Shakerism.
A recent historical sketch of the society originally called the "Shaking Quakers" presents some facts which are of interest to our study. This society was formed in 1747 near Manchester, England. It's most famous member was Ann Lee (Stanley) more familiarly known as "Mother Ann."
She was born at Manchester in 1736. Her biographers say that (89, p. 15) "as a child Ann was serious and thoughtful, subject to strong religious impressions and given to reverie and visions." Her child life was not that of the freedom and happiness normal to childhood, but, on the contrary, she lived a life apart and gave herself over to extreme and exaggerated religious experiences.
She early felt a strong aversion to marriage, but the customs of her time required her to marry against her wishes. She became a member of the Shaker society in 1758 when 22 years of age. She seemed to feel laid upon her the sins of the whole world, and repeatedly, through a period of nine years, there were times when she would spend her days at work and her nights at prayer until her body wasted away and perspiration as drops of blood pressed through her skin. It was at such extremities that her "visions" and "revelations" came. Some of these "revelations" have become a part of the doctrine of the Society.
Those most fundamental and characteristic are: I. The duality of Deity, God both Father and Mother; one in essence . . two natures co-equal in Deity. 2. The secret of man's sin, the cause of his fall is the premature and self-indulgent use of the sexual function.
She felt that it was necessary that the Christ Spirit should come again in the form of woman to complete the revelation of God to humanity and she was the woman, anointed as she believed by the hand of Jesus himself, the second visible Head, in whom dwelt the Divine Mother. Very naturally, then, we should expect to hear that "about this humble, unlettered woman centered some of the most remarkable spiritual phenomena the world has seen . . . electric streams from Deity using her as a transmitter of spiritual force." (89, p. 15.)
According to their own claims Shakerism is the parent of modern spiritualism. At any rate spirit manifestations, prophetic utterances, phenomenal occurrences, revelations, and miraculous healings have been common throughout their history. Quoting again from " Mother Ann's" biographers (89, P. 353) : "Numerous instances are certified to, by those who personally knew 'Mother Ann' and the Elders, where a word or a touch from her or from them had released from suffering, cured disease and restored health and strength . . . among them are cases of lameness, hip disease, consumption, acute dyspepsia and stomach troubles, exhaustion, obsession, dislocation of hones, glandular affections and many more."
There seems to be little or nothing here to distinguish the cures mentioned from those of other forms of faith cure. We have dwelt thus fully upon this movement only because it is somewhat less well known than many of the modern movements of this nature; because it bears some theological resemblances to Christian Science and is said to have furnished some of its doctrines; and because it furnishes one more illustration of the sort of religious expression that accompanies many of our modern mental healing cults.
Miracles of Healing
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By Charles W. Waddle (1909)
Primitive Christian Worship
Hereditary genius
