For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ;
and shall deceive many.
Matthew 24:5
I. Cyrus Teed of the Koereshans
Cyrus Teed (1839-1908) founded a CULT based on Hallow Earth Cosmology, reincarnation, Communism and with Teed, renamed Koresh (Hebrew for Persian name of Cyrus) proclaimed himself the Messiah.
... Hallow Earth Cosmology was the belief that humans live inside the earth. They believed the sun, galaxies and planets are inside the earth and the earth's crust encases the universe.
...Teed's pseudo-scientific Nonsense was adopted by the Nazis. A WW1 German pilot named Peter Bender was taken prisoner and converted to Teed's ideas in prison (Teed had published several books). Bender later introduced the notion to Göring of the Gestapo who entertained the idea as a way to possibly spy on the Allies by peering through the sky to see the other side of earth.
...Teed's "Golden Age" of his Cult was 1902-1908 at their final community established in Estero, Florida (in Lee County not far from Fort Meyers). He referred to his settlement as the "New
Jerusalem".
Hallow Earth Globe |
...Teed started out a Baptist in his youth and worked on the Erie Canal at age 11.
... He suffered a heat stroke and was partially paralyzed in his arm and leg while serving in the Union Army during the Civil War.
...He studied eclectic medicine as a doctor.
...He dabbled in alchemy and specialized in experiments with electricity.
...He claimed that while turning lead into gold in his lab, that God appeared to him in the form of a woman and would later have his followers pray to the Father-Mother god.
...He claimed that during the vision God revealed the mysteries of the universe to him, including the hallow earth cosmology (although that belief was already around). It was also when a supposed divine spirit told him he was the Messiah with a mission to redeem the world.
... He married his 2nd cousin, Fidelia M. Rowe, of Meredith, New York.
...In 1870 had joined the Shakers for a short time in rural New York. He started a mop business that failed so he returned to medicine and left the Shakers.
...In 1884 he was sued for swindling people out of money in Syracuse, NY accused of claiming he was the 2nd "Christ". He then left for NYC.
...Later in 1884 he gave lectures with such titles as "The Science of
Immortal
Life", "The Brain", etc, and concluded with faith healing.
Name of Teed's religion was Korshianity |
...By 1887 he had gained a large following with women in Chicago and set up a commune in a building formerly owned by Seventh Day Adventists.
...1890 he sent a group out to start a commune in San Francisco, California.
...1893 he was sued twice in Chicago for harassment and eventually packed up his CULT and moved to Florida.
...When he took the name Koresh, he called his followers Koreshans and his movement the Koreshan Unity.
...He claimed he was the 2nd Christ and their Messiah. He taught the celibacy as a precondition for reincarnation.
...Some of his followers got into a fight with locals in town, He tried to break it up and town marshal Sanchez pistol whipped him, He died a few days later on 12/22/1908.
...His followers were convinced he would come back to life on Christmas day so they put the body in a bathtub and watched it. By Christmas decay was setting in and the government ordered them to bury the body. His CULT slowly melted away over time.
...Hedwig Michel (1882-1982) was the last convert to the group and
last leader of the commune. She fled Nazi Germany in the 1930's to Florida and converted. In the early 1960's the last 2 elderly members moved on so she gave the property to the state and part of it is a museum to this CULT Leader to this day.
Hedwig Michel |
...In the 1930's a book about their history and founder was published. Somehow, over the years, a copy made it's way to the Waco public library and was read by Lois Roden of the Branch Davidians...HERE WE GO...
II. David Koresh of the Branch Davidians
...When young Vernon Howell married the elderly Lois Roden,
leader of the Branch Davidians of the Shepherd's Rod at Mt. Carmel, Texas, she gave a copy to Vernon. (Lois had quoted heavily form the Korshans book in her own writings).
Self proclaimed "sinful messiah" |
...Young Vernon changed his name to DAVID KORESH, eventually enforced celiacy on the other male members and declared himself the Messiah, the 2nd Christ (also called himself the "sinful messiah").
Q: Wonder where he got those ideas from?....hmm.....
...1993 Koresh and most of his CULT burned to death at Mt. Carmel.
Cyrus Teed and David Koresh:
Two False Christs that merged
from 1st to last Decade of the 20th Century--
One pistol whipped and one burned