, but fell sick. To recoup his health, he toured Florence, Amsterdam, Brussels, Paris, Rome and Russia. in Russia, he met a pretty girl named Alexadrona Decrol, whom he married in August, 1858. Then he went on a world trip accompanied by his wife, whom he lovingly called Satcha. Home acquired immense wealth during this period. His wife was sick of her husband's busy life and travels. She fell ill and died on July 3, 1862, after a long sickness.

Now, Home was absolutely alone. He was broken-hearted due to his wife's death. He decided to take leave from his world of miracles. He stopped giving demonstration and started writing his autobiography. His health was fast failing. Eventually, he died on July 21, 1886. Even today, his life is a riddle. Home is still alive in the minds of people because of his world of magic and miracles and his extraordinary prowess in controlling denizens of Supernatural World.