1 00:00:01,350 --> 00:00:04,320 Speaker 1: Welcome to Stuff You Missed in History Class, a production 2 00:00:04,390 --> 00:00:15,100 Speaker 1: of iHeartRadio. Hello and welcome to the podcast. I'm Tracy B. Wilson. 3 00:00:15,420 --> 00:00:16,390 Speaker 1: And I'm Holly Frey. 4 00:00:17,130 --> 00:00:20,750 Speaker 2: We have talked about the spiritualist movement that peaked in 5 00:00:20,770 --> 00:00:23,520 Speaker 2: the United States and Europe in the 19th and early 6 00:00:23,770 --> 00:00:27,960 Speaker 2: 20th centuries on a bunch of previous episodes of the show. 7 00:00:28,640 --> 00:00:34,059 Speaker 2: It is a frequent guest topic, not just during October, 8 00:00:34,080 --> 00:00:36,180 Speaker 2: but a lot of other times of the year. It 9 00:00:36,580 --> 00:00:41,900 Speaker 2: was a prevalent movement. We have also talked about fantastical 10 00:00:42,000 --> 00:00:43,120 Speaker 2: accounts of life. 11 00:00:43,020 --> 00:00:45,660 Speaker 1: On other worlds and sometimes this world. 12 00:00:46,159 --> 00:00:49,640 Speaker 2: One of those might be the Great Moon Hoax of 1835. 13 00:00:49,640 --> 00:00:53,379 Speaker 2: So today we have something that combines the two. Sarah 14 00:00:53,420 --> 00:00:58,170 Speaker 2: Weiss's account of life and afterlife on Mars. That's a 15 00:00:58,210 --> 00:01:03,580 Speaker 2: place she said she visited through psychic travels starting in 1892. 16 00:01:03,580 --> 00:01:07,039 Speaker 1: It is possible that she pronounced her last name in 17 00:01:07,060 --> 00:01:09,919 Speaker 1: a more German way. I think the man she married 18 00:01:10,280 --> 00:01:12,600 Speaker 1: was a German immigrant, although I could not find a 19 00:01:12,620 --> 00:01:15,300 Speaker 1: lot of information about him. We'll be sticking, though, to 20 00:01:15,340 --> 00:01:20,130 Speaker 1: the pronunciation that is more familiar to our primarily English-speaking audience. 21 00:01:21,170 --> 00:01:24,310 Speaker 1: So to set the stage in the late 19th and 22 00:01:24,350 --> 00:01:28,030 Speaker 1: early 20th centuries... people in the U.S. and Europe were 23 00:01:28,230 --> 00:01:32,810 Speaker 1: fascinated with Mars. There are written descriptions of Mars going 24 00:01:32,860 --> 00:01:37,080 Speaker 1: back thousands of years, with the oldest ones in Egyptian, Chinese, 25 00:01:37,440 --> 00:01:42,520 Speaker 1: and Babylonian texts. Early astronomers observed things like how the 26 00:01:42,560 --> 00:01:45,640 Speaker 1: planet moved across the sky and how it was brighter 27 00:01:45,800 --> 00:01:49,280 Speaker 1: at some times than others. The first person to try 28 00:01:49,300 --> 00:01:52,400 Speaker 1: to look at Mars through a telescope was probably Galileo, 29 00:01:52,500 --> 00:01:54,720 Speaker 1: and that was something he did in the early 17th century. 30 00:01:56,310 --> 00:02:00,250 Speaker 1: His telescope couldn't really reveal anything about the planet's surface, 31 00:02:00,390 --> 00:02:04,270 Speaker 1: but by the late 19th century, telescopes were much bigger 32 00:02:04,510 --> 00:02:08,310 Speaker 1: and more powerful, and newly discovered details on the surface 33 00:02:08,330 --> 00:02:10,450 Speaker 1: of Mars got a lot of attention. 34 00:02:11,250 --> 00:02:15,889 Speaker 2: One such telescope was at the U.S. Naval Observatory. Galileo's 35 00:02:15,930 --> 00:02:19,510 Speaker 2: telescopes were fairly small devices. They could be held in 36 00:02:19,530 --> 00:02:23,010 Speaker 2: the hands or mounted on a small stand. But the 37 00:02:23,090 --> 00:02:29,270 Speaker 2: Naval Observatory's Great Equatorial Telescope had a 26-inch or 66-centimeter aperture. 38 00:02:29,770 --> 00:02:33,950 Speaker 2: It had a lens that weighed 110 pounds or 50 kilograms. 39 00:02:34,550 --> 00:02:37,030 Speaker 2: And it was mounted under a huge wooden dome that 40 00:02:37,070 --> 00:02:42,210 Speaker 2: was plated with iron. When this telescope started operations in 1873, 41 00:02:42,210 --> 00:02:46,850 Speaker 2: it was the largest refracting telescope in the world. And today, 42 00:02:46,889 --> 00:02:53,600 Speaker 2: it's also the world's oldest continually operated research telescope. In 1877, 43 00:02:53,600 --> 00:02:57,280 Speaker 2: Asaph Hall used this telescope to discover that Mars had 44 00:02:57,440 --> 00:03:02,280 Speaker 2: two moons, which were later named Phobos and Deimos. That 45 00:03:02,360 --> 00:03:07,100 Speaker 2: same year, Italian astronomer Giovanni Schiaparelli was working at Brera 46 00:03:07,160 --> 00:03:11,360 Speaker 2: Observatory in Milan and observed lines on the surface of Mars, 47 00:03:11,400 --> 00:03:16,670 Speaker 2: which he described as canali. That meant channels, but it 48 00:03:16,730 --> 00:03:21,400 Speaker 2: was translated into English as canals. Schiaparelli was not the 49 00:03:21,419 --> 00:03:25,090 Speaker 2: first person to describe something like this. That was probably 50 00:03:25,110 --> 00:03:31,310 Speaker 2: Italian astronomer Angelo Secchi, who was a Jesuit priest in 1859. 51 00:03:31,310 --> 00:03:35,680 Speaker 2: But Schiaparelli started mapping these lines and publicizing his work, 52 00:03:35,900 --> 00:03:40,300 Speaker 2: and other astronomers started trying to confirm his findings. This 53 00:03:40,500 --> 00:03:45,530 Speaker 2: was challenging. The first successful attempt to photograph something that 54 00:03:45,550 --> 00:03:48,670 Speaker 2: was not on Earth was in 1840, when John William 55 00:03:48,750 --> 00:03:52,370 Speaker 2: Draper used a telescope to make a daguerreotype of the moon. 56 00:03:53,340 --> 00:03:57,900 Speaker 2: Other attempts to photograph other astronomical objects followed. That included 57 00:03:58,080 --> 00:04:00,620 Speaker 2: more pictures of the moon and of the sun and 58 00:04:00,660 --> 00:04:04,280 Speaker 2: other stars. But it wasn't until the development of the 59 00:04:04,340 --> 00:04:08,750 Speaker 2: dry plate process in the 1870s that photography became fast 60 00:04:08,810 --> 00:04:13,520 Speaker 2: enough to try to capture pictures of Mars. Even then, though, 61 00:04:13,780 --> 00:04:17,870 Speaker 2: there was almost no surface detail in these pictures. Photos 62 00:04:17,990 --> 00:04:21,010 Speaker 2: of the moon taken in the 1880s and 90s show 63 00:04:21,089 --> 00:04:24,390 Speaker 2: all kinds of craters and shadows and other surface features, 64 00:04:24,870 --> 00:04:28,110 Speaker 2: while photos of Mars taken around those same years look 65 00:04:28,150 --> 00:04:32,500 Speaker 2: more like smudgy blobs. So without the ability to take 66 00:04:32,580 --> 00:04:36,679 Speaker 2: clear photographs, astronomers had to sketch what they were seeing. 67 00:04:37,630 --> 00:04:40,650 Speaker 2: Because Mars and Earth are both in elliptical orbits around 68 00:04:40,690 --> 00:04:45,339 Speaker 2: the sun, the relative distance between them varies dramatically. And 69 00:04:45,600 --> 00:04:48,460 Speaker 2: Mars was much easier to observe during the windows when 70 00:04:48,480 --> 00:04:51,920 Speaker 2: the two planets were closest together. That happens roughly every 71 00:04:52,020 --> 00:04:52,560 Speaker 2: two years. 72 00:04:53,720 --> 00:04:57,600 Speaker 1: Mars and Earth also both have atmospheres and clouds, which 73 00:04:57,640 --> 00:05:01,320 Speaker 1: can obstruct the view. So astronomers spent a lot of 74 00:05:01,400 --> 00:05:04,549 Speaker 1: time waiting for a clear look at the surface of Mars. 75 00:05:04,930 --> 00:05:07,030 Speaker 1: And even if they got one, it tended to be 76 00:05:07,110 --> 00:05:07,690 Speaker 1: very brief. 77 00:05:08,589 --> 00:05:12,729 Speaker 2: Yeah, and that roughly two years closest point, sometimes that's 78 00:05:12,790 --> 00:05:16,529 Speaker 2: a lot closer than others. It's many years between the 79 00:05:16,570 --> 00:05:21,130 Speaker 2: two planets being actually closest together. The maps that made 80 00:05:21,170 --> 00:05:24,130 Speaker 2: their way into public view through all of this work 81 00:05:24,310 --> 00:05:28,440 Speaker 2: gave the impression that astronomers were looking up at Mars 82 00:05:28,580 --> 00:05:33,340 Speaker 2: and seeing massive networks of linear structures. What was really 83 00:05:33,440 --> 00:05:37,740 Speaker 2: happening was that they were mostly seeing tiny, short glimpses 84 00:05:37,900 --> 00:05:40,600 Speaker 2: of different parts of the planet, and they were compiling 85 00:05:40,779 --> 00:05:45,370 Speaker 2: all of those observations into maps. So these maps were composites, 86 00:05:45,529 --> 00:05:49,710 Speaker 2: not images. illustrations of what astronomers were seeing across the 87 00:05:49,750 --> 00:05:53,849 Speaker 2: whole planet in any given moment. That, combined with the 88 00:05:53,930 --> 00:05:58,530 Speaker 2: idea that these were canals to suggest that intelligent beings 89 00:05:58,670 --> 00:06:02,219 Speaker 2: were living on Mars, and they were building huge systems 90 00:06:02,320 --> 00:06:07,000 Speaker 2: of irrigation channels or other waterways, and astronomers on Earth 91 00:06:07,060 --> 00:06:10,599 Speaker 2: were seeing and recording them. One of the astronomers who 92 00:06:10,740 --> 00:06:14,180 Speaker 2: really popularized these kinds of maps and the idea that 93 00:06:14,220 --> 00:06:14,880 Speaker 2: the canali. 94 00:06:15,350 --> 00:06:19,440 Speaker 1: where an irrigation system that had been constructed by intelligent beings, 95 00:06:19,880 --> 00:06:23,740 Speaker 1: was Percival Lowell, who started mapping Mars in 1894. He 96 00:06:24,820 --> 00:06:28,940 Speaker 1: built an observatory in Flagstaff, Arizona, specifically to study the 97 00:06:28,980 --> 00:06:33,599 Speaker 1: planet and look for signs of intelligent life. Lowell published 98 00:06:33,640 --> 00:06:37,000 Speaker 1: three books on Mars, the book simply titled Mars in 1895, 99 00:06:36,990 --> 00:06:42,980 Speaker 1: Mars and Its Canals in 1906, and and Mars as 100 00:06:43,020 --> 00:06:46,589 Speaker 1: the Abode of Life, which came out in 1908. The 101 00:06:46,670 --> 00:06:52,210 Speaker 1: popular fascination with Mars became known as Mars Mania. Newspapers 102 00:06:52,290 --> 00:06:56,780 Speaker 1: ran headlines like A Call from Mars and Hello Mars 103 00:06:57,040 --> 00:07:02,180 Speaker 1: and something like Human Intelligence on Mars. Laypeople poured over 104 00:07:02,240 --> 00:07:05,750 Speaker 1: the work of Lowell and other astronomers. The idea of 105 00:07:05,790 --> 00:07:09,300 Speaker 1: an inhabited Mars started to show up more often in fiction, 106 00:07:09,380 --> 00:07:13,900 Speaker 1: including H.G. Wells' The War of the Worlds in 1898, 107 00:07:13,900 --> 00:07:17,240 Speaker 1: and Edgar Rice Burroughs' Under the Moons of Mars, which 108 00:07:17,280 --> 00:07:21,130 Speaker 1: was later published as A Princess of Mars. That was 109 00:07:21,210 --> 00:07:24,570 Speaker 1: the book that introduced the character of John Carter of 110 00:07:24,670 --> 00:07:28,270 Speaker 1: Mars in 1912. As we said at the top of 111 00:07:28,310 --> 00:07:30,720 Speaker 1: the show, this was also around the height of the 112 00:07:30,780 --> 00:07:34,830 Speaker 1: spiritualist movement. a social and religious movement rooted in the 113 00:07:34,950 --> 00:07:38,270 Speaker 1: idea that the souls of the deceased can connect to 114 00:07:38,390 --> 00:07:43,130 Speaker 1: and communicate with the living. Timelines of this movement often 115 00:07:43,170 --> 00:07:46,950 Speaker 1: start with the Fox sisters, who reported communicating with spirits 116 00:07:47,480 --> 00:07:52,940 Speaker 1: in a farmhouse in Hydesville, New York, in 1848. Seances 117 00:07:53,040 --> 00:07:55,680 Speaker 1: and other attempts to communicate with the dead became a 118 00:07:55,720 --> 00:07:59,060 Speaker 1: popular pastime. I feel like seances on their own are 119 00:07:59,100 --> 00:08:03,030 Speaker 1: a frequent tradition guest visitor on this show. We talk 120 00:08:03,050 --> 00:08:07,010 Speaker 1: about them a lot. The first formal spiritualist organizations in 121 00:08:07,060 --> 00:08:09,940 Speaker 1: the U.S. were founded in the years after the Civil War, 122 00:08:10,360 --> 00:08:15,140 Speaker 1: and the first national organization, the National Spiritualist Association, was 123 00:08:15,200 --> 00:08:16,679 Speaker 1: established in 1893. 124 00:08:16,680 --> 00:08:22,000 Speaker 2: The rise in spiritualism led to a corresponding effort by 125 00:08:22,120 --> 00:08:27,170 Speaker 2: scientists and other researchers to explain or maybe disprove psychic 126 00:08:27,270 --> 00:08:32,420 Speaker 2: and paranormal experiences and phenomena. The Society for Psychical Research 127 00:08:32,460 --> 00:08:36,880 Speaker 2: was established in London in 1882, and the American branch 128 00:08:36,960 --> 00:08:42,730 Speaker 2: followed in 1885. This also had some overlap with all 129 00:08:42,780 --> 00:08:46,710 Speaker 2: of the Mars stuff. Simon Newcomb, first president of the 130 00:08:46,750 --> 00:08:52,290 Speaker 2: American branch of the Society, was a Canadian-American astronomer. Percival 131 00:08:52,350 --> 00:08:55,770 Speaker 2: Lowell had connections with members of the Society on both 132 00:08:55,850 --> 00:09:00,099 Speaker 2: sides of the Atlantic. Lowell's other works had also included 133 00:09:00,179 --> 00:09:03,230 Speaker 2: things like Occult Japan or The Way of the Gods, 134 00:09:03,309 --> 00:09:09,290 Speaker 2: an esoteric study of Japanese personality and possession published in 1894. 135 00:09:09,290 --> 00:09:12,929 Speaker 2: The field of psychology was also in its infancy, and 136 00:09:13,050 --> 00:09:16,189 Speaker 2: there was a lot of interconnection between the research into 137 00:09:16,250 --> 00:09:19,870 Speaker 2: human psychology and spiritualism and psychic phenomena. 138 00:09:20,860 --> 00:09:22,820 Speaker 1: So that is some of what was happening in the 139 00:09:22,840 --> 00:09:25,400 Speaker 1: world when Sarah Weiss wrote her book. And we are 140 00:09:25,420 --> 00:09:27,459 Speaker 1: going to get to that after we pause for a 141 00:09:27,480 --> 00:09:40,350 Speaker 1: sponsor break. Sarah Weiss published her book on Mars and 142 00:09:40,390 --> 00:09:43,530 Speaker 1: her spiritual journeys to the planet in 1903, which of 143 00:09:43,590 --> 00:09:46,050 Speaker 1: course was in the midst of all the public fascination 144 00:09:46,090 --> 00:09:49,850 Speaker 1: about Mars and the spiritualist movement. Beyond that, though, we 145 00:09:49,970 --> 00:09:53,080 Speaker 1: don't have a ton of specific detail about her. She 146 00:09:53,120 --> 00:09:56,080 Speaker 1: was born in Ohio on January 5th, 1834. Her father, 147 00:09:56,100 --> 00:09:58,080 Speaker 1: John McBride, was a farmer. 148 00:10:00,600 --> 00:10:03,660 Speaker 2: There are a couple of records that spell her first 149 00:10:03,880 --> 00:10:09,000 Speaker 2: name as Z-A-R-A, rather than starting with an S, and 150 00:10:09,059 --> 00:10:13,610 Speaker 2: sometimes she is given the middle name of Ditto. I 151 00:10:13,690 --> 00:10:16,490 Speaker 2: am not sure exactly how that got into the record, 152 00:10:16,730 --> 00:10:19,670 Speaker 2: but I am pretty sure it is a mistake. I 153 00:10:19,710 --> 00:10:23,330 Speaker 2: think somebody used ditto marks to note that the name 154 00:10:23,390 --> 00:10:25,810 Speaker 2: being referenced was the same as the one on the 155 00:10:25,850 --> 00:10:29,530 Speaker 2: line above it, and then that somehow morphed into the 156 00:10:29,580 --> 00:10:33,900 Speaker 2: word ditto. There is at least one census record in 157 00:10:33,940 --> 00:10:36,600 Speaker 2: which her middle initial is D, though, so I guess 158 00:10:36,640 --> 00:10:39,340 Speaker 2: it is not impossible that somebody really did give her 159 00:10:39,380 --> 00:10:40,939 Speaker 2: the middle name ditto. 160 00:10:41,700 --> 00:10:44,459 Speaker 1: I kind of love that. I do, too. That's a 161 00:10:44,500 --> 00:10:49,059 Speaker 1: cute name. The McBrides were very religious. Sarah got a 162 00:10:49,100 --> 00:10:52,819 Speaker 1: basic education, but she was discouraged from reading anything other 163 00:10:52,860 --> 00:10:56,900 Speaker 1: than the Bible and other religious works. In 1850, when 164 00:10:56,950 --> 00:11:00,530 Speaker 1: she was only 16, she married William F. Muller, who 165 00:11:00,570 --> 00:11:05,490 Speaker 1: was 44. They had children, including a son named Carl Bernard, 166 00:11:05,650 --> 00:11:07,429 Speaker 1: known as Bernard, in 1854, and a daughter named Adelaide, 167 00:11:10,170 --> 00:11:14,050 Speaker 1: who went by Ada, and she was born in 1855. 168 00:11:14,050 --> 00:11:16,890 Speaker 1: We really don't have any other detail about this marriage. 169 00:11:17,320 --> 00:11:20,559 Speaker 1: Sarah didn't say anything specific about William in any of 170 00:11:20,620 --> 00:11:24,820 Speaker 1: her later writing or interviews, and by 1863, she had 171 00:11:24,940 --> 00:11:28,920 Speaker 1: moved to St. Louis, Missouri, apparently without him. It seems 172 00:11:28,960 --> 00:11:33,040 Speaker 1: like they got divorced. He later remarried, and he died 173 00:11:33,080 --> 00:11:37,840 Speaker 1: in 1877. By that point, Sarah had also gotten married 174 00:11:37,880 --> 00:11:43,300 Speaker 1: again to Adolph M. Weiss, Their wedding was on May 6, 1873, 175 00:11:43,300 --> 00:11:46,790 Speaker 1: when she was 39 and he was 28. Sarah and 176 00:11:46,929 --> 00:11:50,970 Speaker 1: Adolph were both interested in spiritualism when they met, and 177 00:11:51,070 --> 00:11:54,949 Speaker 1: Sarah eventually served as president of the First Spiritual Association 178 00:11:54,990 --> 00:11:59,010 Speaker 1: of St. Louis. But at first, she viewed spiritualism with 179 00:11:59,150 --> 00:12:04,210 Speaker 1: a degree of skepticism. That changed after her first experiences 180 00:12:04,370 --> 00:12:08,370 Speaker 1: with automatic writing. She and her husband had a friend 181 00:12:08,429 --> 00:12:11,849 Speaker 1: named William Cox, who had died of tuberculosis in Texas 182 00:12:12,250 --> 00:12:15,510 Speaker 1: after going there for the sake of his health. William 183 00:12:15,550 --> 00:12:17,929 Speaker 1: and Sarah had a pact that if one of them died, 184 00:12:17,970 --> 00:12:20,510 Speaker 1: they would try to reach one another from the afterlife. 185 00:12:21,350 --> 00:12:23,830 Speaker 1: A couple of years after William's death, she was really 186 00:12:23,910 --> 00:12:27,810 Speaker 1: missing him one day when suddenly her right arm started 187 00:12:27,870 --> 00:12:32,240 Speaker 1: to shake violently. She said this shaking was relieved only 188 00:12:32,360 --> 00:12:35,940 Speaker 1: after she got a pencil and the words, Will Cox, 189 00:12:36,640 --> 00:12:40,839 Speaker 1: wrote themselves on a page through her. Her husband Adolf 190 00:12:40,880 --> 00:12:44,059 Speaker 1: described her automatic writing this way, quote,' It was her 191 00:12:44,179 --> 00:12:48,220 Speaker 1: habit to sit in a room' which she had carefully darkened,' 192 00:12:47,980 --> 00:12:51,610 Speaker 1: or from which she had excluded most of the light,' 193 00:12:51,230 --> 00:12:53,890 Speaker 1: pencil in hand, with paper before her. 194 00:12:53,910 --> 00:12:58,130 Speaker 2: She did not know at what instant' the actual tracing 195 00:12:58,170 --> 00:13:01,710 Speaker 2: of letters and words would begin.' At one time, when 196 00:13:01,750 --> 00:13:05,740 Speaker 2: the influence moved her, 'she wrote for hours.' On such occasions, 197 00:13:05,820 --> 00:13:09,500 Speaker 2: she worked until a condition very like exhaustion overtook her. 198 00:13:10,300 --> 00:13:14,040 Speaker 2: While she was deeply interested in the various phenomena of 199 00:13:14,080 --> 00:13:17,360 Speaker 2: the spirit world, she was not a professional medium and 200 00:13:17,420 --> 00:13:23,340 Speaker 2: confessed her extraordinary experience in full only to her intimate friends. 201 00:13:24,280 --> 00:13:27,860 Speaker 2: Sarah started conducting seances in which she said she was 202 00:13:27,940 --> 00:13:31,750 Speaker 2: visited by the spirits of her deceased parents and siblings. 203 00:13:32,660 --> 00:13:35,900 Speaker 2: She also said her son Bernard sent messages through automatic 204 00:13:35,940 --> 00:13:40,540 Speaker 2: writing after his death in 1890. When Sarah's daughter Ada 205 00:13:40,600 --> 00:13:43,319 Speaker 2: was preparing to give birth, Sarah went to New York 206 00:13:43,400 --> 00:13:47,260 Speaker 2: City to be with her. Sarah had a very troubling 207 00:13:47,360 --> 00:13:50,280 Speaker 2: dream that when her daughter went into labor, they were 208 00:13:50,360 --> 00:13:53,819 Speaker 2: not able to get the doctor. Then when Ada really 209 00:13:53,940 --> 00:13:57,590 Speaker 2: did go into labor, the doctor hadn't arrived by the 210 00:13:57,620 --> 00:14:02,069 Speaker 2: time the baby was born. Sarah described being directed by 211 00:14:02,150 --> 00:14:06,050 Speaker 2: something outside of herself, with that presence telling the nurse 212 00:14:06,130 --> 00:14:09,750 Speaker 2: what to do through her. According to Weiss's account, she 213 00:14:09,770 --> 00:14:13,400 Speaker 2: was able to assist her daughter through a complicated delivery, 214 00:14:13,559 --> 00:14:16,160 Speaker 2: even though she had no training as a midwife. And 215 00:14:16,200 --> 00:14:19,280 Speaker 2: then when the doctor arrived, it was the man she 216 00:14:19,320 --> 00:14:22,620 Speaker 2: had seen in her dream. Some of what we know 217 00:14:22,800 --> 00:14:26,160 Speaker 2: about Sarah Weiss's personality comes from an exchange of letters 218 00:14:26,750 --> 00:14:33,140 Speaker 2: between her husband and psychical investigator James H. Hyslop in 1913. 219 00:14:33,140 --> 00:14:36,980 Speaker 2: These letters were written after her death. In Adolph's words 220 00:14:37,100 --> 00:14:39,380 Speaker 2: in one of these letters, quote, She lacked the literary 221 00:14:39,400 --> 00:14:50,910 Speaker 2: training which is the basis of most scientific books. She was, 222 00:14:50,930 --> 00:14:54,770 Speaker 2: it is true, a woman of quite uncommon order of intellect, 223 00:14:55,210 --> 00:14:58,380 Speaker 2: but to the end she seemed surprised and delighted at 224 00:14:58,420 --> 00:15:03,340 Speaker 2: the unseen influences which guided her in her writing. He 225 00:15:03,440 --> 00:15:07,820 Speaker 2: also described her as, quote, a pleasantly normal woman, fond 226 00:15:07,860 --> 00:15:10,940 Speaker 2: of her home and of quiet entertainments, and of a 227 00:15:10,990 --> 00:15:13,989 Speaker 2: group of friends who were by no means exclusively of 228 00:15:14,050 --> 00:15:18,400 Speaker 2: the spiritualistic faith. Adolph also said, quote, it may throw 229 00:15:18,460 --> 00:15:21,580 Speaker 2: some light upon her personality if I say that a 230 00:15:21,660 --> 00:15:25,520 Speaker 2: favorite diversion of hers, when in the presence of intimate friends, 231 00:15:25,950 --> 00:15:29,590 Speaker 2: was to relate dreams which had come to her. These 232 00:15:29,670 --> 00:15:32,770 Speaker 2: were embellished with beautiful minuteness of detail. 233 00:15:33,070 --> 00:15:34,010 Speaker 1: They assumed the. 234 00:15:34,030 --> 00:15:39,820 Speaker 2: Aspects of unearthly experiences rather than dreams. He also wrote, quote, 235 00:15:39,880 --> 00:15:42,780 Speaker 2: she had a longing to gaze at the stars and 236 00:15:42,920 --> 00:15:46,660 Speaker 2: often wished to know something of the beautiful shining planets. 237 00:15:47,580 --> 00:15:51,400 Speaker 2: According to Sarah Weiss, her spiritual voyages to Mars started 238 00:15:51,520 --> 00:15:55,200 Speaker 2: in October of 1892, while she was recovering from an 239 00:15:55,320 --> 00:16:00,060 Speaker 2: illness and still really grieving for her son Bernard. She 240 00:16:00,100 --> 00:16:02,620 Speaker 2: said she was visited by a spirit of a man 241 00:16:02,700 --> 00:16:06,420 Speaker 2: named Carl de Lester, who had died in Alsace 200 242 00:16:06,420 --> 00:16:09,640 Speaker 2: years prior, and acted sort of like a guide and 243 00:16:09,680 --> 00:16:14,940 Speaker 2: an interpreter. These spirit journeys were physically and psychically exhausting, 244 00:16:15,300 --> 00:16:18,480 Speaker 2: and the spirit of an Englishman named George Brooks guided 245 00:16:18,520 --> 00:16:23,610 Speaker 2: her in a more physiological sense. During her visitations, she 246 00:16:23,670 --> 00:16:27,710 Speaker 2: was eventually reunited with her son Bernard, who sometimes served 247 00:16:27,750 --> 00:16:31,650 Speaker 2: in a similar capacity to Brooks. She also channeled an 248 00:16:31,810 --> 00:16:35,070 Speaker 2: artist named Aaron Poole of Philadelphia, who had died 40 249 00:16:35,070 --> 00:16:38,190 Speaker 2: years prior, to create images of some of the plant 250 00:16:38,230 --> 00:16:42,490 Speaker 2: life of Mars. Her account of this, presented primarily as 251 00:16:42,570 --> 00:16:46,820 Speaker 2: dialogues with people on Mars, was published as Journeys to 252 00:16:46,840 --> 00:16:50,670 Speaker 2: the Planet Mars, or Our Mission to Ento, and that 253 00:16:50,710 --> 00:16:54,710 Speaker 2: came out in 1903. In this book, Carl de Lester 254 00:16:54,790 --> 00:16:58,470 Speaker 2: is described as counselor and guide to one of the 255 00:16:58,550 --> 00:17:02,140 Speaker 2: spirit bands. The book's preface is in the form of 256 00:17:02,200 --> 00:17:06,140 Speaker 2: a message directly from him, which is, quote, in planetary 257 00:17:06,220 --> 00:17:11,460 Speaker 2: language known as Evonthea, for love's sake. This preface says 258 00:17:11,500 --> 00:17:15,359 Speaker 2: in part, quote, with occasional brief interruptions, our journey to 259 00:17:15,400 --> 00:17:19,400 Speaker 2: the planet, astronomically known as Mars, but to its inhabitants 260 00:17:19,570 --> 00:17:24,230 Speaker 2: as Ento, which in the Ento language signifies chosen or 261 00:17:24,290 --> 00:17:31,510 Speaker 2: set apart, extended from October 6th, 1892 to September 16th, 1894. 262 00:17:31,510 --> 00:17:34,890 Speaker 2: During this period, through a rather rare phase of mediumship, 263 00:17:35,050 --> 00:17:40,409 Speaker 2: which we term semi-automatism, The objective or sole consciousness of 264 00:17:40,550 --> 00:17:45,000 Speaker 2: our instrument was controlled to write certain observations and experiences, 265 00:17:45,540 --> 00:17:51,180 Speaker 2: but through various unavoidable conditions, the record was somewhat imperfect, fragmentary, 266 00:17:51,880 --> 00:17:56,169 Speaker 2: and altogether too voluminous for the purpose in view. Hence, 267 00:17:56,430 --> 00:17:59,870 Speaker 2: when after quite two years, during which she gradually recovered 268 00:17:59,910 --> 00:18:03,580 Speaker 2: from the devitalized condition of to which her devotion to 269 00:18:03,619 --> 00:18:07,119 Speaker 2: a most worthy object had reduced her, she expressed her 270 00:18:07,200 --> 00:18:10,080 Speaker 2: readiness to permit herself to pass under my control for 271 00:18:10,119 --> 00:18:14,110 Speaker 2: the purpose of revising the manuscript, the contents of which 272 00:18:14,240 --> 00:18:17,810 Speaker 2: she was almost wholly ignorant. I found myself a little 273 00:18:17,830 --> 00:18:21,290 Speaker 2: dismayed over the magnitude of our mutual undertaking, which I 274 00:18:21,390 --> 00:18:25,250 Speaker 2: well knew would tax our endurance to the utmost and 275 00:18:25,330 --> 00:18:28,990 Speaker 2: certainly only patient, persistent endeavor on the part of our 276 00:18:29,070 --> 00:18:32,670 Speaker 2: instrument and myself, has resulted in what, at the best, 277 00:18:32,730 --> 00:18:37,679 Speaker 2: we all consider a not very satisfactory rendition of experiences 278 00:18:37,880 --> 00:18:41,440 Speaker 2: as unique as ever have occurred to one yet embodied 279 00:18:41,580 --> 00:18:45,800 Speaker 2: in physical form. After Sarah's death, her husband gave a 280 00:18:45,840 --> 00:18:49,500 Speaker 2: more practical description of the writing process to James H. 281 00:18:49,530 --> 00:18:54,040 Speaker 1: Hyslop. that her original automatic writing had been in pencil 282 00:18:54,220 --> 00:18:57,240 Speaker 1: and was almost illegible, and she had written it over 283 00:18:57,300 --> 00:19:01,780 Speaker 1: again in ink under Carl de Lester's spiritual direction and 284 00:19:01,820 --> 00:19:03,530 Speaker 1: then thrown away the original. 285 00:19:04,410 --> 00:19:06,790 Speaker 2: We'll talk more about what was in this book after 286 00:19:06,869 --> 00:19:19,369 Speaker 2: another sponsor break. So According to Sarah Weiss's account of 287 00:19:19,410 --> 00:19:23,340 Speaker 2: her spiritual journeys, there were spirit bands on Mars that 288 00:19:23,380 --> 00:19:27,300 Speaker 2: were working to prepare sensitive people on Earth for psychic 289 00:19:27,420 --> 00:19:31,540 Speaker 2: voyages to the planet. A spirit band had been guiding 290 00:19:31,580 --> 00:19:35,080 Speaker 2: and protecting Weiss since birth, and so far she was 291 00:19:35,140 --> 00:19:37,760 Speaker 2: the only person on Earth who was ready for these 292 00:19:37,859 --> 00:19:42,420 Speaker 2: kinds of journeys. Her spirit band was full of famous 293 00:19:42,580 --> 00:19:46,580 Speaker 2: dead intellectual figures from Earth, and they told her all 294 00:19:46,619 --> 00:19:49,969 Speaker 2: about life on Mars and offered insights about life on Earth. 295 00:19:50,020 --> 00:19:55,040 Speaker 1: Earth. This spirit band included Scottish geologist Hugh Miller, who 296 00:19:55,080 --> 00:20:00,640 Speaker 1: died in 1856, German naturalist and geographer Alexander von Humboldt, 297 00:20:00,700 --> 00:20:06,180 Speaker 1: who died in 1859, Swiss geologist and naturalist Louis Agassiz, 298 00:20:06,300 --> 00:20:11,460 Speaker 1: who died in 1873, and English biologist Charles Darwin, who 299 00:20:11,500 --> 00:20:17,380 Speaker 1: died in 1882. Another member was English novelist and politician 300 00:20:17,660 --> 00:20:20,720 Speaker 1: Edward Bulwer-Lytton, who we've talked about on the show before. 301 00:20:21,540 --> 00:20:25,689 Speaker 1: He died in 1873, and he was probably included in 302 00:20:25,730 --> 00:20:29,050 Speaker 1: the band because some of his novels had occult and 303 00:20:29,130 --> 00:20:34,159 Speaker 1: science fiction-esque themes. And then there was Giordano Bruno, who 304 00:20:34,180 --> 00:20:36,800 Speaker 1: we've also covered on the show before. He was an 305 00:20:36,859 --> 00:20:41,190 Speaker 1: Italian scholar, occultist, and former Dominican friar who was burned 306 00:20:41,210 --> 00:20:45,990 Speaker 1: at the stake for heresy in 1600. His works included 307 00:20:46,050 --> 00:20:50,729 Speaker 1: philosophical dialogues, and his purported heresies included the idea that 308 00:20:50,770 --> 00:20:54,220 Speaker 1: the universe contains innumerable worlds that are similar to the 309 00:20:54,340 --> 00:20:55,639 Speaker 1: ones in our solar system. 310 00:20:56,730 --> 00:20:59,810 Speaker 2: In addition to his being the only one of the 311 00:20:59,850 --> 00:21:02,710 Speaker 2: people we just named who did not die in the 312 00:21:02,910 --> 00:21:06,970 Speaker 2: 19th century, Giordano Bruno is the only deceased Earthling to 313 00:21:07,020 --> 00:21:11,919 Speaker 2: have his own whole entire chapter in Weiss's book. In it, 314 00:21:12,200 --> 00:21:14,700 Speaker 2: he gives her a message to carry back to Earth. 315 00:21:15,400 --> 00:21:19,859 Speaker 2: It begins, quote,' Children of Earth's most favored land,' children 316 00:21:20,070 --> 00:21:25,149 Speaker 2: of America,' I, Giordano Bruno,' once a citizen of sun-kissed Italy, 317 00:21:25,330 --> 00:21:29,020 Speaker 2: greet you.' From there, he goes on to praise the 318 00:21:29,100 --> 00:21:32,320 Speaker 2: United States for its principles of freedom of thought and 319 00:21:32,400 --> 00:21:35,560 Speaker 2: speech and for being a, quote, city of refuge for 320 00:21:35,600 --> 00:21:39,680 Speaker 2: the oppressed of other nations. He calls on the United 321 00:21:39,720 --> 00:21:42,800 Speaker 2: States to stay true to these principles and to guard 322 00:21:42,920 --> 00:21:46,879 Speaker 2: its doorways against aristocratic ideas that were trying to break 323 00:21:46,940 --> 00:21:51,820 Speaker 2: through its temple of equality. It is a very rah-rah 324 00:21:51,920 --> 00:21:57,500 Speaker 2: America message. He concludes, quote, may the angels who watch 325 00:21:57,700 --> 00:22:01,460 Speaker 2: over the destinies of nations be strong enough to guide 326 00:22:01,540 --> 00:22:05,680 Speaker 2: through the perilous future your ship of state, which through 327 00:22:05,760 --> 00:22:08,919 Speaker 2: calm and storm steers toward an unknown shore. 328 00:22:09,420 --> 00:22:13,940 Speaker 1: Amen. Amen. After that message, Bruno goes on to say 329 00:22:13,980 --> 00:22:17,669 Speaker 1: that this isn't just about the United States. Quote, the 330 00:22:17,730 --> 00:22:21,770 Speaker 1: heartbeats of your republic send a vitalizing current through all 331 00:22:21,810 --> 00:22:25,520 Speaker 1: the peoples of our planet. How all-important, then, that this 332 00:22:25,640 --> 00:22:29,700 Speaker 1: life current shall flow unpolluted to the hearts and brains 333 00:22:29,859 --> 00:22:30,840 Speaker 1: of all nations. 334 00:22:31,940 --> 00:22:36,100 Speaker 2: Giordano Bruno also gives Sarah Weiss a Martian name. Up 335 00:22:36,160 --> 00:22:38,760 Speaker 2: until this point in the book, she's mostly referred to 336 00:22:39,000 --> 00:22:42,840 Speaker 2: as Medium, but Bruno gives her the name Gentola, which 337 00:22:42,900 --> 00:22:48,450 Speaker 2: in the Ento language means lady, friend, gentle, loving, kind, beloved, 338 00:22:48,730 --> 00:22:49,370 Speaker 2: and the like. 339 00:22:50,280 --> 00:22:54,189 Speaker 1: Beyond her encounter with Giordano Bruno, Weiss's account of Mars 340 00:22:54,250 --> 00:23:00,030 Speaker 1: has utopian elements. Martian society is described as spiritually advanced 341 00:23:00,230 --> 00:23:05,290 Speaker 1: and egalitarian. There are some religious sects that sacrifice animals, 342 00:23:05,410 --> 00:23:08,940 Speaker 1: but the spirits Weiss talks to think they're moving away 343 00:23:09,000 --> 00:23:11,640 Speaker 1: from that, just as they moved away from doing human 344 00:23:11,700 --> 00:23:17,140 Speaker 1: sacrifices centuries before. Alexander von Humboldt tells her that there 345 00:23:17,200 --> 00:23:21,220 Speaker 1: are no class stratifications on Mars— and all labor of 346 00:23:21,420 --> 00:23:25,379 Speaker 1: every kind is considered to be elevating. He says that 347 00:23:25,420 --> 00:23:28,270 Speaker 1: the Martians think idleness is a crime, and that the 348 00:23:28,369 --> 00:23:31,910 Speaker 1: earth could benefit from a similar outlook, with every person 349 00:23:32,010 --> 00:23:36,710 Speaker 1: having a useful occupation, rather than the, quote, yearly expenditure 350 00:23:36,790 --> 00:23:39,290 Speaker 1: of millions of money for the maintenance of armies of 351 00:23:39,350 --> 00:23:43,410 Speaker 1: men engaged in murdering each other, and for the erection 352 00:23:43,510 --> 00:23:49,170 Speaker 1: and support of prisons, reformatories, almshouses, and the like. Von 353 00:23:49,230 --> 00:23:55,080 Speaker 1: Humboldt describes Earth's peoples as uncivilized because civilized peoples do 354 00:23:55,160 --> 00:23:58,320 Speaker 1: not murder one another. But he also says a day 355 00:23:58,340 --> 00:24:01,730 Speaker 1: will come when the people of Earth will advance beyond that. 356 00:24:02,630 --> 00:24:06,800 Speaker 1: But not everything in this book seems so progressive. For example, 357 00:24:06,970 --> 00:24:10,919 Speaker 1: while de Lester describes all humans as essentially the same, 358 00:24:11,020 --> 00:24:13,940 Speaker 1: no matter what planet they may be living on, von 359 00:24:14,000 --> 00:24:18,639 Speaker 1: Humboldt gives Weiss a very lengthy explanation of the purported 360 00:24:18,810 --> 00:24:22,670 Speaker 1: origins of the people who are native to Earth's polar regions. 361 00:24:23,510 --> 00:24:27,570 Speaker 1: He frames them not as direct descendants of primitive man, 362 00:24:27,730 --> 00:24:30,550 Speaker 1: but as survivors of a different race that was wiped 363 00:24:30,790 --> 00:24:35,669 Speaker 1: out by a glacial catastrophe. The whole thing, in addition 364 00:24:35,710 --> 00:24:39,130 Speaker 1: to setting the indigenous peoples of the far polar regions 365 00:24:39,300 --> 00:24:43,000 Speaker 1: as different, his descriptions of them are insulting and racist. 366 00:24:43,800 --> 00:24:48,340 Speaker 1: There are also descriptions of Mars and its people. DeLester 367 00:24:48,400 --> 00:24:51,399 Speaker 1: tells Weiss that Mars is older than the Earth and 368 00:24:51,520 --> 00:24:56,490 Speaker 1: far more magnetic. It has a rarer, lighter atmosphere, but 369 00:24:56,570 --> 00:25:00,609 Speaker 1: one that is extremely humid. This book also describes the 370 00:25:00,650 --> 00:25:04,630 Speaker 1: waterways of Mars, which are, as had been speculated on Earth, 371 00:25:05,270 --> 00:25:09,210 Speaker 1: used for irrigation and to carry large amounts of meltwater 372 00:25:09,369 --> 00:25:13,670 Speaker 1: away from the poles every spring. As a side note, 373 00:25:13,930 --> 00:25:17,590 Speaker 1: Weiss sent a copy of her published book to Percival Lowell, 374 00:25:17,950 --> 00:25:20,170 Speaker 1: who had done so much to promote the idea that 375 00:25:20,230 --> 00:25:23,609 Speaker 1: Mars had intentionally built canals there. on its surface. 376 00:25:24,660 --> 00:25:29,110 Speaker 2: During these voyages, Weiss also sees interesting plants and animals 377 00:25:29,270 --> 00:25:34,250 Speaker 2: on Mars, buildings adorned with sculptures and intricate windows, a 378 00:25:34,350 --> 00:25:38,490 Speaker 2: kitchen with an electric cooking range, Martian works of art, 379 00:25:38,750 --> 00:25:42,320 Speaker 2: and Martian people from different parts of the planet. As 380 00:25:42,600 --> 00:25:45,860 Speaker 2: on Earth, the Martian people have different physical traits like 381 00:25:46,119 --> 00:25:48,700 Speaker 2: eye and skin color depending on where they are from 382 00:25:48,760 --> 00:25:52,600 Speaker 2: on the planet. And she learns about Martian religion and 383 00:25:52,660 --> 00:25:56,709 Speaker 2: culture and its schools and libraries and hospitals and nurseries. 384 00:25:57,420 --> 00:26:02,240 Speaker 2: She discusses things with the spirits like science, philosophy, and spirituality. 385 00:26:02,930 --> 00:26:06,929 Speaker 2: It is impossible to go into detail about everything because 386 00:26:07,030 --> 00:26:11,889 Speaker 2: this book is almost 600 pages long, including a short 387 00:26:11,970 --> 00:26:16,100 Speaker 2: glossary of words in the Martian language of Ento, tables 388 00:26:16,190 --> 00:26:19,679 Speaker 2: of Ento colors and numbers, and a list of Ento 389 00:26:19,760 --> 00:26:24,040 Speaker 2: personal pronouns, including the words for thee, thou, and thy. 390 00:26:24,960 --> 00:26:28,240 Speaker 2: This book was published in 1903, but Weiss was talking 391 00:26:28,300 --> 00:26:33,160 Speaker 2: about its contents publicly before that. There are multiple articles 392 00:26:33,300 --> 00:26:37,379 Speaker 2: about her channeling and spiritual journeys in St. Louis newspapers 393 00:26:37,440 --> 00:26:39,179 Speaker 2: between 1899 and 1903. An article about her that ran 394 00:26:39,200 --> 00:26:41,760 Speaker 2: in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch on June 2, 1901, is titled, St. 395 00:26:41,900 --> 00:26:53,119 Speaker 2: Louis Woman Draws Under Spirit Influence. This article was focused 396 00:26:53,160 --> 00:26:57,640 Speaker 2: primarily on Weiss's depictions of Martian plant life, including pictures 397 00:26:57,780 --> 00:27:00,680 Speaker 2: of the plants, which until that point had been kept 398 00:27:00,720 --> 00:27:04,930 Speaker 2: as a family treasure for seven years. It said of her, quote, 399 00:27:05,130 --> 00:27:08,630 Speaker 2: she is what many another good housewife of St. Louis is, 400 00:27:08,650 --> 00:27:13,790 Speaker 2: a spiritualist in the privacy of her own home. Reviews 401 00:27:13,990 --> 00:27:15,970 Speaker 2: of the published book were mixed. 402 00:27:16,800 --> 00:27:17,100 Speaker 1: The St. 403 00:27:17,119 --> 00:27:22,139 Speaker 2: Louis Republic described it as a, quote, strangely attractive narrative 404 00:27:22,240 --> 00:27:25,760 Speaker 2: from the spiritualistic point of view. Quite apart from what 405 00:27:25,800 --> 00:27:29,140 Speaker 2: it may be considered as a literary production, it contains 406 00:27:29,200 --> 00:27:35,160 Speaker 2: a quantity of unusual philosophy and many passages of ethical value. Also, 407 00:27:35,180 --> 00:27:40,030 Speaker 2: it contains some love episodes of an ideal and sentimental character. 408 00:27:40,660 --> 00:27:44,670 Speaker 2: There are several personalities in the narrative of considerable interest. 409 00:27:45,560 --> 00:27:48,740 Speaker 1: On the other hand, the Boston Evening Transcript's Books of 410 00:27:48,780 --> 00:27:51,919 Speaker 1: the Day page said in part, quote, If anyone is 411 00:27:51,960 --> 00:27:56,520 Speaker 1: seeking a curiosity, not to say freak, in literature, journeys 412 00:27:56,580 --> 00:28:00,800 Speaker 1: to the planet Mars should be perfectly satisfactory. The story 413 00:28:00,920 --> 00:28:03,760 Speaker 1: certainly is a wonder in its way, but it is 414 00:28:03,820 --> 00:28:07,290 Speaker 1: about as interesting as a table of logarithms or a dictionary. 415 00:28:08,200 --> 00:28:10,970 Speaker 1: The reviewer described the pictures of Martian plant life as 416 00:28:11,070 --> 00:28:14,050 Speaker 1: comparable to what you might see in any seed catalog 417 00:28:14,090 --> 00:28:17,139 Speaker 1: and said, quote, If the spirit artist had desired to 418 00:28:17,180 --> 00:28:20,300 Speaker 1: show something really striking, he should have drawn pictures of 419 00:28:20,340 --> 00:28:23,790 Speaker 1: the animals of Ento, which, according to the description, are 420 00:28:23,850 --> 00:28:29,250 Speaker 1: truly wonderful. And perhaps sarcastically, this review says the dictionary 421 00:28:29,350 --> 00:28:32,910 Speaker 1: of the Ento language would be very useful to tourists 422 00:28:33,230 --> 00:28:37,550 Speaker 1: who decide to visit Mars. Sarah Weiss died of stomach 423 00:28:37,570 --> 00:28:39,550 Speaker 1: cancer at her home on March 23, 1904, at the 424 00:28:39,590 --> 00:28:45,590 Speaker 1: age of 70. That was just a year after Journeys 425 00:28:45,650 --> 00:28:48,130 Speaker 1: to the Planet Mars was published. The St. 426 00:28:48,170 --> 00:28:52,459 Speaker 2: Louis Post-Dispatch announced her death on its front page. In 427 00:28:52,500 --> 00:28:55,920 Speaker 2: a letter later on, her husband Adolph said, quote, the 428 00:28:56,020 --> 00:28:59,500 Speaker 2: work had so greatly impaired her energy that she went 429 00:28:59,580 --> 00:29:02,080 Speaker 2: into a decline, which resulted in her death. 430 00:29:02,960 --> 00:29:06,990 Speaker 1: Weiss's work continued to be published and promoted after her death. 431 00:29:07,630 --> 00:29:11,070 Speaker 1: The Austin Publishing Company of Rochester, New York, which was 432 00:29:11,150 --> 00:29:15,830 Speaker 1: owned by Canadian spiritualist Benjamin Fish Austin, reprinted her book 433 00:29:15,950 --> 00:29:19,800 Speaker 1: in 1905 with the longer title Journeys to the Planet 434 00:29:19,860 --> 00:29:24,120 Speaker 1: Mars or Our Mission to Ento, Mars, being a record 435 00:29:24,160 --> 00:29:28,240 Speaker 1: of visits made to Ento, Mars, by Sarah Weiss, psychic, 436 00:29:28,460 --> 00:29:31,310 Speaker 1: under the guidance of a spirit band for the purpose 437 00:29:31,350 --> 00:29:34,830 Speaker 1: of conveying to the Entoans a knowledge of the continuity 438 00:29:34,850 --> 00:29:39,350 Speaker 1: of life. Transcribed automatically by Sarah Weiss under the editorial 439 00:29:39,390 --> 00:29:43,880 Speaker 1: direction of Spirit Carl de Lester, author of Story of 440 00:29:43,960 --> 00:29:48,370 Speaker 1: Decimon Hoedas, a Romance of the Planet Mars, illustrated by 441 00:29:48,370 --> 00:29:53,430 Speaker 1: 13 original drawings. Decimus Hoytus, A Romance of Mars, A 442 00:29:53,490 --> 00:29:57,750 Speaker 1: Story of Actual Experiences in Ento, Mars, Many Centuries Ago, 443 00:29:58,330 --> 00:30:01,690 Speaker 1: given to the psychic Sarah Weiss and by her transcribed 444 00:30:01,770 --> 00:30:05,400 Speaker 1: automatically under the editorial direction of Spirit Carl de Lester, 445 00:30:05,860 --> 00:30:09,760 Speaker 1: was published in 1906, which seems to be the first 446 00:30:09,880 --> 00:30:14,130 Speaker 1: time it appeared in print. That is a little confusing, though, 447 00:30:14,250 --> 00:30:19,050 Speaker 1: since both the 1903 and 1905 editions of Journeys to 448 00:30:19,070 --> 00:30:21,890 Speaker 1: the Planet Mars mention this book on the title page, 449 00:30:22,690 --> 00:30:25,130 Speaker 1: at which point it does not seem to have existed yet. 450 00:30:25,760 --> 00:30:29,020 Speaker 1: It is possible that there was an earlier self-published version 451 00:30:29,040 --> 00:30:32,080 Speaker 1: of this book that she didn't copyright, but I could 452 00:30:32,120 --> 00:30:36,100 Speaker 1: not find evidence of it anywhere. Maybe she's the George 453 00:30:36,140 --> 00:30:40,240 Speaker 1: Lucas of the spirit world of Mars. Yeah. Austen Publishing 454 00:30:40,300 --> 00:30:44,240 Speaker 1: Company continued to market her books after this. For example, 455 00:30:44,620 --> 00:30:48,800 Speaker 1: a 1910 edition of another of Austen's publications, the journal Reason, 456 00:30:49,260 --> 00:30:51,640 Speaker 1: contains an ad for an offer to get a subscription 457 00:30:51,680 --> 00:30:54,140 Speaker 1: to the journal and a copy of either of the 458 00:30:54,180 --> 00:30:58,670 Speaker 1: books at a discount. It ends somewhat hilariously, now what 459 00:30:58,690 --> 00:31:01,170 Speaker 1: are you going to do about it? Truly the finest 460 00:31:01,260 --> 00:31:01,989 Speaker 1: in ad copy. 461 00:31:02,720 --> 00:31:04,840 Speaker 2: It's in all capital letters also. 462 00:31:05,380 --> 00:31:08,560 Speaker 1: I love it. It's going to bark at you. In 1930, 463 00:31:08,560 --> 00:31:12,880 Speaker 1: Austen also published 20 Views of Plants and Flowers of Mars, 464 00:31:13,340 --> 00:31:14,880 Speaker 1: and that was based on her books. 465 00:31:15,880 --> 00:31:18,980 Speaker 2: Sarah Weiss was not the only person to publish books 466 00:31:19,120 --> 00:31:23,040 Speaker 2: that married spiritualism and the planet Mars around the turn 467 00:31:23,060 --> 00:31:27,610 Speaker 2: of the 20th century. Other examples are Henry Gaston's Mars 468 00:31:27,710 --> 00:31:31,350 Speaker 2: Revealed or Seven Days in the Spirit World in 1880, 469 00:31:31,350 --> 00:31:34,410 Speaker 2: and The Certainty of a Future Life in Mars by 470 00:31:34,610 --> 00:31:40,320 Speaker 2: Louis-Pope Graticap in 1903. There is also From India to 471 00:31:40,360 --> 00:31:43,860 Speaker 2: the Planet Mars by Theodor Flournoy, who was professor of 472 00:31:43,920 --> 00:31:47,120 Speaker 2: psychology at the University of Geneva, as well as a 473 00:31:47,200 --> 00:31:51,530 Speaker 2: psychical researcher. That book came out in 1900. 474 00:31:51,530 --> 00:31:55,110 Speaker 1: James H. Hyslop, who translated this book into English, summed 475 00:31:55,130 --> 00:31:57,870 Speaker 1: it up as, quote, a book purporting to represent a 476 00:31:57,930 --> 00:32:01,070 Speaker 1: case of the reincarnation of a deceased human being on 477 00:32:01,130 --> 00:32:07,760 Speaker 1: the planet Mars and communicating therefrom regarding its inhabitants, life, institutions, language, 478 00:32:08,220 --> 00:32:12,720 Speaker 1: and various things pertaining to that planet. As we said earlier, 479 00:32:12,740 --> 00:32:17,420 Speaker 1: Hyslop was a psychical researcher. and his research included trying 480 00:32:17,460 --> 00:32:21,790 Speaker 1: to determine whether Weiss's book was authentic. He compared it 481 00:32:21,850 --> 00:32:24,010 Speaker 1: to the writing of other mediums who said they had 482 00:32:24,030 --> 00:32:28,270 Speaker 1: been in contact with Mars, including Mademoiselle Helene Smith, whose 483 00:32:28,310 --> 00:32:32,490 Speaker 1: account was detailed in Flournoy's book, and a Mrs. Smead. 484 00:32:32,510 --> 00:32:36,250 Speaker 2: Hyslop said of Weiss's book, quote, whether the book is 485 00:32:36,470 --> 00:32:40,510 Speaker 2: really a communication about the planet Mars, no one can prove, 486 00:32:40,650 --> 00:32:44,100 Speaker 2: no matter what he believes. but he can study it 487 00:32:44,280 --> 00:32:47,730 Speaker 2: as a work of psychological interest, and it will abundantly 488 00:32:47,830 --> 00:32:51,650 Speaker 2: repay study from that point of view. To that end, 489 00:32:51,850 --> 00:32:55,190 Speaker 2: pursuing that kind of study, Hyslop did things like comparing 490 00:32:55,290 --> 00:32:59,070 Speaker 2: Weiss's handwriting in a poem that she had written automatically, 491 00:32:59,310 --> 00:33:01,360 Speaker 2: which she said had been dictated to her by her 492 00:33:01,400 --> 00:33:05,460 Speaker 2: late brother. He compared that to a regular handwriting sample 493 00:33:05,540 --> 00:33:10,560 Speaker 2: from when she was not receiving psychic communications. Hyslop looked 494 00:33:10,720 --> 00:33:14,520 Speaker 2: at these writings after receiving them from Weiss's husband, and 495 00:33:14,580 --> 00:33:17,280 Speaker 2: he was dismayed to learn that she had thrown away 496 00:33:17,360 --> 00:33:20,100 Speaker 2: the original copies of her automatic writing for the book. 497 00:33:20,200 --> 00:33:22,890 Speaker 2: That was what he really wanted to compare was the 498 00:33:22,950 --> 00:33:27,650 Speaker 2: book automatic writing and her regular writing. In Hyslop's words, quote, 499 00:33:27,790 --> 00:33:30,390 Speaker 2: the difference between them is such that you would have 500 00:33:30,410 --> 00:33:33,280 Speaker 2: to examine them carefully to notice they were written by 501 00:33:33,320 --> 00:33:34,280 Speaker 2: the same person. 502 00:33:34,980 --> 00:33:38,970 Speaker 1: Hyslop spotted some things that raised doubts. Quote, It is 503 00:33:39,070 --> 00:33:42,470 Speaker 1: true that the general idea of numbers and pronouns like 504 00:33:42,550 --> 00:33:45,990 Speaker 1: our own, especially in the pronouns, will be a dubious fact. 505 00:33:46,690 --> 00:33:49,910 Speaker 1: It is not universal in the languages of terrestrial people, 506 00:33:50,060 --> 00:33:53,100 Speaker 1: and that Martians should duplicate those of the English language 507 00:33:53,540 --> 00:33:57,140 Speaker 1: throughout is a fact that suggests the influence of normal 508 00:33:57,200 --> 00:34:01,380 Speaker 1: habits on the invention of them. It is equally noticeable 509 00:34:01,500 --> 00:34:05,080 Speaker 1: also that the notation is decimal, which corresponds with ours. 510 00:34:06,040 --> 00:34:08,340 Speaker 1: But in the end, he said, quote, it is impossible 511 00:34:08,380 --> 00:34:12,160 Speaker 1: at this time to pronounce any final judgment on such works. 512 00:34:13,080 --> 00:34:17,460 Speaker 2: By the 19-teens, most astronomers had moved away from the 513 00:34:17,540 --> 00:34:22,970 Speaker 2: idea that the canali on Mars were intentionally constructed. Through 514 00:34:23,050 --> 00:34:26,910 Speaker 2: advances in both telescopes and photography, it became clear that 515 00:34:26,950 --> 00:34:30,350 Speaker 2: those marks were a lot more irregular than they had 516 00:34:30,390 --> 00:34:34,410 Speaker 2: appeared to be on earlier human-made composite maps of the planet. 517 00:34:35,100 --> 00:34:38,000 Speaker 2: But the idea of life on Mars, of course, continued 518 00:34:38,060 --> 00:34:41,060 Speaker 2: to be a popular theme in science fiction, including during 519 00:34:41,120 --> 00:34:44,840 Speaker 2: the so-called Golden Age of science fiction from the 1920s 520 00:34:44,910 --> 00:34:48,609 Speaker 2: through the 50s. You could argue that the Golden Age 521 00:34:48,670 --> 00:34:52,169 Speaker 2: went on longer than that. I found many dates, but 522 00:34:52,450 --> 00:34:55,950 Speaker 2: that sort of is the core. And then in 1965, 523 00:34:55,950 --> 00:35:00,029 Speaker 2: Mariner 4 flew by Mars and took 22 photos of 524 00:35:00,070 --> 00:35:03,490 Speaker 2: the planet. Those were the first close-up photos of Mars 525 00:35:03,550 --> 00:35:07,469 Speaker 2: ever taken. And they showed its surface covered in craters 526 00:35:07,670 --> 00:35:12,390 Speaker 2: and apparently inhospitable to complex life forms as we know them. 527 00:35:13,219 --> 00:35:16,779 Speaker 2: The question of whether Mars is or ever has been 528 00:35:16,840 --> 00:35:20,420 Speaker 2: home to some kind of life, of course, that continues 529 00:35:20,480 --> 00:35:24,960 Speaker 2: to be studied and debated. That was Sarah Weiss and 530 00:35:25,000 --> 00:35:29,560 Speaker 2: her Mars adventures. Do you have listener mail which may 531 00:35:29,780 --> 00:35:33,489 Speaker 2: or may not have been written through automatic writing on 532 00:35:33,530 --> 00:35:35,560 Speaker 2: a typewriter? on a computer keyboard. 533 00:35:36,040 --> 00:35:36,720 Speaker 1: I don't think. 534 00:35:36,640 --> 00:35:39,719 Speaker 2: Anything was written by automatic writing, but we have gotten 535 00:35:39,910 --> 00:35:44,010 Speaker 2: some emails about our recent episode about Supreme Court cases 536 00:35:44,110 --> 00:35:47,989 Speaker 2: relating to children in public schools. And this one is 537 00:35:48,050 --> 00:35:52,049 Speaker 2: from Sarah. And Sarah said, just listen to the six impossibles. 538 00:35:52,150 --> 00:35:54,370 Speaker 2: And when I heard the story about the paddles, I 539 00:35:54,390 --> 00:35:58,219 Speaker 2: was reminded of my eighth grade history teacher along the wall. 540 00:35:58,690 --> 00:36:01,290 Speaker 2: Above a row of windows, he had mounted a whole 541 00:36:01,469 --> 00:36:05,300 Speaker 2: lot of paddles made for him by boys in shop class. 542 00:36:05,980 --> 00:36:08,540 Speaker 2: He encouraged them to make one for him and to 543 00:36:08,580 --> 00:36:12,100 Speaker 2: make it more painful than any other paddle. Most had 544 00:36:12,260 --> 00:36:14,940 Speaker 2: multiple holes drilled in them, which meant that it would 545 00:36:14,980 --> 00:36:17,779 Speaker 2: go faster and therefore hit harder, and he used them 546 00:36:17,820 --> 00:36:21,390 Speaker 2: during class. This guy had a reputation that apparently didn't 547 00:36:21,450 --> 00:36:24,490 Speaker 2: horrify the administration the way it horrified all the girls. 548 00:36:24,810 --> 00:36:26,390 Speaker 2: He never hit a girl, but he would take a 549 00:36:26,410 --> 00:36:30,680 Speaker 2: boy outside. paddled him during class. This was in Orange County, California. 550 00:36:30,700 --> 00:36:33,400 Speaker 2: I do hope that eventually someone took him to task 551 00:36:33,900 --> 00:36:36,620 Speaker 2: to help us all recover from that story. I'm including 552 00:36:36,660 --> 00:36:39,270 Speaker 2: photos of our three kitties and our sweet dog. I 553 00:36:39,310 --> 00:36:42,169 Speaker 2: love listening to your episodes and learning so much history, Sarah. So, 554 00:36:42,230 --> 00:36:44,470 Speaker 2: and then we do, how do we have adorable cat pictures? 555 00:36:46,960 --> 00:36:49,739 Speaker 2: We have a kitty cat draped on the back of 556 00:36:49,800 --> 00:36:52,190 Speaker 2: a chair. One of mine loves to do that, and 557 00:36:52,330 --> 00:36:55,450 Speaker 2: she often looks very goofy because she will stretch both 558 00:36:55,469 --> 00:36:57,610 Speaker 2: of her paws out one side on the other as 559 00:36:57,650 --> 00:37:00,489 Speaker 2: she lounges on the chair back. And then we have 560 00:37:01,670 --> 00:37:04,640 Speaker 2: Luke and Griffin, who are brothers, sitting side by side, 561 00:37:04,700 --> 00:37:08,100 Speaker 2: looking away from the camera. And then we have Luna 562 00:37:08,120 --> 00:37:11,520 Speaker 2: the dog watching Yard TV with Mercury and Griffin. They 563 00:37:11,560 --> 00:37:14,620 Speaker 2: are looking out a screen door at what's going on outside. 564 00:37:15,489 --> 00:37:19,270 Speaker 2: And Luna is a Taiwanese mountain dog rescued from Taiwan, 565 00:37:20,110 --> 00:37:24,029 Speaker 2: sitting next to baby Mercury. So adorable, all of these animals. 566 00:37:24,160 --> 00:37:28,700 Speaker 2: I wanted to read this email because I sort of 567 00:37:28,780 --> 00:37:32,340 Speaker 2: meant to mention that so often the paddles at school 568 00:37:32,380 --> 00:37:36,260 Speaker 2: had holes in them, purportedly because it would make them 569 00:37:36,780 --> 00:37:41,810 Speaker 2: hit harder. And also that often they were made by 570 00:37:41,850 --> 00:37:45,600 Speaker 2: people in shop class at my school. They were not 571 00:37:45,660 --> 00:37:48,819 Speaker 2: made by people in shop class. If I remember correctly, 572 00:37:48,980 --> 00:37:52,650 Speaker 2: there was no more shop class happening in my high school, 573 00:37:53,170 --> 00:37:56,110 Speaker 2: but I took shop as an elective in middle school, 574 00:37:57,410 --> 00:38:01,469 Speaker 2: and we were not allowed to use any of the 575 00:38:01,550 --> 00:38:06,910 Speaker 2: shop tools other than the drill press. We were allowed 576 00:38:06,969 --> 00:38:10,180 Speaker 2: to use the drill press to make these plastic keychains, 577 00:38:10,280 --> 00:38:14,110 Speaker 2: which you made by heating up this piece of plastic 578 00:38:14,350 --> 00:38:18,089 Speaker 2: and then twisting it and drilling a hole. But when 579 00:38:18,130 --> 00:38:22,259 Speaker 2: we did other things that involved using, say, a bandsaw 580 00:38:22,380 --> 00:38:25,500 Speaker 2: to cut out wood, the teacher did that because they 581 00:38:25,540 --> 00:38:29,200 Speaker 2: were afraid we would hurt ourselves. So no one had 582 00:38:29,239 --> 00:38:32,220 Speaker 2: the option of making a paddle themselves in shop class. 583 00:38:33,160 --> 00:38:35,900 Speaker 2: Not that I would actually want anyone to do that because, 584 00:38:36,140 --> 00:38:38,580 Speaker 2: as I said, I don't think it is good to 585 00:38:39,020 --> 00:38:42,330 Speaker 2: discipline children by striking them, and I don't think it 586 00:38:42,390 --> 00:38:45,880 Speaker 2: is good to have The teachers putting a threat of 587 00:38:45,940 --> 00:38:49,960 Speaker 2: physical violence against the children in the classroom at school. 588 00:38:51,880 --> 00:38:54,040 Speaker 2: And I find that to continue to be a very 589 00:38:54,140 --> 00:38:58,870 Speaker 2: strange thing to have happened all through my childhood. Yeah. 590 00:38:59,550 --> 00:39:02,430 Speaker 1: Yeah. So, if you would like to send us a 591 00:39:02,469 --> 00:39:04,730 Speaker 1: note about this or any other podcast, we are at 592 00:39:04,930 --> 00:39:08,969 Speaker 1: historypodcasts at iheartradio.com. If you would like to see the 593 00:39:09,050 --> 00:39:13,250 Speaker 1: show notes to this episode, including links to Sarah Weiss's 594 00:39:13,450 --> 00:39:17,509 Speaker 1: incredibly long book about her psychic voyages to Mars, that 595 00:39:17,590 --> 00:39:22,290 Speaker 1: is at MissedInHistory.com. And you can subscribe to the show 596 00:39:22,630 --> 00:39:24,770 Speaker 1: on the iHeartRadio app and anywhere else you like to 597 00:39:24,810 --> 00:39:25,710 Speaker 1: get your podcasts. 598 00:39:31,340 --> 00:39:34,440 Speaker 2: Stuff You Missed in History Class is a production of iHeartRadio. 599 00:39:34,719 --> 00:39:39,250 Speaker 2: For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, 600 00:39:39,430 --> 00:39:41,350 Speaker 2: or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.