Through the Looking Glass

Ghostwriter Mira Ptacin dares to camp with ghosts.

INTERVIEW BY ALEXIS RAYMOND

Camp Etna is a mystical Spiritualist community in Etna, Maine, that since 1876 has played host to generations of psychics and mediums dedicated to preserving the links between the mortal realm and the afterlife. To wit, Camp Etna is an intentional community for those who believe in communication with the afterlife and dedicate a significant amount of their time to exploring their relationship with life after death.

How did you find out about the camp?

A good friend of mine told me about a special camp where people talk to the dead. I made a road trip up to Camp Etna soon after that with my husband and son, and after ten minutes I knew that this was what I wanted to dedicate my writing to.

What made you decide you wanted to write a book about the camp?

The initial hook for me was that this is a collective of women who believe they can communicate with the dead. But after that thrill wore off, what kept me so interested and mystified was that Camp Etna was home to a group of people—mostly women—who lived according to their intuition rather than putting their gut instincts aside and becoming cogs in the wheel of a patriarchal capitalist society. What kind of person does this? What kind of life do they lead? What can we learn from them?

Were you a skeptic or a firm believer initially?

I was never a full-on skeptic. I wanted to believe from the start; I wanted to see what they saw. I told one of the mediums this during an interview where, for her, a spirit appeared. “I just want to see what you see! Why can’t I just see what you see?” is what I said. Her response was, “Be careful what you wish for.” I believe in the women and men of Camp Etna. And I did witness an event that was undeniably otherworldly. [A fellow classmate was visited by one of the author’s ancestors who offered support during a challenging time.] The book is written chronologically, and as luck would have it, the big event came during my last few minutes at Camp Etna.

What was your most memorable moment at the camp?

The most memorable moments were spent getting to know the mediums, developing relationships, and learning about their lives as women, mothers, and careworkers. They are women who run with the wolves, and I learned a lot about myself as a woman and mother by quietly observing and juxtaposing my world with theirs.

What do you hope you conveyed about the camp in your book?

My hope is that readers will trust themselves more and listen to their quiet inner voice rather than conform. My hope is that the book invites the reader to be a more curious person.

Was there a practice or a healer/medium that resonated with you the most?

Dr. Barbara Williams and I have become quite close. We text frequently, we say “I love you,” and she gives great life advice still. She’s a special woman.

Do you have any intention of writing more stories about Maine?

Yes! I’m currently working on a book project in which I turn inward and examine my own home life, rather than writing

A supernatural stroll down the main drag of Camp Etna about other communities, although the theme of this memoir is the importance of community-centered living, as opposed to self-appointed silos of self-importance.

One of the caretakers of the community.

What made you decide to move to Peaks Island?

We moved here about twelve years ago from Brooklyn, New York, because we wanted to slow down. We wanted a quieter lifestyle, to live closer to nature, and to be able to afford the cost of living. Although nowadays in Portland, the third option is essentially unattainable.

Were there any camp rules?

The camp rules were essentially the Golden Rule: Do unto others. The only other rule was that if you wanted to own a cottage at Camp, you had to be a member of the Spiritualist church.

Were there séances at the camp? Please describe.

Many! But rather than séances, the mediums gave individual readings, and some did “table tippings,” in which they used a four-legged wooden table as a device through which to receive messages from the dead. We’d place our hands on the table, and it would move according to “spirit,” tipping to one side to answer yes or no questions.

There is something ‘other’ about water. Did any spiritual experiences happen in the lake, or was the sense of being in another element ever discussed?

I don’t have a great answer for your water question. Though people were welcome to take dips in the lake, the majority of the events took place up at camp, which was a short hike away from the water. Near the water, however, were railroad tracks—remnants of the stop that used to be there, where thousands upon thousands of visitors would alight every summer, back in the day, and trek up the hill and through the woods to Camp Etna.

Mira Ptacin has taught memoir writing at Colby College, USM’s Stonecoast MFA program, the Maine Writers & Publishers Alli- ance, and the Maine Correctional Center. Her acclaimed Poor Your Soul was the 2017 Maine Literary Award Winner for Memoir and one of Kirkus Reviews’ Best Memoirs of 2016; her work has appeared in the New York Times, New York Magazine, Vogue, Elle, Harper’s, Lit Hub, Guernica, Tin House, VICE, McSweeney’s Internet Tendency, Poets & Writers, Slice, and Down East. Born in New York, she now lives on Peaks Island with her husband and two children, and is currently working on her third book of nonfiction, about homesteaders, preppers, and alternative homemaking in the United States. Her feminist history book The In-Betweens: The Spiritualists, Mediums, and Legends of Camp Etna focuses on the women of Camp Etna and their existence between realms. n