Dr. Cyrus Teed; The Incredibly False Profit
This summer I moved to Estero Flordia, home of a interesting cult that was active from 1893 to 1980’s. They were called the Koreshans and they believed that the earth was hallow and that we lived on the inside of the crust and the universe was its core. They called it "cellular cosmosmology”. They followed a man who thought he was the new messiah, that god was “biune” (meaning both genders) and that men and women are equal because of this. They were celibate and were a cult focused on art, theater, and music. Visited by powerful people, such as Thomas Edison, they were on a mission to build the “New Jerusalem” to be the home of 10 million souls right here in Estero Flordia! So why are they no longer around? Why did people even believe any of this in the first place? My Nana and I were on a mission to find out.
My Nana and I are very alike in a lot of ways. So many of my favorite qualities about myself I get from her and i’m very thankful to be as close to her as I am. I moved down here to spend more time with her. We are both really love history, and she’s been wanting to visit this cult site since she moved here in 2019. This Friday I finally took her to find out what this place was all about.
We arrived to the site a few miles down the road with our tour tickets. Pleasantly, but unsurprisingly, we were the only ones with tickets for the tour today so we got a private and intimate look into Dr. Cyrus Teed’s intriguing beliefs and lifestyle. We start out in the art center, built in the early 1900’s. Its stage and piano are original to the cult and the inside has been transformed into a museum of cult artifacts. The first thing that caught my eye was a painting on the wall of “New Jerusalem”. This beautiful idea for a large and symmetrical city. Painted by a man in the cult in 1925 it has a lot of symbolism. They stole symbols from what seems like every religion. Not very creative, but cool none the less. There was a book off to the side about the man who painted this and it honestly made me sad. He seemed like a very lost man jumping from religion to religion searching for purpose. Died completely broke at 102 years old as a mormon in Utah. Just a confused chap looking for the secrets of the universe.
We then were talked through Dr. Cyrus Teed’s “illumination”. He was studying some sort of electrical device when he was shocked into some sort of hallucination where he saw a goddess woman who told him the everything. It was shortly after this he got a download that he was actually the new Jesus, the messiah here to save the world. It was his job to save souls. He got to work in NY, where he was run out many towns finally ending up in Chicago. It was here he got some female recruits with his message that men and women were equal. I guess back in the day this was a revolutionary idea. His other ideas that we lived in a hallow earth and the key to immortally was being celibate we’re not so appreciated, but I guess equality was enough of these ladies. He was not having much luck convincing people that he was this great man who knew the truth, but people did buy in. They moved down to Flordia after a man gave Cyrus his 300 acres of land for $200. What a rip off. He bought into Teed’s nonsense for just long enough to get the wool pulled over his eyes. This is where the Koraeshans new home base would be!
Pretty impressive for what it was. It had a power center, laundry mat, black smith, bakery, and housing for whole unity. In the main woman’s house there was this staircase made out of “Dade Pine” this dark wood that was so pretty! Made by a guy passing through in their wood working shop. There was a general store that brought in money and everything seemed to be going fine. Until Dr. Cyrus passed away. Since he was the messiah he was meant to rise again. He died 3 days before Christmas so his followers were convinced he would rise up again and lead them all to heaven! So they put him in a bathtub on the front porch instead of burying him. His body was rotting so much the local police had to intervene and get him buried. His followers got a mausoleum for him on Lovers Key only for his tomb to be washed away by a hurricane in the 1920s. We got to see what was left of his tomb in his house.
Im very intrigued by cults, because they honestly seem kinda cool. I research them so heavily because I feel like I would actually enjoy joining a cult. Unfortunately, like a timeshare, they don’t live up to the pitch. From what i’ve read, usually cults go from a guy preaching the truth (the bible) to hearing Gods voice to he IS God to let me sleep with your wives. Not a ideal situation to devote your time, money, and life to. Ill pass
Our tour guide was kinda ripping on Cyrus for being so crazy. He told us that he feels like same way about all religion and the Bible. I don’t understand how a historian looking at Dr. Cyrus Twits story and seeing how monumentally and quickly it fell apart after his death could look at Jesus and think the same thing. I feel like the Bible stands the test of time because it IS wisdom. It is the truth and thats why so many other cults base themselves off it to pull people in.
So in short… This cult is dead for a reason. Dr. Cyrus Teed never rose again and his followers are all long gone. Interesting and not forgotten. Dont join a cult, anybody preaching anything other than Jesus being the way to salvation stay far away from.
