WEBVTT - Does the Community of Lily Dale Reconnect the Living and the Dead?

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to Brainstuff, a production of I Heart Radio, Hey

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<v Speaker 1>brain Stuff Lauren Vogelbaum. Here. In eighty two, young women

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<v Speaker 1>known as the Fox Sisters heard mysterious wrappings in their

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<v Speaker 1>house in Rochester, New York, and claimed that they were

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<v Speaker 1>messages from the spirit world. Enough people at the time

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<v Speaker 1>believed the Sisters that an entire new field known as

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<v Speaker 1>spiritualism was born. Based in European philosophic writings from previous centuries,

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<v Speaker 1>Spiritualism was and is a structured belief that humans consist

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<v Speaker 1>of a body, a soul, and a spirit. When someone dies,

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<v Speaker 1>the belief goes, the soul and spirit live on in

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<v Speaker 1>a spirit realm. According to a study published in the

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<v Speaker 1>Journal of Religion in nineteen thirty, quote, the chief duty

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<v Speaker 1>of these spirits is to look after the welfare and

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<v Speaker 1>progress of those on earth. Upstate New York at that

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<v Speaker 1>time was already a hot bed of intellectual communities, so

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<v Speaker 1>hot that it was known as the burned Over District

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<v Speaker 1>for the nearly constant religious revivals that took place there.

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<v Speaker 1>Joseph Smith, the founder of Mormonism, got his start there

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<v Speaker 1>literary and intellectual community of Chautauqua, where feminist for mother

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<v Speaker 1>Susan B. Anthony hung out was nearby, so in a way,

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<v Speaker 1>spiritualism fit right in. In eighteen eighty, the lily Dale

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<v Speaker 1>Spiritualist Assembly was founded at the eighteen acre Cassadega Lakes

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<v Speaker 1>Free Association Camp for Spiritualist gatherings. In nineteen o six,

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<v Speaker 1>the whole community was renamed lily Dale. Now, more than

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<v Speaker 1>a century later, it sounds kind of weird and witchy

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<v Speaker 1>and campy, but lily Dale was incredibly popular in its

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<v Speaker 1>early days. It began holding summer camps in the eighteen

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<v Speaker 1>nineties that were well attended. To put it mildly, Susan B.

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<v Speaker 1>Anthony was one of the many who visited to check

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<v Speaker 1>out the mediums. A journalist working for the New York

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<v Speaker 1>Times stayed in eight and reported that a quarter million

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<v Speaker 1>people went to the tiny town every year. The reporter

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<v Speaker 1>noted mediums as a class are strange beings. At the

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<v Speaker 1>time of his visit, mediums were charging a hundred dollars procession,

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<v Speaker 1>which is about three thousand dollars today. Interestingly, the price

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<v Speaker 1>for reading is currently around eighty to a hundred dollars

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<v Speaker 1>in today's dollars. He witnessed a few of the techniques

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<v Speaker 1>that came to be associated with lily Dale, such as

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<v Speaker 1>an ear trumpet that would rise from the floor and

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<v Speaker 1>deliver a message directly into an attendees ear. Mediums at

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<v Speaker 1>lily Dale also used a slate on which spirits could

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<v Speaker 1>write messages. You may be surprised to learn that candles

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<v Speaker 1>and incense are forbidden at lily Dale. The buildings in

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<v Speaker 1>the community are very old and very wooden, and it

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<v Speaker 1>doesn't take a medium to know what will happen if

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<v Speaker 1>there's an open flame. Well, actually they know very well

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<v Speaker 1>what will happen. The Fox Sister's original house was moved

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<v Speaker 1>from Rochester to lily Dale, but went up in flame

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<v Speaker 1>in nineteen fifty five. Spiritualism declined in the twentieth century,

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<v Speaker 1>but lily Dale remained a stronghold was summer camps continuing

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<v Speaker 1>every year for the past several years. Attendance has also

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<v Speaker 1>held study at twenty thirty thousand visitors going there in

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<v Speaker 1>search of clarity and direction, though this year visitor numbers

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<v Speaker 1>were restricted to just eighty per day, with social distancing

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<v Speaker 1>and mask rules in place in addition to other precautions.

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<v Speaker 1>A study published in the Review of Religious Research in

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<v Speaker 1>nineteen eighty found that only a small percentage of visitors

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<v Speaker 1>at that time we're going to talk to a dead

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<v Speaker 1>family member. The studies authors came to the conclusion that

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<v Speaker 1>the kind of spiritualism practiced at lily Dale was more

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<v Speaker 1>like a religious sect than a cult, the difference being

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<v Speaker 1>that sex are usually breakoffs from mainstream religions, whereas cults

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<v Speaker 1>tend to involve novel ideas. The study concluded that the

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<v Speaker 1>mediums at lily Dale might be doing people a service

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<v Speaker 1>by granting them a level of peace and acceptance. The

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<v Speaker 1>searchers wrote, if spirit communication can be associated with madness,

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<v Speaker 1>it's also possible to view the medium as a mental

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<v Speaker 1>health resource. Whether people still visit lily Dale today for

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<v Speaker 1>clarity and direction or they want to make contact with

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<v Speaker 1>the other side probably comes down to the individual. But

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<v Speaker 1>since the nineteen seventies the number of mediums and the

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<v Speaker 1>population of lily Dale have soared. Back then, the village

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<v Speaker 1>was home to about thirty mediums in residence during the

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<v Speaker 1>summer camps, and a dozen or so who stayed on

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<v Speaker 1>to keep up the town year round. Today, under normal circumstances,

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<v Speaker 1>visitors are welcome in the off season, and lily Dale

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<v Speaker 1>has a year round population of two hundred and fifty,

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<v Speaker 1>as well as a post office, volunteer fire department, library

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<v Speaker 1>and a playground. There's also a coffee shop, two restaurants,

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<v Speaker 1>a few gift shops, some guest houses, a hotel and

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<v Speaker 1>a museum. The National Spiritualist Association of Churches is located there,

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<v Speaker 1>but only members of the lily Dale Assembly can lease

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<v Speaker 1>houses in the community. But back to the mediums, and

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<v Speaker 1>now there are some forty registered mediums and all aspirants

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<v Speaker 1>have to pass a test consisting of three readings before

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<v Speaker 1>being established in the community, and they are still the

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<v Speaker 1>main draw. Whether people are going in hopes of receiving

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<v Speaker 1>or conveying a message to dead loved ones is totally

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<v Speaker 1>personal and depends on their belief in the medium's abilities

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<v Speaker 1>under normal circumstances. Those interested don't have to pony up

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<v Speaker 1>for a private session either. There's a day use fee

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<v Speaker 1>for anyone who wants to go and simply roam the

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<v Speaker 1>streets and attend the public meditations and services, and you

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<v Speaker 1>can visit Inspiration Stump where services have been held. Since

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<v Speaker 1>this year, all workshops, classes and some circles were held.

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<v Speaker 1>Virtually one thing has not changed throughout lily Dale's history,

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<v Speaker 1>the community has always emphasized sobriety, humility, and a decided

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<v Speaker 1>lack of showmanship. They may appreciate a good pun, but

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<v Speaker 1>they take their work seriously. They also emphasize that the

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<v Speaker 1>future is not written in stone. Everyone has free will.

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<v Speaker 1>Today's episode was written by Kristen hall Geisler and produced

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<v Speaker 1>by Tyler Klang. For more in this and lots of

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<v Speaker 1>other curious topics, visit how stuffworks dot com. Brain Stuff

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<v Speaker 1>is a production of iHeart Radio. For more podcasts my

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