Rebecca Landon: Difference between revisions

 

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The angelic message, said to have lasted approximately two hours, warned of divine judgment, condemned false religion and moral corruption, and called for repentance. The testimony reflects distinctive Shaker theology, including the rejection of literal bodily resurrection, the affirmation of continuing revelation, and the articulation of a dual-gendered understanding of the divine.

The angelic message, said to have lasted approximately two hours, warned of divine judgment, condemned false religion and moral corruption, and called for repentance. The testimony reflects distinctive Shaker theology, including the rejection of literal bodily resurrection, the affirmation of continuing revelation, and the articulation of a dual-gendered understanding of the divine.

A notable element of the message is its address to the United States, warning the nation that it could not “raise the hand of oppression against thy fellow creatures” without facing divine punishment. Within the historical context of the 1840s, when [[Slavery in the United States|slavery]] remained legal in much of the country, scholars have interpreted this passage as an implicit condemnation of slavery consistent with Shaker opposition to human bondage and coercive social systems.<ref name=”:1″>{{Cite journal|title=A Silver Light and a Golden Wheel: Shaker Gift Drawing and Sacred Text as a Communal Enterprise|url=https://scholarworks.gvsu.edu/communalsocieties/vol33/iss2/5|journal=Communal Societies|date=2025-12-15|issn=0739-1250|volume=33|issue=2|doi=10.9707/0739-1250.1294|first=Jane|last=Crosthwaite|url-access=subscription}}</ref>

A notable element of the message is its address to the United States, warning the nation that it could not “raise the hand of oppression against thy fellow creatures” without facing divine punishment. Within the historical context of the 1840s, when [[Slavery in the United States|slavery]] remained legal in much of the country, scholars have interpreted this passage as an implicit condemnation of slavery consistent with Shaker opposition to human bondage and coercive social systems.<ref name=”:1″>{{Cite journal|title=A Silver Light and a Golden Wheel: Shaker Gift Drawing and Sacred Text as a Communal Enterprise|url=https://scholarworks.gvsu.edu/communalsocieties/vol33/iss2/5|journal=Communal Societies|date=2025-12-15|issn=0739-1250|volume=33|issue=2|doi=10.9707/0739-1250.1294|first=Jane|last=Crosthwaite|url-access=subscription}}</ref>

Landon’s testimony was later published in [[The Divine Book of Holy and Eternal Wisdom (1849)|”The Divine Book of Holy and Eternal Wisdom” (1849)]], a compilation of Shaker revelations edited by [[Paulina Bates]] and issued by the United Society at New Lebanon, with printing carried out in [[Canterbury, New Hampshire]].<ref name=”:0″>{{Cite book|title=The divine book of holy and eternal wisdom.|url=https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/001961797|publisher=… Published by the United society called “Shakers.” Printed at Canterbury, N.H.|date=1849|location=New Lebanon, N.Y.|first=Paulina.|last=Bates|first2=Calvin.|last2=Green|first3=Seth Y.|last3=Wells}}</ref> The volume reflects Shaker practices of communal authorship and collective discernment rather than individual prophetic authority.

Landon’s testimony was later published in [[The Divine Book of Holy and Eternal Wisdom (1849)|”The Divine Book of Holy and Eternal Wisdom” (1849)]], a compilation of Shaker revelations edited by [[Paulina Bates]] and issued by the United Society at New Lebanon, with printing carried out in [[Canterbury, New Hampshire]].<ref name=”:0″>{{Cite book|title=The divine book of holy and eternal wisdom.|url=https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/001961797|publisher=… Published by the United society called “Shakers.” Printed at Canterbury, N.H.|date=1849|location=New Lebanon, N.Y.|first=Paulina.|last=Bates|first2=Calvin.|last2=Green|first3=Seth Y.|last3=Wells}}</ref> The volume reflects Shaker practices of communal authorship and collective discernment rather than individual prophetic authority.

Shaker artist

Rebecca Landon (c. 1782 – November 19, 1844) was a Shaker religious figure, visionary, community leader, and creator of sacred imagery associated with the New Lebanon, New York, Shaker community. She is known for a visionary testimony recorded in 1842 during the Shaker Era of Manifestations and for the drawing Mother’s Banner of Love and Comfort (1845), now held by the National Gallery of Art.

Little documentary evidence survives concerning Rebecca Landon’s early life prior to her association with the United Society of Believers in Christ’s Second Appearing (Shakers). Shaker records place her long-term residence within the New Lebanon community, also known as the Mount Lebanon Shaker Society, which functioned as a central spiritual, administrative, and publishing center for the movement during the nineteenth century.^[1]

Contemporary Shaker records describe Landon as having served for twenty-three years as a “leading Shepherdess” within her order. According to Rufus Bishop’s Journal of Daily Events, this role was associated with her long-standing leadership in the New Lebanon community.^[2] In Shaker practice, Shepherdesses generally held responsibilities related to spiritual oversight and pastoral care.

In April 1842, during the period of heightened visionary activity known as the Era of Manifestations, Landon recorded a detailed testimony describing a nocturnal vision . According to her account, she witnessed the appearance of a luminous female angel holding a book and delivering an extended prophetic message.^[3]

Landon reported that two younger Shaker women, described as being “gifted in visions,” audibly repeated the angel’s words while in a trance state, while Landon herself observed the angel’s lips move without hearing the voice directly. One of the witnesses named in the account was Marilla Fairbanks, identified in Shaker records as an Elder Sister at New Lebanon.

The angelic message, said to have lasted approximately two hours, warned of divine judgment, condemned false religion and moral corruption, and called for repentance. The testimony reflects distinctive Shaker theology, including the rejection of literal bodily resurrection, the affirmation of continuing revelation, and the articulation of a dual-gendered understanding of the divine.

A notable element of the message is its address to the United States, warning the nation that it could not “raise the hand of oppression against thy fellow creatures” without facing divine punishment.^[1] Within the historical context of the 1840s, when slavery remained legal in much of the country, scholars have interpreted this passage as an implicit condemnation of slavery consistent with Shaker opposition to human bondage and coercive social systems.^[1]

Landon’s testimony was later published in The Divine Book of Holy and Eternal Wisdom (1849), a compilation of Shaker revelations edited by Paulina Bates and issued by the United Society at New Lebanon, with printing carried out in Canterbury, New Hampshire.^[3] The volume reflects Shaker practices of communal authorship and collective discernment rather than individual prophetic authority.

Rebecca Landon is credited with the creation of Mother’s Banner of Love and Comfort (1845), a symbolic drawing produced within the New Lebanon Shaker community. The work is now held by the National Gallery of Art (NGA 52975), where it is cataloged as an American Shaker drawing dating from the mid-nineteenth century.^[4]

The drawing incorporates themes common to Shaker visionary culture of the Era of Manifestations, including divine motherhood, spiritual consolation, and the protective role of heavenly figures. Its attribution to Landon situates her among the Shaker women whose religious authority extended beyond spoken or written testimony into visual and material forms of devotion.^[5]

Rebecca Landon died on November 19, 1844, at the age of sixty-two, while residing at the Second Family within the New Lebanon Shaker community. Her death followed a brief but severe illness identified in Shaker records as “Black Jaundice.”^[1]

According to Rufus Bishop’s Journal of Daily Events, members of the Shaker Ministry visited Landon at her deathbed. Bishop recorded that when Elder Brother Ebenezer Bishop believed she had died, Landon responded briefly, “Nay, I ain’t gone,” and sent her love to the church. Her death was formally recorded two days later.^[6]

Bishop described Landon as physically frail but credited her with long-standing spiritual leadership, noting her decades-long service as a Shepherdess. He characterized her as influential in “uniting & protecting souls” and emphasized that she was respected within the community without regard to “age, sex, color or condition.”^{[citation needed]}