Dinner with Uri Geller

c. David Grim (taken 8/19/08)

This image is a result of a trip I made to Lily Dale in Western New York. It's one of the few large spiritualist communities left in the United States. I was on my way to Buffalo, and found mention of the place on the internet.

The idea that you can manipulate the material world by channeling energy is common to quite a few religions throughout the world. Discoveries in the field of physics in the Twentieth Century seemed to reinforce the belief that unseen forces have their effects on everything around us. Psychics who worked through the spiritualist movement tried to develop methodical procedures to harness these energies.

However, it strikes me as somehow trivial that these spiritualists would use tableware as a demonstration of their mastery over things. It would have been a lot more impressive if they were able to make their summer bungalows appear simultaneously with their own wishes. Instead they ended up having to eat with their fingers because they ruined all of their cutlery.