4: Four Roads to Cassadaga

Explicit content warning

05/16/22 • 51 min

3 Listeners

This week, Jamie passes the mic to four women of Cassadaga to tell their stories about how they came to American spiritualism -- from being raised by NASA scientists to a tragic loss.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week, Jamie passes the mic to four women of Cassadaga to tell their stories about how they came to American spiritualism -- from being raised by NASA scientists to a tragic loss.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Previous Episode

3: The Tables Are Tipping

This week, Jamie goes to a table tipping class — a Spiritualist tradition that uses tables to connect people with their dead. Elsewhere in the past, the Fox sisters go on tour, where the skeptics put increasing pressure on the teenagers to meet their hype.

Next Episode

5: Apples, The Manipulator, and The Curse of Spiritualism

This week, Jamie visits a legendary Cassadaga medium and traces the story of spiritualism's Fox sisters to its end -- where the sisters abandoned the religion that had defined their lives.

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Ghost Church by Jamie Loftus - 4: Four Roads to Cassadaga

Transcript Summary

In the episode "Four Roads to Cassadaga," the podcast explores the world of mediumship and spiritualism, highlighting the rigorous training required to become a medium and how the COVID-19 pandemic has affected the number of mediums. The episode delves into how spiritualism has become more mainstream and accepted, offering comfort and a sense of continuity in life. It also addresses the presence of fraud within the field and the mixed reactions people receive from their families and friends when they become involved in spiritualism. The Cassadaga Spiritualist Camp in Florida is showcased, where individuals explore mediumship and healing abilities through proper training and certification. The episode features four women who have been mediums at Cassadega for years, sharing their unique experiences and reflecting on the rise of spiritualism within the boomer generation and the influence of ghostie media. With its insights into the challenges, conflicts, and connections within the spiritualist community, this episode provides a fascinating exploration of a growing phenomenon and might just spark your interest in the supernatural.

Transcript

Speaker 100:00:01.239

If you're looking to commune with your dad. The website for the Southern Cassadega Spiritualist Camp offers a menu of forty mediums at any given time, and thirty two of them are women. Holy shit right. For the vast majority of those mediums, it's a second act in their lives. While a few were actually raised in the spiritualist tradition, they're more likely to flock to the camp after careers as teachers, as I T specialists, as astrologers, yoga i