windar
Teller of Tales
This story represents a bit of a departure for me in several ways, but it concerns a real historical person that I hope some of you will find as fascinating as I do, so I think it’s a story worth telling. I want to thank Barb for reading it and encouraging me to go forward with it. She has graciously agreed to contribute a chapter, which will appear a bit later. So, here we go…
PROLOGUE:
There are any number of crucifixion stories on this site. Martyrs, slaves, rebels and other assorted women have suffered and died on the cross right here. But none, so far as I know, claimed to be the female Jesus and certainly none were believed to actually be Her by thousands of followers. But history records one such woman. Her name was Ann Lee and this is her story.
Ann Lee was born in Manchester, England in 1736 to a Quaker family. Her father was a blacksmith, and, with the family not having much money, Ann received little in the way of formal education, working in textile factories and as a cook. She resisted marrying until the age of almost 25, rather unusual at the time, at which point her father insisted she be wed. During the marriage, she gave birth to four children, all of whom died in infancy from various diseases. Perhaps understandably in the circumstances, Ann believed that God was punishing her for her carnality. She swore off sexual relations after this and began preaching that celibacy was ordained by God.
It was around this point that Ann joined The United Society of Believers in Christ’s Second Appearing, better known as Shakers for their ecstatic dancing and singing during worship. She quickly became the leader of the sect, which, believing in complete gender equality, had no problem accepting female leadership. The Shakers believed that God was both male and female and that Jesus would return in a female manifestation. Ann and her followers came to believe that Ann, or Mother Ann as her followers called her, was in fact Christ returned as a woman.
Facing persecution in England for these beliefs, Ann and several of her followers departed for America in 1774, on the eve of the outbreak of the American Revolution, eventually settling in Watervliet, New York, just outside of Albany, about 150 miles north along the Hudson River from New York City. There, they farmed, practiced their crafts and preached their beliefs, journeying throughout the area in search of converts to their radical theology. This story takes place in 1780, on one such journey into the Puritan stronghold of Massachusetts, a place with a history of religious intolerance, including the persecution of Quakers and the famous Salem witch trials.
PROLOGUE:
There are any number of crucifixion stories on this site. Martyrs, slaves, rebels and other assorted women have suffered and died on the cross right here. But none, so far as I know, claimed to be the female Jesus and certainly none were believed to actually be Her by thousands of followers. But history records one such woman. Her name was Ann Lee and this is her story.
Ann Lee was born in Manchester, England in 1736 to a Quaker family. Her father was a blacksmith, and, with the family not having much money, Ann received little in the way of formal education, working in textile factories and as a cook. She resisted marrying until the age of almost 25, rather unusual at the time, at which point her father insisted she be wed. During the marriage, she gave birth to four children, all of whom died in infancy from various diseases. Perhaps understandably in the circumstances, Ann believed that God was punishing her for her carnality. She swore off sexual relations after this and began preaching that celibacy was ordained by God.
It was around this point that Ann joined The United Society of Believers in Christ’s Second Appearing, better known as Shakers for their ecstatic dancing and singing during worship. She quickly became the leader of the sect, which, believing in complete gender equality, had no problem accepting female leadership. The Shakers believed that God was both male and female and that Jesus would return in a female manifestation. Ann and her followers came to believe that Ann, or Mother Ann as her followers called her, was in fact Christ returned as a woman.
Facing persecution in England for these beliefs, Ann and several of her followers departed for America in 1774, on the eve of the outbreak of the American Revolution, eventually settling in Watervliet, New York, just outside of Albany, about 150 miles north along the Hudson River from New York City. There, they farmed, practiced their crafts and preached their beliefs, journeying throughout the area in search of converts to their radical theology. This story takes place in 1780, on one such journey into the Puritan stronghold of Massachusetts, a place with a history of religious intolerance, including the persecution of Quakers and the famous Salem witch trials.
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