1 00:00:01,920 --> 00:00:06,520 Speaker 1: Welcome to Brainstuff, a production of I Heart Radio, Hey 2 00:00:06,559 --> 00:00:11,920 Speaker 1: brain Stuff Lauren Vogelbaum. Here. In eighty two, young women 3 00:00:12,119 --> 00:00:15,880 Speaker 1: known as the Fox Sisters heard mysterious wrappings in their 4 00:00:15,880 --> 00:00:18,880 Speaker 1: house in Rochester, New York, and claimed that they were 5 00:00:18,920 --> 00:00:22,599 Speaker 1: messages from the spirit world. Enough people at the time 6 00:00:22,680 --> 00:00:26,080 Speaker 1: believed the Sisters that an entire new field known as 7 00:00:26,120 --> 00:00:31,640 Speaker 1: spiritualism was born. Based in European philosophic writings from previous centuries, 8 00:00:32,040 --> 00:00:36,680 Speaker 1: Spiritualism was and is a structured belief that humans consist 9 00:00:36,720 --> 00:00:40,520 Speaker 1: of a body, a soul, and a spirit. When someone dies, 10 00:00:40,640 --> 00:00:43,720 Speaker 1: the belief goes, the soul and spirit live on in 11 00:00:43,720 --> 00:00:47,320 Speaker 1: a spirit realm. According to a study published in the 12 00:00:47,360 --> 00:00:51,040 Speaker 1: Journal of Religion in nineteen thirty, quote, the chief duty 13 00:00:51,040 --> 00:00:53,680 Speaker 1: of these spirits is to look after the welfare and 14 00:00:53,760 --> 00:00:58,600 Speaker 1: progress of those on earth. Upstate New York at that 15 00:00:58,640 --> 00:01:02,160 Speaker 1: time was already a hot bed of intellectual communities, so 16 00:01:02,280 --> 00:01:04,640 Speaker 1: hot that it was known as the burned Over District 17 00:01:04,760 --> 00:01:08,039 Speaker 1: for the nearly constant religious revivals that took place there. 18 00:01:09,120 --> 00:01:11,920 Speaker 1: Joseph Smith, the founder of Mormonism, got his start there 19 00:01:13,080 --> 00:01:16,920 Speaker 1: literary and intellectual community of Chautauqua, where feminist for mother 20 00:01:16,959 --> 00:01:20,800 Speaker 1: Susan B. Anthony hung out was nearby, so in a way, 21 00:01:20,959 --> 00:01:25,839 Speaker 1: spiritualism fit right in. In eighteen eighty, the lily Dale 22 00:01:25,920 --> 00:01:29,680 Speaker 1: Spiritualist Assembly was founded at the eighteen acre Cassadega Lakes 23 00:01:29,720 --> 00:01:34,039 Speaker 1: Free Association Camp for Spiritualist gatherings. In nineteen o six, 24 00:01:34,200 --> 00:01:38,520 Speaker 1: the whole community was renamed lily Dale. Now, more than 25 00:01:38,560 --> 00:01:41,640 Speaker 1: a century later, it sounds kind of weird and witchy 26 00:01:41,720 --> 00:01:45,399 Speaker 1: and campy, but lily Dale was incredibly popular in its 27 00:01:45,440 --> 00:01:48,880 Speaker 1: early days. It began holding summer camps in the eighteen 28 00:01:48,960 --> 00:01:52,360 Speaker 1: nineties that were well attended. To put it mildly, Susan B. 29 00:01:52,440 --> 00:01:54,520 Speaker 1: Anthony was one of the many who visited to check 30 00:01:54,560 --> 00:01:58,000 Speaker 1: out the mediums. A journalist working for the New York 31 00:01:58,040 --> 00:02:01,880 Speaker 1: Times stayed in eight and reported that a quarter million 32 00:02:01,960 --> 00:02:05,440 Speaker 1: people went to the tiny town every year. The reporter 33 00:02:05,560 --> 00:02:10,400 Speaker 1: noted mediums as a class are strange beings. At the 34 00:02:10,400 --> 00:02:13,679 Speaker 1: time of his visit, mediums were charging a hundred dollars procession, 35 00:02:13,880 --> 00:02:17,760 Speaker 1: which is about three thousand dollars today. Interestingly, the price 36 00:02:17,800 --> 00:02:20,600 Speaker 1: for reading is currently around eighty to a hundred dollars 37 00:02:20,680 --> 00:02:24,800 Speaker 1: in today's dollars. He witnessed a few of the techniques 38 00:02:24,840 --> 00:02:27,680 Speaker 1: that came to be associated with lily Dale, such as 39 00:02:27,680 --> 00:02:30,080 Speaker 1: an ear trumpet that would rise from the floor and 40 00:02:30,120 --> 00:02:34,640 Speaker 1: deliver a message directly into an attendees ear. Mediums at 41 00:02:34,639 --> 00:02:37,399 Speaker 1: lily Dale also used a slate on which spirits could 42 00:02:37,400 --> 00:02:41,960 Speaker 1: write messages. You may be surprised to learn that candles 43 00:02:41,960 --> 00:02:45,320 Speaker 1: and incense are forbidden at lily Dale. The buildings in 44 00:02:45,320 --> 00:02:48,760 Speaker 1: the community are very old and very wooden, and it 45 00:02:48,840 --> 00:02:50,800 Speaker 1: doesn't take a medium to know what will happen if 46 00:02:50,800 --> 00:02:53,919 Speaker 1: there's an open flame. Well, actually they know very well 47 00:02:53,960 --> 00:02:57,280 Speaker 1: what will happen. The Fox Sister's original house was moved 48 00:02:57,280 --> 00:02:59,760 Speaker 1: from Rochester to lily Dale, but went up in flame 49 00:03:00,080 --> 00:03:05,080 Speaker 1: in nineteen fifty five. Spiritualism declined in the twentieth century, 50 00:03:05,240 --> 00:03:08,600 Speaker 1: but lily Dale remained a stronghold was summer camps continuing 51 00:03:08,639 --> 00:03:12,400 Speaker 1: every year for the past several years. Attendance has also 52 00:03:12,480 --> 00:03:16,120 Speaker 1: held study at twenty thirty thousand visitors going there in 53 00:03:16,160 --> 00:03:19,919 Speaker 1: search of clarity and direction, though this year visitor numbers 54 00:03:19,960 --> 00:03:23,040 Speaker 1: were restricted to just eighty per day, with social distancing 55 00:03:23,040 --> 00:03:25,919 Speaker 1: and mask rules in place in addition to other precautions. 56 00:03:27,919 --> 00:03:30,480 Speaker 1: A study published in the Review of Religious Research in 57 00:03:30,560 --> 00:03:33,440 Speaker 1: nineteen eighty found that only a small percentage of visitors 58 00:03:33,440 --> 00:03:35,720 Speaker 1: at that time we're going to talk to a dead 59 00:03:35,760 --> 00:03:39,840 Speaker 1: family member. The studies authors came to the conclusion that 60 00:03:39,880 --> 00:03:42,680 Speaker 1: the kind of spiritualism practiced at lily Dale was more 61 00:03:42,720 --> 00:03:45,680 Speaker 1: like a religious sect than a cult, the difference being 62 00:03:45,680 --> 00:03:49,640 Speaker 1: that sex are usually breakoffs from mainstream religions, whereas cults 63 00:03:49,680 --> 00:03:53,320 Speaker 1: tend to involve novel ideas. The study concluded that the 64 00:03:53,320 --> 00:03:56,240 Speaker 1: mediums at lily Dale might be doing people a service 65 00:03:56,360 --> 00:03:59,800 Speaker 1: by granting them a level of peace and acceptance. The 66 00:04:00,040 --> 00:04:04,240 Speaker 1: searchers wrote, if spirit communication can be associated with madness, 67 00:04:04,280 --> 00:04:07,040 Speaker 1: it's also possible to view the medium as a mental 68 00:04:07,080 --> 00:04:12,440 Speaker 1: health resource. Whether people still visit lily Dale today for 69 00:04:12,640 --> 00:04:15,640 Speaker 1: clarity and direction or they want to make contact with 70 00:04:15,680 --> 00:04:19,839 Speaker 1: the other side probably comes down to the individual. But 71 00:04:20,040 --> 00:04:23,080 Speaker 1: since the nineteen seventies the number of mediums and the 72 00:04:23,120 --> 00:04:27,080 Speaker 1: population of lily Dale have soared. Back then, the village 73 00:04:27,120 --> 00:04:30,200 Speaker 1: was home to about thirty mediums in residence during the 74 00:04:30,200 --> 00:04:32,839 Speaker 1: summer camps, and a dozen or so who stayed on 75 00:04:33,040 --> 00:04:37,200 Speaker 1: to keep up the town year round. Today, under normal circumstances, 76 00:04:37,480 --> 00:04:40,279 Speaker 1: visitors are welcome in the off season, and lily Dale 77 00:04:40,320 --> 00:04:43,080 Speaker 1: has a year round population of two hundred and fifty, 78 00:04:43,200 --> 00:04:46,520 Speaker 1: as well as a post office, volunteer fire department, library 79 00:04:46,600 --> 00:04:50,040 Speaker 1: and a playground. There's also a coffee shop, two restaurants, 80 00:04:50,080 --> 00:04:52,719 Speaker 1: a few gift shops, some guest houses, a hotel and 81 00:04:52,800 --> 00:04:57,440 Speaker 1: a museum. The National Spiritualist Association of Churches is located there, 82 00:04:58,360 --> 00:05:01,120 Speaker 1: but only members of the lily Dale Assembly can lease 83 00:05:01,160 --> 00:05:06,279 Speaker 1: houses in the community. But back to the mediums, and 84 00:05:06,320 --> 00:05:10,000 Speaker 1: now there are some forty registered mediums and all aspirants 85 00:05:10,080 --> 00:05:13,040 Speaker 1: have to pass a test consisting of three readings before 86 00:05:13,080 --> 00:05:16,720 Speaker 1: being established in the community, and they are still the 87 00:05:16,760 --> 00:05:20,839 Speaker 1: main draw. Whether people are going in hopes of receiving 88 00:05:20,960 --> 00:05:23,719 Speaker 1: or conveying a message to dead loved ones is totally 89 00:05:23,720 --> 00:05:27,080 Speaker 1: personal and depends on their belief in the medium's abilities 90 00:05:27,920 --> 00:05:31,479 Speaker 1: under normal circumstances. Those interested don't have to pony up 91 00:05:31,520 --> 00:05:34,839 Speaker 1: for a private session either. There's a day use fee 92 00:05:34,920 --> 00:05:37,240 Speaker 1: for anyone who wants to go and simply roam the 93 00:05:37,279 --> 00:05:41,160 Speaker 1: streets and attend the public meditations and services, and you 94 00:05:41,200 --> 00:05:44,760 Speaker 1: can visit Inspiration Stump where services have been held. Since 95 00:05:46,600 --> 00:05:50,120 Speaker 1: this year, all workshops, classes and some circles were held. 96 00:05:50,200 --> 00:05:56,280 Speaker 1: Virtually one thing has not changed throughout lily Dale's history, 97 00:05:56,440 --> 00:06:01,000 Speaker 1: the community has always emphasized sobriety, humility, and a decided 98 00:06:01,120 --> 00:06:05,039 Speaker 1: lack of showmanship. They may appreciate a good pun, but 99 00:06:05,279 --> 00:06:09,279 Speaker 1: they take their work seriously. They also emphasize that the 100 00:06:09,320 --> 00:06:12,760 Speaker 1: future is not written in stone. Everyone has free will. 101 00:06:17,960 --> 00:06:20,560 Speaker 1: Today's episode was written by Kristen hall Geisler and produced 102 00:06:20,560 --> 00:06:22,880 Speaker 1: by Tyler Klang. For more in this and lots of 103 00:06:22,920 --> 00:06:26,359 Speaker 1: other curious topics, visit how stuffworks dot com. Brain Stuff 104 00:06:26,400 --> 00:06:28,760 Speaker 1: is a production of iHeart Radio. For more podcasts my 105 00:06:28,800 --> 00:06:31,719 Speaker 1: heart Radio, visit the iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or 106 00:06:31,720 --> 00:06:33,400 Speaker 1: wherever you listen to your favorite shows.