Has the White House hosted more Passover Seders or Séances?
I thought of this question when listening to Derren Brown on the Tim Ferriss show (as an aside, I recommend you watch Brown’s Sacrifice on Netflix).
TL;DR Séances!
The first documented séances in the White House took place in the mid-19th century as the whole spirtualism movement gained popularity. Fueled by both grief from the Civil War and fascination with the supernatural, séances were a way for those to try and communicate with the dead (750,000 of whom died during the Civil War).
This is why First Lady Mary Todd Lincoln, grieving the death of her son Willie in 1862, hosted several séances in the White House’s Red Room, seeking comfort through spiritualism. Estimates suggest she held up to eight séances, with President Abraham Lincoln attending some. Jane Pierce also hosted some, bringing the total White House documented séance count to somewhere north of eight.
Since then, skepticism, scientific advancements, and exposure of fraudulent mediums have rendered séances near obsolete (except as a recurring motif in most horror movies and subpar magic shows). Yet, some still engage in these practices. If you’re so inclined, check out Lily Dale, a prominent spiritualist community in New York, which attracts over 20,000 visitors each year for séances and spiritual healing.
Now the first annual Passover Seders at the White House didn’t occur until this century. Obama started hosting these in 2009 to 2016. Passover, which tells the story of Moses leading the Israelites’ liberation from slavery in Egypt, is one of the most widely observed Jewish holidays.
Well now that I’ve elongated a silly question into a blogpost, I’ll present a prediction – for the next hundred years I imagine Passover will take the lead and there will be more disucssion in the White House about splitting seas than summoning spirits.
unpublished alpha 