M. Lamar Keene
Encyclopedia
Morris Lamar Keene, born about 1938, is a former spirit medium in Tampa, Florida
and at Camp Chesterfield
, Indiana
, where he was known as the "Prince of the Spiritualists
". He is best known for his 1976 book The Psychic Mafia, in which he coined the term "true believer syndrome."
activities were done by fraudulent means. Keene revealed how he got rich by tricking thousands of people in séances
. James Randi
, a professional magician, interviewed Keene in 1977, and discovered that Keene was quite unsophisticated in fooling people with magic, but Keene explained that his spiritualist clients were easy to fool. Keene described how the victims fell for the most transparent ruses. Keene coined the term true-believer syndrome
in the book .
In The Psychic Mafia, Keene explicitly professed a belief in God
, life after death
, psychic
phenomena and ESP
, even after making his case against true believers and renouncing his trade as a phony medium.
Keene and Spraggett's book caused a storm among his former associates in spiritualist
circles. There were threats on his life. One night, while walking across his front lawn in Tampa, an unseen shooter fired at him and missed, and he later dug the rifle bullet out of the wall of his house . Afterward he changed his name, moved to another city, and entered the import-export business. Some years later, when he was leaving his shop, a car drove up and an assailant fired several shots, hitting Keene and seriously wounding him.
Tampa, Florida
Tampa is a city in the U.S. state of Florida. It serves as the county seat for Hillsborough County. Tampa is located on the west coast of Florida. The population of Tampa in 2010 was 335,709....
and at Camp Chesterfield
Camp Chesterfield
Camp Chesterfield was founded in 1886 and is the home of the Indiana Association of Spiritualists, located in Chesterfield, Indiana. Camp Chesterfield offers Spiritualist Church services, seminary, and mediumship, faith healing, and spiritual development classes, as well as psychic readings for...
, Indiana
Indiana
Indiana is a US state, admitted to the United States as the 19th on December 11, 1816. It is located in the Midwestern United States and Great Lakes Region. With 6,483,802 residents, the state is ranked 15th in population and 16th in population density. Indiana is ranked 38th in land area and is...
, where he was known as the "Prince of the Spiritualists
Spiritualism
Spiritualism is a belief system or religion, postulating the belief that spirits of the dead residing in the spirit world have both the ability and the inclination to communicate with the living...
". He is best known for his 1976 book The Psychic Mafia, in which he coined the term "true believer syndrome."
The Psychic Mafia
In 1976, Keene co-authored The Psychic Mafia, "as told to" Allen Spraggett, a well known Canadian writer on paranormal topics. The writer William V. Rauscher, himself a believer in psychic powers, contributed a foreword and a bibliography and claimed to have conducted 75 hours of interviews with Keene, during which Keene admitted that all of his psychicParapsychology
The term parapsychology was coined in or around 1889 by philosopher Max Dessoir, and originates from para meaning "alongside", and psychology. The term was adopted by J.B. Rhine in the 1930s as a replacement for the term psychical research...
activities were done by fraudulent means. Keene revealed how he got rich by tricking thousands of people in séances
Séance
A séance is an attempt to communicate with spirits. The word "séance" comes from the French word for "seat," "session" or "sitting," from the Old French "seoir," "to sit." In French, the word's meaning is quite general: one may, for example, speak of "une séance de cinéma"...
. James Randi
James Randi
James Randi is a Canadian-American stage magician and scientific skeptic best known as a challenger of paranormal claims and pseudoscience. Randi is the founder of the James Randi Educational Foundation...
, a professional magician, interviewed Keene in 1977, and discovered that Keene was quite unsophisticated in fooling people with magic, but Keene explained that his spiritualist clients were easy to fool. Keene described how the victims fell for the most transparent ruses. Keene coined the term true-believer syndrome
True-believer syndrome
True-believer syndrome is an informal or rhetorical term coined by M. Lamar Keene in his 1976 book The Psychic Mafia. Keene used the term to refer to people who continued to believe in a paranormal event or phenomenon even after it had been proven to have been staged...
in the book .
In The Psychic Mafia, Keene explicitly professed a belief in God
God
God is the English name given to a singular being in theistic and deistic religions who is either the sole deity in monotheism, or a single deity in polytheism....
, life after death
Life After Death
Life After Death is the second and final studio album by American rapper The Notorious B.I.G., released March 25, 1997 on Bad Boy Records. A double album, it was released posthumously following his death on March 9, 1997 and serves as his final studio album...
, psychic
Psychic
A psychic is a person who professes an ability to perceive information hidden from the normal senses through extrasensory perception , or is said by others to have such abilities. It is also used to describe theatrical performers who use techniques such as prestidigitation, cold reading, and hot...
phenomena and ESP
Extra-sensory perception
Extrasensory perception involves reception of information not gained through the recognized physical senses but sensed with the mind. The term was coined by Frederic Myers, and adopted by Duke University psychologist J. B. Rhine to denote psychic abilities such as telepathy, clairaudience, and...
, even after making his case against true believers and renouncing his trade as a phony medium.
Keene and Spraggett's book caused a storm among his former associates in spiritualist
Spiritualism
Spiritualism is a belief system or religion, postulating the belief that spirits of the dead residing in the spirit world have both the ability and the inclination to communicate with the living...
circles. There were threats on his life. One night, while walking across his front lawn in Tampa, an unseen shooter fired at him and missed, and he later dug the rifle bullet out of the wall of his house . Afterward he changed his name, moved to another city, and entered the import-export business. Some years later, when he was leaving his shop, a car drove up and an assailant fired several shots, hitting Keene and seriously wounding him.
Quotes
- The true-believer syndrome merits study by science. What is it that compels a person, past all reason, to believe the unbelievable. How can an otherwise sane individual become so enamored of a fantasy, an imposture, that even after it's exposed in the bright light of day he still clings to it — indeed, clings to it all the harder?… No amount of logic can shatter a faith consciously based on a lie. — M. Lamar Keene and Allen Spraggett