The life and mysterious death of Yuri Longo. Yuri Longo - “white sorcerer” Rumors and assumptions

The sorcerer Yuri Longo was born in 1950. In those days, he was recorded in documents under the name Golovko. The future famous magician was born in the village of Nezamaevskaya. He will live long life, will die at age 55 in the Capital District. The man became known as an illusionist, built a career as a magician, hosted several shows, and published a number of quite popular books. For himself, he chose a master's degree in the field of white magic, applicable in practice.

Why is it famous?

Yuri Andreevich Longo participated in the creation of the television program “The Third Eye” simultaneously as a producer and author in a team with other people. His participation in several films is known. Perhaps the most popular is “Lenin’s Body”. Many have seen the video film “The Wizard,” created with the participation of Longo. He participated in the filming of “The Moment of Witchcraft” and played a role in the film “The Master”.

The books written by the magician Yuri Longo are quite famous and popular. The most popular one is called “Third Eye”. Those interested have probably heard more than once, and perhaps even read from cover to cover, the work “Profession is a Sorcerer,” also published by Longo. From his pen came publications telling about the sacraments of magic used in practice, love witchcraft. He published a collection of recipes that, according to the author, help to cure absolutely any disease. Longo was the author of a family herbalist that addressed treatment options for a variety of health problems.

How it all began

As is known from the biography of Yuri Longo, the boy was born into a teacher’s family, in particular, his mother taught mathematics to village children. During his youth, Yuri entered an art school, but he did not have the opportunity to complete his studies there. Arriving in the capital region, he went to study at a theater studio. In addition, Yuri successfully received a diploma from Leningrad University, confirming his specialization as a psychologist. His career was marked by a productive working relationship with Goncharov, who directed the Hypnotic School in Moscow.

The perestroika period was marked, as evidenced by the biography of Yuri Longo, with new opportunities and paths. The time of crisis was characterized by a rather pliable consciousness of the public, which the sorcerer took advantage of - he allegedly began to heal the suffering. Later it was possible to organize magic sessions through television broadcasting. It was then that his masterfully staged performance gained popularity, in which a sorcerer resurrected a seemingly hopelessly dead person. In his performances, the magician actively showed his strong qualities as a born theatergoer; the audience could see the results of hypnosis, pyro-, and telekinesis. Longo became a popular and famous clairvoyant; his predictions were published more than once in central publications. In the 90s, an interview with a popular person was repeatedly published by the publication “God Forbid!”

Life: milestones

As we know from biographies, Yuri Longo’s personal life was quite eventful. He had official wives three times, and in his second marriage a daughter, Julia, was born. Subsequently, the sorcerer will have grandchildren: Ilyusha and Ksyusha.

In February 2006, magician Yuri Longo suffered a heart attack. The man was hospitalized and soon released to go home for rehabilitation. Two days after the first incident, the attack repeated. Calling Safronov on the phone, Longo convinced him to urgently fly to Moscow and bring him medicine. This did not produce results - at half past ten in the morning on February 17, the clairvoyant died. The medical report stated an aortic aneurysm. The unofficial version says that the reason for everything was black caviar. As the sorcerer’s secretary later said, shortly before this he received a jar of product as a present from an unknown lady. Secretary Alla was firmly convinced that the man had been poisoned.

Rumors and speculation

Some argue that the magician Yuri Longo received Orthodox baptism shortly before his death. This version seems doubtful to others, since the ministers of Orthodoxy demanded that the sorcerer officially renounce his activities as publicly as possible. There was no such renunciation. The funeral service for the deceased was organized at the St. Nicholas Church in Khamovniki. The remains were buried at the Moscow Vostryakovsky cemetery. The burial ceremony took place on February 20.

The master of “revival” Yuri Longo left his heirs, according to some, about one and a half million American dollars. His inheritance was valued at this amount in the month of his death.

True or not?

At one time, “Reviving the Dead” by Yuri Longo was a unique show that aroused exceptional popular interest. Many wondered how possible it was to bring a dead person back to life, and whether it was worth believing what was shown on the screens. In 1991, Komsomolskaya Pravda published an article about the disclosure of this popular trick. It turned out that the man first showed on camera how he revived the deceased, but after turning it off he admitted that it was his assistant, a master of pretending, who was supposedly dead. The dead man in stunts was Alexey Gaivan, and the idea of ​​such a number belonged to Goncharov, by this time - good friend sorcerer

From the photo, Yuri Longo looks with the confident gaze of a man who has no doubt in his abilities to work with the forces of this and the other world. But he was much less confident in the capabilities of other sorcerers of his time. In particular, he repeatedly entered into polemics with Grabovsky. This magician became famous for his numerous assurances of his ability to resurrect victims of the Beslan terrorist attack. Longo accused Grabovsky, called him a liar and a cynic. As many said, it was this quarrel that caused a heart attack, which was followed by the development of an aortic aneurysm and sudden death.

Politics and life

Yuri Longo gained fame because of his attitude to Ukrainian politics. In 2004, Yushchenko took the presidential post, about whom the magician immediately declared authoritatively: this person is nothing more than a fake. He convinced those around him: the real Yushchenko had been killed long ago, and the presidential chair was taken by his double, who had several steps made to make him look more like him. plastic surgery. The sorcerer claimed that the medical activities were organized in a secret center in Poland.

Yuri Longo did not ignore the story of Yushchenko’s dioxin poisoning. The magician claimed that nothing of the kind actually happened, and that the strange appearance of the politician was associated solely with the substitution of a person. The environment, which had no idea how to explain the changes in appearance to the people, invented a variant with dioxin. The presidential administration, however, did not support the sorcerer’s opinion, officially putting forward its own assumption: in this way the magician and clairvoyant is simply trying to become famous, to attract attention to his person, and is doing this rather unsuccessfully and ineptly.

What did people say?

Many acquaintances and relatives, including Yuri Longo’s wife Elena Longo, admitted that the man was amazing, unique - it was as if two completely different things got along in him. similar friend on a friend's personality. The whole power knew someone who was able to lead a crowd into ecstasy, had amazing healing abilities, and could show tricks for which an ordinary spectator had no explanation and could not have had one. The other Yuri was known only to his friends and relatives. Then they will compare the magician with a child, entangled in the problems and complexities of the adult world. When he died, it happened so suddenly that many simply refused to believe it. Even at the time of the funeral ceremony, many people were sure: now he would stand up, smile, and speak. Indeed, could a person really die who, during his lifetime, seemed to be able to revive the deceased? The public was sure that the funeral was nothing more than a show.

As Yuri Longo said in his interviews, there is a tradition in the magical community - a dying sorcerer is obliged to take his student by the hands. He assured that this method is the only method of transferring knowledge; There is simply no other way to convey the accumulated valuable information to another. Yuri said that this is how he received his talents and abilities from his dying grandfather: Dmitrius lived for more than a century, died at the age of 105, shortly before his death he took his grandson’s hands in his own, thereby passing on to him all the secrets that made Yuri so popular in the future.

Curious and interesting

Goncharov, a friend and close person to Yuri Longo, said that the sorcerer was confident in his family ties with Longo. Dmitrius was a fairly popular fakir, showing the public various miracles. He could, as it was gathered from the stories of the spectators, take the eye out of the socket and put it on a plate. Dmitrius was an authority for Yuri. As Goncharov explained, it was for this reason that the man chose the surname Longo for himself and actively promoted the idea of ​​kinship.

To perform independently, the clairvoyant worked out his image in detail. Even the wives of Yuri Longo will perceive him in his stage image as a distant hermit - this is exactly how he wanted to look to others, posing as a monk. For any performance, Longo always selected suitable chains and put on a snow-white robe. It was as if he was far from any worldly troubles and difficulties, from everything mundane. However, this was the image created for the public. A real man was distinguished by his characteristic features and features.

About personal life

Nikas Safronov was a friend of the famous author of numerous books, Yuri Longo. Later, when the sorcerer died, he would tell the press that he was always surprised by the unusual tastes of his comrade. Yuri especially liked plump ladies - the kind Rubens depicted in his paintings. The most striking person was Elena, whom the sorcerer met in 1987. She was just starting her singing career, and by chance Yuri turned up at one of the presentations of her talent.

Already becoming a widow famous author books by Yuri Longo, Elena will tell: the man was short, but always appeared in the company of attractive and fashionable people. Next to him were tall models of incredible beauty. Usually they led the sorcerer by the arm, and from the outside everything looked not just presentable, but very beautiful, immediately attracted attention and set the trio apart from the general background. One evening, at which Elena presented her talent, Yuri approached the young woman. She never knew why, but she assumed that something attracted her. She was only seventeen then, she was blonde, and wore a scarlet cloak. The man offered to work together, but Elena knew almost nothing about him. Her first decision was to refuse. Yuri had already celebrated his 38th birthday, the age difference scared the girl. True, the magician’s persistence could not be taken away, and he decided to resort to his strongest qualities.

You can achieve success

Then Elena will tell you that Yuri called her one day and offered to tell her where she was and what clothes she was using at the moment. She agreed to listen to the man, and he described in detail. As Longo’s widow would later recall, it was only then that she realized who exactly was interested in her. Yuri, who had already created a certain image by this time, received at his disposal a magnificent girl as an assistant - in the future she would become his wife. It was clear that career success could be achieved if you came up with a new act that suited the taste of the public, as well as correctly presented and advertised yourself. Considering the nature of the sorcerer’s career, it was clear that the best advertisement could be a scandal. For the first time, the idea that it was necessary to create a sensation was proposed by Goncharov.

It was decided that success could be achieved by creating a kind of information bomb. The calculation turned out to be correct: sensations attract the public more than anything else. Even then, Longo was often shown on television, so there were good opportunities for promotion. Reflections on a possible scenario ended with the idea of ​​reviving the dead. Gonchakov recalled Tibetan techniques recorded in rare books, but immediately admitted that it was impossible to do everything in exact accordance with the descriptions of eastern magicians in the realities of Russia.

Oh times, oh morals!

Today, many people want to see a photo of Yuri Longo’s grave in order to identify it in the Moscow cemetery where the sorcerer who gained such significant fame is buried.

Many people remember how they first learned about him, from which show they met the promising magician. The persistent man quickly realized that the idea of ​​reviving the dead could bring him real success, the one thanks to which he will be remembered all his life and after death - his calculations came true, and today Longo’s grave is constantly decorated with fresh flowers. A friend’s assurances of the impossibility of implementing Eastern practices had little effect on the magician’s confidence. He began preparations for a sensational show, setting himself the task of demonstrating the revival process to the whole world.

Later, Goncharov will recall that in those days Longo lived near the Sklifosovsky Institute. New ideas required activity, the sorcerer did not waste time: literally every day he visited the famous morgue to work. Goncharov himself, being at that moment to some extent Longo’s mentor, treated this rather condescendingly, not expecting much success. As the near future showed, Longo was right in assessing his prospects - the new show became a source of incredible popularity for him.

Parapsychology

For the television show, several scenes were filmed as thoroughly and responsibly as possible, taking into account every little detail. It seems dead man suddenly begins to rise, and the nurse standing next to him is ready to faint. The video turned out to be an information bomb. It didn't take long to see its effect. Almost immediately after the release of the program, Yuri was recognized as one of the most important figures in parapsychology of his time. There were practically no television programs in this area where he was not invited. The main magic number was soaring. Yuri walked on water, using the energy emitted by his hands to set the grass on fire. The highlight of the program could be the revival of the deceased, but the sorcerer persistently rejected all proposals to repeat this practice. The details of what the real revival was like were not yet known to anyone - they will begin to be published later.

Makhmutov later admits that even at the time of filming he knew: in the place of the dead man to be revived lay the entertainer and presenter. An extremely narrow circle of initiates knew that the entire resurrection process was carefully planned, choreographed, acted out - all for the pleasure of the viewer. And Yuri himself, shortly before his death, admitted to this fraud of his. But the times were troubled, the public was ready to believe in any, even the most incredible stories, and Longo’s experiences in the morgue became a source of hope for many: anyone can be resurrected, even Lenin. The sorcerer controlled the mood of the crowd, moreover, he said more than once that his strength was enough to raise a great political figure from the dead. However, those close to him did not take his statements seriously. Goncharov, for example, admitted that even if Longo could actually revive the dead, he would not work with Lenin’s body. But the main thing for the newspapers was material from which they could make a sensation, and everyone vying with each other began to write about the possible resurrection of Lenin. This came in handy for the magician and benefited his career.

Life and death

Yuri Longo, as people close to him note, was distinguished by his amazing ability to work. He made efforts to achieve what he wanted, and as a result, he got what he wanted. The sorcerer did not forget to give himself the opportunity to rest. He regularly went to countries with warm climates and exercised. From the memories of relatives it is known that he constantly drank only green tea. Many celebrities turned to him for help.

Many noted that from the outside, Longo seemed surprisingly successful, but his relatives knew that something was gnawing at the man. It seemed to him that there was something important in life that had not yet been done. He strove to join the church, but religious leaders pushed him away. Yuri was baptized as a child, but admitted that he did not realize what was happening then, so such a baptism cannot be considered real. He wanted to be baptized again. According to some reports, he achieved his goal and received Orthodox baptism before his death. Longo's funeral was held in the Church of St. Nicholas in Khamovniki. He was buried at the Vostryakovsky cemetery in Moscow on February 20, 2006.

Magician and charlatan?

“White Sorcerer” Yuri Longo was remembered by everyone who saw the show with his participation, the hypnotic look of his dark deep eyes, his white homespun robe and the chains on his hands.

As if nothing had happened, he walked on water, flew through the air and revived the dead, but at the same time did not miss the opportunity to ridicule sorcerers and psychics, as well as their gullible patients.

About a year before his death, Yuri Longo turned to one of the priests with a request for baptism. This was denied to him. Why did the “white sorcerer,” as he called himself, decide to give up witchcraft? Maybe he was afraid of something and hoped that the church would protect him? Was the priest right who refused to help him, even if Longo was a notorious sinner? And was Yuri Longo really who he said he was?

Meeting on the train Moscow - Tynda

Yuri Andreevich Golovko (Longo is his stage name) was born on September 23 1950 year in the village of Nezamaevskaya, Krasnodar Territory. After leaving school, he studied at a technical school (according to other sources, at an art school), but did not graduate and for a long time worked as a conductor and waiter in the dining car on long-distance trains. IN 1979 year, on the Moscow-Tynda train, Yuri met magician Lev Korneev, who sold him props for tricks and placed a capable student in the Moscow Regional Philharmonic. Having mastered simple tricks with handkerchiefs, ribbons and balls, Yuri Golovko, as part of a concert crew, began to tour throughout the country. At the same time, he took a sonorous pseudonym in honor of the legendary magician of the early 20th century, Dmitry Longo, who was called “the last fakir” - he walked barefoot on the blades of Turkish sabers, danced on hot coals, bit off a piece of a red-hot iron plate with his teeth and drank molten tin. Not forgetting, of course, to first put a special container in your mouth.

Yuri Golovko-Longo gained wide popularity in the early 90s, after he was shown on television levitating - rising above the ground, overcoming gravity. TV viewers were stunned. They knew that Indian yogis were capable of this, but did not suspect that in the country there was a “white sorcerer,” as Longo began to call himself, capable of lifting himself off the ground a full meter. TV viewers had no idea that Yuri Longo was actually sitting at the end of an ordinary metal pipe, which was moved behind a screen by his assistants. It is interesting that the filming was completed only the fifth time - the “sorcerer” could not stay on the pipe. TV viewers experienced even greater delight when Yuri Longo walked on the surface of the Ostankino pond as if on dry land. They had no idea that there was a deck under the water. The “sorcerer” also demonstrated other miracles: for example, he lit the grass with the energy of his hands - a simple electric stove was first covered with dry grass and leaves, and while Longo moved his hands over the grass with an ominous look, his assistant inserted a plug into the electrical outlet. And a miracle happened - the grass really caught fire. The people, observing these miracles, were once again convinced that the communists, instilling materialistic teachings, hid from them the innermost secrets of witchcraft and magic.

But the most shocking video was taken in the morgue. On the table lay the unclaimed corpse of a forty-year-old man who had died three days ago. After Yuri Longo’s manipulations, the deceased’s left arm began to move. The body covered with a sheet, obeying the movements of the psychic’s hands, began to rise. The nurse present at this scene fainted. Later it turned out that many television viewers followed her example. It soon became known that the roles of the “revived corpse” and the “fainted nurse” were talentedly played by Yuri Longo’s assistants, but the job was done - the “sorcerer” gained truly national fame.

In his interview, Longo indignantly rejected accusations that the scene in the morgue was falsified, proposing to repeat the experiment with the revival of the dead man now, and to hold the session not just anywhere, but in the mausoleum on Red Square. The move was a win-win - no one, of course, was allowed into the mausoleum of Yuri Longo and the television crew, and the population, stunned by perestroika and glasnost, unanimously decided that the “sorcerer” who had lifted the veil of a hidden secret would be persecuted and falsely accused.

Later this was confirmed. IN 1997 year, yielding to the persistent requests of his admirers, Longo published two books in mass circulation: “Practical Magic” and “Love Magic.” It immediately became clear that he had ripped almost word for word a book by another author, published in 1991 year. On this occasion, there was even a trial, which sentenced the “sorcerer” to two years probation, not counting compensation to the author for moral damage. Longo was sincerely surprised and discouraged - he naively believed that those conspiracies and manipulations that he carefully rewrote had come down to us from the depths of centuries. But it turned out that this was just a figment of the unhealthy imagination of some lady with the suspicious surname Samofalova.

To the credit of Yuri Longo, it must be said that after the trial he diligently studied all the occult literature, and he had the opportunity to experimentally test the recipes recommended in these books for damage, the evil eye and other misfortunes on his visitors. They had no idea that they were participants in a scientific experiment. During this period, the “white sorcerer” picked up occult terminology and began to amaze his patients with the following recipes: “To stop drinking, you need to take half a glass of water and put it on left hand. Because the left hand is the screen of the biofield, and the right hand is the source of the biofield. After you have placed the glass on your left hand, move the fingertips of your right hand along the edge of the glass clockwise for two to three minutes. Your water is charged with your biocurrents!”

A reliable remedy against the evil eye and damage

Yuri Longo even intended to summarize all the experience of previous generations and create a guide for all occasions. He once explained to one of his friends: “Suppose you suspect that your husband is cheating on you, you open the manual and read: “Sew a bay leaf into the lining of his jacket.” But he immediately grinned: “If you don’t believe, no amount of laurel will help.” Longo conscientiously checked the “ancient” recipes and became convinced that he knew before he began experimenting - everything is decided by a person’s faith in their miraculousness. The recommendations themselves regarding whether to place the glass on your left hand or your right hand do not matter.

Having convinced himself of this, Longo nevertheless immediately invented miraculous recipes for his patients, which he allegedly borrowed from ancient papyri. However, at every opportunity, he urged people not to believe in all kinds of devilry. Here, for example, is what Longo recommended as a remedy for damage and the evil eye: “A very good, simple way is not to wish harm to others, not to envy anyone, not to have bad thoughts, evil in your soul, and then you will be protected from this. The best defense is when a person does not believe in it, skepticism. If you don't believe it, don't fully believe it. If you start overthinking, you might get jinxed.”

Longo was right. A few years after the “white sorcerer” began receiving visitors, he fell ill with hypertension, and his blood pressure jumped so much that the medical commission gave him the second group of disability. It was then that he told his friend that he would die at the age of 55 and completely alone.

The mysterious resurrection of President Yushchenko

It so happened that the man who helped many people get rid of the main problem of the third millennium - loneliness, was himself very lonely, and no one could help him with this. Yuri Longo had many acquaintances, but no friends. There are legends about his many love affairs, but family life the sorcerer never worked out. He was the most ordinary person, and everyone seriously considered him a sorcerer. In vain Yuri Longo, smiling through his mustache, convinced his interlocutors: “I am the most normal of all the abnormal psychics that exist in Moscow.” Nobody believed him.

After the murder of Vlad Listyev, his relatives first woke up the “white sorcerer” so that he could resurrect the TV journalist as soon as possible. Longo, half asleep, did not even understand that they were talking to him seriously and not joking at all. At the end 2004 In 2018, an interview with Yuri Longo appeared on the Internet, in which he allegedly stated: “I revived the man who is now the Ukrainian president with my own hands. There are witnesses. Time was somewhat lost. I don’t know why they pulled the cat by the tail, but the body lay in the ground for six days.” It would seem that it should be obvious to all sensible people that this interview is a gross fake; Longo was not only unable to resurrect anyone, but could not even say that. Nevertheless, this lie was taken for granted by many people. Longo, amazed at human naivety, was even forced to issue a refutation, but, of course, few people believed him.

At that time, the church condemned the vicious practice of resurrecting the dead. Having learned about this, Yuri Longo grabbed his head: “My grandmothers will stone me!” He persuaded his friend to arrange for him, through an acquaintance, a meeting with the rector of the Cathedral of St. Alexander Nevsky in Novosibirsk, Archpriest Alexander Novopashin. At this meeting, Longo told the priest that he would like to be baptized. In response, the archpriest angrily accused Longo of witchcraft. The “white sorcerer” had to briefly tell the priest that the magic created by Egyptian priests, eastern fakirs and northern shamans is just a sophisticated art of deception. And that deception can be for the good and evil of a person - that’s why there is white magic and black magic. And that man differs from other creatures inhabiting the Earth not at all in his mind, but in his irrepressible imagination and ineradicable belief in miracles, otherwise it would not have been possible to drive anyone into the church.

It turned out that the artist of the original genre, Yuri Longo, and the priest were, in some way, colleagues in the craft. It is clear that the archpriest completely disagreed with this. He stated that Longo could be admitted to the sacrament of baptism only if he publicly repented of deceiving the working people. In response, the “white sorcerer” assured the priest that he would repent no earlier than the church did. That's where we parted.

Yuri Longo was baptized in one of the rural churches in the Vladimir region. The provincial priest did not find out his personal details, but only looked into the eyes of the “white sorcerer” and made sure that he did not wish harm to people. That was enough.

Yuri Longo died on February 17 2006 years from aortic rupture. After the death of the “white sorcerer,” his many friends vied with each other to invent fantastic versions of Longo’s premature departure. Some claimed that he was struck by an “energy blow” that was directed at him by “black sorcerers.” Others argued that he was tired of everything and, pretending to be dead, fled to Australia. None of his acquaintances remembered what Yuri Longo taught. Longo ended his last interview with the words: “Less politics, less envy, don’t envy, and you will really succeed. Find yourself good teacher, friend and do not strive to make money. Now the golden calf is at the forefront - this is what is ruining us.” While saying this, the “white sorcerer” did not float in the air. That must be why no one heard his words.

The activities of the famous Russian sorcerer Yuri Longo ( real name- Golovko) is assessed differently. People who believe in him paranormal abilities, they talk with admiration about unusual miracles that included clairvoyance, telepathy, telekinesis and pyrokinesis. The more prosaically inclined part of the public considered Longo to be a dexterous and skilled magician who knew a lot of technical secrets of lighting grass using a hidden electric stove, levitating and moving objects using special devices, and “revitalizing” corpses by twitching invisible nylon threads. Witnesses talk about the period of Yuri's life when he worked as an illusionist in the circus and claim that the sorcerer was helped in demonstrating tricks by close people: assistants, friends and Yuri Longo's wife.

There are some doubts about which of the psychic's wives could be his faithful assistant. Longo was married three times, not counting extramarital affairs. His first wife turned out to be a certain Oksana from Balashikha, whose surname remained unknown in history. He and the 30-year-old youthful beauty, a physicist, met in Adler and lived only a short time. When this marriage failed, Yuri, a couple of years later, met Lyudmila Nikitina, a bank employee who quit her job in order to always be with her nomadic husband. In this marriage, a daughter, Julia, was born in 1982. It should be noted that he was short and not at all like Adonis, but the Sorcerer had a certain charm and was a lover and pleaser of women, especially those with Rubensian forms.

Longo also broke up with Lyudmila, despite the fact that, according to him, it was a happy union and he loved his second wife. She left her husband for his friend, as he complained, and took her daughter with her. In 1995, Yuri married his long-time girlfriend, an appetizing blonde from Vladikavkaz, Anelina (for those close to her, Elena) Semenenko, who was 20 years younger than him. This short marriage caused the soft-spoken magician a lot of trouble. Elena had a passion for alcoholic drinks and was violent when drunk. As witnesses say, she hid a lot of vices: in addition to her willingness to pose for frivolous “bath” photographs with her husband and friend, Elena was a selfish, calculating and cunning person. Shortly before his death, the sorcerer divorced her and consoled himself in the arms of his secretary, Anna Mikhailova, who idolized him.

However, after the death of the famous magician from a heart attack in the winter of 2006, ex-wife Yuria Longo managed to inherit his entire considerable fortune, estimated at 1.5 million dollars, leaving his daughter Yulia without a penny. Now Elena continues to “celebrate” her lucrative loss of her husband, hardly appearing in public, and does not remember the receipt given to him on her wedding day not to lay claim to her husband’s property. “When I die, my daughter will be rich. She will get everything,” Longo once dreamed, adoring his Julia. Now she lives in a small apartment with her husband, mother-in-law and two children. Anna Mikhailova is trying to support her.

On February 17, Yuri Golovko, who became known as the “white magician” Yuri Longo, died of an aortic aneurysm in Moscow. The baptism that Longo thought about at one time never took place...

Yuri Andreevich Longo (Golovko) was born in 1956 in Kuban. After school I graduated from technical school. He worked as a train conductor and a waiter. Then he went to conquer Moscow and got a job at the Moscow Regional Philharmonic. In the capital, he graduated from the school of hypnosis under the guidance of Goncharov, and mastered it perfectly. card tricks and started performing alone. For the solo program, he came up with a sonorous pseudonym - in honor of the famous fakir Dmitry Longo, who shone on the circus arena in the middle of the last century. Soon Golovko retrained as a “master of white practical magic.”

He was a co-author and co-producer of the television program “The Third Eye”, the hero of the television stories “Lenin’s Body”, “The Master”, “The Moment of Witchcraft”, “The Wizard”. In 1990, in Tokyo, he took part in the “Unusual in Our Life” competition on Japanese television and received first prize. Member International Association of magicians and sorcerers, which, as they persistently say, never existed. IN last years He dealt mainly with love magic. He owned, according to his own statements, 120 types of hypnosis, telepathy, telekinesis, and clairvoyance.

Here the meager information about Longo the man ends, and Longo the social phenomenon begins. This is exactly what we will talk about.

“In his free time from work, he paints pictures (portraits, landscapes, still lifes)” - this detail of the fairly mystified biography, which gives the image of the “great healer” something human, was diligently replicated by Internet publications, and in precisely this formulation. Perhaps there is an allusion here to another famous lover of unconventional spiritual practices, who also became famous for his artistic creations - Nicholas Roerich.

Longo’s official website provides a fairly long list of “healer” regalia. “Master of white practical magic” and “creator of the international school of magicians and sorcerers” was also the author of “sensational discoveries of the twentieth century” - these include tricks with “revival” dead person and “levitation”, which are discussed below. Author of many books on (allegedly) white magic.

However, what is the “author” and what is “white” is a controversial issue. According to the website of the Belgorod Orthodox Theological Seminary with reference to Russian media, at the end of 1997, the prosecutor's office of the Central District of Moscow opened a criminal case against Yuri Golovko under Article 146 of the Criminal Code of Russia. The psychic sorcerer was accused of violating copyright and related rights: “he published books in a banal manner, appropriating someone else’s authorship.” The victim turned out to be a certain Samofalova, a parapsychologist, whose book “White Magic, or the Miraculous Key”, published in 1991, was stolen by Golovko, changing the title to “Practical Magic” and “Love Magic”. The fact of plagiarism was proven by an examination conducted by specialists from the Vinogradov Institute of Russian Language. Golovko was sentenced to two years in prison. It was not possible to find out whether the sentence was carried out.

They say that at one of the concerts of the “white magician” something similar to what Bulgakov described in “The Master and Margarita” happened. Longo spoke at the socio-political center of the Moscow State Committee of the CPSU on Tsvetnoy Boulevard. According to eyewitnesses (it is difficult to judge the reliability of these stories, but the very rumor about them is a very symptomatic thing), as soon as Longo’s assistants brought two piles of broken glass, when two hundred men and women immediately rushed there, knocking each other down. Having flown onto the stage, they, without waiting for the “maestro,” began to undress. After which the “descendant of the last Russian fakirs” put them on the glass and announced: “Now your osteochondrosis will disappear as if by hand.”

By the way, Longo himself was interested in Bulgakov. His interviews were published on the Internet, in which the magician talks about his intention to create a “practical religion.” “Just as Bulgakov gave a new interpretation of the Testament in “The Master and Margarita,” so I want to give a new interpretation to those truths that have existed for millennia, but do not work. The commandments are not kept - everyone lies, everyone steals, everyone commits adultery. I want to write commandments that will help people. For example, you were robbed or raped. You discover a practical religion, and it says what needs to be done,” he said in an interview with Rodnaya Gazeta. For example, you can sew a bay leaf into the lining of the jacket of your husband who is about to leave you. True, Longo stipulates, “if you don’t believe, no laurel will help.”

The peak of Yuri Longo's popularity occurred during the perestroika years. He entered our lives almost simultaneously with such phenomena as Kashpirovsky and Chumak, the Globa spouses and many others. At first, Longo performed in a long white robe and in chains, hypnotizing the audience, ready to believe that a miracle was about to happen.

He was especially famous for his experiments in “reviving the dead”: he forced the dead to stand up, raise their hands and show signs of “life” in other ways. He even promised to revive Lenin. In recent years, he has been on TV with claims that he resurrected the President of Ukraine Viktor Yushchenko (who allegedly died in 2004) and the former US Presidential Advisor on national security Zbigniew Brzezinski. That is, Yushchenko and Brzezhinski, according to Longo, are zombies.

By presenting all this information, we do not at all pursue the goal of insulting the memory of the deceased. Unfortunately, these are the facts of our own biography.

Longo is part of a fairly ancient and enduring tradition in Russia. The popularity of spiritualism and other extrasensory perceptions in Russia is evidenced, in particular, by Sergei Yulievich Witte, to whom the well-known Blavatsky was a cousin. In his “Memoirs”, the Minister of Finance testifies that the famous theophysite and writer was admired by many of those who are usually referred to as the “golden youth”. Witte’s stories about how Blavatsky first married the “Erivan governor”, ​​after which she “had sex” with some Englishman, from whom she ran away to “Bass Mitrovich”, are quite interesting for those who are not indifferent to the fate of clairvoyants in Russia.

It is enough to look at the spirit in which the death of Longo was reported to understand that not much has changed since Witte. The banal “aortic aneurysm” really doesn’t fit well into the myth of the great magician. Here are just a few headlines: “Longo was killed by an energy blow,” “The great healer Longo died,” “The master of white magic died in Moscow.” It's probably not worth continuing.