nnn
n
n The eminent Victorian surgeon and physiologist SirnBenjamin C Brodie, Bart., in his Psychological Inquiries (1854), wrote,
n
n
n
n“It is not long since no small number of persons, and not merely thosenbelonging to the uneducated classes, were led to believe that a dropsical oldnwoman was about to be the mother of the real Shiloh,” adding later in thensame work, she was “… not altogether [an] impostor, but in part thenvictim of [her] own imagination.”n
n
n
 |
| Sir B C Brodie – Psychological Inquiries – 2nd Ed 1855 |
n
n
n
nHe is alluding to JoannanSouthcott, that self-proclaimed prophetess to whom I introduced you yesterday.nNot all of the commentators on Southcott were quite so benign: –
n
n
n
n“That shenmust be either an unfortunate lunatic, or a deliberate money-getting impostor,nis evident; and in either case it is evident that some stop should be put tonthat torrent of fanaticism and blasphemy, which flows from her preaching andnpublications. If she be insane, why has she not the benefit of proper medicalnadvice? But if this apology cannot be offered for her ravings, it is right shenshould be told, that though the laws of her country are wisely tolerant in allnmatters of religious opinion, they have provided that the sacred name of thenDeity shall not be profaned with impunity.”n
n
n
n (Bell’s Monthly Messenger)
n
n
n
 |
| Bell’s Monthly Messenger |
n
n
n
nThere is a very thin line between respecting the religious beliefs of others,nregardless of how deluded, ridiculous or obnoxious they may seem to us, andncondemning those that are unequivocally dangerous, disgusting or down rightnwicked. That line is blurred further when cultural practices hide behind thenname of Religion. A case in point are so-called ‘honour killings’; there arenpeople in this world to whom such things are entirely permissible and anfaultless, logical solution to certain of life’s problems, and there are othersnwho see such things as perverted, obscene crimes that should have been leftnbehind in the Stone Age. There are mothers and fathers, grandmothers andngrandfathers, who consider it entirely normal to mutilate the bodies and mindsnof their sons and daughters, grandsons and granddaughters, and hide behind thenmask of Religion to justify their perversions. Personally, I may find thatncriminally indefensible, but there are ‘lesser’ crimes in which we arencomplicit on a daily basis, simply because we simply don’t want to cause a fussnor cause offence to those who are not like us. We accommodate crime when itncalls itself culture. But that, (and the categorical and hypothetical imperatives), are something for another day and another place.
n
n
n
 |
| Joanna Southcott |
n
n
n
nWhen Joanna Southcott died, in 1814, she had innexcess of 100,000 followers. Now its one of those defining traits of humankindnthat when we have made a decision, we like to stick with it. We prefer thenfamiliar. We like what we know and we know what we like. So when Joannandeparted this world, her followers looked for a replacement and some of themnfound their substitute in the person of John Ward aka Zion Ward aka Shiloh.
n
n
n
 |
| John Ward – Zion’s Work |
n
n
n
nWard had been born at Cobh, Ireland on Christmas Day, 1781, and had beennvariously a shipwright, sailor and a cobbler. After his travels (he served atnthe Battle of Copenhagen), he married and followed various religious paths,nfrom Calvinism, through Methodism, to the Baptists and other independents. Inn1814, he read Southcott’s Fifth Book of Wonders, was captivated by itnand began to preach a version of its universalism.
n
n
n
 |
| Joanna Southcott – Fifth Book of Wonders – 1814 |
n
n
n
nHe fell in with Mary Boon, anfanatical Sabbatarian who claimed to be Southcott revived, and became then‘reader’ of her dictated letters (she was illiterate) before assuming the rolenof prophet himself. From 1825, he began to experience visions of Southcott whongave him instructions, his followers dated 1826 as their ‘First Year, newndate’, and in 1827, he gave up his shoemaking and became a full time preacher.
n
n
n
 |
| Hogarth – Enthusiasm Delineated – 1761 |
n
n
n
nHe was committed to the Newington workhouse for six months, on grounds ofninsanity, and upon his release he began to name himself Zion and Shiloh. Innconcert with Charles William Twort, he began publishing religious tracts andnthe pair toured England preaching. In 1832, at Derby, they erected placardsnannouncing a meeting that was to take place on July 15th, a feastnday; the local minister, James Dean, tore the placards down, so Ward and Twortnreplaced them, only for Dean to tear them down again. Ward and Twort raisednthem yet again, so Dean tore them down for a third time, whereupon Twortnattacked him. On August 4th, Twort was brought before the bench onnassault charges, found guilty, and he and Ward were also found guilty ofnblasphemy and sentenced to eighteen months in Derby gaol.
n
n
n
 |
| Hogarth – Enthusiasm Delineated (Detail) – 1761 |
n
n
n
nThe case was raisednin Parliament, with the radical Henry Hunt presenting a petition of 200nsignatures calling for their release and violently attacking the government fornprosecuting opinions (the case has curious parallels to similar argumentsntoday), but the motion failed and the sentence stood. They were released inn1834, and continued their mission, but ill health struck Ward. He had anparalytic stroke in 1835, and died at Leeds in March 1837. Ward taught ancurious mixture of theo-babble, some taken from Southcott, although he wasnaware of the teachings of other contemporary prophets, but the majority was anmish-mash of his own interpretation of the Bible, particularly the Septuagint,nand he devised a curious cabbala to extract hidden meanings, even from thenprinted English version.
n
n
n
 |
| A Meeting in a Woodland Grove |
n
n
n
nOne of his barmiest actions was reported by ThenPhilanthropic Gazette and the story was taken up by other newspapers, thatnon October 14th 1817, over one hundred Southcottians, led by Ward,nmet in woodland at Forest Hill, Sydenham. They formed a circle and begannpraying and chanting, then a small black pig was introduced. The men presentnbegan beating it with sticks and cudgels, whilst each of the women took ancleaver and delivered nine ritual blows to the poor creature’s head. When itnwas obviously dead, it was wrapped in iron chains and suspended over a firenuntil it was reduced to ashes, which the congregation scattered over theirnheads and trampled underfoot, whereafter they recommenced singing and praying.
n
n
n
 |
| Hog Roast or Exorcism? – You Decide. |
n
n
n
nA spectator later asked one of the participants just exactly was it was theynhad been up to, and was told that the rite had Mosaic dispensation, conformednto the words of Shiloh and had precedent in Luke 8 26-39 – the story ofnthe man possessed by demons which Jesus exorcised by forcing them out and intonthe Gadarene swine, which were destroyed by being driven over a cliff.
n
n
n
 |
| Briton Rivière – The miracle of the Gadarene Swine – 1883 |
n
n
n
nThenSouthcottians had cast out their own demons (or sins) into the black pig, whichnhad been bound in chains (like the demoniac in Luke) thereby binding andnburning Satan himself. When this spectator questioned the judgment of thesenbelievers, they laughed, waved their branches and, with ribands on theirnbreasts, returned singing to London, proclaiming their triumph.
n
n
n
nThe incident,napparently, was inspired by one of Southcott’s dreams which she recorded in hernSound an Alarm in My Holy Mountain (1804),
n
n
n
n“In 1794, thou askedstnSatan’s destruction in prayer, when I promised to give thee thy petition, whichnwas Satan’s destruction. Soon after I shewed thee in a dream of a pig beingndipt in the boiling furnace, tied up in the middle, and brought in upon a polenby two men, which I then told thee was a type of the devil; for, by the pole ofnthe Gospel he must come down. Another dream, that thou thoughtest thou wastnfighting with him, till thou pulledst the skin from off his face. Another dreamnthou hadst of fighting with him, and of putting his fingers in thy mouth, andnthou didst bite them off, and saidst the blood was sweet, as it was thy revengenover him.”n
n
n
 |
| Joanna Southcott – Sound an Alarm in My Holy Mountain – 1804 |
n
n
n
nYou’ve got to think that Joanna’s spirit is alivenand well and living on t’internet, where it manifests itself in multitudinous,nmulti-coloured, comic sans screeds issuing mainly from mid-Western America.
n
n
n
n
n
