Jamie Loftus investigates American spiritualism, a tradition of communing with the dead that takes place in camps full of mediums across the country.

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American Spiritualism is a frequently invoked, rarely understood religion that hinges on speaking with spirit through mediums. In our first episode, Jamie Loftus puts your little baby brain at rest -- it's not a cult. But what is it?

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This week, Jamie returns to Cassadaga for a Gala Day with one Reverend Doctor and one Reverend Doctor / Former Dojo Owner, then attends her first spiritualist church service, complete with a message from the spirit after hymns. Back in 1848, spiritualist's founding Fox sisters become stars overnight, immediately stoking skepticism and smothering press attention.

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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.

Further Reading:

Talking to the Dead, Barbara Weisberg

Calling the Spirits: A History of Seances by Lisa Morton

The Road to Seneca Falls by Judith Wellman

Backlash: The Undeclared War Against American Women by Susan Faludi

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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.

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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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This week, Jamie heads to the only spiritualist library in the American south -- open two hours a week -- to try and trace the legend of Cassadaga's founding to its root, as land taken from indigenous Americans. Writer Olivia Woodward stops by to discuss spiritual traditions of the Caddo Nation, thoughts on spiritualism's appropriation of Native culture, and questions George Colby's spirit guide.

Follow Olivia's work here: https://twitter.com/LivNative93

More on the Seneca Nation: https://sni.org/

More on the Mascogo: https://about.proquest.com/en/blog/2019/what-juneteenth-means-to-the-mascogo-tribe/

More on the Timucua: https://read.dukeupress.edu/hahr/article/77/3/502/144849/The-History-of-the-Timucua-Indians-and-Missions

More on the Miccosukee: https://www.miccosukee.com/history

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This week, Jamie goes to a ghost museum, high fives a Jigsaw doll, and takes a look at two religious movements that pulled from American Spiritualism, took what they needed, and left the rest. Dr. Carlos Camacho stops by for a chat about espiritismo, and still no talk of ectoplasm.

Dr. Margarita Simon Guillory on "The Religious Studies Project": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Q3kvN3RDpI

More information on Dr. Camacho here: https://linktr.ee/carloscreates2018

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