Modern Times Lecture Series
Divinatory Devices:
A Talking Board Workshop
Presented by The Austin Séance
Saturday, october 26, 2024 | 12:00 PM – 2:00 PM
Doors at 12:00pm - Workshop Begins at 12:30pm
TICKETS
$40 General Admission
$35 NCHM Member / Austin Séance Patreon Admission
Do the spirits speak? Find out when The Austin Séance, the Lone Star State’s leading séance facilitators, hosts educational lectures, séance demonstrations and a historical talking board workshop on the atmospheric grounds of the Neill-Cochran House Museum during the Halloween season.
By the late 1960s, sales of the Ouija board rivaled that of America’s best-selling board games. In small towns and large, from Los Angeles to New York, the famous wooden plank and planchette seemingly was everywhere, delivering titillating, subversive entertainment for teen-agers and grad students, housewives and poets. But the talking board was no ordinary toy. Although manufactured and mass-produced, Ouija was steeped in spiritualist traditions dating back at least a century and was associated with esoteric religions, paranormal exploration, art and literature.
Join Albert Lucio and Jake Cordero of The Austin Séance for a hands-on workshop on the use and history of these fascinating divinatory devices. This group practice session on Saturday, October 26, lasts approximately 70 minutes. It will take place in the NCHM Exhibit Room on the first floor of the Neill-Cochran House Museum. Access to the first floor is wheelchair accessible.
The Austin Séance Events at the NCHM - October 2024 Schedule
Spiritualism in America: A Lecture and Séance Demonstration (Friday Evening)
Friday, October 25th | 8:00pm - 10:00pm
Divinatory Devices: A Talking Board Workshop
Saturday, October 26th | 12:00pm - 2:00pm
Spiritualism in America: A Lecture and Séance Demonstration (Saturday Evening)
Saturday, October 26th | 6:00pm - 8:00pm
Spiritualism in America: A Lecture and Séance Demonstration (Saturday Night)
Saturday, October 26th | 9:00pm - 11:00pm
ABOUT Austin Séance
Albert Lucio and Jake Cordero of The Austin Séance demonstrate tools used by working mediums and employ those tools in modern recreations of old-time séances. The Austin Séance has been featured in Texas Monthly, NPR’s Texas Standard radio program, TV broadcasts and more. Austin Monthly calls them “devilishly charming” and The Austin Chronicle says “Jake Cordero and Albert Lucio give you the experience of contacting the departed.” The Austin Séance has spent years conducting séance demonstrations in venues all across Texas — demonstrations that NPR’s Texas Standard describes as “part history lesson, part exploration … not a scripted show but a communal experience.”
About jake cordero
Jake Cordero, an award-winning journalist, has reported on everything from cult murders in Mexico to spirit hauntings in Fort Worth. He is a longtime student of magic and philosophy, and the author of two books. Jake also is editor of The Austin Séance Quarterly Journal, a Spiritualist history publication.
about albert lucio
Things that go bump in the night have always fascinated Albert Lucio. With a degree in sociology and psychology, Albert has set out to understand how we shape and are shaped by supernatural beliefs. He has spent years studying ghost hunters, consorting with psychics and researching the occult.