Prester John is the name given to a mythical medieval Christian priest-king of a vast empire in Central Asia, and later in Ethiopia. His first appearance in historical documents is in the Chronicle of Otto of Fresingen, who heard word of a powerful Christian sovereign reigning in the East in 1145 from a Syrian bishop who had arrived at the Papal Court in Viterbo. In 1177, Pope Alexander III wrote a letter to "Presbyter Iohannes," hoping that he might become an ally of the European princes fighting to stop the Muslim advance in Mediterranean areas. At that time it was believed that Prester John was sovereign of an Asian country near India. During the Fifth Crusade, at the beginning of the 13th century, information about Ethiopia was collected by Crusaders in Egypt, and therefore the Christian sovereigns of Nubia and Ethiopia, always fighting to defend their faith, became known in Europe. It was rather obvious development that the Indian "Prester John" of former legend should become identified with the Emperor of Ethiopia, the more easily because, in the Middle East, India and Ethiopia were often confused; until the Renaissance, it was believed that only a narrow strait ("el cavo de Diab," according to Fra Mauro, cartographer of Venice) separated Ethiopia from the Indian sub-continent. As a result, in his Mirabilia descripta, written in 1329, the Dominican friar Jourdain Catalani describes the sovereign of Christian Ethiopia as "Prester John." Thereafter the kingdom of Prester John was located in Africa and his legend was enriched, sometimes by data later made known about Ethiopia. For instance, Prester John was believed to have the power of cutting off the flow of the Nile towards Egypt (an ancient Ethiopian tradition). Again, it was said that, in Prester John's country, children were baptized with fire and not with water.
In documents and legends of the 15th century, Prester John appears with the personal name of "At Senab," a corruption of the Arabic "Abd as-Salib": this is a local Egyptian translation of the Ethiopic Gäbrä-Mäsqäl, "Servant of the Cross," the official royal name of some Ethiopian Emperors and, in particular, of the Emperor 'Amda-Seyon I (1314-1344 A.D.). The legends inspired the great Italian poets of the 16th century: Aristo, in his poem Orlando Furioso, described the travels of Astolfo, Knight of the Court of Emperor Charles the Great, to Ethiopia to visit and liberate the Emperor "Senapo"; and Tasso in his Gerusalemme Liberata celebrated the heroism and virtue of Clorinda, daughter of the same Emperor "Senapo" of Ethiopia.
As much as admirers of Houdini were convinced he could dematerialize. Trick gear shows otherwise
HARRY HOUDINI, whose real name was Eric Weiss, was the son of a rabbi, and arguably a messiah-like 'superman' who inspired immigrants yearning for freedom and success. Houdini was beloved by all who knew him. Toward the end of his career, with his hair beginning to show touches of gray, he devoted his time to entertaining sick children in hospital. He may have been murdered by friend turned foe Sir Arthur Conan Doyle of Sherlock Holmes fame. Sir Arthur was a spiritualist, close friends with several mediums, and convinced that Houdini could dematerialize. And Houdini thought Sir Arthur was a nut and said so -- which is a credit to Houdini's craft, in the sense that it is, after all, just illusion. The author of the enormously popular Sherlock Holmes stories was a practitioner of the occult, and who knows, he may very well have seen ghosts in the presence of these mediums, hence his strong reaction to Houdini's debunking efforts. Doubtful, however, that any "Watchers" (in Purgatory?) could be produced at will, or that they could ring a bell or do other spectacular tricks. Sir Arthur was too smart a man to fall for spiritualism unless his occultic experiences produced tangible results; and they very likely did. Houdini's medical records from a Detroit hospital where he was treated after allegedly being punched in the stomach, rupturing his appendix, are highly suspect in light of the marked indication for the appendix on the medical chart on the "left" side. Any legitimate health care professional would have readily known the appendix is found only on the right side. No autoposy was ever performed, and, Houdini's body was placed in one of his trick caskets made of bronze, placed on a train and whisked to New York before the family knew what had happened to the famed magician's body. Houdini may have been poisoned. Was Houdini a forerunner of anything or anyone? Arguably, histoty often appears to be constructed as art.
TANATA: Things (often) Are Not As They Appear
- Randall Carter Gray
- Signal Mountain, Tennessee, United States
- student of Coptic and Judaic studies, gentleman (amateur) scholar