ALL IN A WEEK: Or One A Minute

New Zealand Listener, Volume 9, Issue 231, 26 November 1943, Page 6

ALL IN A WEEK:

Or One A Minute

Written for "The Listener" H}

by

SIMPLE

SIMON

DON’T know who said first that "one is born every minute." It’s an observation that must have come from the very early days of human history. But it was Carlyle who said that there were nearly 27 million of them in England. Well, Carlyle has been dead for 62 years, but the other day in an English weekly I came across the advertisement about Joanna Southcott’s Box, which is reproduced on this page. This is roughly the story of Joanna Southcott. She was a Devonshire farmer’s daughter, born in 1750. Her father thought her "too religious" when she was a girl, and when she was 42 she joined the Methodists "by divine

command." A statement that she had been providentially sent displeased the Methodists, and she shortly afterwards fell into a fever and went to stay with her sister, There, after 10 days’ experience with "the powers of darkness," she began to pen prophecies in rambling prose and_ doggerel verse.

She soon adopted the practice of sealing prophecies up and demanding recognition for them when her predictions matured. She pestered the clergy, from curate to bishop, but it was 1800 before her following began to be appreciable. Her first publication, The Strange Effects of Faith, came out in 1801. The printer’s bill contained an item: "For correcting the spelling and grammar of the prophecies, 2s 6d." Joanna (her followers used the Christian name only), gathered a group of believers round her, including the famous engraver, William Sharp, and went to London to "seal" the faithful, who were to number 144,000, all certificated for the millennium on half sheets of paper signed "Joanna," and backed with a red seal. But after 1808 there were no more, because among those who had certificates was Mary Bateman. hanged for murder at York, At this time Joanna was styling herself "the Lamb’s wife,’ and in The Third Book of Wonders (1813), she announced that she was to be the mother of Shiloh. Shut off from society, she became ill, and of nine doctors called in, six admitted that in a younger woman (Joanna was then 63), the symptoms might indicate pregnancy. The excitement of her followers knew no bounds-there were about 100,000 by this time-and a crib costing £200 was made to order, and £100 was spent on "pap spoons." An advertisement in the Morning Chronicle for a large house for a public accounchement led to an offer by "a great personage" of the "Temple of Peace in the Green Park." Joanna retired in March, and by November the papers were flooded with letters on the medica! aspect of the case. On November 19, she said she was dying, and : :

instructed that her body should be kept warm for four days after death and then opened, The autopsy revealed ambiguous symptoms but suggested that "ail the mischief lay in the brain." Her tombstone, on which the last line was "thou’lt appear in greater power,’ was shattered by the Regent’s Park explosion in 1874, and hopes of her return revived, but her followers have dwindled now. Chambers Encyclopedia says that there are some in U.S.A., in Canada, in Australia and in New Zealand. Her box, according to the same source of reference, is still unopened,

though two rival boxes owned by followers, have been opened, and found to contain the usual kind of Southcottian writings. / The real "Joanna Southcott’s Box" is supposed to be opened in the presence of the bishops of the Church of England, and they are to study its contents. Lack of unanimous assent to this condition has postponed the occasion, and the box remains strongly nailed and roped. * * * But why should Joanna and her box have astonished me? Here is an item that appeared the same week in a Wellington newspaper-with something like editorial support: SOWING BY THE MOON: The digging for victory campaign and the compost heap-making craze have made many people so horticulturallyminded that they are delving into other mysteries of gardening. Among the many inquiries received have been some as to whether the phases of the moon have any influence on seed germination. All primitive agricultural people, including the Maori, used to and still do pay great heed to the moon in their agricultural operations, and seed-sowing by the moon is considered by some authorities an integral part of the biodynamic system of agriculture, originated by Dr. Rudolph Steiner and practised with conspicuous success in many parts of England, Europe, and the United States, and also in a few places in New Zealand. To go into full details would necessitate a lengthy article, but, stated briefly, the theory is that seeds sown during the period of the waxing moon (that is, between the time of new and full moon), germinate better and give better subsequent crops than those sown when the moon is waning. The very best time of all to sow is said to be two days before full moon, and if this sowing happens to be followed. by some beneficial rain, the results will surpass expectations, although in any case, they shéuld be good. The moon is waxing at the present time, and will be full on November 12: seed, therefore, should be sown between now and then, preferably on November 10. Between November 12 and 28, the moon will be waning. During this period, seed sowing should (continued on next page)

(continued from previous page) be avoided, to be resumed between November 28 and December 12, during which period the moon will be waxing, December 10 (two days before full moon), being the optimum date. Sowing by the moon is not even sowing by moonshine: it is sowing by nothing-by a shadow-and is as likely to promote growth as a photograph of a cow is to produce milk. The anthroposophists, in fact, almost know this: so when they are told that moonlight is only reflected sunlight, which can have no horticultural value, they drag in extra-terrestrial rhythms and the signs of the Zodiac. Well, I suppose that liberty to be a moonshiner is one of the liberties for which we are fighting, but the consequences of moon-worship in a country with such a changeable climate as ours can easily be serious. If the weather and the moon don’t co-operate, the seed will not be sown, and what do we do then? Drink camomile water or roll in the dew? I don’t know what the answer is, but I know that we can’t afford to be astonished if we see people switching off the electric light and reading by a tallow dip. sk a * HE newspaper that came so near to telling me to sow by the moon also told me the answer to the "Russian Mystery." Not many know it, but here it is: BENJAMIN DISPELS RUSSIAN MYSTERY: Many thinking people are wondering and puzzled at the astonishing fight Russia is putting up, and the great help she, who was our supposed enemy, is giving to Britain. This is because they have been led astray by both Churches and Universities. Let us look to world history. Never has Russia attacked BritainGermany has twice done so. There ere many who in their inner hearts believe that the British Kingdom can never perish-Mr. Churchill does so, and is he.not right? From whence

have they got this belief? Surely from Scripture, and Scripture prophecy is amply being fulfilled to-day. The whole secret is in the word "BENJAMIN." Do you know what that means? It means the strength of God’s right hand-and it is _ the strength that is being displayed in Russia to-day. This is all foretold of Benjamin Russia--any clergyman can tell you Benjamin was the light-giv-ing tribe. It has been proved there are many descendants of Benjamin in Russia and Siberia. Well, they are shedding light on the mystery "Lighten our Darkness, we Beseech, O Lord." * ae * ND in case you happen to be one of those who scoff at what they read in newspapers but swallow every word that is bound into a book, I will let you into another secret. I was handed that same week The Coming Glories of the Jewish Nation, by James Dunbar. James Dunbar, whose address is Dunedin, and who describes himself as one of those who believe that "God says what he means and means what he says," has discovered by searching the Scriptures that the present system of world governments is near its end. It will end in a stupendous clash in which, if I do not misunderstand him, 1,000,000,000 will die, and "the blood will be up to the horses’ bridles." Then... . The whole appearance of the land of Palestine will be altered in a few moments. The hill country of Judea and Samaria northwards will be flattened, and the Dead. Sea, now hundreds of feet below the ordinary sea level, will be raised to the same plane. Moreover, fishers will be able to stand at the age-old villages of Engedi and En-eglzim on the shore of the Dead Sea, and catch fish of. the sante kind as in the Mediterranean. It will lose its saltness, which has been the distinguishing feature for so many centuries, so that it: will be no longer the Dead Sea, but... a place of Living waters, So perhaps the earth is flat after all. Perhaps the lamb will swallow the lion and Hitler heil Selassie. There are bigger shocks than any of these in James Dunbar.