If you’ve been curious about using a spirit board, this is the episode for you! After Clara covered the history of ouija, Sabrina wanted to share her beginners guide on how to use it.

P.S. Halloween flipped the order of episodes a bit, so this was recorded before the halloween episode!

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Ever wondered how Halloween became the holiday of haunted houses, costumes, and candy? In this episode, we’re unraveling the eerie origins of Halloween and diving into some of the strange (and spooky) ways Victorians celebrated it. From its ancient Celtic roots as Samhaian, a night when the veil between worlds thinned, to the blend of superstitions and traditions that made it a night of magic, we’ll trace Halloween’s transformation into the holiday we know today. And Victorians put their own spooky spin on it! We'll explore their unique customs, from apple-bobbing to fortune-telling rituals meant to reveal future loves, and way more tricks than treats.

***This episode starts with some noise interruptions, but they clear up less than 10 minutes in.

CORRECTION: Clara refers to Lemongrab from Adventure Time as “Lemonhead” and does not realize her mistake!

SOURCES:

History.com - Halloween 2024

History.com - Halloween Was Once So Dangerous That Some Cities Considered Banning It

Friends of Dalnavert - Victorian Hallowe’en: Love, Poetry, and Stingy Jack

CNN - From pagan spirits to Wonder Woman: A brief history of the Halloween costume

The New York Times - Boo? Halloween Used to Be About Finding True Love

Irish Archaeology - Halloween in Irish Folklore

Pilgrimage In Medieval Ireland - Irish Halloween Traditions

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Get your candles and planchettes ready, because we’re summoning the story behind one of the most well known tools of the supernatural: the Ouija board! We’ll uncover its spiritualist roots, how it became a pop culture sensation, and the reputation it acquired during the satanic panic. And of course, Sabrina has a spooky Ouija story that further convinces Clara she won’t be handling a planchette any time soon. Tune in to say “GOODBYE” to any misconceptions you may have heard about this unique method of spirit communication!

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Luigi Board Video

SOURCES:

Mysterious Planchette - Collection Gallery

Wikipedia - Fuji (planchette writing)

Wikipedia - Planchette

History Hit - The Strange History of the Ouija Board

Vox - What "Ouija" actually means, and how the game has changed

The Guardian - The Ouija board’s mysterious origins: war, spirits, and a strange death

Mental Floss - A Brief History of the Ouija Board

Buried Secrets Podcast - The History of Automatic Writing Planchettes

Smithsonian - The Strange and Mysterious History of the Ouija Board

Baltimore Magazine - Not Dead Yet

Atlas Obscura - How the Ouija Board Got Its Name

Williamfuld.com - New York Daily Tribune “THE NEW PLANCHETTE”

Reader’s Digest - 10 Chilling Crimes Involving Ouija Boards

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This episode, Sabrina gives us some quick and easy ways to practice witchcraft! Even with a busy day to day, these will help you take a moment for self care and mindfulness. Tune in to hear some great attainable examples you can incorporate in your daily routine, if you feel disconnected or overwhelmed. We hope you find them useful!

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Grab your lantern and prepare for a chilling stroll - through some of the spookiest ghost stories from the Victorian era! In this episode, we’re digging into the Illustrated Police News, the infamous tabloid that fed the public’s appetite for gruesome crimes and spooky stories. Victorian England was obsessed with the supernatural, and the Illustrated Police News knew how to serve up some seriously spine-tingling ghost stories. From haunted houses to vengeful spirits, we’ll explore the eerie tales that had Victorians clutching their pearls (and probably sleeping with the candles lit). But was the ghost just a guy all along, or did people really believe they were being haunted by the other side? Tune in to find out!

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SOURCES:

History Extra - 5 Georgian Ghost Hoaxes

History Extra - 6 strange newspaper stories that shocked Victorian Britain

The British Newspaper Archives - Ten of The Most Spine-Chilling Ghost Stories from The Archive

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In our second episode of Brief Bewitchments, Sabrina explains the difference between a pentacle and pentagram, and how no matter which you use, you won’t summon a demon by accident. Phew!

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In this episode, we dive deep into the life of the legendary escape artist, Harry Houdini, and his surprising and eventually strained friendship with the creator of Sherlock Holmes, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Houdini dazzled the world with his death-defying stunts and escapes, but as much as he wanted to believe in spiritualism, he couldn’t escape the doubts he had about its validity. In contrast, his friend Sir Arthur was so enamoured with the idea of the afterlife, Houdini couldn’t even convince him that he himself did not have true magic powers. Sp grab your handcuffs, hold your breath, and take a journey with us through magic and mediums!

CORRECTION: The world record for longest time spent awake is actually 18 days!

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SOURCES:

Britannica - Harry Houdini

PBS - Timeline of Houdini's Life

Biography - Harry Houdini

Wild About Houdini - The life of Harry Houdini

The New Yorker - Harry Houdini and the Art of Escape

Wikipedia - Harry Houdini

Villa Finale - The Spiritualist Versus the Illusionist: The Battle Between Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and Harry Houdini PART 1 PART 2

Splice Today - Harry Houdini’s Spiritual Feud With Arthur Conan Doyle

American Magazine - When Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (maybe) spoke with the dead

Murder & Mayhem - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Enduring Obsession With the World of Spiritualism

NPR - Lessons from sleeplessness: The 60th anniversary of Randy Gardner's world record

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Welcome to our new bite sized bi-weekly episodes, Brief Bewitchments! In our first magical mini episode, the turns are tabled as Sabrina tells Clara about Victorian divination! From her specialty, tarot, to tea leaves and palmistry, Sabrina shares her expertise on some of the mediums used by mediums.

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