THIS IS A PARANORMAL INVESTIGATION

BY

SOPHIA OF WISDOM III

AKA

CAROLINE E. KENNEDY - CAROLINA KENNEDIA

_________________________

THESE ARE MY JUDGEMENTS & NOTES

ABOUT

THE

PAST LIFE

OF

MOTHER ANN LEE

AND

HOW

THE

MOTHER'S OF DARKNESS

AND

HOW THEY HAVE HURT HER

AND

REPLACED THEMSELVES IN HER BODY

AND

GAVE AWAY

 PROTON CELLS-ORMUS

OR

THE

SEEDS OF LIFE

WHICH GIVE YOU

GOD LIKE POWERS

AND

MAKE YOU DANCE TILL YOU

PASS OUT

THIS IS WHY

THE QUAKERS

BECAME

THE SHAKERS

FEB 26, 2008

TUESDAY

@

10:18AM

THESE ARE MY JUDGEMENTS & NOTES IN WHICH I AM

BRINGING

MY

STALKERS

TO

JUSTICE

SOPHIA OF WISDOM III

AKA

CAROLINE E. KENNEDY - CAROLINA KENNEDIA

_________________________

"Testimonies of Mother Ann Lee and the Elders"

Excerpt from: Chapter XXIV & XXV, pages 168-185

Prophecies, Visions and Revelations

CHAPTER XXIV.

1. Mother Ann and the Elders abounded in visions, prophecies and revelations; these, and many other gifts were administered in abundance through them, to those who embraced their testimony; they were given to strengthen, confirm, and establish the faith which the people had received; and were also preparatory to, and evidences of the real substance which was to follow.

2. Though these gifts were very numerous and common, and, in that day, very important, yet those which were merely outward signs and operations were considered as matters of less importance, because they could not, of themselves, accomplish the real work of redemption; and, in proportion as the body of the people traveled into the more enduring substance of the gospel, these outward gifts became less necessary among them.

3. Soon after the testimony of the gospel reached New Lebanon, Nathan Farrington, Senr., and his daughter, Mehetabel, with many others, went to Watervliet, to see the Church. Mehetabel soon received faith in the testimony, and confessed her sins. Nathan returned home with the rest of his company, and left his daughter there. After they had been gone a while Mother said to Mehetabel, "I see your father and those with him in open vision; and your father has received a gift since he went from here. He says, if he was here now, he would confess his sins." While Mehetabel was at the Church, Mother said to her, "Your natural mother believes that we are the people of God, who confess and forsake our sins." She also added, " All your father's family will believe the gospel." This prophecy, shortly after, came to pass.

4. After some days, Mehetabel returned home; when she arrived, her father informed her that when he was on the road, returning from the Church, he received light and understanding, and said that if he had then been at the Church, he would have confessed his sins; this he told his daughter, without having any knowledge of what Mother had said to her, respecting the matter.

5. About four weeks after this Mehetabel again visited the Church. While she was there, Mother Ann again spoke to her, saying, Mehetabel, your Elder is coming; she then spake to some Sisters, and bade them prepare victuals for six people. They did so, and as soon as it was ready, Joseph Meacham and five others came in. Mother said to Joseph, " I saw you before you crossed the river." * {* They crossed below Albany, nearly nine miles distant from Watervliet.} At another time while Mehetabel was there, Mother said she felt that there was a number of people coming, and bade the Sisters prepare food for them; as soon as the meal was prepared, a number of needy people came in, and were made welcome; not only to the victuals, but to the gospel.

6. Again, after Mother Ann returned from Poughkeepsie jail, Mehetabel was at Watervliet, and a number of Believers being present, Mother addressed them as follows, " You are called in relation to all the rest of mankind, and through your faith and obedience they must receive the gospel. Pain and sufferings will never cease in the Church until all souls have heard the gospel of salvation. This gospel will be freely offered to all souls; and will be a savor of life unto life, or of death unto death." She also said, "The increase of the gospel in the first opening, will be small; after that, souls will embrace it by hundreds and by thousands; for this testimony will overcome all nations; it will increase till the covering is taken off ; then mankind will see the rottenness of Antichrist's foundation; then souls who are bound in their sins will call to the rocks and to the mountains to cover them. But the Saints will never be overcome again by the beastly power of Antichrist."

7. She further said, " The work of God in this day is not so great, in outward appearance, as it was in past dispensations; therefore, souls must be very cautious how they treat this gospel; for such as finally reject this testimony will not have another day." Mehetabel Farrington.

8. After Mother Ann returned from her missionary tour in the eastern states, there was a time of much tribulation among the Believers, occasioned by the great opposition of the wicked, which brought deep sufferings upon Mother. As she was walking the floor, and laboring under the power of God, she prophesied, saying, "The time will come when God will draw the line between the righteous and the wicked, and the wicked cannot pass over it, — Yea, the time will come when God will give that power to His people, so that they will be able to draw the line, and the wicked cannot step one step over it. Fear not their fears, neither be afraid, for God will deliver His people." After this Mother Ann was released, and sang with great joy and triumph. David Slosson.

9. At a certain time Mother Ann addressed a number of Believers as follows, " You think that you will yet subdue and overcome the nations of the earth; but you are mistaken; they have that work to do for themselves. They will fight, and devour, and dash each other in pieces, until they become so humble as to be willing to receive the gospel." John Barnes.

10. At Watervliet, while a number of the Brethren were in a room together, in conversation about the Antichristian world, Mother Ann came into the room and inquired what they had been saying about the Antichristian world. After they had informed her she spake with great power, saying, " They will build up, but God will pull down; they will build up, but God will pull down, until they can build no more! But you will have nothing to do with it." Abel A1len.

11. Mother Ann prophesied to Samuel Fitch, at the time of his first interview with her, saying, " After I have done my work in this world, there will be a great increase of the gospel. It will be like a man's beginning in the world and raising up a family of children, gathering an interest, then dying, and leaving his interest with his children, who will improve thereon and gather more." Samuel Fitch.

12. At Watervliet, after Mother Ann's return from her journey to the east, she was one day in great tribulation and weeping, with fervent cries to God, in consideration of the scattered state of Believers. "But," said she, "the time will come when the Church will be gathered into order; but not till after my decease." She also said, " After my departure there will come grievous wolves, who will destroy many of the flock." Morell Baker.

13. At Watervliet, in the former part of the year 1781, Elder James Whittaker took Amos Rathbun by the hand, and prophesied, saying, " In eleven years, the Church will be established in her order." This prophecy has been exactly fulfilled; for in the year 1792, the Church was established in its present order and spirit of government. Amos Rathbun.

14. After Joseph Meacham and Calvin Harlow had embraced the gospel, Mother prophesied, saying, " Joseph Meacham is the wisest man that has been born of a woman for six hundred years.

God has called and anointed him to be a Father to all His people in America. Calvin Harlow will be a minister of the gospel to other souls. The wisdom, knowledge, and light of God will increase in the Church till Zion travels to her full glory." Elizur Goodrich.

15. At another time, at Watervliet, after Mother's return from the east, she said, " Calvin Harlow is an Elder! O the bright glories I see for Calvin! I see him stand with his people like a Bishop, ministering the gifts of God. O the beautiful gifts of God I see for souls who stand fast ! I see the increase of the gospel like an impassable river." Again she spoke to Elder James, saying, " James, how does the scriptures say? Shall a man eat his bread by the sweat of his brow? " " Yea, Mother," answered Elder James. Mother said, " I feel that gift for the people of God, James. Go and tell Calvin that he must gain a gift in hand labor, before he can find his lot, and order of his people."* { *This prophecy was completely fulfilled. Calvin Harlow continued his residence in New Lebanon, and improved his time in hand labor, (except when called to travel with the Elders,) till after the gathering of the Church at New Lebanon; but, at length, was called, by a special gift of God while reaping in the field, and was sent to take charge of the people in Hancock and Pittsfield, and having gathered them into the order of a church, called the " Church of Hancock" he became their first Elder and Father, and continued to stand as a faithful minister of Christ, till his decease. } Jonathan Slosson

16. At Ashfield, Mother Ann, being under great sufferings, said, " It will not be my lot, nor the lot of any who came with me from England, to gather and build up the Church; but, it will be the lot of Joseph Meacham, and others, to gather and build up the Church." She also said, " It will not be my nation, nor any of those that came with me from England who will lead this people, but the lead will be given to Joseph Meacham." Sarah Bennett.

17. Again at Ashfield, Mother Ann said, " Joseph Meacham is my first born son in America. He will gather the Church in order, but I shall not live to see it." Hannah Kendall.

18. Mother Ann testified, " When order comes to be established, it will then be seen and known, who are true Believers. " Mother Lucy Wright.

19. One day, at Watervliet, not long before her decease, Mother Ann took Joseph Meacham by the hand, and walking the floor, said, " I see the glories of God, in visions and revelations of things to come.

Joseph is my first Bishop; he is my Apostle in the Ministry; my first Bishop; what he does, I do. I see the glories of God shine in his face! Joseph, my son Joseph! I feel my time short! I speak, that you may understand! " Jonathan Slosson.

20. In conversation with Elizabeth Chase, a little before her decease, Mother Ann said, " A ministration to this people will cease, and then you will see peaceable times; then you may worship God under your own vines and fig trees, and none of the wicked will make you afraid. You will not need, then, to teach one another to know the Lord; for all the faithful will know Him." Elizabeth Chase.

21. This prophecy was fulfilled about eight years afterward; a ministration ceased, and persecution ceased, also; and the Believers worshipped God in their appointed habitations, unmolested by the wicked, and under that measure of the gospel which each one had treasured up in his own soul, and which became therein an abiding substance.

22. While Morell Baker, Senr., was at Watervliet, after Mother Ann returned from her journey among the eastern Believers, he had a vision, one night, in which he saw Mother Ann and the Elders in the south-western states, under the power of God, holding forth the same testimony which they had borne at Watervliet; and great multitudes of people were gathering to them to hear the gospel. The next morning, he related his vision to Mother; she replied, " Your vision is of God, and what you saw will surely come to pass. " * { * Morell did not understand that Mother and the Elders were, as instruments in the body, to preach the gospel, but spiritually, and, literally through messengers, clothed with their spirit.} Morell Baker, Senr.

23. At Ashfield, Mother Ann testified to Samuel Fitch, that, by revelation, she saw a people in the south-western parts of this country, who would believe and obey the gospel. She also testified the same to Ebenezer Cooley. At Watervliet, in 1784, in presence of David Slosson and many others, Mother Ann lifted up her hand, and, pointing to the south-west, said, " There is a great level country in the southwest, in which God will raise up a great people, who will be His people." David Slosson.

24. One day, as Mother Ann was walking the floor, and singing the melodious songs of the New Jerusalem, she turned to the people, and said, " I feel a special gift of God; I feel the power of God running all over me. " And, stretching forth her hand toward the southwest, she said, " The next opening of the gospel will be in the south-west; it will be at a great distance; and there will be a great work of God." And, looking upon Eliphalet Slosson, she said, "You may live to see it, but I shall not." Eliphalet Slosson.

25. Eliphalet recollects of hearing Mother Ann speak, three different times, by prophecy, concerning a wonderful work of God which she said would take place in the southwestern part of this country. There were also many others who remembered to have heard Mother Ann prophesy concerning a great work of God in the western country; and her prophecies verily came to pass.

CHAPTER XXV.

1. After Elizur Goodrich had embraced the testimony of the gospel, he opened his feelings to Mother Ann concerning Lucy Wright, to whom he had lately been married. He said her relations were a lofty, high-minded people; and it was very doubtful, to him, whether she would believe and obey the gospel. To this, Mother Ann made no reply at the time; but soon after, the Elders, William Lee, and James Whittaker, took him, by his arms, and led him to Mother. He observed that her visage was solemn and heavenly. She said to him, " Take faith, Lucy may be gained to the gospel and, if you gain her, it will be equal to gaining a nation." Elizur Goodrich.

2. Again, after Lucy came to Watervliet to see the Church, and had received faith, a number of the Brethren and Sisters being there, Mother Ann passed through the room, and, with a smile, said, "We must save Lucy, if we can, for, if we save her, it will be equal to saving a nation." Joseph Markham, Senr.

3. After the gathering of the Church Elizur spoke to Father Joseph of Mother Ann's prophecy concerning Lucy Wright, which had, till then, remained a mysterious saying to him. Father Joseph replied, " Mother's prophecy related to Lucy's present lot in the Church. She, being called, and anointed of God to stand in her lot, as the first Mother in Church relation, the consequence of her labor, in the final event, will be equal to saving a nation." He further added, " Mother Ann travelled so deeply in the regeneration, and her soul stood in such near relation to Christ, that not one of her prophecies will fail; but every one of them will be fulfilled in due time." Elizur Goodrich.

4. When Mother Ann first arrived at Harvard, many of the Believers went to see her. She came into the room and sat down where a number were present, and said, "I have seen a mob, in vision, and I saw two female angels standing by them, by which I know that we shall continue here a while, in peace." Joseph Markham, Senr.

5. Again, after Mother arrived at Harvard, she took Esther Lambson by the hand, saying, "I saw this woman in the visions of God, when I was in my own country." Then, looking round upon the assembly, she said, " So I did see you all, before I came to this land." Hannah Prescott.

6. Mother Ann also testified to Jonathan Slosson, and others, that she saw in vision, while in England, the place, in Harvard, where the Church is now established, together with the people who afterward embraced the gospel there; and, that when she came in sight of the place, she knew it, and knew the people who came to see her.

7. Soon after Mother Ann's arrival in Harvard, she spoke to some who came to see her, saying, " God has a people in this place; He has heard their cries; they have had great light. Their Leader* got overcome; God has taken him away and sent me here. The wicked seek my life; as they did in England, so do they here; but heed it not; for God will establish His work here, and the wicked cannot overthrow it. {*Shadrach Ireland was their Leader; he was a man who had formerly received great light, took up his cross against the flesh, drew after him many followers, formed a considerable society, suffered much persecution, and built a large house, about three miles out of the town of Harvard, well known by the name of the "Square House" where the Church at Harvard is now established. Before his decease, he fell from his light. and died at Harvard, not long before the gospel opened. Many of his followers embraced the gospel. } Jonathan Slosson.

8. After this, in the presence of Elder William Lee, and others, Mother Ann said, " Shadrach Ireland has been to see me; and I made labors with him, but he would not believe; therefore he was left to feel hell; and souls in that state were frightened at him, because his sufferings were so much greater than theirs. But, he will never be released, until some of his people find their redemption." Joseph Markham, Senr.

9. Phebe Spencer, with her husband and family, embraced the gospel in the fall of 1781, while Mother Ann and the Elders were at Harvard; awhile afterward, she went to Harvard, to see Mother. After she arrived there, one of the Elders took her by the hand and led her to Mother, saying, "You never saw Mother before, did you? " She answered, "Nay." Mother said, "I have seen you before; and I knew that you, and your family, would come and embrace the gospel with us. Poor woman, you little know what you have lived amongst! I saw the lost condition of the people in America, before I came from England; how deeply they were all sunk in their pollutions; and so did Brother William." Phebe Spencer.

10. Amos Sexton went to see Mother in 1780; he was then in the seventy-third year of his age; Mother prophesied to him thus, " You shall live to see the beginning of another century, and will be seen walking the streets of Jerusalem, and leaning upon your staff for very age." He confessed his sins and was very zealous; and, though greatly advanced in years, he took great delight in beholding the increase of Christ's Kingdom on earth; and, after having about twenty years' privilege in the gospel, he departed this life the 17th of May, 1802, in the ninety-fourth year of his age. Mary Spencer.

11. When Mother Ann visited Joshua Birch's, at Stonington, there was a young woman then living in the family, who was thought to be very honest, and chaste. Lois Birch manifested her feelings to Mother in favor of the girl's character; to which Mother replied, "Are you a Christian, and think that girl is chaste and honest? You are deceived; she lives in whoredom with married men, young men, black men, and boys." This declaration almost staggered Lois' confidence in Mother, believing that she knew the girl's character. But, soon after, Mother's charges against the girl were proved to a demonstration; by which Lois' faith in Mother was strengthened, beyond a doubt, that Mother had the revelation of God, and was able to see what creatures had in them.

12. While Mother Ann was at Enfield there came a woman to see her by the name of Tryphena Perkins, who made a great profession of Christianity. But, in the hearing of a number of people,

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Mother Ann reproved her for her wickedness, and said, "You are a filthy whore."

THIS IS A JUDGEMENT CALL BY MOTHER ANN LEE SHE COULD SEE DEEP INTO THE HEARTS OF MEN WHO WAS LOYAL AND UNTRUE...

 This greatly offended her, and she went away and complained that she had been abused, which furnished Mother's enemies, as they supposed, with sufficient cause to prosecute her. They now began to flatter themselves that they were able to prove Mother a false prophetess, and determined to prosecute her for defamation. They said they could prove to a certainty, that Tryphena's organization was such that she could not, possibly, be guilty of the charge of whoredom; she was called a great Christian, and, of necessity, a pure virgin. But, behold, she was soon found to be with child, by a married man! This was well known throughout the town of Enfield, and Mother's enemies were greatly abashed and confounded.

13. While. Mother Ann was at Ashfield, Anna Goodrich went to see her, in company with her husband, (Daniel Goodrich). After she had been there some days, Mother came to her with a very solemn look, and said, " Poor children; your children are in trouble, and you must go home." Anna went immediately to find Daniel, and while she was speaking with him, Mother came to hasten him, saying, "You must go home, for your children are in trouble." So they immediately started for home, which was upwards of forty miles distant. When they arrived, they found, as Mother said, the children were in great trouble, for one of them was very sick. Anna Goodrich.

14. Zeruah Clark went to see Mother while she was at Samuel Fitch's in Richmond, about five miles distant. After she had been there about an hour, Mother spoke to her, in the presence of a number of people, saying, " You must not stay here, you must go home, as soon as possible, for you are needed there." Zeruah set off in great haste, and when she had got about half way home, she met a messenger, who informed her that her oldest son was very sick, and they had but very little hope of his life. When she arrived, it appeared that he would not have continued long without assistance. Zeruah Clairk.

15. While Mother Ann and the Elders were at Asa Bacon's, in Ashfield a number of the believers were there one evening, and there appeared very extraordinary Northern Lights. One said, " It is the sign of the coming of the Son of Man in the clouds of heaven." Mother replied, "Those sign which appear in the sky are not the sign of his coming; but the Second Appearing of Christ is in his Church; and Christ is come to put away sin from his people, and this is the Cloud " (of witnesses) "alluded to." Anna Mathewson.

16. While Elder Hocknell had the care of the people at Watervliet, in the summer of 1781, while Mother Ann was at Harvard, he came into meeting one evening, under great operations of the power of God, and, with his hand stretched toward the fire, he spake in an unknown tongue, seemingly in great wrath. When his gift ceased, he said, "I saw the souls of three men, whom I knew while I was in England. They came to hear the word of God, but, they had not finished their sufferings, and therefore were returned again to their suffering state." He also said, "If you could see the glory of God that shines around you as I do, and the angels that minister the power of God to you, your hair would rise on your heads, and flesh would crawl on your bones." Hannah Cogswell.

17. One Sabbath day, at Harvard, in February, 1782, Elder James spoke to a large assembly, both of Believers and the world, and being under great impressions of the power of God, he spoke with such solemnity, concerning the judgments of God that would follow the wicked, and, in the spirit of prophecy, uttered the following prediction: "The judgments of God will follow them that reject this gospel; their flesh shall consume away while they stand upon their feet; their eyes shall consume away in their holes; and their tongues shall consume away in their mouths; and some of this generation shall yet live to see it." He also said, " There are three things that no man can pass by, namely, Death, Judgment, and Eternity." Hannah Cogswell.

CHAPTER XXVI.

1. At Watervliet, in 1780, Hannah Cogswell and others being present, Mother Ann related some visions which she had seen, and at the same time said, " I see an angel, with a glorious trumpet, and he is sounding it." Again she said, " I see another angel sounding a trumpet. Hannah, do you believe that I see these things ? " Hannah answered, " Yea." Mother said, "Blessed are they that have not seen and yet believe."

2. Again Elder William Lee said, " I know the condition of souls who have left the body, and where I see one soul in the body, I see a thousand in the world of spirits." Mother Ann and Elder James Whittaker often spoke in the same manner, concerning their intercourse with the world of spirits. Hannah Cogswell.

3. The winter after the gospel opened Mary Moseley was at Watervliet in the room with Mother Ann, and Mother said, "I see the room full of angels, and they are female angels." Then turning to Mary, she said, " You must leave off sinning, and serve the living and true God." Mary Moseley.

4. At another time, while the Brethren and Sisters were worshipping God in the dance, Mother came into the room and sung awhile. After they stopped dancing, Mother said,

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" The room over your heads is full of the angels of God. I see them, and you could see them too, if you was redeemed from the nature of the flesh." Lucy Prescott.

THIS MEANS THAT THEY DANCED TILL THEY DIED AND IT WAS THEIR SPIRITS FLOATING ABOUT THEIR MORTAL BODIES IN A HEAP OF FLESH....

5. The first time Mother Ann visited Enfield, Mary Tiffany went one evening, to see her, and Mother said, "I see your deceased kindred all around you." Mary asked if it was her mother, or her child ? She said, "It is all your kindred, both upon your father's and mother's side; they are nearer to you than I am."

6. The next day, Mary, with a number of other sisters went to see Mother, and asked her how she did ? She answered, " I have been under great sufferings for the dead, last night, and I saw your souls in vision, as plainly as I can see your bodies, standing shoulder to shoulder, clothed in white; do you hear me, Molly?" " Yea, Mother," answered Mary. " I saw your soul clothed with a long white robe down to your feet," said Mother.

7. At another time Mother Ann said to Mary, " I saw the travail of your soul written upon you in great capital letters, and I can read them as fast as I can speak." Again she said, "I look into the windows of Heaven, and see what there is in the invisible world." As one of the Sisters was speaking concerning Dr. Watts, Mother said, " Dr. Watts is now in Heaven." Mary Tiffany.

8. At Watervliet, in presence of Cornelius Thayer, William Scales, and others, Mother said, " I saw William Scales in vision, writing that which was not according to the simplicity of the gospel, and the evil spirits hovered around him, and administered evil to him.

They looked like crows." And Mother reproved William sharply. Cornelius Thayer.

9. Again Mother said, " I have seen Michael and his angels fight with the Dragon and his angels, and the Dragon was cast down and there was no place found for him; I saw it as plain before my eyes as ever I saw any natural thing." Lydia Mathewson Senr.

10. In the presence of Sarah Kendall and others, Mother Ann said to a certain Brother, " I see two golden candlesticks, and they stand by each of your legs, and they reach up your knees." Again she said to a Sister, " I see your mouth set open with a wheel of glory." Sarah Kendall.

11. At another time Mother said, " I see souls in the world of spirits who have lately set out to embrace the gospel, and I see them under the beautiful operations of the power of God." Mother often said, " I see the angels of God, and hear them sing." " And I see the glory of God." Sarah Kendall.

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12. At Nathan Goodrich's, in Hancock, Mother said, " I see Ezekiel Goodrich* flying from one heaven to another," and, turning to the Believers, she said, " Go in, and join his resurrection." She then began to sing, and they went forth and praised the Lord in the dance. {* Ezekiel was a beloved Brother who deceased the third year after the gospel opened.}

flying from one heaven to another," MEANS HE WAS GOING BACK AND FORTH IN TIME..

13. At Ashfield, Elder James Whittaker came into meeting one evening and said, " Since last night this time, I was in the visions of God in the world of spirits, and I heard the song of angels, as of an host; and after singing some time, they stopped. Then I heard it proclaimed three times, distinctly, with a loud voice that roared like thunder : ‘This is the day of your visitation.'

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Then they began again to sing, as an innumberable multitude, and the sound seemed to go off at a distance, and the further it went, the louder it grew; and I heard it, till it seemed, to my sensation, to be a million miles off." Abijah Wooster.

THIS MEANS THE MOTHER'S OF DARKNESS ENTERED HER BODY...

14. Mother Ann said to Lydia Matthewson, " The Apostles, in their day, saw,

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darkly, as through a glass;

THIS WORD IS USED IN THE SONG BY ANNIE LENOX...

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 but now we see clearly, face to face, and see things as they are, and converse with departed spirits, and see their states."

I CAN'T SEE SPIRITS BECAUSE I AM THE FINAL JUDGE AND JUSTIC IS BLIND...

15. After Mother returned from the eastward, Joseph Meacham, Joseph Markham, and a number of others being present, Mother said, " I now see faces, I will not say, as the stars of Heaven, but as the sand on the sea shore." Mother often spoke when the Believers were assembled in meeting, of seeing angels in the room; sometimes she spoke of seeing male angels and female angels. Joseph Markham, Senr.

16. One morning Mother came into the room and informed Eunice Bennet that she had been under great sufferings the night past; but was supported and comforted in her sufferings, by the visions of God. She said she saw the glories of God round about her head and pillow, like the colors of the rainbow, and she saw twelve angels come into the room placed in the form of a heart, six males on one side, and six females on the other; these, she said, comforted her. Eunice Bennet.

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17. After Mother returned from the eastward, while a number of the Brethren were sitting in the new meeting room, and conversing about Mother Ann's gifts, Mother, being present, said, " I will tell you a vision I saw of myself. I saw a great gulf fixed between God and the world of mankind; and I had two great wings given to me, and my work was, to go up that gulf, and fan it away." And, speaking in a very joyful manner, she said, " I did go up the gulf, with my two wings, and did fan it away; I did fan it away with my two great wings, so that poor lost souls could come to God. " Isaac Cranch.

THIS IS NOT MY WORK BUT THAT OF THE MOTHER'S OF DARKNESS MESSING AROUND WITH SWITCHING SOULS IN OTHER BODIES WITH THE DANING AND ORMUS EGGS...

18.The winter after Mother returned from the eastward, Phebe Spencer went to see her, — Phebe, and several other Sisters slept in the room with Mother. One morning, as they arose from their beds, Mother said, " The other night I saw a female angel with a bright sword of God in her hand, and this night it was revealed to me who it was, — It was Lucy Wright." Phebe Spencer.

19. One Christmas evening, before the opening of the gospel in America, Mother Ann and those with her, had some conversation concerning the right day to be observed in commemoration of the birth of Christ, querying whether the twenty-fifth day of December, according to the old or new style, ought to be kept. Soon after, it was revealed to Mother that the twenty-fifth day according to the new style was the day to be kept for Christmas. Mary Hocknell.

20. When Mother Ann and the Elders were in prison, at Albany, John Bishop went to see them. While there he was informed that she was to be taken down the river, the next day, for the purpose of banishing her to the British Army, which was then in New York. On receiving this information John was much troubled, and, as he was walking the prison yard, in great tribulation, Mother Ann came to him, and inquired the cause of his trouble. He answered, that they were about to take her away, and he did not know that he should ever see her again in this world. She replied, " You shall see me at your house, in New Lebanon, for I know it of God." She also said, " When I first arrived at Albany, Mary Partington and I lodged in the vessel, the first night; and, in the night, I was led by the power of God, to go out of the vessel, and came to this prison; and it was then revealed to me that I should be imprisoned here." Mother's prophecy to John greatly relieved his mind, and he returned home in full assurance that she had the revelation of God, and therefore he had not the least doubt of seeing her at his house in New Lebanon, which came to pass about three years after. John Bishop.

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21. Job Bishop was at Watervliet about three days before Mother Ann's decease, and felt an earnest desire to see her once more in the body, but did not ask the privilege. Mother, however, soon sent for him, and he went to her room. She was sitting in her chair, her bodily strength was almost exhausted, but her mind was sound, and her spirit firm and serene; Lucy Wright was with her; and Job, being filled with sorrow, kneeled down by her. She said, " I shall soon be taken out of this body; but the gospel never will be taken from you if you are faithful. Be not discouraged, nor cast down, for God will not leave His people without a Lead. Elder James Whittaker, and Elder Joseph Meacham will be left, and there will be a great increase of the gifts of God, to all who are faithful and obedient. Now you are a young man, and have received many blessed gifts of God. Go, be faithful and zealous, and when you travel to your lot in the Church, all these beautiful gifts will be yours." Job then expressed some of his sorrowful feelings in parting with Mother. She replied, " Be of good comfort; cleave to Elder Joseph, for he will be your father, and will take care of you." Job Bishop.

1 - THEY GAVE THE POWERS TO DIFFERENT PERSONS IN MY EX-HUSHAND'S FAMILY CALLED MEACHAM..

2 - THIS WAS MY MOTHER-IN-LAWS MAIDEN ANNA MEACHAM MCRORY...

3 - I HAVE A SISTER-IN-LAW AND HER NAME IS CAROLE MCRORY HABASH...

4 - THIS IS MY EX-HUSBAND OLDEST SISTER...

5 - SOUNDS A LOT LIKE MY NAME WHEN I WAS MARRIED CAROL E. MCRORY...

. . .end of Excerpt 1

Other Excerpts

SOPHIA OF WISDOM III - HADES & PERSPHONE

LIBRARY OF SOPHIA OF WISDOM III
SOPHIA OF ALL SOPHIA OF WISDOMS
AKA
CAROLINE E. KENNEDY______________________________

OCTOBER 29, 2006

Hades ("unseen") means both the ancient Greek abode of the dead and the god of that underworld. The word originally referred to just the god; haidou, its genitive, was short for "the house of Hades", and eventually the nominative, too, came to designate the abode of the dead.

A related Hebrew word, She'Ol, for the abode of the dead also meant literally "unseen."

The corresponding Roman god was Pluto, Dis Pater or Orcus; the corresponding Etruscan god was Aita. "Hades" is sometimes employed by Christians as a classicizing euphemism for Hell, which otherwise has few of the attributes of Hades.

In Greek mythology, Hades (the "unseen"), the god of the underworld, was a son of the Titans Cronus and Rhea. He had three older sisters, Hestia, Demeter, and Hera, as well as two younger brothers, Poseidon and Zeus: together they accounted for half of the Olympian gods.

Upon reaching adulthood Zeus managed to force his father to disgorge his siblings. After their release the six younger gods, along with allies they managed to gather, challenged their parents and uncles for power in Titanomachy, a divine war. The war lasted for ten years and ended with the victory of the younger gods. Following their victory Hades and his two younger brothers, Poseidon and Zeus, drew lots for realms to rule.

Zeus got the sky, Poseidon got the seas, and Hades received the underworld, the unseen realm to which the dead go upon leaving the world.

Metaphorically, each one received one object: Zeus, a thunder spear; Poseidon, a trident; and Hades, a helmet that gave invisibility to its carrier.

Hades obtained his eventual consort, Persephone, through trickery, a story that connected the ancient Eleusinian Mysteries with the Olympian pantheon.Hades ruled the dead, assisted by demons over whom he had complete authority.

He strictly forbade his subjects to leave his domain and would become quite enraged when anyone tried to leave, or if someone tried to steal his prey from him.

Besides Heracles, the only other living persons who ventured to the Underworld were all heroes: Odysseus, Aeneas (accompanied by the Sibyl), Orpheus, and Theseus. None of them was especially pleased with what they witnessed in the realm of the dead. In particular, the Trojan War hero Achilles, whom Odysseus met in Hades (although some believe that Achilles dwells in the Isles of the Blest)

Worship

Hades was a fearsome figure to those still living; in no hurry to meet him, they were reticent to swear oaths in his name. To many, simply to say the word "Hades" was frightening. So, a euphemism was pressed into use.

Since precious minerals come from under the earth (i.e., the "underworld" ruled by Hades), he was considered to have control of these as well, and was referred to as (Plouton, related to the word for "wealth"), hence the Roman name Pluto.

Sophocles explained referring to Hades as "the rich one" with these words: "the gloomy Hades enriches himself with our sighs and our tears." In addition, he was called Clymenus ("notorious"), Eubuleus ("well-guessing"), and Polydegmon ("who receives many").Although he was an Olympian, he spent most of the time in his dark realm. Formidable in battle, he proved his ferocity in the famous Titanomachy, the battle of the Olympians versus the Titans, which established the rule of Zeus.

Because of his dark and morbid personality he was not especially liked by either the gods nor the mortals. His character is described as "fierce and inexorable", and of all the gods he was by far most hated by mortals. He was not, however, an evil god, for although he was stern, cruel, and unpitying, he was still just. Hades ruled the Underworld and therefore most often associated with death and was feared by men, but he was not Death itself - the actual embodiment of Death was Thanatos.

When the Greeks prayed to Hades, they banged their hands on the ground to be sure he would hear them. Black animals, such as sheep, were sacrificed to him, and it is believed that at one time even human sacrifices were offered. The blood from sacrifices to Hades dripped into a pit so it could reach him. The person who offered the sacrifice had to turn away his face. Every hundred years festivals were held in his honor, called the Secular Games.

Hades' weapon was a two-pronged fork, which he used to shatter anything that was in his way or not to his liking, much as Poseidon did with his trident. This ensign of his power was a staff with which he drove the shades of the dead into the lower world.His identifying possessions included a famed helmet, given to him by the Cyclopes, which made anyone who wore it invisible.

Hades was known to sometimes loan his helmet of invisibility to both gods and men (such as Perseus). His dark chariot, drawn by four coal-black horses, always made for a fearsome and impressive sight. His other ordinary attributes were the Narcissus and Cypress plants, the Key of Hades and Cerberus, the many-headed dog. He sat on an ebony throne.


Hades is rarely represented in classical arts,

save in depictions of the Rape of Persephone.
Persephone

The consort of Hades, and the archaic queen of the Underworld in her own right, before the Hellene Olympians were established, was Persephone, represented by the Greeks as daughter of Zeus and Demeter. Persephone did not submit to Hades willingly, but was abducted by him while picking flowers with her friends. Hades loved Persphone so deeply that he did not free her from the underworld.

Persephone's mother missed her and without her daughter by her side she cast a curse on the land and there was a great famine. Hades tricked Persephone into eating six pomegranate seeds, which meant that she would be unable to leave the underworld even with the help of Zeus. Persephone knew of her mother's depression and asked Hades to return her to the land of the living, on the condition that she would stay with him for six months a year, one for every seed she consumed. Every year Hades fights his way back to the land of the living with Persephone in his chariot. In the months that Persephone is gone there is always famine (winter).

Orpheus and Eurydice

Hades showed mercy only once: Because the music of Orpheus was so hauntingly sad, he allowed Orpheus to bring his wife, Eurydice, back to the land of the living as long as she walked behind him and he never tried to look at her face until they got to the surface. Orpheus agreed but, yielding to the temptation to glance backwards, failed and lost Eurydice again, to be reunited with her only after his death.

Leuce and Mintho

Like his brother Zeus and other ancient gods, Hades was not the most faithful of husbands. He pursued and loved the nymph Mintho and to punish him for this, his jealous wife Persephone turned Mintho into the plant called mint. Likewise, the nymph Leuce, who was also ravished by him, was metamorphosed by Hades into a white poplar tree after her death.

Theseus and Pirithous

Hades imprisoned Theseus and Pirithous, who had pledged to marry daughters of Zeus. Theseus chose Helen and together they kidnapped her and decided to hold onto her until she was old enough to marry. Pirithous chose Persephone. They left Helen with Theseus' mother, Aethra and travelled to the underworld. Hades pretended to offer them hospitality and set a feast; as soon as the pair sat down, snakes coiled around their feet and held them there. Theseus was eventually rescued by Heracles.

Heracles

Heracles' final labor was to capture Cerberus. First, Heracles went to Eleusis to be initiated into the Eleusinian Mysteries. He did this to absolve himself of guilt for killing the centaurs and to learn how to enter and exit the underworld alive. He found the entrance to the underworld at Tanaerum. Athena and Hermes helped him through and back from Hades. Heracles asked Hades for permission to take Cerberus. Hades agreed as long as Heracles didn't harm him, though in some versions, Heracles shot Hades with an arrow. When Heracles dragged the dog out of Hades, he passed through the cavern Acherusia.

Hades in Neopaganism

Many neopagans today, particularly Hellenistic neopagans in the United States, have what many would consider new-age views of Hades. Hades, the afterlife, is seen as a place of Limbo, containing domains for those who are good, but not good enough for entry into Elysium (in many ways heaven) and domains for those who are evil, but not evil to be cast into Tartarus (in many ways hell).

Many neopagans believe that the domain of Hades is where all souls go to be judged by the deity Hades, who is thought to hold the Book of Life which records all mortal deeds, good or ill. The god Hades is thought to be unconcerned with any form of worship and sacrifice, and totally devoid of compassion or emotion for mortals. Modern neopagans sometimes believe that the deity Hades consults Themis and Hyperion when deciding a mortal's fate.

Should a mortal be observed by Hyperion to be evil, but unworthy of eternal torture, the souls are cast into the lower bowels of hades, to a drab and unpleasant existence in which they may or may not be issued punishment. Should a mortal be observed by Hyperion to be virtuous, but not worthy of entry into Elysium, Hades allows the mortal to wander free in the upper levels of Hades, believed to be much like life on Earth. Themis, after the observations are made, consults Hades, who passes Judgment.

Whether a soul is allowed entry to Elysium or cast into Tartarus is believed by many Pagans to depend on whether Hyperion's observations of one's earthly ills and virtues carries disproportionate weight. For example, some believe that a set of scales (carried by Themis) will tilt with each observation, and how far the scales are from being balanced determines whether or not one is rewarded or punished, and the subsequent severity of punishment or greatness of one's reward.

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Redeeming the Dead
 
 

Most accounts of spiritualism describe its aim as helping individuals overcome the fear of death.  When they became convinced that spirits were real, and had found happiness, they gained mastery over death, if they had feared it as oblivion.  And, when they made contact with the spirits of loved ones who had already died, they were most often reassured that they were not suffering, but were happy.  In effect, this redeemed the dead themselves from the Hell that hung like a cloud over Calvin’s spiritual descendents.  Spiritualism, in this sense, effected a victory over the doctrine of eternal punishment.  Instead, it offered an afterlife of light and love, of progress, development, and happiness.

A Voice from the Grave

Shining Ones Who Dwell in Light

Spiritualism had another aim for a believer, however.  One could help those who had passed over make progress.  One could tell them of new revelations that had not occurred by the time they had died.  They could be disciplined, rectified, brought to holiness, redeemed, reconciled with a new era.  The spiritualist could be motivated by a desire to help others—the spirits themselves.

Spirits could both teach and be taught, comfort and be comforted, redeem and be redeemed.  They could be updated for the times.  The spirit of the atheist Thomas Paine gave clergyman Charles Hammond a tale in which spirit-Paine described his conversion to a belief in immortality and in God.  John Wesley’s spirit conveyed to mediums his afterlife conversion to a belief in universal salvation.  The skeptical electrical experimenter Michael Faraday’s spirit dictated to mediums books from the beyond about the etheric world.  The deceased editor of the Springfield, Massachusetts Republican, Samuel Bowles, whose newspaper had never been overly enthusiastic about spiritualism, sent back “reports” from the afterlife, through medium Carrie Twing, in which he encouraged journalists to be kinder to spiritualism, and acted as a travel correspondent to the earth’s inhabitants, detailing Heaven’s features.

A Progressed Spirit-Bowles Visits a Progressed Spirit-Sprague

Harvard Professor Louis Agassiz participated in an investigation of mediumship and pronounced it a fraud. A few years after the professor’s death, spiritualist Allen Putnam published a book purported to be dictated by Agassiz’s then-repentant spirit.  The spirit of Universalism founder John Murray contacted John Spear, explaining how his views had changed since his death to include a concern for social reform and abolitionism.  Theodore Parker’s spirit spoke soon after his death, explicitly embracing spiritualism.  So did Edgar Allan Poe, who also delivered new poetry through the mouths of various mediums.  Mark Twain, who, in his earthly life, was skeptical about spiritualism, a few years after his death offered a new novel through a medium’s Ouija board, and Jesus himself used the new spiritual telegraph to reveal the “true” story of his life.

The Dead Regain Their Voices—

Post-Mortem Confessions: Being Letters Written through a Mortal’s Hand by Spirits Who, When in Mortal, Were Officers of Harvard College: with Comments, by Allen Putnam. Boston: Colby & Rich, 1886.

Messages from the Superior State; Communicated by John Murray, through John M. Spear, in the Summer of 1852. Containing Important Instruction to the Inhabitants of the Earth. Carefully Prepared for Publication, with a Sketch of the Author’s Earthly Life, and a Brief Description of the Spiritual Experience of the Medium. By S. C. Hewitt.  Boston: Bela Marsh, 1852.

Spirit Life of Theodore Parker, through the Inspiration of Sarah A. Ramsdell. Boston: Rand, Avery & Co., 1876.

Light from the Spirit World; the Pilgrimage of Thomas Paine and Others to the Seventh Circle in the Spirit World, by Charles Hammond. Rochester: D. M. Dewey, 1852.

Jesus Christ, a Fiction. Founded upon the Life of Apolonius of Tyana. The Pagan Priests of Rome Originated Christianity; New and Startling Disclosures by Its Founders, and Full Explanations by Ancient Spirits. Transcribed by M[ichael] Faraday. Springfield, MA: Star Publishing Co., 1883.

Autobiography; by Jesus of Nazareth. S.L.: J. P. Cooke, 1894.

[Mark Twain (spirit)]. Jap Herron: A Novel Written from the Ouija Board; with an Introduction, The Coming of Jap Herron. New York: Mitchell Kennerley, 1917.

Mark Twain and the Ouija Board Lawsuit, at twainquotes.com

All these were efforts (unsuccessful or not) to redeem the dead for the present.  The medium was the instrument for teaching the dead modern doctrine, for bringing the revered ancients in line with new truth.  The land of the dead became missionary territory, a place where reforming philanthropists could exert their efforts for those who had already gone there.  Often, the spirits were the revelators, and the happy afterlife was the revelation to those on earth, but often the converse also was true—those on earth could raise up those in the other world.

Unsympathetically viewed, spiritualists were co-opting ancient authority for their own new visions—dressing them up in George Washington’s uniform or the robes of Saint Paul in order to extort respect for them.  Sympathetically viewed, spiritualists were convinced that the ancient authorities, already so far in advance of the world when they died, would certainly have come to new truths before anyone else, if not in fact have been the source of these new truths.  And those who were still here in the flesh could reveal to those spirits who were not so advanced these new truths—justice, love, joy, salvation, and temperance.

This was akin to Joseph Smith’s establishment of the “sealing” or baptizing of the dead, whereby the living saints could liberate the dead and, in effect, ritually convert them to Mormonism.  He formalized this in the Mormon Temple ceremony he initiated in Nauvoo in 1842.  Indeed, the new Temple ceremony itself depended, one might say, on Smith’s conversion of Ancient Masonry to Ancient Mormonism.

Not far from Joseph Smith’s boyhood home in Palmyra, New York, had been the Shaker settlement at Sodus Bay.  The Shakers, even in their early days in America, recognized spirits who often came to “Mother” Ann Lee and her followers to be taught the gospel that their revelation, through Ann Lee, had initiated and which the deceased had not known in their own time.
 

David, you know not what you feel.  I see the dead around you, whose visages are ghostly and very awful.  Their faces almost touch thine.  If you did but see what I see, you would be surprised [. . .]  Be of good comfort, and be not cast down, for the dead gather to thee for the gospel, which thou hast received.

—Ann Lee to David Slosson, Testimonies of the Life, Character, Revelations, and Doctrines of Mother Ann Lee, and the Elders with Her, through Whom the Word of Eternal Life Was Opened in This Day, of Christ’s Second Appearing, Collected from Living Witnesses, by Order of the Ministry, in Union with the Church. Hancock, MA: J. Tallcott & J. Deming, 1816:240.
 

Beginning in 1837—years after Ann Lee’s death—and lasting almost ten years, during a period that the Shakers came to call the “era of manifestations” or “Mother Ann’s Work,” the spirits of famous people of the past, and the spirits of various tribes and peoples and nations of the world paid visits to the Shakers, where they took over the Shaker brethren and sisters, “personating” them.  Inhabiting their “instruments,” they were counseled by the Shaker elders, and brought into submission to the law, and, essentially, converted to being Shakers.

A Return of Departed Spirits of the Highest Characters of Distinction, by a Member of the Shaker Community at Watervliet, New York

An outsider described one of these sessions in which the dead returned, and both taught and were taught by the Shakers:

A Revelation of the Extraordinary Visitation of Departed Spirits of Distinguished Men and Women of All Nations, and Their Manifestation through the Living Bodies of the “Shakers,” by a Guest of the Community at Watervliet

Shakers were also personated by spirits of their teachers—including Ann Lee—who came back to revivify and purify their current religious life, but Mother Ann in her spiritual visits also taught some new doctrines—admonishing her followers to Teetotalism, for instance.

Shakers were also personated by spirits of people who might be objects of Shaker missionary (or at least philanthropic) activity—Indians, for example, and South Sea Islanders—whose rambunctiousness and ignorance could be remedied while they were contained in the bodies of their Shaker “instruments,” by counseling them or making them move in accord with the Shaker worship dances.

Irrational Natures Tamed, by Hervy Elkins

Having the spirits counseled by the elders and the larger community tamed the manifestations and brought them in line with the hierarchy of existing authority, and tamed also any implied challenge to that authority from the elevation of prophesying young girls, for example, over the elders.

Let Us Leap, by David Lamson

Shakers experienced spiritualist manifestations on a large scale long before spiritualism appeared in the outside world. A Return of Departed Spirits of the Highest Characters of Distinction was published by a member of the Shaker community at Watervliet, just outside Auburn in 1843, years before Andrew Jackson Davis became a celebrity or before the Fox Sisters’ rappings.

The Manifestation of Spiritualism among the Shakers, by Henry Blinn

Was this Shaker “era of manifestations” the real beginning of “modern Spiritualism”?  Certainly the phenomena reported by the Shakers were related to the phenomena associated with spiritualism in the larger culture.  But it was not identical—as Henry Blinn noted, the séance circle was not a feature of Shaker spiritualism, nor did Shakers’ early attempts at “materialization” of spirits go beyond the kind of ritualized shadow puppetry described above by David Lamson.  Also, compared to spiritualism in the world outside, Shaker spiritualism had more Biblical content.  The messages mediated to the Shakers from the spirits often took the form of prophetic books, and Shaker mediums often experienced uncontrollable jerks and other kinds of repetitive movements resembling those common among Methodists and Baptists at revival gatherings.

Most important for distinguishing Shaker spiritualism from “modern Spiritualism” elsewhere, Shaker spiritualist phenomena were manifested in the context of—and integrated into—the religious practices and beliefs of the Shaker community, which had a very tightly disciplined and controlled social and doctrinal structure.  Spiritualism in the outside world was not necessarily religious or incorporated into any existing church community or practice.  Spiritualists in the outside world had to struggle to put together their own organizations and traditions.  The essential experience of most spiritualists was a personal one, not grounded in a lasting community outside the séance circle, and consisted of a possibly very secular revelation—perhaps merely meeting another individual, albeit a disembodied one.

The missionary aim of spirit-contact in Shaker spiritualism is most apparent in the messages given to the world through Shaker “instruments.”  Shakers received several long discourses meant by their heavenly authors to be delivered to all the rulers of the world, counseling them to repentance and righteousness.  These were actually published by the Shakers and sent all over the world, where they were received with not quite the fanfare that the Shakers would have liked.

A Holy, Sacred, and Divine Roll and Book, from the Lord God of Heaven, to the Inhabitants of Earth

The Divine Book of Holy and Eternal Wisdom, Revealing the Word of God

These were prophetic books, much like those of the Old Testament.  They do not tell about the glories of the other world, but come from the other world, and call for repentance in this one.  Considered with the visitations of spirits of various nations, the heavenly instruction to disseminate these books all over the globe suggested to the Shakers that the other peoples and nations of the world would be coming to them like ambassadors to declare their fealty and submission, or to receive enlightenment, like the Magi who traveled to Bethlehem.

In addition, Shakers were not eager to tell the world outside their communities about the unusual spiritual phenomena taking place in their midst—many of the communities closed their meetings to outsiders during the period of “Mother Ann’s Work.” Nevertheless, those outside seem likely to have been aware of the spiritual phenomena in the Shaker settlements, if by no other means than the testimony of people who had left the Shakers.  The large number of spiritualists in Auburn, New York, for example, lived next to the Shaker community at Watervliet.  The Mount Lebanon community was not far away.  The very active spiritualist community in Cleveland was near the Shakers’ North Union settlement, and Boston’s spiritualists were just across the river from Harvard’s Shakers.
 

Letter to Horace Greeley, Editor of the New York Tribune [May 1, 1851]

Meredith Bridge, N. H., April 18, 1851.

Mr. Greeley—Dear Sir: Much interest has been excited here, during a few weeks past, by the appearance, in this village, of those wonderful phenomena which are now attracting so much attention in various parts of the country, and are more commonly designated by the title of “Mysterious Rappings.”  The “medium” is a young lady of about nineteen years of age, for several years a resident among the Shakers at Enfield, N. H., but now a member of the family of Mr. Hiram Clifford, who is residing temporarily in this place.  Some years since, while at Enfield she was accustomed to falling into a state of somnambulic ecstasy, or trance, when (as she alleged, and as the Shakers believed,) she had visions of heaven and was made the “instrument” of divine communications.  The interviews, which are held daily, with what purport to be spirits, in higher spheres of existence, have been quite numerously attended, not only by those acting from the impulse of aimless curiosity, but also by the serious, dispassionate and intellectually cultivated portion of our community.  In many instances the demonstrations are truly astonishing—the names of persons, of whom, while living in this world, the “medium” could have had no personal knowledge, (as the visitors are satisfied by irrefragable proof,) being spelled out, letter by letter. [. . .]

Yours truly,
J[ohn] Prince
[Pastor of the Universalist Society in Meredith Bridge]
 

Also, as Lamson pointed out in his description of the “Mountain Meetings” at the Mt. Lebanon settlement, a few spectators were allowed to see even some of the most bizarre of the Shaker manifestations.
 

At length one very interesting woman, who had been quite conspicuous in these singular displays, was led forward by two aged sisters, and commenced a promenade of the enclosure immediately before the spectators, and, with the most violent gesticulations, she cried out at the extremity of her voice that “she” was the veritable Ann Lee returned from the grave, that the day of judgment was at hand, and that the great Babylon would shortly be destroyed, and called upon all to be ready to meet the terrible day of the Lord.  These sentences, accompanied by the most violent and extravagant gesticulations, she continued to repeat for about twenty minutes, varying occasionally the phraseology, but not differing in the sense.  It was altogether one of the most singular sights we have ever witnessed.

—Mr. J. W. S. Howe, “A Day in the ‘Holy Mountain’ with the Shakers of New Lebanon,” The Albion (New York), reprinted from The Utica Opal, undated, but probably 1843-1845 [in volume 4 of the Shaker scrapbooks from North Union, Ohio, in the Library of Congress]
 

A few years after spiritualism appeared in the outside, however, Shakers began telling many people out in the world about what had occurred in their own communities, and claimed that the advent of spirits into their communities was a precursor of their appearance elsewhere.  Shaker Frederick Evans, an elder in the Mount Lebanon community, became an especially forceful and prolific expositor to the outside world of the features of Shaker spiritualism.

Frederick Evans Claims Priority for Shaker Spiritualism

From the mid-1850s, spiritualism in the culture at large fed back into Shaker spiritualism, with Shakers adopting many of the terms and practices of spiritualism elsewhere, and many outside spiritualists studying the history of the phenomena among the Shakers, especially the inspiration of songs, dances, and drawings.
 

What is now known as Modern Spiritualism is accepted by them as a fact.  They assert that all phases of mediumship were common among them several years prior to the first raps at Hydesville, and that its advent to the general public was then foretold.  In its higher phases it is still sometimes exhibited.  Witness the sweet, pathetic yet simple melodies which come, “The gift of the spirit,” as they believe, to one or another, either in private or in public worship.  A brother or a sister at such times is inspired to sing a new song to new music, which, when written down, becomes a permanent possession.  A large book has been published, consisting of these inspirational hymns, which is in constant use.

Cyrus O. Poole, Spiritualism as Organized by the Shakers.  s.n., 1887?: 10-11.  [Reprinted from the Banner of Light, and “delivered before the Brooklyn, NY Progressive Conference, Oct. 1st, 1887.”]
 

During the 1870s and 1880s, Frederick Evans also became a frequent contributor to the Religio-Philosophical Journal, expounding Shaker doctrine to spiritualists, as well as a missionary of sorts to his own Shaker community of the reality and importance of the spiritualist phenomenon of materialization, explaining it as having Biblical and Shaker precedents and as the final stage of spiritualism and the beginning of the End of Time.

The Millennium Will Commence with Angels’ Food

Evans was so firm a believer in the spiritualist phenomenon of materialization that he organized a series of ten long séances at Mt. Lebanon, and invited outside medium William Eddy (who brought two assistants with him) to use special cabinets built by Shakers at Mt. Lebanon.  Into these, Eddy as medium, withdrew in the dark, and then was locked inside.  During the ten séances, a total of thirty-one spirits, both Shaker and non-Shaker, materialized and roamed about the meeting-house, to the “entire satisfaction” of the Shakers who attended.

Access to the Tree of Life

By the mid-1860s, the Shaker settlement at the North Union Shaker settlement south of Cleveland, held monthly services with the spiritualists in the area.  Most of the time these meetings were cordial:  Each group tended to avoid obvious points of contention—most particularly, how to understand sexuality.

The Old Subject of Propagation

During the decades of the 1870s and 1880s, spiritualists and Shakers were in close enough communication to hold joint conventions—such as one in Cleveland in January 1871, organized by spiritualist James Martin Peebles and Shaker George Albert Lomas, Elder of the Watervliet community and Editor of The Shaker.  These were reported by the mainstream press.  In 1877, the Shaker community at Mount Lebanon published a long message that Peebles received from the spirit of Mother Ann Lee under the title Oriental Spiritualism.  Peebles and Evans went on a lecture tour together to England in 1887 and addressed large audiences there, although they were shunned by most of the clergy.

For further study of the Shakers—

Stephen J. Stein, The Shaker Experience in America: A History of the United Society of Believers.  New Haven: Yale University Press, 1992, especially pages 165-200 and 320-328.

France Morin, editor, Heavenly Visions: Shaker Gift Drawings and Gift Songs.  New York: The Drawing Center, 2001.

Large research collections of original Shaker materials can be consulted at the Western Reserve Historical Society in Cleveland and (through an endowment from Shakers) at the American Society for Psychical Research in New York City.

The New York Public Library’s Bibliographic Research Guide on the Shakers

Shaker Manuscripts online, from Pass the WORD Services

Recordings of Shaker Music, from Sampler Records, Rochester

Shaker Historic Trail, by the U.S. National Park Service