Seven Ordeals of Count Cagliostro Author:Iain McCalman Guiseppe Balsamo, the Count of Cagliostro, was an 18th-century Sicilian who became a magician, mystic, healer, Freemason, swindler, and last, but not least, a pornographer. He was so controversial, he became a central figure in "Faust and the Magic Flute". This work features his story that is told through the eyes of seven of his contemporaries.