His work ran parallel to theirs, and so he was more an icon—and barely that—than a Fortean.
Eric John Dingwall was born in the early 1890s, probably 1891—he didn’t know the exact date—in what was then known as Ceylon, a British territory. He moved to the metropole, and studied at Cambridge, graduating in 1915. As a young man, he did library work, had an interest in magic, and, like many magicians of the time, developed a fascination with parapsychology and spiritualism. He joined the Society for Psychical Research in 1920, and spent 1921 in the U.S. with the American Society forPsychical Research.
In addition to his other enthusiasms, Dingwall also had an interest in sexual deviation and erotica—these would get him kicked out of the SPR. He continued to practice magic, collect erotica, and investigate parapsychology, though, earning a D.Sc. in 1932 and writing numerous books: Studies in the Sexual Life of Ancient and Medieval Peoples (1925); Male Infibulation (1925); How to Go to a Medium: A Manual of Instruction (1927); Ghosts and Spirits in the Ancient World (1930); The Girdle of Chastity (1931); Artificial Cranial Deformation (1931); Woman: An Historical, Gynecological and Anthropological Compendium (1935).
Eric John Dingwall was born in the early 1890s, probably 1891—he didn’t know the exact date—in what was then known as Ceylon, a British territory. He moved to the metropole, and studied at Cambridge, graduating in 1915. As a young man, he did library work, had an interest in magic, and, like many magicians of the time, developed a fascination with parapsychology and spiritualism. He joined the Society for Psychical Research in 1920, and spent 1921 in the U.S. with the American Society forPsychical Research.
In addition to his other enthusiasms, Dingwall also had an interest in sexual deviation and erotica—these would get him kicked out of the SPR. He continued to practice magic, collect erotica, and investigate parapsychology, though, earning a D.Sc. in 1932 and writing numerous books: Studies in the Sexual Life of Ancient and Medieval Peoples (1925); Male Infibulation (1925); How to Go to a Medium: A Manual of Instruction (1927); Ghosts and Spirits in the Ancient World (1930); The Girdle of Chastity (1931); Artificial Cranial Deformation (1931); Woman: An Historical, Gynecological and Anthropological Compendium (1935).