The ODDentity Podcast

This week, I’ll be talking about the practice of palmistry, its origins, and one of the more famous palmists, Chiro. Palmistry has a long and interesting history and is still practiced today. I think you’d be hard-pressed to find an outdoor carnival or Halloween party that didn’t feature some type of fortune-telling or palmistry.

The ODDentity Podcast is brought to you on a weekly basis by host Janine Mercer.

The podcast is written, produced, and edited by Janine Mercer (unless otherwise stated), and the music is provided by Garage Band.

Find the odd pod on Twitter and Instagram @oddentitypod and Facebook as The Oddentity Podcast. You are welcome to email suggestions for future episodes to [email protected] and if you’d like a transcript of this episode, one will be available at theoddentitypodcast.wordpress.com.

Please take a moment to leave a 5* review on iTunes and, if you haven’t already, please make sure to mash that Subscribe button to be sure you’re in the know when a new episode drops. Sincerest thanks to those who have promoted The ODDentity Podcast to their family, friends, and coworkers. Every little bit helps!

UNICO NUTRITION

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Sources:

Palmistry for All (Free Online Access) https://www.gutenberg.org/files/20480/20480-h/20480-h.htm

Link to Carroll’s book https://www.amazon.com/Skeptics-Dictionary-Collection-Deceptions-Dangerous/dp/0471272426/ref=sr_1_1?crid=2H89GOJBPHVUX&dchild=1&keywords=the+skeptics+dictionary&qid=1594314795&sprefix=the+skeptics+dicti%2Caps%2C161&sr=8-1

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palmistry

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cheiro

This week, I bring you an interview with Cindie Harper, an author and the Director of Historical Research and Paranormal Documentation of Sweet Springs Resort Park Foundation and Sweet Springs Sanitarium in Sweet Springs, West Virginia. Cindie is also the official paranormal documentarian for Sweet Springs Sanitarium. Cindie’s connection to the paranormal runs deep. In childhood, she experienced seeing mist-like apparitions and poltergeist-type activity. She used cassette recorders and cameras to conduct her own paranormal experiments and enjoyed reading and collecting ghost stories. Cindie has many years of experience in paranormal research and maintains an active role within the paranormal community by managing tours of Old Sweet (as it’s affectionately called) and continuing to document paranormal experiences. 

If you enjoy this week’s episode and would like to learn more about Sweet Springs Sanitarium, you can visit their website at www.sweetspringssanitarium.com. You can find them on Facebook as haunted sweet springs and on Instagram @sweetspringssanitarium.

For more information about Cindie’s books, visit her Amazon author page at amazon.com/author/cynthiaharper. I’ll drop a link to her Memorial Cemetery book into the show notes.

For more stories about Cindie’s experiences with the paranormal, find her page on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/hauntedharper/

If you’d like to donate toward the preservation efforts at the sanitarium, you can go to https://www.sweetspringsresortpark.org/donate.

The ODDentity Podcast is brought to you on a weekly basis by host Janine Mercer.

The podcast is written, produced, and edited by Janine Mercer (unless otherwise stated), and the music is provided by Garage Band.

Find the odd pod on Twitter and Instagram @oddentitypod and on Facebook as The Oddentity Podcast. You are welcome to email suggestions for future episodes to [email protected] and if you’d like a transcript of this episode, one will be available at theoddentitypodcast.wordpress.com.

Please take a moment to leave a 5* review on iTunes and, if you haven’t already, please make sure to mash that Subscribe button to be sure you’re in the know when a new episode drops. Sincerest thanks to those who have promoted

Show Notes:

Find Sweet Springs Sanitarium and get social!

Cindie’s Books/Info

Cindie’s Amazon Author Page:

https://www.amazon.com/Cynthia-Harper/e/B07R4G5TRG

Follow Cindie on Social Media:

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/femmeforce 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Sweet-Springs-Sanitarium-1046408435539952/

https://www.facebook.com/hauntedharper/Website: www.sweetspringssanitarium.com

https://www.sweetspringsresortpark.org

My personal paranormal experiences Facebook page: 

https://www.facebook.com/hauntedharper/

Twitter: @sweetsspringssan

Instagram: @sweetspringssanitarium

This week, we tag along to the local cemetery with the resurrection men, men who dug up fresh corpses for the purposes of medical study. We’ll examine the history of body snatching, the purpose, and practice, and learn about Burke and Hare, two notorious murderers who were also body snatchers and grave robbers.

This episode contains a body under a bed, some wooden shovels, a waving corpse, and some crafty body snatchers.

The ODDentity Podcast has 12 episodes per season and the final episode for this season is fast approaching. Episode 12 features that unforgettable interview I mentioned at the start of this season and I think it’s a great note to end on. Season 6 will be a little delayed as I’ve got some other projects that need my attention, but I’m hoping the downtime will be no more than 6 weeks. I hope you’ll still continue to subscribe so you’ll know when the new episodes are available and that you’ll continue to follow me on social media as I’ll still be posting things that I hope will bring your odd little hearts much joy.

The ODDentity Podcast is brought to you on a weekly basis by host Janine Mercer.

The podcast is written, produced, and edited by Janine Mercer (unless otherwise stated), and the music is provided by Garage Band.

Find the odd pod on Twitter and Instagram @oddentitypod and on Facebook as The Oddentity Podcast. You are welcome to email suggestions for future episodes to [email protected] and if you’d like a transcript of this episode, one will be available at theoddentitypodcast.wordpress.com.

Please take a moment to leave a 5* review on iTunes and, if you haven’t already, please make sure to mash that Subscribe button to be sure you’re in the know when a new episode drops. Sincerest thanks to those who have promoted The ODDentity Podcast to their family, friends, and coworkers. Every little bit helps!

SOURCES:

https://www.livescience.com/51591-gruesome-grave-robberies.html

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/in-need-cadavers-19th-century-medical-students-raided-baltimores-graves-180970629/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Body_snatching

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mortsafe

https://www.pbs.org/opb/historydetectives/feature/body-snatching-around-the-world/

https://www.theguardian.com/science/blog/2012/oct/19/doctors-dissection-resurrection-men-museum-london

https://www.pbs.org/opb/historydetectives/feature/body-snatching-around-the-world/

https://www.historic-uk.com/HistoryUK/HistoryofScotland/Burke-Hare-infamous-murderers-graverobbers/

Sappol, Michael (2002). A traffic of dead bodies: anatomy and embodied social identity in nineteenth-century America. Princeton, N.J: Princeton University Press. ISBN 0-691-05925-X.

A little something extra:

"The Body Snatcher" is a short story by the Scottish author Robert Louis Stevenson (1850–1894). First published in the Pall Mall Christmas "Extra" in December 1884, its characters were based on criminals in the employ of real-life surgeon Robert Knox (1791–1862) around the time of the notorious Burke and Hare murders (1828)”

A link to an audio download is below. Enjoy!

https://librivox.org/search?title=The+Body-Snatcher&author=Stevenson&reader=&keywords=&genre_id=0&status=all&project_type=either&recorded_language=&sort_order=catalog_date&search_page=1&search_form=advanced

Hello ODD Pod Listeners, and welcome back to another episode.

This week, I tell the tale of the Vanishing Hitchhiker and unravel the urban folklore that surrounds this fascinating legend. It’s an old story, some written accounts dating back to 1948, and it seems as if there are many incarnations of this particular urban legend. I’ll get into the history of this legend, dissect the historical tellings that exist, and introduce you to some theories about how it originated. You might even meet some new hitchhikers along the way.

The ODDentity Podcast is brought to you on a weekly basis by host Janine Mercer.

The podcast is written, produced, and edited by Janine Mercer (unless otherwise stated), and the music is provided by Garage Band.

Find the odd pod on Twitter and Instagram @oddentitypod and on Facebook as The Oddentity Podcast. You are welcome to email suggestions for future episodes to [email protected] and if you’d like a transcript of this episode, one will be available at theoddentitypodcast.wordpress.com.

Please take a moment to leave a 5* review on iTunes and, if you haven’t already, please make sure to mash that Subscribe button to be sure you’re in the know when a new episode drops. Sincerest thanks to those who have promoted The ODDentity Podcast to their family, friends, and coworkers. Every little bit helps.

Sources:

https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/the-vanishing-hitchhiker/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vanishing_hitchhiker

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=asgvJQtwwpU

http://myths.e2bn.org/mythsandlegends/origins13483-the-hitchhiker.html

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qZIQ9S8G5fA

https://www.livescience.com/7107-urban-legends-start-persist.html

https://www.thoughtco.com/understanding-highway-hypnosis-4151811

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4466855/

Hello ODD Pod listeners and welcome back!

This week, I bring you an in-depth look at Bodie California and the ghostly history that still lingers within some of the dilapidated buildings. I realized recently that I hadn’t taken you to a haunted location for a little while and I thought Bodie would be perfect.

This episode contains a possible curse, a wild west ghost town, a lasagna sadly lacking in garlic, and *some* hospitable spirits.

Pay your respects to the spirits of Bodie at https://www.bodie.com/history/cemetery/

The ODDentity Podcast is brought to you on a weekly basis by host Janine Mercer.

The podcast is written, produced, and edited by Janine Mercer (unless otherwise stated), and the music is provided by Garage Band.

Find the odd pod on Twitter and Instagram @oddentitypod and on Facebook as The Oddentity Podcast. You are welcome to email suggestions for future episodes to [email protected] and if you’d like a transcript of this episode, one will be available at theoddentitypodcast.wordpress.com.

Please take a moment to leave a 5* review on iTunes and, if you haven’t already, please make sure to mash that Subscribe button to be sure you’re in the know when a new episode drops. Sincerest thanks to those who have promoted The ODDentity Podcast to their family, friends, and coworkers. Every little bit helps!

Sources:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bodie,_California

https://www.visitmammoth.com/blogs/history-and-geology-bodie-ghost-town

https://ghost.hauntedhouses.com/california_bodie_bodie_cemetery#

This week, I bring you the tale of a favorite cryptid of mine, The Jersey Devil, and the folklore that surrounds this fascinating creature. This show suggestion has been hanging around for a little while and I thought with all the unknowns we’re dealing with in our crazy world, a cryptid wouldn’t go astray.

I’d also like to fill you all in as far as what’s happening in my world right now. Currently, I’m in the process of editing the thesis for my MFA program (a 200-page document) and I’m fitting that in between work and the podcast. For the next couple of weeks, I won’t be posting episodes as I’ll be waist-deep in that document, but I’ll return on the 27th with a new episode.

This episode contains a very shitty Benjamin Franklin, a creepy cryptid, and some unreliable news sources.

Notes:

Support the Wilde Collection:

https://www.gofundme.com/f/please-help-us-rebuild-the-wilde-collection?utm_medium=copy_link&utm_source=customer&utm_campaign=p_na+share-sheet&rcid=6b3b3524d42c43898c28d272f67908b3&fbclid=IwAR0hrX6RL12uGWbl-XRsvOOHM-iPIQePd8BP_ijJ9LBnUQtB3H4SOfoa-dc

That weird cell video I told you about:

https://youtu.be/cXjUDCA2ovI

The ODDentity Podcast is brought to you on a weekly basis by host Janine Mercer.

The podcast is written, produced, and edited by Janine Mercer (unless otherwise stated), and the music is provided by Garage Band.

Find the odd pod on Twitter and Instagram @oddentitypod and on Facebook as The Oddentity Podcast. You are welcome to email suggestions for future episodes to [email protected] and if you’d like a transcript of this episode, one will be available at theoddentitypodcast.wordpress.com.

Please take a moment to leave a 5* review on iTunes and, if you haven’t already, please make sure to mash that Subscribe button to be sure you’re in the know when a new episode drops. Sincerest thanks to those who have promoted The ODDentity Podcast to their family, friends, and coworkers. Every little bit helps!

Speaking of sources...

https://pinelandsalliance.org/learn-about-the-pinelands/pinelands-history-and-culture/the-jersey-devil-and-folklore/https://web.archive.org/web/20131204044250/http://www.pinelandsalliance.org/history/devil/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jersey_Devil

https://weirdnj.com/stories/jersey-devil/

https://theweek.com/articles/442631/mysterious-origins-jersey-devil

https://www.inquirer.com/news/new-jersey/jersey-devil-history-fake-news-norman-jeffries-20190123.html

https://www.nj.com/entertainment/2016/10/13_places_the_jersey_devil_has_been_spotted_in_the.html

https://www.atlantic-county.org/history/jersey-devil-pg1.asp

Spiritualism and mediumship, two topics I keep coming back to as this podcast progresses. This week, I bring you the tale of the charlatan who swindled Mary Todd Lincoln and his connections to a presidential assassin and tales of other first ladies who entertained mediums at the White House. I’ll also discuss a medium that Jane Pierce swore was the real deal and even told the woman that, when she resided in the White House, she would bring the woman in via the front door, an illustrious entrance indeed.

This episode contains a treacherous humbug, a cranial laceration, a big, haunted white house, and a set of electronic biceps.

The ODDentity Podcast is brought to you on a weekly basis by host Janine Mercer.

The podcast is written, produced, and edited by Janine Mercer (unless otherwise stated), and the music is provided by Garage Band.

Find the odd pod on Twitter and Instagram @oddentitypod and on Facebook as The Oddentity Podcast. You are welcome to email suggestions for future episodes to [email protected] and if you’d like a transcript of this episode, one will be available at theoddentitypodcast.wordpress.com.

Please take a moment to leave a 5* review on iTunes and, if you haven’t already, please make sure to mash that Subscribe button to be sure you’re in the know when a new episode drops. Sincerest thanks to those who have promoted The ODDentity Podcast to their family, friends, and coworkers. Every little bit helps!

Sources:

Herbert Mitgang, editor, Noah Brooks, Washington in Lincoln’s Time, pp. 66-68.

Daniel Mark Epstein, The Lincolns: Portrait of a Marriage, p. 385.

Epstein, The Lincolns: Portrait of a Marriage, p. 386.

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/the-spiritualist-who-warned-lincoln-was-also-booths-drinking-buddy-180954317/?page=2

https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/in-1926-houdini-spent-4-days-shaming-congress-for-being-in-thrall-to-fortunetellers

https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1988/05/04/mediums-and-messages/e28b3463-2c78-4ab6-8cca-9382357fd018/

https://www.whitehousehistory.org/seances-in-the-red-room

http://www.mrlincolnswhitehouse.org/residents-visitors/marys-charlatans/marys-charlatans-charles-j-colchester/

https://rogerjnorton.com/Lincoln44.html

https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/xwzvwn/the-first-ladies-who-brought-witchcraft-to-the-white-house

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fortune-telling

S5 Ep 6: Q & A

This week I answer listener questions about me, the podcast, and my creepy collection. I welcome my dear friend Patti Wolf to ask away and peel back my crusty layers. :D

This episode contains MANY excellent questions, a chat about anxiety and treatment, and various dead things from furry to wet.

PLEASE NOTE: Patti had to call in for this episode and the audio is a little odd in some parts. I’ve tried to clean it up as best I can, but without a mixer it’s a bit trying.

NEXT EPISODE: March 30

The ODDentity Podcast is brought to you on a weekly basis by host Janine Mercer.

The podcast is written, produced, and edited by Janine Mercer (unless otherwise stated), and the music is provided by Garage Band.

Find the odd pod on Twitter and Instagram @oddentitypod and on Facebook as The Oddentity Podcast. You are welcome to email suggestions for future episodes to [email protected] and if you’d like a transcript of this episode, one will be available at theoddentitypodcast.wordpress.com.

Please take a moment to leave a 5* review on iTunes and, if you haven’t already, please make sure to mash that Subscribe button to be sure you’re in the know when a new episode drops. Sincerest thanks to those who have promoted The ODDentity Podcast to their family, friends, and coworkers. Every little bit helps!

S5 Ep. 5: Through A Glass, Darkly

Hello ODDPod listeners and welcome back to another episode. This week, I’d like to introduce you to Mary Worth, otherwise known as Bloody Mary (depending on who you ask) and the urban legends surrounding this common childhood experience.

The ODDentity Podcast is brought to you on a weekly basis by host Janine Mercer.

The podcast is written, produced, and edited by Janine Mercer (unless otherwise stated), and the music is provided by Garage Band.

Find the odd pod on Twitter and Instagram @oddentitypod and on Facebook as The Oddentity Podcast. You are welcome to email suggestions for future episodes to [email protected] and if you’d like a transcript of this episode, one will be available at theoddentitypodcast.wordpress.com.

Please take a moment to leave a 5* review on iTunes and, if you haven’t already, please make sure to mash that Subscribe button to be sure you’re in the know when a new episode drops. Sincerest thanks to those who have promoted The ODDentity Podcast to their family, friends, and coworkers. Every little bit helps!

Sources:

https://www.liveabout.com/bloody-mary-in-the-mirror-3299478

https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/making-sense-chaos/201408/monsters-in-the-mirror-no-really-literal-monsters

https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/87625/brief-history-chain-letter

https://www.goodhousekeeping.com/life/money/news/a41819/holiday-wine-exchange-facebook/

https://www.inverse.com/culture/sir-john-tenniel-illustrations-most-haunting-punch-alice-in-wonderland

https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/bloody-mary-story/

https://allthatsinteresting.com/bloody-mary

Dundes Article http://home.iscte-iul.pt/~fgvs/Dundes%20bloody.pdf

[Bloody Mary in the Mirror: A Ritual Reflection of Pre-Pubescent Anxiety Author(s): Alan Dundes Source: Western Folklore, Vol. 57, No. 2/3 (Spring - Summer, 1998), pp. 119-135 Published by: Western States Folklore Society Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1500216 Accessed: 29/2/2020 3:12:37 PM CST]

S5 Ep. 4: World’s Fair

This week, I’ll be taking you to the Windy City of 1893, the World’s Fair, and introducing you to a, particularly diabolical fellow. A man who saw the fair as an opportunity to swindle and to murder. A man by the name of Herman Webster Mudgett, otherwise known by his alias Dr. Henry Howard Holmes.

This episode contains a safe used for a nefarious purpose, the world’s first Ferris wheel, The Windy City, and a Murder Castle.

This week, I’d like to thank Cindie Harper, the Director of Historical Research and Paranormal Documentation at Sweet Springs Sanitarium in West Virginia. The interview I did with Cindie will be available on a future episode, but I wanted to express my sincere gratitude for the time Cindie spent talking with me about Old Sweet, the paranormal happenings there, the fascinating history of the place, and the restoration efforts that are ongoing. Thanks, Cindie! I’m so glad I had the opportunity to chat with you. It’s always a treat to meet a fellow paranormal enthusiast and to learn about a new haunted location! Say hi to the spirits for me.

There’ll be more info about Old Sweet when that episode goes live, but I do want to let you know that there is an effort to collect funds for the rebuilding and repair of structures at the Sanitarium. If you’d like to help out, pop on over to sweetspringsresortpark.org and mash that donate button!

The ODDentity Podcast is brought to you on a weekly basis by host Janine Mercer.

The podcast is written, produced, and edited by Janine Mercer (unless otherwise stated), and the music is provided by Garage Band.

Find the odd pod on Twitter and Instagram @oddentitypod and on Facebook as The Oddentity Podcast. You are welcome to email suggestions for future episodes to [email protected] and if you’d like a transcript of this episode, one will be available at theoddentitypodcast.wordpress.com.

Please take a moment to leave a 5* review on iTunes and, if you haven’t already, please make sure to mash that Subscribe button to be sure you’re in the know when a new episode drops. Sincerest thanks to those who have promoted The ODDentity Podcast to their family, friends, and coworkers. Every little bit helps!

Sources:

https://allthatsinteresting.com/hh-holmes-hotel

http://mysteriouschicago.com/new-master-list-of-hh-holmes-victims/

https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-news/serial-killer-h-h-holmes-body-exhumed-what-we-know-126699/

https://www.history.com/topics/crime/murder-castle

Parnilis Media’s Holmes: a serial killer in his own words

Holmes’ Own Story by Herman Mudgett alias H. H. Holmes