Aloha Tide Riders. It's been a minute but we're back! What if the birth of the United States was a little weirder than the history books let on? Before America was all constitutions, liberty, and We the People, colonial society was swimming in astrology, alchemy, folk magic, grimoires, supernatural folklore, and unexplained phenomena. And right in the middle of it all stood Benjamin Franklin—printer, inventor, scientist, diplomat, and, to some of his contemporaries, basically an eighteenth-century wizard. In this Colonial Curiosities finale, we explore the strange space where Enlightenment science and old-school magic were still riding the same wave. We'll dive into Franklin's experiments with electricity, his investigation of Mesmer's "animal magnetism," his interest in Hermetic philosophy, colonial astrology, folk magic, Indigenous spiritual traditions, and the supernatural world that shaped everyday life in early America. We'll also take a quick trip into the Pine Barrens and the strange story of the Jersey Devil, where the controversial Leeds family, astrology, religious feuds, and Franklin's legendary publishing beef with Titan Leeds all collide. Franklin didn't create the monster—but he may have accidentally helped stir the cultural stew that allowed the legend to grow. And when we hit the Tinfoil Teepee, we're kicking open the door to some seriously wild possibilities. Was Franklin America's first wizard? Did the Founders unknowingly harness ancient knowledge? Was the Revolution surrounded by forces we still don't understand? Probably not… but that's never stopped us before. Grab your tricorne hat, Tide Riders, and let's go surfing through the Feycraft of the Founding Fathers! Sources: T.J. Tomlin, “The Protestant Astrology of Early American Almanacs,” JSTOR Daily, March 15, 2020. - https://daily.jstor.org/the-protestant-astrology-of-early-american-almanacs/ John George Hohman, The Long Lost Friend, Internet Archive (full text). - https://archive.org/details/the-long-lost-friend Joseph H. Peterson (ed.), The Sixth and Seventh Books of Moses, Esoteric Archives - https://www.esotericarchives.com/moses/67moses.htm Owen Davies, Grimoires: A History of Magic Books - https://silo.pub/grimoires-a-history-of-magic-books.html Richard Godbeer, “Folk Magic in British North America,” in The Cambridge History of Magic and Witchcraft in the West, Cambridge University Press, 2015 - https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/cambridge-history-of-magic-and-witchcraft-in-the-west/folk-magic-in-british-north-america/1535220F933F8B47D7AC9E1272621C3C Michael Brian Schiffer, Draw the Lightning Down: Benjamin Franklin and Electrical Technology in the Age of Enlightenment, University of California Press, 2003 - https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.1525/j.ctt1pq02h “How Benjamin Franklin Brought His Scientific Experiments Into the Kitchen,” Smithsonian Magazine / Smithsonian Books blog, August 14, 2025 - https://www.smithsonianmag.com/blogs/smithsonian-books/2025/08/14/how-benjamin-franklin-brought-his-experiments-into-the-kitchen/ Benjamin Franklin to John Franklin, 25 December 1750 (electrical shock letter), Founders Online, National Archives - https://founders.archives.gov/ Megan Piorko, “Benjamin Franklin and Alchemy,” Library Company of Philadelphia, October 14, 2020 - https://librarycompany.org/2020/10/14/benjamin-franklin-and-alchemy/ Brian Regal, “The Jersey Devil: The Real Story,” Skeptical Inquirer / CSI (archived) - https://web.archive.org/web/20180406133128/https://www.csicop.org/si/show/the_jersey_devil_the_real_story “Ritual Traditions of the Pennsylvania Dutch,” Pennsylvania German Cultural Heritage Center, Kutztown University -https://www.pagerman.org/exhibitions/ritual-traditions-of-the-pennsylvania-dutch-braucherei-powwowing/ Benjamin Franklin, “Felons and Rattlesnakes,” The Pennsylvania Gazette, May 9, 1751 (Founders Online) - http://founders.archives.gov/documents/Franklin/01-04-02-0040
