Lore 266: What’s in the Box (ad-free)

The end of the world has always been a big fear. And fear, as we all know, is a powerful fuel for driving folklore into the future. Let’s meet one individual who did just that, while also leaving us with a fascinating mystery to unravel.

Narrated and produced by Aaron Mahnke, with writing by GennaRose Nethercott, research by Sam Alberty, and music by Chad Lawson.

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Sources:

• Balleine, G. R. Past Finding Out: The Tragic Story of Joanna Southcott and Her Successors. New York: The Macmillan Company, 1956. Accessed via https://archive.org/details/pastfindingouttr0000ball/page/4/mode/2up.

• Coates, Stephen. “Delving Into the Mystery of Joanna Southcott’s Box.” Londonist. 8/23/2019. https://londonist.com/2016/10/in-search-of-joanna-southcott-s-box.

• Hopkins, James K. A Woman to Deliver Her People: Joanna Southcott and English Millenarianism in an Era of Revolution. Austin: University of Texas Press, 1982. Kindle Edition. 

• “Joanna Southcott and the House of God”. Elephant and Castle Partnership. https://elephantandcastle.org.uk/a-brief-history/joannasouthcott/. 

• “The Panacea Museum”. Atlas Obscura. https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/the-panacea-museum-bedford-england. 

• Robins, Roger. “Anglican Prophetess Joanna Southcott and the Gospel Story.” Anglican and Episcopal History 61, n. 3 (Sept 1992), pp. 277-302.

• Southcott, Joanna. The Strange Effects of Faith; with Remarkable Prophecies (made in 1792 &c.) of Things which are to Come: also Some Account of My Life. Exeter, T. Brice, 1801.

• “Southcott, Joanna (1750-1814)”. Encyclopedia of Occultism and Parapsychology. Encyclopedia.com. Updated 5/18/2018. https://www.encyclopedia.com/people/philosophy-and-religion/protestant-christianity-biographies/joanna-southcott. 

• “Southcott, Joanna (1750-1814). Women in World History: A Biographical Encyclopedia. Encyclopedia.com. https://www.encyclopedia.com/women/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/southcott-joanna-1750-1814. 

• Street, Peter. “Open the Box! Take the Prophecies!”. Church Times. 12/12/2014. https://www.churchtimes.co.uk/articles/2014/12-december/features/features/open-the-box-take-the-prophecies. 

• “Superstition.” The Lancaster Gazette. 11/27/1813. Page 4. https://www.newspapers.com/image/404089547/?match=1&terms=%22southcott%22. 

• Ten Notable Apocalypses That (Obviously) Didn’t Happen. Smithsonian. 11/12/2009. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/ten-notable-apocalypses-that-obviously-didnt-happen-9126331/?no-ist=

• Willey, T. Joe. “The ‘Woman Clothed with the Sun’ Who Failed to Give Birth to the Second Messiah”. Spectrum. 8/7/2013. https://spectrummagazine.org/post-archives/woman-clothed-sun-who-failed-give-birth-second-messiah/.