Occult Americans

It’s Impossible to Separate Strangeness from American History — And That’s a Good Thing to Remember on Occult Day

“People that are really very weird can get into sensitive positions and have a tremendous impact on history.” — Vice President Dan Quayle on the career of Russian occultist Grigori Rasputin

U.S. Senator James Shields loved a good fight. A former general, he was known to challenge rivals — including future president Abraham Lincoln — to duels. But at the start of a Washington spring day in 1854, Shields startled his Senate colleagues with a gesture that seemed bold, even for him.

On April 17, the Illinois Democrat rose on the Senate floor to speak on behalf of one of the strangest petitions in American history. Signed by a reported 15,000 citizens, the document was, he acknowledged, of a “very singular and novel subject.” At this moment his colleagues began to lean forward in their chairs; the hum of conversation on the Senate floor fell silent.

“The petitioners represent,” Shields announced, “that certain physical and mental phenomena of a mysterious import have become so prevalent in this country and Europe as to engross a large share of public attention.” Citing the neglected work of medieval alchemist Roger Bacon, occult philosopher Cornelius…