Origins of the Shakers
Book Description
In the rich tapestry of spiritual awakening, few stories are as compelling as the journey that led to one of America's most distinctive religious communities. Clarke Garrett traces an extraordinary path of divine experience that spans continents and centuries, revealing how the sacred fire of direct spiritual encounter traveled from the mountains of France to the shores of the New World.
This fascinating exploration begins with the Camisards, a passionate Protestant group in southeastern France whose ecstatic worship and prophetic visions marked them as vessels of divine possession. Their dramatic rebellion against Louis XIV scattered them across Europe, carrying with them a profound tradition of immediate spiritual experience that manifested through prophecy, visions, and transformative seizures.
Garrett masterfully follows this spiritual lineage as it evolved through Huguenot exile communities and eventually took root among English believers in Manchester. These devoted seekers, known locally as Shakers for their distinctive worship practices, became the inheritors of a sacred tradition that emphasized God's direct touch upon the individual soul.
When twelve of these English ecstatics crossed the Atlantic in 1774, they brought with them a transformed version of this ancient spiritual fire. What emerged was something remarkable: a community that preserved the raw immediacy of spirit possession while channeling it into the foundation of an ideal Christian society. Through meticulous research, Garrett illuminates how the Shakers represented the culmination of a century-long quest for authentic spiritual experience, creating a unique sacred theater where believers could witness and participate in divine manifestation.
Who Is This For?
📖 Reading Level: Medium (200-400 pages) (~8 hours)
🕉️ Tradition: Christianity
📄 Length: 294 pages
What You'll Discover
- ✓ Explore Camisards
- ✓ Explore Religious aspects
- ✓ Explore Bezetenheid
- ✓ Explore Kamisarden
- ✓ Explore Spirit possession
- ✓ Explore Shakers
- ✓ Explore Hugenoten
- ✓ Explore Christianity
