Shaker ‘gift drawings’ created by Shaker women in the mid-1800’s, a period known as the Era of Manifestations.
The Shaker faith, properly named The United Society of Believers in Christ’s Second Appearing, are a Christian sect that was founded around 1747 in the North-West of England by James and Jane Wardley. They were initially known as the ‘Shaking Quakers’ because of their ecstatic behaviour during worship services. In 1758, Ann Lee (1736-1784) or ‘Mother Ann’ as her followers later called her, joined the Shakers and became leader of the small community. On May 19th, 1774, having supposedly received a revelation, Ann Lee along with eight of her followers, sailed to America to establish the Shaker faith there. She was considered to be the second coming of Christ, giving form to the Shaker belief that Christ lives in every person and that every person, no matter their gender, colour or nationality- has the potential for a connection with God. This was their basis for racial and gender equality, among other progressive ideals before the American Revolution.
By the 1830’s, memories of Mother Ann were fading and new converts needed a way to connect with the late leader. The Era of Manifestations (1837-1860), when these drawings were produced, was a time of spiritual revival in Shaker communities across America. Certain Shaker women, started receiving messages, which they translated into songs, poems and drawings, believed to be coming from Mother Ann and other leaders, including non-Shakers. These drawings were not shared outside of shaker communities for fear that the spiritual messages they conveyed would scare off potential converts. They were never meant to be displayed, the spiritual messages in the drawings were directed toward a single believer who would interpret them. Once that believer died, no one else could translate the message. Most of these drawings ended up being disposed off, often used as kindling for fires.
1. A Type of Mother Hanna’s Pocket Handkerchief, 1851, Polly Jane Reed.
2. From Holy Mother Wisdom to Hannah Ann Treadway, 1845, Sarah Bates.
3. Untitled, c.1840-1860, Sarah Bates.
4. The Tree of Life, 1854, Hannah Cohoon.
5. A Present from Mother Lucy to Eliza Ann Taylor, 1849, Polly Jane Reed.
My brother cracked my rib one morning and gave me half of his orange in the evening.
I remember being younger and sometimes wishing to be a single child, to have all the attention and gifts and time but when he was away from home for the first time, I remember crying and stroking his side of the sofa as if blurting out my first wish- for him to be home, without thinking twice, without a shadow of doubt. Even the genie cried. Growing up with a sibling is like being the only people on a stranded boat, constantly figuring out how you can live with them and questioning how you could ever live without them.
One evening, in a fit of anger, I told him how I never wanted him to be my brother and he yelled that he didn’t ask for it either. The air smelled like kerosene and my chest was filled with arsenic. I was raging and threw his favorite toy aeroplane down the window, 7 stories of guilt and shame. He cried all night and I wanted to cut off my right hand, the hand that hurt my baby brother. I didn’t know if he was ever going to forgive me or even talk to me. The next morning at breakfast, he didn’t look at me or say a word, I felt like my chest was about to explode and guilt clouded my vision. But then, I felt a hand quietly holding half of an orange my way.
The only people on a stranded boat. How do you live with them? How could you ever live without them?
-Ritika Jyala, excerpt from The world is a sphere of ice and our hands are made of fire
