Gary Mannion

Gary Mannion
“”By examining his methods and past controversies, it becomes clear that Mannion is more showman than shaman, relying on illusion and trickery to exploit the vulnerable.
—Jon Donnis[1]
It's fun to pretend
Paranormal
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Fails from the crypt
v - t - e

Gary Mannion is a fraudulent spiritualist medium and psychic surgeon.[2] He works in Australia, Switzerland and the United Kingdom.[3] In 2016, a secret night vision camera caught him faking spiritualist phenomena during a séance at Banyan Retreat.[2][4] Mannion has been described as a charlatan and conman by pretty much everyone including parapsychologists, skeptics and spiritualists.[1][2][5]

Psychic surgery

Mannion from South Harrow started his career by working as a psychic surgeon.[6] In 2008, Mannion was offered £50,000 if he could prove his psychic surgery claims. He originally agreed to be tested and Professor Chris French, a psychologist specializing in the psychology of paranormal beliefs and experiences, was supposed to carry out the test. However, the test was cancelled because Mannion took issue with the protocols.[7][8]

It was reported that Mannion was earning up to £2000 a week from his psychic surgery and had falsely used a testimonial on his website that claimed he cured cancer.[6] Mannion has stated that his spirit guide Abraham "uses my hands to perform psychic surgery" and enables him to "see inside people's bodies".[6] In 2009, Mannion was featured in the BBC Three programme "Gary: Young, Psychic and Possessed".[9]

Fraud

Skeptics suspected for a long time that Mannion has been involved in psychic fakery.

Indisputable evidence of fraud was obtained in 2016 during a séance at Banyan Retreat, Kent.[10] Mannion was supposed to be firmly controlled in a cabinet during the séance. However, secret night vision camera footage revealed him leaving his cabinet and moving around the dark séance room faking spiritualist phenomena. The video footage is now public.[11] In one video, he can be seen fully conscious taking his shirt off and swinging it around to imitate "spirit" breezes.[11]

Mannion later responded to the evidence of fraud, claiming it wasn't really his fault as he was unconscious in trance.Do You Believe That? He did not apologize for his actions:

This whole incident may of[sic] thrown the spiritual movement into disarray and i think thats[sic] a good thing. Those who have been to my seances before judge me on what you have experienced for yourself. Going forward I will strive to gather as much evidence as I can and continue to work in more and more lighted conditions. A bigger statement will follow in the near future if thats[sic] not enough for you feel free to unfriend me and not comment to my posts![12]

The incident caused a large uproar in the spiritualist community. Mannion has been denounced by fellow spiritualists such as Ian Broadmore.[13]

The spiritualist magazine Psychic News has denounced Gary Mannion as a "blatant fraud".[5] They have commented that "his ability to fool many people poses serious questions about the involvement of Spiritualist churches – some of them SNU members – and independent centres in unwittingly exposing their followers to fraudulent activities."[5]

2024 exposure

Mannion was caught on camera fraudulently pulling séance sitters off their chairs and touching their heads whilst pretending to be a "materialized" spirit in Bern, Switzerland on August 13th 2024. The footage has been uploaded online.[2]

Plastic horror mask

Gary Mannion is known to use in a plastic horror mask that looks like Freddy Krueger during his séances. He pretends that the mask is the spirit of a deceased man known as "William".[2]

See also

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 The Illusion of the Supernatural: A Critical Look at Gary Mannion’s Psychic Medium Claims. Archived on 12 May 2025.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 garymannionfraud.com. Archived on 12 May 2025.
  3. ↑ Psychic Surgery
  4. ↑ banyanretreat.com. Archived on 12 May 2025.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Time for action. Psychic News.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 Harrow 'psychic' under investigation. mylondon.news.
  7. ↑ Gary Mannion to take the Test?
  8. ↑ A personal invitation for you to attend a private séance by Gary Mannion!
  9. ↑ Gary: Young, Psychic and Possessed. bbc.co.uk.
  10. ↑ UPDATED: Gary Mannion Secretly recorded cheating in the seance room at The Banyan Retreat Spiritualist Centre
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 What really happens when you sit in the dark with Gary
  12. ↑ Gary Mannion Finally Comments On Being Exposed as a Fraud in the seance room
  13. ↑ Gary Mannion Séance. Ian Broadmore.
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