Magic or Scam? The True Story of Count Cagliostro

🌙 A legend with a human face

In 1786, in the crowded streets of London, people gathered outside a house on Whitcombe Street. Inside lived a man who claimed to speak seven languages, heal the sick, and be over two hundred years old. He called himself Count Cagliostro.

Those who entered his candlelit rooms were greeted by oriental incense, red curtains, and his enigmatic wife, Serafina, who never spoke. Some swore they witnessed miraculous healings. Others walked away whispering about fraud.

From the streets of Palermo to the salons of Paris

Cagliostro, born Giuseppe Balsamo in Palermo in 1743, had humble beginnings. But he quickly proved to be a master of reinvention. Early on, he was accused of forgery and theft. But the real transformation came when he created his new identity: the exotic, mysterious Count Cagliostro.

He traveled through Europe, claiming to have been initiated into Egyptian secrets, to know the Rosicrucians, and to possess the secret of immortality.

A healer or just a refined scam artist?

In Paris, Cagliostro opened a clinic for the poor and began practicing magnetic healing. Contemporary sources wrote that lines outside his home were longer than those at the churches. Patients claimed to feel a strange “energy” after his sessions.

A visitor wrote in a letter (now stored at the Bibliothèque Nationale):

“Count Cagliostro doesn’t speak—he murmurs. His words affect you like red wine. You leave confused, relieved, in love—or ruined.”

The Necklace Affair: downfall of a kingdom and a mystic

In 1785, Cagliostro’s life changed forever. He was caught up in the infamous Necklace Affair, a grand scandal involving Queen Marie Antoinette, a cardinal, and a forged transaction for a lavish diamond necklace. Though Cagliostro wasn’t a main actor, his presence in the wrong circles made him a perfect scapegoat.

Imprisoned in the Bastille, he defended himself with fiery letters condemning the clergy and aristocracy. He was eventually acquitted, but high society no longer welcomed him.

He fled to Rome, but the Inquisition was waiting.

The final act: inquisitors and illusions

In 1789, he was arrested by the Holy Office and accused of heresy and “unnatural connections with spirits and invisible powers.” Cagliostro refused to confess.

One Roman chronicle tells that during a particularly intense interrogation, one inquisitor fainted after staring into his eyes:

“It seemed as though the Devil himself was speaking with God.”

He died in prison in 1795. Or did he? Some claimed he escaped using alchemical tricks, and was later seen in Prague accompanied by a white dog and a mute young disciple.

Count Cagliostro today: the first influencer of the occult?

In today’s world of fake news, spiritual gurus, and miracle cures on Instagram, Cagliostro feels eerily familiar. He was, perhaps, the first modern influencer—a master of narrative, mystique, and seduction.

Was he a fraud? Possibly. But he also knew that hope is often more powerful than truth, and that a well-told illusion can last centuries.

Legend or Scam?

Cagliostro wasn’t just a man—he was an archetype. A symbol of belief, illusion, and the blurred line between magic and manipulation.

So was it all a scam? Or was there some truth in the myth?

You decide.

📜 Curiosity – Historical Facts & Anecdotes

• 🕯️ He was a Freemason: Cagliostro founded the Egyptian Rite, a mystical offshoot of Freemasonry, open even to women—something unheard of at the time.
  
• 💎 His trial was public entertainment: During his trial in the Bastille, Parisian nobles reportedly paid to attend the hearings, treating it like a scandalous theatre show.
  
• ✒️ Goethe met him: The German writer Goethe was so intrigued by Cagliostro that he visited him in person—and later used him as a character in his writing.
  
• 🧬 He claimed to have created an elixir of youth, but when captured in Rome, the Vatican had his personal chest opened. Inside? Perfumes, crystals... and a manual on how to simulate transmutations.