“Shakerism teaches God’s immanence through the common life shared in Christ’s mystical body.” Like many religious seekers throughout the ages, they honor the revelation of God but cannot be bound up in an unchanging set of dogmas or creeds. Freeing themselves from domination by the state religion, Mother Ann Lee and her first followers in mid-18th-century England labored to encounter the godhead directly. They were blessed by spiritual gifts that showed them a way to live the heavenly life on Earth. The result of their efforts was the fashioning of a celibate communal life called the Christlife, wherein a person, after confessing all sin, through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, can travel the path of regeneration into ever- increasing holiness. Pacifism, equality of the sexes, and withdrawal from the world are some of the ways the faith was put into practice. This second edition of Historical Dictionary of the Shakers contains a chronology, an introduction, appendixes, and an extensive bibliography. The dictionary section has over 300 cross-referenced entries on Shaker communities, industries, individual families, and important people. This book is an excellent resource for students, researchers, and anyone wanting to know more about the Shakers.
When she died in America at age forty-eight, having brought her faithful to a new land on the eve of the Revolution, she left behind a religious movement that was to have thousands of followers and become our most important and successful utopian community."--BOOK JACKET.
Issachar Bates (1758-1837) was a Revolutionary War veteran in rural upstate New York who, at the age of forty-three, abruptly turned from his family life to become a celibate Shaker. He immediately became instrumental in Shakerism's westward expansion, and his personal charisma, persuasive preaching, and musical talent helped stimulate the movement's growth. Bates drew "western" converts in abundance, profoundly changing the character of Shakerism by increasing its geographic reach. He also helped shape the Shakers' unique theology and hymnody through his many influential texts and songs.
"Most writers have treated these three groups and the social ferment out of which they grew as simply an American sideshow. . . . In this book, therefore, I have attempted to go beyond the conventional focus on what these groups did; I have also sought to explain why they did what they did and how successful they were in terms of their own objectives. By trying sympathetically to understand these extraordinary experiments in social and religious revitalization, I believe it is possible to come to terms with a broader set of questions that affect all men and women during times of crisis and transition."--From the preface Winner of the Best Book Award, Mormon History Association
"Promey's book is a penetrating analysis of Shaker art.... The book is a gem, a true advance in Shaker studies, art history, religious history, and cultural history. Highly recommended." -- Choice "... a very intelligent and articulate... treatment of a stunning set of message-images." -- Art Bulletin "This book is a pleasure to look at and to read." -- Religious Studies Review "[A] fascinating investigation into another world. The Shaker spirit drawings... offer clues into a remarkable moment of American life, as well as an opportunity to rethink just how the visual arts, religious revitalizations, and social memory relate to one another.... [A] model study: clear, absorbing, and significant."Â -- Neil Harris, author of The Artist in American Society "Sally Promey's inquiry... critically engages current issues in the study of visual culture: what do images do; how do they work; what needs do they fulfill; just what is their 'power'? Her compelling case study joins fundamental concerns of art historians with those of students of religion and history... By means of an exacting examination of Shaker drawings as the site of both expectation and encounter, Promey successfully situates these Spiritual Spectacles at the meeting point of the 'inner' and the 'outer' eye." -- Linda Seidel, author of Jan van Eyck's Arnolfini Portrait: Stories of an Icon "Promey has brought to her work an excellent sensitivity to the religious issues involved, keen sight and powers of observation, and a very creative interpretive framework."Â -- Stephen J. Stein, author of The Shaker Experience in America
Reconstruction of the bitter and widely publicized marital dispute between two early nineteenth-century Shakers. A simultaneous dissection and contextualization of two primary sources relevant to women's studies, religious studies, and the history of the early American republic.
The simple yet striking lines of Shaker design grace much of the furniture we see in high-end department stores, and beautiful examples of it adorn the pages of Architectural Digest and House Beautiful. How did this style evolve from its origins in a humble, small religious community to the international design phenomenon it is today? This illustrated study explores the emergence of the Shaker style and how it was vigorously promoted by scholars and artists into the prominence it now enjoys. The heart of the Shaker style lies in the religious movement founded in the eighteenth century, where Stephen Bowe and Peter Richmond begin their chronicle. From there, the authors chart the evolution of the style into the twentieth century—particularly in the hands of design media, scholars, and art institutions. These Shaker “agents” repositioned Shaker style continuously—from local vernacular to high culture and then popular culture. Drawing on a rich array of sources, including museum catalogs, contemporary design magazines, and scholarly writings, Selling Shaker illustrates in detail how the Shaker style entered the general design consciousness and how the original aesthetic was gradually diluted into a generic style for a mass audience. A wholly original and fascinating study of American design and consumption, Selling Shaker is a unique resource for collectors, scholars, and anyone interested in the cultural history of a design aesthetic.
This richly detailed, well-documented history describes the life of the Squaxin spiritual leader John Slocum and the growth in the Pacific Northwest of his Indian Shaker Church (not to be confused with eastern Shakerism. Students of Native American religion and Christianity will find this a moving story both of assimilation and of the curing that is the Shaker Church’s reason for being. The Indian Shaker movement began in 1882 when the charismatic but dissolute Slocum had a vision after a near-death experience. Later his church was led by his wide, Mary Thompson, and early-day leaders such as Mud Bay Louis and Mud Bay Sam. Today church members continue to combine Native American styles of singing, body movement, and verbal declarations with bell ringing, songs, burning candles, and shaking in a unique curing tradition that is honored outside the church particularly for its success in teaching against the use of alcohol. Intense community support, for both leader and patient, is a focal point in the lives of Shaker Church members. Their tradition has endured despite the important differences in members’ tribal backgrounds and religious viewpoints chronicled in this up-to-date account by veteran scholars Robert H. Ruby and John A. Brown, the first outsiders to have access to church records.
This book takes a look at the faith, philosophy, and way of life of the country's one remaining Shaker community. Lauber explores their spiritual and daily lives by weaving together proprietary Shaker quotations, interviews, and photographs. The result is a book that pierces many misconceptions, most notably that the Shakers and their faith are dead. Lauber places the topics of faith, community, work, and worship in the context of Shaker history and contemporary developments on the American landscape.