Below, Filmmaker in Residence Ronni Thomas--director of The Midnight Archive--introduces "Ghosts And Gadgets : Communicating with the Spirits," the newest episode of his Morbid Anatomy Museum Presents film series. In this film, we are introduced to Brandon Hodge and his collection of planchettes, instruments intended for use in communicating with spirits and ancestor to today's Ouija board. Stay tuned for news of a Kickstarter campaign by Thomas intended to fund the production of more films for the museum!
You can view the film above or by clicking here; Stay tuned for more episodes which will premiere monthly on our new You Tube channel, which can be found here
My latest film bridges a gap between my interests in both novelty items and genuine spiritual communication. Collector Brandon Hodge has, in his Austin home, one of the largest, most impressive collection of spirit communication devices, most notably, his collection of planchettes. Many of us know the ‘planchette’ from our toy Ouija board set; the little heart shaped plastic table that spells out our next true love’s name. However, before the popularization of the Ouija board and it mass-manufacturing, Spiritualists would use this device (and many others) to try to communicate with the spirits of our ancestors… Think of these ‘devices’ in terms of technology meets spirituality. Remember, there was a time when faith and science were parallel lines and not pitted against one another. And, in some cases, as with the devices in Hodge’s collection, the two were employed to work hand in hand. As someone who appreciates both the anomalous and the scientific, I view these devices as early, perhaps naive attempts to demonstrate some solid proof of life after death.
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