The occult sisters refer to a mythical concept that deals with the supernatural, mysticism, and magical powers associated with a group of women. The term "occult" itself refers to things that are beyond the realm of ordinary knowledge or understanding. It encompasses practices, beliefs, and rituals that are mysterious or hidden from the general public. Throughout history, various cultures and societies have had their own versions of the occult sisters. These women were believed to possess extraordinary powers and abilities which they used for both good and evil purposes. In some instances, they were revered as spiritual leaders, healers, or oracles, while in others they were feared and accused of practicing dark and malevolent practices.
Yet for believers, the news was not necessarily a blow to spiritualism’s credibility.
At the public demonstration, attended by Kate and held shortly after the publication of Maggie s confession, the New York Herald reported that Maggie was greeted with cheers and hisses. Our newest Cinematic Audio serial, Seance High Falls, is set against the backdrop of the real-life popularity that the spiritualism movement enjoyed in the 19th century.
In some instances, they were revered as spiritual leaders, healers, or oracles, while in others they were feared and accused of practicing dark and malevolent practices. In many mythologies and folklore tales, the occult sisters are often portrayed as witches, sorceresses, or enchantresses. They are often depicted as having a deep connection with nature, using herbs, potions, and spells to manipulate the elements and influence events.
The occult sisters
Our newest Cinematic Audio serial, Seance: High Falls, is set against the backdrop of the real-life popularity that the spiritualism movement enjoyed in the 19th century. In this informative guest post, Mark Harris, the series’ writer, breaks down what led to the rise of America’s fascination with the occult, and the famous mediums of the time who inspired his characters.
The Rise of Mysticism
The 19th century spiritualism movement centered on mediums who claimed they had powers to communicate with the dead. Self-proclaimed psychics invited willing participants into their parlors to speak with deceased relatives, spouses, and friends. The spirits responded with “raps,” knockings on the wall, floors, or tables. Believe it or not, this movement was enormously popular. One critic admitted:
“… In 1856, it seems more likely that spiritualism would become the religion of America than in 156, Christianity would be the religion of the Roman Empire, or in 756 that Mohammedanism would be that of the Arabian population.” (Moore, 475)
This movement certainly resembled a religion in many ways. But in mid-19th century America, people were driven more and more to question beliefs. Science, discovery, and rational thinking were all the rage (Moore, 478). So how did a movement based on talking to ghosts thrive at a time when people were fascinated with science?
In fact, there are many factors that contributed to spiritualism becoming one of the most dominant forms of entertainment of the day. Here, I’ll discuss three of those factors through the story of the two teenaged girls who inadvertently kicked the whole thing off.
Come and Investigate
1848. Hydesville, NY. It all started with a prank. 15-year-old Margaret Fox and 12-year-old Kate Fox fooled their superstitious mother with a simple string tied to an apple. At night, the two girls would bump the apple on the floor, causing what came to be known as a “rapping” sound throughout the house. Their mother investigated, but could not find the source of the sound. The sisters continued their fun, claiming the source of the rapping was a dead man buried in their basement. Soon, the rapping began responding to questions with shocking accuracy.
According to David Chapin, author of The Fox Sisters and the Performance of Mystery, friends and family joined the investigation and — before long — the phenomenon grew by word of mouth, until hundreds came from miles away (Chapin, 163). The girls’ older sister, Leah, quickly sussed out the scheme; but instead of ratting her sisters out, she went into business with them. By 1849, the three sisters were able to hold their first large public séance demonstration at the greatest venue in Rochester, NY. An ad in the local newspaper read:
“Let the citizens of Rochester embrace this opportunity of investigating the whole matter, and see if those engaged in laying it before the public are deceived, or are deceiving others, and, if neither, [let them] account for these truly wonderful manifestations… Come and investigate. Price-25 cents.” (Chapin, 174)
Traveling exhibits of newly-discovered phenomena were quite popular at the time. “Professor Rogers” showed off the new pseudosciences of phrenology and mesmerism, promising their accuracy. “Miss Bertha,” the clairvoyant, claimed to “read without eyes.” “Dr. Dods” insisted he could cure diseases with “Electrical Psychology.” Many of these acts generated controversy in the form of letters to local newspapers and attacks from clergy (Chapin, 174).
Unlike their counterparts, the Fox sisters did not say, “come and believe.” They said, “come and investigate.” Why would they invite the audience to bring critical thinking to an otherworldly phenomenon? Why would they invite controversy? It turns out, intrigue was good for business.
Their contemporaries agreed; the (in)famous P.T. Barnum claimed that Americans enjoyed the “intellectual exercise” in figuring out a mystery. He claimed that people loved “… ‘the continual appearance of new marvels [and also] to a jargon that concentrated on methods of operation, on aspects of mechanical… construction, on horsepower, gears, pulleys, and safety valves.’” (Harris, 74) So, Barnum created “… a space wherein people could play with the boundary between marvel and analysis and between credulity and skepticism.” (Walker, 40)
In fact, Barnum so believed in this principle that he regularly published newspaper articles debunking his own shows! For example, one of his acts featured a supposed mermaid, so Barnum published editorials from doctors claiming the sea creature was a fake. “’When the doctors disagree, the people must decide for themselves…’” (Walker, 39) The implication was clear: curiosity and debate sold more tickets than certainty.
Another showman, Martin Van Buren Bly, toured as a medium channeling a dead Quaker. Two years later, he toured an exposé debunking séance techniques (Walker, 42).
At times, skepticism not only sold tickets, it created new believers. One skeptic, Charles Lee, set out to reveal the Fox sisters as frauds through public demonstrations. But to his chagrin, his demonstrations often had the opposite effect:
“’What was very ludicrous, however, was that several in the audience, who now for the first time had witnessed anything in the ‘spiritual knocking’ line, and had remained skeptical, now became zealous converts to the doctrine of Spiritualism, and still refer to my exhibition as the strongest kind of demon-strative argument in its support.’” (Walker, 30-31)
R. Lawrence Moore asserted that spiritualism provided a new way of viewing religion, not through blind belief, but through the very modern methods of scientific experimentation (Chapin, 159). As Chapin observes, this approach allowed audiences to become active participants in the stories that mediums told through their seances.
A good deal of entertainment involves audiences sitting in seats passively, while performers are tasked with the active role of entertaining. In our own time, we’ve experienced both passive entertainment, such as movies or television, and the rise of interactive entertainment. Now, the internet allows audiences to participate in stories by commenting in real-time, creating memes and fan fiction, and by engaging in controversies associated with these works.
In the 19th century, spiritualist seances provided the same kinds of participation audiences craved — the same opportunities to show off their own knowledge and assert their own opinions.
Using Gender Prejudice to Their Advantage
The Fox sisters further broadcasted this “come and investigate” mentality by playing their role as demure, unassuming young women in a male-dominated society to their benefit. D.M. Dewey, editor of The Rochester declared, “’It would be more difficult for us to believe that either of the two girls sitting before us were practicing deception and trying to humbug us, than to believe that the knocking was supernatural.’” (Chapin, 185)
Many believed the sisters couldn’t comprehend their own spiritual abilities. One observer said that Kate Fox knew nothing more about the phenomena she channeled than a “canary bird” (Chapin, 181). Others were too hung up on the girls’ pleasing physical appearances to wonder if they might be swindlers. Nathaniel P. Willis said the sisters were “prettier than average” and displayed “good-humor and simplicity.” A writer for The Herald noted that Maggie Fox was “‘a very pretty, arch-looking, black-eyed, and rather modestly behaved young girl.’” (Chapin, 181) Chapin further asserts that the girls “… actively created themselves as passive objects of investigation… a role that conformed well with the 19th century beliefs about gender.” (Chapin, 185)
The Fox sisters were wily enough to allow the men who “came and investigated” to believe that such unassuming, pretty young women simply weren’t capable of fooling them. Even vehement skeptics, like Captain Isaiah Rynders, seemed taken in by the sisters’ demur posturing. Rynders went to see the Fox sister to debunk them but later wrote, “‘If they humbug you, they do it in the most amusing and agreeable manner…’” (Chapin, 183)
The Rise of Mass Media
The final ingredient that contributed to spiritualism’s success was the rise of the penny press, which was exactly what it sounds like: newspapers, circulars, and periodicals that sold for a penny. Most other newspapers at the time sold for six cents. So, for the first time, the penny press made news available to just about everyone in the rapidly-growing middle class.
In hindsight, the success of the penny press feels almost inevitable. As more people joined the middle and working classes in the 19th century, they gained more disposable income. They also gained an increased hunger for news, entertainment, and gossip. At the same time, newspapers went from being hand-printed to being mass produced by steam-powered printing. Finally, advertisers began to realize the value of print ads, giving the penny presses a financial interest in circulating as widely as possible, in contrast to the more traditional subscription-based newspapers (Wikipedia, “Penny Press”).
You’ll recall that the Fox sisters’ first Rochester invitation appeared as an ad in the local paper. Furthermore, most of the surviving praise and criticism of the sisters cited throughout this piece came from newspapers. The penny press became a widespread and influential mass medium perfectly suited to drawing crowds to spiritualist events and amplifying the controversies those events generated.
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Bibliography
- Chapin, David. “The Fox Sisters and the Performance of Mystery.” New York History, APRIL 2000, Vol. 81, No. 2 (APRIL 2000).
- Harris, Neil. “Humbug, The Art of P.T. Barnum.” University of Chicago Press, 1981
- Moore, R. Laurence. “Spiritualism and Science: Reflections on the First Decade of the Spirit Rappings” American Quarterly, Oct., 1972, Vol. 24, No. 4 (Oct., 1972)
- Natale, Simone. “Supernatural Entertainments : Victorian Spiritualism and the Rise of Modern Media Culture.” Penn State University Press, 2016.
- Walker, David. “The Humbug in American Religion Ritual Theories of Nineteenth-Century Spiritualism.” Religion and American Culture: A Journal of Interpretation, Vol. 23, No. 1 (Winter2013), pp. 40
- Wikipedia, “Penny Press.” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Penny_press
"Fox, Kate and Margaret ." Women in World History: A Biographical Encyclopedia. . Encyclopedia.com. (October 19, 2023). https://www.encyclopedia.com/women/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/fox-kate-and-margaret
Their knowledge of the occult is said to be passed down through generations, with each sister possessing unique talents and powers. The occult sisters are often associated with secret societies or covens, where they gather to perform rituals, conduct ceremonies, and share their knowledge and experiences. These gatherings are said to be shrouded in secrecy and usually held under the cover of darkness. The portrayal of the occult sisters in popular culture has further mystified their image. Movies, books, and television shows have often depicted them as powerful and alluring individuals, capable of casting spells, foreseeing the future, and bewitching others. The concept of the occult sisters has become a staple in fantasy and supernatural genres, captivating audiences with their otherworldly abilities. In conclusion, the concept of the occult sisters encompasses the mythical idea of a group of women possessing supernatural powers and knowledge of the occult. Although it is rooted in ancient folklore, the notion of the occult sisters continues to capture the imagination of many, as they embody the mysterious and unknown aspects of the supernatural world..
Reviews for "Exploring the Cosmic Connection: The Occult Sisters and Astrology"
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