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Step into the Victorian era with an author and Victorianist, Steele Alexandra Douris. Steele specializes in Victorian crime, gothic fiction, and Spiritualism, and is the author of Spirits, Seers & S\xe9ances: Victorian Spiritualism, Magic & the Supernatural. In this episode you\u2019ll discover the hidden gems of 19th-century newspapers, periodicals, and the women's magazines that helped to shape the Spiritualist community. Need a response to someone worried about the dangers of practicing any form of spirit communication? Try a timeless quote from prominent Spiritualist, W.T. Stead. Are you ready to try something new at your next party? Plan a Tableaux Vivant, the fascinating and long-lost Victorian party activity! You know that old curio \u201ccuriosity\u201d cabinet in the corner? You can thank the Victorians for that. And criminal investigation, detective fiction, and psychometry? You can thank the Victorians for that too! Visit BigSeance.com/243 for more info.

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In this episode:

Intro :00

Steele Alexandra Douris is an author, artist, and Victorianist, specializing in Victorian crime, gothic fiction, and spiritualism. She is a PhD candidate in the English department at Stanford University, where she has taught courses on Victorian spiritualism, ghost stories, and the gothic novel. She holds an MA in English from Stanford University and a BA in Anthropology from the University of Texas at Austin. As an undergraduate, Steele observed the social behavior of lemurs, wielded a trowel as part of a central Texas archaeological dig, and learned to identify primate fossils and human bones. As a graduate student, she disappeared into the archives of Victorian Britain, and now emerges only periodically to collect new tarot decks, hunt for fossils, and hoard art supplies. Steele splits her time between foggy NorCal and sunny South Texas, towing her mountain of journals and sketchbooks with her wherever she goes. You can learn more about Steele by visiting\xa0SteeleAlexandraDouris.com :50

Steele\u2019s book is Spirits, Seers & S\xe9ances: Victorian Spiritualism, Magic & the Supernatural. 2:36

What is a \u201cVictorianist?\u201d Plus Steele\u2019s academic passions. 3:26

A passion for archaeology, art, and literature. 5:01

What did the newspapers have to say about it? \u201cI work a lot in newspapers\u2026 19th century newspapers, 19th century periodicals and early 20th century women\u2019s magazines.\u201d 6:38

In her research into Spiritualism, Steele was amazed by how many Spiritualist magazines, newspapers, and periodicals there were at the time, like The Medium and Daybreak. \u201cThe material really just gave me a glimpse into the entire engine of the Spiritualist community beyond just what I had pictured at the beginning.\u201d 7:38

Steele includes really great \u201ctry it yourself\u201d exercises at the end of each chapter! Examples include instructions for holding a traditional spirit circle, sitting for a solitary seance, meditating like Dr. Mesmer, automatic writing/automatic art, channeling blindfolded, sitting for a psychic portrait, practicing psychometry, channeling your inner folklorist, exploring your own shadow/reading a gothic tale, scrying, making a Halloween card, or holding a Christmas seance!\xa08:55

Patrick discusses some of the really cool fall issues of The Delineator, an American women's magazine of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. 10:51

Tableaux Vivant, a fascinating, long-lost Victorian party activity. 12:02

\u201cIt\u2019s hard to move in many modern occult circles without tripping over the Victorians. And yet, somehow, in the process of becoming ubiquitous, the Victorians have also become invisible.\u201d 16:16

Patrick on one of his \u201ca-ha\u201d moments from the book: \u201cSome of us dream of putting away our modern tools and technology to pretend we\u2019re Victorian. But in reality, Victorians were all about becoming modern, with the huge advances in technology that was happening at the time.\u201d 16:16

What economic class of Victorians are we usually imagining?\xa021:12

Need a timeless response to someone worried about the dangers of using the Ouija Board or practicing any form of spirit communication? Try this great mid-1890s quote from prominent Spiritualist W.T. Stead, which he claims was channeled by his spirit guide, Julia. 22:28

Victorian personal ads! 26:06

The unique Victorian practice of Psychometry 27:59

Criminal investigation, detective fiction, ballistics, fingerprint analysis, criminal psychology, profiling, and paranormal investigation! 32:23

Curiosity \u201ccurio\u201d cabinets, curiosity shops, and specimen cabinets. 33:30

The Worlds Fair Expositions 35:28

Christmas lore and the legends of bells underground and under water. 36:52

The Victorian activities that Steele incorporates into her daily life! 41:50

Final thoughts from Steele 47:13

Outro 48:43

A special THANK YOU to\xa0Patreon supporters\xa0at the Super Paranerd and\xa0Parlor Guest\xa0level! 50:03

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For more on Steele Alexandra Douris

SteeleAlexandraDouris.com

Spirits, Seers & S\xe9ances: Victorian Spiritualism, Magic & the Supernatural (Amazon)

Facebook: @steelearcana

Instagram: @steelearcana

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The Big Seance Podcast can be found right here, on\xa0Apple Podcasts,\xa0Google Podcasts,\xa0Pandora,\xa0Spotify,\xa0TuneIn Radio,\xa0Amazon Music,\xa0Audible,\xa0iHeart Radio, and\xa0YouTube. Please subscribe and share with a fellow paranerd! Do you have any comments or feedback? Please contact me at\xa0Patrick@BigSeance.com. Consider recording your voice feedback directly from your device on my\xa0SpeakPipe\xa0page! You can also call the show and leave feedback at\xa0(775) 583-5563\xa0(or\xa07755-TELL-ME). I would love to include your voice feedback in a future show. The candles are already lit, so come on in and join the seance!

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