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#122: With Fairies Wise [Thomas Lake Harris and the Brotherhood of the New Life]

The Ancient and Esoteric Order of the Jackalope

Release Date: 04/27/2026

#122: With Fairies Wise [Thomas Lake Harris and the Brotherhood of the New Life]

The Ancient and Esoteric Order of the Jackalope

Thomas Lake Harris channeled the greatest poets in history to produce some of the worst poetry you've ever read... and then those same poets told him he was the new Messiah, who would unite the physical and spiritual worlds and usher in a new cycle of the ages. Key sources for this episode include Adam Morris's American Messiahs: False Prophets of a Damned Nation; Arthur A. Cuthbert's The Life and World-Work of Thomas Lake Harris, Written from Direct Personal Knowledge; Joseph W. Slade's "Historical Sketch of Thomas Lake Harris, Laurence Oliphant, and the Brotherhood of the New Life";...

#121: Mutiny on the Storozhevoy [a second Communist Revolution] presented by #42 Alex Baumans

The Ancient and Esoteric Order of the Jackalope

In 1975, an idealistic Soviet political officer decided it was time to restart the Communist Revolution, and that the best way to do that was by fomenting mutiny on a state-of-the-art anti-submarine destroyer with nuclear capabilities. Presented by #42, Alex Baumans. Alex is pathologically interested in anything unusual and obscure. He’s a closet goth, armchair general and amateur theologian. His favorite animals are ducks, octopodes and pigs. You will also find him surprisingly knowledgable about K-Pop girl groups. Key sources for this episode include Michael Fredholm Von Essen’s The...

#120.1: All that Glitters [MFA Boston's golden hoard]

The Ancient and Esoteric Order of the Jackalope

As part of its centennial celebration in 1970 the Museum of Fine Arts Boston acquired a spectacular trove of golden bronze age jewelry... The problem was they had no idea where it came from and showed no interest in finding out. Key sources for this episode include articles published by Cornelius Vermeule III and Emily Vermuele in Horizon and the Illustrated London News; and contemporary newspaper reporting in the Boston Globe, expecially by Robert Taylor and Edgar Driscoll, Jr. We are appearing at Intelligent Speech 2026 on February 28, 2026! This year's theme is "Companions & Rivals"...

#120: Not Science, But Vendetta [the Dorak Affair]

The Ancient and Esoteric Order of the Jackalope

Thanks to a chance meeting on a train James Mellaart stumbled across a treasure trove that challenged everything we knew about ancient Anatolia... only to be left holding the bag when it disappeared under mysterious circumstances. (Or maybe he just made it all up.) Key sources for this episode include Kenneth Pearson and Patricia Connor's The Dorak Affair; Michael Balter's The Goddess and the Bull; numerous articles by Susan Mazur; and several academic papers by Eberhard Zangger. We are appearing at Intelligent Speech 2026 on February 28, 2026! This year's theme is "Companions &...

#119: There's Gold in Them Thar Waves [the Electrolytic Marine Salts Company of Lubec, ME]

The Ancient and Esoteric Order of the Jackalope

In 1897 "the Reverend Electrolycist" Prescott Ford Jernegan claimed he could extract gold from seawater for pennies on the dollar. It was a classic something for nothing scam... So why did so many people fall for it? Key sources for this episode include Carl Sifakis's Hoaxes and Scams: A Compendium of Deceptions, Ruses, and Swindles; contemporary newspaper reports; and Carrie C. Bang's The Great Gold Swindle of Lubec, Maine. We're presenting at Intelligent Speech 2026: Companions & Rivals! Join us on Febuary 28! Speakers will explore friendships that changed the course of...

#118: They Came from Inner Space [the weird life of Dr. Walter Siegmeister]

The Ancient and Esoteric Order of the Jackalope

Dr. Walter Siegmeister believed we could create a psychic master race by taking off our clothes, moving to the jungle, and consuming only fruit and megadoses of lecithin. And that wasn't even the weirdest thing about him. Key sources for this episode include Walter Siegmeister's The Hollow Earth: The Greatest Geographical Discovery in History; Walter Kafton-Minkel's Subterranean Worlds: 10,000 Years of Dragons, Dwars, the Dead, Lost Races & UFOs from Inside the Earth; and Professor Solomon's Visitors to the Inner Earth. Jenn Thorson: The Ancient and Esoteric Order of the Jackalope is...

#117: Kulopus [Elwood Towner, aka "Chief Red Cloud"]

The Ancient and Esoteric Order of the Jackalope

Come for the strange, sad, and hate-filled story of the Q Shaman of 1940: Elwood Towner, a.k.a. "Chief Red Cloud," who spoke at Nazi rallies in full Native American ceremonial regalia. Stay to hear #13 gets angry and go off the rails. Key sources for this episode include Arnie Bernstein's Swastika Nation: Fritz Kuhn and the Rise and Fall of the German-American Bund; Kenneth William Townsend's World War II and the American Indian; Knute berger's "The strange case of the Northwest's Native American Nazi"; and contemporary newspaper reports. The Ancient and Esoteric Order of the Jackalope is...

#116: The Marshal is Missing! [the heist of Marshal Pétain's remains] presented by #42 (Alex Baumans)

The Ancient and Esoteric Order of the Jackalope

In February 1973, French right wingers broke into the grave of of fascist dictator Philippe Pétain and made off with his mortal remains. This is the tragicomic story of what led them to that moment... and what happened afterwards. Key sources for this episode include Jean-Yves La Naour’s On a volé le Maréchal; Michel Dumas’ La permission du Maréchal; Hugo Coniez’s La mort de la IIIe Republique; and Julian Jackson’s France on Trial: The Case of Marshal Petain. Presented by #42 (Alex Baumans). Alex is pathologically interested in anything unusual and obscure. He’s a closet...

#115: Fluffy Raffles Comes To Town [who?]

The Ancient and Esoteric Order of the Jackalope

She was the meandering metropolitan mystery, the famous will-o'-the-wisp of the continent, who fooled police and the public from Abilene to Akron. Who was this mysterious and alluring woman, and why did she love bread so much? Thanks to the initiates who contributed their voices to this episode, including Dorothy Sibole (#7), Eric Leslie, and Jenn Thorson! Jenn Thorson: Little Lake Theater Company: Key sources for this episode include contemporary newspaper report and that's about it. (You may find this hard to believe, not a lot of people are out there writing about this.) So let me...

#114: Unhuman Animals [Pennsylvania's anti-cartoon bills of 1903]

The Ancient and Esoteric Order of the Jackalope

In 1903 Pennsylvania found the recipe for disaster: two of the greatest political cartoonists of the day, and an easily caricatured governor with no sense of humor. Their battle went to some...u unexpected places. Key sources for this episode include... Stephen Piott's "The Right of the Cartoonist: Samuel Pennypacker and the Freedom of the Press," contemporary newspaper reports... and that's it. Almost every other source I found either did not go into any detail about the act, or got the specifics so very wrong (like confusing the Pusey and Salus-Grady bills) to the point where I had to doubt...

More Episodes

https://order-of-the-jackalope.com/with-fairies-wise/

Key sources for this episode include Adam Morris's American Messiahs: False Prophets of a Damned Nation; Arthur A. Cuthbert's The Life and World-Work of Thomas Lake Harris, Written from Direct Personal Knowledge; Joseph W. Slade's "Historical Sketch of Thomas Lake Harris, Laurence Oliphant, and the Brotherhood of the New Life"; Margaret Oliphant's Memoir of the Life of Laurence Oliphant and of Alice Oliphant, His Wife; Philip Jenkins' Mystics and Messiahs: Cults and New Religions in American History; the collected writings of Thomas Lake Harris; and contemporary newspaper reports, especially from the San Francisco Chronicle.

The Ancient and Esoteric Order of the Jackalope is a secret society devoted to the idea that that which is least known is best to know. Each episode we share a strange story or amazing fact, and no topic is off limits -- if it's interesting or entertaining, we'll cover about it!

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