The early twentieth century in Egypt was a time of intellectual exploration. Among the many new doctrines, sciences, and philosophies that were setting Cairo ablaze, one of the most unusual was hypnotism. Experimental and, often, weird it existed on the outer reaches of modern science but it had a number of high profile adherents in Egypt.
By the 1920s, a series of charismatic young men were using the supposed power of hypnosis to accomplish all kinds of inexplicable miracles. This talk tells their story and sets it alongside the much older (still thriving) tradition of Jinn summoning which hit the headlines in 1930s Cairo, when an Italian woman was convinced by an unscrupulous set of Jinn summoners to hand over a large amount of her fortune and marry Shamhurish, a king of the Jinn.
Raphael Cormack is Assistant Professor of Arabic at Durham University (UK). His first book, Midnight in Cairo, told the story of the women of Egypt’s early 20th century entertainment industry. This talk is based on research he did for his forthcoming book “Holy Men of the Electromagnetic Age.”
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The lecture starts at 6 pm. We work on a first-come, first-served basis as the number of seats is limited. We open our doors at 5:30 and close them at 6:15 or earlier when the lecture room reaches its full capacity. This talk will not be recorded nor livestreamed.
