It's extremely likely that Halnif Shalzum never existed. According to the works of Doctor Oswaldo Laswell, Halnif Shalzum was a 15th century mystic from "Arabia" who imparted valuable wisdom in the realms of meditation and fortune telling. There are a few problems here:
- There is no record of anyone anywhere having the surname of Shalzum. Or, for that matter, the first name Halnif.
- The only references we have to Halnif are contained in Laswell's works from the 1880's. No contemporary mystical writings mention him or his concepts, and no other scholars have found his works.
- The original documents that Oswaldo claimed to translate from were apparently "lost" in a freak cotton gin accident.
- After being kicked out of Lovecraft University for "improper fraternization", Oswaldo took the teachings of Shalzum on the road, and traveled the country as a snake oil salesman, selling the mystical teachings.
- The works contained many anachronisms involving information only known by 19th century academics. In addition, it shows a striking lack of knowledge about 15th century Middle Eastern culture.
The actual "teachings" of Shalzum consist of a mix of Buddhist meditation (which was slowly filtering into the academic community), motivation via positive thinking, and invented ritualism. The Mirror of Shalzum is the most famous technique, and is still in use today by the mystic self-help movement.
-Randy Jameson, "Mystics, Fakes, and Worse"