|
 |
| Search |
|
|
Observer Classifieds
Place a Classified Ad
Send a Letter to
the Editor
Send a Press Release
Staff Directory
Archives / Search 2003
Community Links
|
|
Finding Florida
 |
| There are few places anywhere like Cassadaga. Home to nearly 50 spiritualists, or mediums, the town was established as a religious community more than a century ago. Today it is listed on the National Register of Historic Places but the purpose remains much the same. If so inclined, perhaps a glimpse of the future can be had in this quiet and peaceful setting. Mitch Traphagen Photo |
CASSADAGA – The people come in grief, in despair and in curiosity. They come looking for answers and to make contact with loved ones lost or, perhaps, to be entertained.
Cassadaga, a small town located between Orlando and Daytona, is the oldest communal religious community in the southeastern United States. It is home to approximately 50 mediums living on 57 acres of collectively owned land. Located a few miles off I-4, it is easy to miss. There are no billboards advertising glimpses into the future; there is no neon or flashing lights. Cassadaga is not a tourist attraction – but the tourists come anyway.
A year ago, I visited the town and spent more than an hour with Albert Bowes, a medium and consultant of considerable regard in both the business and academic worlds. I did not tell him I was a reporter but did admit I was a skeptic.
Over the course of the hour, I didn’t get the winning lottery numbers nor did I communicate with the dead but I ended up leaving his office with my mind cracked just a bit more open. It seemed that somehow Mr. Bowes managed to tune in to the wake my life has left in the universe. We discussed things of which he couldn’t possibly have knowledge. Perhaps as people we do share a common yet invisible thread. Perhaps there is indeed something that ties us all together.
If so, Albert Bowes apparently has the talent to tap into that. Oddly, I felt better in believing that was the case.
A few weeks ago, my wife and I returned to Cassadaga – this time so she could meet with another spiritualist for a reading of her own. Less skeptical than I, she was hoping for a few answers.
“On one hand, he was very intuitive,” she said afterwards. “He said things I knew but never consciously thought about. On the other hand, either he did not have a good feel for things or maybe I don’t have a good feeling for those things.”
 |
| If anyplace could be haunted, the Cassadaga Hotel would certainly fit the bill. Don’t go looking for poltergeists and cheap thrills, however. For many of the spiritualists, theirs is a serious business. Mitch Traphagen Photo |
In other words, your mileage may vary when it comes to things such as spiritualist readings.
“Part of what he said, though, was astoundingly true,” she continued. “But part of it didn’t make sense.”
Perhaps not coincidentally, some of what she described did indeed make sense to me.
Don’t go to Cassadaga looking for a spectral thrill. There are no haunted houses with poltergeists leaping from dark corners. The undead have not been reported walking the streets in the mysterious hours before daylight and nowhere will you see witches brewing mysterious things in large, black cauldrons. Some say the Cassadaga Hotel is haunted – and if anyplace could be haunted, the hotel could be it – but the town and the people who live there aren’t necessarily about random ghosts and cheap thrills.
The Cassadaga Spiritualist Camp has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places since 1991. The community was founded in 1894 as a winter retreat for a group of New York spiritualists. Set among hills and steep ravines, the landscape is unusual for Florida. The town itself is unusual for anywhere.
From South Hillsborough, Cassadaga is well worth a visit, if nothing else to discover a still quiet corner of Florida. The late 19th and early 20th century architecture, the winding roads and the trees are worth a day trip alone. Should your curiosity carry you further, appointments with camp spiritualists may be made through the bookstore and information center. There are also spiritualists operating out of the hotel and other offices within the community, although they are independent of the camp. Just remember to go with your mind wide open.
Cassadaga is unusual. There is a certain feel to the place that defies description. It’s not eerie or creepy or even necessarily profound, but is more of an energy that can be felt there. It could be in the quiet, or the landscape or it could be something more. Perhaps you will find the answers you are looking for there. You will most certainly, however, find peace – certainly a rare commodity. You can have that simply by walking down the quaint streets.
Cassadaga is approximately two hours driving from South Hillsborough. From I-4 take exit 114, State Road 472, and follow the signs to the town. For more information visit www.cassadaga.org.
What follows is a public comments section. This is not from the Observer News staff - it comes from other people and contains their opinions and theirs alone. The Observer News does not control the material that follows. We do, however, reserve the right to remove objectionable material at our discretion. By that we mean that we will edit or delete any content that we deem is inappropriate. By posting your comments, you are stating that you agree to these terms.
Click here to report a comment.
© Copyright 2008 by The
Observer
News Publications and M&M Printing Company, Inc.
Top of Page
|
|
|
Finding Florida
Latest Headlines
|
|
