NEWS JUNKIE POST
Jul 6, 2010 at 10:01 pm‘Lily Dale’ Doc: Spirited Portrait Of Spiritual Community
They might not see dead people at Lily Dale, but they surely feel their presence. “No one Dies in Lily Dale,” a new video documentary–airing now as part of HBO’s Summer Documentary Series–offers a group portrait of the forty mediums and their many visitors who populate the quaint and quirky upstate New York community.
Filmmaker Steve Cantor noted for the rambling doc “loudQUIETloud: A Film about the Pixies,” views Lily dale through a joyous, if somewhat skeptical lens. Some of the mediums–all “registered” by the community’s Board of Directors–have their say, as do visitors, both true believers and doubters.
Folks have been lured to Lily Dale since the 1800s, hoping the place will do for the spirit what Lourdes did for the body. Regarded with both awe and ire, Spiritualism has always had both its passionate supporters and detractors. Back in the late 1800′s and early 1900′s, quackery pervaded the movement, with showy spectacles and famous charlatan outings by Houdini and others. As a result, all of Lily Dale’s modern mediums practice a mainstream mental-health modeled spirituality. No gimmicks here. At least none that are visible or verifiable.
One of the mediums decrees, “Lily Dale is to spiritualism what Rome is to Catholicism.” If that analogy isn’t weighty enough, a visiting medium beams with pride at her coveted invite, comparing the honor to a country singer being called to the stage of The Grand Old Opry.
There’s a medium who detoxes negative energy by waving a green pepper over and around a client’s body. There’s a trio of sisters, all registered mediums of a certain age, who conduct family seances on their days off. And a regular visitor who insists he’s an ” ET abductee” who often wakes up to find a green orb nestled in his hand which he tells a medium he knows is his dead girlfriend.
We’re also introduced to a police officer whose teenage son was killed on a bus as he shielded a classmate from random gang gunfire. The man–bereft and guilt-ridden–says he never believed in spiritual pursuits, but his need and openness lead to two successfully comforting readings. Less satisfied customers are given screen time, too. A Born-Again mom, grieving over the loss of her 21 year old cancer- stricken son, gives the place a half-hearted try, but doesn’t find much solace in her readings. A woman whose fiance died in a freak farm accident and a couple seeking answers from the woman’s dead mom who disowned them in her will have mixed experiences.
Whether Lily Dale is more hype than healing is left to the beholder. Religious protesters bombard the gate waving bibles and placards reading “Harry Potter will Kill Your Children.” One of the Born Again brimstoners gets into a n argument with one of the mediums, challenging the spiritual guide to recite bible passages. The Born-Again mom laments people want to believe in Lily Dale’s spiritual promise the same way folks want to believe Disney Land is “The Happiest Place On Earth.”
Believe it or leave it, Cantor’s “No One Dies in Lily Dale” offers a spirited portrait of a community that just might have the answers. It’s up to you to ask the questions. And be ready to receive the answers with an open heart. And a sense of humor.
“No One Dies in Lily Dale” by Steve Cantor now airing on HBO.
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I was intrigued by this HBO Documentary and if it offers any solace to people visiting then I say Go For It! Thanks for an interesting review on an interesting HBO feature.