"There is no such thing as magic; there is no such thing as second sight, or mind reading, or thought transference; there is nothing but fakery and humbug in Hindoo mysticism, and I challenge any Spiritualist or medium to show me any trick or trickery done by him or her that..."
"I haven't done in the open, or cannot do. And I will repeat that challenge as often as they desire, and meet the best of them under their own conditions..."
"This sweeping assertion was made yesterday by Ramses, the magician working at the Orpheum. Ramses himself, who learned many of the ricks he performs from the 'magicians' of Egypt where, he says, the best are to be found, does things that seem impossible to the naked eye"
"'How about the celebrated fakers of India?' he was asked."
"'What do they do that we cannot do? They make a man disappear-- yes? I do the same with a woman. They make flowers grow before your eyes? So do I, and give you the flowers to prove it..."
Ramses, a portrait:
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"In the Berkshire Hills of Connecticut, in an out of the way valley, is a school of philosophy, a religious retreat, an eastern monastery in embryo, perhaps. There is not, however, a trace of Oriental coloring visible to the casual observer to call attention to the fact..."
"that it is not indigenous to the soil that gave us wooden nutmegs-- not a trace, that is, except the Hindu Swami, monk and sage at the head of the establishment and the name, which is in good Sanskrit the Vedanta Ashrama"
"The mentality of Lu Etta Smith was the subject discussed at the trial of Dr. Willard P. Burke today. Attorneys for the defence did their best to prove her insane. They delved into the realms of the mystic world and hauled forth spooks, swamis and bogie men."
"Then Hindu philosophy was mixed up with a question otherwise immaterial, irrelevant and incompetent..."
“It seems hard to believe that in this civilized day there should exist anywhere, such preposterous absurdity as are practiced in India in the name of religion”
“Although England has ruled here for more than a century, and the Protestant missionary societies have spent upwards of a hundred million gold dollars in trying to make converts to Christianity, the mass of people still adhere to the ridiculous practices of the ancients”
“Eve is eating the apple again. It is offered as a knowledge of the occult that shall solve the riddles of existence. Yoga, that eastern philosophy the emblem of which is the coiled serpent, is being widely disseminated here”
“Literally yoga means the ‘path’ that leads to wisdom. Actually it is proving the way that leads to domestic infelicity and insanity and death”
“Terrible tortures of human beings figure in bloody rites of ‘Kali’, Goddess of thugs and robbers, in interior state of India, says British archaeologist...”
“The ritual performed in the worship of Kali involves the most revolting rites, which the British government has long tried to suppress, but not with complete success”
“To the ‘true worshipers of Kali’ human sacrifice is essential...cutting their flesh and burning portions of their bodies is part of the devotion required of Kali’s worshipers.”
“‘You are my affinity no longer.’ It was with these words that Mrs. W. E. Stone abandoned husband, children, home, country, and friends—gave up her position as a leader of the exclusive society of LaFayette, Ind....”
“And she accepted, in the place of all this, a life of semi-barbarity, among the mystics, the fakers, and the dervishes of East India, where as a devotee of the weird, intangible faith which is called Yoga, she must satisfy her heart’s desire in the contemplation of the occult..”