by Mary Gindling

Created on: January 13, 2010

In 1852, 19-year-old Daniel Dunglas Home suddenly rose from the ground at the Connecticut home of a wealthy silk manufacturer and floated to the ceiling in front of several witnesses. It was no less a surprise to him than it was to the people who saw it happen. And as it turned out, levitation was only one of Home’s mysterious powers.

Seances

Born in Scotland, Home grew up in Hartford, Connecticut. Following his unexpected first levitation, he began to develop his psychic powers. He became immensely popular, rivaling even the legendary Fox sisters as he performed seances and demonstrations of his remarkable abilities. He went to England in 1955 and soon came to the attention of England’s fashionable society, who regularly requested his services as a medium.

Unlike other mediums of the day, Home did not require darkness for his seances, preferring a soft lighting that allowed him to be observed throughout the session. He routinely produced the most common phenomena of typical seances such as raps and so-called spirit messages. But he also caused heavy tables and chairs to rise into the air, and sometimes the chairs were occupied by surprised guests.

Musical instruments, either brought by Home or by skeptical guests, floated into the air and played by themselves at Home’s command. Trumpets and accordions were the most common instruments used, and Home happily used the instruments brought to seances rather than his own for his musical demonstrations. It is not known whether Home himself knew how to play either instrument, or any other, for that matter.

Extraordinary Feats

Home did not confine himself to demonstrations of floating objects and levitating furniture. He apparently had the ability to stretch his own body. Witnesses reported watching as he grew up to a foot taller than his normal height, and reported that they could actually see his flesh distorting and stretching during the demonstration. He also could handle fire without being burned. Hume would stir the hot coals in fireplaces with his bare hands and sometimes plunged his face and hair into the coals, emerging with no apparent injury.

Levitation

Home’s signature skill was his ability to levitate. After his first spontaneous flight of 1852, Home learned to control his ability and was able to levitate at will. He successfully levitated numerous times for such notables as French emperor Napoleon III, Russian Czar Alexander II and other heads of state, as well as men such as

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