Where Mayberry Meets the Twilight Zone

The houses are old; paint is peeling off their faded and cracked sides, many yards are so overgrown that a small child could get lost in them and scattered around the area are monster cobwebs with spiders so large and menacing that even hungry birds would think twice about approaching. The thousands of people who visit this sleepy central Florida town don’t do so for the architecture; they do so because they want to speak to the dead. They want to know their future. They want information about their past lives. They seek answers to questions that only the people of this community can answer. And answers they get.  

Welcome to Cassadaga; the South’s oldest spiritualist community, a southern outpost of the Lily Dale Spiritualist Camp in northern New York. Located 25 miles north of Orlando, this 57-acre community was founded in 1893 and is the home of individuals who practice “psychic science,” be it mediums, palm readers, tarot card readers, numerologists and more. In 1991, the Cassadaga Spiritualist Camp was designed a Historic District on the National Register of Historic Places.  When one visits Cassadaga for the first time, it’s like the hands of time have slowed or even stopped. Cassadaga has an odd sense of stillness that seems to emanate from every inch of the community. The birds are more subdued, the crickets are not as chatty, the heat bouncing off of the cracked sidewalks radiate in an odd way, and the air…well, it’s different. The silence lingers like a thick, low hanging cloud and when people speak, their voices are a little hushed, a little reserved.