Winnecassadaga
Last night I stayed up uber late putting together a speech which was due today, so I was exhausted all day long; regardless, I had planned to take a trip with some classmates to some witch/ghost/spiritualistic town that lies about thirty minutes from the campus, Cassadaga. Resisting the temptation to take a rain check and nap it through, I went along with them; 'twas a decision I don't regret. It was an extremely small town (that is, the more famous area of it where they have fortune tellers and the spiritualist school) that had lovely early-twentieth century housing and plenty of forestation surrounding it. Coupled with the refreshing cold weather that happened to be visiting the town this afternoon, the overall effect was that of a very peaceful state in the northern U.S. - a general sensation which fills me with the nostalgia of visiting Long Island. We entered a small shop (the "Welcome Center") and started asking the owners about their religion of spirituality.
It was quite interesting, really. Though I was by no means convinced, I learned about the town's fascinating belief system. Essentially, they claim to believe the Bible (though their interpretation of it was, in its entirety, "Jesus is love" - so cliche) but also believe that the universe is all one fundamentally similar entity (i.e. a common energy force). "Mediums" who practice becoming attuned to this energy are allegedly capable of contacting dead spirits which can act as guides, since all souls are eternal. Interestingly enough, they claim to believe in the heaven/hell concept while simultaneously declaring that they are incapable of knowing what the afterlife truly is (a bit contradictory in my opinion). Really, though, it was fascinating because this Spirituality was more of a philosophy than a doctrine, emphasizing that all things are love (with hate arising from misunderstanding), all things are one, and that the only true magic is an answered prayer. Nonetheless, they have a rigorous training program required for their mediums to become certified. Equated in difficulty with attaining a double-master's degree, it apparently takes anywhere from six to ten years to complete.
Really, though, the sheer atmosphere of the area was its most fascinating characteristic. I'd like to revisit it occasionally, just for the sake of quietly reading a book by the lake there. Anyway, after chatting with this sweet old lady more about their religion, we went out to go to this pond that was supposedly a "vortex" of spiritual energies, meaning it was especially serene or medium-friendly or something. We had to walk a vast and confusing nature trail to get there, and it was just as things started to get dark, so we started trying to scare the crap out of each other. It was quite an experience, but doesn't sound horribly interesting in writing. That was about it, though: after we gave up trying to find the vortex, we just headed back to the car and left. It was an interesting way to spend the evening, all in all. After that I went to ballroom dancing, where we did swing dance (yay!!). Rob and I were on fire (separately, I mean); I'm finally getting the feel for swingin' and Rob's just a natural.
Well, that's my update for today. Time to recover much-needed hours of sleep!
It was quite interesting, really. Though I was by no means convinced, I learned about the town's fascinating belief system. Essentially, they claim to believe the Bible (though their interpretation of it was, in its entirety, "Jesus is love" - so cliche) but also believe that the universe is all one fundamentally similar entity (i.e. a common energy force). "Mediums" who practice becoming attuned to this energy are allegedly capable of contacting dead spirits which can act as guides, since all souls are eternal. Interestingly enough, they claim to believe in the heaven/hell concept while simultaneously declaring that they are incapable of knowing what the afterlife truly is (a bit contradictory in my opinion). Really, though, it was fascinating because this Spirituality was more of a philosophy than a doctrine, emphasizing that all things are love (with hate arising from misunderstanding), all things are one, and that the only true magic is an answered prayer. Nonetheless, they have a rigorous training program required for their mediums to become certified. Equated in difficulty with attaining a double-master's degree, it apparently takes anywhere from six to ten years to complete.
Really, though, the sheer atmosphere of the area was its most fascinating characteristic. I'd like to revisit it occasionally, just for the sake of quietly reading a book by the lake there. Anyway, after chatting with this sweet old lady more about their religion, we went out to go to this pond that was supposedly a "vortex" of spiritual energies, meaning it was especially serene or medium-friendly or something. We had to walk a vast and confusing nature trail to get there, and it was just as things started to get dark, so we started trying to scare the crap out of each other. It was quite an experience, but doesn't sound horribly interesting in writing. That was about it, though: after we gave up trying to find the vortex, we just headed back to the car and left. It was an interesting way to spend the evening, all in all. After that I went to ballroom dancing, where we did swing dance (yay!!). Rob and I were on fire (separately, I mean); I'm finally getting the feel for swingin' and Rob's just a natural.
Well, that's my update for today. Time to recover much-needed hours of sleep!