Shaking with the Shakers

Every year, we head out to the Berkshires in western Massachusetts for vacation.  Tanglewood, the summer home of the Boston Symphony Orchestra, is one of my “sacred places”, where I remember visiting as a child and then attending the summer program as a teen.  Oh, the days when I thought I would become a concert pianist!

In subsequent years, we’ve added more Berkshire places which we must visit every year.  Hancock Shaker Village is one.  The first time I learned about the Shaker religious sect, I completely disagreed with their philosophy. Celibacy for a community is simply not a natural human state!  The only way they added members was through conversion, and indenturing and adoption of children.  That is not a sustainable model, especially once children hit adulthood and were free to leave.  Eventually their society died off, but they left beautiful villages to visit and impeccable craftsmanship behind.

Over the years, I got over my indignation of their celibate philosophy.  I opened my mind to the other positive aspects of their society: plowing the earth, sustaining livestock as well as embracing technology (this is where they differ from the Amish).  Just look at this beautiful setting!

The only way I get Adam to visit every year is to give him my DSLR camera.

The one curious aspect of the Shakers is the reason for their name.  They believed that they  needed to “shake” evil spirits away by singing and dancing into a frenzy.  My initial reaction was – of course they need to shake their bodies to get rid off all that sexual tension!  Then again, everyone needs to get out and have a good whole body dance every once in a while.

During a Shaker demonstration, I gladly hopped in to try it out while my family watched embarrassed. Woo hoo, shake it baby!

Shaking with the Shakers from Angela T on Vimeo.

It’s wonderful to watch volunteers hand quilting a quilt that they raffle off every year.  These volunteers are not Shakers themselves, but carry on their traditions.

Isn’t it beautiful?

And Adam can help me with the weaving kit I purchased at their store.

Visiting the Shaker village always inspires me to pick up my crafts again.  Dova could help me card wool for knitting.

I saw this cross-stitch pattern displayed in their store. 

They were out of kits at the time, so at home, I painstakingly mapped my own version of the pattern in Excel and added a title and a contrasting border.  Contact me if you’d like a copy of the pattern.  I even considered selling the pattern on Etsy, but really, I’m not that craftsy.



Here is my cross stitch so far.

The way the embroidery hoop cut off the words, only the letters “cock shaker villa” is shown of  the words "Hancock Shaker Village”.  Oops!  That’s not what they had in mind.

We’re looking forward to more visits with the Shakers in the future!