1 00:00:00,240 --> 00:00:02,639 Speaker 1: We all want to believe. And there are many things 2 00:00:02,800 --> 00:00:04,880 Speaker 1: in this life and in this world that we will 3 00:00:04,920 --> 00:00:06,680 Speaker 1: not understand. There are things that have happened to me 4 00:00:06,720 --> 00:00:10,520 Speaker 1: that I can't explain. I have seen things, and do 5 00:00:10,600 --> 00:00:14,080 Speaker 1: I see shadows? Why sea goes? Yes? Does it scan 6 00:00:14,160 --> 00:00:16,599 Speaker 1: the living? Be Jesus out of me every time? Yes? 7 00:00:16,680 --> 00:00:19,319 Speaker 1: I ship my kids. Jesus. What the fun was that? 8 00:00:20,120 --> 00:00:23,440 Speaker 1: Of course he's back, Baby, he had to be back. 9 00:00:24,000 --> 00:00:27,680 Speaker 1: That's my uncle Dennis. He is a medium and reader 10 00:00:27,800 --> 00:00:32,519 Speaker 1: originally from Massachusetts who now practices in the Carolinas. He 11 00:00:32,680 --> 00:00:36,640 Speaker 1: was my introduction to spiritualism. And there's no one I 12 00:00:36,680 --> 00:00:40,680 Speaker 1: trust more to take me on a journey through spiritualism 13 00:00:40,680 --> 00:00:44,440 Speaker 1: to reach its logical end. I'm not one of these 14 00:00:44,440 --> 00:00:48,680 Speaker 1: people it says, do we talk to the dead? See, 15 00:00:48,680 --> 00:00:52,040 Speaker 1: That's where I divert because I don't necessarily think we 16 00:00:52,120 --> 00:00:55,000 Speaker 1: talked to that as much as they can send us messages, 17 00:00:55,640 --> 00:00:57,400 Speaker 1: and one of the best ways to do that is 18 00:00:57,400 --> 00:01:01,440 Speaker 1: to be aware of the message that this setting. You 19 00:01:01,560 --> 00:01:04,679 Speaker 1: have to be aware of the kinds of messages that 20 00:01:04,760 --> 00:01:07,560 Speaker 1: are sent to you. And that's all I'm really doing. 21 00:01:07,600 --> 00:01:10,480 Speaker 1: When you read taro or anybody reads tarot and Like 22 00:01:10,560 --> 00:01:12,240 Speaker 1: I said, I don't know who's going to hear this, 23 00:01:12,680 --> 00:01:14,479 Speaker 1: but I know you're gonna get a lot of hate mail, 24 00:01:15,040 --> 00:01:18,240 Speaker 1: Thank you very much, because I really don't give a fuck. Um. 25 00:01:18,720 --> 00:01:21,840 Speaker 1: It's a question of understanding and taking away this mystique 26 00:01:21,880 --> 00:01:25,200 Speaker 1: so that people can start to help themselves and use 27 00:01:25,319 --> 00:01:28,399 Speaker 1: these things. A good reader will never tell you what 28 00:01:28,440 --> 00:01:32,000 Speaker 1: to do. They'll present information. That's all they're gonna do. 29 00:01:33,200 --> 00:01:37,319 Speaker 1: Welcome to the final episode of ghost Church for now. 30 00:01:37,840 --> 00:01:40,240 Speaker 1: Today we're going to take a step back and take 31 00:01:40,240 --> 00:01:45,200 Speaker 1: a look at some bloose ends in Cassadega, in spiritualism, 32 00:01:45,240 --> 00:01:48,400 Speaker 1: and with you and me, of course, the little paras 33 00:01:48,400 --> 00:01:52,400 Speaker 1: social devil relationship we've formed. There are people out there, 34 00:01:53,240 --> 00:01:57,680 Speaker 1: they pretend to do what they're doing. And I've done parties, 35 00:01:57,720 --> 00:02:00,160 Speaker 1: and I've done a lot of different things. And what 36 00:02:00,200 --> 00:02:01,920 Speaker 1: I'll do with a party is I'll say to somebody 37 00:02:01,920 --> 00:02:05,840 Speaker 1: who's who thinks they're the least psychic person here, you know, 38 00:02:06,000 --> 00:02:10,680 Speaker 1: and everybody, okay, whoever, and I'll have them stand up 39 00:02:10,680 --> 00:02:12,880 Speaker 1: in front of these people and I'll say, I'll whisper 40 00:02:12,880 --> 00:02:14,720 Speaker 1: in there, this is what you're gonna say. That's what 41 00:02:14,720 --> 00:02:16,679 Speaker 1: you're gonna say. You have five people in front of you. 42 00:02:17,400 --> 00:02:20,000 Speaker 1: You're sensing the letter on You never said a name, 43 00:02:20,800 --> 00:02:23,200 Speaker 1: you never said it was male, you never said it 44 00:02:23,280 --> 00:02:30,040 Speaker 1: was female. You're sensing the letter. It's almost guaranteed that's 45 00:02:30,120 --> 00:02:32,880 Speaker 1: somebody in that audience and says, oh, my father's name 46 00:02:32,919 --> 00:02:36,160 Speaker 1: was Richard. Well, thank you, because I never said it 47 00:02:36,200 --> 00:02:38,080 Speaker 1: was your father. I never said it was male, and 48 00:02:38,080 --> 00:02:40,720 Speaker 1: I never said her name was Richard. You must be 49 00:02:40,800 --> 00:02:45,680 Speaker 1: the fucking psychic, as you gave me all the information 50 00:02:46,360 --> 00:02:49,440 Speaker 1: so you can say just about anything. And one of 51 00:02:49,440 --> 00:02:52,840 Speaker 1: the favorite things is somebody has a piece of jewelry. 52 00:02:53,240 --> 00:02:55,320 Speaker 1: You know how easy it is to expand on this time. 53 00:02:55,520 --> 00:02:59,680 Speaker 1: This is why I get angry because you're playing on people. 54 00:02:59,680 --> 00:03:03,560 Speaker 1: You using these these tricks, if you will. I'm not 55 00:03:03,680 --> 00:03:06,440 Speaker 1: using tricks at all. I'm laying down a card and 56 00:03:06,440 --> 00:03:09,080 Speaker 1: I'm saying to you, this is what the CAD means, 57 00:03:09,120 --> 00:03:11,160 Speaker 1: this is what the number means, the slip civil means. 58 00:03:11,840 --> 00:03:15,359 Speaker 1: I like my uncle Dennis's attitude towards spiritualism. It really 59 00:03:15,400 --> 00:03:18,440 Speaker 1: has informed my own as I've worked on this show. 60 00:03:19,160 --> 00:03:23,200 Speaker 1: He holds this core belief in life after death with 61 00:03:23,320 --> 00:03:27,080 Speaker 1: a desire to sniff out bullshit that's hurting people, because 62 00:03:27,120 --> 00:03:30,680 Speaker 1: that's the problem, right, the stuff that hurts people, the 63 00:03:30,680 --> 00:03:33,080 Speaker 1: stuff I can't prove that brings people peace in a 64 00:03:33,120 --> 00:03:36,200 Speaker 1: way that they have some control over. Hell, yeah, go 65 00:03:36,360 --> 00:03:39,320 Speaker 1: for it. But one thing it's hard to not understand 66 00:03:39,520 --> 00:03:42,720 Speaker 1: is why there's so much frustration around the idea of 67 00:03:42,800 --> 00:03:46,840 Speaker 1: mediums and psychics in general, because there are some dark roads. 68 00:03:47,400 --> 00:03:51,440 Speaker 1: I'm thinking particularly of psychics that capitalize on the grief 69 00:03:51,640 --> 00:03:56,760 Speaker 1: of others, grieving parents, grieving siblings, grieving children, who collude 70 00:03:56,760 --> 00:04:00,920 Speaker 1: with the police and make big entertainment deals. I lost 71 00:04:00,960 --> 00:04:04,720 Speaker 1: my boyfriend tragically um a few years ago. They have 72 00:04:04,920 --> 00:04:11,480 Speaker 1: found I've had such a hut time since everything. The 73 00:04:11,520 --> 00:04:13,280 Speaker 1: reason why you didn't find him this because he didn't 74 00:04:13,320 --> 00:04:18,120 Speaker 1: water and find him in water. It's like the girl 75 00:04:18,240 --> 00:04:22,520 Speaker 1: is missing in a Ruba. You can't find somebody. It 76 00:04:22,680 --> 00:04:26,680 Speaker 1: was September eleven, there was he was a fireman. But 77 00:04:27,680 --> 00:04:29,880 Speaker 1: does this girl look familiar to you? Know? She does? 78 00:04:30,920 --> 00:04:34,719 Speaker 1: I worked this case. This is a girl who you 79 00:04:34,880 --> 00:04:42,400 Speaker 1: said was beaten and killed. Okay, this little girl is 80 00:04:42,480 --> 00:04:48,960 Speaker 1: me and you told somebody that she's dead. Wait a minute, 81 00:04:49,920 --> 00:04:54,920 Speaker 1: you didn't disappear. I'm right here. Well that's interesting, isn't it. 82 00:04:55,000 --> 00:04:57,120 Speaker 1: Somebody was known either for working with alcohol or they 83 00:04:57,120 --> 00:04:59,960 Speaker 1: had a problem with it. The brother that died, okay, 84 00:05:00,000 --> 00:05:04,840 Speaker 1: how don't you guys want to four? Oh? Yes, okay. 85 00:05:04,839 --> 00:05:06,480 Speaker 1: And out of the four of you, three are similar, 86 00:05:06,480 --> 00:05:09,479 Speaker 1: one is different. Yes. Yes, your son Brian is calling 87 00:05:09,520 --> 00:05:16,320 Speaker 1: your mother bitch. Yes, I don't have a Brian. Now, 88 00:05:17,520 --> 00:05:21,280 Speaker 1: to be clear, these psychics are not spiritualists or officially 89 00:05:21,320 --> 00:05:26,160 Speaker 1: affiliated with the American spiritualist movement, but your mediumship plays 90 00:05:26,400 --> 00:05:32,200 Speaker 1: and is publicly interpreted very similarly respectively. Those mediums were 91 00:05:32,760 --> 00:05:37,799 Speaker 1: Sylvia Brown, author of over forty titles. Millionaire famously told 92 00:05:37,800 --> 00:05:41,039 Speaker 1: the mother of a missing child that her child had died, 93 00:05:41,480 --> 00:05:45,000 Speaker 1: something that proved to be false, but the mother died 94 00:05:45,080 --> 00:05:48,320 Speaker 1: believing it was true. The second person you heard was 95 00:05:48,480 --> 00:05:52,600 Speaker 1: Laurie Macquarie, who was advised on over five hundred cases 96 00:05:52,720 --> 00:05:56,720 Speaker 1: in her career. The third was John Edward, who will 97 00:05:57,640 --> 00:06:00,159 Speaker 1: We'll get to in a moment. These are some of 98 00:06:00,200 --> 00:06:04,760 Speaker 1: the meanest people in the world. I absolutely agree. They 99 00:06:04,800 --> 00:06:08,600 Speaker 1: approached the grieving, not the other way around. They promised results, 100 00:06:08,680 --> 00:06:11,920 Speaker 1: they promised specificity, and they promise it now in a 101 00:06:11,920 --> 00:06:16,440 Speaker 1: way that most spiritualist mediums I've met would completely disagree with. 102 00:06:16,920 --> 00:06:21,280 Speaker 1: These types of mediums play into the popular idea of mediums, 103 00:06:21,480 --> 00:06:24,360 Speaker 1: ones that can get anyone to come through at will 104 00:06:24,560 --> 00:06:27,719 Speaker 1: with the exact information you want. There's no hit and 105 00:06:27,760 --> 00:06:31,360 Speaker 1: there's no miss, just good edits and good hair and 106 00:06:31,520 --> 00:06:35,359 Speaker 1: good information. I grew up watching mediums like this on TV, 107 00:06:35,720 --> 00:06:37,880 Speaker 1: and at the time, my mom and I were very 108 00:06:37,920 --> 00:06:41,880 Speaker 1: into it. I used to watch this medium called John Edward, 109 00:06:42,200 --> 00:06:44,840 Speaker 1: who's still working now. I've listened to a few of 110 00:06:44,880 --> 00:06:48,360 Speaker 1: his audiobooks to prepare for this show. Over the years, 111 00:06:48,400 --> 00:06:51,680 Speaker 1: he's been busted many times. He's been accused of both 112 00:06:51,720 --> 00:06:55,600 Speaker 1: hot and cold reading extensively, but speaking to the pit 113 00:06:55,720 --> 00:06:59,720 Speaker 1: in my stomach that started with him. Check this anecdote 114 00:06:59,720 --> 00:07:04,039 Speaker 1: out shortly after nine eleven, when his show Crossing Over 115 00:07:04,360 --> 00:07:07,000 Speaker 1: a Staple with the Loftest Women was at an all 116 00:07:07,080 --> 00:07:12,040 Speaker 1: time high in popularity on Basic Cable, Edwards producers famously 117 00:07:12,080 --> 00:07:15,960 Speaker 1: convinced grieving families of the victims of nine eleven to 118 00:07:16,080 --> 00:07:18,679 Speaker 1: come on to the show in order to boost ratings. 119 00:07:18,800 --> 00:07:22,320 Speaker 1: During sweeps. Edward claimed to have no idea, only for 120 00:07:22,360 --> 00:07:26,520 Speaker 1: a trade magazine to indicate otherwise, and the special was pulled. 121 00:07:27,280 --> 00:07:31,000 Speaker 1: He was and is a hustler who spent a good 122 00:07:31,040 --> 00:07:33,360 Speaker 1: portion of the book I read for this podcast, two 123 00:07:33,360 --> 00:07:37,320 Speaker 1: thousand and four's crossing over simply defending himself against the 124 00:07:37,560 --> 00:07:40,760 Speaker 1: huge slew of expose that had come in, especially a 125 00:07:40,880 --> 00:07:44,080 Speaker 1: damning one in Time magazine. He tries to play it cool, 126 00:07:44,160 --> 00:07:47,400 Speaker 1: as if they're all haters, saying I feel myself getting 127 00:07:47,440 --> 00:07:49,680 Speaker 1: less and less angry at the cynics and more and 128 00:07:49,760 --> 00:07:52,920 Speaker 1: more I feel sorry for them. Okay, Well, if there's 129 00:07:52,960 --> 00:07:55,280 Speaker 1: one thing I've learned from Ghost Church, a lot of 130 00:07:55,320 --> 00:08:01,240 Speaker 1: smoke usually means something, especially when the medium is heavily profiting. 131 00:08:01,640 --> 00:08:04,400 Speaker 1: And this was a guy who draws the line basically nowhere. 132 00:08:04,760 --> 00:08:07,160 Speaker 1: When it comes to this kind of medium, there's no 133 00:08:07,200 --> 00:08:11,840 Speaker 1: moral ambiguity. Fuck these people absolutely fun opportunists who prey 134 00:08:11,840 --> 00:08:14,880 Speaker 1: on people, charge thousands of dollars, and then feel the 135 00:08:14,920 --> 00:08:18,280 Speaker 1: need to put on a highly publicized show in order 136 00:08:18,320 --> 00:08:21,920 Speaker 1: to justify their behavior. But here is the complicated thing. 137 00:08:22,440 --> 00:08:26,280 Speaker 1: Most mediums at Cassadega would completely agree with you on that. 138 00:08:27,040 --> 00:08:31,160 Speaker 1: So without getting all hashtag not all mediums for this 139 00:08:31,240 --> 00:08:35,760 Speaker 1: last episode, stop asking yourself whether you believe in communication 140 00:08:35,840 --> 00:08:38,840 Speaker 1: with the dead or not Honestly, I don't care what 141 00:08:38,920 --> 00:08:41,880 Speaker 1: you think about that. What I think matters more are 142 00:08:41,920 --> 00:08:46,360 Speaker 1: the ethics and the emotions being taken into consideration when 143 00:08:46,480 --> 00:08:50,320 Speaker 1: someone believes that is happening, which, for all their faults, 144 00:08:50,360 --> 00:08:54,520 Speaker 1: I think is a pretty strong element of modern spiritualism, 145 00:08:54,559 --> 00:08:57,719 Speaker 1: at least as I've experienced it. Because the impulse to 146 00:08:57,760 --> 00:08:59,839 Speaker 1: want to find a way to contact the dead as 147 00:08:59,840 --> 00:09:03,480 Speaker 1: a way of grieving is a human impulse. It's just 148 00:09:03,600 --> 00:09:06,240 Speaker 1: as human as the impulse that some of the people 149 00:09:06,320 --> 00:09:09,800 Speaker 1: you just heard speaking have had to exploit that grief 150 00:09:09,960 --> 00:09:13,800 Speaker 1: for money and clout. It's the same instinct that's inspired 151 00:09:13,920 --> 00:09:18,600 Speaker 1: artists and writers and filmmakers to explore how death could look. 152 00:09:19,320 --> 00:09:22,240 Speaker 1: There's a bajillion famous movies and plays and TV about 153 00:09:22,280 --> 00:09:24,880 Speaker 1: the dead returning with purpose and love and a lot 154 00:09:24,920 --> 00:09:29,920 Speaker 1: of confusion. Your king Hamlets, your Caspers, your unaired ABC 155 00:09:30,160 --> 00:09:35,760 Speaker 1: pilot from the late eighties, Pocchinsky. Peter Boyle is a tough, 156 00:09:35,840 --> 00:09:37,920 Speaker 1: ill mannered cop who was run down. I'm a lot 157 00:09:38,000 --> 00:09:43,320 Speaker 1: to do that, but that's not the end of his story. 158 00:09:43,600 --> 00:09:51,160 Speaker 1: Now now he's reincarnated surprise as a street wise bulldog 159 00:09:51,360 --> 00:09:54,280 Speaker 1: in Pocinsky, What are you Gonna do now. Well, first 160 00:09:54,320 --> 00:09:56,600 Speaker 1: I'm going to try licking myself, and then I'm going 161 00:09:56,640 --> 00:09:59,439 Speaker 1: to catch my kila. I think the closest thing I've 162 00:09:59,440 --> 00:10:03,040 Speaker 1: received to a divine gift during the production of this 163 00:10:03,080 --> 00:10:08,040 Speaker 1: show was someone showing me Pucchynsky but speaking to this 164 00:10:08,200 --> 00:10:12,679 Speaker 1: human impulse to want to explore life after death. American 165 00:10:12,720 --> 00:10:17,280 Speaker 1: spiritualism very much belongs in that conversation. We've tackled a 166 00:10:17,280 --> 00:10:21,840 Speaker 1: lot in this series. It's intersection with industrialism, with feminism, 167 00:10:21,880 --> 00:10:27,120 Speaker 1: with science, with colonialism. American spiritualism boils down to an 168 00:10:27,120 --> 00:10:31,760 Speaker 1: attempt to understand what happens to literally everyone, and the 169 00:10:31,800 --> 00:10:34,680 Speaker 1: ideas behind it aren't going to work for everyone, and 170 00:10:34,720 --> 00:10:38,960 Speaker 1: today's spiritualists kind of expand their reach beyond the classics 171 00:10:39,000 --> 00:10:42,640 Speaker 1: of seances and speaking with the dead. During my time 172 00:10:42,640 --> 00:10:47,040 Speaker 1: in Cassadega, I received messages about relationships with living people, 173 00:10:47,280 --> 00:10:51,080 Speaker 1: about the future, about spirit guides about where I'll live, 174 00:10:51,480 --> 00:10:55,880 Speaker 1: where I won't live. Need we remind of business and 175 00:10:55,960 --> 00:10:58,120 Speaker 1: state of Florida. I'm not going to kick him out 176 00:10:58,120 --> 00:11:04,640 Speaker 1: of business here do you live here? Well, geez, Florida, 177 00:11:05,000 --> 00:11:14,199 Speaker 1: What did I ever do to your good? Just like 178 00:11:14,840 --> 00:11:29,800 Speaker 1: taking get me causing sad shapen st and we goof 179 00:11:30,880 --> 00:11:58,280 Speaker 1: course we look the fair every word love happen down. 180 00:12:03,120 --> 00:12:08,400 Speaker 1: Welcome back, Pacceynsky's to our last Lauridian communion with the dead. 181 00:12:09,320 --> 00:12:12,920 Speaker 1: Or now, now that we've healthily established that a cab 182 00:12:13,080 --> 00:12:17,120 Speaker 1: includes psychic detectives, let's return to the land of the 183 00:12:17,120 --> 00:12:21,520 Speaker 1: people's mediums over in Cassadega. It's a place where things 184 00:12:21,559 --> 00:12:24,960 Speaker 1: are changing. The last major shift at the camp came 185 00:12:25,000 --> 00:12:28,840 Speaker 1: when the Boomers arrived during the Vietnam War era, bringing 186 00:12:28,920 --> 00:12:32,720 Speaker 1: new spiritual ideas and a less rigid commitment to the 187 00:12:32,920 --> 00:12:38,199 Speaker 1: Christian adjacent nous of it all that defined early American spiritualism. 188 00:12:38,240 --> 00:12:41,880 Speaker 1: So after the turbulence of the early decades at the camp, 189 00:12:42,120 --> 00:12:46,840 Speaker 1: the fire that nearly destroyed the hotel, Cassadega in moving 190 00:12:46,840 --> 00:12:52,040 Speaker 1: it into private hands. Spiritualisms barely surviving wave after wave 191 00:12:52,120 --> 00:12:56,400 Speaker 1: of skepticism, the Camp took another decisive step in asserting 192 00:12:56,440 --> 00:13:02,200 Speaker 1: themselves as an independent organization. In a critical moment came 193 00:13:02,240 --> 00:13:06,719 Speaker 1: for the Camp, Cassadega broke from the oldest spiritualist organization 194 00:13:06,800 --> 00:13:11,120 Speaker 1: in the country, the National Spiritualist Association of Churches the 195 00:13:11,400 --> 00:13:14,920 Speaker 1: n s a C. In the book Cassadega the South's 196 00:13:14,920 --> 00:13:18,600 Speaker 1: oldest spiritualist camp. The Camp historians stated that the main 197 00:13:18,640 --> 00:13:21,920 Speaker 1: reason this was decided was because of differences and opinions 198 00:13:22,040 --> 00:13:26,200 Speaker 1: on how to certify a medium. This is an understandable 199 00:13:26,280 --> 00:13:30,880 Speaker 1: eternal issue within spiritualism. To this day. You'll find spiritualists 200 00:13:30,960 --> 00:13:35,200 Speaker 1: on their guard about what constitutes a legitimate medium, how 201 00:13:35,240 --> 00:13:38,959 Speaker 1: one's abilities needs to be witnessed and acknowledged and honed 202 00:13:39,120 --> 00:13:43,400 Speaker 1: over a period of years. Given the background of spiritualism 203 00:13:43,440 --> 00:13:46,360 Speaker 1: and of the people during the two major moments for 204 00:13:46,440 --> 00:13:50,120 Speaker 1: the religion in the mid nineteenth century and the nine twenties, 205 00:13:50,600 --> 00:13:54,960 Speaker 1: this makes sense. The religion was so thoroughly roasted in 206 00:13:55,000 --> 00:13:58,760 Speaker 1: the press that other religions with similar beliefs were formed, 207 00:13:59,160 --> 00:14:02,040 Speaker 1: not as much because of a difference in opinion, but 208 00:14:02,160 --> 00:14:05,480 Speaker 1: because of a desire to not be involved in all 209 00:14:05,520 --> 00:14:09,840 Speaker 1: of that. Investigators like Harry Houdini then felt strongly that 210 00:14:09,960 --> 00:14:14,119 Speaker 1: most mediums were attention seeking frauds, and it's a baggage 211 00:14:14,200 --> 00:14:18,520 Speaker 1: that the religion carries to this day. So yes, there 212 00:14:18,640 --> 00:14:21,280 Speaker 1: is a pretty direct line you can draw from the 213 00:14:21,280 --> 00:14:25,280 Speaker 1: Harry Houdini's of the world dedicating their skills to undercutting 214 00:14:25,320 --> 00:14:29,240 Speaker 1: the mediums of their day. To Pastor dub of Cassadega, 215 00:14:29,640 --> 00:14:32,800 Speaker 1: calling me in the airport terminal right before I leave 216 00:14:32,880 --> 00:14:36,000 Speaker 1: on a plane to Florida to say just so I know, 217 00:14:36,600 --> 00:14:40,280 Speaker 1: I haven't actually been approved by the press board of 218 00:14:40,360 --> 00:14:43,040 Speaker 1: the camp, and I would be informed of how the 219 00:14:43,120 --> 00:14:47,880 Speaker 1: mediums felt about me two weeks later. And so you 220 00:14:47,960 --> 00:14:51,640 Speaker 1: have to understand it surprised me when a long time 221 00:14:51,720 --> 00:14:55,560 Speaker 1: medium with the camp approached me after my botched adventure 222 00:14:55,640 --> 00:14:59,680 Speaker 1: to learn more in Cassadega's library and invited me to dinner. 223 00:15:00,120 --> 00:15:02,120 Speaker 1: At this point of my trip, I had learned a 224 00:15:02,160 --> 00:15:06,480 Speaker 1: lot about spiritualism, but I felt extremely isolated and almost 225 00:15:06,480 --> 00:15:09,840 Speaker 1: certain that the camp would not approve of the press 226 00:15:09,880 --> 00:15:12,920 Speaker 1: request I was making and had already invested a ton 227 00:15:12,960 --> 00:15:16,200 Speaker 1: of time into. So when a medium who first came 228 00:15:16,240 --> 00:15:19,240 Speaker 1: to Cassadega in the nineties came up to me and 229 00:15:19,280 --> 00:15:22,720 Speaker 1: asked if I was hungry, I said, fuck it, I've 230 00:15:22,720 --> 00:15:25,240 Speaker 1: been eating at a gas station for four days and 231 00:15:25,360 --> 00:15:28,080 Speaker 1: I don't think these people like me very much. Let's 232 00:15:28,080 --> 00:15:31,000 Speaker 1: go out to eat, and I got in the car. 233 00:15:31,800 --> 00:15:35,000 Speaker 1: We end up at a Perkins restaurant. It's my first 234 00:15:35,040 --> 00:15:37,280 Speaker 1: time there. If you've never been, it's kind of got 235 00:15:37,360 --> 00:15:41,160 Speaker 1: Floridian Denny's vibes, but with a hell of a pie 236 00:15:41,200 --> 00:15:45,440 Speaker 1: menu highly recommend. The medium I'm with is a regular here, 237 00:15:45,680 --> 00:15:49,000 Speaker 1: knows everyone by name, everyone knows them. When we sit down, 238 00:15:49,120 --> 00:15:52,920 Speaker 1: they recommend the soup, sandwich, pie combo. And I'm so 239 00:15:53,040 --> 00:15:56,400 Speaker 1: fucking hungry that I would eat all three of those things, 240 00:15:56,640 --> 00:15:59,240 Speaker 1: throw it back up and baby bird it back to myself. 241 00:15:59,680 --> 00:16:01,880 Speaker 1: And as hungry as I am, it occurs to me 242 00:16:02,000 --> 00:16:06,240 Speaker 1: that this could be an ambush, because while the mediums 243 00:16:06,240 --> 00:16:09,240 Speaker 1: in Cassadega had been cordial to me during this visit, 244 00:16:09,600 --> 00:16:14,359 Speaker 1: I was definitely walking on eggshells for the duration. Cassadega 245 00:16:14,400 --> 00:16:18,080 Speaker 1: mediums do not like press, or rather the risk of 246 00:16:18,160 --> 00:16:21,080 Speaker 1: negative press. There are a religion that has been brought 247 00:16:21,160 --> 00:16:24,840 Speaker 1: to their knees over and over by this kind of press. 248 00:16:25,240 --> 00:16:29,359 Speaker 1: So while it doesn't feel great, I sort of understand why. 249 00:16:29,440 --> 00:16:32,920 Speaker 1: So after I order my soup, I go over the possibilities. 250 00:16:33,320 --> 00:16:36,200 Speaker 1: Maybe I've been brought here to be gently scolded and 251 00:16:36,280 --> 00:16:40,000 Speaker 1: warned to back off, to be told they're not hurting 252 00:16:40,000 --> 00:16:44,800 Speaker 1: anybody here, so go away instead. By my second cup 253 00:16:44,840 --> 00:16:47,880 Speaker 1: of coffee, because I cannot stop eating or drinking this 254 00:16:48,040 --> 00:16:50,880 Speaker 1: whole meal the dry mouth I have from four days 255 00:16:50,920 --> 00:16:55,400 Speaker 1: of gas station food is excruciating. I realized that I've 256 00:16:55,400 --> 00:16:58,560 Speaker 1: been brought here to just listen to what this person 257 00:16:58,640 --> 00:17:02,560 Speaker 1: has to say, not to the history book Cassadega treatment 258 00:17:02,640 --> 00:17:05,080 Speaker 1: that I've gotten on the phone and in real life 259 00:17:05,200 --> 00:17:09,040 Speaker 1: several times over now, not the skeptics perspective that you 260 00:17:09,080 --> 00:17:12,920 Speaker 1: can find all over YouTube, but just listen to someone 261 00:17:12,960 --> 00:17:16,160 Speaker 1: who has watched and lived inside of a spiritualist camp 262 00:17:16,320 --> 00:17:19,760 Speaker 1: for over a quarter century. I kind of can't believe 263 00:17:19,760 --> 00:17:24,280 Speaker 1: my luck. What would the boards say. The medium starts 264 00:17:24,400 --> 00:17:27,480 Speaker 1: by saying this, they don't want to talk politics or 265 00:17:27,520 --> 00:17:31,159 Speaker 1: personality or anything like that. They'll let me suce that 266 00:17:31,200 --> 00:17:35,560 Speaker 1: out for myself. Instead, they tell me about their background, 267 00:17:35,960 --> 00:17:38,879 Speaker 1: one that shares parallels with a few other mediums at 268 00:17:38,880 --> 00:17:42,399 Speaker 1: the camp. They were once a big corporate success story 269 00:17:42,520 --> 00:17:45,720 Speaker 1: in another region of the country. They were responsible for 270 00:17:45,960 --> 00:17:49,520 Speaker 1: millions of dollars of revenue. They had hundreds of employees 271 00:17:49,560 --> 00:17:53,639 Speaker 1: back in the eighties and nineties, the whole Reagan opulence game. 272 00:17:54,320 --> 00:17:56,600 Speaker 1: They make themselves kind of sound like a character in 273 00:17:56,760 --> 00:18:01,000 Speaker 1: Wall Street. At one point, refer to themselves as Daddy Warbucks, 274 00:18:01,040 --> 00:18:03,639 Speaker 1: and it's hard to not hear a little bit of 275 00:18:03,720 --> 00:18:07,920 Speaker 1: nostalgia for it as we're eating our six dollar Perkins sandwiches. 276 00:18:08,560 --> 00:18:11,040 Speaker 1: They say they had top agents go to Hawaii for 277 00:18:11,160 --> 00:18:14,160 Speaker 1: ten days at a time in the best hotels, parties 278 00:18:14,200 --> 00:18:17,159 Speaker 1: at the best country clubs, until all of a sudden 279 00:18:17,400 --> 00:18:21,639 Speaker 1: things took a turn. Their business flopped, their marriage of 280 00:18:21,680 --> 00:18:25,399 Speaker 1: several decades fell apart, and the medium ended up a 281 00:18:25,480 --> 00:18:29,359 Speaker 1: shell of themselves with little more consistency in their life 282 00:18:29,680 --> 00:18:34,120 Speaker 1: than a certificate in practicing raiki. They don't practice raiki 283 00:18:34,280 --> 00:18:38,000 Speaker 1: and Cassadega much, the medium was told, but they could 284 00:18:38,160 --> 00:18:42,240 Speaker 1: get trained in spiritual physical healing if they have some 285 00:18:42,320 --> 00:18:45,520 Speaker 1: time to kill. At this point, they had nothing but time, 286 00:18:45,880 --> 00:18:48,200 Speaker 1: and so when a family member fell ill in Florida, 287 00:18:48,600 --> 00:18:53,159 Speaker 1: the medium came to Cassadega and never went back. Stories 288 00:18:53,200 --> 00:18:56,560 Speaker 1: like this are echoed throughout the camp in different ways. 289 00:18:57,240 --> 00:18:59,520 Speaker 1: There are a couple of mediums who flunked out of 290 00:18:59,560 --> 00:19:03,359 Speaker 1: corporate America during this same era and seemed to hope 291 00:19:03,359 --> 00:19:07,959 Speaker 1: spiritualism would provide shelter from their prior life and beliefs. 292 00:19:08,400 --> 00:19:12,120 Speaker 1: There are other mediums and community members who were seeking 293 00:19:12,280 --> 00:19:17,119 Speaker 1: validation and energy after a life of skepticism. I always 294 00:19:17,160 --> 00:19:20,240 Speaker 1: think of Selena, the bookstore manager, who was raised by 295 00:19:20,320 --> 00:19:24,600 Speaker 1: two skeptic NASA parents. There are other members in Cassadega 296 00:19:24,680 --> 00:19:28,639 Speaker 1: who are recovering from a life in fundamentalist religion, like 297 00:19:28,800 --> 00:19:32,680 Speaker 1: the events coordinator Jamie, who has raised Southern Baptist and 298 00:19:32,800 --> 00:19:36,679 Speaker 1: was Southern Baptist well into her adult life. Some of 299 00:19:36,680 --> 00:19:39,720 Speaker 1: these people stay close with their families. Others find it 300 00:19:39,800 --> 00:19:43,200 Speaker 1: harder to do. But in Cassadega, you're welcome to come 301 00:19:43,240 --> 00:19:45,959 Speaker 1: and go as you please. And that's the best and 302 00:19:46,080 --> 00:19:49,960 Speaker 1: worst thing about the camp. The medium reminds me as shiny, 303 00:19:50,040 --> 00:19:54,440 Speaker 1: happy people plays softly in the background. God no one 304 00:19:54,680 --> 00:19:57,880 Speaker 1: is wearing a mask in Florida, and the elderly keep 305 00:19:57,920 --> 00:20:00,879 Speaker 1: bragging about it, like it's this amazing thing ing. But 306 00:20:01,040 --> 00:20:04,080 Speaker 1: the medium wants to tell me that this freeness to 307 00:20:04,160 --> 00:20:07,359 Speaker 1: come and go is part of the problem. Young people 308 00:20:07,520 --> 00:20:10,560 Speaker 1: don't want to get drained in Cassadega. They want instant 309 00:20:10,640 --> 00:20:14,800 Speaker 1: gratification on everything, not like the old days. I don't 310 00:20:14,840 --> 00:20:16,520 Speaker 1: have the heart to tell them what kinds of things 311 00:20:16,600 --> 00:20:19,639 Speaker 1: young people are preoccupied with these days. But once the 312 00:20:19,640 --> 00:20:22,800 Speaker 1: medium starts talking, they don't seem to want to stop, 313 00:20:23,240 --> 00:20:25,680 Speaker 1: and they tell me all about their twenty five years 314 00:20:25,680 --> 00:20:28,840 Speaker 1: in Cassadega, about the books that got them excited when 315 00:20:28,840 --> 00:20:32,120 Speaker 1: they first moved there, the channel texts that inspired them, 316 00:20:32,480 --> 00:20:37,120 Speaker 1: people they had connected with, their medical malpractice lawsuit pending, 317 00:20:37,640 --> 00:20:40,640 Speaker 1: a huge artistic dream they have that they're asking spirit 318 00:20:40,720 --> 00:20:44,359 Speaker 1: to manifest for them this coming summer. They discussed the 319 00:20:44,440 --> 00:20:47,879 Speaker 1: types of people they've met in Cassadega, lowering their voice 320 00:20:47,920 --> 00:20:51,920 Speaker 1: when they categorize them, the healers who stay, the healed 321 00:20:51,960 --> 00:20:54,600 Speaker 1: who leave, and the ones who get addicted to a 322 00:20:54,680 --> 00:20:58,280 Speaker 1: sense of power and control. They shouldn't be telling me this, 323 00:20:58,440 --> 00:21:01,280 Speaker 1: they say, but they can't. Seemed to help themselves and 324 00:21:01,359 --> 00:21:05,440 Speaker 1: keep talking. Those people who own the overpriced shops outside 325 00:21:05,440 --> 00:21:11,440 Speaker 1: the camp, they say, laughing, are imperfect, perfect children of God. Jamie, Okay, 326 00:21:11,480 --> 00:21:14,800 Speaker 1: I shouldn't say that, the medium says again. But as 327 00:21:14,800 --> 00:21:17,199 Speaker 1: long as there's pile on the table, it's nice to 328 00:21:17,240 --> 00:21:20,240 Speaker 1: be talking to someone for both of us. I hadn't 329 00:21:20,240 --> 00:21:24,119 Speaker 1: realized how lonely I had felt this whole week and 330 00:21:24,240 --> 00:21:28,119 Speaker 1: also a month and year. For all the ghosts swirling around, 331 00:21:28,160 --> 00:21:32,240 Speaker 1: it's very easy to feel lonely in Cassadeca. Families don't 332 00:21:32,240 --> 00:21:36,080 Speaker 1: come there It's almost a running joke. People come on 333 00:21:36,119 --> 00:21:38,720 Speaker 1: their own when they need to be healed for something. 334 00:21:39,440 --> 00:21:41,600 Speaker 1: The medium takes a long look at me and asks 335 00:21:41,640 --> 00:21:44,680 Speaker 1: a question I've never been asked before, and I hope 336 00:21:44,680 --> 00:21:48,679 Speaker 1: no one ever asks me again. They say, Jamie, do 337 00:21:48,720 --> 00:21:51,920 Speaker 1: you believe that you are a perfect child of God? 338 00:21:54,119 --> 00:21:58,879 Speaker 1: I reply, I think I know the correct answer, but no. 339 00:21:59,640 --> 00:22:01,720 Speaker 1: I bearly went to Catholic Church as a kid. But 340 00:22:01,760 --> 00:22:05,040 Speaker 1: I guess it's just kind of an inherited degenerative disease 341 00:22:05,119 --> 00:22:07,760 Speaker 1: that you can get second hand. Like am I more 342 00:22:07,840 --> 00:22:11,760 Speaker 1: damaged from my dad smoking Winston's inside or by being 343 00:22:11,840 --> 00:22:16,240 Speaker 1: raised by lapsed Catholics? Not doing that? That problem not today. 344 00:22:16,600 --> 00:22:19,959 Speaker 1: The medium laughs and says, don't worry, I am a 345 00:22:19,960 --> 00:22:24,760 Speaker 1: perfect child of God. In spiritualism, children are born with 346 00:22:24,920 --> 00:22:29,359 Speaker 1: infinite potential, and even when you go astray, you still 347 00:22:29,400 --> 00:22:34,800 Speaker 1: hold that infinite potential and through you infinite intelligence their 348 00:22:35,040 --> 00:22:39,480 Speaker 1: God can be channeled and exist. They tell me they 349 00:22:39,520 --> 00:22:43,000 Speaker 1: like their job, They like making people feel better. It's 350 00:22:43,040 --> 00:22:45,600 Speaker 1: not about money for them anymore, or at least it 351 00:22:45,600 --> 00:22:49,560 Speaker 1: shouldn't be. Things were a little precarious for the medium maybe, 352 00:22:49,560 --> 00:22:52,200 Speaker 1: but they seemed pretty zen about it. They seemed sure 353 00:22:52,359 --> 00:22:54,680 Speaker 1: that it would work out. They felt that it was 354 00:22:54,760 --> 00:22:57,600 Speaker 1: better that they were in this life in Florida than 355 00:22:57,640 --> 00:23:01,080 Speaker 1: their last one as Daddy Warbucks, and then northeast. The 356 00:23:01,160 --> 00:23:07,840 Speaker 1: check comes and we drive back into the vortex h 357 00:23:20,359 --> 00:23:23,320 Speaker 1: Later that night, I fall asleep listening to the terror 358 00:23:23,320 --> 00:23:27,000 Speaker 1: readers at the hotel Cassadega, having a glass of wine 359 00:23:27,119 --> 00:23:30,320 Speaker 1: on the patio above my room, Room one, and I 360 00:23:30,440 --> 00:23:33,359 Speaker 1: draft a text to send to the medium the next morning, 361 00:23:33,520 --> 00:23:36,840 Speaker 1: like I've just gone on a date, which I definitely 362 00:23:36,960 --> 00:23:40,399 Speaker 1: have not. But I type out, I hope you have 363 00:23:40,440 --> 00:23:42,720 Speaker 1: a good week if we don't cross paths before I 364 00:23:42,800 --> 00:23:47,119 Speaker 1: leave tomorrow, very cool, and I prep my green text 365 00:23:47,280 --> 00:23:50,840 Speaker 1: to send the next morning. The answer comes back very quickly, 366 00:23:51,200 --> 00:23:54,560 Speaker 1: so quickly, in fact, that I feel agist for being shocked. 367 00:23:55,320 --> 00:24:01,800 Speaker 1: It says, are you hungry? Oh my god? What? And 368 00:24:01,880 --> 00:24:04,280 Speaker 1: ten minutes later I'm back in the car and we're 369 00:24:04,280 --> 00:24:07,880 Speaker 1: headed to breakfast. This friendship ends up being about sixty 370 00:24:07,920 --> 00:24:11,760 Speaker 1: hours total, but it's this gentle and really kind one. 371 00:24:12,320 --> 00:24:15,400 Speaker 1: At breakfast, when we run out of things to talk about, Cassadega, 372 00:24:15,800 --> 00:24:18,680 Speaker 1: I tell the medium about myself, the kind of work 373 00:24:18,720 --> 00:24:21,920 Speaker 1: I do, my family, my uncle Dennis. We get dinner 374 00:24:21,960 --> 00:24:24,879 Speaker 1: at Perkins, we get breakfast somewhere else. They take me 375 00:24:24,920 --> 00:24:27,359 Speaker 1: on a tour of their home where they do readings. 376 00:24:27,680 --> 00:24:32,440 Speaker 1: Really old house, high ceiling, this slice of Northeastern architecture 377 00:24:32,600 --> 00:24:36,879 Speaker 1: on seminole Land. There were framed paintings of their mentors 378 00:24:36,920 --> 00:24:40,520 Speaker 1: and their spirit guides. Honestly, if I came anywhere close 379 00:24:40,640 --> 00:24:45,240 Speaker 1: to finding a spirit guide in Cassadega, it was this medium, 380 00:24:45,280 --> 00:24:48,560 Speaker 1: someone who led me directly to a b LT and 381 00:24:48,640 --> 00:24:51,439 Speaker 1: two over easy eggs when I needed them the most. 382 00:24:52,040 --> 00:24:55,920 Speaker 1: And after a day or so hanging out getting recommendations 383 00:24:55,960 --> 00:24:59,080 Speaker 1: of what to look at at the camp, where to meditate, 384 00:24:59,280 --> 00:25:02,360 Speaker 1: where to just stand and try to collect my thoughts 385 00:25:02,520 --> 00:25:07,639 Speaker 1: before leaving. The next morning, it's my last night in Cassadega. 386 00:25:07,880 --> 00:25:10,800 Speaker 1: My new friend, the medium isn't available for dinner, but 387 00:25:10,880 --> 00:25:14,800 Speaker 1: after days of waiting, I finally have a food option 388 00:25:15,040 --> 00:25:20,399 Speaker 1: in the area. On Wednesday nights, Sinatra's restaurante at the 389 00:25:20,440 --> 00:25:24,840 Speaker 1: Hotel Cassadega is open, so I invite my only other 390 00:25:24,920 --> 00:25:27,639 Speaker 1: friend in the entire state of Florida, the girl I 391 00:25:27,680 --> 00:25:30,399 Speaker 1: knew from unionizing, who had come to a table tipping 392 00:25:30,400 --> 00:25:34,240 Speaker 1: class less than a week before a lifetime ago, before 393 00:25:34,320 --> 00:25:37,720 Speaker 1: I knew which old medium specialized in physical healing, and 394 00:25:37,800 --> 00:25:42,320 Speaker 1: which was a skilled channeller, and which was just basically overcharging. 395 00:25:43,000 --> 00:25:45,600 Speaker 1: It feels so good to see my friend and just 396 00:25:45,720 --> 00:25:49,440 Speaker 1: someone from the outside world in general. We order Sinatra's 397 00:25:49,480 --> 00:25:53,480 Speaker 1: Marinera sauce pasta and it's not great. It's hard to 398 00:25:53,520 --> 00:25:58,000 Speaker 1: hear each other because there's this hired pianist blaring music 399 00:25:58,080 --> 00:26:01,040 Speaker 1: of the Night from Phantom of the Opera as regulars, 400 00:26:01,200 --> 00:26:04,679 Speaker 1: mostly middle aged couples from Florida, order refills of wine 401 00:26:04,680 --> 00:26:08,440 Speaker 1: and sing it Volume five million. In spite of everything, 402 00:26:08,760 --> 00:26:11,919 Speaker 1: it's super fun. And of course, after a week, she 403 00:26:12,000 --> 00:26:15,120 Speaker 1: wanted to know what had I learned? Is it real 404 00:26:15,280 --> 00:26:18,400 Speaker 1: or not? I don't know how to answer the question. 405 00:26:18,880 --> 00:26:21,359 Speaker 1: And while I'm trying to think of how my phone 406 00:26:21,400 --> 00:26:25,119 Speaker 1: buzzes with another green text, the medium is offering me 407 00:26:25,240 --> 00:26:28,040 Speaker 1: a ride to the commuter rail that almost gets you 408 00:26:28,119 --> 00:26:32,159 Speaker 1: to the Orlando airport at four thirty am the next morning. 409 00:26:32,720 --> 00:26:34,680 Speaker 1: I think about it a little more and I tell 410 00:26:34,680 --> 00:26:37,920 Speaker 1: her I'm not sure and maybe going to one more 411 00:26:38,000 --> 00:26:41,639 Speaker 1: message service will clear it up. We part ways and 412 00:26:41,680 --> 00:26:44,440 Speaker 1: I walked back down the street to Colby Temple one 413 00:26:44,440 --> 00:26:48,120 Speaker 1: more time to attend to Cassadega Wednesday night message service. 414 00:26:48,720 --> 00:26:51,399 Speaker 1: I've been to a message service before. It's when a 415 00:26:51,520 --> 00:26:54,640 Speaker 1: medium stands in front of a group of around forty 416 00:26:54,720 --> 00:26:59,560 Speaker 1: people and channels spirit by approaching people and saying, hey, 417 00:26:59,680 --> 00:27:01,640 Speaker 1: I have a message for you, and then they begin 418 00:27:01,720 --> 00:27:04,439 Speaker 1: to describe a ghost or a traumatic event that has 419 00:27:04,480 --> 00:27:07,560 Speaker 1: happened to you, and either it resonates or it doesn't. 420 00:27:08,240 --> 00:27:12,240 Speaker 1: A man is presiding over this message service. He's got 421 00:27:12,280 --> 00:27:16,080 Speaker 1: a great reputation in Cassadega. I really enjoy hearing him speak, 422 00:27:16,640 --> 00:27:19,760 Speaker 1: and on this night he's kind of on fire. There's 423 00:27:19,880 --> 00:27:23,679 Speaker 1: three different people who break into tears when Joy comes 424 00:27:23,720 --> 00:27:28,800 Speaker 1: to them and describes a lost parent, lost grandparent, and 425 00:27:28,880 --> 00:27:33,720 Speaker 1: in a particularly stirring case, someone's lost son. But when 426 00:27:33,720 --> 00:27:38,879 Speaker 1: he comes to me, nothing is connecting. It doesn't make sense. No, 427 00:27:39,240 --> 00:27:42,960 Speaker 1: I'm not a scientist. No, I don't even understand the 428 00:27:43,000 --> 00:27:47,800 Speaker 1: scientific language. No, I've never had a little white dog. No, 429 00:27:48,119 --> 00:27:51,320 Speaker 1: neither of my parents are sick right now. It's not 430 00:27:51,320 --> 00:27:53,719 Speaker 1: always going to be a hit. But I leave discouraged. 431 00:27:54,480 --> 00:27:56,959 Speaker 1: And when a couple in the lobby of the Hotel 432 00:27:57,040 --> 00:28:01,080 Speaker 1: Cassadega who recognized me from the service say hey, Doug girl, 433 00:28:01,520 --> 00:28:04,440 Speaker 1: what do you think is this real? We came from Daytona. 434 00:28:04,640 --> 00:28:07,480 Speaker 1: Should we like get a reading tomorrow at the hotel? 435 00:28:08,200 --> 00:28:10,760 Speaker 1: I tell them between you and me, They say, the 436 00:28:10,800 --> 00:28:15,879 Speaker 1: real ships across the street, but it's your forty. I 437 00:28:15,920 --> 00:28:18,880 Speaker 1: go to bed all packed, listening to the card readers 438 00:28:19,000 --> 00:28:22,320 Speaker 1: arguing about the same exact guy as last night, but 439 00:28:22,520 --> 00:28:26,119 Speaker 1: a little bit louder this time. The next morning, before 440 00:28:26,119 --> 00:28:29,399 Speaker 1: the sun comes up, the medium is outside the hotel 441 00:28:29,480 --> 00:28:32,479 Speaker 1: Cassadega waiting for me with a hot coffee and a 442 00:28:32,480 --> 00:28:35,679 Speaker 1: bear claw from the gas station. We drive to the 443 00:28:35,680 --> 00:28:38,600 Speaker 1: train station and talk about the rest of our week, 444 00:28:39,200 --> 00:28:41,680 Speaker 1: and as we pull into the commuter rail car park, 445 00:28:42,320 --> 00:28:45,600 Speaker 1: the medium kind of hesitates and asks if I have 446 00:28:45,720 --> 00:28:47,920 Speaker 1: time to wait for the next train and a half hour. 447 00:28:48,640 --> 00:28:51,880 Speaker 1: I do, and I also want to know why they're asking. 448 00:28:52,600 --> 00:28:55,240 Speaker 1: Is it finally my time? I'm way overdue to be 449 00:28:55,320 --> 00:28:58,960 Speaker 1: killed by a stranger, but it's not my time. Instead, 450 00:28:59,400 --> 00:29:03,040 Speaker 1: we park and they hand me this green folder with 451 00:29:03,120 --> 00:29:07,920 Speaker 1: a message written on the tab to Jamie from the medium, 452 00:29:08,120 --> 00:29:11,960 Speaker 1: love and hugs on your journey. Inside this folder is 453 00:29:12,000 --> 00:29:16,240 Speaker 1: a tight document that spells out the medium's philosophy on 454 00:29:16,440 --> 00:29:21,760 Speaker 1: life on Cassadega, on the Veiled American Experiment, on a 455 00:29:21,800 --> 00:29:25,240 Speaker 1: lot of stuff. I don't want to call it a manifesto, 456 00:29:25,640 --> 00:29:30,080 Speaker 1: but it's kind of a manifesto. It's like a friendly manifesto. 457 00:29:30,360 --> 00:29:33,520 Speaker 1: The document was titled and I do feel the need 458 00:29:33,560 --> 00:29:35,720 Speaker 1: to say this person is white. You'll see why I 459 00:29:35,800 --> 00:29:38,720 Speaker 1: have to clarify that in just a moment. The document 460 00:29:38,880 --> 00:29:45,280 Speaker 1: was titled I Too have a dream. Uh. Anyways, the 461 00:29:45,320 --> 00:29:47,360 Speaker 1: Medium and I talk a little bit more about a 462 00:29:47,400 --> 00:29:51,040 Speaker 1: failed small business on the finger legs, about wishing they 463 00:29:51,080 --> 00:29:54,280 Speaker 1: saw their grandkids more, and eventually the next train comes. 464 00:29:54,720 --> 00:29:57,160 Speaker 1: They give me a hug and say I'll always have 465 00:29:57,240 --> 00:30:00,120 Speaker 1: a friend in Cassadega, and I'm going back to floor 466 00:30:00,280 --> 00:30:03,960 Speaker 1: next week. So I wonder if it's true. I've not 467 00:30:04,120 --> 00:30:08,120 Speaker 1: heard from the Medium since. But ever since returning from 468 00:30:08,160 --> 00:30:12,320 Speaker 1: Cassadega in February and commencing work on this show, I've 469 00:30:12,360 --> 00:30:16,280 Speaker 1: tried to keep up watching the official live streamed Sunday 470 00:30:16,320 --> 00:30:21,400 Speaker 1: services and lyceums, that educational talkback portion that comes before 471 00:30:21,440 --> 00:30:25,360 Speaker 1: the main service. For the most part, I enjoy them. 472 00:30:25,400 --> 00:30:29,120 Speaker 1: It's pretty calming background noise, and for a long time 473 00:30:29,640 --> 00:30:34,479 Speaker 1: up until For over thirty years, the Cassadega Lyceum has 474 00:30:34,520 --> 00:30:38,040 Speaker 1: been run by a guy named Reverend Dr Don Zangy 475 00:30:38,560 --> 00:30:42,240 Speaker 1: formerly like the Medium and Upstate New York business owner, 476 00:30:42,560 --> 00:30:46,840 Speaker 1: but Reverend Dr don Zangi's business was a martial arts studio. 477 00:30:47,400 --> 00:30:50,440 Speaker 1: He is a fascinating guy, easily in my top two 478 00:30:50,520 --> 00:30:53,800 Speaker 1: reverend doctors, and I don't like to play favorites with 479 00:30:53,840 --> 00:30:58,120 Speaker 1: my reverend doctors. His fashion sense absolutely reflects the fact 480 00:30:58,120 --> 00:31:00,440 Speaker 1: that he used to own a martial arts studio, and 481 00:31:00,520 --> 00:31:04,520 Speaker 1: although he's no longer the formal lyceum director, he's there 482 00:31:04,600 --> 00:31:07,680 Speaker 1: quite a bit and always seems to be a welcome presence. 483 00:31:08,280 --> 00:31:11,280 Speaker 1: He's a bit of a rarity at Cassadega. Reverend Dr 484 00:31:11,360 --> 00:31:15,680 Speaker 1: don is more open to incorporating other religious ideas into 485 00:31:15,880 --> 00:31:20,680 Speaker 1: his brand of spiritualism. He's studied under gurus. He's encouraged 486 00:31:20,840 --> 00:31:24,440 Speaker 1: students to learn more about Buddhist principles, to test and 487 00:31:24,560 --> 00:31:29,000 Speaker 1: challenge themselves and their beliefs. No real rules. His talks 488 00:31:29,000 --> 00:31:32,120 Speaker 1: tend to be pretty chaotic and fun, and so I 489 00:31:32,240 --> 00:31:36,080 Speaker 1: was surprised to see that this past Sunday he announced 490 00:31:36,200 --> 00:31:41,120 Speaker 1: that he was leaving Cassadega. His house had already been sold. 491 00:31:41,560 --> 00:31:44,000 Speaker 1: He was moving to Mexico in the middle of July 492 00:31:44,400 --> 00:31:49,640 Speaker 1: and was starting his next chapter. Things are changing in Cassadega, 493 00:31:50,080 --> 00:31:53,080 Speaker 1: and his reflections on the camp, where it had been, 494 00:31:53,240 --> 00:31:56,920 Speaker 1: where it was going. We're really humbling to hear so 495 00:31:57,000 --> 00:32:01,360 Speaker 1: here they are from Reverend Dr Don's mouth himself. But 496 00:32:01,520 --> 00:32:04,240 Speaker 1: as many of you know, will probably be my SPANSNG 497 00:32:05,280 --> 00:32:08,600 Speaker 1: as I'm making plans to leave camp, sold the house 498 00:32:09,680 --> 00:32:13,480 Speaker 1: and Paul goes well, moving to Mexico, so I don't 499 00:32:13,480 --> 00:32:17,360 Speaker 1: know they'll be around much much longer. Now. I meet 500 00:32:17,400 --> 00:32:19,440 Speaker 1: a lot of people in camp you can mention over 501 00:32:19,480 --> 00:32:23,000 Speaker 1: the years and somebody said, oh, this is my first 502 00:32:23,000 --> 00:32:27,800 Speaker 1: time here, you better be careful my first time Father's Day, 503 00:32:27,840 --> 00:32:34,800 Speaker 1: and I never left now. For many people spiritualism in general. 504 00:32:35,000 --> 00:32:40,320 Speaker 1: Here in Cassadaga, they stay focused on the tradition and 505 00:32:40,400 --> 00:32:45,120 Speaker 1: the science, bossing religion and spiritualism. I'm all in favor 506 00:32:45,200 --> 00:32:48,520 Speaker 1: of it. Those are some of the best people, some 507 00:32:48,600 --> 00:32:51,440 Speaker 1: of the best teachers, some best mediums. I love it. 508 00:32:52,360 --> 00:32:56,400 Speaker 1: Others like me tend to go out and still searching 509 00:32:56,440 --> 00:33:02,760 Speaker 1: for all kinds and the stuff still centered in Cassadega Spiritualism. 510 00:33:02,880 --> 00:33:05,320 Speaker 1: That's just my nature. I did in martial arts, I 511 00:33:05,360 --> 00:33:07,959 Speaker 1: studied with the master, I studied you ever the understo 512 00:33:08,080 --> 00:33:12,440 Speaker 1: all kinds of other things to add to my base information. 513 00:33:13,360 --> 00:33:17,840 Speaker 1: It is a It can be a huge door opener 514 00:33:18,280 --> 00:33:24,160 Speaker 1: to worlds that people out there up there I'm never 515 00:33:24,200 --> 00:33:27,720 Speaker 1: going to tell you about, because they don't even know it. 516 00:33:28,880 --> 00:33:30,960 Speaker 1: If they do know, if they're gonna tell you it's bad, 517 00:33:31,080 --> 00:33:34,920 Speaker 1: it's able. Well we've heard that more than a few times. 518 00:33:36,040 --> 00:33:40,880 Speaker 1: Lassa has been a favorite thing of mine. Why everything 519 00:33:41,000 --> 00:33:43,920 Speaker 1: here is I'm sitting here telling you thirty one years 520 00:33:43,920 --> 00:33:48,400 Speaker 1: and wonderful, difficult, all but wonderful unless it was in 521 00:33:48,520 --> 00:33:52,200 Speaker 1: my deal. I did it for so long to helpen 522 00:33:52,240 --> 00:33:54,200 Speaker 1: the finally one day the part, so I just give 523 00:33:54,240 --> 00:33:57,320 Speaker 1: it the title of director. But I don't care whatever 524 00:33:58,480 --> 00:34:02,120 Speaker 1: questions that and Dr Don ends up falling back into 525 00:34:02,320 --> 00:34:05,800 Speaker 1: his normal pet subjects. He goes on about the natural 526 00:34:05,880 --> 00:34:08,880 Speaker 1: laws of the universe for a while. He reflects on 527 00:34:09,000 --> 00:34:12,839 Speaker 1: his time getting to know people through the Lyceum program, 528 00:34:12,880 --> 00:34:16,200 Speaker 1: but at the end he says his time in Cassadega 529 00:34:16,400 --> 00:34:20,040 Speaker 1: is done, and so he's leaving. It's kind of that 530 00:34:20,160 --> 00:34:24,120 Speaker 1: simple to put it in the medium's terms. He is healed, 531 00:34:24,680 --> 00:34:27,960 Speaker 1: and he is leaving. It's quiet for a second, and 532 00:34:28,000 --> 00:34:32,759 Speaker 1: then someone in the room speaks out, thank you for 533 00:34:32,800 --> 00:34:36,359 Speaker 1: being a wonderful teacher. I really appreciate you and I'm 534 00:34:36,400 --> 00:34:42,320 Speaker 1: going to miss you tremendously. And then he says goodbye 535 00:34:42,400 --> 00:34:44,799 Speaker 1: to a room full of mediums who he's been a 536 00:34:44,840 --> 00:34:48,960 Speaker 1: part of daily life for for over three decades, doing 537 00:34:49,040 --> 00:34:53,120 Speaker 1: your best at all times. I don't know how else 538 00:34:53,120 --> 00:34:56,040 Speaker 1: to end it. I don't want to plank everyone for 539 00:34:56,200 --> 00:35:00,840 Speaker 1: being here. I'll wanta start crying. We thank for you, 540 00:35:01,680 --> 00:35:05,680 Speaker 1: pastors back there in the board for room, you've been 541 00:35:05,760 --> 00:35:21,480 Speaker 1: less seem alive. That's flive, that's awesome, Thank you. Things 542 00:35:21,560 --> 00:35:42,080 Speaker 1: are changing in Cassadega. Spiritualism is a movement that may 543 00:35:42,120 --> 00:35:46,280 Speaker 1: always be in financial peril, but even when specific camps 544 00:35:46,360 --> 00:35:51,040 Speaker 1: are struggling with membership, with money, with generational conflict, the 545 00:35:51,120 --> 00:35:56,120 Speaker 1: popularity of spiritual ideas and messages from the beyond are 546 00:35:56,200 --> 00:35:59,200 Speaker 1: not going anywhere, whether you like it or not. And 547 00:35:59,360 --> 00:36:02,400 Speaker 1: it's such a massive world to explore that there was 548 00:36:02,440 --> 00:36:04,720 Speaker 1: a lot I wasn't able to fit into just nine 549 00:36:04,760 --> 00:36:09,879 Speaker 1: episodes after months of research. Helena Blovotsky's Theosophy and All 550 00:36:09,920 --> 00:36:13,920 Speaker 1: the issues therein other Spiritualist camps in the US, including 551 00:36:13,960 --> 00:36:17,919 Speaker 1: the one nearest where I live in Escondido, California, where 552 00:36:17,920 --> 00:36:20,759 Speaker 1: a healing service in the sun brought me the closest 553 00:36:20,800 --> 00:36:24,400 Speaker 1: I've ever been to believing in everything. There was my 554 00:36:24,520 --> 00:36:28,360 Speaker 1: day at the Arthur Findlay Institute, a college in England 555 00:36:28,440 --> 00:36:32,160 Speaker 1: funded by Jay Arthur Findlay, a former president of the 556 00:36:32,200 --> 00:36:36,160 Speaker 1: Spiritualist National Union in the eighteen seventies. It's the only 557 00:36:36,200 --> 00:36:40,360 Speaker 1: Spiritualist university that is still operating regularly and it runs 558 00:36:40,400 --> 00:36:43,600 Speaker 1: courses on site and on Zoom. Today. I took a 559 00:36:43,600 --> 00:36:46,719 Speaker 1: course with them called Communicating with Spirits and it was 560 00:36:47,000 --> 00:36:52,200 Speaker 1: absolutely packed, mostly with the casually curious the internet spirituals. 561 00:36:52,320 --> 00:36:54,720 Speaker 1: How can I learn about my aura? Are the tools 562 00:36:54,760 --> 00:36:57,440 Speaker 1: they use on TV? Real? Or can I go intuitive? 563 00:36:57,800 --> 00:37:01,360 Speaker 1: I discovered there had been a Spiritualist church founded in 564 00:37:01,440 --> 00:37:05,000 Speaker 1: my hometown in the late eighteen hundreds and sent my 565 00:37:05,120 --> 00:37:09,239 Speaker 1: dad to where it's currently located and is struggling. There 566 00:37:09,239 --> 00:37:13,040 Speaker 1: are the YouTubers that channels spirit through crystals and taro 567 00:37:13,280 --> 00:37:15,960 Speaker 1: in a way that can be maybe a little amateurish 568 00:37:16,000 --> 00:37:18,480 Speaker 1: at times, but is also an example of how to 569 00:37:18,520 --> 00:37:22,080 Speaker 1: bring spiritual ideas to a massive young audience in an 570 00:37:22,120 --> 00:37:27,520 Speaker 1: accessible way for free. These videos tend to be calming, encouraging, 571 00:37:27,719 --> 00:37:33,359 Speaker 1: body positive, pro mental health. They're not hardline spiritualism as 572 00:37:33,400 --> 00:37:38,400 Speaker 1: it was founded in eighteen forty. It's not particularly Christian adjacent. 573 00:37:38,480 --> 00:37:41,840 Speaker 1: They use cards, there's no four to six years of training. 574 00:37:42,360 --> 00:37:45,520 Speaker 1: But the ideas in these videos and in these courses 575 00:37:45,960 --> 00:37:50,399 Speaker 1: reflect what spiritualism always claimed to be about, about self 576 00:37:50,440 --> 00:37:54,279 Speaker 1: acceptance and connecting on this plane and whatever the funk 577 00:37:54,320 --> 00:37:59,840 Speaker 1: else plane of guidance and self improvement and generally feeling 578 00:38:00,120 --> 00:38:03,080 Speaker 1: less alone. So we're going to go ahead and take 579 00:38:03,120 --> 00:38:06,960 Speaker 1: a look at what comforting, loving message Spirit wants to 580 00:38:07,000 --> 00:38:11,319 Speaker 1: give you. So first and foremost, I see the card 581 00:38:11,360 --> 00:38:14,719 Speaker 1: that jumped out to me is sole family. Somebody has 582 00:38:15,320 --> 00:38:17,719 Speaker 1: really backed you into a corner and made you feel 583 00:38:17,800 --> 00:38:21,799 Speaker 1: silly for believing what you believe. But what Spirit is 584 00:38:21,840 --> 00:38:24,680 Speaker 1: saying is that you're actually at a point right now 585 00:38:24,760 --> 00:38:28,000 Speaker 1: where your sole family is coming together. I hate the 586 00:38:28,080 --> 00:38:32,680 Speaker 1: argument of who cares about spiritualism because it's not real. Yeah, 587 00:38:32,800 --> 00:38:37,920 Speaker 1: most religion and spiritual practice isn't real dip shit, but 588 00:38:38,000 --> 00:38:41,360 Speaker 1: its effect on people is I think the only yardstick 589 00:38:41,400 --> 00:38:44,359 Speaker 1: worth using here is whether it hurts people or not, 590 00:38:44,840 --> 00:38:48,040 Speaker 1: and spiritualism certainly has over the years at the deeply 591 00:38:48,120 --> 00:38:52,600 Speaker 1: imperfect movement with a complicated legacy. Without it, we wouldn't 592 00:38:52,640 --> 00:38:56,080 Speaker 1: have great things like young Gie and dream analysis, or 593 00:38:56,200 --> 00:39:00,280 Speaker 1: some of the basis of therapy, essentially a mental medium. 594 00:39:00,400 --> 00:39:04,920 Speaker 1: Without spiritualism, we also wouldn't have the burden of celebrity 595 00:39:04,960 --> 00:39:09,399 Speaker 1: medium scanners, nor the appropriation of Native American culture that 596 00:39:09,440 --> 00:39:14,160 Speaker 1: does nothing to properly acknowledge or include Indigenous people. On 597 00:39:14,200 --> 00:39:17,680 Speaker 1: the other hand, without spiritualism, we wouldn't have Ghostbusters, but 598 00:39:17,920 --> 00:39:20,920 Speaker 1: it would have spared us from theosophy the pros and 599 00:39:21,000 --> 00:39:25,600 Speaker 1: cons are infinite. American spiritualism came in a moment defined 600 00:39:25,719 --> 00:39:29,400 Speaker 1: by forward momentum and all these ideas catching at the 601 00:39:29,400 --> 00:39:33,279 Speaker 1: cross wires, at a time where science and magic could coexist, 602 00:39:33,520 --> 00:39:36,800 Speaker 1: where women could be leaders, but black and Indigenous women 603 00:39:36,840 --> 00:39:40,279 Speaker 1: could still be subjugated, where the laws of nature did 604 00:39:40,280 --> 00:39:43,799 Speaker 1: not apply, but if you turned the light on just enough, 605 00:39:44,400 --> 00:39:47,440 Speaker 1: the laws of nature sometimes did apply. I said in 606 00:39:47,480 --> 00:39:50,480 Speaker 1: the first episode of the show that I've been mourning 607 00:39:50,600 --> 00:39:54,080 Speaker 1: my grandfather who passed away a few months into the 608 00:39:54,080 --> 00:39:57,120 Speaker 1: research for this show, in a week before it started airing. 609 00:39:57,840 --> 00:40:00,399 Speaker 1: I haven't heard from him. I don't know that I will. 610 00:40:00,880 --> 00:40:04,560 Speaker 1: And don't get me wrong, I've listened very closely to 611 00:40:04,760 --> 00:40:08,480 Speaker 1: all the referenced doctors, but no spirit guide in a 612 00:40:08,560 --> 00:40:12,799 Speaker 1: cape has come for me yet. Do you want to 613 00:40:12,800 --> 00:40:15,759 Speaker 1: take one more walk with me? I have one more 614 00:40:15,840 --> 00:40:18,799 Speaker 1: place in Cassadega. I really want to show you a 615 00:40:18,880 --> 00:40:22,719 Speaker 1: place that is as silly as it is sincere, and 616 00:40:22,760 --> 00:40:27,720 Speaker 1: it captures, if not proof that spiritualism is real, proof 617 00:40:28,160 --> 00:40:31,920 Speaker 1: of how it makes people feel. It's called the Ferry Trail. 618 00:40:32,160 --> 00:40:34,640 Speaker 1: It's right next door to the library and two doors 619 00:40:34,680 --> 00:40:38,879 Speaker 1: down from where the Reverend doctor Lewis Gates practices. So 620 00:40:39,360 --> 00:40:42,480 Speaker 1: come on one more walk. The Ferry Trail is another 621 00:40:42,520 --> 00:40:46,560 Speaker 1: site around the camp that the mediums are understandably frustrated 622 00:40:46,560 --> 00:40:50,200 Speaker 1: with the optics of. It is, for all intents and purposes, 623 00:40:50,400 --> 00:40:54,319 Speaker 1: an overly sincere selfie trap, a place where casual and 624 00:40:54,480 --> 00:40:57,799 Speaker 1: mostly younger tourists come to take photographs in front of 625 00:40:57,800 --> 00:41:03,600 Speaker 1: the highly instagram morble painted fairy wings. Another trap, one 626 00:41:03,680 --> 00:41:06,680 Speaker 1: I have taken a picture in myself is a pastel 627 00:41:06,800 --> 00:41:11,600 Speaker 1: painted winged fairy throne. There's a fairy trellis maybe lounge 628 00:41:11,600 --> 00:41:14,040 Speaker 1: on the fairy Bench and have your boyfriend take a 629 00:41:14,040 --> 00:41:18,160 Speaker 1: picture of you there. The Fairy Trail is goofy. It's 630 00:41:18,320 --> 00:41:22,640 Speaker 1: somewhat aesthetically pleasing, and it's an anarchically curated area of 631 00:41:22,719 --> 00:41:25,319 Speaker 1: the woods that I kind of can't help but love. 632 00:41:26,000 --> 00:41:28,560 Speaker 1: The mediums think it's all a little beside the point, 633 00:41:28,719 --> 00:41:31,480 Speaker 1: and they're not wrong. The Fairy Trail has nothing to 634 00:41:31,520 --> 00:41:34,120 Speaker 1: do with the religion, but I really love it. It's 635 00:41:34,160 --> 00:41:38,560 Speaker 1: such a showing of raw sincerity and emotion and even 636 00:41:38,600 --> 00:41:42,400 Speaker 1: a desperateness for magic to be real and communication with 637 00:41:42,440 --> 00:41:45,319 Speaker 1: the dead to be authentic. But the people who come 638 00:41:45,360 --> 00:41:47,759 Speaker 1: to the Fairy Trail go deeper than that. They go 639 00:41:47,880 --> 00:41:52,160 Speaker 1: there to resurrect lost love, to leave anonymous please, to 640 00:41:52,280 --> 00:41:56,880 Speaker 1: mend friendships, believe toldem's from themselves, or people who died 641 00:41:56,960 --> 00:42:00,480 Speaker 1: that they loved. Some people even leave mixtape, send c 642 00:42:00,640 --> 00:42:03,800 Speaker 1: d s of their shitty music, or tape their half 643 00:42:03,920 --> 00:42:07,960 Speaker 1: rained on anime drawings to trees. What I am describing 644 00:42:08,000 --> 00:42:10,480 Speaker 1: to you is a pile of garbage in the woods, 645 00:42:10,719 --> 00:42:14,840 Speaker 1: but it's very sincerely curated garbage, so it also qualifies 646 00:42:14,880 --> 00:42:18,640 Speaker 1: as a free outdoor museum. The camp fruitlessly tries to 647 00:42:18,680 --> 00:42:22,360 Speaker 1: hold back the flood of sincerely offered garbage with polite 648 00:42:22,400 --> 00:42:27,600 Speaker 1: but firm signs things like take only memories, leave only footprints, 649 00:42:28,280 --> 00:42:32,400 Speaker 1: Please do not clutter or deface the park or its structures. 650 00:42:32,560 --> 00:42:36,440 Speaker 1: Good fucking luck, folks. The teenagers and mother daughter teams 651 00:42:36,440 --> 00:42:39,280 Speaker 1: I see carving their names into tree bark and leaving 652 00:42:39,320 --> 00:42:42,319 Speaker 1: wet envelopes begging their husbands to come back to life 653 00:42:42,360 --> 00:42:45,360 Speaker 1: on stumps when I visit each day, have more time 654 00:42:45,719 --> 00:42:50,800 Speaker 1: and more determination and more sincerity than any underpaid medium 655 00:42:50,880 --> 00:42:53,440 Speaker 1: at the camp. On my way out, I passed a 656 00:42:53,520 --> 00:42:56,480 Speaker 1: polaroid of two teenage girls with an arrow pointing to 657 00:42:56,520 --> 00:43:00,200 Speaker 1: one that says r I p of large rocks that 658 00:43:00,239 --> 00:43:04,200 Speaker 1: have been turned into symbolic headstones, names and dates, and 659 00:43:04,360 --> 00:43:08,000 Speaker 1: quotes a poem about the death of a friendship that 660 00:43:08,040 --> 00:43:12,839 Speaker 1: went from one. I'll always cherish the warmth you put 661 00:43:12,880 --> 00:43:16,000 Speaker 1: in my heart. You were my best friend till three 662 00:43:16,000 --> 00:43:20,360 Speaker 1: thousand and five Do we part. There's hair ties, there's crystals, 663 00:43:20,400 --> 00:43:25,600 Speaker 1: there's seashells, there's crosses. There's graffiti reading love me back, please. 664 00:43:26,680 --> 00:43:29,359 Speaker 1: There's a street lamp that doesn't work. There's a height 665 00:43:29,480 --> 00:43:32,319 Speaker 1: marker going from three to seven ft where visitors have 666 00:43:32,440 --> 00:43:36,560 Speaker 1: marked themselves and their children's height with dates, initials and messages. 667 00:43:37,239 --> 00:43:41,880 Speaker 1: There's of course a minion toy no shit, and pictures 668 00:43:41,920 --> 00:43:46,279 Speaker 1: and pictures and pictures of dead Lauridians. I go to 669 00:43:46,320 --> 00:43:48,360 Speaker 1: the Ferry Trail at least once a day when I 670 00:43:48,360 --> 00:43:51,120 Speaker 1: am visiting Cassadega. It has the least to do with 671 00:43:51,200 --> 00:43:54,239 Speaker 1: the camp, and yet it is the best part. The 672 00:43:54,320 --> 00:43:56,840 Speaker 1: crickets are screaming at the top of their little insect 673 00:43:56,960 --> 00:44:00,600 Speaker 1: lungs as tourists chatter and walk past the library. I 674 00:44:00,680 --> 00:44:03,759 Speaker 1: dream about the Faery Trail all the time, and in 675 00:44:03,800 --> 00:44:08,000 Speaker 1: every dream, I'm just walking through, looking at things and 676 00:44:08,080 --> 00:44:12,080 Speaker 1: reading things, and walking right past the library. I'm going 677 00:44:12,160 --> 00:44:15,000 Speaker 1: back to my hotel room where I ask my spirit 678 00:44:15,040 --> 00:44:21,560 Speaker 1: guides to help me sleep. And that's ghost Church. I 679 00:44:21,600 --> 00:44:24,839 Speaker 1: hope you've enjoyed it. I don't make stuff to tell 680 00:44:24,840 --> 00:44:27,560 Speaker 1: people what to believe and what not to believe. There 681 00:44:27,560 --> 00:44:29,799 Speaker 1: are plenty of shows where you can be told what 682 00:44:29,880 --> 00:44:32,319 Speaker 1: to believe and why you're an asshole if you want 683 00:44:32,320 --> 00:44:35,080 Speaker 1: to believe it, or why you're a genius if you 684 00:44:35,120 --> 00:44:38,840 Speaker 1: don't believe it. The spiritualists have not always practiced what 685 00:44:39,000 --> 00:44:43,040 Speaker 1: they preach. There have been oversights and exclusions that reflect 686 00:44:43,320 --> 00:44:46,799 Speaker 1: very poorly on the religion and the national culture. That 687 00:44:46,840 --> 00:44:51,480 Speaker 1: the religion sometimes rebelled against and was empowered by. It's 688 00:44:51,560 --> 00:44:55,520 Speaker 1: uniquely American, and that it calls itself American but heavily 689 00:44:55,640 --> 00:45:00,040 Speaker 1: borrows from other cultures. It's uniquely American based on the 690 00:45:00,120 --> 00:45:02,920 Speaker 1: fact that it's so shaped and defined by how the 691 00:45:03,040 --> 00:45:06,560 Speaker 1: media received it. It was formed partially in response to 692 00:45:06,600 --> 00:45:09,440 Speaker 1: the rigid Christian values that are shaping the decisions of 693 00:45:09,440 --> 00:45:13,680 Speaker 1: the Supreme Court, more so now than ever so. In 694 00:45:13,719 --> 00:45:19,759 Speaker 1: their fight against American religious indoctrination, Spiritualism failed, buried by 695 00:45:19,800 --> 00:45:24,239 Speaker 1: its contemporaries in still relevant movements like Mormonism. Like the 696 00:45:24,280 --> 00:45:28,920 Speaker 1: medium said, spiritualists aren't really recruiting and never really have been. 697 00:45:29,320 --> 00:45:31,440 Speaker 1: They'll take you to dinner, they'll take you to breakfast, 698 00:45:31,440 --> 00:45:33,400 Speaker 1: they'll take you to the airport, they'll tell you what 699 00:45:33,440 --> 00:45:36,000 Speaker 1: your dead grandma's up to, and they'll never even listen 700 00:45:36,040 --> 00:45:39,160 Speaker 1: to the podcast you spent months making about them. They're 701 00:45:39,160 --> 00:45:44,480 Speaker 1: both bothered and unbothered, and yet they are still there. 702 00:45:45,000 --> 00:45:48,960 Speaker 1: Over a hundred, twenty five years later, they are still there. 703 00:45:49,000 --> 00:45:54,320 Speaker 1: In Cassadeca, Florida, in Lily Dill, New York in Lake Pleasant, Massachusetts, 704 00:45:54,840 --> 00:45:59,640 Speaker 1: surviving on others curiosity and on their own belief in 705 00:45:59,680 --> 00:46:02,960 Speaker 1: spear are It. As the medium told me, most people 706 00:46:03,160 --> 00:46:06,400 Speaker 1: don't want to commit to the lifestyle, the years of training, 707 00:46:06,480 --> 00:46:10,200 Speaker 1: the burden of proof, the occasional press circus, the Florida 708 00:46:10,360 --> 00:46:12,480 Speaker 1: of it all. I know I couldn't, but I also 709 00:46:12,520 --> 00:46:15,960 Speaker 1: know how much comfort I take in difficult moments with 710 00:46:16,080 --> 00:46:19,719 Speaker 1: the little spiritual practices and routines that they taught me. 711 00:46:20,280 --> 00:46:22,680 Speaker 1: So if you're the sort of person to dump on 712 00:46:22,719 --> 00:46:28,000 Speaker 1: people who believe in spiritualism or spiritual ideas, ask yourself, 713 00:46:28,000 --> 00:46:32,720 Speaker 1: why is it hurting anyone? Sometimes the answer will be yes, 714 00:46:33,120 --> 00:46:36,440 Speaker 1: but often it won't be is it bringing someone peace? 715 00:46:37,040 --> 00:46:39,680 Speaker 1: If it is and it's not hurting anyone, what are 716 00:46:39,680 --> 00:46:43,000 Speaker 1: you mad about? And Babe, have you checked in with 717 00:46:43,040 --> 00:46:45,440 Speaker 1: the man in the cave that follows you around all 718 00:46:45,440 --> 00:46:49,439 Speaker 1: the time. I hear he's pretty smart, Uncle Dennis. Take 719 00:46:49,480 --> 00:46:52,520 Speaker 1: it home. Your mind and your body will tell you 720 00:46:52,560 --> 00:46:55,279 Speaker 1: what you need. You just need to listen to it. 721 00:46:56,080 --> 00:47:00,480 Speaker 1: And that's what spirituality is. It's not about aim to 722 00:47:00,560 --> 00:47:04,200 Speaker 1: a deity. It's not about doing a certain ritual. It's 723 00:47:04,239 --> 00:47:06,919 Speaker 1: not about being a certain way. It's about the fact 724 00:47:06,920 --> 00:47:09,799 Speaker 1: that you understand that you were born as a manifest 725 00:47:09,840 --> 00:47:14,040 Speaker 1: creature and you were born with a soul. That soul 726 00:47:14,120 --> 00:47:17,239 Speaker 1: is your spirituality. You just have to remind yourself that 727 00:47:17,280 --> 00:47:20,719 Speaker 1: you're that spiritual person. Because we're not taught to do that. 728 00:47:21,320 --> 00:47:25,160 Speaker 1: How can we Okay, we're thrown into a world of 729 00:47:25,520 --> 00:47:28,760 Speaker 1: manifest it's what we eat, what we taste, touch, felc. 730 00:47:29,480 --> 00:47:32,120 Speaker 1: We're in a dated daily So I would say, do 731 00:47:32,120 --> 00:47:34,319 Speaker 1: you listen to everybody? I tell you, God, let's go 732 00:47:34,440 --> 00:47:36,440 Speaker 1: to these go to these things. Listen to these people 733 00:47:36,800 --> 00:47:43,000 Speaker 1: and understand that them are full of ship, not because 734 00:47:43,040 --> 00:47:45,520 Speaker 1: they're being cruel, and they may very well believe what 735 00:47:45,560 --> 00:47:48,120 Speaker 1: they're telling you. But the bottom line is there is 736 00:47:48,160 --> 00:47:50,399 Speaker 1: no one way. You have to figure out what's best 737 00:47:50,400 --> 00:47:53,920 Speaker 1: for yourself. That's how I arrived to where I am. 738 00:47:53,960 --> 00:47:55,640 Speaker 1: I don't need to wear caps, I don't need to 739 00:47:55,640 --> 00:47:57,759 Speaker 1: wear all the trapping is that prove to people who 740 00:47:57,800 --> 00:48:00,319 Speaker 1: I am. I am who I am because it from 741 00:48:00,360 --> 00:48:05,520 Speaker 1: inside me. It's who I am, what I believe, and 742 00:48:05,640 --> 00:48:08,800 Speaker 1: nobody can ever take that away from you. Take everything, 743 00:48:08,920 --> 00:48:12,080 Speaker 1: even what I say with a grain of salt. You 744 00:48:12,200 --> 00:48:15,040 Speaker 1: have to find is one thing in life that's up back. 745 00:48:15,640 --> 00:48:18,279 Speaker 1: You have to find you a path by yourself. And 746 00:48:18,320 --> 00:48:20,640 Speaker 1: it's not a path you can walk with anybody, and 747 00:48:20,680 --> 00:48:22,799 Speaker 1: it is not a path that anybody can take you down. 748 00:48:23,239 --> 00:48:26,080 Speaker 1: They can help you that you've better find it for yourself, 749 00:48:26,560 --> 00:48:33,120 Speaker 1: and that's why people don't like me. So to conclude, 750 00:48:33,640 --> 00:48:36,440 Speaker 1: the world is on fucking fire, So don't exploit anyone 751 00:48:36,680 --> 00:48:39,759 Speaker 1: and talk to as many ghosts as you want, and 752 00:48:39,840 --> 00:48:44,080 Speaker 1: whatever you do, do not come back to life as 753 00:48:44,280 --> 00:48:48,760 Speaker 1: a dog cop bad Pacynski. Thank you so much for listening, 754 00:48:48,960 --> 00:49:00,480 Speaker 1: and let's play that theme song one more time, get 755 00:49:11,360 --> 00:49:47,600 Speaker 1: and we hap one last huge shout out to the 756 00:49:47,680 --> 00:49:53,960 Speaker 1: amazing team of Ghost Church, our producer Sophie Lichtman, absolute legend, 757 00:49:54,480 --> 00:49:58,160 Speaker 1: the best. Shout out to Robert Evans of cool Zone Media. 758 00:49:58,520 --> 00:50:02,360 Speaker 1: Gigantic shout out to to my incredible editor Ian Johnson, 759 00:50:02,600 --> 00:50:05,160 Speaker 1: who also did voices on the show and it's just 760 00:50:05,480 --> 00:50:09,040 Speaker 1: an all around incredibly talented and patient person. Shout out 761 00:50:09,040 --> 00:50:12,800 Speaker 1: to our amazing fact checker, Mary Stephen Hagen be everyone 762 00:50:12,840 --> 00:50:16,040 Speaker 1: who has contributed their voice, and of course to Speedy 763 00:50:16,160 --> 00:50:20,040 Speaker 1: Ortiz who wrote that amazing theme song that you just heard. 764 00:50:20,560 --> 00:50:24,080 Speaker 1: Shout out to my spirit guides Don and Helen. This 765 00:50:24,120 --> 00:50:27,160 Speaker 1: show is dedicated to my grandfather and he would have 766 00:50:27,480 --> 00:50:30,400 Speaker 1: hated it. As for me. You can listen to my 767 00:50:30,480 --> 00:50:33,840 Speaker 1: other podcasts, My Year in Mensa, the Lead a Podcast, 768 00:50:34,239 --> 00:50:37,160 Speaker 1: or ac Cast. I have a weekly podcast called The 769 00:50:37,160 --> 00:50:40,600 Speaker 1: Bechdel Past, and other than that. You can buy my 770 00:50:40,760 --> 00:50:44,200 Speaker 1: book about hot dogs called raw Dog that comes out 771 00:50:44,360 --> 00:50:48,319 Speaker 1: next year. Because follow me on social media and I 772 00:50:48,320 --> 00:50:51,279 Speaker 1: hope I don't have a mental breakdown and find me. 773 00:50:51,920 --> 00:50:55,520 Speaker 1: Thank you so much to the mediums of Cassadega, Florida 774 00:50:56,160 --> 00:51:01,520 Speaker 1: by six