Broken wand ceremony
A broken wand ceremony is a ritual performed at or shortly before the funeral of a magician,[1] in which a wand — either the wand which the magician used in performances, or a ceremonial one — is broken, indicating that with the magician's death,[2] the wand has lost its magic.
The first broken wand ceremony was held in 1926, after the death of Harry Houdini.[3] The Society of American Magicians continues to hold an annual ceremony at Houdini's grave.[4]
References
- ^ Magic Auction from Cincinnati Magazine, January 1980, page 17
- ^ Stone, Alex (2012). Fooling Houdini. Bond Street Books. ISBN 978-0-307-36821-8.
- ^ COPING; Yet Another Black Wand Has Lost Its Powers, by Anemona Hartocollis, at The New York Times, published January 22, 2005.
- ^ S.A.M. News: Houdini Remembered, at the Society of American Magicians (via archive.org); published 2006; retrieved July 5, 2014; "As done each year the Parent Assembly #1 performs a broken wand ceremony for Harry Houdini on the anniversary of his death based on the Jewish Calendar."