She Was Shakin

Dear Friend

I wrote a letter to the last active Shaker community, a population of three, at Sabbathday Lake, Maine, in February, 2012. I wanted to live and work with them, with the goal of writing about this group that started in Manchester, England under Mother Ann Lee, who lead them to the colonies in 1774, landing in New York. I wanted to work and cook with them. I’ve always been interested in groups that organize their lives outside of mainstream society, wondering why some burn out, others fade away, and a few have endured. The main tenants of Shakerism are gender equality, pacifism, hard work, celibacy, and community.

Letter from the Chosen Land

In response, they sent me a book, Precepts of Mother Ann Lee by The Elders, and a letter outlining what I needed to bring to the table to become a Shaker: a devotion to God and willingness to be celibate, along with no debt and a desire to work hard. My intention then wasn’t to join them. I am a fan of their furniture, spaces, inventions, egalitarianism, and food. I respect the Shakers too much to live with them under a ruse, I didn’t follow up. I’m not a religious person, but the Shakers are definitely a religious group, born from the Quakers in England, called the shaking Quakers for how they danced during prayer. Mother Ann Lee led them, considered to be Christ in female form, they moved to the colonies to fulfill their religious destiny, according to her vision.

Imagine my surprise that there is a film, The Testament of Ann Lee, just released, about the Shaker leader, played by Amanda Seyfried, directed by Mona Fastvold, who co-wrote this musical with creative and personal partner Brady Corbet. A musical! About a religious group! I’ve never been a musical person (except Grease, but I was a child), theatrical and dramatic expressions are not my cup of tea.

What I saw was extraordinary.

Filmed in 70mm, the colors of the movie are a bit dusky, neutral, and rich, like being in the room, on the ship, in the field, nothing is in sharp focus, it’s actually how we see. The story of Ann Lee is narrated by Sister Mary, a very intimate film without the casual bravado that can dictate historical films. We witness Ann Lee’s childhood, her work, her quest for an inspiring faith, her four pregnancies and subsequent deaths of her children, and her imprisonment, during which she has divine revelations, including witnessing Adam and Eve’s ex-communication from the Garden of Eden. She comes to the conclusion that celibacy is essential to the path of salvation.

Usually what everyone touches on with the Shakers is that they were celibate, foolish for a group trying to increase its population. I don’t think we get to choose our paths towards salvation, if salvation is in fact the goal. They did increase their population, through missionary work, adoption, and being open to people willing to participate in their vision of the word.

Watching the worship, the dancing, the rhythmic breathing, singing, movement in the film is watching something sensual and exuberant, there are dizzying heights of collective gestures, inhalations, exhalations, breathing, rapture, elation. Fornication may be off the table, but transcending is not. I know it’s not necessarily historically correct, except for the sense of communion.

Their promise, that hard work and abstaining from sex led to a better life, was something achievable for people, to put your hands to work and your heart to God, they understood their work to be expressive of their devotion, their attention, and beauty a testament to faith.

That’s where this film is astonishing, when Ann Lee says she saw Adam and Eve, I believe her. I think there’s something miraculous about the worshippers and their dance towards the divine, and the attempts to exorcise the unholy, the common and mutual pursuit for a better life. Something about this film makes it all make sense to me. I feel like I was there, it’s not just the retelling of a story, or an aggrandizement of a myth.¹

When I was younger, I subscribed to the freaks and geeks, the miscreants, beer drinkers and hell raisers as architects of beauty in our world. Cookie Mueller, my guiding light. Part of that mentality is romanticism, another necessity. But when I learned more about the Shakers, I was surprised that such pious people made such beautiful things, furniture, rooms, food. I’ve come a long way. I’ve even found a role more suitable for me, Friend of the Shakers, a group that supports them, their land, work, and legacy. They send me a Christmas card every year.

1. I’ve only seen the film Medea, by Pasolini, starring opera singer Maria Callas once. Something about the texture and story of the film, although different, different tales, reminds me of this film.