by Jane Rogers
And indeed, that enlightenment must come: for how far can a mortal woman pursue her difference with God? She must submit to Him, and joy in giving her husband all help and wifely support in the carrying out of his arduous task. It is in part that role, of course, that we seven are to fulfil – by God’s express command – to see to the ordering of the Prophet’s household, which duties many would expect to see performed by a wife. But a wife has other duties to her husband, which are also ordained of God. I pray she may cease her rebellion, and follow God’s desires meekly – for to this she must come in the end, will she or no.
The sad futility of Sarah Wroe’s rebellion puts me in mind of Mother Southcott’s tale concerning the knight and the maiden. Once a knight learned his future from the stars: it would be his fate to marry a low-born peasant girl, daughter of a man who worked his land. Fearing the shame and dishonour such a match must bring upon his house, the knight gave the peasant a fortune, £3,000, in exchange for the baby girl. Then he took her and flung her into the sea. From thence she was rescued by a kindly fisherman, who raised her to become a beautiful young maid. Again, the knight saw her: again he bought her from her keeper, again he attempted to bring about her death. The poor maiden begged him to spare her life – to which at last he agreed, on condition that she never again appear in his sight, unless it be wearing his ring – which he at that word flung far out to sea. Soon after, the wench was working in the kitchens; upon preparing and opening a fish, she found inside its belly the very ring. Wearing it, she appeared before the knight. Then at last did he fall to his knees, crying, ‘Pardon fair creature, I humbly pray, for thou has a million of charms.’ And then he married her, with raptures of joy and love.
It is a sweet tale – an old one I believe, from among the common people, and Mother Southcott interprets it soundly: for it truly shows the impotence of man to fight against the decrees of God, when all is already determined by Him, inside the Womb of Providence. We are His children.
The Prophet has instructed me in the role of the women of Inner Sanctum concerning punishment of sins. This was determined at the council of Elders on Tuesday. We have been provided with a table ranking misdemeanors and sins in order of severity, severally with their punishments. The minor offences (such as late attendance at Sanctuary) are to be punished by dousing the head in cold water (the number of times depending on the severity of the offence) but the more severe offences are to be punished with stripes. Since a very particular method of administering the stripes is specified, I was obliged to explain in detail to the other women. I am puzzled by Sister Leah’s reaction, for she seems to think it in some way wrong. I explained that the men are to be stripped and clad in a white gown. The stripes are to be administered by the women upon the naked buttocks, using the right hand. The male is to be held securely in position for his punishment by the female’s left hand around his privates.
‘I hope you are not serious, Sister Joanna.’
‘I beg your pardon, Sister Leah? These are the duties of the women, as laid down by the last meeting of the Elders of the church. You may read for yourself –’
She took the paper from me and read it. After a moment she looked up at me. ‘Do you not see any – impropriety – in the method of punishment, Sister Joanna?’
‘How can it be improper if it is ordained by the Elders?’
‘Because –’ She sighed and glanced at Rachel and Rebekah, who were both coughing violently. I instructed Rachel to fetch a drink of water.
‘Because if I may speak without offence, sister –’
‘Of course, my child.’
‘Because of the nakedness of the men, and the – unseemliness of the – contact –’ She did not seem able to complete her sentence.
‘But sister, we are talking here of punishment ordained by God, through the Prophet. We are talking of punishment, not of nakedness. To be sure, in this case, the sinners are naked – but this represents their nakedness before God, who sees through all disguises. Nakedness shows humility and repentance, the willingness to put aside the rank and dignity which clothes may confer, and to appear as the lowest of the low. This nakedness is purely symbolic: there can be nothing unclean in it.’
Sister Leah was smiling at me; she has a full mischievous smile, very playful and pleasant to behold. ‘But in the contact, sister, between the woman and the man’s naked flesh – is there not a proximity to sin in that contact, which must give rise to the gravest fears for the innocence of either party?’
‘I am certain there cannot be, Sister Leah. The two do not meet as man and woman, but as sinner and avenger: the man, abasing himself before God, will think of nothing but his penitence: the woman, administering punishment as an aid to repentance, must see herself as an agent of the Lord, a ministering angel, whose touch upon the man will not be as a human woman, but as an ethereal being, abstracted from the merely physical.’
‘You are certain then, that in agreeing to perform these punishments, our action can in no way be deemed improper?’
‘In no way – in no way, Sister Leah. I rejoice that God calls us so clearly to aid in the performance of His works. I rejoice that we are able to be His instruments.’
The system of punishments will come into force from this Sabbath, the punishments to be administered after second meeting, in the side room of the Inner Sanctum. We will perform the punishments in pairs, each pair on alternate Sabbaths, thus sharing the duties between us.
Sister Leah had one final question: ‘What if a man – if the sinner – become inflamed by his punishment?’
‘Inflamed, sister? To be sure it will not come to that. The stripes will be neither so numerous nor so heavy as to cause permanent injury …’
‘You misunderstand me, sister.’ Poor Sister Rebekah at this point suffered a fit of coughing so severe that I sent her out into the fresh air. I hope that she and her sister will not fall ill. Sister Leah continued, ‘I do not mean injury by the stripes, sister, I mean, if the effect – upon the flesh – of the chastening measures, should be opposite to that intended, and should instead produce an – enlargement – of, of appetite for sin.’
‘I cannot think that these problems will materialize, my dear sister. Your anxiety for the efficacy and properness of the punishment is commendable, but I think you may set your mind at ease: I do not forsee any difficulties or dangers inherent in the exercise.’ So I concluded it, for it was by then midday, and the ironing and churning still unperformed: the lamps in need of cleaning and filling, along with numerous other tasks about the house. I am pleased by Sister Leah’s concern in this, however, for it has seemed at times that she may be a trifle careless where matters of the spirit are concerned. Her anxiety both for decorum and for the efficacy of the punishment strike me as most encouraging signs of her increased commitment to God’s work.
And how right she is to be vigilant. Elder Tobias took me aside only this morning to speak of the need for all that passes in our household to be spotless and above reproach. ‘For there are some, as I think you know, Sister Joanna, some within the church – amongst the Elders, no less – who would grasp at the chance to discredit the Prophet. One – I will not name him – but he pretends not to see the mantle of the Lord on John Wroe’s shoulder. He waits for the Prophet to stumble, Sister Joanna; as we love God, we must make it our daily task to ensure His servant’s name and house are pure.’
How curious, that a man who stands so close as an Elder to the Prophet chosen of God, should covet the Prophet’s power – instead of rejoicing and giving thanks for that dear proximity.
*
The religious education of Sisters Hannah and Martha is my task: they stand outside the circle of Mother church, outside the band of Israelites – and I must bring them in. Though their cases be very different – Hannah having perhaps too much education, poor Martha far too little – yet they both lack spiritual nourishment, the milk of our Mother that may sustain us through this world and into the next. Mother Southcot
t is my starting point for their enlightenment: what person can hear her story and lack faith, lack zealous love, both for the Prophetess herself and for the church which she has founded? And so this evening I have them both beside me, close by the fire in the kitchen. We are happier here than in the grandeur of the drawing room. The fire leaps high and casts its warm red light upon our faces and our needlework; the comfortable scents of the afternoon’s baking linger yet in the air, and the only sound from outside is the gentle drumming of the rain upon the wash-house roof. I think with pleasure of the pure water gathering in our newly cleansed butt. Sister Dinah is in bed, Sisters Rachel, Rebekah and Leah choose to read and pray together in their chamber; the Prophet is in late deliberation with the Elders in Sanctuary. All is quiet, all is calm, all is peace. My two companions are earnest at their sewing, Sister Hannah working buttonholes on her white silk, Sister Martha – with slow laborious stabs – attempting a child’s sampler I have pencilled out for her: GOD IS LOVE to be executed in a simple cross stitch, in the hopes that some minimal skill in the art may at length be acquired. Boney lies outstretched at our feet, his silky ears flipped forwards in his sleep, giving him a wide-awake, foxy appearance which he never has in daytime. Brother Benson, who gave him to us, has requested the loan of him tomorrow for rat-catching in his neighbour’s barn. What excitement, my little Boney! You will think your doggy paradise begun! But for now – all is at peace. We sew in silence: the rain falls, the fire crackles, the dog stirs and sighs in his sleep. I may tell the life of Mother Southcott, and pray the hearts of my beloved sisters fall under her holy influence.
Mother Southcott is the founder of our faith, our Prophetess. Her early life was humble; the daughter of a poor farmer, she worked at home and then in the houses of others, as a mere domestic servant. Praise God, for He loves the meek, and these shall He raise up. His ways are not our ways, His times are not our times. Not until she was past her youthful prime, did He speak to her. In her forty-second year, on a sudden, came the glorious word of God, calling her to do His work. I try to imagine that moment, the terror, the joy: how it fills me with longing. I have her words by heart, for the mental possession of them brings me closer to her union with God, the beauty and the sacred pain of that event –
I was visited by day and by night. The whole Bible broke in upon me, as though Angels that were ministering spirits were sounding in my ears, that the End of all things was at hand. How hateful every appearance of evil was in my sight: how I sat drowned in tears, only to hear innocent songs, because they were not to Thy honour and Glory. How every oath went to my heart … All I had felt before appeared but the break of day to the rising sun, that then arose in my heart with Power.
When I imagine that Holy state, my heart beats fast, I pray that rising sun may shine for me. By virtue of God’s power vested in her, Joanna Southcott accomplished miracles: the first of which was that she, who had no money, no influence, no education, gained within a few years upwards of 40,000 followers. Her message from God entered the hearts of the people; that within a short space of time, the world as we know it will come to an end. All wickedness and distress will be cast out, and a new Kingdom shall arise, ruled over by Shiloh, the second Christ. In this New Kingdom only those who truly love and dedicate their lives to God shall live. In the new Kingdom there shall be neither poverty, nor hunger, nor sickness: there shall be no injustice, but brotherhood among all mankind. And the Kingdom shall last a thousand years. Let His chosen people join the flock at the call of His Prophetess Joanna!
Sister Martha, you must not scratch yourself there, it is unladylike. Let me see your work. What is this knot? How has this thread become so tangled, Martha? Give it to me.
The second miracle was that she had a Prophet’s eyes on the future, and could penetrate its secrets, seeing even into the smallest and most humble mysteries. Through this gift she gained the love and allegiance of common people, for she knew how to save a sick cow, and when soaking rain would cause a harvest to rot on the stalk. Some say these are mere tricks, unworthy of God’s notice: to be sure they are of no account in the great scale. Yet they may be enough to win the trust of an ignorant day-labourer; who, having given his trust, may readily surrender his soul. And thus by a trivial matter is a great battle won.
And the world is full of doubters, who cannot take God’s word or the imminence of His Kingdom on trust, but must see proof, must touch the wounds. To these Mother Southcott extended a rope of hope to pull them up to heaven.
By day her work was among the people, preaching, writing and publishing God’s word, jealously banishing the encroachments of corruption into her church, receiving and disputing with Bishops, Ministers, churchmen of all persuasions and degrees. For there will be no divisions in the faith, at the end. And by night – after these exhausting labours – by night she was the bride of God. Heavenly joy and peace beyond understanding refreshed her for the tasks ahead. How I love those passages where she speaks of God’s nightly kindness, his perfection – for this love, perhaps, we all may feel one day:
I felt myself lying as it were in heaven, in the hands
of the LORD, and was afraid to move, fearing I
should remove His heavenly hand, which I felt as
perfect as ever woman felt the hand of her husband.
Her writings speak much of her doubts and fears: on these I do not dwell, for it grieves me to see so good and honest a woman, so beloved of God, able to fall away to doubt. I can only imagine that seeing the greatness of the prize if he could carry her, Satan attacked her with more than usual powers. For at times she even doubts the word of God himself, fearing it is not He but the Great Deceiver who speaks to her: begging Him, who has given her His greatest love, for proof of His identity. It is a grief to see how poorly the most virtuous human heart is able to contain and return His love.
Of the rest of her writings (which may truthfully be called God’s writings, for on numerous occasions He directed her to take up her pen and simply poured the words that she should write into her ear: in her sweet simplicity she has noted twice that she made no sense of the message, for its purport was beyond her understanding, but that she wrote as she was commanded); of the rest of her writings, I am most thrilled by her remarks concerning the role of the women:
Quench not the Spirit; despise not prophecy; for the time is come, that your women shall prophecy, your young men shall dream dreams, your old men shall see visions: for the day of the Lord is at hand.
Have not we been despised and cast down from the first? Just so low as women were cast down, shall we now be raised up high. And those of the other churches, who believe women not fit to speak and preach and pass on the word of God, but that they must sit and listen with the children (for even the Wesleyans are against women preachers now): may they hear, and mark, how God’s favour is passed to women, and how He has chosen a woman for His greatest Prophet in modern times.
Sister Martha. I have unpicked that L, here is fresh thread. Now, make a start here – just here. Good.
In measure and keeping with His great love for His Prophet Joanna, God made it known to her that she was the Woman of Revelations:
a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her
feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars; and she
being with child cried, travailing in birth, and pained to be
delivered.
She was to be His bride, and mother of His son.
Now began Mother Southcott’s trials in earnest. For she was sixty years of age, unmarried, and had never known a man. Yet she was with child. To you or I, this is a miracle. But to the common people it was no more than matter for ribald jokes: for obscene speculations and for the burning of wicked effigies. Her followers gathered round to shield her from the grossness of the world: but ever sensitive to the world’s opinion, and ever vulnerable to the cruel doubts planted in her mind by the Arch Deceiver, she fell into a sadness, which deepended into a grief. When the time for t
he child’s birth came and passed with no sign of her deliverance, her suffering heart broke, letting the captive spirit within escape joyful to the arms of its creator. Nay, Sister Hannah, I thank you, I am not crying. There is nothing in death to call forth tears; I rejoice in her escape from earthly trials. Now, let us put a fresh log on this fire. It will soon burn up more brightly. Good.
Many at that time were mistaken – even among Mother Southcott’s closest supporters. For they made the mistake which we mortals have ever made in our dealings with God: they expected a physical manifestation. There was no physical child, though the doctors who examined her dear body allowed all the symptoms attendant upon childbearing to have existed.
The child born of Mother Southcott was a spirit, a herald of the second Kingdom, who has entered the hearts of many. Principally it animates her prophets and followers, such as Prophet Wroe – and, I pray, we women are called through him by that Spirit. Though we were cast down at her leaving us, yet we rejoice in her spiritual child, and are sustained by the truth and beauty of her writings, and by the closeness of her communion with God.
Come Sister Hannah, come Sister Martha. Set aside your sewing. Let us sing one of her own hymns, before we go to bed.
A woman Satan chose at first
