SHAKERS. – Derogatory term (from shake = to tremble) given to a small sect whose official name is “United Society of Believers” (United Society of Believers).
The origin of the sect goes back to an Irishwoman, Anna Lee (d. 1782), the wife of a blacksmith, who became known in England (around 1768) for certain visions and prophecies and for claiming to be the bride of the Lamb of the Apocalypse, and therefore the mother of the new Messiah and of the elect scattered throughout the earth. She claimed to speak 72 languages, but only those of the dead, who were to be judged by her. Having encountered opposition in England, she moved to the United States (1774), settling (1776) near Niskayuna or Watervliet (Nuova York). The new sect proved extremely active; the preachers spoke with such emotion that their bodies appeared to be violently agitated; hence the name Shaking Quakers. The sect did not achieve significant growth and has been declining for several years. The S. lived isolated from the world, in cities situated along the course of the Hudson, near Albany, and in certain localities in the States of Ohio and Kentucky. Their number never exceeded a few thousand, divided among about fifteen communities, with approximately 50 pastors. The S. are a kind of “Christian socialists”; they form small agricultural colonies in which communal ownership and celibacy are practiced; they hold that the present world is evil and that it must therefore be brought to an end as soon as possible by abstaining from marriage. They confidently await the imminent return of Jesus Christ, whom, however, they regard merely as a man who became the Son of God by adoption. In 1925 they numbered only six churches and 250 members.
Their worship is expressed in leaps and dances, during which they impart nervous tremors to their entire bodies, symbolizing the enthusiasm they feel at the thought of the
imminent coming of Christ. They also believe that in this way they imitate David dancing before the Ark and John the Baptist in his mother’s womb.