THE FEMALE PROPHET If

CALIFORNIA STATE UNIVERSITY, NORTHRIDGE

THE FEMALE PROPHET if

A thesis submitted in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in

Anthropology

Sheila Jacobson Charles

January, 1978 The Thesis of Sheila Jacobson Charles is approved:

Dr. David Haya.f!o

Dr. Lynn Mason

Dr. Eva1yn Michaelson, Chairperson

California State University, Northridge

ii ACKNOh'LEDGEMENTS

The author would like to express gratitude and appre

ciation to the Professors Evalyn Michaelson, Lynn Mason,

and David Hayano for their continual support and invaluable

advice. I am especially grateful to Professors Michaelson

and Mason, who were instrumental in the choice of the

topic.

A number of other individuals should also be recog

nized for their unique contributions to this endeavor. I

refer here to both of my families, too many to mention, for

their empathetic support. Credit and special thanks, how

ever, must be given to my father, Edward F. Jacobson, my

husband, Kenneth D. Charles, and my grandmother, Thelma

Sokol, for their unfailing encouragement and genuine

interest in the development and completion of this project.

' d iii TABLE OF CONTENTS

Page

AC KNO\AJLEDGEf'-1ENTS iii LIST OF TABLES . vi LIST OF FIGURES vii ABSTRACT . viii

Chapter

1 INTRODUCTION 1

2 THE PROPHET: DEFINITIONS AND CHARACTERISTICS . . . . 8

3 FEMALE RELIGIOUS ROLES 19 4 _EENALEJ:>ROJ'HETS-AND--HiE-IR- CHARACTERISTICS ... 25

UNIQUE AND POWERFUL PERSONALITY . 28

Charisma ...... 28 Agency and Communion ...... 30 Extraordinary Abilities and Advantages 32

COMMUNICATIONS WITH THE SUPERNATURAL 36

The Conversion Experience . . 36 Ways of Communicating . . . . 38 Supernatural Guidance . . . . 38 The Prophetic Martdate ...... 40

CALL TO ACTION 40

The New Philosophy 40 Guidelines . . . . 42 Dramatic Future Change 44 Endorsement of Social Change 45 Dissemination of the "Word" . . 46

iv Chapter Page

ADHERENTS .••.•. 47

Personal Devotees . . . . 47 Co-Workers ...... 48 Prophet Receives Gratuities, Not Wages ...... · · · 50 Adherents Are Both Male and Female . . . 52

5 FEMALE PROPHETS: BIOGRAPHICAL PATTERNS 61

AGE . . . . • . . • . 61 EDUCATION •.•.•. 69 RELIGIOUS AFFILIATION 73 MARITAL STATUS ••. 77 FAMILY SITUATION 81

6 THE SOCIOCULTURAL CONTEXT OF FEMALE PROPHECY ...... 91 GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION OF THE PROPHETS . • . . • • . • . . . . 93 THE EFFECT OF RELIGIOUS ENVIRONMENT 98 OTHER SOCIAL AND CULTURAL FACTORS 107

7 COfJCLUS IONS . 115

FOOTNOTES 128

BIBLIOGRAPHY .. 130

APPENDICES ...... 136 APPENDIX A: ALPHABET I CAL LISTING OF THE PROPHETESSES . . . . 136 APPENDIX B: BIOGRAPHICAL I NF 0 Rf·1A T I 0 N SHEETS ...... 138

v LIST OF TABLES

Table Page

1 LIST OF FEMALE PROPHETS ...... 27

2 RELIGIOUS BACKGROUNDS OF THE PROPHETS . . . . 74

3 MARITAL STATUS OF THE FEMALE PROPHET 78

4 FAMILY SITUATIONS OF THE FEMALE PROPHETS 83 5 GEOGRAPHICAL LOCATIONS BY CONTINENT OF THE FEMALE PROPHETS ...... 95

vi LIST OF FIGURES

Figure Page

1 AGE OF TEN PROPHETS AT THE TIME OF THEIR CONVERSION EXPERIENCES ...... 63

AGE OF FOURTEEN PROPHETS AT THE TIME OF THE FOUNDING OF THEIR RELIGIOUS ORGANIZATIONS .... 64

3 FAMILY SIZE 87

4 TE.MPORAL DIVISION OF FOUNDING DATES FOR THE PROPHETS' SECTS ...... 108

vii ABSTRACT

THE FE.HALE PROPHET

Sheila Jacobson Charles

Master of Arts in Anthropology

The primary objective of this thesis is the analysis of female prophets who have originated religious movements.

Female religious leaders of this kind are cross-culturally rare occurrences. This is because men generally occupy these authority positions. In order to discover reliable biographical data on female prophets, it was necessary to do a comparative analysis of the available literature.

The study revealed that 28 known female prophets have existed between 1591 and 1950. Five prophets were from

Africa, 17 from America, two from Asia, and four from

Europe. Biographical data indicated that the prophets were women of varied characteristics with regard to age, education, religious affiliation, marital status, and family situation. Nevertheless, some biographical patterns

viii were discerned. These patterns indic~te characteristics which allowed and encouraged these women to become prophetic leaders. For example, it appears female prophets were more likely to have conversion experiences and found sects between the ages of 40-49. Although they were associated with various religions, generally prophets were raised to be Protestant. It also appears that female prophets were more likely to be married and have small families. Socio-cultural factors affecting the prophets were also discerned. It appea~s prophets existed in geographical areas associated with Protestant Western reli gions because these environments encourage prophetic appearances and allow women more opportunities for reli gious expression. How the prophets affected their environ ments is also discussed. These prophets are significant in that they set precedents of female leadership and raised questions of equal status for women, as well as established new religious organizations.

ix Chapter 1 INTRODUCTION

Until recently, in the field of conventional anthro-

pology there has been a general lack of interest in and

neglect of research on the subject of women in culture.

Rosaldo and Lamphere (1974:2) have suggested that "anthro-

pologists in writing about human culture have followed our

own culture's ideological bias in treating women as rela-

tively invisible and describing what are largely the activ-

ities and interests of men." Collier (1974:96) points out

that this restricted perspective has created quite a seri-

ous deficiency:

If we, as anthropologists, are to develop models of social reality capable of generating both the normative rules of a system and the pragmatic strategies actually followed by the people, . . . we must accommodate in our analyses the behavior of all human participants.

With this in mind, I decided to focus on an activity

of women in positions of authority. Hy thesis topic was

then narrowed down to a cross-cultural analysis of those

females who have held prophetic leadership roles and

originated new religious movements. These women represent

a small, elite segment of female humanity who achieved

leadership roles under the stimulus of a religious conviction. In this study I intend to focus on five areas

. 0 1 2 pertaining to the female prophet. The questions I will

seek to answer in these respective areas are:

1. What is a prophet? How does he or she differ from other religious specialists?

2. Why is the role of prophet not normally one assumed by women? What are the religious roles women normally accept?

3. Who are the female prophets? What are their personal characteristics which may have caused them to take on a role not normally associated with their sex?

4. What were the social and cultural influences on these females which may have encouraged or discouraged them in taking on the role of a prophet?

5. What effects have these female prophets had on their respective social and cultural environments?

The first four of these areas deal with the character-

istics of and influences on the female prophet. The fifth area deals with the influences the prophet has had on the

socio-cultural system. Many other types of questions could be asked, but because of the magnitude of the subject, I will focus on these five areas.

I hope to answer these questions by comparing cross- culturally those females who have held prophetic leadership roles and been the founders of new religious cults. In discussing these female prophets, I intend to utilize an anthropological perspective further elaborated by some

sociological and psychological insights. I must point out that not all scholars would be pleased with this social scientific perspective of the prophetic phenomenon. Abraham 3

Heschel (1955:xviii) states: "To interpret prophecy from any other perspective [than religious]-such as sociology or psychology--is like interpreting poetry from the per-

spective of the economic interests of the poet." Further- more, Heschel (1955:409) points out:

It is not for any psychological analysis, nor for any sociological or anthropological reasoning, however profound and imaginative, however patient and exact, to have the last word about the nature of prophecy. Such analysis or reasoning is prone to reduce prophecy to a commonplace too irrele vant to justify the effort of analysis.

Although I have chosen to undertake such an analysis, I have tried to remember Heschel's criticism and avoid the

hazards he points out. It is not my intention to pass

judgment upon the truth of the prophets' claims to have

received revelations, nor is it my intention to solve the

enigma of prophecy by means of only psychological, socio-

logical, or anthropological explanations. However, by use of a social scientific perspective, I hope to offer some valuable insights into the phenomenon of female prophets.

Not all social scientific views of religion and pro-

phecy are unfavorable, demeaning, and judgmental, as

Heschel supposes. Anthony Wallace (1965:5), for instance, encourages the anthropologist to view religion "neither

[as] a path of truth nor a thicket of superstition, but

simply a kind of human behavior: specifically that kind of behavior which can be classified as belief and ritual concerned with supernatural beings, powers, and forces." It 4 is my intent to view the female prophets in a similar light; to see them as women whose behavior exhibits a con- cern with supernatural beings and forces. Wallace (1966:4) also emphasizes the significance of prophets when he points out the many unknown cases of failure:

For every religion which has survived and been routinized, either as a small community faith or a "great religion" such as Christianity or Islam, there are dozens of abortive effo~ts by untimely prophets which are ignored or sup pressed by the community.

The successful prophet who becomes well-known is certainly not commonplace. In fact, female prophecy in conjunction with the founding and leadership of a religious organization is a rare occurrence in the historical record.

My method of research for this study was the analysis of significant books, journals, and newspapers. The main problem I encountered in choosing female prophetic leaders as suitable subjects of research was one of finding references. As Reverend A. Maude Royden acknowledges, "One searches through a volume to find a footnote" (Erikson

1966:xvi). What was more disturbing than the paucity of data on female prophets was the subjective and romanticized quality of much of the available literature. I was forced to use descriptive biographical or autobiographical accounts of the pr9phets. Most of these books, although interesting, would hardly meet current "scholarly" standards. In order to discern the reliable biographical data of age, education, religious background, marital and family 5 situation, it was necessary to compare the various bio graphies and other available literature with each other.

This comparative method and my own judgment seems to have yielded reliable data with which to work.

Although I did not exhaust the literature on the sub ject, the fact that female religious leaders are rare occurrences in the historical record is obvious. Even if one attributes the preponderance of male prophets in the literature to a historical bias of male historians, it is still surprising to find so few prophetesses when we con sider that women make up over one-half of the world popula tion and are often considered to have a natural "inclina tion toward the supernatural and divine, the irrational and miraculous" and to be "more steadfast than man as a keeper of religion" (Bachofen 1967:86). What I propose is that in actuality female prophets are rare occurrences because they represent exceptions to the universal imposed division of labor standards in which males generally assume the more authoritative roles.

The following chapter presents some definitions and characteristics of prophets in general. As part of this definition, a list of characteristics or traits of prophets is presented. The major distinctions between prophets and other religious specialists as priests and shamans are also included here. This particular discussion is applicable to both male and female prophets. Chapter 3 focuses on some 6 of the more traditional female religious roles and some of the common religious restraints imposed on women. After

the term prophet has been defined and traditional religious roles for women have been described, Chapter 4 will intro duce 28 female prophets for analysis. Each of the char acteristics of a prophet, presented in Chapter 2, will be discussed using specific examples from these 28 prophets.

These are the 28 prophets who will be discussed: Alice

Bailey, Beatrice, Dora Beekman, Annie Besant, Helena

Petrovna Blavatsky~ Chanjiri, Mozella Cook, Malinda Cramer,

Maria Dahonon, Ann Davies, Mary Baker Eddy, Mary Anne

Girling, Minnie Hanson, Anne Hutchinson, "Marian Keech",

Jane Leade, Ann Lee, Alice Lenshina, Martha MacWhirter,

Aimee Semple McPherson, Raj Mohini, Miki Nakayama, Joanna

Southcott, Katherine Tingley, Alma White, Ellen White,

Jemina Wilkinson, and Xosa. Chapter 5 will then concentrate on more personal, biographical characteristics of

these prophets, such as age, education, religious affilia tion, marital status, and family situation. A comparative method is used to discern biographical patterns. The prophets tended to be Protestant, married, to have few children, and to be between the ages of 40 to 49 when they found their religious organizations. It is believed that such patterns indicate the personal characteristics which encouraged these women to become prophets. Chapter 6 pre sents a fuller perspective on the female prophets~ The 7 prophets' socio-cultural environments are analyzed to determine their effects on prophetic occurrences. This discussion, in particular, concentrates on the prophets' geographical and religious environments and the treatment of women in these environments. Most of the prophets come from Western rather than Eastern religious backgrounds, and from Protestant, rather than Catholic, Jewish, or Islamic traditions. Finally, the conclusion will discuss the ways in which female prophets affected their social and cultural' environments. Some things which reveal the prophets' effect on their environment are the precedents of female leadership they set and the questions of equal status for women they raised. Also, the prophets are significant in that some of them formed successful voluntary organizations which have competed with the most successful denominations. Chapter 2 THE PROPHET: DEFINITIONS AND CHARACTERISTICS

In this chapter a definition and discussion of the word "prophet" will be presented. This discussion is divided into two parts. The first part summarizes how a prophet is usually defined and described. Part of this definition will be presented in the form of an outline which lists a prophet's traits. This has been done in order to be more precise, and to present the characteristics of a prophet in a straightforward, easy-to-read manner. The second part is an explanation of how prophets differ from other religious specialists such as shamans and priests.

The word "prophet" is derived from a classic Greek _. word, prophetes. This word denoted a person who spoke for and revealed the word of a God. As Heschel (1955:447) points out:

In almost every age and every land, inspired peo ple emerge who are believed to be endowed with spiritual strength not given to other men or who even claim to have access to occult sources of knowledge.

Scholars like Abraham Heschel, Thomas Hoult, and Max Weber have been fascinated by prophetic individuals. Like Bam- berger (1969:320}, they view the prophets" . as

8 9

unrepeatable phenomenon [sic]. Men of great intellectu~l and literary gifts, who attained profound moral and reli- ,1 gious insights . But if prophetic appearances are so special and prophets are so unusually gifted, then this definition of a prophet should be elaborated, for shaman~ and priests, as well as diviners, mediums, and mystics, can be described as inspired people with spiritual strengths and insights. A more specific definition is needed to describe prophets and distinguish them from these other religious individuals.

Religious philosophers point out the existence of two different types of prophets, using dichotomous terms coined by Max Weber. Weber recognized a prophet as either

"exemplary" or "emissary." An exemplary prophet is one who

"by his personal example demonstrates to others the way to religious salvation" (Weber 1969:55). This type of prophet manifests a life-style through which others can attain enlightenment. As described by Ellwood (1973:xii, xiii):

The "exemplary" prophet is filled up from within with a divine fullness because he is in perfect harmony with the cosmos, having been successful in a great quest in which he has subdued all demons, all corners of the unconscious. He is fundamentally in search of the Platonic source of religion, wonder, rather than the envoy of a sure, burning message he must deliver.

On the other hand, a prophet of the emissary type is the envoy of a message. He preaches as one who has received a commission from God. He demands obedience as an ethical duty. For this reason, the emissary prophet is also 10 referred to as an "ethical prophet." Using Weber's terms, the prophets in this research paper closely resemble the type of prophet described as emissary or ethical. They are agents of a personal God who makes ethical demands, and unlike the exemplary prophets, they do not just demon strate and offer an opportunity for salvation but demand repentance, obedience, and social reform.

The trait list that follows is a composite of char acteristics pertaining to prophets of the emissary type.

These characteristics are based on prior studies of male prophets by noted scholars in the field of religion such as ·Max Weber, Abraham Heschel, and Anthony Wallace. A few characteristics, previously overlooked, have also been included on the trait list because I feel they are impor tant factors in the prophetic individuals. These factors are the prophet's combination of the qualities of agency

(assertiveness and independence) and communion (sensitivity and empathy) defined by Bakan (1966:15), the prophet's strong sense of the dramatic, and the fact that the prophet's followers are both male and female. Although based on prior studies of male prophets, the characteris tics on this trait list apply to all prophets, female as well as male. In fact, this trait list provided the cri teria by which I determined whether a woman religious leader would be included in my analysis. A discussion of how the subjects of this analysis fit these criteria will follow in the next chapter. 11

A LIST OF TRAITS OF PROPHETS

I. POSSESSES AND EXHIBITS A UNIQUE AND POWERFUL PERSON ALITY.

A. Possesses charisma--defined as a certain quality of prophet's personality which sets one apart from ordinary people and gives one influence over large numbers of people.

B. Exhibits an unusual combination and synthesis of the qualities of agency (assertiveness, indepen dence, and emotional control) and communion (sensi tivity, empathy, and spontaneity).

C. Possesses certain extraordinary abilities and advan tages.

1. Is a powerful orator.

2. Has a great sense of the dramatic.

3. Claims to have miraculous powers, e.g., curing, gift of tongues, i~mortality, supernatural strength, cla~rvoyancy, clairaudience.

4. Has strong willpower.

II. CLAIMS TO COM.f\1UNICATE WITH THE SUPERNATURAL.

A. Has had a "conversion experience."

1. An experience inspired by thought and life events.

2. An experience of transcendence.

3. The individual is confronted by the super natural which gives direct and explicit mes sages, and demands action.

B. Communicates in various ways with the supernatural.

1. Communications may be in the form of visions, dreams, voices, written messages, etc.

2. Communications may occur at the prophet's call ing or only when the gods or spirits desire them.

c. Claims to have supernatural guidance. 12

1. Claims the supernatural has chosen her to be "the mouthpiece and instrument of divine will" (Vernon 1962:183).

2. The prophet's claim to authority and profes sional status rests on her personal ability to contact the supernatural.

3. Claims to have received a prophetic mandate, "the order issued by the gods to inform the people of their messages" (Malefijt 1968:242).

a. Told by the spirit to tell others the con sequences of their present beliefs and behavior.

b. Told to present and fulfill a plan to bring history to its appointed conclusion.

III. HAS A CALL TO ACTION.

A. Formulates and presents the new philosophy.

B. Reveals the guidelines which need to be followed.

C. Predicts some dramatic future change.

1. This change will bring happiness and salvation to those who have converted.

2. This change will bring unhappiness or worse to those who have not converted.

D. Endorses and stresses the desirability of social change.

1. Contrasts the existing culture with the goal culture.

2. Breaks with the existing clerical structure and the established religious order of the community.

E. As commissioned messenger, the prophet actively disseminates the "word."

1. Preaches.

2. Utilizes other means of transmitting the "word" that are available to her, such as writing letters, pamphlets, books, memoirs, and con tacting the news media, etc. 13

IV. BUILDS A FOLLOWING OF ADHERENTS.

A. Attracts personal devotees.

B. Adherents are active co-workers in the prophet's mission.

C. The prophet may receive gratuities from adherents, but she does not receive wages for the services she renders.

D. The adherents are both male and femal~. 14

From now on for the purpose of this analysis, the term

"prophet" will refer to the individual who has met these

criteria. There is, however, one other criterion I added.

All prophets, to be included in this analysis, had to be

successful enough to establish their own religious move-

ments and/or cults.

The ambiguity that exists in recognizing the differ-

ence between the prophet and other religious specialists

is caused by their many similarities. Since anthropolo-

gists classify religious specialists into two broad types,

shamans and priests, this discussion will focus on the

major distinctions between prophets and these two types of

religious specialists. In these attempts to contrast and

compare these religious specialists, I am of course refer-

ring to ideal types. In reality, the criteria overlap and

variations occur. To make matters worse, as Malefijt

(1968:240) points out, "Further difficulties arise from the

inconsistent usage of the terms shaman and priest in ethno-

graphic writings." Different authors often use different

definitions.

Lessa and Vogt (1958:381) define the shaman and priest

as follows:

A "shaman" is a ceremonial practitioner whose powers come from direct contact with the super natural, by divine stroke, rather than from inheritance or memorized ritual; a "priest" is a ceremonial practitioner who often inherits his position and who learns a body of codified and standardized ritual knowledge from older priests and later transmits it to successors.

' 6 15

Using this definition, a prophet is like a shaman and unlike a priest in that he is a religious specialist who acquires his status not in training but through claims of an ability to communicate directly with the supernatural through mystic experiences. The prophet and shaman are also alike in that they are not part of a trained religious bureau cracy as a priest is. Furthermore, neither receives wages in any regulated form. As Weber (1969:47-48) points out,

"Typical prophets propagate ideas for their own sake and not for fees, at least in any obvious or regulated form."

A major difference between the prophet and the shaman, however, is that "although the services of the shaman are, in principle, capable of being directed at any religious goal, he tends to concentrate on the diagnosis and treatment of illness" (Wallace 1966:126). In contrast, as

Malefijt (1968:242) indicates, "the functions of the prophet are not directed to practical matters--rather, he has a mission." Although he may perform healing oriented miracles, the prophet concentrates on informing people of the messages he received through divine revelations.

Other authors, e.g., Ralph L. Beals, Harry Hoijer, and

Alan R. Beals, make distinctions between these religious specialists on the basis of whether they operate a full time or a part-time practice, referring to part-time prac titioners as shamans and full-time practitioners as priests.

Using these definitions, the prophet is like the priest in 16 that he is a full-time practitioner who operates as a representative of a group, e.g., a community or cult. The prophet and priest both perform their rituals on a regular basis for their congregations in state-organized societies.

Thus they differ from the shaman, who is not only a part time practitioner but also a religious specialist "who applies this ability [to communicate with the supernatural] primarily as an individual rather than as the representa tive of a group" (Taylor 1973:395). As Lessa and Vogt

(1958:381) explain, the shaman's curirig rites usually take place on a non-calendrical basis in stateless societies, when a person falls ill, a calamity is impending, or after a crisis and are "performed for one or more patients within the context of an extended family group."

A mpjor difference between the prophet and the priest is that, as part of the religious bureaucracy, the priest has responsibility to the church, defined by Hoult (1958:7) as "a religious body which accepts the main elements of society." The prophet, however, sets himself in explicit opposition, at least in religious terms, to the established order of the community, and tries to create a new religious pattern or revitalize an old one. He claims his break with the community is justified and morally legitimate because it was divinely sanctioned. Thus a prophet leads a cult or sect, "a religious group derived from the experience of one or a few individuals . [which] tends to withdraw from 17 the world for fear of contamination . . and rejects corn- promise" (Hoult 1958:7). In consequence, a cult is often smaller in size than a church and sometimes has a shorter

"life."

The major similarities and distinctions between the shaman and the priest and the prophet have been defined.

It is, however, impossible to say whether the prophet is more similar to the shaman or the priest. The prophet fits neither category, since he often has different types of duties and functions than the priest or shaman, or puts different emphasis on them. For example, the prophet is critical of the established religious order of the commu nity; thus he is in direct opposition to the priests. The prophet also seeks to announce a new religious order. He differs from the shaman in that he does not make the diag nosis and treatment of illness his main focus. As a conse quence of these factors, I suggest it is necessary to con sider the prophet as a separate category of religious specialist.

In this chapter, the definition of a prophet has been given. I have also presented a trait list which provided the criteria by which I determined whether a religious leader would be included in this analysis. Although all the prophets conformed to this scheme, no two were exactly alike nor did they express themselves in precisely the same way. As Edgar Magnin (1969:105) in "The Voice of Prophecy 18 in this Satellite Age" points out, "Each was confronted by a set of different situations, and each one of them employed, in a most colorful and forceful manner, the imagery that represented his inner thoughts." The truth of this statement will be revealed in the following chap ters. Chapter 3 FEMALE RELIGIOUS ROLES

In the Introduction, I indicated that the female

prophet who is successful enough to originate a new reli

gious movement represents a rare phenomenon in the histori

cal record. Although there is a great diversity in the

scope of participation by women in the religious realms,

this does not imply by any means that women have equal

authority with men in most religious systems. In fact,

female prophets seldom exist because in most societies it

is unusual for women to occupy religious leadership roles.

In this section, some of the more traditional religious

roles open to women and some of the common religious

restraints imposed on women will be discussed.

Cross-culturally, a great diversity can be seen in the

scope of women's religious participation. Some cultures

exclude them, while some allow passive or active participa

tion in religious functions. An example of women's exclu

sion from religious functions can be seen in certain Muslim

and Chinese communities (Giele 1977:411). Passive partici~

pation can be seen in some of the Muslim societies where women are allowed to participate in religious functions as

spectators with some restrictions. These restrictions

19 20 include prohibitions from worshipping or going near mosques during menstruation. Jewish denominations also put limita tions on the participation of women. Although Orthodox

Judaism allows some participation of women in the religious service, women sit in a segregated section of the synagogue and do not lead in public prayer. Some Christian denomina tions also limit the participation of women and closely follow the dictates of Saint Paul who said, "Let your women keep silent in the churches: for it is not permitted unto them to speak " (I Corinthians, XIV:34-35) and "Let the woman learn in silence with all subjection. But I suffer not a woman to teach, nor to usurp authority over a man, but to be in silence" (I Timothy, II:ll-12). This type of behavior is usually predicated on the belief that woman's place, determined by the limitations of her mind and body, is subordinate to man's; her inferior position was a punish ment for the original sin of Eve.

It is more common, however, in most of the Christian,

Jewish, and Buddhist sects to find active participation of women accepted and even encouraged. Nevertheless, as Max

Weber (1962:104) points out, even in these contexts

"equalization of the sexes in principle may coexist with the most complete monopolization by men of the priestly functions." As Freidl (1975:139) further explains, although women when permitted have always contributed their full share to church work, "Women have nowhere achieved 21

leadership in the main established religions of Europe and

the United States, and efforts to bring them into the

priesthood, the pastorale, and the rabbinate just began to

gain momentum in the early 1970's." Thus, Irwin (1933:170)

contends:

In general, the progress of women in the ministry . lagged behind her advance in medicine and business; partly because many of the more impor tant sects have in their scheme no place for women as clergymen; and partly because the woman who breaks new ground tends to be a rebel spiri tually as well as materially.

Bore commonly, the few authoritative religious roles in the

large organizational religions which exist for women

generally entail less status and authority than similar

roles held by men. A woman might become a nun in China,

Europe, or the Americas, or a curer in Muslim societies and

in the Spanish-speaking Americas. All of these religious

roles are part of separate women's organizations, orders

auxiliary to the main clergy. As Giele (1977:85) points

out, Buddhist nuns are "always subordinate to the youngest

and most junior male novice." The women in these organiza-

tions are often primarily devoted to helping other women

or children in the society. A male would not usually go to

one of these women for aid and advice, especially if he

could commune with a male religious authority. Although

these religious orders can be important and influential in

the community, these female religious orders and their

leaders, by themselves, lack generally recognized and

' Q 22 culturally valued authority. They do not pose a threat to the existing male hierarchy, as they are for the most part powerless and inactive in secular affairs.

The rarest form of active participation is found in cultures where women are the religious functionaries instead of or as well as men. In these cases, men unhesi- tantly request aid and advice from these female religious specialists. For example, among the Ifugao of the

Philippines, R. Barton indicates that "the priesthood

(shamanism) is almost entirely in the hands of women"

(Hoebel 1966:481). Malefijt (1968:235) points out that among the Kalinga of the Philippines, it is the older women who are the shamans. Even though only a few Chinese women perform as mediums in the major cults, they hold "a virtual monopoly in the practice of soul raising" (Wolf 1974:165).

These religious roles may give female specialists a degree of power in secular affairs and recognized status in the social hierarchy. As one can see from these few examples, women are more likely to be shamans than priests. As

Hoebel (1966:483) clearly explains:

Priestesses are much less common than female shamans, probably because the organization of associations tends to be correlated almost exclusively with the male sex in primitive societies.

The existence of this division of labor in the reli~ gious realm is not at all surprising. Ralph Linton (1942:

589) states that practically every occupation and skill 23

II . within a given culture will be found to have been assigned to the members of a particular age-sex category within the given society . [and that there is] a tendency for certain culture patterns to be expressed and transmitted by the members of a particular age-sex category." In looking at religious roles, it appears that for the most part leadership positions have been assigned to the members of the adult male segment of the population and that there is a tendency for new religious beliefs to be initiated and expressed by adult males.

In the past, this universal division of labor has been attributed to the psychological and physiological differences between males and females. Although the controversy about women's suitability for hard labor jobs, e.g., firefighting, policing, coal mining, continues, one can see that the question of suitability for a religious leadership role cannot be based on an issue such as physical endurance. The issue of psychological differences between males and females is also tenuous, as no sound scientific data has revealed that males are more suitable for religious leadership than females. What is surprising is that the role of religious leader has still remained in the male domain. Rosaldo (1974:24) believes that occupational asymmetry continues to exist because of the division of societies into domestic and public spheres of activity:

The domestic orientation of women is felt to be the critical factor in understanding her social 24

position. This orientation is contrasted to the extra-domestic, political, and military spheres of activity and interest primarily associated with men.

Religious activity, especially leadership, can be viewed as an extra-domestic activity primarily associated with men.

In sum, a great diversity can be seen in the scope of religious participation accessible to women in different societies. Nevertheless, cross-culturally one can see a recurrent sexual inequality existing in which women have usually been assigned a secondary religious status. Women rarely guide or direct a religious organization and they rarely occupy the most prestigious public positions. The female prophets, however, represent that elite and rare segment of female humanity; they have ignored these traditionally accepted religious roles and have chosen to assume a role of religious authority and leadership. Furthermore, they have been successful enough to attract male and female followers. I will next discuss these female prophets and their personal characteristics. Chapter 4 FEMALE PROPHETS AND THEIR CHARACTERISTICS

In this chapter, I will introduce those women who may be considered prophets because they met the criteria pre sented in Chapter 2. Each of the characteristics of a prophet will be discussed, using specific examples. To avoid leaving the reader with a vague and incomplete pic ture of these remarkable individuals, I have drawn up a brief biographical form with information about each prophet.

These biographical forms have been filed alphabetically by the last name of the prophet in Appendix B. Each biographi cal sheet includes such basic sociological data as the prophet's age, education, marital status, and family situa tion. Religious data on the prophet and her sect is also included on the form, e.g., the prophet's mode of communi cation with the supernatural, the sect's name, its geo graphical location, and the number of adherents that have been associated with it. At times I have also included some information on the biographical form which is not dis cussed in the content of this paper because of lack of time or the specific content of the material itself, e.g., a particular incident experienced by only one of the prophets.

When an added bit of information has been included on the

25 26

biographical sheet, it has been presented to further embel

lish and reveal the unique and interesting character of

the prophet and her life~

It should be pointed out that not all the biographical

sheets are complete because I did not find the same amount

of information on each of the prophets. The reader will

find that in the discussion that follows, the examples will most often relate to those prophets for whom the most

substantial and reliable information was available. For

this reason, I will most often cite as examples Besant,

Blavatsky, Lee, McPherson, Nakayama, Southcott, and Wil

kinson.

All in all, I found 28 women whose biographies indi 2 cated they met the criteria provided in the trait list.

They are listed in approximate chronological order in

Table 1, page 27. The first column in Table 1 includes

the name of each prophet. Column 2 indicates the year of

the prophet's birth and death. When these were not avail

able, the year associated with the prophet's conversion experience (or if that was not available, the year the prophet established her sect) is indicated in parentheses.

Column 3 presents the name, if any, of the religious move ment or sect that the prophet established. The last column

in Table 1 presents the movement's place of origin.

Although an attempt at a thorough investigation was made, I do not assume that this list is necessarily 27

Table 1

FEMALE PROPHETS

Prophet Birth-Death Religious Sect Origin

Ann Hutchinson 1591-1643 Antinomians USA Jane Leade 1623-1704 Philadelphia Constitutions England Ann Lee 1736-1784 Shakers USA Joanna Southcott 1750-1814 Southcottians England Jemina Wilkinson 1752-1819 Society of the Universal USA Friend Beatrice 1800's Antonians Africa Miki Nakayama 1798-1887 Tenriko Japan Mary Anne Girling ? - 1886 Children of God USA Dora Beekman (1875) Church of the Redeemed USA Mary Baker Eddy 1821-1910 Christian Science USA Ellen White 1827-1915 Seventh Day Adventists USA Malinda E. Cramer (1885) Divine Science USA Helena Petrovna 1831-1891 Theosophy USA Blavatsky Annie Besant 1847-1933 Adyar Theosophy England Katherine Tingley 1847-1929 Universal Brotherhood USA Alice Bailey 1880-1949 Full Moon Meditation Society England Aimee Semple 1890-1944 International Church of Four USA McPherson Square Gospel Alma White 1862-1946 Pentecostal Union or Pillar USA of Fire Martha MacWhirter (1906) Women's Commonwealth of Bel USA ton, Texas Chanjiri (1907) Chikunda Millenarian Cult Africa Xosa (1907) Africa Minnie Hanson (1907) Apostolic Faith Mission USA Maria Dahonon (1942) Ghobe Mele Cult Africa Alice Lenshina ? - 1953 "Alice" Movement Africa Raj Mohini (1951) Bhagats India Ann Davies 1900's Builders of Adytum USA Mozella Cook (1947) Sought Out Church of God in USA Christ and Spiritual House, Inc. "Marian Keech" (1950) Sananda Cult USA

' 0 28

complete or that it offers a representative sample of all

female prophets who have existed. It does, however, indi

cate a number of factors characteristic of and important

to a discussion of female prophets. In the following dis

cussion, the headings for the different sections correspond

to the appropriate sections in the trait list.

UNIQUE AND POWERFUL PERSONALITY

Charisma

Section 1 on the trait list indicates that each

prophet possesses a unique and powerful personality. The

prophet's charisma is one contributing factor. Charisma

can be defined as a certain quality of the prophet's per

sonality which sets her apart from ordinary people and gives

her influence over large numbers of people. A prophet

possesses charisma not by virtue of an office or position,

but rath~r because of her unusual personal qualities and

inherent leadership abilities. Because of this quality of

charisma, the prophet is seen as worthy of veneration in

the eyes of her followers. She is not only credited with

extraordinary powers, but over time her life history becomes

embellished by legendary circumstances. Truth becomes

mixed with fiction concerning the circumstances of the

prophet's birth, childhood, and death.

The prophet's charisma is described with reference to

her personal magnetism. In the literature, each of the

' 0 29 prophets was described in some manner which indicated there was a mystical and magnetic quality about her personality. Descriptions of a prophet's personality commonly included such adjectives as appealing, magnetic, compelling, powerful, and dynamic. In Madame Blavatsky: Medium and Magician, Symonds (1950:32) includes one of the more vivid descriptions of a prophet's personal magnetism: "She seldom sat alone; she was like a magnet, powerful enough to draw round her everyone who could possibly come .

Her whole appearance conveyed the idea of power." Often when a biographer or adherent tried to describe this mystical quality, he ended up focusing on the prophet's physical features, e.g., eyes, or posture. For example, Countess

Wachtmeister describes Blavatsky's mystical bearing in this colorful manner:

Her features were instinct with power, and expressed an innate nobility of character . what chiefly arrested my attention was the steady gaze of her wonderful grey eyes, piercing, yet calm and inscrutable: they shone with a serene light which seemed to penetrate and unveil the secrets of the heart (Symonds 1950:190).

Other prophets, such as Davies, were also said to have flashing, engaging eyes. This seems to point out how hard it is to put this quality of their personalities into words; nevertheless, the quality of personal magnetism should not be underestimated. Hudson (1844) believes that

Wilkinson's personality and aura of mysticism were her primary attractions. This compelling magnetism of the 30 prophet is significant since it helps promote the prophet's credibility. Remember that at an early stage in these movements, there was little doctrinal formulation. Each new religious movement revolved about a single personality

--that of the prophet. As a consequence of this, without the prophet's unifying influence, e.g., after the prophet's death, the religious movements tended to split by dissent or gradually wither away. This happened in the religious societies founded by Blavatsky, Girling, Hutchinson,

"Keech'', MacWhirter, McPherson, Southcott, Wilkinson, and

Xosa.

Agency and Communion

Another characteristic of the female prophet's personality is that she exhibits an unusual combination and synthesis of agency and communion. David Bakan in his book,

The Duality of Human Existence (1966), describes agency and communion as two types of personality traits respec- tively associated with the male and female sex. Although both types of traits are present in males and females,

Bakan "uses the term 'agency' for traits that he calls

'more characteristically masculine' and the term 'communion' for traits that he calls 'more characteristically feminine'"

(Michaelson and Aaland 1976:252). Bakan ( 19 66: 15) describes these two fundamental modalities in the following way:

[I shall use the term] agency for the existence of an organism as an individual, and communion for the participation of the individual 31

in some larger organism of which the individual is a part. Agency manifests itself in self protection, self-assertion, and self-expansion; communion manifests itself in the sense of being at one with other organisms. Agency manifests itself in the formation of separations; com munion in the lack of separations. Agency mani fests itself in isolation, alienation, and alone ness; communion in contact, openness, and union. Agency manifests itself in the urge to master; communion in noncontractual cooperation. Agency manifests itself in the repression of thought, feeling, and impulse; communion in the lack and removal of repression.

This dichotomy has been traditionally reinforced by the different socialization processes that males and females experience.

These two types of personality traits have special application in an analysis of prophets because it can be said that prophets exhibit an unusual combination and synthesis of agency and communion. For example, agency in the female prophet is evident in that she chooses her own spiritual path and behaves independently of the traditional religious modes of behavior. The prophet separates herself and her followers from the established religious community.

At times she even forms a separatist colony, as did Leade,

Lee, and Wilkinson. The prophet is also self-assertive and persistent in making her views known even under threats of excommunication, confinement, or physical violence. One might say the prophet has the urge to master in that she desires to be a leader. With the conviction of her ideals, strength of will, and administrative ability, she is able to arouse, incite, and direct men and women in conduct. 32

Certainly, it can be said that these female prophets possess agent1c. qua 1'1t1es. . 3

Communion in the female prophet is evident in that she views herself, as well as others, as participants in the larger spiritual world. Her developed communicative abilities help her relate and unify others for religious purposes. And because she remains responsive and spiri- tually receptive, the female prophet is often able to alter her consciousness and achieve trance states. The female prophet, in combining these two types of personality traits, exhibits a unique synthesis of the qualities of self-assertiveness and relatedness. Furthermore, I would assume this is true of successful male prophets as well.

Extraordinary Abilities and Advantages

The prophees possession of extraordinary abilities and advantages is the final point relating to her unique and powerful personality. Much of the prophet's charisma is due to these qualities. The first extraordinary ability that is mentioned on the trait list is an excellent speaking ability. All of the prophets were described as powerful orators and eloquent public speakers. McPherson was said to have won oratory contests and taken the leads in school and church plays. Clark (1949:115) says that

McPherson had "a fluency in speech" and knowledge of "all the secrets of crowd psychology . [such that] she was called the greatest woman preacher in the world." Similarly, 33

Nethercot (1960:1) describes Besant as "an orator whose power was so compelling and whose charm was so potent that

Shaw was only one among thousands who extolled her as the greatest woman speaker of the century." Even those who were not followers of the prophets acknowledged their gifted oratorical powers. For instance, Wilkinson, whose two separatist colonies were located near a Seneca Indian settlement, was called "Squaw Shinnewawna gis tau, ge" or

"a great woman preacher" by the Indians (Wisbey 1964:136).

Hutchinson's greatest enemy and prosecutor, John Winthrop, recognized the power of Hutchinson's oratory and described her as "a woman of haughty and fierce carriage, of nimble wit and active spirit, and a very voluble tongue, more bold than a man" (Flexner 1959:12). The prophet's oratorical abilities were a great advantage when even thos·e opposed to her had to concede that she was a gifted speaker.

Complementing the prophet's gift of oratory was her great sense of the dramatic, the second extraordinary ability and advantage on the trait list. Often it seems the prophet chose flamboyant and unconventional methods for a dramatic effect on the audience. Hudson (1844) indi cates that by allowing her dark hair to flow freely, and by wearing unusual costumes, Wilkinson cultivated an "air of drama." Similarly, Davies wore her dark hair long and wore flowing, spectacular gowns. Besant also presented 34 herself in an unconventional manner by having close-cut hair and wearing an unusual working class dress of short skirts, heavy laced boots, and red neckerchiefs. Blavatsky was said to be "unconventional in her dress, as she was in her speech" {West 1929:156). And although Victorian and

American women did not smoke, Blavatsky reputedly rolled her own cigarettes and incessantly smoked. Most outstand ing, however, was McPherson's sense of the dramatic. It was her belief that ordinary methods were too archaic, sedate, and lifeless to capture the interest of the throngs. Clark {1949:115) indicates that "her preaching services were highly dramatic, and she used publicity, cos tuming, lighting effects, music, and her personal charm to secure the most striking effects~" McPherson also publi cized her religious movement by riding floats in parades and paying sky pilots to shower the city of Los Angeles with her printed tracts (Mavity 1931:40). Her methods have been described by some as the "vaudeville of funda~ mentalists." For those dissatisfied with current religious beliefs and modes of behavior, a prophet with a sense of the dramatic would be a great attraction.

The third extraordinary ability on the trait lisi is a very special one. This is the prophet's claim to have supernatural powers. Most frequently, the prophet claimed to have abilities which enabled her to perform miraculous cures. This ability has been attributed to Besant, 35

Blavatsky, Dahonon, Davies, Eddy, Hanson, Lee, Lenshina,

HcPherson, !-'lohini, and Wilkinson. Although Eddy's Chris

tian Science Church is considered to be the largest of all

the healing-oriented religious movements, other examples of

mind-cure and faith healing are many and varied. One

specific incident which was given much publicity was Davies'

reputed healing of a tumor in her dog, Tzaddi. McPherson

demonstrated her healing powers in a 1921 appearance at

San Jose. She staged a faith healing performance backed by

250 choir boys and girls behind rows of fruits, flowers,

and candy. Exhibits of crutches and canes lined the stage.

An enthusiastic crowd of 8,000 attended, many of whom

claimed positive results from McPherson's curing powers.

Often, the prophet's popularity was enhanced by claims of

her faith healing powers.

There are innumerable other extraordinary abilities

and advantages that the prophets were often credited with,

such as immortality (Girling), the gift of tongues (Hanson,

Lee, McPherson, Southcott), superhuman strength (E. White),

and clairvoyancy and clairaudience (Bailey, Blavatsky).

Another quality that is often mentioned in conjunction

with the prophet is her strong willpower. Although not

particularly extraordinary, it is certainly an agentic

quality that is not only advantageous in drawing followers,

but is essential for the prophet's existence. This quality

of strong will enables the prophet to work diligently

' 6 36

against negative and impeding forces such as the pains of

dise~se and old age, and the prejudice and ridicule of non

believers. This strong will and persistence is evident in

the many descriptions of the prophets. Besant is described

as having superhuman energy. Blavatsky is said to have had

a vast capacity for work.

COMMUNICATIONS WITH THE SUPERNATURAL

The Conversion Experience

The second group of traits involves the prophet's

claim to communicate with the supernatural, e.g., a God, a 4 spirit, Christ, their Master. The prophet's conversion

experience is her first communicative encounter with the

supernatural. A conversion experience is defined by Maslow

(1970:27) as "the essential, the intrinsic, the basic, the

most fundamental religious or transcendent experience."

The prophet in a "private, lonely, personal illumination,

revelation, or ecstasy" (Maslow 1970:19) experiences a

sense of the divine. The prophet believes she has been

inspired and communed with a supernatural power, and this

supernatural power has revealed new religious principles

and commanded her to establish a religious movement.

Conversion experiences occurred to the prophets at

crisis times or breaking points in their lives when they were very overwrought and depressed by their li.fe circum

stances. For example, Eddy's conversion experience 37 occurred during a serious illness caused by a bad fall which had left her temporarily incapacitated with nervous disorders and paralysis. Similarly, Cramer and Wilkinson had their conversion experiences during serious illnesses.

Nakayama's conversion experience occurred when her children were dangerously ill. Other prophets had their conversion experiences precipitated by stressful conditions in their social environments. For instance, Lee was serving a jail sentence for her religious convictions. When India was plagued by adverse environmental conditions causing drought and famine, f'1ohini had her conversion experience. The

African prophets, Xosa and Lenshina, had their conversion experiences when the tension between the blacks and whites rose dangerously high in the colonized areas in which they lived.

Following the conversion experience, the prophet tends to lose her feelings of fear, anxiety, and pain. As

I1aslow (1970:65) points out, "The dichotomies, polarities, and conflicts of life tend to be transcended or resolved."

The conversion experience, as Wallace (1966:160) explains,

"constitutes a reformulation of the author's own identity and brings to him a renewed confidence in the future and a remission of the complaints he experienced before." For

Cramer, Eddy, and Wilkinson, this remission entailed miraculous recoveries. 38

Ways of Communicating

The mode of communication between the prophet and the

supernatural during the conversion experience and for later communicative encounters was most often through visions.

This was the case with Bailey, Beatrice, Besant, Blavatsky,

Cramer, Dahonon, Hanson, Leade, Lee, Lenshina, McPherson,

Mohini, Southcott, E. White, and Wilkinson. But visions were not the only method of communication that the prophet used. Beatrice, E. White, and Wilkinson communicated with the supernatural through dreams as well. Besant, Eddy,

Hutchinson, Leade, Nakayama, and Southcott heard voices.

Blavatsky, ''Keech", Nakayama, and Southcott said they received written messages from the supernatural. Some prophets depended on only one method of communication; others used a variety of methods. These communicative events occurred either at the prophets' calling, or only when the gods or spirits were said to desire them. Usually in the early stages of a prophet's career, the prophet had to wait to be contacted. However, the well-established prophet often claimed that she could communicate with the supernatural at her bidding.

Supernatural Guidance

Referring to their ability to communicate with the supernatural, the prophets claimed to have supernatural guidance. The prophets always began their career by defin ing their role as similar to what Vernon (1962:183) 39 describes as "the mouthpiece or instrument of divine will."

For example, West (1929:203) states that Besant avowed

"that in every sphere of action she works under direct guidance." Barborka (1966:276) states that Blavatsky "was duly empowered and acted as the agent or intermediary for the Mahatmas." E. White called herself the "messenger of

God." In this way, the prophets emphasized their inter mediary role between the supernatural and the earthly.

Often the prophets pointed out that they actually had lit tle to do with being chosen to prophesy and lead the new religious movement. Wilkinson stated that she had really died and the "Universal Friend," second after Christ and interpreter of God's will, was sent to use her body to preach. Lee (1888:11) often said, "It is not I that speak, it is Christ who dwells within me." Similarly, Nakayama

(1956:72) indicated that God had "borrowed her mouth." As a consequence of this, Shozen Nakayama (1956:73) concludes:

"Therefore, the teachings which were later given through her lips, through the pen, through action, and through won derful salvation are the very ones directly given by God the parent." Southcott even stated that she did not even understand the prophecies; she was only inspired and told to preach.

An important point about this intermediary role between the divine and mundane is that the prophet's claim to authority and professional status rests on her personal 40 ability to contact the supernatural. As I have already mentioned in comparing the role of prophet to the priest, the prophet's authority does not stem from special training, formal preparation or professional qualifications invested in an office. Instead the decisive element justifying the prophet's claim to authority is her claim of divine approval and superantural guidance.

The Prophetic Mandate

The last point relating to the prophet's communication with the supernatural concerns the divine mandate she claims to have received. The prophetic mandate is "the order issued by the gods to inform the people of their messages" (Malefijt 1968:242). In being given the respon sibility of telling others the consequences of their present beliefs and behavior, the prophet claims that she was given divine insight into the form of future events.

The prophet also claims that she was told to present and fulfill a plan to bring history to its appointed conclusion.

All in all, the content of the communication presents each prophet with a unified view of the world and indicates that

"the conduct of mankind must be oriented if it is to bring salvation" (Vernon 1962:55).

CALL TO ACTION

The New Philosophy

How the prophet goes about the task of orienting the 41

conduct of mankind depends on what the prophet's call to

action is. This is the third section on the trait list.

It should be remembered that the personal call the prophet

receives from the supernatural is distinctive and unique in

each case. Nevertheless, there are a few common features

and activities in which each prophet engages. The most

significant part of the prophet's call to action is the

new philosophy. This philosophy (or the core of it) is

formulated by or presented to the prophet during her con-

version experience or a subsequent revelation. This

philosophy or code offers a new unified view of the world

and constructs a new plan of socio-cultural organization.

As Ellwood (1973:10) explains, the genius of the prophet is

that she sees:

. the possibility of a new pattern which will give integrated value to everything which now has independent value . . . A new principle, a dif ferent focus is drawn, but in a way which leads men to say, "This was really true all the time, but we did not realize it."

The new code is significant in that it provides the "blue-

print of an ideal society or goal culture" (Wallace 1966:

160). An example of such a philosophy is the theosophical

perspective presented by Blavatsky. Blavatsky stated that

Theosophy was based on the secret laws of nature known to

the Chaldeans, Egyptians, and other ancient cultures.

Lenshina also revealed a new philosophy in which:

. there were two Ways of God, one for the whites and another for the blacks, and that the whites had through all the past deliberately

' 0 42

withheld the true Word from the Africans, in order to beguile them into a false religious partnership (Dunn 1959:35).

Guidelines

Those who accept the new philosophy must also conform

to certain guidelines presented by the prophet. Wallace's

(1966:60) term for these guidelines is "transfer culture," defined as "a system of operations which, if faithfully

carried out, will transform the existing culture into the

goal culture." These guidelines indicate the conduct that

is necessary to achieve spiritual salvation. Sometimes

adherents are also promised more immediate and materialis-

tic benefits. For example, Mohini promised an end to the

conditions of famine and subsequent full harvests if her

guidelines were followed. Chanjiri of Nyasaland, Central

Africa, promised release from white overseeing and a return

to the nativistic culture. The impact and influence that

these guidelines can have on the community cannot be over-

emphasized. For example, Xosa of South Africa presented

one of the more dramatic plans. Her plan required that:

Every animal in the herds and every grain in the storehouses had to be destroyed before the earthly paradise would emerge, the land filled with beautiful new cattle and self sown millet, the ancient heroes and counselors return, eternal youth be restored to the old, and trouble and sickness come no more (La Barre 1970:263).

La Barre (1970:263) also points out that "In the subsequent famine, the tribe for a time almost ceased to exist." 43

There have been great differences in the guidelines of each movement just as there were in the philosophies of each. Guidelines usually regulated such things as communi cation between humans and the spiritual world, communica tion among humans, eating practices, and sexual practices.

All of these prophets established guidelines which included the formation of a new religious movement or cult. Some of the prophets also proposed guidelines which requ1red the formation of separatist communities, e.g., Lee, Wilkinson, while others required the reviving of native communities and customs, e.g., Beatrice, Mohini, Xosa.

I was particularly interested in the guidelines deal ing with sexual practices for two reasons: (1) many male religious leaders and prophets have advocated celibacy as a higher form of spiritual achievement; and (2) female prophets are particularly persecuted because of their sex, as well as their religious calling. With these two factors in mind, what would these prophets' guidelines on sex be?

Would a large proportion of the prophets advocate celibacy?

Some prophets did in fact advocate sexual abstinence. For example, Lee put great stress on her belief in celibacy.

It is said she carried out "a war on lust." She believed that sexual lust was the cause of human depravity, as well as all the evils of the world, i.e., disease, famine, war.

In the Shaker colonies, Lee abolished matrimony and made sexual indifference the "leading mark of perfe6tion" 44

(Clark 1949:33). Wilkinson also aroused much hostility by advocating celibacy. Within the Society of the Universal

Friend, celibacy was viewed as a higher state of grace; however, Wilkinson did concede along with Saint Paul that it was "better to marry, than burn" (I Corinthians, VII:9).

Her insistence on celibacy was more £lexible than Lee's.

These two prophets lived in the late 1700's. However, a prophet living as recently as the early 1900's made similar demands. Bailey (1951:153) of the Full Moon Meditation

Group stated:

I am convinced that there comes a phase in the life of all disciples when they must be vege tarian. In the same way, there must come a time in which a man or a woman should be celibate.

One can see that although the reference to celibacy is there, Bailey's tone and emphasis on the importance of celibacy are quite different from Lee's and Wilkinson's.

Moreover, Bailey wrote this after being married twice. In contrast, Lee was divorced from her husband, and Wilkinson was never married. All in all, only these few prophets spoke out against sex and advocated celibacy. No prophet advocated sex as the avenue to achieve transcendence and salvation.

Dramatic Future Change

In presenting the guidelines for her religious movement, the prophet also emphasized what would happen if the community ignored the guidelines. As Wallace (1966:160) 45 explains, "failure to institute the transfer operations will, according to the code, result in either perpetuation of the existing misery or ultimate destruction of the society (if not the whole world)." Since the code offered the means of salvation for the individual and society, failure to conform to it was defined as placing oneself and the community in immediate peril. The prophets predicted millenial, apocalyptic, or dramatic future change. Prophets such as Southcott, Wilkinson, and "Keech" threatened that everyone must turn to God as the end was near. The period of history to come was vividly described by each of the prophets in her own unique way. Southcott her~lded a reli gious revival when "Satan's kingdom will be destroyed and

Satan chained down for 1,000 years, and Christ's kingdom established to end all evil" (Wisbey 1964:28). Wilkinson warned nonbelievers of God's impending wrath at this sinful and dying world.

Endorsement of Social Change

Another part of the prophet's call to action is the endorsement of social change. The prophet stressed that social change was desirable. AS Wallace (1966:160) indi cates, "contrasted with the goal culture is the existing culture, which is presented as inadequate or evil in cer tain respects." In the context of the Christian world, the prophet pointed her accusing finger first and foremost at the established religious order of the community, the 46 church. Her questioning and accusations challenged and conflicted with the orthodox church authorities. Probably the most well-known conflict between prophet and church authorities is between Hutchinson and the Puritan ministry in the Massachusetts Bay Colony. She challenged their authority and refused to accept their discipline, proclaim ing their incompetence to preach the gospel. Ultimately she was imprisoned, tried and found guilty, and banished from the colony for slandering the ministers and their ministry.

Some prophets also pointed their fingers at more secular institutions, i~e., the local political institu tions. This commonly occurred in conjunction with the

African prophets. Lenshina led a nativistic movement to dispel the whites from Nyasaland. Similarly, Beatrice of the Bakongo tribes of Angola, Chanjiri of the Chikundas in

Nyasaland, and Xosa of South Africa led tribal millenarian movements. Shepperson, an authority on Afrtca, states that

"women have played a prominent part in millenarian style movements in these colonial territories" (Dunn 1959:52).

Dissemination of the "Word"

Another significant part of each prophet's call to action is that, as the commissioned messenger for a spirit or God, each prophet must actively disseminate the "word."

The knowledge the prophet received during her conversion experience is not simply to be internalized. It is to be 47 proclaimed. Each prophet raised her voice in emotional preaching. She explained and described the philosophical guidelines of the movement and contended that change was desirable, ~swell as inevitable. The prophet's profi ciency at speaking has already been discussed. The elo quence of the prophet became well known as she began speak ing publicly in the local area, then across the country, and sometimes in foreign countries.

The prophet also utilized other means besides public

speaking to transmit "the word," such as writing letters, pamphlets, newspapers, books, and memoirs. Some of the more contemporary prophets, e.g., "Keech'', also publidized their cause by contacting the radio and television media.

The variety of publication means chosen by the prophet was not solely dependent on the prophet's abilities, person ality, and imagination. For example, McPherson used sky pilots to disperse pamphlets while in flight. This method of publication was not available to Lee in the 1770's.

Nevertheless, I doubt if she would have chosen this flam boyant method, as her techniques were much more subtle.

ADHERENTS

Personal Devotees

The fourth and last group of traits concerns the

relationship of the prophet to her followers. If the

prophet was successful, she acquired adherents who were 48 devoted to her. These followers looked to the prophet for guidance. Often a tight bond similar to a master/disciple

relationship developed between the prophet and her follow

ers. The charismatic prophet evoked loyalty, faith, and

devotion. They regarded her as one who is endowed with

supernatural, superhuman, or at least clearly exceptional powers and qualities. As a consequence of this, the

followers created and encouraged many exaggerated stories

concerning the prophet. For example, Wilkinson is reputed

to have walked on water to convince doubters of her

spiritual powers. Another such legend concerning Mohini

claimed that if one mixed grains distributed by rllohini with

those in one's bins, the granary would always be full!

Co-Workers

These followers of the prophet were also active

co~workers in her mission. With the prophet's assistance and guidance, they hoped to achieve their own salvation.

Who were these co-workers and disciples of the prophets?

In researching this question, it appeared that the prophets attracted followers with similar characteristics. First of all, the prophets attracted isolated individuals rather than family groups. Second, as Vernon (1962:182) states,

"A prophet's early following comes mainly from the dis privileged or discontented members of the society." Clark 49

1949:16) also presents this information on the social class of the followers: "The followers originate mainly from among the religiously neglected poor, who find the conventional religion o~ their day unsuited to their social and psychological needs." For example, Mavity (1931: 38) indicates McPherson's mother was "shocked by the riffraff quality of Aimee's clientele." Robert St. John points out that Wilkinson first "gained converts from among the ignorant and the credulous'' (Wisbey 1964:49). Lee is also said to have attracted people of hunmle circumstances such as poor farmers, hired hands, and bound girls. Lenshina attracted the most poverty-stricken followers in all

Africa. As the prophet's religious community grew and developed, however, the social class and financial level of her adherents rose. Mavity (1931:38) noted that the social and financial level of McPherson's adherents rose when she became more established. St. John stated that

Wilkinson was later "able to convince the most practical and intelligent of her fitness for spiritual leadership"

(Wisbey 1964:49). It appears that high-ranking magistrates, intellectuals, and noted people did take part in these religious movements. In fact, as Ellwood (1973:104) states, the impact of some of these movements was largely on certain "idealistic upper class circles." Joining some 50 of these movements was seen as avant-garde, especially when other members were so celebrated. For example, a follower such as Eleanor Roosevelt reciting the Great Invocation of the Full Moon Meditation Group was very good publicity

(Ellwood 1973:104).

Prophet Receives Gratuities, Not Wages

This change in the financial and social level of the prophets' followers benefited and was possibly necessary for them to continue their preaching; for as prophets do not receive wages in any regulated form, they often had to support themselves by taking jobs. Nearly all of the prophets at one time or another supported themselves using skills they had learned at home, in schools, or on the job. Some prophets had worked before their religious call ing, while others took jobs after it. It is possible that some of the prophets who found jobs after their conversion experiences did so because their husbands and families had withdrawn their support. It may also be that they needed the extra income to support a religious organization. The prophet's choice of employment was of course dependent on her skills. Although no prophets were professionals such as doctors and lawyers, the skills possessed by the 28 prophets were quite varied. Lee, Mohini, Southcott, and 51

Wilkinson supported themselves by doing menial labor such as-w-crs-nrrrg-,-rron-rn-g-,-mendrng-,-orwork-rng as domestic ser vants. Actually it was not unusual for religious leaders to have jobs such as these. Most of the free church preachers in the 1800's were part-time ministers who had to work at some other occupation to pay their expenses.

Often, these "tub preachers," as they were called, were ridiculed. But the prophets were undaunted. Culver, in

Women in the World of Religion (1967:145) points out that these preachers even capitalized on this term: "Making the most of the term, when the days work was done, they would turn the wooden tub upside down and use it for a platform."

Yet some of the female prophets had other skills that they utilized. Hutchinson and Wilkinson also used their skills in medical lore and folk cures. Prophets who had more formalized education used their writing abilities to earn a living, e.g., Besant, Blavatsky, and Eddy. They wrote short stories and articles for journals and newspapers.

Besant also taught at the university level and had a suc cessful political career in India.

As their religious societies grew and their prestige as religious leaders rose, the prophets spent most of their time traveling and proselytizing. At this point in their careers, the prophets no longer worked at these other jobs. 52

Their religious duties requi~ed their full-time concentra- tion. Instead they depended on their adherents for financial support. These gratuities provided them and their families with food, shelter, clothing, and even transportation. This often led others to believe the prophets were exploiting their misguided and naive followers. McPherson's ostentatious use of the collection money was an easy target for such accusations, as was Blavatsky's fondness for wearing 15 different diamond, emerald, and ruby rings. In · defense of McPherson, Mavity {1931:17) wrote:

Her luxury does not alienate her from her follow ers because they see in her the fulfillment of their own dreams of grandeur; she gives them vicarious satisfaction because she chooses what they would have chosen in the way of splendor.

Host prophets, however, lived more conservatively on their followers' money.

So we see that although the prophets often did hold such jobs as their skills permitted, they held these jobs for only a short time. For as their religious societies developed, they left these jobs and depended on their adherents for all they needed.

Adherents Are Both Male and Female

The fact that the followers of the prophets were of both sexes is a most important criterion for the prophets in this analysis. It indicates that the religious cult is not solely an auxiliary women's religious order of secondary 53 status in the community. Of ail the prophets in this analysis, only one, MacWhirter, founded a sect which for the most part consisted of women. The Women's Commonwealth of Belton, Texas, was a very small sect of 18 members in

1906. It did not exclude men, but only one joined, and he only remained in the organization temporarily. Generally, the followers were more equally of both sexes. Accurate data on the specific size of each cult was not available, but the number of followers in the cults ranged from about two dozen to over 80,000 members, as in the cults of

Besant, Blavatsky, Lee, Mohini, and Southcott. (See bio graphical sheets for the respective size of each cult.)

The sexual ratio among the members cannot be determined, but it is interesting to note that the highest positions of authority in the cults, other than that of the prophet, were often taken by males. Although my sources did not tell me how these positions of authority were achieved, it seems that a male who had been associated with the prophet would assume the role, e.g., a son or close friend. This was the case with "Keech", Lee, E. White, and Wilkinson.

However, Wisbey (1964:51) indicates that Wilkinson "sur rounded herself with women and gave the highest positions of authority and trust in the society to members of her own sex."

This brings up the question of a successor. Did the prophets choose one? And did they choose a male or a 54

female to succeed them? Some prophets in fact did not choose their successors. Following the prophetsr deaths, many of their sects fell apart, e.g., those of Girling and

Wilkinson. Other prophets, however, chose their successors.

It is most interesting to note that more often than not a male succeeded the prophets. For example, just before her death Beekman (who claimed immortality) said her messianic

essence passed to the Reverend George Schwenfurth who then

became the risen Christ, Lord of Heaven, immortal maker and

ruler of earth. A. White bequeathed her authority in the

Pillar of Fire Church to her two sons. Harmon, ordained

leader of a small religious group, joined forces with John

White (who later became her husband) and took a secondary

religious role to him in a religious community later known

as Seventh Day Adventist. Before her death, then, she gave

her authority to a male. Lee and McPherson were also sue-

ceeded by males. This usual course of action regarding male succession is best described by Max Weber (1969:164):

. only in very rare cases does this practice [of women in leadership roles] continue beyond the first stage of a religious community's forma tion, when the pneumatic manifestations of char isma are valued as hallmarks of specifically religious exactation. Thereafter as routiniza tion and regimentation of community relationships set in, a reaction takes place against pneumatic manifestations among women which comes to be regarded as dishonorable and morbid.

One of the rarer cases where a woman was named successor is associated with Theosophy. "Madame Blavatsky, it is said, had always declared her successor would be a woman and her 55

hopes were fixed on Mrs. Besant" (Barborka 1966:40). How

ever, after Blavatsky died, conflicts within the Theo

sophical organization occurred, resulting in fragmented

groups with different leaders. Some of these leaders were

male, some were females. So it appears that leadership

more often than not returned to male hands and was taken

out of female hands.

Each of the characteristics on the trait list has now

been discussed. At this point, I would like to digress a

little and examine the relationship of the prophet to

individuals other than adherents. This discussion, like

the rest of this chapter, is applicable to all prophets,

male as well as female. Texts written by adherents of reli

gious groups founded by the prophets understandably

expressed favorable attitudes toward the prophet, to the

point of reverence. But what of accounts of the prophets

by nonbelievers and adversaries, as well as religious

scholars, historians, psychologists, and anthropologists?

These authors' interpretations of the prophet's motivation

and behavior varied from favorable to unfavorable.

Nonbelievers' accounts of prophets often included

stories aimed at discrediting the prophets. Their stories

claimed that the prophets were prostitutes, witches, blas

phemers, psychotics, and/or fools. The most exaggerated

and vivid of such stories concerned Blavatsky. Various

legends claimed Blavatsky had been the mistress of many men,

' 0 56 a circus equestrian, the mother of an illegitimate hunch back child that had died from poor health, and a junkie addicted to hashish and opium which caused her to have

"seen its visions and dreamed its dreams" (Symonds 1959: 6 35). It was also rumored that Blavatsky fought as a man under Garibaldi in 1867. When disparaging rumors such as these circulated, the prophet was often met with open hos tility, threats, and sometimes even physical abuse. Lee was violently persecuted, probably as a result of her threatening beliefs in celibacy and separation of the sexes.

The extent of persecution Lee had to contend with is described by Andrews (1953:11): " ... dragged from her house, a group committed ... an act of inhumanity and indecency even savages would be ashamed of. Their pretence was to find out whether she was a woman or not."

Some authors saw the prophets more as social misfits.

For example, John Winthrop, an important Boston Puritan leader who was Hutchinson's strongest adversary, said that

Hutchinson had seduced the people of Boston by crafty con ceits. Brownell describes the motivation of another prophet, Wilkinson: "She was a woman with a calculated power drive and an egotistical purpose to be the object of faith" (Wisbey 1964:31). Brownell also stated that when

Wilkinson desired an object she would appropriate the belonging by saying, "The Friend hath need of that" (Wisbey

1964:64). McPherson's method of using the collection money 57

for her own purposes was often seen as another case of exploitation. McPherson did in fact obtain a house, church,

transportation fees, and expensive clothing by these means,

so her material gains as a prophet can readily be seen.

Blavatsky was also seen as exploitative by some. She was considered to be a great deceiving magician with a bag full of secret panels, trapdoors, strings and mirrors, and for- geries.

Another interpretation of the behavior of prophets is reached using the psychoanalytic perspective. Heschel

(1962:396) accurately describes this contemporary perspective:

Applying the principles of psychoanalysis, writers have frequently advanced the view that prophetic inspiration was a state of mind due to some distortion of experience, traceable to neurosis. In the visionary experiences of the prophets, in their unmannerly appearance and sen sational behavior, scholars sought to discover features of an abnormal mentality. The secret of prophetic experiences was felt to lie in their tendency to ecstatic possession, in mental derangement.

An example of this perspective is found in Wisbey's biography of Wilkinson. Wilkinson's religious experience is described as follows:

Coming as it did after a long period of spiritual struggle and emotional turmoil, the fever was part of, or brought on, a mental disturbance that left the young woman under the influence of a form of megalomania . . except for this curious religious monomania she soon appeared to be well again (Wisbey 1964:49).

Although there may be some indications of a psychological 58 breakdown in Wilkinson, I disagree with Wisbey's terming of the malady as "monomania." For this religious experience changes the prophet's personality and life-style so com~ pletely that her spiritual calling becomes the most important aspect of her being. Her whole life revolves around the divine mandate she believes she has received. It is not just one aspect of her life that is disturbed.

In opposing and discrediting the validity of the psychoanalytic approach to prophecy, Heschel (1962:397) points out the many scientific hazards in attempting to expose the subconscious lives of these prophets:

In addition to the chasm that normally yawns between the realm of the subconscious and the level of literary articulation, one would have to take into account in the analysis of the prophetic personalities the tremendous distance and dissimilarity in relation to words, in his toric perspective, in intensity of emotion, and in spiritual sensitivity.

Thus Heschel concludes that a reliable diagnosis of the prophet's mental health remains beyond our scope.

Unfavorable interpretations of the prophet's behavior such as these just described often lead to overt persecution. As Erikson (1966:5) points out:

If the audience feels the conduct is beyond the normative outlines of the society, beyond the range of variation allowable, the "deviants" are confronted by such policing agencies as criminal trials, excommunication hearings or psychiatric case conferences.

Many of the prophets have been jailed under trumped up charges. Blasphemy charges and excommunication trials were 59

common disciplinary measures of the seventeenth and eigh

teenth centuries. This type of discipline was experienced

by Beatrice, Hutchinson, Leade, Lee, and Wilkinson. Still,

these measures might be considered somewhat lenient

approaches compared to the stricter measures leveled against

less successful religious dissenters who were simply called

psychotics and locked away, or called witches and burned at

the stake. One prophet, Beatrice, was in fact dealt with

in the latter way. Furthermore, this type of action does

indeed appear to be a common method used in the pre-1600's,

a time period when female prophets are not found. But whether the prophets are seen as victims of mental disor

ders, manipulative egomaniacs out to exploit others, or

simply as sincere visionaries, it certainly can be agreed

that they are behaviorally deviant in their communities.

For not only do they encourage a new religious belief sys

tem, or reaffirm an old one, but they also challenge estab

lished restrictions imposed on their sex.

In summary, what has just been discussed reveals how

the prophets met the criteria of the trait list. In

actuality, the sections of the trait list have dealt with

the questions of "Who are the prophets?", "How and what did

they do?", and "Who did it with them?" The reader should

now be aware of the many dimensions of this specialized

role. It is a role involving privileged communion with the

supernatural and the conviction that one has a divine 60 mandate to perform certain tasks. On the. other hand, the uniqueness of each prophet's character is important, too, for each has proved to be much more than the trait list can outline. She may also have been poet, writer, social critic, medium, mother, wife, political leader, and even feminist. The following chapter will discuss some of these more personal qualities of the prophets. Chapter 5 FEMALE PROPHETS: BIOGRAPHICAL PATTERNS

In the previous chapter, a discussion of hmv the women

in this sample fit the criteria of a prophet was presented.

This chapter will concentrate on more personal biographical

characteristics of the prophets such as age, education,

religious affiliation, marital status, and family situation.

By isolating common personal characteristics of the prophets,

I believed I could discern the factors that encouraged and

allowed these women to assume the unusual and demanding

role of a prophet. Because of the magnitude of material

involved in this study, I felt that this comparative method

would be the most efficient method of analysis. I chose

these biographical factors:

AGE

My research was directed to the ages of the prophets

at the time of their conversion experiences and at the time

that they established their religious movements. Such

information was not always included in the biographies or

historical accounts of the prophets; nevertheless, it was

available for enough of them to allow some restricted analy

sis to take place.

The ages of these 10 prophets at the time of their

61 • 0 62

conversion experiences are known: Bailey, Besant, Eddy, Lee,

McPherson, Mohini, Nakayama, Southcott, E. White, and Wil

kinson. Their ages range from 15 to 44, a span of 29 years.

Figure 1 reveals the age distribution of these 10 prophets

at the time of their conversion experiences. One can see

from the graph that the distribution is somewhat more con

centrated in the teens and in the 40-49 age group.

The ages of these 14 prophets at the time that they

established their religious cults are known: Bailey, Besant,

Blavatsky, Cook, Eddy, Hutchinson, Leade, Lee, McPherson,

Hohini, Southcott, A. White, E. \'Vhite, and Wilkinson. The·ir

ages range from 27 to 71, a span of 44 years. Wilkinson

was the youngest foundress at 27 years old, and Leade was

the oldest foundress at 71 years old. Figure 2, page 64,

reveals the age distribution of the prophets at this criti

cal time in their lives. One can see from the graph that

the female prophets were most often in the 40-49 age group

when they founded their religious societies.

Even though the information on age is not based upon a

representative sample, the ordering of the data on Figures

1 and 2 allows some tentative conclusions to be drawn.

First, the age range of Figure 1 representing the ages of

the female prophets at the time of their conversion experi

ences begins earlier and is shorter than the age range of

Figure 2, representing the ages of the prophets at the time

they founded their religious societies. This implies that

. 6 63

5 Actual Age Range = 15-44 Ul +l (]) .c: 4 ---- 0.. 0 H P-I 3 - 4-1 0 H c------(]) 2 .Q IOl ::s z l

' 10 20 30 40 50

Age Groups

Figure l

AGE OF TEN PROPHETS AT THE TIME OF THEIR CONVERSION EXPERIENCES 64

Actual Age Range = 27-71

6 r------Ul .j.J Q) ..c: 5 0., 0 H - p.., 4

4-l 0 3 !--1 Q) 2 ~::::;; z 1 ·-·------

I 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90

Age Groups

Figure 2

AGE OF FOURTEEN PROPHETS AT THE TIME OF THE FOUNDING OF THEIR RELIGIOUS ORGANIZATIONS 65 female prophets have conversion experiences before they estab~ish their religious societies. This is not surprising, for it is usually during the conversion experience that the prophet receives the order to create her religious society. It is, however, interesting to note that there is often a time lapse involved between the conversion experi ence and the actual founding of the religious society. For example, although three prophets, Bailey, McPherson, and

E. White, had their conversion experiences between the ages of 10-19, not one of these three prophets founded a reli gious society when they were in this age group. Even for

Wilkinson, who had her conversion experience and founded her religious cult while she was in the same age group of

20-29, there was a time lapse of three years. She had her conversion experience in 1776, and founded her religious society in 1779. This time lapse, however, is more apt to occur and be longer for the female prophet who has her con version experience while in the younger age group, i.e.,

10-19, or 20-29. In contrast, it is more common for the prophet who has her conversion experience while in an older age group to form her religious organization in the same year. For example, Mohini did so at the age of 35 and

Southcott did so at the age of 42.

Another pattern that is revealed by comparing the two histograms is that in both the 40-49 age period is most frequently represented. Figure 1 reveals that four of the 66

10 prophets were in the 40-49 age group when they had their

conversion experiences. Figure 2 reveals that six of the

14 prophets were in this 40-49 age period when they

founded their religious societies. Although some prophets

are counted twice, the 40-49 age period seems to be an

important one for female prophets in terms of religious

experiences and total religious involvement. For although

female prophets in other age groups had conversion experi-

ences and founded religious societies, more frequently the

female prophets were in the 40-49 age group. But what

influence does age play in this matter? Why are more female

prophets 40-49 years old when they have their conversion

experiences and found religious societies? I turned to

some of the literature available on age and religious

involvement for the answer to these questions.

Several anthropologists indicate that age is an impor-

tant factor in ceremonial participation. Ralph Linton and

I. M. Lewis offer some specific explanations for the rela-

tionship of age and women's ceremonial participation.

Linton (1951:594) indicates that the relationship is often

based on the physiology of the woman:

A very large proportion of societies which exclude adult women from participation in reli gious ceremonies and contact with sacred objects remove such restrictions after menopause.

Lewis (1971:75), in Ecstatic Religion, similarly points out

that female shamans were either "women past their menopause or their barren sisters." Let us relate this observation to 67 the female prophets. If all the female prophets are beyond the age of menopause, one can conclude that Linton and

Lewis are correct and that this custom associating the removal of social and ceremonial restrictions with meno pause has had an influence on the appearance of female prophets. However, confirming and verifying this theory for the female prophets is not easily done. This time it is not only the lack of literature on the subject, but the confidential nature of menopause that proves to be the main problem. Details on menopause are not found in autobio graphies or biographies of the prophets. However, some tentative conclusions based on logic and general medical knowledge can be drawn. Menopause is generally known to occur between the ages of 45 and 50. This does in fact correlate with the 40-49 age group. However, many women do not experience menopause until years later. Furthermore, we cannot simply ignore all of the female prophets who have had their conversion experiences and founded religious sects while in other age groups. If all the prophets were close to 45 years old or older this hypothesis might have more substance, but it does not account for many younger prophets. Furthermore, it seems foolish to believe that the followers would question the prophet on this matter and have menopause as a condition that must be met before they would join the religious organization. Barrenness as a fac tor is also problematic, for in only two cases, Blavatsky 68

and "Keech", does this even seem possibl~. This will be discussed further in the discussion of the family situation of the prophet. All in all, the passing of menopause and barrenness do not seem to have been important factors in making these women more acceptable and more available for a religious calling.

The influence that age may have is more likely to lie

in our association of age with wisdom. For it is often believed that the more years of life that one has experi enced, the more wisdom one has gained and the more respect one is due. The credibility of a woman in the 40-49 age group is generally better than the credibility of a younger woman. Moreover her credibility is likely to be better than that of a septuagenarian or octogenarian who may have her beliefs and actions passed off as aspects of senility.

This reasoning would also explain why there is a time lapse between the younger prophet's conversion experience and the

founding of her religious society, while an older prophet

is more apt to have carried out her call to action at once.

There may be other influences here as well, such as the

fact that women in this age group are less likely to bear children and be distracted by child care duties. This will not be discussed here, but will be discussed in conjunction with the family situations of the prophets. In sum, what is most apparent in regards to age is that for female prophets, the 40-49 age period does appear to be a more 69

significant age period than any other.

EDUCATION

Information on the education experienced by these 17

prophets was not available: Beatrice, Beekman, Chanjiri,

Cook, Cramer, Dahonon, Davies, Girling, Hanson, "Keech",

Leade, Lenshina, MacWhirter, Tingley, A. White, E. White~

and Xosa. Although many of these prophets probably did

receive so~e education, specific accounts of the means and

degree of education they experienced are not given. For

instance, it is not known what type of education, if any,

the five African prophets received, although some may have

attended missionary schools.

When an autobiography, biography, or historical

account of a prophet included information on the prophet's

education, it was usually very limited and imprecise. As a

consequence of this, no statistical summary could be

obtained and only broad generalizations can be made.

Nevertheless, I have included this biographical factor

because it points out the great differences in the prophet's

backgrounds, cultures, and opportunities. Furthermore, edu-

cation may be a significant factor in encouraging these

women to become prophets. As Thomas Szasz (1967:46) points

out:

. since a person's ability to choose depends in large part on his store of information, his educational experiences will have a decisive effect on his moral stature. This means

• 6 70

that the impact of simple rule-following types of behavior, such as are transmitted by religious heritage and social custom, is greatly weakened.

The educational experiences of these 11 prophets were

known: Bailey, Besant, Blavatsky, Eddy, Hutchinson, Lee,

McPherson, Mohini, Nakayama, Southcott, and Wilkinson. In

examining these prophets' educational experiences, it is

necessary to realize that contemporary Western values of

higher education must not be the criteria by which to judge

the length and kind of education experienced by each of

these prophets. Some authors who described the prophets

and their education made this mistake. For example, Mavity

(1931) indicates that since McPherson had few intellectual

resources, she was not well educated. Yet McPherson's edu-

cation in the 1900's compared to Mohini's in India 30 years

later and Southcott's over 100 years earlier must be termed

extensive. McPherson went to a public elementary and high

school in the United States, took leading parts in school

and church plays, and won local oratory contests. In con-

·trast, Hutchinson, Lee, Mohini, and Southcott had no formal

education. Yet for three of these prophets, Hutchinson,

Lee, and Southcott, who grew up in the British Isles during

the 1600 and 1700's, this was not unusual. Nor is itunusual.

that Mohini of India was not educated in the 1900's. The

cultural environments of these prophets did not provide for

the education of young women. Wilkinson, a contemporary of

Southcott, did, however, receive a little formal education; 71 she learned how to read and write. Nakayama (1798-1887) also learned these skills in Japan, where she "attended the. nearby temple school for three years from the age nine to

11, and received the average education of those days in reading, writing, and arithmetic" (Nakayama 1956:73).

These cases contrast greatly with McPherson's formal educa tion, which probably lasted for 12 years.

Some prophets received even more education than

McPherson. Besant, who was born in England about 40 years before McPherson, continued her formal education through the university level. She attended the London University. and received a Bachelor of Science in Science and Art.

Eddy also continued her education and attended the Holmes and Sanbornton Academy in the United States. The great variety in the degree of formalized education experienced by the prophets is apparent.

The prophets received their education by different means. McPherson attended a public elementary and high school. Many prophets were tutored. For example, Blavat sky was tutored, as this was a common method employed by

Russian aristocrats. Eddy in the United States was also privately tutored, yet only when she became too weak to attend a public school. Bailey and Besant in England received good "classical" educations of the late 1800's.

This method included private tutors, governesses, and finishing schools. The most unusual type of education 72 experienced by a prophet is seen in the case of Blavatsky.

She received an additional seven years of spiritual training and was initiated into the cult of the "Great White

Brotherhood of Adepts" in Tibet.

Nhat seems_mQ_r~ __sigll::i:::f:_:i::cant than the degree and means of education, which is so varied, is that each prophet exhibited substantial knowledge in religious matters and each had a great curiosity to learn. Lee, who never learned to read and write, could quote long passages from the Bible and Quaker texts. Mohini and Southcott, two other prophets who never received formal education, learned to read and write late in life after their religious calling. Nisbey (1964:5) describes Wilkinson in this way:

Although she had little formal education, she was an avid reader, especially of the Bible and of the classic works of Quaker theology and history. She studied her Bible so thoroughly that she could quote long sections of it almost verbatim; scriptural phrases became an integral part of her ordinary speech.

This section on education points out the great differences in the prophets' backgrounds, cultures, and opportunities.

Yet even with the great diversity in the prophets' educational means and levels, all of them exhibit a substantial knowledge of and interest in religious texts. This leads us into the next characteristic of the prophets, their religious affiliation. 73

RELIGIOUS AFFILIATION

Table 2, page 74, divides the prophets into groups based on their religious backgrounds before they founded their own religious sects. If a prophet was affiliated with more than one religion during her life, as was fre quently the case, the prophet was placed with the first religious group she was affiliated with. The religious background for seven of the 28 prophets is unknown. It should also be pointed out that the religious backgrounds of seven other prophets are not actually known but assumed.

These seven prophets, Beatrice, Chanjiri, Dahonon, Lenshina,

Mohini, Nakayama and Xosa, were put into religious groups which were consistent with the religion of the geographical area in which they lived. For example, in The Short

History of Tenriko (1956) it is implied that Nakayama was affiliated with a native Japanese faith, but no specific religion was mentioned. Since most Japanese religions com bine Buddhist and Shinto elements, Nakayama has been placed in this category. Similarly, I have placed the five Afri can prophets in a separate religious group designated

African tribal religions. This seems justifiable if one looks at some aspects of their religious callings and sects.

For instance, Dahonon stated she had contacted the spiri tual world through the legendary Ghobe Mele, a huge reptile with.magical powers. Xosa's vision included Africal tribal elements of ancestor worship. Thus these groupings were 74

,• Table 2

RELIGIOUS BACKGROUNDS OF THE PROPHETS

Religious Background Prophet No.

Orthodox Denomination

Russian Orthodox Blavatsky 1

Protestant Denominations

Methodist Southcott, A. White, E. White 3 Quakers Hutchinson, Lee, Wilkinson 3 Congregationalist Beekman , Eddy 2 Baptist Cook 1 Calvinist Besant 1 Episcopalian Bailey 1 Salvation Army HcPherson 1 Lutheran Hanson 1

Total 13

African Tribal Religions

Beatrice, Chanjiri, Dahonon, Lenshina, Xosa 5

Hindu

Raj Mohini 1

Buddhist-Shinto

Nakayama 1

Religious Backgrounds Unknown

Cramer, Davies, Girling, "Keech", Leade, HacWhirter, Tingley 7 75

made on the basis of logic and can be viewed as reasonable

deductions.

One can see from Table 2 that most of the prophets,

i.e., 13 of the 21, were brought up in Protestant denomina

tions, most frequently Methodist, Congregationalist, and

Quaker. This association is even more striking when one

considers that the African prophets combined Christian

elements with their tribal religions, and so are also some

what affiliated with Protestant denominations. For example,

Beatrice of the Bakongo tribes believed she was the rein

carnation of St. Anthony. Lenshina encouraged her follow

ers to believe in a black God and throw away their witch~

craft charms. The only clearly non-Christian prophets

among the 21 prophets whose religious backgrounds are known

are Mohini and Nakayama. Mohini was Hindu, and Nakayama

was Buddhist-Shinto. None of the prophets was Catholic,

Jewish, or Moslem. Further discussion of the prophets'

religious backgrounds will be presented later in an analy

sis of the effect of religious environment on prophetic

occurrences.

The most striking feature in the religious backgrounds

of the prophets is that they searched for spiritual truths

and were often associated with a variety of religious

organizations. For example, Besant was a Calvinist,

Anglican, and even an atheist before she developed Adyar

theosophy. McPherson was in the Salvation Army, went to

' 0 76

Holy Ghost revivals, and even tried to become a Baptist minister before she formed the Four Square Gospel Church.

Wilkinson was first a Quaker, then a member of the New

Light, and finally the leader of the Society of the Univer- sal Friend. Even "Keech'', whose specific religious background is unknown, had been of a Christian denomination, joined Scientology, and dabbled in various occult groups before she established the Sananda movement.

The emergence of the new and separate religious sect only occurred after the prophet tried unsuccessfully to find spiritual truths through more traditional means.

Often the prophets regarded themselves as leading new religious movements only when they were expelled from these established religions, e.g., Lee and Wilkinson were dis- owned by the Quakers, E. White and Southcott were expelled from the Methodist church, McPherson was not accepted by the Baptist ministry, and Hutchinson was excommunicated by the Congregationalists. These experiences in different religious environments made the prophet familiar with· various religious tenets. These tenets often appeared syncretized in the prophet's new religious program. For instance, traditional Biblical concepts and full passages in Biblical speech showed up in some of the prophets' religious teachings, e.g., Sananda, "Keech's" spiritual contact, spoke the "plain" language of the Bible (i.e., "thee" and "thou'') 7 , Southcott's messages from the Spirit were 77 also in Biblical language, and Lee's testimonies at times were said to be quite similar to other prophets' trans cribed experiences. One thing is certain: the prophets' search for spiritual truths and involvement with various religious organizations not only showed their attempts to remain within more traditional contexts, but also proved to be useful to them later in gaining converts. For the ques tions the prophets had found inadequately dealt with in these traditional religions could be answered, they 8 affirmed, in the new religious contexts.

MARITAL STATUS

Like the information on many other personal character istics, information on marital status was not available for every prophet. I could find no marital information on six prophets: Chanjiri, Cook, Dahonon, Davies, Girling, and

Xosa. These prophets will not be discussed here. The marital information that was available for the other 22 prophets does allow a restricted analysis to take place.

Using this information, I have tried to determine whether the marital situations of the female prophets reveal a com mon element.

Table 3, page 78, presents the compiled information on the marital statuses of the prophets. One can see from the table that the marital statuses of the prophets ranged through single, married, and divorced or widowed. The widowed status is not included as a separate group on the 78

Table 3

HARITAL STATUS OF THE FEMALE PROPHET

PROPHETS WHO WERE MARRIED

SINGLE Married Once Divorced or Widowed PROPHETS f---- ··-·· ·····-··-····-- ··-·· --···--····T--··--···---····----·--·· Remained Single 1 Remarried

Beatrice Beekman Besant Bailey

Hanson Cramer Lee Blavatsky

Southcott Hutchinson Mohini Eddy

Wilkinson "Keech" Mcpherson

Leade Tingley

Lenshina

MacWhirter

Nakayama

A. White

E. vlhi te

Single prophets = 4 Prophets who were married 18 Married once = 10 Divorced or widowed 5 Marital status unknown 6 Chanjiri Cook Dahonon Davies Girling Xosa 79

chart since it was not a frequent or stable status.

Although a few of the prophets were widowed at some time in

their marital life, they all remarried.

Lewis (1971:75) contends that female shamans are women

to whom "marriage can offer little and those who have

already enjoyed its fruits." I attempted to determine if

this observation held true for female prophets. If mar

riage had little to offer to the prophets, many of them would be unmarried. However, one can see from Table 3 that

only four of the 22 prophets remained single, while 18 were married at least once. This seems to indicate that for most of the prophets, marriage did at least at one time

during their lives have something to offer. What of the

possibility that female prophets are women who have already

enjoyed the fruits of marriage? Further analysis shows

that eight of the 18 married prophets were divorced one or more times. This is a large percentage, since some of

these women date back to the early seventeenth and eigh

teenth centuries, when divorce was a rare and drastic

measure. It is possible then that these women had enjoyed

the fruits of marriage and found that it no longer had

something to offer. So Lewis's contention may in fact

apply to female prophets. However, let us look more closely

at the marital relationships of the prophets before con

cluding that it is more likely that women who disregard the

institution of marriage become female prophets. 80

Unlike many of the male prophets whose wives are devoted followers, female prophets usually have to contend with unsupportive husbands. Even many of the 10 prophets who remained married found their husbands disapproving and unsupportive. By far the majority of husbands seemed unable to cope with their wives' decisions to be religious leaders. The disapproving husbands expressed themselves with different degrees of emotion. Some were quietly ashamed of their wives, others repeatedly admonished them, while still others tried to censure them with the use of force. For example, "Keech's" husband quietly declined to participate in the activities of the cult. Beekman's hus band, a Congregational minister, turned psychotic while trying to dissuade his wife. Lee's husband asked the church and her family to punish her when his violent argu ing proved to be of no avail. Others, like McPherson's husband, sued for divorce on the grounds of desertion. It seems reasonable to suggest that interfering husbands are frequent hindrances in the paths of potential prophetesses.

A few female prophets, such as E. White and Nakayama, did find their husbands supportive; however, these cases are the exception.

Sometimes the prophets seem to have found supportive husbands, as Bailey did. Bailey divorced her first husband and then remarried a man who believed she had received a divine mandate. This may be true for all five of the eight 81 prophets, Bailey, Blavatsky, Eddy, McPhersonr and Tingley, who remarried after being divorced. Only three prophets,

Besant, Lee, and Mohini, never remarried. It should also be pointed out that two of the five prophets who remarried,

McPherson and Tingley, divorced their second husbands and married again for a third time. This seems to indicate that to many of these women marriage did in fact have some thing to offer, and it continued to have something to offer even after many had "enjoyed its fruits" through previous marriages. I suggest that for the most part these women found the problem to be in their disapproving and unsuppor tive husbands, and not in the institution of marriage itself. If the latter were true, guidelines against sex and marriage like those of Lee would be the rule and not the exception.

FAMILY SITUATION

The family situation and number of dependents a woman has could also have an influence on her appearance as a female prophet, for the care of children can occupy a sub stantial amount of time and limit the time she proselytizes and preaches. Did the prophets have children and care for them while carrying on their religious careers?

The information in regard the the prophets' childbear ing activities proved to be somewhat limited. The analysis had to be restricted to 17 of the 28 prophets, since there was no information on this subject for these 11 prophets: 82

Beekman, Chanjiri, Cook, Cramer, Dahonon, Davies, Girling,

MacWhirter, Mohini, Tingley, and Xosa. Although five of

these 11, Beekman, Cramer, MacWhirter, Mohini, and Tingley,

were married, there was no information on whether they had

children or not.

Table 4, page 83, is a simple chart drawn up to indi

cate the family situations of the 17 prophets whose family

situations are known. One can see from the chart that six

of the 17 prophets, Blavatsky, Hanson, "Keech", Leade,

Southcott, and Wilkinson, were childless. For some this

was due to an inability; for others it was probably by

choice. Hanson, Southcott, and Wilkinson were single; so

one can assume these unmarried women were childless by

choice. In contrast, Blavatsky and "Keech" were known to

be barren. They did not necessarily choose to be childless.

The sixth prophet in this group is Leade. It is not known

whether her childlessness was by choice or due to an

inability in her or her husband.

One can also see from Table 4 that ll of the 17 proph

ets in this analysis are known to have had children. Did

child bearing hinder these women from full involvement in

their religious career? In some cases, there is evidence

that it did. For example, Bailey stated in her autobio

graphy that she decided to postpone her religious career

until her children were grown and in their teens. On this

matter, she (1959:182) stated:

• 0 83

Table 4

FAMILY SITUATIONS OF THE FEMALE PROPHE'lS

CHILDLESS HAD CHILDREN

Lost or Barren or Retained Guardianship Gave up Unmarried Unknown Guardians~jp_ Reason Proceeded with Postponed Career Career

Hanson Blavatsky Beatrice Bailey Besant

Southcott "Keech" Hutchinson Eddy

Wilkinson Leade Lenshina Lee

McPherson

Nakayama

A. White

E. White

Childless == 6 Unmarried 6 Barren or unknown reason == 3 Had Children == 11 Retained Guardianship = 8 Lost or Gave up Guardianship 3 Proceeded with career == 7 Postponed career == 1 Family Situation Unknown == 11 Beekman Girling Chanjiri MacWhirter Cook Mohini Cramer Tingley Dahonon Xosa Davies

' 0 84

I did not believe that the comfort of one's family was a trivial matter. Personally, I have no appreciation at all of the person who furthers a spiritual realization at the expense of their family and friends.

In this quote, Bailey (1951:136) describes what she told her children in 1930 when they were practically grown up:

"I was there as consultant and as mother, but that having given them practically 20 complete years, I was from that time on going to put my public work first and them last."

Although Bailey's statement sounds somewhat abrupt, she did in fact postpone her religious work for many years.

This case points out the children may, temporarily at least, retard a prophet's full involvement as a religious leader. For if a woman receives her calling during a time when her children are totally dependent on her, it is not likely that she will leave them. 9 Moreover, if she does decide to commit herself to the religious work while she rears her young, her success could be limited. She would be restricted in her travels and it would be harder to completely be committed to fulfilling the divine mandate while rearing her children. The problem of coping with children and a religious calling may in fact be one reason why so few women even assume religious roles that are more accessible to them. The final decision must not have been an easy one for the female prophets. As pointed out by S.

Nakayama (1956:77), "To the Nakayama family, things came to a serious pass, and the foundress also found herself, as 85 the wife and parent of the children, in a very difficult situation." Nevertheless, Nakayama and six other prophets, unlike Bailey, did not postpone their spiritual callings.

Instead they began fulfilling their divin~ mandates and dealt with this problem as they saw fit. At times, the prophets took the child~en with them, put them in boarding schools, or had friends take care of the children until they were old enough to either join their mothers or live independently. McPherson had one of the most ingenious methods of coping with this situation. She settled in Los

Angeles and had the Angelus temple built as her pulpit.

This permitted her to remain with her children while they attended school.

Only in the three cases of Lee, Besant, and Eddy did female prophets with children not maintain guardianship.

In Lee's case, the children had died in infancy or very young. This had nothing to do with Lee's prophetic call ing. The other two cases were due to special circumstances.

A court ruling took Besant's children from her. Even visiting privileges were denied because of her unconven tional behavior and religious beliefs. In the case of

Eddy, her six-year-old son was placed in ~he care of others since he was considered "too great a burden on her health"

(Peel 1966:116) and it was believed that she would "be better off if she were relieved of all further responsibil ity for the boy" (Peel 1966:97). No prophets willfully 86 deserted their children.

This information indicates that children can create another barrier to women who wish to pursue a career in religious leadership. It also indicates that many women ignore this barrier and are able to be prophets as well as mothers. There is still another important factor in the family situations of these prophets with children. It is interesting to note that all 11 prophets had relatively small families. Figure 3, page 87, reveals the prophets' family sizes. One can see from the histogram that six prophets had no children that we know of. One can also

see that three prophets, Beatrice, Eddy, and Lenshina, had one child. Three prophets, Besant, McPherson, and A.

White, had two children. One prophet, Bailey, had three children, and four prophets, Hutchinson, Lee, Nakayama, and

E. White, had four or more children. What is deceiving, however, is that although four prophets had four or more children, only two prophets, Hutchinson and E. White, had all of their children survive. Lee and Nakayama had some or all of their children die in infancy or soon after. 10

So actually most of the prophets had either no children or small families consisting of one or two children.

That these prophets had small families is significant because this is a fairly new phenomenon, associated with modern life-styles. In previous years larger families were customary. For whatever reason, these prophets had smaller 87

6 1-- ,----·

(I) 5 - .J-l I ..c:(!) 0., 0 4 - ~---- l--1 P-1 4-1 0 3 - l--1 (!) 2 - ~:;j z 1 -

0 1 2 3 4 or more

. I Number of Children

No children= Blavatsky, Hanson, "Keech", Leade, Southcott, Wilkinson One child = Beatrice, Eddy, Lenshina Two children = Besant, McPherson, A. White Three children = Bailey Four or more children = Hutchinson, Lee, Nakayama,, E. White

Figure 3

FAMILY SIZE 88 families and this probably made it easier for them to pur sue their religious career. How could a prophet travel, proselytize, counsel, and preach with £ive or six children to care for? For these reasons, I believe that the number of dependents a woman has influences her appearance as a female prophet, i.e., the more children a woman has, the less likely it is that she will accept a calling and become a successful prophet. Conversely, the prophet's calling may have predisposedher to limit her family size.

This section has revealed that the female prophets were individuals with varied personal characteristics.

They were women of different ages, different degrees of education, and from various religious backgrounds. Some had husbands and children; others did not. Nevertheless, although the differences in the backgroundsand life-styles of these women were sometimes great, there were commonali ties. For example, the prophets were often from Protestant religious backgrounds, and all were well acquainted with religious scriptures and texts.

Some of the characteristics that have been discussed may have encouraged these women to take on a prophetic role and helped them to be accepted as prophets. For example, I have suggested that if the prophet was 40-49 years old, she may have had more credibility than a younger or an older woman. A younger woman's prophecies might be attributed. to inexperience and adolescence, while an older woman's 89

prophecies might be attributed to senility. There are

other characteristics which may have encouraged and helped

the prophet. Education may have made her able to see non

traditional alternatives. Being involved in various reli

gious organizations may have educated the prophet in reli

gious organization and theory. Since less time is required

to rear and care for a small family, having a small family

may have made it easier for a female prophet to travel and

spend the time needed to create a successful religious

organization.

On the other hand, some of the characteristics dis

cussed in this section may have limited or discouraged

women from a prophetic role. I have already discussed

youth and age. Marriage is another such characteristic in

cases where the husband disapproves, threatens divorce, or

tries actively to hinder religious activity. Small chil

dren and large families often require so much time that they

can limit and restrict a woman to the domestic sphere,

interfering with the necessary extra-domestic activities

that a prophet must perform. These obstacles reveal why

many women do not even consider religious leadership posi

tions. Yet we have also seen in this section how these

female prophets have coped with these thwarting influences.

Some prophets have divorced their disapproving husbands,

sometimes remarrying a man who does approve. Some prophets

have adjusted their families' life-styles. They have left

• 6 90 their children temporarily in the care of friends or family, or they have allowed their children to accompany them on all proselytizing tours.

Thus far, I have looked at the female prophets and their personal characteristics. In the following chapter,

I will take a different perspective by analyzing the social and cultural influences on the female prophets. Chapter 6 THE SOCIOCULTURAL CONTEXT OF FEMALE PROPHECY

The belief that great men and women are the major causes of social change is a popular view of history.

Thomas Hoult (1958:120} points out that according to this view:

. . . the basic elements in group leadership are the desire of an individual to have a group act in a particular way, and the ability of that individual to bring about desired action. Theo retically from this point o£ view, the only limit to group leadership is the effectiveness of the leader himself.

In researching the role of female prophet, I found many indications which might lead me to choose the "Great Man

Theory" to explain these movements. As La Barre (1971:20) explains, this theory is based on the belief that "people , I make history." For the female prophet does in fact initiate change, and the creation of a new religious philosophy and sect is just part of this change. There is evidence of the applicability of the "Great Man Theory" in that the most significant drawing feature of the religious movement seems to be the personal magnetism and charisma of the prophet, so much so that often the movement disappears or at least dwindles after the death of its founder. This was the case·with sects founded by Girling, MacWhirter, Southcott

91 92 and Xosa. Nevertheless, although such a theory can be applied to the prophetic phenomenon, other causal explanations are also applicable. Explanations which include anthropological and sociological factors cannot be ignored, for these factors have had a part in encouraging or dis- couraging women who aspired to pursue a religious career.

Anthropological and sociological approaches to leadership and social change point out that although leaders may sometimes be the architects of change, the kinds of change they initiate are circumscribed by the nature of their sociocultural environment. One reason this is true is that religious leaders are themselves largely products of cultural and social forces that lie outside the individual and within the culture. In other words, the women who became prophets possessed only information and materials that they had come in contact with in their social environment. I have already mentioned that some religious tenets from the more established religions were incorporated into their new religious philosophies. Also, as Erickson (1966:5) states:

[Since] the quality of the [prophetic] act itself depends so much on the circumstances under which it was performed and the temper of the audience which witnessed it, [the same] behavior which qualifies one man for prison, may qualify another for sainthood.

Cultural mores and group forces are certainly important.

Hoult (1958:120) correctly emphasizes this factor:

No social movement could be successful--even when led by a charismatic personality--if it did not 93

include a substantial number of ideas and tech niques known to and accepted by potential adherents.

To gain a fuller perspective on the prophets, I will now look at their sociocultural environments. This discussion is divided into three parts. The first looks at the environments of the prophets in geographical terms.

The second discusses the effect of different religious environments and perspectives on prophetic occurrences.

Finally, the third looks at some of the other social and cultural £actors in the prophets' environments which may have promoted the existence of female prophets, e.g., educational movements, contraception, and women's rights movements.

GEOGRAPHIC DISTRIBUTION OF THE PROPHETS

In this analysis, I have used the place where each prophet appeared and developed her sect as the geographic point of reference, rather than the prophet's place of birth. Often a prophet in childhood moved from her birthplace and was brought up in another country, e.g., Bailey and McPherson. In other instances, the prophet encounter- ing prejudice, fled elsewhere in search of religious freedom and changed citizenship in an atmosphere more conducive to her religious interests, e.g., Blavatsky, Lee, and

Hutchinson. Thus the place where the prophet preached, formulated her religious philosophies, and created her sect, is a more accurate point of reference than her birthplace. 94

Table 5, page 95, gives the prophets' geographical locations by continent. Unlike many other facts, this data was available for all the prophets. When the prophets were separated into groups based on geography, one can see a distribution with clear concentrations in certain conti- nents and countries. In summary, 17 of the 28 prophets appeared on the continent of America, four appeared in

Europe, two appeared in Asia, and five appeared in Africa.

The evidence that these emissary prophets were, for the most part, brought up in the Western world and not in the

Eastern is obvious. This confirms what researchers have believed for a long time, that the exemplary prophet is associated with Eastern cultures and religions, parti~ularly those in China and India, while the emissary prophet is associated with Western cultures and religions.

As Weber (1969:56} explains, ". . neither the Vedas nor the classical books of the Chinese . make it at all probable that prophecy of the ethical type, such as developed in the Near East or Iran could ever have arisen in

India or China." The great Hindu doctrine of Karma may be cited in profound contrast to Western prophetic thinking:

Starting with the assumption that souls have been transmigrating fro~ the beginning, the doctrine of Karma claims that the well-being and suffering of every individual is the result of acts commit ted in a previous incarnation (Heschel 1962:236).

Through this perspective, the world is self-sufficient and not watched over by a personal, transcendent, ethical God. 95

Table 5

GEOGRAPHICAL LOCATIONS BY CONTINENT OF THE FEMALE PROPHETS

Africa America Asia Europe

Beatrice Beekman Mohini Bailey

Chanjiri Blavatsky Nakayama Besant

Dahonon Cook Leade

Lenshina Cramer Southcott

Xosa Davies

Eddy

Girling

Hanson

Hutchinson

"Keech"

Lee

MacWhirter

Hcf'herson

Tingley

A. White

E. White

Wilkinson

Africa = 5 Asia = 2 America= 17 Europe 4

' I 96

Traditionally, an Indian prophet does not experience such a thing as a revelation, i.e., "an event that happened at a particular moment in time in which a personal God who trans cends man as well as nature addressed Himself to a particu lar person who actually lived" (Heschel 1962:466). The prophets of Asia, like the Buddha radiant, reach their goal when they obtain inner wisdom and are completely integrated into the wondrous, but supra-personal cosmos.

The emissary or ethical type of prophet is a Near

Eastern concept associated with Western cultures and reli gions. In the Judeo-Christian tradition of the Western

World, the relationship of the world to the transcendent is signified by the participation of God in the world. Heschel

(1962:259} points out that "at the heart of the prophetic affirmation is the certainty that God is concerned about the world." Events in the world arouse His reaction, and

He may intercede by calling a prophet to action. Since the emissary type of prophet is a Western concept, it is no wonder that few female emissary prophets are found in

Eastern cultures.

The five African prophets can also be associated with the influence of Western civilization. All five appeared in the colonized areas of Africa. For example, Chanjiri appeared in 1907 in what is now called Nyasaland. At that time, however, Nyasaland was called the British Central

Africa Protectorate. It had been under British jurisdiction 97

since 1892. Similarly, Lenshina appeared in Northern

Rhodesia, which was formerly administered by .the British

South Africa Company. Beatrice of the Bakongo tribes

appeared in the city of San Salvador in Angola, where Bel

gium missionaries were quite powerful.

Weber (1962:104-105) indicates that in Africa in the

late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, the Christian missionaries "derived a great deal of their missionizing

power from the circumstances that they attracted women and

gave them equal status." At least two of the African proph

ets, Beatrice and Lenshina, had first accepted Christianity

and the equal status it offered them. However, as racial,

political, and cultural tensions increased, they broke

away. Social protests and anti-white elements were

included in the religious cults of Xosa and Dahonon. Other

prophets, however, syncretized Christian tenets that they had been taught with their new religious program. For example, although Beatrice claimed herself the reincarna

tion of St. Anthony, she dedicated herself to the revival

of the tribal customs that the missionaries had banished.

T. Shepperson, an author familiar with African culture and religion, also recognized that "women have played a promi nent part in millenarian movements in colonized terri

tories'' (Thrupp 1962:44). Although it is obvious that the colonial African political environment encouraged prophecy,

Shepperson does not believe it is Western influence alone 98 which caused the appearance of these African female proph ets. He sees the appearance of female prophets as "a modern expression of prophetic function traditionally assumed by women amongst some central African tribes"

(Thrupp 1962:44).

But what of the other prophets? Can they also be associated with the influence of Western civilization? The one prophet from India, Mohini, did appear following an input of Western civilization and influence. She appeared in 1951 in the midst of new social reforms instilled by

Gandhi following British evacuation. Also, Besant, a con temporary of Mohini's, was proof of the possibilities of female leadership in India. Japan in the nineteenth cen tury, when Nakayama appeared, was also an area under Western influence. Thus, the geographical distribution of the female prophetic occurrences certainly focuses on areas of

Western civilization and areas influenced by Western civili zations.

THE EFFECT OF RELIGIOUS ENVIRONMENT

That religious environments and perspective affect the frequency of prophetic occurrences is quite evident when we look again at the religious backgrounds of the prophets.

When information on the religious backgrounds of the proph ets was available, it was noted that most of the prophets were brought up to be Christians of Protestant denomina~ tions. (See Table 2, page 74). The exceptions to this 99 were: Blavatsky, who was Russian Orthodox, Mohini of India, who was a Hindu, Nakayama of Japan, who was Buddhist

Shinto, and the five African prophets, Beatrice, Chanjiri,

Dahonon, Lenshina, and Xosa, who incorporated some Christian elements into their tribal religions. None of the prophets was Catholic, Jewish, or Moslem.

Since most of the prophets were Christians, and since it has already been shown that the emissary type of prophet is a Judea-Christian concept associated with the Western

World, this discussion will focus on various denominations of Christianity and on Judaism. Here we see some interest ing associations. It has already been shown that 13 of the

21 prophets whose religious backgrounds were known were from Protestant denominations. Most frequently, the prophets were Methodists, Congregationalists, and Quakers, but other Protestant denominations were also represented, e.g., Baptist, Calvinist, Episcopalian, Lutheran, and Sal vation Army. Here a different factor seems to be the basis of the association between prophets and Protestantism.

Like all social institutions in state societies, religious organizations develop bureaucratic structures to carry out the necessary operations of the organization.

The type of bureaucratic strudture and its degree of power vary in different religious systems. Catholicism and Islam are examples of religions with well-developed, powerful hierarchies. As Wallace (1966:84) points out, "The Roman 100

Catholic Church and Islam have international ecclesia where religious bureaucracy unites religious functionaries and holds local congregations to a standardized body of ritual and belief." The activities of the Catholic Church are performed by an international clergy made up of men who are all specially ordained to priesthood. At the top of the clerical hierarchy is the Roman Pontiff, the supreme authority. His governing has universal jurisdiction.

Because everything that the Church teaches is believed to be infallible doctrine and the Pope is believed to be pre served by God from leading the Church into doctrinal error, every Catholic must accept the authority of the hierarchy.

There is no salvation for those outside of the Church; thus all other churches are viewed as heretical.

The organization of Protestant churches is different.

Ferm (1951:616) defines Protestantism as "a neutral collec tive covering term for all Christian groups immediately or remotely connected with the Reformation." He points out that Protestant unity stems from opposition to Roman

Catholicism and its tenets. A weakened church system is one of the tenets developed by early Protestant organiza tions such as Luteranism and Calvinism. These Protestant

Churches turned away from the views on the primacy of the

Pope and instead emphasized the universal priesthood of all believers. They asserted that each person has the right to individual interpretation of the Holy Scriptures, and the 101 privilege of worship according to his individual conscience.

Nevertheless, the types and powers of Protestant bureau cratic structures are still quite variable. Roger Hehl

(1970:154) distinguishes three types of Protestant ecclesiastical structures: the Episcopal, the Presbyterian, and the Congregationalist.

Churches with Episcopal ecclesiastical structures, like the Episcopalian and Anglican Church, maintain a national bureaucratic organization similar to the Catholic hierarchy, although not as autocratic. The Archbishop of

Canterbury heads the Anglican hierarchy, but this hierarchy is more cooperative with the laity. These churches are often called "bridge churches" between Catholics and

Protestants.

In contrast, churches with Presbyterian ecclesiastical structures, such as the Presbyterian and some Luteran

Churches, acknowledge that the parish is the basic cell of the church. A pastor for the parish is recommended or elected to office in a democratic manner by the presbytery, the regional body or preachers. The parish is also administered by this regional, and sometimes national, presby terian council composed of layman and clergy.

Finally, in churches with Congregationalist eccles iastical structures, such as the Congregationalist and

Baptist Church, "the congregation selects, and to a large degree controls the conduct of, its own minister" (Wallace 102

1966:85). County and state levels of the church organiza

tion exist; however, they have no power over the internal

life of each congregation. The Quakers basically have a

Congregationalist ecclesiastical structure, yet their

organization has even less hierarchical structure than the

Baptist and Congregationalist churches. The Quakers rely

on a system where there is no division between church and

laity. This concept is based on the premise that since the

truth and light of Christ lies in every heart, each person

can be reached by God without an intermediary priest.

The relationship between religious bureaucratic struc

ture and the appearance of prophets is suggested by Elisa

beth Dexter in her book, Career Women in America: 1?76-1840.

Dexter (1950:55) presents this hypothesis: ''In general, the

stronger the ecclesiastical tradition and more compact the

organization, the less place for women." To this hypothe

sis, I would add the following: the stronger the eccles

iastical tradition and the more compact the organization,

the less likely it is that women will try to organize an

independent religious structure. They may be more likely

to leave, rather than buck the hierarchy. For example, a

Catholic woman would have little hope of persuading priests

of her divine calling, since their function as religious

specialists is to mediate between the spiritual and mundane

world. Only Blavatsky, who was Russian Orthodox, came from

a strong ecclesiastical tradition.

' 0 103

Looking at the specific religious backgrounds of the

12 Protestant prophets, there is a definite bias revealing that more prophets stem from the Protestant denominations which have less centralized and less defined hierarchical structures. For example, the Episcopalian Church has the most developed clerical hierarchy of all the Protestant churches. There was only one prophet, Bailey, who was an

Episcopalian. Three other prophets, Southcott, A. White, and E. White were Methodist. This church has a less distinct type of Episcopal ecclesiastical structure which per- mits women quite a bit of expression. There were, however, nine prophets from the more decentalized denominations.

Two prophets were members of churches with Presbyterian ecclesiastical structures. Besant was a Calvinist, and

Hanson was a Lutheran. Seven prophets were members of

Congregationalist type structures. They were Cook, who was a Baptist, McPherson, who was in the Salvation Army, Beek- man and Eddy, who were Congregationalists, and Hutchinson,

Lee, and Wilkinson, who were Quakers. In these decentralized churches, there have been more occasions in which women who were particularly active in church work were selected to fill religious roles. For example, as Dexter

(1950~55) states:

The Society of Friends [Quakers] has always given women a fuller share in religious matters than any other recognized church body. Women have been elders and have held other offices, while women preachers have been fairly numerous at all 104

periods and several have won outs·tanding recogni tion.

Nevertheless, even in these sects which allow women more religious expression, there still comes a time when the prophet goes too far and conflicts with the religious authorities. She is then excommunicated or expelled, and forced to form her own sect. One can see from this discussion that there does seem tb be a correlation between the existence of female prophets and decentralized religious organization in the West.

Another look at the geographical distribution of female prophets gives further proof that Protestant religious systems are more conducive to the appearance of female prophets. For example, all 17 prophets from America appeared in the United States, primarily New England.

Although there may be a problem with the availability of translated literature on prophetic occurrences in Central and South America, it seems significant to note that these countries are Catholic ones. In contrast, in the United

States:

Principles of religious freedom, untrammeled access to and the right of individual interpreta tion of the Holy Scriptures, and the privilege of worship according to individual conscience which were promulgated by the Protestant Reformation and have found their fullest expression in [the United States of] America have given rise to a multiplicity of religious sects in this country (Clark 1949:9).

Similarly, the four prophets from Europe are all from the

British Isles, another primarily Protestant country. 105

If this hypothesis is correct, it should also hold

true that more prophets appear after the Reformation when

the Protestant churches with weakened hierarchical systems were formed. This is indeed the case. I found no documen-

tation of any female prophets as they have been defined

here before Hutchinson, who was born in 1591. Before this period the church effectively stifled prospective prophets.

Very often they were burned at the stake. Yet following

the 1600's, we see more documentation and more occurrences of female religious leaders. Plural, decentralized

churches are not as good at stifling heretics. Further- more, at this time vast changes in intellectual and social conditions were occurring. The idea of religious tolerance was more commonly held. As Ermarth (1970:23) points out:

The Reformation's emphasis on the sanctity of the person's rights and duties, and Luther's teaching about the priesthood of all believers, the Human ism of the Renaissance and the Enlightenment--all helped lay the groundwork of the egalitarianism that swept the Western world.

In this environment sometimes even women religious leaders were accepted.

The reason that no prophets of Jewish background have

been found is unclear. This disparity cannot be attributed to a strong hierarchical organization. In Judaism, there

is no authoritative ecclesiastical organization and no real hierarchy although local organizations of Jewish congregations exist. Every ordained rabbi theoretically has equal authority. A rabbi's main function is to act as a religious 106

educator. He has no special privileges with God and is not

His intermediary. Nevertheless, no prophets were Jewish.

This absence may be attributed to various influences.

Clark (1949:161) gives us some insight into this issue:

As in the case of all religious movements [sic], Judaism has not remained static and uninfluenced by the currents of modern thought. There are well-defined cleavages within the body, and the word "denomination" has been applied to some of them, but the ethnic consciousness and mutual devotion to certain principles and causes have prevented outright schisms and the development of separate Jewish sects.

The factor of anti-Semitism may have something to do with

the lack of Jewish prophets. Jews have often united in the

face of discrimination and persecution. Another cause is

presented by Betty Friedan (1964:351):

Women of orthodox Catholic or Jewish origin do not easily break through the housewife image; it is enshrined in the canons of their religion, in the assumptions of their own and their hus bands' childhoods, and in their church's dog matic definitions of marriage and motherhood.

On the other hand, some theologians believe that Jewish women have definite and valued religious roles. Although

their religious activites are restricted to the home,

Jewish women perform and lead some of the sacred religious

rituals. So some theologians contend that Jewish women

have satisfactory religious roles. These give us some

possible reasons why there is an absence of separate Jewish

sects founded by Jewish women.

In summary, this section on religious environments has revealed that religious perspectives affect the frequency 107 of prophetic occurrences. Although the prophets broke away

from their religious upbringing, these religious systems were important in their socialization, so that women from religious systems which allow them more freedom are more

likely to become prophets than women from more restrictive

religious systems.

OTHER SOCIAL AND CULTURAL FACTORS

There are a few other factors which may have influ

enced the existence or nonexistence of prophets. First,

let us look more closely at the times in which the prophets

appeared. In this temporal analysis, I have decided to use

the year in which each prophet founded her sect as the

point of reference. The year in which each prophet founded

her sect is given on the biographical sheets and in Figure

4, page 108. This histogram clearly reveals the number of

prophets founding sects in each 50-year period from 1600 to

the present. This information can now be compared and

possibly correlated to the socio-cultural events and move ments which occurred at that time.

Let us first look at the number of prophets in each

century. All 28 prophets in this analysis appeared during or after the seventeenth century. From Figure 4! one can

see there is a progressive increase in the number of

prophets in each of these centuries. There were two proph

ets in the 1600's, three prophets in the 1700's, nine prophets in the 1800's, and 14 prophets in the 1900's. By 108

12 ;- r------··

10 1-

U) 1- +J 9 Q) ..c: P-i 8 - 0 H ~ 7 1- ·----- lH 0 6 1- H Q) 5 1- ~ ::::l z 4

3. - 2 1- --l 1 - ~------[----]

I I I 1600 1650 1700 1750 1800 1850 1900 1950-Present

Surrunary:

1600-1649: Hutchinson 1650-1699: Leade 1700-1749: None 1750-1799: Lee, Southcott, Wilkinson 1800-1849: Nakayama, Beatrice 1850-1899: Beekma~, Blavatsky, Cramer, Eddy, Girling, Tingley, E. White 1900-1949: Bailey, Besant, Chanjiri, Cook, Dahonon, Davies, Hanson, Lenshina, MacWhirter, McPherson, A. White, Xosa 1950's: "Keech", Mohini

Figure 4

TEMPORAL DIVISION OF FOUNDHJG DATES FOR THE PROPHETS' SECTS 109 and large, the time period when most of the prophets appeared is between 1850 and 1949. During this time period, 19 prophets of the 28 in this sample founded their religious organizations. The first half of the twentieth century is especially important. And it is no coincidence that this time period coincides with the time in which an effective feminist movement was organized in the United

States and England, and women were receiving broader rights and opportunities.

Nancy Cott (1972:15) contends that "the first aspect of broader rights and opportunities for women to become an issue of importance was that of education." Formal educa tion began to be offered to women in the early nineteenth century. The first university in the United States to open its doors to women was Mt. Holyoke in 1837. The rapid extension of popular education continued throughout the

1900's. Many of the prophets in the United States and

England from this time period received some degree of for mal education, e.g., Bailey, Besant, Blavatsky, Eddy, and

McPherson. In contrast, many of the prophets from the preceding centuries did not receive any formal education, e.g., Hutchinson, Lee, Southcott, and Wilkinson. Some of the educated prophets were among the first to enter the institutions of higher learning. For example, Besant was one of the first women to enter London University when it opened its doors to women. She received a Bachelor of 110

Science degree and became a qualified lecturer in science

and art. The fact that most of the prophets appeared

following the period in which education was finally offered

to women is not just coincidence. Although education for

women was first advocated as the way to achieve the lady

like ideal of womanhood, the influence of education was not

so limited. Nancy Cott (1972:15) describes the actual

effect of education: ". . as always broader education

meant higher aspirations." Since education made these

women aware of non-traditional alternatives to women's

religious roles, it should not be overlooked as a factor in

~ncouraging the appearance of prophets.

There were other socio-cultural issues present in the

United States and England during the period from 1850-

1950 which may have helped make the cultural environment

more conducive to the appearance of female prophets. More

events leading to broader rights and opportunities for

women were occurring at this time. One of them was the

violent controversy over contraception. In England in the

late 1800's, Besant was a leader in this area. She was one

of the first prominent women to fight openly for contracep-

tion. In the Knowlton Case of 1877, it is said that Besant

established the beginnings of the birth control movement in

England. But what is the importance of birth control?

Cott (1972:18) describes the situation before contracep

tion: "A married woman in the seventeenth century of New

' \) 111

England might easily spend 25 years of adult life always either pregnant or nursing--because of little knowledge and effectiveness of contraception." With the introduction and acceptance of contraception in the late nineteenth century and the subsequent decline in birth rates, child rearing duties for many females became less demanding. It is not known if female prophets had small families because of the use of contraceptive methods, but their small families helped create an environment that was more conducive to the pursuance of a career.

Other events of this time period which stimulated changes in women's roles were the fight for women's voting privileges, secularization, which promoted a reliance on non-religious behavioral norms, and industrialization with its great demand for women in the work force. It is obvious the period between 1850 and 1950 was a time when conventional myths were being increasingly exposed and expectations concerning women were changing. Vernon (1962:

182) proposes that "the prophet usually appears during periods of unrest when established value systems are being challenged." Since the changing value ~ystems concerned concepts of women's roles, it is not surprising that more women appeared in extra-domestic activities such as poli tics and economic endeavors. But within the established religious organizations, careers for women were still limited, even more so than other career possibilities. As 112

Culver (1967:184) points out, "It was very often a women, who lacking authority to explore her ideas under the aus pices of her church~ set up an independent group which functioned with varying degrees of popularity, for longer or shorter times." New sects and revivalistic movements often allowed women the same opportunities as men.

When looking back at Figure 4, one can see that there is a clear reduction in the number of female prophets in the period from 1950 to the present. This is partly due to the lack of literature available on such current subjects.

Some literature is still in the process of being written.

Many times information on women religious leaders appeared in current newspapers; however, I have often avoided using this information because there was no way to confirm the data and much of the background information that was neces sary for analysis was not offered. Many times I could not even determine whether these women actually fit my criteria or not. Still another reason for the sparsity of female prophets in this period is proposed by feminist Betty

Friedan. Friedan (1964) discusses the changing role of women following the 1950's. She points out that women returned to the domestic sphere at this time following the return of males from World War II. The rise in birth rates is well documented. Friedan points out that the feminism of the late 1800's and early 1900's became "dead history."

Around this time, people in general began to pay more 113 attention to secular movements rather than religious ones.

So it just may be that this century contains fewer women who aspire to be prophets. Since women are now more,fre quently being admitted into the accepted religious leader ship roles of priest, minister, and rabbi, it is also very likely that fewer new religious orders are being created by women. The final decision on this will have to wait until some further research has been done.

The relationship between socio-cultural factors and prophetic occurrences has been demonstrated. In discussing the geographical distribution of female prophets, it appears that they are more likely to appear in Western religious environments. This is because the emissary prophet is a Judea-Christian religious concept and thus associated with Nestern civilizations. This type of prophet is inconsistent with Eastern religious traditions. An association between colonized areas and female prophets also appeared. This was especially evident in Africa where all five prophets appeared in the areas of Western influence. India and Japan had also been affected by Western culture when the two prophets from Asia appeared.

It has also been shown that the different bureaucratic structures of the organized religions affect prophetic occurrences. The stronger the ecclesiastic traditions, the less likely women are to try to organize an independent religious structure. They view the task of overcoming the 114

concentrated hierarchy as impossible. Thus Catholics

usually do not become prophets, while more Protestants do.

It is, however, unclear why few Jewish women become

prophets, since Judaism does not possess a strong eccles

iastical tradition. Further analysis seems necessary to

resolve this question.

During the 1850-1950 period when most of the female

prophets appeared, several issues influencing women's roles

were present: (1) education was being offered to women even

in the higher institutions; (2) contraceptive methods were

being widely introduced and more commonly accepted; and

(3) other issues, such as industrialization, secularization,

and the fight for women's voting privileges, were also

affecting women in their life-styles. All of these issues

affected the rights of women and helped induce a change in

their expectations. Yet with all this, women's roles in organized religion were still limited. The prophets set up

independent religious groups which allowed them the freedom

that they desired and believed to be their right. Chapter 7 CONCLUSIONS

Henry Forman (1940:9) presents a vague definition of a prophet when he defines this religious specialist as a "man possessing spiritual farsightedness.'' However, Forman does candidly indicate an assumption held by many-that women are not prophets. A surprising number of books which con tain analyses of prophets exclude any discussion of female prophets. This paper has been an attempt to look at the female prophet. In dealing with this phenomenon, I have tried to maintain an objective but sympathetic attitude.

Thus far, I have concentrated on four areas: (1) What is a prophet? How does she differ from other religious leaders?

(2) Why is the role of prophet not normally one assumed by women? What religious roles do they assume? (3} Who are the female prophets and what are their personal character istics which may have caused them to take on a role not normally associated with their sex? (4} What are some of the social and cultural influences which may have encour aged or discouraged these women from taking on the role of prophet? I will now proceed briefly to answer these ques tions.

The female prophet in many respects resembles the male

115 116 emissary type prophet. They both see themselves as

"instruments of divine will" and claim to have received a personal call to action through a vision, dream, or another altered form of consciousness. They believe it is their duty to lead others to salvation. Yet unlike the male prophet, the female prophet must break from traditional religious roles which restricted her religious activities.

A prophet, male or female, differs from other reli gious specialists such as priests and shamans in that he or she presents a new religious philosophy and guidelines which break with the established religious order of the community.

This makes the prophet and priest antagonists. Unlike the priest, the prophet is not part of a trained religious bureaucracy, nor does she receive fees for the services she renders. Instead the charismatic prophet is supported by her followers, who believe in her divine mandate and credit her with extraordinary powers. The prophet differs from the shaman in that she is not a part-time specialist who concentrates on healing-oriented tasks.

In respect to the second area, I have found that the role of prophet is not normally assumed by women cross culturally because most extra-domestic roles which involve authority in the community are assumed by men. A division of labor based on sexual identity has existed and, for the most part, still exists in the religious realm. In this context, women are usually associated with separate women's 117

religious orders, auxiliary to the main hierarchy, e.g.,

Buddhist and Christian nunneries, and female curing orders.

The roles in these organizations usually entail a secondary

religious status. In contrast, prophets are ambitious

females who ignore these spiritual courses offered to them.

Often they are dealt with as evil or deluded women. At

times, however, the prophets persist in following their

divine mandate and are successful in winning followers and

establishing religious organizations.

In all, I found 28 female prophets. The biographical

data indicated that they were women of varied character

istics with regard to age, education, religious affilia

tion, marital status, and family situation. 'Some biographi

cal patterns were discerned. It appears that female

prophets were more likely to have conversion experiences

and found sects between the ages of 40~49. It also appears

that female prophets have shown a great interest in reli

gious philosophies and texts. They were also more likely

to be Protestant. Of the 22 prophets whose marital situa

tion was known, 17 were married at least once. This data

indicates that most prophets followed the traditional

social mores concerning marriage. The most distinctive

element in the marital situations of these female prophets

was their husbands' unsupportive behavior. This might

account for the large number of divorces among the prophets.

It was shown that female prophets were likely to have small

' 0 118 families of one or two children, and although children can create an effective barrier in pursuance of a religious leadership career, these prophets were not to be stopped, nor did they desert their children. Although there were exceptions, most prophets adapted their methods of preach ing either'~o include the children in their travels, or to limit their travels and leave the children in the care of others until their return.

The fourth area of questioning concerned the social and cultural factors affecting the female prophets. Reli gious, historical, and even geographical factors were dealt with here, for they had a part in encouraging or dis couraging women who chose to pursue a religuous career.

The first pertinent factor is that female prophets of the emissary type are primarily a Western phenomenon. This is because emissary prophets exhibit a type of prophecy that is characteristic of the Western religious world. In the

Judea-Christian perspctive, revelations and divine mandates from a personal God are possible, whereas they are incon sistent with the supra-personal cosmos characteristic of

Eastern philosophies. Female prophets overwhelmingly occurred in geographical areas that were associated with or influenced by Protestant Western religions.

Another pertinent factor here is that religious organization influences the existence of prophets. Few prophets came from religions with strong, concentrated 119 ecclesiastical traditions such as those characteristic of

Catholicism and. Islam. Most came from Protestant denomina tions characterized by less centralized and less defined hierarchical structure.

This section on social and cultural factors also associated prophetic occurrences with cultural environments where women had more opportunities and rights. The follow ing were all viewed as social issues which helped induce a change in the communities' expectations concerning women: education of women, contraception, industrializa tion, secularization, and women's voting rights.

Now let us turn to the fifth question proposed in the introduction and as yet unanswered. How have these female prophets affected their social and cultural environments?

This question is asked because whatever analysis is used to describe religion, whether it be a psychological view of religion as "collective neurosis;" or a Marxian view of religion as the "opiate of the masses," or the anthropolog~ cal view of religion as a "cultural universal," the analy sis points out that religion offers the believer a particu lar perspective on himself and the world. Each analysis of religion also emphasizes that the religious perspective has important bearing on the attitudes and actions of the believer. Similarly, the prophet, who is believed to be endowed with spiritual strength and who claims to have supernatural guidance, influences the beliefs and actions 120 of members of her religious group, and often non-members in the community as well. So this is perhaps the most inter esting question of all.

Although many of these prophets and their sects are unknown to most people-in fact, their existence is often surprising information to many people-the.ir obscurity and small following does not argue against their importance.

While "we tend to think of the growth of a movement in terms of numbers of adherents" (Needleman 1970:227), there are other criteria by which to determine a prophet's influ ence and a movement's growth.

One fact that reflects their significance is that these cults are voluntary organizations. The adherents of these religions are not born into them as so many members of established religions are. This voluntary association reveals that the religious organizations of the status quo are often not suitable to the needs of all segments of the society. New sects are created by the prophets for those individuals who are unsatisfied with the established reli gions. They offer a new order of ~hings. And because they do offer a new structuring of society, research and analy sis of the prophets and their cults can reflect new and changing cultural attitudes. As Ellwood (1973 :xv, xvi) states, "I believe a survey of this kind is valuable .

[because a cult can be seen] as an indicator of the direc tions of change." For instance, as I have mentioned, in 121 the 1800's in the United States and England, steps were being taken to bring greater equality and wider opportunities to women. In analyzing the prophets, I discovered similarities to modern feminists. Although this is not a history of the feminist movement, it is interesting to view the prophets in this light. The broader rights and opportunities that women in the Western World have cannot be solely attributed to the efforts of the well-known feminists. Like Ellwood (1973:x), I too see Blavatsky,

Besant, and other such prophets as "strong willed ladies of the first feminist era. 11 But even the prophets who existed before the feminist era questioned the status assigned to women of their times. For example, Flexner

(1959:vii) believes:

. the question of equal status for women was first raised in the earliest days of the found ing of New England, when Anne Hutchinson chal lenged the puritan theocracy of Boston, not only in the field of religious dogma, but also in its assumption that no woman could have a voice in church affairs. The battle was drawn along strictly theological lines, but the issue was implicit in her unprecedented demand that she, a woman, be permitted to think for herself about God and provoke others, women included, into doing the same.

Bumsted further states:

One social assumption which Hutchinson clearly challenged was that the place of women was in the home. No one could question the legitimacy of the informal meetings she held in her house as long as only women were present, but she had extended her circle to include many of the male inhabitants of Boston. Since women traditionally were not supposed to be preachers such meetings 122

became suspiciously close to violating the law (Garraty 1974:561).

It is important to point out that the objection to

Hutchinson was technically not on the basis of sex~ yet the fact that she was a woman undoubtably contributed appreci- ably to the irritation of the disapproving community.

Were these prophets aware of their feminist role?

Some, but not all, were aware of it. Mavity (1931:30) indicates that McPherson "counted on the possibilities of appeal in the unusual feature of a ~oman preacher." Mavity

(1931:4) also indicates that McPherson "had a conscious sense of triumph in smashing the prejudice against women in the pulpit." McPherson even exclaimed to her disapproving husband, "Oh, don't ever tell me that a woman cannot be called to preach the gospel!" (ll1avity 1931:22).

Another example of a prophet who was aware of her feminist role is Besant. Even before her religious conver- sian, Besant was a pioneer and champion of women's rights.

She argued for women's suffrage, birth control, education, and full equality. She described her cause in the following way:

Do not think we are here tonight to support a woman's movement; it is a human movement. Men and women cannot be separated into two distinct classes. There is but one humanity (Nethercot 1960:165).

In a lecture at Albert Hall in 1877, she eloquently stated:

And in the days to come people, looking back upon the struggle, shall marvel that in free England such a struggle could ever have been waged. In 123

that day, when men and women are together in the rights of citizen, in the freedom of the country, in all patriotic work, Oh! then to those who suf fered shall come the glory of sacrifice which has made that triumph possible; for they shall be acclaimed by history as warriors who made the woman's cause triumphant, ... and in the splen dor of the work they have done, their names shall shine forever in history as those who made women free (West 1929:54-55).

Eddy was also an outspoken advocate of equality. Peel

(1966:278) points out that Eddy wrote a poem on women's

rights and often protested 11 against the disabilities fas-

tened on women by law. 11 Furthermore, the tenets of Chris-

tian Sci.ence stress impartiality in the treatment of men

and women.

These three with their conscious sense of smashing the

prevalent concepts of women's roles were not the only

prophets to consciously break the rules restricting women.

There are indications that some of the other prophets also

ignored convention in other areas besides religion,

although they did so in smaller ways. For example,

Blavatsky smoked cigarettes and stimulants such as opium at

a time when these activities were quite scandalous for

women. Another example is pointed out by Andrews (1953:

80): "It says much for Mother Ann's [Lee] experience with

marriage and sex that she used her maiden name, a daring

step to take at the time. 11 Also, all of the prophets were

public speakers, although this was often considered

unseemly.

But not all of the prophets in breaking the boundaries

' " 124

restricting women did so in the hope of bringing other

women equal opportunities. For example, Bailey (1951:77)

in this quotation from her autobiography sounds anything

but feminist:

I candidly admit to this day I do not understand the feminine mind. This is of course a generali zation and like all generalizations somewhat untrue. I have women friends and am devoted to them, but as a general rule, I prefer the mascu line mind. A man will give you serious trouble occasionally; a woman will give you lots of silly troubles all the time and I can't be bothered. I am no feminist but I know if women are real and intelligent they can get to the top of the tree.

The public has also seen an association between female

prophets and feminists. For example, Frances Wright (1795-

1852) was an outspoken feminist who argued for birth con-

trol, the emancipation of women, and more equal distribu-

tion of property with marriage. This feminist and some of

the prophets are associated in this 1830 parody sung to the

tune of "Put an Onion in Your Eye":

She beat Jemina Wilkirison, Joanna Southcott Quite, E'en Mother Lee was nothing to Our own Fanny Wright!

For me this association of the prophets with feminism has

been most interesting. I believe the most profound effect

these prophets may have had is in bringing women greater

equality and wider opportunities. For as Wisbey (1964:49)

indicates, the prophetesses "did make easier the role of

Fanny Wright and other women who sought to break out of

their traditional position." It is my contention that the

' 0 125 voice of women calling for equal opportunities in the religious realm was often earlier and stronger than in other 10 realms. As early as 1865, Eddy spoke out for women's equal rights. A Shaker elder stated in 1888, "With Ann Lee the precedent of female leadership had been firmly established"

(Lee 1888:56). Female prophets have had a profound effect in disrupting and changing cultural mores against women in leadership roles. They have also assisted in changing the basic assumptions on the place of women in the social order. As Erikson {1966:12-13) indicates, "societies' margins or boundaries are never fixed property of the community . . . and [they] remain a meaningful point of reference only so long as they are repeatedly defended

(successfully)." The prophets tested and broke through the boundaries confining women's roles. In ignoring traditional women's roles and choosing roles of religious leadership, these women threatened and weakened the boundaries that society imposed on women. 'I Furthermore, these women are significant in that they provide role models for other women. Even if a woman does not choose to be a religious leader, the prophets are proof that women need not be confined within traditional employment areas. Because of this, the prophets are perhaps correctly viewed as dangerous individuals. They do in fact disrupt the existing social order and attempt to replace it with a new order. This new social order demands not only a 126 new religious belief system, but also a re-examination of traditional sex roles and removal of cultural norms of sexua1 1nequa' 1~1ty. ll I d o no t mean t o 1mp . 1 y th a t th ese prophets were always consciously proposing an equality of the sexes in all aspects of society, but their mere presence challenged the established value systems.

Another significant fact about these cults is that many are indigenous to the United States. Thirteen of the

28 prophets were born and founded their religious sects in the United States. Four other prophets emigrated and 12 founded their sects in the United States. Furthermore, many of these cults have survived in the American environ~ ment as long as the great denominations which were planted in early American colonial days. Their existence reveals and represents a part of American life and culture. As

Ellwood (1972:xii) states:

American religions of the cult type are more than mere curiosities or byways of spirituality. They are of major importance to the phenomenology of religion since they represent in America one of its principle types, the faith based directly on mystical or shamanistic experiences, and the kind of world view that goes with that foundation.

Because of the magnitude of information involved in this area, this study has by no means been comprehensive.

It is intended, however, to serve as an introductory investigation into the phenomenon of female prophecy. The analysis of female prophets has raised many questions and perhaps future researchers will provide us with the answers. 127

An interesting direction for future research would be the analysis and comparison of male and female prophets. A closer look at Jewish women and the reasons that none have formed sects would also be instructive. These female prophets are significant in that they chose their own spiritual paths and behaved independently of the traditional religious modes of behavior. These women were much more than religious eccentrics. As pioneers in a male dominated role, they set precedents of female leadership and raised questions of equal status for women in other segments of society. FOOTNOTES

1 Notice that Orlinsky (1969:320) speaks of prophets as men. No mention is made of women prophets.

2I would like to point out that one prophet in this analysis is known only by a pseudonym coined by Festinger, Riecken, and Schachter, authors of When Prophecy Faiis (1940). To protect her, these authors referred to her as "Marian Keech." Nevertheless, their analysis of her call ing and her sect is non-fiction, so I have included her in this analysis. I will, however, to remain accurate, refer to her with double quotes around her name.

3 other authors have also recognized qualities of agency in the prophets. For instance, Mark Twain called Eddy, "the most daring and masculine and masterful woman that has appeared on the earth in centuries" (Peel 1966: 8 4) •

4 There is one point in regard to the spirit figure that I have found particularly interesting. As Friedl (1975:75) points out, "It might be expected that the sex of the ritual leader would be related to the sex of the gods, goddesses, spirits whose propitiation or manipulation of whom is the purpose of the ceremony." Nevertheless, I have found that none of the prophets communicated with female spirits. In fact all of the prophets conversed with spirits that can be said to have male elements. Out of all 28 prophets, only three believed in a doctrine of the dual nature of God, e.g., Eddy, Lee and Nakayama. Nakayama saw God as a male/female figure. Lee saw Jesus as the male element of God, and herself as the female aspect of God. The reasons for this association are up for conjecture. Friedl, however, does suggest that in Protestantism there is a suppression of the female element, and an emphasis on predominantly masculine elements, e.g., the trinity of the Father, the Son, and a masculine or asexual Holy Spirit. Since most of the prophets came from Protestant backgrounds, they may have been influenced by this emphasis on the male element. ·

5 It is interesting to note that as the prophets gained a following and became more established, they were often

128 129

believed to be more than mere intermediaries. Furthermore, some prophets even encouraged their followers to perceive them in a more lofty role. For example, Lee stated that she was the second appearance of Christ, Southcott and Beekman announced themselves the spiritual mothers of Christ in his Second Coming, and Beatrice said she was the incarnation of St. Antony.

6 This latter story regarding Blavatsky and hashish may have more substance than any of these other legends, for Blavatsky did admit that she often smoked hashish and opium.

7La Barre (1970:297) also points out that Sananda "speaks good middle-western American English."

8 Even before their prophetic calling, many prophets showed their interest in religious involvement by marrying traditional clergymen. This was the case with six of the 28 prophets, namely, Bailey, Beekman, Besant, McPherson, A. White, and E. White.

9 one might interpret this as a form of physiologically induced behavior. Primatologists view the mother-child dyad as the most basic social bond. The maternal "instincts" are now often perceived as behavior induced by hormonal increases of prolactine in the mother after giving birth.

1 °Furtherrnore, it may be true of these other prophets, as it is of Lee, that they tried to bear more children because they had lost children through death. So it may be that all of the prophets chose to have small families.

11 Female prophets may also have promoted a re-examination of the relationship between the sexes. As Friedl (1975:9) points out, " ... the roles which men and women play in their extradomestic and nonroutine affairs can influence the overall relationship between the sexes."

12 There were 17 prophets whose sects were located in the United States. Of these, only four were not born in the United States. McPherson carne to the United States from Canada as a child. Hutchinson and Lee were born in England and emigrated to the United States as adults. Blavatsky, who was born in Russia, also emigrated to the United States.

' d Andrews, Edward D. 1953 The People Called Shakers. New York: Oxford Uni versity Press.

Bachoften, Johann J. 1967 Myth, Religion, and Mother Right. Translated by Ralph Manheim. Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press.

Bailey, Alice A. 1951 The Unfinished Autobiography of Alice A. Bailey. New York: Lucis Publishing Company.

Bakan, David 1966 The Duality of Human Existence: An Essay on Psy chology and Religion. Chicago, Illinois: Rand McNally.

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Benedict, Ruth 1934 Patterns of Culture. Boston, Massachusetts: Houghton Mifflin Company.

Besterman, Theodore 1927 The Mind of Annie Besant. London, England: White friars Press.

1934 Mrs. Annie Besant: A Modern Prophet. London: Eidenburg Press.

Braden, Charles S. 1967 These Also Believe: A Study of Modern American Cults and Minority Religious Movements. New York: Macmillan Company.

' 0 130 131

Brown, Judith A. 1972 A Note on the Division of Labor.by Sex. American Anthropologist 1073-8.

Clark, Elmer T. 1949 The Small Sects in America. Nashville, Tennessee: Abingdon Press.

Cohn, Norman 1957 The Pursuit of the Millenium. New York: O~ford University Press.

Collier, Jane 1974 Women in Politics. In Women, Culture, and Society. Michelle z. Rosaldo and Louise Lamphere, eds. Pp. 89-96. Stanford, California: Stanford Univer sity Press.

Cott, Nancy F., ed. 1972 Root of Bitterness. New York: E. P. Dutton and Company.

Culver, Elsie Thomas 1967 Women in the World of Religion. New York: Associ ation Press.

Dexter, Elisabeth A. 1950 Career Women in America, 1776-1840. New Hampshire: Marshall Jones Company.

Dunn, Cyril 1959 Central African Witness. London, England: London Press. Ellwood, Robert s. 1973 Religious and Spiritual Groups in Modern America. New Jersey: Prentice-Hall. Erikson,. Dai T. 1966 The Wayward Puritans: A Study in the Sociology of Deviance. New York: John Wiley and Sons.

Ermarth, Margaret Sittler 1970 Adam's Fractured Rib. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: Fortress Press.

Ferro, Vergilius 1959 An Encyclopedia of Religion. New Jersey: Little field, Adams and Company.

Festinger, Leon and Henry W. Riecken, and Stanley Schachter 1940 When Prophecy Fails. New York: Harper & Row. 132

Flexner, Eleanor 1959 Century of Struggle. Massachusetts: The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press.

Forman, Henry James 1940 The Story of Prophecy. New York: Tudor Publishing Company.

Friedman, Betty 1964 The Feminine Mystique. New York: Dell Publishing.

Friedl, Ernestine 1975 Women and .Men: An Anthropologist's View. Califor nia: Holt, Rinehart & Winston.

Fuchs, Stephen 1965 Rebellious Prophets: A Study of Messianic Move mE:mts in Indian Religions. London, England: Asia Publishing House.

Garraty, John, ed. 1974 Encyclopedia of American Biography. New York: Harper & Row. Giele, Janet z. and Audrey C. Smock, eds. 1977 Women: Roles and Status in Eight Countries. New York: John Wiley & Sons. Harkness, Georgia 1972 Women in Church and Society. New York: Nashville Abingdon Press.

Heschel, Abraham 1962 'I'he Prophets. New York: Harper & Row.

Hoebel, E. Adamson 1966 Anthropology: The Study of Han. New York: McGraw Hill.

Hoult, Thomas 1958 Sociology of Religion. New York: The Dryden Press.

Hudson, David 1844 Memoir of Jemina ~V'ilkinson. New York: AMS Press.

Irwin, Inez 1933 Angels and Amazons: A Hundred Years of American Women. New York: Doubleday, Doran & Company.

Kraditor, Aileen, ed. 1968 Up from the Pedestal: Selected Writings in the ·133

History of American Feminism. Chicago, Illinois: Quadrangle Books.

La Barre, Weston 1971 Materials for a History of Studies of Crisis Cults: A Bibliographic Essay. Current Anthropology 12: 3-27.

1970 The Ghost Dance. New York: Dell. Lanternari, Vittorio 1963 The Religions of the Oppressed. New York: Alfred A. Knopf.

Lee, Ann 1888 Testimonies of the Life, Character, Revelations and Doctrines of Hother Ann Lee and the Elders with her in Albany, New York. New York: Weed, Parsons and Company.

Lessa, William A. and Evon Z. Vogt, eds. 1958 Reader in Comparative Religion: An Anthropological Approach. Illinois: Harper & Row.

Lewis, I. H. 1971 Ecstatic Religion. Maryland: Penguin Books.

Linton, Ralph 1942 Age and Sex Categories. Bobbs-Merrill Reprint 27 3.

Magnin, Edgar F. 1969 The Voice of Prophecy in This Satellite Age. In Interpreting the Prophetic Tradition. Harry Orlin sky, ed. Pp. 101-l22. Cincinnati, Ohio: Hebrew Union College Press. Halefijt, Annemarie de Waal 1968 Religion and Culture: An Introduction to Anthro pology of Religion. New York: Macmillan Company. Maslow, Abraham H. 1970 Religions, Values, and Peak Experiences. New York: The Viking Press.

Mavity, Nancy Barr 1931 Sister Aimee. New York: Doubleday, Doran & Com pany.

McPherson, Aimee Semple 1951 The Story of Hy Life. Hollywood, California: An International Correspondents' Publication. 134

Mehl, Roger 1970 The Sociology of Protestantism. Translated by James Farley. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: The Westminster Press.

Michaelson, Evalyn Jacobson and Leigh M. Aaland 1976 Masculinity, Femininity, and Androgyny. Ethos 4: 251-270.

Nakayama, Shozen 1956 The Short History of Tenriko. Nara, Japan: The Headquarters of the Tenriko Church.

Needleman, Jacob 1970 The New Religions. New York: Doubleday.

Nethercot, Arthur H. 1960 The First Five Lives of Annie Besant. Chicago, Illinois: University of Chicago Press.

1963 The Last Four Lives of Annie Basant. Chicago, illinois: University of Chicago Press.

Olsen, M. Ellsworth 1925 A History of the Origins and Progress of Seventh Day Adventists. Washington: Review and Herald Publishing Association.

Peel, Robert 1966 Mary ~aker Eddy. San Francisco, California: Holt, Rinehart & Winston.

Rosaldo, Michelle 1974 Woman, Culture, and Society: A Theoretical Over view. In Woman, Culture, and Society. Michelle z. Rosaldo and Louise Lamphere, eds. Pp._ 17-42. Stanford, California: Stanford University Press.

Rosten, Leo 1955 A Guide to Religions in America. New York: Simon & Schuster.

Symonds, John 1950 Madame Blavatsky: 1'1edium and Magician. London, England: Odhams Press.

Szasz, Thomas S. 1967 Horal Man: A Model of Han for Humanistic Psychology. In Challenges of Humanistic Psychology. James F. Bugental, ed. Pp. 45-51. New York: McGraw-Hill. 135

Taylor, Robert B. 1973 Introduction to Cultural Anthropology. Boston, Massachusetts: Allyn and Bacon. '. Thrupp, Sylvia 1962 Millenial Dreams in Action. Mouton: The Hague. Vernon, Glenn H. 1962 The Sociology of Religion. New York: McGraw-Hill. vvallace, Anthony 1966 Religion: An Anthropological View. New York: Random House. 1i'leber, Max 1969 The Sociology of Religion. Boston, Massachusetts: Beacon Press.

West, Geoffrey 1929 The Life of Annie Besant. London, England: Gerald Howe Limited. Wisbey, Herbert A. 1964 Pioneer Prophetess: Jemina Wilkinson The Publick Universal Friend. New York: Cornell University Press. Half, Margery 1974 Chinese Homen: Old Skills in a New Context. In Woman, Culture, and Society. Michelle Z. Rosaldo and Louise Lamphere, eds. Pp. 157-172. Stanford, California: Stanford University Press. Wright, Eugene Patrick 1968 A Catalogue of Joanna Southcott. Texas: The Uni versity of Texas at Austin. APPENDIX A ALPHABETICAL LISTING OF THE PROPHETESSES

' 0 137

Appendix A ALPHABETICAL LISTING OF THE PROPHETESSES

Alice Bailey Alma White

Beatrice Ellen White

Dora Beekman Jemina Wilkinson

Annie Besant Xosa

Helena Petrovna Blavatsky

Chanjiri Total = 28 prophets

Mozella Cook

.Halinda E. Cramer

Maria Dahonon, Lalu

Ann Davies

Mary Baker Eddy

Nary Anne Girling

Minnie Hanson

Anne Hutchinson

"Marian Keech"

Jane Leade

Ann Lee

Alice Lenshina, Mulenga

Martha MacWhirter

Aimee Semple McPherson

Raj Hohini

.Hiki Nakayama

Joanna Southcott

Katherine Tingley

' 0 APPENDIX B

BIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION SHEETS 139

Ne.me of prophet_A_l_i_ce_B_a_l_·l_e_.y'------ Date of birth-death 1880-1842 Birthplace Manchester, England

Religious Characteristics Religious upbringing and background: Very religious upbringing

Episcopalian -+ theosophist Conversion experience: Date associated with conversion experience------1895 Age of prophet 15 Brief description: Period of unhappiness broken by vision of man in turban who tells her to make necessary changes in herself, and prepare. Mode of communication with the supernatural: Visions x Dreams Voices x Writings x Other: ~------Religious sect: Name sect acquired Full Moon Meditation Groups Date associated with founding 1921 ~~~------Age of prophet 14 Estimated number of followers at prime------Geographical origin or ~ain organizational location: New York and England

Personal Characteristics Education: Good "classical" 19th century education: governesses, finishing school. Other occupations: Hospital aide, Sunday school teacher, factory worker, manager of a vegetarian cafeteria. Marital status: Single__ Harried 1@3 4 Divorced Q)2 3 4 Dependents: 0 1 2 Q) 4-.M Prophet's method of coping with religious career & family: Retained guardianship/postponed career x Retained guardianship/proceeded with career Gave up or lost guardianship __ Hiscellaneous: Philosophies of sect are taught at the Arcane School. Was married to clergyman. 140

Name of prophet Beatrice of the Bakongo tribes Date of birth-death 1800's Birthplace San Salvador; Angola, Africa

RELIGIOUS CHARACTERISTICS Religious upbringing and background: _African tribal religion with Christian elements. . I Conversion experience: Date associated with conversion experience------Age of prophet Brief description: Was informed she was reincarnation of St. Anthony and day of judgement was at hand, making it necessary to restore the native kingdom of San Salvador and revive the tribal customs banished by Belgium missionaries. Mode of communication with the supernatural: Visions x Dreams x Voices Writings __ Other: ------Religious sect: Name sect acquired------Antonian Date associated with founding------Age of prophet----- Estimated number of followers at prime Described by Dunn ( 1959) as "huge." Geographical origin or main organi za tional location: San Salvador, Angola, Africa

PERSONAL CHARACTERISTICS 'I Education: ------Other occupations: ------Marital status: Single.2:__ Married 1 2 3 4 Divorced 1 2 3 4 Dependents: 0 Q) 2 3 4-M Prophet's method of coping with religious career & family: Retained guardianship/postponed career Retained guardianship/proceeded with career x Gave up or lost guardianship__ Miscellaneous: Burnt at stake for her heresies by Belgium mission aries. Followers remained united to goals set by their martyrized pro:phetess.

.. I 141

Name of prophet------Dora Beekman Date of birth-death------Birthplace Rockford, Illinois U.S.A.

RELIGIOUS CHARACTERISTICS Religious upbringing c:tnd background: Congregationalist Conversion experience: Date associated with conversion experience ------~--~ Age of prophet Brief description: Realized and announced herself the spiritual mother of Christ in the second coming. Mode of communication with the supernatural: Visions Dreams Voices Writings Other: ------Religious sect: Name sect acquired Church of the Redeemed; Beekmanites; Church Triumphant Date associated with founding------1875 Age of prophet______Estimated number of followers at prime ------Geographical origin or main organizational location:

PERSONAL CHARACTERISTICS Education: ------~------Other occupations: ------Marital status: Single__ .fvlarried(j)234 Divorced 123 4 Dependents : (j) 0 1 2 3 4-M Prophet's method of coping with religious career & family: Retained guardianship/postponed career Retained guardianship/proceeded with career Gave up or lost guardianship__ Miscellaneous: Reverend Beekman, Dora's husband became psychotic while trying to dissuade his wife in her calling. Claimed irrunor tality, but before death said her messianic essence would pass to Reverend George Schwenfurth. 142

Name of prophet------Annie Besant Date of birth-death 1847-1933 Birthplace London, England

RELIGIOUS CHARACTERISTICS Religious upbringing and background: Calvinist-+ Roman Catholic -+ Anglican -+ agnostic -+ Theosophist Conversion experience: Date associated with conversion experience 1889 --'------Age of prophet 42 Brief description: "A voice seemed --~-- to ring out within me and yet without me; it asked 'Are you will ing to surrender everything in order that you may know the truth?"' Mode of communication with the supernatural: Visions x Dreams x Voices x Writings__ Other: Direct communication Religious sect: Name sect acquired Adyar Division of Theosophy Date associated with founding 1907 ~~~------~------Age of prophet 60 Estimated number of followers at prime------Geographical origin or main organizational location: U.S.A., India

PERSONAL CHARACTERISTICS Education: Good "classical" 19th century ed11cation: tutors, private schools, London University, B.S. in Science and Art. Other occupations: Governess; socialist labour leader; writer; feminist; politician, e.g., President of Indian National Congress in 1917. Marital status: Single__ Married (])2 3 4 Divorced Q)2 3 4 Dependents: 0 1 (1) 3 4-M Prophet's method of coping with religious career & family: Retained guardianship/postponed career Retained guardianship/proceeded with career Gave up or lost guardianship_x_ r.1iscellaneous: Later, 1926 promotes Krishnamurtias New Messiah. Married to clergyman .

• 1.1 143

Name of prophet Madame Helena Petrovna Blavatsky "H.P.B." Date of birth-death 1831-1891 Birthplace Ekaterinoslav, Ukraine, U.S.S.R.

RELIGIOUS CHARACTERISTICS

Religious upbringing and background: Russian Orthodox -+ Buddhist -+ spiritualism and occultism Conversion experience: Date associated with conversion experience------Age of prophet Brief description Vision of Koot Hoomi, man in turban told her she was agent t.o act as intermediary of Mahatmas. Told to form Theosophy, a society of occultists organized to diffuse secret laws of nature known to Chaldeans, Egyptians, etc., but unknown to modern scientists. Mode of communication with the supernatural: Visions x Dreams x Voices x Writings x Other: Spiritual telepathy, had Astral body to travel. Religious sect: Name sect acquired Theosophy ---~~------Date associated with founding ___l_8_7_5 ______~~------~ Age of Prophet 44 Estimated number of followers at prime 100,000 in 1891 Geographical origin or main organizational location: New York, U.S.A.

PERSONAL CHARACTERISTICS Education: Tutored, governesses; claimed 7 years in Tibet where initiated into mysteries of the occult. Other occupational skills: Piano teacher; seamstress; owner and manager of ink factory & artificial flower shop; writer. Marital status: Single Married 1@3 4 Divorced 1(])3 4 Dependents: @ 1 2 3 4-M Prophet's method of coping with religious career & family: Retained guardianship/postponed career Retained guardianship/proceeded with career Gave up or lost guardianship__ _

' 6 144

Miscellaneous: Numerous psychic powers attributed to her as mystic, e.g., precipitation, psychometry, necromancer levitation abilities, clairvoyant. Scandals calling her fraud split movement into 7 branches; see K. Tingley, A. Besant.

' 0 145

Name of Prophet Chanj iri Chikunda prophetess ------=------~--~---- Date of birth-death______Birthplace Nyasaland, Cen- tral Africa

RELIGIOUS CHARACTERISTICS Religious upbringing and background: African tribal religion Conversion experience: Date associated with conversion experience------1907 Age of prophet Brief description: Foresaw white men would have to leave country and no more taxes would have to be aid. Mode of communication with the supernatural: Visions Dreams Voices Writings __ Other: ------~--- Religious sect: Name sect acquired------Date associated with founding 1907 --~------Age of prophet----- Estimated number of followers at prime------Geographical origin or main organizational location: Central Africa

PERSONAL CHARACTERISTICS Education: ------~------Other occupations: ------~------:Harital status:G)Single__ Married 1 2 3 4 Divorced 1 2 3 4 Dependents: G) 0 1 2 3 4-M Prophet's method of coping with religious career & family: Retained guardianship/postponed career Retained guardianship/proceeded with career Gave up or lost guardianship__ Miscellaneous: Political and tribal millenarian cult. 146

Name of prophet Mozella------Cook Date of birth-death------Birthplace Georgia, U.S .A.

RELIGIOUS CHARACTERISTICS

Religious upbringing and background: __B_a~p_t_i_s~t ______Conversion experience: Date associated with conversion experience ---,------Age of prophet Brief description: Co:rmnuned with God during a "yard service" giveri by her mother. Divinely called to organize the true church. Mode of communication with the supernatural: Visions x Dreams Voices Writings __ Other: ------Religious sect: Name sect acquired Sought Out Church of God in Christ and Spiritual House of Prayer, Incorporated Date associated with founding 1947 -~~------Age of prophet----- Estimated number of followers at prime 60 -~~------Geographical origin or main organizational location: Brunswick, Georgia

PERSONAL CHARACTERISTICS Education: ------Other occupations: ------Marital status :<1) Single__ Married 1 2 3 4 Divorced 1 2 3 4 Dependents: G) 0 1 2 3 4-M Prophet's method of coping with religious career & family: Retained guardianship/postponed career Retained guardianship/proceeded with career Gave up or lost guardianship__ _ Miscellaneous: Examined on lunacy charge. 147

Name of prophet Malinda E. Cramer

Date of birth-death Birthplace~_.s__ .A__ ·--~~----

RELIGIOUS CHARACTERISTICS Religious upbringing and background: ------? Conversion experience: Date associated with conversion experience 1885 Age of prophet Brief description Vision brought realization of God's presence, causing notable healing from a serious illness. Hode of communication with the supernatural: Visions __x , Dreams Voices Writings __ Other: ------~------Religious sect: Name sect acquired Divine Science ------~ Date associated with founding ------1885 Age of prophet______Estimated number of followers at prime 4,000 at 2 dozen churches. Geographical origin or main organizational location: Denver, Colorado; San Francisco.

PERSONAL CHARACTERISTICS Education: ------Other occupations: ------Marital status: Single__ Married G)2 3 4 Divorced 1 2 3 4 Dependents: G)o 1 2 3 4-M Prophet's method of coping with religious career & family: Retained guardianship/postponed career Retained guardianship/proceeded with career Gave up or lost guardianship__ _ Miscellaneous: Knovm for her faith healing. Three other sisters also strong leaders in organization: Althea Brooks Small, Fannie Brook James, and Nona Levell Brooks. 148

Name of prophet Maria Dahonon or Prophetess Lalu Date of birth-death Birthplace Deima, Ivory Coast Africa

RELIGIOUS CHARACTERISTICS Religious upbringing and background: African tribal religion Conversion experience: Date associated with conversion experience------Age of prophet Brief description: Vision of Ghobe Mele, a huge reptile who gave information about a potion which would give her magical powers. Mode of communication with the supernatural: Visions x Dreams Voices Writings __ Other: ------Religious sect: Name sect acquired Ghobe Mele Cult ------~- Date associated with founding __l'--"9~4'-2 ______Age of prophet----- Estimated number of followers at prime ------Geographical origin or main organizational location: Deima, Ivory Coast

PERSONAL CHARACTERISTICS Education: ------~------~---- Other occupations: ------~------Marital status: Single__ Harried 1 2 3 4 Divorced l 2 3 4 Dependents: @ 1 2 3 4 -M Prophet's method of coping with religious career & family: Retained guardianship/postponed career Retained guardianship/proceeded with career Gave up or lost guardianship__ f'.Hscellaneous: ------149

Name of prophet------Ann Davies Date of birth-death 1900's Birthplace~u~·~s~.A~·------

RELIGIOUS CHARACTERISTICS Religious upbringing and background: Unknown -+ atheism -+

agnostism -+ Buddhist ~ysticism Conversion experien6e: Date associated with conversion experience ------'-- Age of prophet Brief description: ______

Mode of communication with the supernatural: Visions Dreams Voices Writings ___ Other: ------~------~------Religious sect: Name sect acquired Builders of Adytum (B.O.T.A.) Age of prophet ______Estimated number of followers at prime______Geographical origin or main organizational location:

PERSONAL CHARACTERISTICS Education: ------'------Other occupations: ------Marital status: (f)single__ Married 1 2 3 4 Divorced 1 2 3 4 Dependents: ® 0 1 2 3 4-M Prophet's method of coping with religious career & family: Retained guardianship/postponed career Retained guardianship/proceeded with career Gave up or lost guardianship__ _ Miscellaneous: Attributed with faith-healing powers, e.g., much publicity was given to the remarkable healing of a tumor in her dog, Tzaddi!

, r) 150

Name of prophet ~M~a~r~Y~=B~a~k~e~r~E~d~d~Y~------ Date of birth-death 1821-1910 Birthplace New Hampshire, U.S.A.

RELIGIOUS CHARACTERISTICS Religious upbringing and background: Congregationalist Conversion experience: Date associated with conversion experience 1865 __;:;;.~;:,_---- Age of prophet 44 Brief description: Incapacitated by nervous disorders and paralyzed after a bad fall, Eddy read . I Matthew 9:1-8, saw vision revealing principles of Christian Science, and was miraculously recovered. Mode of communication with the supernatural: Visions Dreams Voices x Writings __ Other: Insi ht Religious sect: Name sect acquired Christian Science; Church of Christ, Scientist Date associated with founding 1875 ---~~------Age of prophet 54 Estimated number of followers at prime 268,915 in 1936 Geographical origin or main organizational location: Boston

PERSONAL CHARACTERISTICS Education: Public schools, private tutors, Holmes Academy and Sanbornton Academy in 1842. Other occupations: Writer, teacher, Kindergarten Principal Marital status: Single__ Married 1 2@4 Divorced Q)2 3 4 Dependents: 0 2 3 4-M (Widowed ( 2) ) Prophet's method of coping with religious career & family: Retained guardianship/postponed career Retained guardianship/proceeded with career Gave up or lost guardianship to relatives x Miscellaneous: Largest of all groups believing in faith healing. Existence of sin and sickness is denied. They are believed to be errors of the mind.

' <) 151

Name of prophet Mary Anne Girling Date of birth-death -1886 Birthplace U.S.A. --~~~------

RELIGIOUS CHARACTERISTICS Religious upbringing and background: ------? Conversion experience: Date associated with conversion experience------Age of prophet Brief description: .Announced herself as final revelation of God.

Mode of communication with the supernatural: Visions Dreams Voices Writings __ Other: ------~------Religious sect: Name sect acquired Children of God ----~------Date associated with founding ------·-----~------Age of prophet----- Estimated number of followers at prime------Geographical origin or main organizational location:

PERSONAL CHARACTERISTICS Education: ------Other occupations: ------~ Marital status:G)single__ Married 1 2 3 4 Divorced 1 2 3 4 Dependents:(DO 1 2 3 4-M Prophet's method of coping with religious career & family: Retained guardianship/postponed career Retained guardianship/proceeded with career Gave up or lost guardianship ___ Niscellaneous: Professed irrunortali ty. Her death ended her sect.

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Name of prophet Minnie Hanson Date of birth-death------'--- Birthplace------U.S.A.

RELIGIOUS CHARACTERISTICS Religious upbringing and background: Lutheran -+ Methodist Conversion experience: Date associated with conversion experience 1906 ----'------Age of prophet Brief description: Vision occurs following deep depression. She is then "calmly sanctified" by God at alter and given "the power." Mode of communication with the supernatural: Visions x Dreams Voices Writings __ Other: Glossalia Religious sect: Name sect acquired The Apostolic Faith Mission Date associated with founding 1907------Age of prophet------Estimated number of followers at prime 2,300 ---~------Geographical origin or main organizational location: Topeka, Kansas

PERSONAL CHARACTERISTICS Education: ------Other occupations: ------Marital status: Single~ Married 1 2 3 4 Divorced 1 2 3 4 Dependents: @ 1 2 3 4-M Prophet's method of coping with religious career & family: Retained guardianship/postponed career Retained guardianship/proceeded with career Gave up or lost guardianship__ rHscellaneous: Practiced divine healing, foot washing, exorcism, and puritan morality. Treated sick persons by sending blessed hand kerchiefs through the mail. 153

Name of prophet Anne Hutchinson

Date of birth-death__ 1591-1643..;;_:. __-=~- Birthplace Lincolnshire, En land

RELIGIOUS CHARACTERISTICS Religious upbringing and background: ------Puritan Conversion experience: Date associated with conversion experience------Age of prophet Brief description: Inunediate voice and revelation occurred to her which gave her full sanction to operate outside of the law .. Mode of communication with the supernatural: Visions x Dreams Voices x Writings Other: ------~------Religious sect: Name sect acquired------Antinomians Date associated with founding 1630's ----~~------Age of prophet 40's Estimated number of followers at prime 80 ~~------Geographical origin or main organizational locatiori: Boston; Portsmouth, Rhode Island, U.S.A.

PERSONAL CHARACTERISTICS Education: No formal schooling, yet said to be Biblical scholar and to have rare knowledge of healing herbs, and medicine. Other occupations: :Midwife, herbalist ------~------Marital status: Single__ Married Q)2 3 4 Divorced 1 2 3 4 Dependents: Yes 0 1 2 3 4 - ® Prophet's method of coping with religious career & family: Retained guardianship/postponed career Retained guardianship/proceeded with career x Gave up or lost guardianship__ _ Miscellaneous: Excommunicated and banished from Massachusetts Bay Colony with John Winthrop, her famous foe. Killed by Indians in massacre. 154

Name of prophet "Marian Keech" Date of birth-death Birthplace U.S.A. ------~------

RELIGIOUS CHARACTERISTICS Religious upbringing and background: Christianity-+ Theosophy -+ Buddhism Conversion experience: Date associated with conversion experience------Age of prophet Brief description: Sananda, on the planet Clarion (an unreported P.lanet past Pluto) communicates with Keech, warns of great flood ending world. Keech must gain con verts who will be rescued by flying saucer. Mode of communication with the supernatural: Visions x Dreams Voices x Writings x Other: Messages Religious sect: Name sect acquired Sananda Cult -~~~~------Date associated with founding 1950's ~~~------~------Age of prophet------Estimated number of followers at prime------Geographical origin or main organizational location~ "Lake City"

PERSONAL CHARACTERISTICS Education: ------Other occupations: ------Hari tal status: Single Married Q)2 3 4 Divorced 1 2 3 4 Dependents: @ 1 2 3 4-M Prophet's method of coping with religious career & family: Retained guardianship/postponed career Retained guardianship/proceeded with career Gave up or lost guardianship t·iiscellaneous: Converts quit their jobs, fasted in readi_ness for rescue. Grave------~------~--~------~~~------disconfirmation. "Marian Keech" is a pseudo-name 155

See When Prophecy Fails {1940) by Leon Festinger, Henry Riecken and Stanley Schachter.

: I

• d 156

Name of prophet------Jane Leade Date of birth-death 1623-1704 Birthplace Norfolk, England

RELIGIOUS CHARACTERISTICS Religious upbringing and background: ------? Conversion experience: Date associated with conversion experience------Age of prophet as child Brief description: Miraculous voices Mode of communication with the supernatural: Visions x Dreams Voices x Writings __ Other: ------Religious sect: Name sect acquired Philadelphia Constitutions; English Philadelphists; Philadelphia Society. Date associated with founding 1694 --~~~------Age of prophet 71 Estimated number of followers at prime------Geographical origin or main organizational location: England

PERSONAL CHARACTERISTICS Education: ------Other occupations: ------~------Marital status: Single__ Married

• 0 157

Name of prophet Ann Lee "Mother Ann" ------~------Date of birth-death 1736-1784 Birthplace Manchester, En land

RELIGIOUS CHARACTERISTI~S Religious upbringing and background: Shaking Quaker Conversion experience: Date associated with conversion experience 1770 Age of prophet 34 Brief description: While in prison, vision appeared to her, commissioned her to preach gospel of stainless life (celibacy), and go to new world to set up colony. Mode of communication with the supernatural: Visions x Dreams Voices Writings Other: Glossalia Religious sect: Name sect acquired Shakers; United Society of Believers in Christ's Second Coming. Date associated with founding 1776 ----~------Age of prophet 40 Estimated number of followers at prime 6,000 in 1840 Geographical origin or main organizational location: Watervliet, New York

PERSONAL CHARACTERISTICS Education: No formal education, did not read or write. Other occupations: Cotton factory worker; ironing and washer woman. Marital Status: Single Married G) 2 3 4 Divorced (!)2 3 4 Dependents: 0 1 2 3 @)-M Prophet's method of coping with religious career & family: Retained guardianship/postponed career Retained guardianship/proceeded with career Gave up or lost guardiqnship____£ (all died in infancy) Miscellaneous: Small daring step: retained maiden name after divorce and in religious sect. Frequently jailed and met mob hostility to the point of physical abuse.

Name of prophet Alice Lenshina of the Mulenga Date of birth-death -1953 Birthplace_ Northern Rhodesia, Africa

RELIGIOUS CHARACTERISTICS Religious upbringing and background: African tribal religion with Christian elements. Conversion experience: Date associated with conversion experience------Age of prophet Brief description: Realization that whites in past had withheld true word from blacks to beguile them into a false partnership. There was in fact two ways of God: one for blacks, one for whites, the enemy. God was Black. Mode of communication with the supernatural: Visions x Dreams Voices Writings Other: Religious sect: Name sect acquired------Alice Movement Date associated with founding ------~----- Age of Prophet----- Estimated number of followers at prime 3, 000, described as "phenomenally successful." Geographical origin or main organizational lo6ation: Central Africa

PERSONAL CHARACTERISTICS Education: Only reference found was "an air of intelligence." Other occupations: ------Marital status: Single -®xr_ie_d) 1 2 3 4 Divorced 1 2 3 4 Dependents: 0 Q) 2 3 4-M Prophet's method of coping with religious career & family: Retained guardianship/postponed career Retained guardianship/proceeded with career x Gave up or lost guardianship__ _ Miscellaneous: Encouraged followers to throw away witchcraft charms in fantastic heaps, in a sense anti-nativistic cult. 159

Name of prophet------Martha MacWhirter Date of birth-death------Birthplace------U.S.A.

RELIGIOUS CHARACTERISTICS Religious upbringing and background: __?______Conversion experience: Date associated with conversion experience------Age of prophet Brief description------

Mode of communication with the supernatural: Visions Dreams Voices Writings Other: ------~------Religious sect: Name sect acquired Women's Commonwealth of Belton, Texas Date associated with founding 1906 ----~------Age of prophet ______Estimated number of followers at prime 18 in 1906 Geographical origin or main organizational location: Belton, Texas

PERSONAL CHARACTERISTICS Education: ------Other occupations: ------Marital status: Single__ Married Q)2 3 4 Divorced 1 2 3 4 Dependents: (J) 0 1 2 3 4-t1 Prophet's method of coping with religious career & family: Retained guardianship/postponed career Retained guardianship/proceeded with career Gave up or lost guardianship __ Miscellaneous: Moved to Washington, D. C. to avoid persecution in Belton. Now, extinct. Men not excluded, but the one who joined withdrew after a couple of years. 160

Name of prophet Aimee Semple McPherson Date of birth-death 1890-1944 Birthplace Ontario, Canada

RELIGIOUS CHARACTERISTICS Religious upbringing and background: Salvation .Army + Holy

Ghosts + Baptist Conversion experience: Date associated with conversion experience------1907 Age of prophet 17 Brief description: At Holy Ghost Revival led by man later to be her first husband, .Aimee McPherson received a divine revelation that she was under direct guidance of God. Hode of communication with the supernatural: Visions Dreams Voices Writings __ Other: Glossalia, verbal inspiration Religious sect: Name sect acquired International Church of Four Square Gospel Date associated with founding------1921 Age of prophet 31 Estimated number of followers at prime 21,000 in 1936; 122,907 in 1961. Geographical origin or main organizational location: .Angelus Temple, Los Angeles, California

PERSONAL CHARACTERISTICS Education: Through secondary education Other occupations: Missionary in China, Baptist minister. Marital status: Single__ Married 1(1}3 4 Divorced Q)2 3 4 Dependents: 0 1 @ 3 4-M Prophet's method of coping with religious career & family: Retained guardianship/postponed career Retained guardianship/proceeded with career x Gave up or lost guardianship__ Miscellaneous: Sensationalist, use of modern inventions of 161

_R~bli~ity lighting effects, costumes. Her mother was prime sup _Eorter and administrator in sect. 162

Name of prophet Raj Mohini ------~------Date of birth-death 1916- Birthplace Govindpur, India

RELIGIOUS CHARACTERISTICS Religious upbringing and background: ------Hindu Conversion experience: Date associated with conversion experience 1951 Age of prophet 35 Brief description: During a ter- rible famine causing many deaths, Raj Mohini saw a vision of a Saint who, consoled her and promised to vanish all troubles if she lead a pious life.------Mode of communication with the supernatural: Visions x Dreams Voices Writings __ Other: ------Religious sect: Name sect acquired Bhagats ----~~------Date associated with founding 1951 ----~------Age of prophet 35 Estimated number of followers at prime 80,000 ----~~------Geographical origin or main organizational location: Surgaya district------of India PERSONAL CHARACTERISTICS Education: No schooling, yet as religious leader, learned to read and write. Other occupations: ------Marital status: Single__ Married CD 2 3 4 Divorced

true. Said to have miraculous abilities, e.g., legend if people mixed grain she distributed into grains in their bins, the granary would always be full.

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Name of prophet Miki Nakayama Date of birth-death 1798-1887 Birthplace Shoyashiki, Japan

RELIGIOUS CHARACTERISTICS Religious upbringins and background: Shinto-Buddhist Conversion experience:

Date associated with conversion experience__ 1839.....::;______Age of prophet 41 Brief description: An exocist uses lMki as the medium when her children become very sick. While in trance, nThe mind of God, the Parent entered the body of the foundress, and the foundress came to establish the ultimate teaching of saving the people of the world" (Nakayama, 1956:72). t1ode of communication with the supernatural: Visions Dreams Voices Writings __ Other: Trance. God enters into the body of Jvliki Nakayama and makes her his "living temple.tt Religious sect: Name sect acquired------·Tenriko Date associated with .founding Age of prophet______Estimated number of followers at· prime 100,000 ------~------Geographical origin or main organizational location: Yamato Province, Japan

PERSONAL CHARACTERISTICS Education: Attended nearby temple-school for 3 years from age 9 to 11, and received education on reading, writing, and arithmetic. Other occupations: ------Dressmaker Hari tal status: Single__ Married Q) 2 3 4 Divorced l 2 3 4 Dependents: 0 l 2 3 4~ Prophet's method of coping with religious career & family: Retained guardianship/postponed career Retained guardianship/proceeded with career x (3 died soon after Gave up or lost guardianship___ childbirth) Miscellaneous: Only prophet who asked for and received husband's approval.

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Name of prophet Joanna Southcott Date of birth-death 1750-11314 Birthplace Devonshire, England

RELIGIOUS CHARACTERISTICS Religious upbringing and background: ------Methodist Conversion experience: Date associated with conversion experience------1792 Age of prophet 42 Brief description: At a time when England was disturbed by controversies, social ills and riots due to growth of industry and population, Southcott heard voice. She was told of Christ's second coming. Her mission was to warn Man to turn to God in time. Mode of communication with the supernatural: Visions x Dreams Voices x Writings_2__ Other: Religious sect: Name sect acquired------Southcottians Date associated with founding 1792 ----~~~------~------Age of prophet 42 Estimated number of followers at prime 100,000 in 11314 Geographical origin or main organizational location: England

PERSONAL CHARACTERISTICS Education: No formal schooling, yet taught to read and write. Known to have detailed lmowledge of Bible, more of the obscure theological work. Other occupations: ------Marital status: Single__!__ Married l 2 3 4 Divorced l 2 3 4 Dependents: @ l 2 3 4-M Prophet's method of coping with religious career & family: Retained guardianship/postponed career Retained guardianship/proceeded with career Gave up or lost guardianship__ __ 166

Miscellaneous: At age 64, said she was pregnant by immaculate conception. The child, Shiloh, was said to be the coming Messiah. Seventeen out of 21 respected physicians examined her and agreed. Disconfirmation followed. Died soon after. 167

Name of prophet Katherine Tingley Date of birth-death 1847-1929 Birthplace Newbury, Massa- chusetts U.S.A.

RELIGIOUS CHARACTERISTICS Religious upbringing and background: ? ------~ Conversion experience: Date ~ssociated with conversion experience------Age of prophet Brief description: ------

Mode of communication with the supernatural: Visions Dreams Voices Writings __ Other: ------Religious sect: Name sect acquired Universal Brotherhood Date associated with founding 1896 -~~~------Age of prophet 49 Estimated number of followers at prime Geographical origin or main organizational location: Point Lorna, San Diego, California

PERSONAL CHARACTERISTICS Education: ------Other occupational skills: ------Marital status: Single Married 1 2@4 Divorced 1 2 3 4 Dependents: CD 0 1 2 3 4-H Prophet's method of coping with religious career & family: Retained guardianship/postponed career Retained guardianship/proceeded with career Gave up or lost guardianship__ Hiscellaneous: Spiritualist, medium. Sect broke from Theosophy. 168

Name of prophet Al_,m~a~~W_h~i~t_e______Date of birth-death 1862-1946 Birthplace Kentucky, U.S .A.

RELIGIOUS CHARACTERISTICS Religious upbringing and background: ------Methodist Conversion experience: Date associated with conversion experience------Age of Prophet Brief description: ------

Mode of communication with the supernatural:

Visions Dreams Voices ~~7ritings Other: Plenary inspiration and literal interpretation of scrip tures. Religious sect: Name sect acquired Pentecostal Union; Pillar of Fire Church. Date associated with founding 1901------Age of Prophet 37 Estimated number of followers at prime 5,000 in 1948 Geographical origin or main organizational location:

Denver, Colorad~o______

PERSONAL CHARACTERISTICS Education: ------Other occupations: Marital Status: Single__ _ Married Q) 2 3 4 Divorced 1 2 3 4 Dependents: 0 1 @ 3 4-M Prophet's method of coping with religious career & family: Retained guardianship/postponed career Retained guardianship/proceeded with career x Gave up or lost guardianship__ _ Miscellaneous: Warmly supported by KKK, wrote 3 books defending KKK as "agency of God raised up in fulfillment of prophecies." Mar ried clergyman. 169

Name of prophet Ellen White ------~------Date of birth-death 1827-1915 Birthplace Gorham, Maine U.S.A.

RELIGIOUS CHARACTERISTICS

Religious upbringing and background: Methodist -+ Adventist

-+ Evangelist. Conversion experience: Date associated with conversion experience 1844 ------'---'------Age of prophet----- 17 Brief description: Childhood experience caused permanent damage to nose. Unhappy and in pain White has nervous breakdown. Vision appears, White realizes she is messenger of God and must bear testimony of the miracles of her life. Mode of communication with the supernatural: Visions x Dreams x Voices Writings Other: ------Religious sect: Name sect acquired Seventh Day Adventists Date associated with founding______

Age of prophet------Estimated number of followers at prime 140,000 in 1915 Geographical origin or main organizational location:

PERSONAL CHARACTERISTICS Education: ------Other occupations: Missionary ------~~------Marital status: Single MarriedQJ234 Divorced 1234 Dependents: 0 l 2 3 @-M Prophet's method of coping with religious career & family: Retained guardianship/postponed career Retained guardianship/proceeded with career x Gave up or lost guardianship__ _ Miscellaneous: Other leaders (controversy of who is central): James White, James Bater. 170

escape persecut~on, in 1790 the Colony of Jerusalem was founded. After her death, the Colony dissolved because of internal dissen tion, and a gradual withering away of the sect occurred. 171

Name of prophet Jemina Wilkinson "Public Universal Friend" Date of birth-death 1752-1819 Birthplace Cumberland, Rhode Island U.S.A.

RELIGIOUS CHARACTERISTICS Religious upbringing and· background: Quakers + New Light Conversion experience: Date associated with conversion experience------1776 Age of prophet 24 Brief description: On reviving from a coma brought on by severe sickness, Jemina Wilkinson said she had died and her original soul was in heaven. Her body was now occupied by the spirit of life sent by God to warn world of his impending doom. Mode of communication with the supernatural: Visions x Dreams x Voices Writings __ Other: ---- Religious sect: Name sect acquired Society of the Universal Friend

Date associated with founding __~l~7_7~9 ______Age of prophet 27 Estimated number of followers at prime 200 in 1787 Geographical origin or main organizational location: New England

PERSONAL CHARACTERISTICS Education: Little formal education, but well versed in theology, medical lore, folk cures. Extraordinary memory of Scriptures. Other occupations: ------Herbalist Marital status: Single_x_ Married l 2 3 4 Divorced l 2 3 4 Dependents: @ l 2 3 4 -.r-1 Prophet's method of coping with religious career & family: Retained guardianship/postponed career Retained guardianship/proceeded with career Gave up or lost guardianship Miscellaneous: Aroused much hostility by advocating celibacy. To 172

Name of prophet------Xosa Date of birth-death_ _..;:::~~..;::__ 1900's __ _ Birthplace South Africa

RELIGIOUS CHARACTERISTICS Religious upbringing and background: African tribal religion Conversion experience: Date associated with conversion experience 1907 ---'----'----- Age of prophet "young girl" Brief description: ----- Announced after a vision that spirits of ancestors would join them to drive out English. But first, they must destroy every animal in herds and every grain in storehouses before the earthly paradise could emerge . . Mode of communication with the supernatural: Visions x Dreams Voices Writings Other: ------Religious sect: Name sect acquired------Date associated with founding ------1907 Age of prophet______Estimated number of followers at prime------Tribe Geographical origin or main organizational location: Africa

PERSONAL CHARACTERISTICS Education: ------? Other occupations: ------? Marital status :G) Single__ Married 1 2 3 4 Divorced 1 2 3 4 Dependents: G) 0 l 2 3 4-M Prophet's method of coping with religious career & family: Retained guardianship/postponed career Retained guardianship/proceeded with career Gave up or lost guardianship__ _ Miscellaneous: In the subsequent famine, the tribe for a time almost ceased to exist. Anti-white elements.