The Amazing Godwin
by David F. Godwin

(December 2008)--This column is unusual in that it consists primarily of a conference report—but a conference report with implications. Editor-in-Chief Phyllis Galde and I attended the debut of the Vortex Conference in Burlington, Wisconsin, over the Halloween weekend. The meet was organized by Mary Sutherland, “everybody’s mom” and the leading figure in promoting the weird wonders of the town.

And Burlington is weird. No doubt about it. Wisconsin as a whole seems to be a hotbed of paranormal activity, but Burlington has it all in spades.

Just for starters, the city was built around 1836 on ancient, pre-Colombian burial mounds. Later, it was the headquarters of an offshoot of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (Mormons).

In 1843, after the death of Joseph Smith, James Strang  differed with Brigham Young on the right of succession and formed his own splinter group in Voree, Wisconsin, in what is now Burlington. To solidify his claim, he asserted that he had received another special revelation carved on tablets, the so-called Voree plates, dug up in 1845.

The site of the plates’ discovery is now commemmorated by a brass plaque mounted on a boulder. It is in the woods back of a cow lot. If you don’t know where it is, you would never find it. It is not marked on the highway and no signs point to its location.

For another thing, the basements of Burlington all seem to be connected by a mysterious series of underground tunnels. These were reportedly used by the Underground Railroad before the Civil War and later by Al Capone for the purpose of smuggling whiskey. But no one knows their true origin or purpose.

On the first night, Mary took us on a tour of a nearby woodland, the location of many strange energies. I had trouble keeping my balance on the dark, rocky trail, as if I were being nudged or shoved. We stood in a circle, where the above photo was taken. A double exposure (with a digital camera?), or astral bodies slipping out?

Burlington is just plain strange.           

David F. Godwin is the Managing Editor of FATE and author of numerous articles, columns, books, and other materials.