Cyrus Teed was a bit of a queer duck . Born in 1839 , he became aneclectic physicianand established a laboratory in which he carry out alchemical and electrical experiment . After one in particular famed experiment in 1869 ( of which there are varying accounts : one says he turn lede into gold ; another claim he was shocked to within an column inch of his living ) , Teed insure a imagination of a beautiful charwoman who revealed the secrets of the existence to him . After this experience , he changed his first name to " Koresh " and set up a rather rum cult ( hem , I ’m bad , utopian community ) found on the principles ofKoreshanity .
The most striking principle of Koreshanity was a belief in a variant of the Hollow Earth theory , which can fundamentally be summarize up by saying that the world in which we survive , and indeed the entire universe , are all contain within a sphere – and we go on the INSIDE of the heavens , with centrifugal force holding us down , rather than soberness . Oh , and the sun is actually a giant battery in the centre of this giant celestial sphere . And alchemy works ; Teed claimed to have discovered the Philosopher ’s Stone . But anyway , here ’s a snippet from Teed’sCellular Cosmogony :
On December 22 , 1908 , Teed choke . His followers , who believed in reincarnation , get out him in a bathing tub awaiting his 2d approach – which logically would happen on Christmas twenty-four hour period . When no rebirth occurred , local authorities forced the remains to be bury ( on December 27 ) , and that stigmatise the beginning of the end of the Koreshan Unity Settlement – although it would survive more than 50 years past Teed ’s death .
In 1961 , there were just four dependency member left . Their loss leader , Hedwig Michel , deeded the 300 acre utopia to the State of Florida . It is now theKoreshan State Historic Site , an area of just 135 acre in which , as the Florida State Parks Information Center puts it , " visitor can fish , child’s play , boat , and cost increase where Teed ’s visionaries once carry out survey experiment to prove the horizon on the beaches of Collier County curves upwards . "
Further reading : RoadSide America ’s write - up , official Florida State Parks site , and anunofficial sitewhich includes tons of entropy ( check outthe artistic production collection , bio of Cyrus Teed , and anessay on Teed and the Koreshan Unity Movement ) .
( photograph courtesy of Flickr userGenista , used by Creative Commons license . control outmore photos of the siteon Flickr . )
