Extracted text
Editorial transcription, lightly normalized from the scan. Line-break hyphenation, spacing, capitalization, and unmistakable OCR errors have been repaired; the claims remain those of The Flaming Sword.
Koreshan Astronomy in Georgia.
Chatham Academy at Savannah Enthusiastically Receives Rev. E. M. Castle, Koreshan Scientist and lecturer.
"The earth is a hollow, concave sphere, 8,000 miles in diameter, and of this hollow sphere the sun is the center. Compared with the earth in size, the sun is infinitesimal; in energy and force it is the point from which light, life, and all that is, gravitate. Upon the inside of this hollow sphere, the people of the earth live and have their being. Outside of the shell the universe ends and there is nothing."
This is something of the startling theory propounded yesterday afternoon to a little gathering, comprising the most advanced thinkers and the clearest and most scholarly minds in Savannah, by Rev. E. M. Castle, priestess and expounder of the new Cellular Cosmogony and of the Koreshan Unity. Convinced, her hearers might not have been, but pleased and charmed there was not one who would not have owned himself.
For two hours Rev. Castle held her audience in her grasp, and though at times they found some difficulty in following her in the untrodden paths of science in which she led them, they caught enough to convince them that a new prophet had arisen in Israel and a new explanation of the structure of the universe, held earnestly and argued out logically by honest men, had been propounded.
It would be vain to try to follow her through the mass of argument and explanation and illustration which made up her lecture; the best that can be done is to give some idea of what the Koreshans believe, and upon what their belief is founded. Briefly, it is something like this: The nations live upon the inside of the globe, which constitutes not only the whole of the earth, but the whole of the universe. The infinity and universality of matter, in the sense that it is boundless in extent and without end, is denied. The visible universe is all and more than there is of it, for the planets are but reflections from discs of mercury located in the envelope that surrounds the globe, and the stars have in themselves no material existence. They are, nevertheless, centers of energy and force.
The Koreshans prove that the earth is all that there is of the universe, and that no conception of infinity is either possible or correct by the following syllogism: "Form is a fundamental property of existence; therefore, that which has no form has no existence. Limitation is a property of form. The universe has existence; therefore it has form, hence, it has limitation." In this, though the Koreshans disdain assumptions, there is an assumption, namely, that form is a fundamental property of existence, whereas it is only a property of those examples of existence with which the people of the globe are thrown in contact. But the Koreshans dispose also of an infinite universe by saying that there is no need for it, and that it complicates matters more than a little.
The phenomena by which the convexity of the earth is usually attempted to be proved, are brushed aside as mere optical illusions, that would still be present were the surface of the earth flat, concave, or any other shape. Without entering too deeply into this branch of the subject, the same law of perspective that makes two parallel railway tracks appear to meet in the distance, is called into requisition and made to explain the phenomena of the disappearing boat and the lighthouse rising from the sea. To prove their own contention, that the surface of the earth is concave, the Koreshans have conducted a series of geodetic experiments in Florida; and as a result of these, announce that they have demonstrated their position beyond the fear of doubt or the danger of successful contradiction.
The idea was to establish a straight line, one that could not be affected by optical illusion or atmospheric disturbances, and to attain this end a member of the society invented an instrument that is called the Rectilineator. It consists of double T-squares, and armed with a quantity of these and standards upon which they might be erected, the party of surveyors journeyed to the little town of Naples, on the west coast of Florida, where the smooth waters of the Gulf offered a tempting field for their experiments.
One of the sections of the Rectilineator was fixed securely to a standard, and another placed exactly end to end to it. This second section was also fixed to a standard, and so on; the line was surveyed for about four and a half miles along the Gulf coast. The point first selected was at a distance of 128 inches from the water; but at the last point, four and a half miles distant, the plane of the Rectilineator touched the surface of the water. The adjustments were made with the greatest possible nicety; and the members of the surveying party claim that there can be no doubt that they have succeeded in establishing an absolutely straight line, and that the result of the experiment shows the earth to be concave instead of convex, and that the Copernican theory is false from beginning to end.
It would be idle to attempt a full explanation of all that the Koreshans claim. Suffice it that their theory is sufficient to account for everything that is visible in the heavens above and the earth beneath, and the waters under the earth, and that the theories of old and new philosophers and astronomers are brushed aside as so much rubbish from a table needed for the reception of something of more value. At least, that is what they say.
Nor does the Cosmogony of the Koreshan Unity conclude its teachings and its claim to fame. Built and established upon the system of Cosmogony, are a religion and a sociological creed. The religion accepts the Bible absolutely and without question, affirming that every word of it is literally true. Indeed, the Koreshans say that the Copernican theory and the doctrine of modern science are subversive of the teachings of the Bible, and that unless their Cosmogony be accepted, the Biblical account of creation and the Bible's reference to the universe must be deemed untrue and fall to the ground. The sociological theory is akin to communism in some of its better regulated forms.
The name is derived from the Founder of the Koreshan Unity and the discoverer of the system, DR. CYRUS R. TEED, of Chicago, by whom it was formulated and announced thirty years ago. In the Hebrew, Cyrus is Koresh; and from the Hebrew name the substantives and adjectives of the new creed are derived.
Rev. Castle will deliver a second lecture on the Koreshan Unity at the Chatham Academy tomorrow afternoon at 5 o'clock, and to this the public is invited. The lecture is to be delivered at the special request and insistence of those who were so fortunate as to hear her first explanation, and who were enthusiastic to a man over the charm of her manner and the grace and clearness of her style. It is only fair to say that the ladies who made up the party were just as much pleased and some of them more convinced. In the party were Dr. William E. Boggs, Chancellor of the University; Supt. Ashmore, Dr. Dunn, Prof. Walter Wilson, and a number of others.—The Morning News, Savannah, Ga., June 9.
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The Flaming Sword · Vol. 13, No. 31 · 23 Jun 1899 · PDF p. 12