An article from Wikipedia on Shakers explains that this Christian denomination was a Protestant sect called the United Society of Believers in Christ's Second Appearing. They appeared in New York in 1774 under the leadership of English-immigrant, Mother Ann Lee (1736 – 1784). They quickly started their own community and began attracting converts to their Puritan-like beliefs.
Men and women were almost always kept separate from one another because the denomination firmly believed in celibacy. Instead of reproducing, they adopted small children to continue the growth of their religious values. They were all hard workers, however, and lived a life similar to the Amish.
The name itself comes from the phrase, “shaking Quakers.” During highly private services, the majority of members would succumb to religious ecstasy. Members would suddenly began speaking in tongues (called glossolalia) and would become frenzied. They would begin dancing, gyrating and shaking uncontrollably, sometimes leaving attendees in the floor in a state similar to someone having a seizure. It was generally believed that such uncontrollable movements were because the Holy Ghost was cleansing their bodies of sin. At times, someone would be believed to be possessed by a demon, which would communicate through its host, and be cast from the believer’s body by other Shakers.
Then, something strange began to happen in the Shaker community. While in a state of religious ecstasy, members would go into trances and have visions of the spirit world and take visual tours of Heaven and Hell. These visions were believed to come through their founder, Mother Ann Lee.
Soon, attendees began getting possessed during their religious revelry, but not by supposed demons. Suddenly, someone would stop, almost like they had fallen into some sort of euphoria and begin speaking to the congregation in a voice not their own. Someone would become temporarily taken over by an angel or the spirit of a deceased individual.
The latter revelation put into question their belief in certain doctrine, namely that when someone dies their soul either goes to Heaven or Hell immediately. However, there was one philosophy held by the minority of Judeo-Christians. That is the concept of “soul slumber,” or psychopannychism. This is the belief that after the body dies, the soul lies in wait until the Last Judgment, when Jesus Christ judges every human being that ever lived and sorts them into either Heaven or Hell.
Obviously the Shakers survived the minor crisis to their faith with the introduction of the possibility that the soul can roam the earth until that day. These discarnate spirits would also be subject to the judgment. However, since this religious sect did not believe in procreation, their denomination has completely died out. What we know of them today is very little, since they were very secretive about their lives and would not usually speak to outsiders.
