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Published in 1976, this book is subtitled "Doorway to Another Dimension" and it is a fascinating snapshot of metaphysical culture in the Windy City.
When I found the book, the author's name rang a bell, but I couldn't quite place him. Turns out that Brad Steiger has written more than 170 books, many of which are of a similar bent, so I'm quite certain I have read his work before. (Aside: Wikipedia's entry for him is lazily incomplete. It only lists five books, but admits he wrote many more. Tell me again how great Wikipedia is?)
The book primarily focuses on the people and characters who support Steiger's assertion that Chicago is "the psychic center of the nation." The profiles he offers bolster his argument as they cover many different areas of psi research and ability. In addition to the characters featured and interviewed, Steiger includes a categorized appendix of fortune tellers, healers, and — to my interest and surprise — a rather lengthy list of spiritualist churches in the city and surrounding areas. (And for nearly everyone in the appendix, he includes an address, and often, a phone number!)
However, as a historian, my interest was at a less granular level. I wanted to get a sense of the city's subcultural composition at such a pivotal point in the nation's history. The book delivers that in spades, and it was difficult not to feel a bit of sadness for the optimism it expresses throughout.
Quoting a local member of an alternative religious order, Steiger offers:
"I personally feel more comfortable in Chicago than anywhere else because the North Magnetic Pole passes right through the city. This, by the way, is a peculiarity of zero degrees, which also passes through Cairo. . . . From the symbolical, archetypal point of view, Chicago is visited by all four winds and all four seasons. I did not think there was any place like this in the world. These peculiar things of nature and topography have a great deal to do with the magnetic influence that is here. . . . Although Chicago is a city of churches and a center for many orthodox church bodies, even the conventional members of organized congregations seem to be tolerant and concerned with learning. There are not the neuroses of New York, the lethargies of Florida, and the theatrics of California. Chicago seems to be somehow more centered and balanced."
Steiger pulls a lot of information from Fate magazine, a publication that I've read off-and-on, and even subscribed to for a while. Back in 1974, Fate was published in the Chicagoland area, and his discussion with the people behind it made me want to revisit the issues that I have.
They described the magazine thusly:
"I think I regard Fate as a mystery magazine. Not in the sense of a detective magazine, but that the whole world is full of mysteries, and we are here to report them."
Today, Fate is headquartered in Michigan, and seems to be still publishing, now in its 80th year.
I discovered Psychic Chicago at A Few Books More, in Billings, Montana. It's a great shop and I recommend it. The clerk, seeing this book among my stack of purchases, declared "I wondered who was going to buy that!" He excitedly retrieved a book from behind the counter, declaring "If you like weird books, here's another." What he handed me appeared to be a diary or journal covering all sorts of esoterica. I explained that it was the Chicago angle that caught my eye, and declined to purchase the one he proffered. But I appreciated the effort and the uncannily accurate cold read.
If you're looking for a copy of Psychic Chicago for yourself, Amazon currently offers a few copies.