He certainly didn't fool all the people. And those he did fool were largely fooled by sophistry, not magic.

True, but there remains value in questions on the mode of thought that leads to such activities: "Mr. Crowley, what went on in your head?" And, too, given the general preoccupation necromancy seems to exercise both on practitioners in learned circles and on the public imagination, it's not a surprise to see so often asked, "Mr. Crowley, did you talk to the dead?"