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SPIRITS OF THE PLACE
INTRODUCTION:
THIS WEEK, WE VISIT AN UNUSUAL VILLAGE IN WESTERN NEW YORK STATE, IN
THE REGION WHERE A DISTINCTIVELY AMERICAN RELIGION OF “SPIRITUALISM” WAS
BORN 150 YEARS AGO. THERE ARE ABOUT 100 SPIRITUALIST CHURCHES IN THE UNITED
STATES TODAY. TODAY THEIR MOST DISTINCTIVE TENET IS THAT PERSONALITY
LIVES ON IN THE SPIRIT AFTER DEATH. CAROLYN WEAVER WENT TO LILY DALE, NEW
YORK, AND MET - WELL - YOU MIGHT CALL THEM THE “SPIRITS OF THE PLACE".
NARRATION:
COME WITH US TO THE PICTURESQUELY SEEDY ENCLAVE OF LILY DALE, NEW YORK,
A CENTRAL PLACE IN THE HISTORY OF AMERICAN SPIRITUALISM. ONLY SPIRITUALIST
CHURCH MEMBERS MAY LIVE BEHIND THESE GATES, BUT PAYING TOURISTS ARE WELCOME
TO VISIT.
REPORTER:
"How far did you come from today?"
WOMAN:
"Buffalo."
REPORTER:
"Are you spiritualists?"
WOMAN:
"Nope."
REPORTER:
"So why do you come to Lily Dale?"
WOMAN:
"Get a reading."
NARRATION:
FOR ANOTHER PAYMENT OF TWENTY-FIVE TO ONE-HUNDRED-FIFTY DOLLARS, ONE
OF LILY DALE’S PROFESSIONAL MEDIUMS, LIKE ANNE GEHMAN, WILL TRY TO PUT
YOU IN TOUCH WITH YOUR OWN GUIDING SPIRITS.
ANNE GEHMAN:
“She seems to be very interested in your life and your pathway. All
right, um, just a moment, you’re asking for her name. Let me see, I’m not
hearing her name yet, but I feel she passed away after having some problems
related to the heart and circulation, a light stroke.”
JOYCE LAJUDICE:
“Just because you are a medium, you can’t come into Lily Dale and hang
up a sign. You are tested by a board.”
NARRATION:
JOYCE LAJUDICE IS LILY DALE’S HISTORIAN.
JOYCE LAJUDICE:
"The Board of Directors set up several different requirements. And
you are tested to meet the requirements of Lily Dale. I like to say that
a shiver and a shake a medium does not make. And therefore you cannot bring
in generalities and anything you wish, you must give proof that you are
communicating with spirit.”
NARRATION:
IN HER OFFICE INSIDE THE TOWN MUSEUM, JOYCE LAJUDICE CHRONICLES HOW
SPIRITUALISM WAS BORN ALONGSIDE IMPASSIONED POLITICAL MOVEMENTS, FOR WOMEN’S
SUFFRAGE AND THE ABOLITION OF SLAVERY, THOUGH IT LATER CAME TO ATTRACT
PEOPLE LIKE FILM STAR MAE WEST. IT BEGAN IN THE 1840s WITH THE TEENAGE
DAUGHTERS OF THE FOX FAMILY.
JOYCE LAJUDICE:
"And what happened is they moved to this home in 1847 in Hydesville,
NY and they heard all kinds of noise and rapping. And one day, Margaret
Fox flippantly rapped back. And spirit rapped. She rapped three times and
spirit rapped three times. So they started communicating, and spirit told
them his name was Charles Rosna; he was a peddler. He was murdered and
buried in the basement of that house. So they dug up the foundation and
eventually found the peddler’s body and the peddler’s trunk. The newspapers
got a hold of it. And it was the learned people of the day that proclaimed
that communication with spirit is not miraculous nor is it supernatural.
Thus beginning the American movement or birth of modern spiritualism.
NARRATION:
150 YEARS LATER, LILY DALE IS A QUIET, RESTFUL PLACE. A CAT IN THE
MIDDLE OF THE STREET HAS NOTHING TO FEAR, EXCEPT WHAT AWAITS US ALL.
TOM PAINE:
"My name is Tom Paine and I’ve lived here 15 years."
REPROTER:
"How old are you?"
TOM PAINE:
"Fifteen."
REPORTER:
"What’s it like living in Lily Dale?"
TOM PAINE
"It's weird."
JOYCE LAJUDICE:
“I will tell you one time I was on a testing committee. Dr. Neal Rispowski
was being tested for his mediumship. And it might sound ridiculous to you,
but he brought in a man that had a ridiculous outfit on -- a blue blazer
with the most ungodliest brown pants you ever want to see. And could I
recognize him? He thought the passing was rather recent. Well, it happened
to be my brother Joe, who just passed on eight months before. His wife
got mad, threw out all his clothes, and told him to go out and buy new
clothes. Unfortunately, he passed before he had a chance to. He had his
old brown paint pants on and his son’s blue blazer. He was in a half coffin.
No one knew that. So that was proof to me that he was in communication
with my brother."
GEORGE KINCAID:
“Good afternoon, I’m your chairperson. My name is George Kincaid and
I’d like to welcome you all to the one o’clock Stump. How many of you are
here for the first time? I’ve been a medium for about fifteen years. I
got a reading about 20 years ago and boy nailed me to the wall. So I figured
it’s time to come down here and find out. And I found out they believe
the same as I did. I’ve been here ever since. And when my dad died, he
was a minister, and he was telling me this was the work of the devil. And
then after he died, he come back about six months later through another
medium, to tell me I was on the right path and he was wrong. First, to
tell you what we do, a medium comes up here and tunes into the spirit world,
to bring your loved ones from the other side to prove the continuity of
life between the physical world and the spiritual world. Being this is
a religious service, let’s all stand for the opening prayer. Oh Lord, Father-Mother
God, as we come once again to the Stump, to prove the continuity of life,
we ask that the loved ones from the other side manifest."
NARRATION:
THERE’S JUST ONE PLACE TO STAY IN LILY DALE, THE OLD MAPLEWOOD HOTEL,
ITSELF SAID TO BE TEEMING WITH GHOSTS; WHERE A NUMBER OF SO-CALLED “SPIRIT”
PAINTINGS HANG ON DISPLAY, SUPPOSEDLY CREATED WITHOUT HUMAN INTERVENTION.
FOR KICKS, YOU CAN THUMB THROUGH 50-YEAR-0LD FATE MAGAZINES, WITH STORIES
LIKE “TV 12 YEARS LATE” AND “DOWSING FOR NOXIOUS EARTH RAYS.” EVEN POLICE
WORK TAKES ON A MYSTICAL TINGE IN LILY DALE. TIMMY O’BROCTA CALLS HIMSELF
A SPIRITUAL COP.
TIMMY O’BROCTA
“This is what I am about, always being bubbly, smiling, and a freshness.
No matter who they are, if they’re a murderer and I have to arrest them,
I’m still going to have that person smile at me because of my energy, and
the way how I am. There’s a lot of ignorant people out there who don’t
know about God or Jesus, and even if I’m handcuffing them, like here are
the handcuffs, I’ll say, “sir, you’re under arrest.” And while I’m in the
car, if I’m alone, I’ll say, “you know better, sir, you should read the
Bible,” or, “I promise if you read the Bible about Jesus or God, the healing
you’re going to get.”
NARRATION:
LILY DALE’S VISITORS ARE MOSTLY WOMEN. THEY COME FROM NEARBY BUFFALO
AND NIAGARA, AND OVER THE BORDER FROM OHIO, MAYBE PAY FOR A READING, AND
FINISH THE DAY AT ONE OF THE FREE HEALING SERVICES.
LORI THEODOROU:
"My name is Lori Theodorou and I am a healer here at the temple and
I also composed the temple’s theme song, We are One."
NARRATION:
SKEPTICS MIGHT LAUGH AT LILY DALE AND THINK ITS MEDIUMS DELUSIONAL,
BRAND THEM OUTRIGHT CHARLATANS. BUT TO BELIEVERS AND THOSE WHO JUST WANT
TO BELIEVE, SPIRITUALISM IS A BEAUTIFUL THING, AND LILY DALE A RESPITE
FROM HARDER REALITIES.
CAROLYN WEAVER, VOA-TV
For more information on the spiritual community at Lily Dale, New York, including places to stay,and events to attend, click on:
To find out more about Spritualims, Mediums, and Channeling, visit:
