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Supernatural Mystery Symposium: Spiritual Spectacles: Mother’s Work and the Shaker Era of Manifestations – Maria Molteni

Spiritual Spectacles: Mother’s Work and the Shaker Era of Manifestations

The Shakers are often called America’s longest lasting “Utopia.” Since their arrival from England in 1774, they’ve sought to build Heaven on Earth within organized, egalitarian communes. While widely known for their fervent worship styles, strict celibacy and excellent design, a brief period of their history known as “The Era of Manifestations” brought forth exceptionally fruitful spirit communication. From roughly 1837-1857 first-generation Shakers, such as early leader Mother Ann Lee (believed to be the Second Coming of Christ as “Holy Mother Wisdom”), appeared to young Shaker “instruments” who channeled their messages. Visual recordings of these correspondences are now known as the Gift Drawings or “Mother’s Work”. This lecture will contextualize the Era of Manifestations, its overlap with Spiritualism, and some of Molteni’s responsive artwork as artist and researcher-in-residence at Hancock, Canterbury, and Harvard Shaker Villages.

Bio

Maria Molteni (They/She, b. 1983, Nashville) is a Boston-based interdisciplinary artist, mystic, beekeeper, and Shaker researcher- since their first visit to the living Shakers in 2007. They descend from competitive square dancers, quilters and beekeepers who farmed just south of South Union Shaker Village (KY). Molteni pulls from a well of historical contexts, picturing themself as a Phys-Ed coach for visionary movements such as Shakers or the Bauhaus. With backgrounds in painting, publication, dance and athletics, their practice bloomed to incorporate deep research, embodied spirituality and interspecies collaboration. They are an active member of Lake Pleasant (the other oldest Spiritualist community in the US) and their intuitive practice spans astrology, tarot, dreamwork, conchomancy and color magic.

Molteni has been an artist and researcher-in-residence at Hancock, Canterbury and Harvard Shaker Villages and worked closely with the archives of several others. They have exhibited at numerous galleries and museums (as well as basements, basketball courts and seascapes) across the globe. Formal institutions include: The Momentary Contemporary Art Museum (Bentonville, AR), ICA & MFA Boston,  Project Rowhouses (Houston), Den Frei Contemporary Art Center (Copenhagen), NGBK (Berlin), Basis Voor Actuele Kunst (Utrect), Museum of Design Atlanta, San Luis Obispo Museum of Art (CA) and Fuller Craft Museum (MA). They recently completed an original Scopa playing + divination card deck which debuted in their “Counting to Infinity/ Sweeping Stars” installation at A + A Gallery, (Venice, Italy).

http://www.mariamolteni.com/sacred-sheets-shaker-space-clearing

Curated and Hosted by

Shannon Taggart is an artist and author exploring the intersection between Spiritualism, photography, and the representation of belief. Her work has been exhibited and featured internationally, including within the publications TIME, New York Times Magazine, Discover, and Newsweek. Taggart’s monograph, SÉANCE (Fulgur Press, 2019), was named one of TIME’s ‘Best Photobooks of 2019.’ https://www.shannontaggart.com/

don’t worry if you miss it – we will send you a recording valid for two weeks the next day

Shannon Taggart’s Supernatural Mystery Symposium

Selections from the annual event on supernatural mystery and strange cultural history, curated by Shannon Taggart and hosted in Lily Dale, NY, USA—the town home to the world’s largest Spiritualist community.

Dr. Raymond Buckland’s ‘Wide World of Spirit – Steven Intermill and Toni Rotonda – 25 September

Séance: Spiritualism, Photography and the Search for Ectoplasm – Shannon Taggart – 2 October

Publishing the Paranormal – Charles and Penelope Emmons – 04 October

Supernatural Mystery Symposium:  Art & The Paranormal – JF Martel – 05 October

Music from Elsewhere – Doug Skinner – 22 October

The Adventures of Arthur Conan Doyle – Michael W Homer – 07 November

Spiritual Spectacles: Mother’s Work and the Shaker Era of Manifestations – Maria Molteni – 18 November

Ted Serios: The Mind’s Eye, with Emily Hauver – 21 November

Supernatural Mystery Symposium: Dr. Raymond Buckland’s ‘Wide World of Spirit – Steven Intermill and Toni Rotonda

Dr. Raymond Buckland’s ‘Wide World of Spirit

Raymond Buckland first came to prominence in the 1960s as a spokesperson for the modern Witchcraft movement, but he had other metaphysical influences as well. Inspired by his uncle George, Buckland was a student of Spiritualism, acquiring his first spirit board at a young age and continuing his fascination throughout his life. The director of Cleveland’s Buckland Museum, Steven Intermill, will explore Buckland’s interest in Spiritualism and his summers spent in Lily Dale during his last years. This presentation will also introduce prominent occultists whose interest in Spiritualism overlapped with Buckland, including Austin Osman Spare, Gerald Gardner, and Leo Martello.

Bio

Steven Intermill is the Director of the Buckland Museum of Witchcraft & Magick, which operates out of Cleveland, Ohio. He spends his free time with his spouse Jillian, three cats Robat, Berti, and Lil Ricky, as well as his modular synthesizer. He’s always trying to find the sine wave that opens up the Trans-Yuggothian gateways.

Toni Rotonda is the High Priestess of the Temple of Sacrifice Coven in Columbus, Ohio and is the owner of the Buckland Museum of Witchcraft & Magick. Her dedication to the craft led her to the restoration and preservation of Raymond Buckland’s collection of witchcraft & occult items. Along with her spiritual pursuits, Toni restores Victorian homes and works with rescue animals.

Curated and Hosted by

Shannon Taggart is an artist and author exploring the intersection between Spiritualism, photography, and the representation of belief. Her work has been exhibited and featured internationally, including within the publications TIME, New York Times Magazine, Discover, and Newsweek. Taggart’s monograph, SÉANCE (Fulgur Press, 2019), was named one of TIME’s ‘Best Photobooks of 2019.’ https://www.shannontaggart.com/

don’t worry if you miss it – we will send you a recording valid for two weeks the next day

Shannon Taggart’s Supernatural Mystery Symposium

Selections from the annual event on supernatural mystery and strange cultural history, curated by Shannon Taggart and hosted in Lily Dale, NY, USA—the town home to the world’s largest Spiritualist community.

Dr. Raymond Buckland’s ‘Wide World of Spirit – Steven Intermill and Toni Rotonda – 25 September

Séance: Spiritualism, Photography and the Search for Ectoplasm – Shannon Taggart – 2 October

Publishing the Paranormal – Charles and Penelope Emmons – 04 October

Supernatural Mystery Symposium:  Art & The Paranormal – JF Martel – 05 October

Music from Elsewhere – Doug Skinner – 22 October

The Adventures of Arthur Conan Doyle – Michael W Homer – 07 November

Spiritual Spectacles: Mother’s Work and the Shaker Era of Manifestations – Maria Molteni – 18 November

Ted Serios: The Mind’s Eye, with Emily Hauver – 21 November

Supernatural Mystery Symposium: What Is the Future of the Grave? by Allison Meier

What Is the Future of the Grave?

From the 19th-century movement to transform burial grounds into park-like spaces to the rise of cremation and green burial, the grave has radically changed over time. Now there are new opportunities to make cemeteries places where the dead are honored as part of a living community. Allison C. Meier has been leading cemetery tours in the New York City area since 2011, including to graves of Spiritualists and mediums such as Mollie Fancher and the Fox Sisters whose memorials have endured as places of pilgrimage. Her 2023 book Grave, published by Bloomsbury as part of the Object Lessons book series about the hidden lives of ordinary things, is based on her on-the-ground research on the American cemetery.

Bio

Allison C. Meier is a Brooklyn-based writer, editor, and researcher focused on visual culture, architecture, and overlooked history. Her book Grave was published this year by Bloomsbury as part of the Object Lessons book series. She’s also the author of the Great Trees of New York Map, Art Deco New York Map, and Concrete New York Map from Blue Crow Media. She is currently the editor of Fine Books & Collections magazine and has bylines in the New York Times, Hyperallergic, CityLab, National Geographic, Smithsonian, and other publications. She moonlights as a cemetery tour guide.

Curated and Hosted by

Shannon Taggart is an artist and author exploring the intersection between Spiritualism, photography, and the representation of belief. Her work has been exhibited and featured internationally, including within the publications TIME, New York Times Magazine, Discover, and Newsweek. Taggart’s monograph, SÉANCE (Fulgur Press, 2019), was named one of TIME’s ‘Best Photobooks of 2019.’ https://www.shannontaggart.com/

don’t worry if you miss it – we will send you a recording valid for two weeks the next day

Shannon Taggart’s Supernatural Mystery Symposium

Selections from the annual event on supernatural mystery and strange cultural history, curated by Shannon Taggart and hosted in Lily Dale, NY, USA—the town home to the world’s largest Spiritualist community.

What Is the Future of the Grave? by Allison Meier – 3 Mar

Dr. Raymond Buckland’s ‘Wide World of Spirit – Steven Intermill and Toni Rotonda – 24 Mar

Spiritual Spectacles: Mother’s Work and the Shaker Era of Manifestations – Maria Molteni – 11 Apr

Ted Serios: The Mind’s Eye, with Emily Hauver – 25 Apr

Séance: Spiritualism, Photography and the Search for Ectoplasm – Shannon Taggart – 2 May

Music from Elsewhere – Doug Skinner – 9 May

Publishing the Paranormal – Charles and Penelope Emmons – 16 May

Supernatural Mystery Symposium: Reclaiming Art – JF Martel – 23 May

The Adventures of Arthur Conan Doyle – Michael W Homer – 20 Jun

Witchcraft During World War II – Julia Phillips

Witchcraft During World War II
There is a popular belief that in the early days of World War II, a coven of witches gathered in the New Forest to conduct a ritual designed to repel the threat of a Nazi invasion. In this presentation I will review how primary and secondary sources over the past 70 years helped to build an account about a clandestine group of witches fighting a secret battle to defend their island home so that it would not ‘sink into the abyss of a new dark age.’  The presentation includes images of original documents and newspaper reports.

Speaker Bio

Julia Phillips is Hon Senior Research Associate at the University of Bristol. She received her PhD for her research examining how witches and witchcraft were featured in newspapers in Victorian Britain. Her primary research interests are the study of witchcraft in the nineteenth century and the development of modern pagan witchcraft in the twentieth century.

Recent publications:

Phillips, Julia. 2021. ‘Madeline Montalban: Magus of the Morning Star.’ In Essays on Women in Western Esotericism: Beyond Seeresses and Sea Priestesses, edited by Amy Hale, 229-254. Cham: Springer International Publishing.

Phillips, Julia. ‘The Museum of Witchcraft and Magic: Toward a New History of British Wicca.’ Magic, Ritual, and Witchcraft, vol. 16 no. 2, 2021, p. 173-200. Project MUSE, doi:10.1353/mrw.2021.0028.

Houlbrook, Ceri and Phillips, Julia. ‘For All of Your Protection Needs: Tracing the “witch-bottle” from the Early Modern Period to TikTok.’ Magic, Ritual, and Witchcraft (2023, volume 18.1).

Curated and Hosted by

Dr. Amy Hale is an Atlanta based writer, curator and critic, ethnographer and folklorist speaking and writing about esoteric history, art, culture, women and Cornwall. She is the author of Ithell Colquhoun: Genius of the Fern Loved Gully (Strange Attractor 2020) and is currently working on several Colquhoun related manuscripts. She is also the editor of Essays on Women in Western Esotericism: Beyond Seeresses and Sea Priestesses (Palgrave 2022). She has contributed gallery texts and essays for a number of institutions including Tate, Camden Arts Centre, Art UK, Arusha Galleries, Heavenly Records and she is a curator and host for the Last Tuesday Society lecture series.

don’t worry if you miss it – we will send you a recording valid for two weeks the next day

Season of the Witch: The Book of Goth – Cathi Unsworth

Season of the Witch: The Book of Goth

Described as: “a panoramic view of the musical culture of the UK in the 1980s” by Greil Marcus, SEASON OF THE WITCH: THE BOOK OF GOTH tells the story of the musical genre that paralleled the rise and fall of Margaret Thatcher from May 1979 to November 1990 without ever speaking it’s name. Unleashed by the subversive forces of punk, groundbreaking bands such as Siouxsie and the Banshees, Joy Division and The Cure found a way to distil the dissonance and darkness of the new decade into a new form of music. Forty years after its inception, Cathi Unsworth tells the story of how Goth was shaped by the politics of an era – the miners’ strikes, privatisation, the Troubles and the coming of AIDS – spread across the world, sparking the imagination of a generation of alienated youths and creating an enduring counter-culture that steadfastly refuses to give up the ghost.

Bio:

Cathi Unsworth began her writing career at the music paper Sounds at the age of 19 in 1987 and has since written on music, books, film and the stranger areas of pop culture for Melody Maker, The Guardian, The Financial Times and Fortean Times as well as working as an editor on Bizarre and Purr magazines. She is the author of six pop-cultural noir novels  including Bad Penny Blues (Strange Attractor Press, 2021); and the co-author of Defying Gravity, the life and times of punk icon Jordan Mooney (Omnibus Press, 2018). Season Of The Witch: The Book of Goth (Nine Eight Books, 2023) is the culmination of a life’s fascination with Gothic music, its origins and influences. For more, see cathiunsworth.co.uk

Curated and Hosted by

Dr. Amy Hale is an Atlanta based writer, curator and critic, ethnographer and folklorist speaking and writing about esoteric history, art, culture, women and Cornwall. She is the author of Ithell Colquhoun: Genius of the Fern Loved Gully (Strange Attractor 2020) and is currently working on several Colquhoun related manuscripts. She is also the editor of Essays on Women in Western Esotericism: Beyond Seeresses and Sea Priestesses (Palgrave 2022). She has contributed gallery texts and essays for a number of institutions including Tate, Camden Arts Centre, Art UK, Arusha Galleries, Heavenly Records and she is a curator and host for the Last Tuesday Society lecture series.

don’t worry if you miss it – we will send you a recording valid for two weeks the next day

Bedtime Stories: Stories of the Sun – Dawn Nelson

Bedtime Stories:

Join performance storyteller and author Dawn Nelson for folklore and stories to celebrate the launch of her new book ‘Stories Of The Sun’. For millennia we have looked to the sun to provide us with light, food and warmth. Through its stories and folklore there lies the chance to reconnect with our primal life force through the exploration of ancient cultures, myths, legends and tales of our past. By understanding the power of our ancient star through the wisdom of those who once walked this land before us, we can hope to unplug ourselves from the synthetic glow that surrounds our lives and reconnect with the stories of the sun and learn lessons from those who hold the light in our stories.

Bio:

Dawn Nelson is an author, consultant and performance storyteller living within the beautiful South Downs. Her specialism is landscape, heritage and nature interpretation. She has worked with heritage sites, museums, schools, outdoor educators, community groups, councils and libraries to bring history and nature to life through story and spoken word, creating a sense of place and custodianship. To find out more about her work visit www.ddstoryteller.co.uk

Curated & Hosted by

Amy Hale is an Atlanta based writer, curator and critic, ethnographer and folklorist speaking and writing about esoteric history, art, culture, women and Cornwall. She is the author of Ithell Colquhoun: Genius of the Fern Loved Gully (Strange Attractor 2020) and is currently working on several Colquhoun related manuscripts. She is also the editor of Essays on Women in Western Esotericism: Beyond Seeresses and Sea Priestesses (Palgrave 2022). She has contributed gallery texts and essays for a number of institutions including Tate, Camden Arts Centre, Art UK, Arusha Galleries, Heavenly Records and she is a curator and host for the Last Tuesday Society lecture series.

don’t worry if you miss it – we will send you a recording valid for two weeks the next day

Bedtime Stories: Spring Tides & Salty Tales – Giles Abbott

Bedtime Stories: Spring Tides & Salty Tales

Spring Tides run high and so too do the stakes in this evening of thrilling tales from the British traditions of the Sea. Expect Mermaids, Sailors, Smugglers and Pirates. Mermaids can be caring or deadly, tender of vengeful, just like the sea can be beautiful or terrifying. Pirates can be bold and buccaneering or cowardly and vile. And then there’s the Selkie of Scotland, raiders from Denmark and Norway all packed into one magical online event–no wonder the waters are choppy! Book now for Spring Tides & Salty Tales!

Bio:

Giles Abbott has been telling stories since 1999 working nationally and internationally with folk stories, myths, legends, even one-man versions of Shakespeare plays as well as Iron-Age myths from Britain and Scandinavia, new works from historical/biographical sources and contemporary tales from right here, right now.

Giles is the UK’s only professional blind storyteller, also a busy Voice Teacher and Voice Artist. His storytelling is distinguished by his poetic flair for language and his rich speaking voice.

“The audience has succumbed to Abbott’s narrative charm from minute one.” review of “Macbeth”, Der Rheinische Post,

“Wit, wisdom and a voice like melted chocolate.” Honor Giles, Word Of Mouth Storytelling, Manchester

“A story so mesmerizing that it left me speechless. Giles Abbott from U.K received a standing ovation. His magical words kept the audience glued for more than an hour, and his stories will ring in my ears for many more years to come.” Divya, Khatakar International Storytelling Festival, Delhi, India

Curated & Hosted by

Amy Hale is an Atlanta based writer, curator and critic, ethnographer and folklorist speaking and writing about esoteric history, art, culture, women and Cornwall. She is the author of Ithell Colquhoun: Genius of the Fern Loved Gully (Strange Attractor 2020) and is currently working on several Colquhoun related manuscripts. She is also the editor of Essays on Women in Western Esotericism: Beyond Seeresses and Sea Priestesses (Palgrave 2022). She has contributed gallery texts and essays for a number of institutions including Tate, Camden Arts Centre, Art UK, Arusha Galleries, Heavenly Records and she is a curator and host for the Last Tuesday Society lecture series.

don’t worry if you miss it – we will send you a recording valid for two weeks the next day

Punk London: Stories of Punk, Porn and Performance with Dorothy Max Prior

Please note this is NOT a ZOOM Lecture but an in person lecture. Tickets include a complimentary glass of Devil’s Botany Absinthe.

Doors open at 6:30pm and lecture starts at 7pm

Punk London

‘Hurrah for inner-city dodgy geezer/brassy bird looks and pursuits. Winklepickers. Bleached blond hair. Striptease. Wrestling. Boxing. Greyhound racing. I remember someone – I think it was Jordan – saying we should all go greyhound racing. We embrace Len Deighton’s London, Wolf Mankowitz’ London, Diana Dors’ London. This London, in all its trashy messy mid-70s decline and fall, has become our playground.’

Dorothy Max Prior is a writer and artist, and a veteran of early punk and the underground scene in London in the 1970s.

Her book 69 Exhibition Road, published by Strange Attractor Press, offers an unusual female perspective on the 1970s counter-culture, reflecting on the author’s life as a punk muse, post-punk drummer, and ‘exotic dancer’. Identifying as bisexual, Max also paints a colourful picture of queer London in the 1970s – and celebrates the gay/punk crossovers that are often neglected in punk histories.

At this event, she will present short readings from the book, and talk about the picture it paints of the creative chaos of London in the mid-1970s.

69 Exhibition Road: Twelve true-life stories from the fag end of punk, porn and performance by Dorothy Max Prior. Strange Attractor Press | Publication date: 24 November 2022

Dorothy Max Prior is a writer and artist – London born and bred but currently living in Brighton. As an artist she works in performance, spoken word and sound installation. She is editor of Total Theatre Magazine, and writes for and edits other arts publications. She also has a fortnightly show on Slack City Radio called Granny (Max) Takes a Trip totallyradio.com In other lives, Max was a punk muse, post-punk drummer (with Rema Rema and Psychic TV, amongst others) and exotic dancer. Somewhere along the way, she has taught ballroom dancing, and toured the world as a cabaret dancer, street theatre performer, choreographer and director.

www.dorothymaxprior.com

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Devil’s Botany is the UK’s first absinthe distillery, founded by Directors of The Last Tuesday Society’s Absinthe Parlour & Cocktail Bar. Celebrating spirit’s connection to art, music & mixology, Devil’s Botany is unleashing the future of absinthe with bold expressions for the adventurous drinkers of today.

We are unable to give refunds for in person events with less than 7 days notice in any circumstances.

 

The Haven-Finding Art: An Intellectual Adventure of Celestial Navigation – Robert Hicks

The Haven-Finding Art: An Intellectual Adventure of Celestial Navigation

Five centuries ago, Spanish navigator Martin Cortés wrote, “What can be a better or more charitable deed, then to bring them into the way that wander: what can be more difficult than to guide a ship engulfed, where only water and heaven may be seen.” The human skill of wayfinding by the sun, moon, and stars enabled Polynesian people to settle islands throughout the Pacific Ocean. Ferdinand Magellan circumnavigated the globe by celestial means. The Apollo astronauts who used celestial wayfinding to travel to the moon and back. This illustrated presentation explores one of humankind’s greatest achievements—wayfinding by the sky—through early astronomical works in the Historical Medical Library of the College of Physicians of Philadelphia and focuses on the techniques and tools that get us to our destinations.

Bio

Robert D. Hicks, PhD, formerly directed the Mütter Museum and Historical Medical Library at the College of Physicians of Philadelphia, USA. He has worked with museum-based education and exhibits for four decades, primarily as a consultant to historic sites and museums. His disorganized background includes a first career in law enforcement, service as a naval officer, university degrees in anthropology and archaeology and a doctorate in maritime history from the University of Exeter. In the era before mobile phones, once lost at night on a sprawling university campus where he was a new student, Robert used celestial navigation to find his classroom building and return to his dormitory.

Curated & Hosted by

Amy Hale is an Atlanta based writer, curator and critic, ethnographer and folklorist speaking and writing about esoteric history, art, culture, women and Cornwall. She is the author of Ithell Colquhoun: Genius of the Fern Loved Gully (Strange Attractor 2020) and is currently working on several Colquhoun related manuscripts. She is also the editor of Essays on Women in Western Esotericism: Beyond Seeresses and Sea Priestesses (Palgrave 2022). She has contributed gallery texts and essays for a number of institutions including Tate, Camden Arts Centre, Art UK, Arusha Galleries, Heavenly Records and she is a curator and host for the Last Tuesday Society lecture series.

don’t worry if you miss it – we will send you a recording valid for two weeks the next day

The Old Stones: A Field Guide to the Prehistoric places of Britain and Ireland – Andy Burnham

The Old Stones: A Field Guide to the Prehistoric places of Britain and Ireland

A highly illustrated and fast paced talk based around many of the themes, new discoveries and mysteries highlighted in our book The Old Stones, along with a look at many lesser known but interesting sites around the UK. The Old Stones is the most comprehensive and thought-provoking field guide ever published to the iconic standing stones and prehistoric places of Britain and Ireland and was a winner of Current Archaeology Book of the Year.

Bio:

Andy Burnham is lead author of ‘The Old Stones – the Megalithic Sites of Britain and Ireland’ book, along with other contributors to the huge Megalithic Portal web resource which he founded and has been running continuously since 2001.

Curated & Hosted by

Amy Hale is an Atlanta based writer, curator and critic, ethnographer and folklorist speaking and writing about esoteric history, art, culture, women and Cornwall. She is the author of Ithell Colquhoun: Genius of the Fern Loved Gully (Strange Attractor 2020) and is currently working on several Colquhoun related manuscripts. She is also the editor of Essays on Women in Western Esotericism: Beyond Seeresses and Sea Priestesses (Palgrave 2022). She has contributed gallery texts and essays for a number of institutions including Tate, Camden Arts Centre, Art UK, Arusha Galleries, Heavenly Records and she is a curator and host for the Last Tuesday Society lecture series.

don’t worry if you miss it – we will send you a recording valid for two weeks the next day