Paul Fricker Posted May 9, 2023 Share Posted May 9, 2023 https://blasphemoustomes.com/2023/05/09/victorian-spiritualism-part-1/ This is the first of our two-part look at the origins and evolution of Spiritualism in the gaslight era. We look at how Spiritualism grew out of Mesmerism, how it became a religion, some of the strange phenomena that mediums produced at the behest of the spirits. This will continue in the next episode, when we examine some of the key figures of the Victorian Spiritualism movement and how many of them were exposed as frauds. Yes, frauds. It shouldn’t be controversial to talk about how Spiritualism is rooted in lies, but its growth into a religion might make this a touchy subject. As ever, we don’t aim to denigrate people’s deeply held beliefs, but we can’t shy away from the fact that the originators of Spiritualism were admitted hoaxsters who denounced their creation later in life. These episodes also gloss over the details of séances. We aim to cover those in more detail in a later episode. The Blasphemous Tome issue 11 The next issue of The Blasphemous Tome will soon be entering layout, ready to creep its way across the globe in June. This is the fully licenced Call of Cthulhu fanzine we produce for Patreon backers of the podcast. Issue 11 features a gorgeous full-colour cover from John Sumrow and a brand-new Call of Cthulhu scenario from our own Scott Dorward. Blasphemous Tome 5a Reissued Speaking of The Blasphemous Tome, Patreon backers can now download the PDF of issue 5a. This was previously released as issue 5, back when it was a print-only publication. It features a modern-day Call of Cthulhu scenario by Matt Sanderson, entitled “Number 22”. People backing us on Patreon at the $3 level or higher before the end of May 2023 will receive a discount code for a print-on-demand copy of issue 5a. Scott and Paul on The Miskatonic Playhouse Scott recently joined the “Cult and Culpability” Regency Cthulhu arc on the Miskatonic Playhouse podcast for a short run, giving voice to the villainous Lord Cosgrove. Newman is also planing to record an interview with Paul which should be going out on the podcast feed soon. Paul at Chaosium Con Paul discusses his recent visit to Chaosium Con in Michigan, where he met up with our regular contributor John Sumrow and played a game with You Too Can Cthulhu. You can read Paul's full report on his blog here. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darius West Posted May 10, 2023 Share Posted May 10, 2023 I actually have a Spiritualist Church in my suburb. I also have friend who is a stage magician who has an entire act based on conducting a Victorian Era seance, and it is completely unnerving even when you know it is fake. Like Ouija boards and Gypsy Tarot Readers, Seances are evocative and familiar folkloric rituals that potentially give players that good scare they are looking for from a CoC game. I look forwards to reading the Blasphemous Tome. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EricW Posted May 20, 2023 Share Posted May 20, 2023 Spiritualism is a persistent belief system. My theory is it's based of variations of subvocalisation function. People's brains work in many different ways, a lot of people hear and converse with voices, which they sometimes call spirit. These are not crazy people, crazy is when you start doing horrible things the voices tell you to do, they're just a part of the diverse range of normal brain function. The reality is we talk to ourselves all the time - so the voices are real, it's an important part of cognition. There are ongoing attempts to capture this subvocal voice, with obvious implications ranging from curing mental illnesses to new interrogation techniques. Even if a prisoner resists regular interrogation, they might be talking to themself about the secret they are trying to conceal - in many cases it might be what we consider our own thoughts which are being subvocalised. Obviously if there is any human interaction with the supernatural, this self chatter might be a place to start looking. And I have looked - though I've never seen any evidence of additional knowledge, which would be a strong indication something strange was happening. Like if the voices in someone's head consistently leading them to buried treasure or murder victims or whatever, it would be pretty intriguing evidence something unusual was happening. But every indication I've seen to date is while some people believe they are talking to supernatural realms, whatever is happening doesn't give them any advantage in terms of knowledge or insight, beyond what you could reasonably expect an intelligent person to discover based on information they already have. Probably a good thing - if Cthulhu existed, I'm not sure having access to the supernatural and magic would be worth the downside 😉 2 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Fricker Posted May 23, 2023 Author Share Posted May 23, 2023 https://blasphemoustomes.com/2023/05/23/victorian-spiritualism-part-2/ This is the conclusion of our two-part look at the origins and evolution of Spiritualism in the gaslight era. In the first part, we examined the origins of Spiritualism. This time, we explore how Spiritualism became so popular in Victorian Britain, as well as some of the key figures of Victorian Spiritualism and the strange techniques they used to fake séances. These episodes gloss over many of the details of séances themselves. We aim to cover those properly in an upcoming episode. The Blasphemous Tome issue 11 The next issue of The Blasphemous Tome will soon be entering layout, ready to creep its way across the globe in June. This is the fully licenced Call of Cthulhu fanzine we produce for Patreon backers of the podcast. Issue 11 features a gorgeous full-colour cover from John Sumrow and a brand-new Call of Cthulhu scenario from our own Scott Dorward. Paul at UK Games Expo Paul will be attending the UK Games Expo in Birmingham between Friday the 2nd and Sunday the 4th of June 2023. While there, he will take part in a panel discussion with members of The Grognard Files, Orlanth Rex’s Gaming Vexes, and the Frankenstein RPG Podcast. A Weekend With Good Friends The next Weekend With Good Friends is approaching fast! This is the online RPG convention organised by our lovely listeners and hosted on our Discord server. While the main source of information is our Discord server, we also have a web page with important details and links. We will update this as things progress. GM signups open a little over a week after this episode goes out. If you would like to offer a game and have it listed in the programme, please check out the AWWGF page between the 2nd and 15th of June. Don’t worry if you miss the cut-off, however — there will be pickup games running throughout the weekend. The important dates are: Friday 2nd – Thursday 15th June — GM signups Friday 23rd – Thursday 29th June — Player signups Friday 30th June — allocation results announced Friday 7th – Sunday 9th July — AWWGF 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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