Franek Kluski, a banker and journalist from Poland, is widely acknowledged for producing the most expansive and impressive range of phenomena in the history of physical mediumship. Despite his involvement with psychical research being limited to the years between 1918 and 1925, he played a crucial role in meticulously documented séances organized and attended by renowned researchers. However, information about Kluski has mostly been available only in Polish, and English references to him tend to focus on the contentious “Kluski hands,” which were paraffin wax molds intended to serve as the ultimate Permanent Paranormal Object. Nevertheless, this facet of his work is just one of many exceptional phenomena linked to Kluski.
In 1920, a researcher in France conducted carefully controlled experiments of Kluski’s technique and find no evidence of fakery. However, the study had certain limitations, such as not searching Kluski before the séances, and disregarding the testimony of magicians who said they could demonstrate how to make “spirit hands” using rubber gloves, without showing how it could be done.
In her book, Other Realities? The Enigma of Franek Kluski’s Mediumship, which is based on original Polish sources, author Zofia Weaver seeks to remedy Kluski’s omission from the pantheon of significant mediums by providing a detailed portrait of the man in the context of his times. Weaver, a former editor of the Journal and Proceedings of the Society for Psychical Research, has a particular interest in investigating well-known Polish psychics. She collaborated with Mary Rose Barrington and the late Professor Ian Stevenson on a comprehensive study of the Polish clairvoyant Stefan Ossowiecki, which was published in 2005.
