Suffer Little Children

John Ballou Newbrough, Oahspe, and the Faithists of SHalam

In 1880, God dictated a new Bible to J.B. Newbrough, and then told him to move to New Mexico and open up the weirdest orphanage the world has ever seen. Read More...

Categories: Eccentrics & Prophecies, People & Places, Series 7

Tags: communism cult Dr. John Ballou Newbrough Faithism New York, NY Oahspe Presented by #13 religion Shalam Colony Spiritualism Theosophy

Published: May 24, 2021
Edited: May 22, 2021

Normalating

let me tell you about the healing power of color

The idea that color has healing power is a relatively modern (and utterly fallacious) one. We discuss its development through the 19th and 20th centuries. Read More...

Categories: Hoaxes, Frauds & Forgeries, Series 5, Wild Card

Tags: civil law crime eclectic medicine Presented by #13 quackery Theosophical Society Theosophy

Published: October 12, 2020
Edited: February 8, 2021

Spirit Princess

one woman, thirty aliases, forty years and too many crimes to count

The greatest and most notorious Spiritualist swindler of all time was a woman from Kentucky who looked a bit like Lola Montez (if you squinted). Read More...

Categories: Biography, History, Hoaxes, Frauds & Forgeries, Series 3

Tags: "General" Joseph Hubert Diss Debar "Prince" Michael Keyfor Mills Ann O'Delia Diss Debar Baltimore, MD Canada Chicago, IL crime David Livingston Mackay Detroit, MI dime museum Dr. Cyrus Reed Teed "Koresh" Florida Fort Myers, FL Freeman Bernstein Harmony Society Illinois Koreshan Unity London, England Michigan New York, NY religion Spiritualism Theosophical Society Theosophy United Kingdom Windsor, ON

Published: March 23, 2020
Edited: May 25, 2021