Dark Cities

One Man and his Dog...

Following on from yesterdays article, I felt compelled to visit the grave of the Great Laffayette and Beauty on the anniversary of his death today, to lay a single yellow rose on his grave in an act of remembrance. I previously imagined that the Edinburgh Magic Circle may possibly have commemorated the occasion. I got in touch with Trevor, one of their members, who informed me that the Edinburgh Magic Circle generally tend to focus more on modern magicians and their work. 

He added that most of those in the Circle are keen to learn tricks that they can put into practice. The sheer scale and complexity of the Great Laffayette's work was such that there is no way that anyone he knew could replicate anything near the magnificence of the Lion's Bride.

Ladies & Gentlemen - The Great Lafayette

In an article soon to be published here, I outline the bizarre final resting place of the 10th Duke of Hamilton. These next few words give a brief account of the strange death and final resting place of one of the most famous entertainers of the 20th Century, The Great Lafayette, aka Sigmund Neuberger.

Saturday 9 May marks the 98th anniversary of his death. This sensational stage magician was a friend of Harry Houdini and started his stage career imitating Ching Ling Fu. He very soon outshone both to become the highest-paid performer in vaudeville.

An eccentric man his constant companion was his dog, Beauty, which Houdini had gifted to him. Pampered with diamond studded collars and other expensive gifts, Beauty was also part of his stage act and he referred to her as a magician in her own right.

In 1911 they travelled to Edinburgh to perform sell out shows at the Empire Theatre. Tragically Beauty died leaving the Great Lafayette distraught. After much wrangling he received permission from the City of Edinburgh Council to have beauty buried within Piershill cemetery in the city. Complaints from the public included one sharp witted protester who pointed out that at the cemetery gates a sign read “no dogs allowed”. Permission was only granted with the proviso that this was Lafayettes plot and that when the time came he would be interred in the plot. Unbeknown to himself, he was to meet that end whilst still in Edinburgh just over a week later.

His performances were legendary. The ‘jewel in the crown’ of his illusions was an elaborate act titled ‘The Lions Bride’. This required a real Lion, a Horse and a cast of faithful performers. The secrecy surrounding his illusions was such that he would have the doors at the back of the stage locked to stop his competition from discovering how the tricks were performed. This was to be his downfall.

At the second performance on the evening of 9 May a Chinese lantern accidentally set light to the stage curtains. Thinking that it was part of the act the audience remained in their seats. The quick thinking orchestra conductor interrupted the performance by getting the orchestra to play ‘God Save the King’, which immediately had everyone on their feet. Seeing the fire continue to spread and realising that all was not well, the now panicking crowd managed amazingly to escape without harm. Another fate however befell the cast.

The Great Lafayette’s last recorded words were, “I must go back for my horse.” When he was next seen, it was his lifeless, blackened and charred remains. His features destroyed he was identified by the unique jewelled ring on his finger.  His identity established his body was sent to Glasgow for cremation. In the days that followed local newspapers included strange headlines such as ‘the bodies of the midgets were retrieved from the Empire Theatre today”.

Two days after the tragedy dumbfounded fire officers discovered the ‘real’ body of the Great Lafayette. It transpired that the first body had, in actual fact, been that of his body double that he used in his illusions (who as a quick aside, lived in a flat that was rented by our very own Mark Oxbrow, many, many years later).

The funeral procession set off from the undertakers W.T. Dunbar and Sons in Morrison Street on 14 May 1911 witnessed by a gathering of thousands

along the route to Piershill Cemetery. His popularity and eccentricity was such that this ‘show’ pulled a bigger crowd than the Royal visit to Edinburgh a few years earlier. His final performance was reportedly a spectacular sight to behold. His silver-grey Mercedes automobile carried his principle mourner, his

Dalmatian hound, Mabel! Standing on the running boards were his two black servants. The black horse-drawn carriage carrying his ashes contained in an urn, were taken from the carriage on arrival and

carefully placed within the grave where they now remain, Anubis like, between the paws of the preserved body of his great love Beauty!

Ian Robertson

Christmas Carols, Knights Templar, Cistercian Monks and a Goblin's Hall

Are you confused, concerned or just keen to find out more about the strange title that you’ve just read? Please read further and all will be revealed. What may sound sensational at first is actually a description of a day in the life or yours truly. (I know - I’m blessed!)

I was invited along to a Christmas carol service at Nunraw Abbey in East Lothian on Sunday 14 December which intrigued me because it was no ordinary carol service. Nunraw is a Cistercian Abbey and the carol service was organised on behalf of a group of Freemasonic Knights Templar. The wonderful irony with all this is that many see Freemasonry, wrongly, as being sectarian, anti-catholic and full of Satan worshipers. Another misconception is that Roman Catholics have a hatred of Freemasons which isn't the case. If truth be told, the origins of Freemasonry are to be found in the Incorporated Trades which were formed before the Protestant reformation and therefore Roman Catholic in origin!

Nunraw Abbey was the first Cistercian House to be founded in Scotland since the time of the Reformation which took hold in the 1560’s. Founded in 1946 Nunraw Abbey re-established the Catholic brotherhood in the Lothian’s which had once supported the medieval Knights Templar.

In 2006 the Freemasonic KT’s, under the District Grand Priory of the South East of Scotland, instigated a meeting with the Abbey to acknowledge the historical bond that the Cistercian Monks of Newbottle in Midlothian once had with the Templars. Since then, an annual service now takes place for Freemasons, their families and the Cistercians monks.

After attending what was an enjoyable service, I drove through the village of Gifford in East Lothian on my way home. In contrast to the service I’d just attended in celebration of “the Light of the World” legend states that Gifford harbours dark forces.

Centuries ago the Laird was a certain Sir Hugo de Giffard who was said to have been a Wizard. The castle of Yester which he was responsible for, was alleged to have been created by magical means. In a pact with the devil he raised a demonic army of Hobgoblins who built the castle for him which included a vault which became to home of the said goblins. Today all that remains of the castle is the vault, which the locals call the Goblin Ha’, a name also adopted by the local pub. Whether it’s all just a legendary tale or not, no local will venture anywhere near the ruins of the castle after dark.

Ian Robertson

Life, The Universe and Nothing

I've had the pleasure recently of delivering a number of intro to NLP workshop's over the last couple of months which have got me thinking again! Having studied NLP to Master Practitioner level and also Clinical Hypnosis I've always been fascinated by the fact that these interests converge with my esoteric interests in such splendid ways.

I've had the pleasure recently of delivering a number of intro to NLP workshop's over the last couple of months which have got me thinking again! Having studied NLP to Master Practitioner level and also Clinical Hypnosis I've always been fascinated by the fact that these interests converge with my esoteric interests in such splendid ways.

I'm not entirely sure (maybe someone can keep me right here?) but I think it was Blake who said that the World inside is more important then the world outside. With this in mind, the key to NLP for me is in the simplest yet most profound message at its core - People do not experience reality, they experience their thoughts and feelings about reality. The gift for us, in this simple statement is clear - if you want to change the world, change your own but start from the inside out. The majority of the population look out into the world for sense and meaning and for the means whereby they may make their LIVING.

The old classic 'Think and Grow Rich' by Napoleon Hill is still an astounding book. The language is a bit dated in some areas but the book itself is monumental and way better, in my opinion, to 'The Secret' which many are raving about these days. Having spent more than two decades interviewing the most commercially successful people in America back in the early part of the 20th Century, Napoleon Hill discovered that Desire followed by Belief and then followed by taking Action was the common denominator.

Mirroring this with the message at the heart of Alchemy, "As it is above, So it is below, As it is in the Outer, So it is in the Inner, As it is in the Great, So it is in the Small", we can begin to see that what we manifest in the world truly is the sum of our thoughts followed by actions.

On holiday this year I took a three tape course with me which I purchased many years ago from The Sorcerers Apprentice in Leeds (the UK's oldest Occult supplier). The course, 'Opening Gateways' pointed out in a similar way to NLP, that the way to 'mastery' is by thinking about thinking, or more particularly, noticing how we think and then directing it to effect changes in our consciousness.

It's no mistake therefore that Religious, Magical and Mystical approaches all similarly direct the 5 senses in ways deliberately designed to bring about altered states. Pathworking, creative visualization, focusing on an icon or a mandala, burning incense, offering the faithful bread and wine, physically acting out a ceremonial practice, using bells, gongs or organ music are all ways to direct and to stimulate, or manipulate the senses in order to bring about altered states of consciousness.

The ultimate aim for the practitioner is to perfect these exercises to a point where paradoxically their heightened awareness of the senses goes beyond the 5 senses and breaks free so that they can experience actual reality. Herein however, according to ancient wisdom, lies the greatest paradox - everything is nothing and nothing is everything.

Love to hear your comments
Ian