Waco (Part One: The Shepherd's Rod)

Unresolved

Unresolved Productions

True Crime, Society & Culture, History

4.5 • 2.6K Ratings

🗓️ 13 February 2023

⏱️ 48 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

"Our prayers for such an undertaking on behalf of God's people will be answered by whatever the results to this call might be."

More than a century before David Koresh or the Branch Davidians became household names, the religious movements that led to their existence began growing out of the American Northeast. First came William Miller and the Millerites, a collapsed movement that ended up inspiring the Seventh-Day Adventists years later.

In the early 20th century, an Adventist named Victor Houteff wrote a book titled The Shepherd's Rod, which he hoped would help reform the church. After being disfellowshipped for creating a "disloyal" and "divisive movement," Houteff ended up building his own church, the Davidians, nearby Waco, Texas...

Research, writing, hosting, and production by Micheal Whelan

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Music Credits:

Noisyfilter - "Repose"

Acedis - "Illustrations"

Mystery Mammal - "O Come O Come Emmanuel"

Rest You Sleeping Giant - "Dead Waters"

Graham Bole - "Gloci"

Blue Dot Sessions - "Svela Tal"

Percival Pembroke - "Music For Haunted Orbital Research Stations"

Transcript

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0:00.0	Cyrus Teed was born on October 18, 1839 in a small New York town. The Teed said settled
0:08.6	in the Massachusetts Bay Quality in the 1630s, then migrated to Delaware County near
0:14.6	Trout Creek in the 1750s. Cyrus was the second son born to his parents, Sarah and Jesse
0:21.2	Teed, and was one of just eight children. Alongside his family, he grew up in Utica, New
0:27.3	York. Surprisingly, Cyrus Teed was a distant relative of Joseph Smith, the founder of the
0:33.2	Mormon Church. Like Joseph Smith, Cyrus Teed would go on to live a life full of religious
0:39.2	prophecy, although his name isn't nearly as well known, and his early life wouldn't
0:44.4	hint at anything of that nature. Cyrus Teed left school and went to work at the Eerie
0:49.6	Canal at the age of 11, then went on to serve in the Union Army about a decade later.
0:56.1	In other words, he went on to become a doctor of eclectic medicine, which, according to
1:00.8	the Chicago reader, emphasized botanical and other non-invasive remedies. A fan of unconventional
1:07.7	experiments, Cyrus Teed ended up dabbling in alchemy during his adult life. In 1869, during
1:14.7	an alchemy experiment at his home in Utica, Teed was badly shocked. However afterward,
1:20.8	he claimed that during a period of unconsciousness because of the shock he was visited by a divine
1:26.5	spirit who told him that he was the Messiah. He alleged that he was visited by the divine
1:32.2	mother who told him, I have nurtured thee through countless embodiments, offspring of
1:38.1	Osiris and Iris behold the revealing of thy mother. After this near death experience,
1:44.7	which Cyrus Teed dabbled in awakening, he immediately went to work. He changed his name
1:50.0	from Cyrus to Kresh, the Hebrew version of the same name. He did so to pay homage to
1:56.1	Cyrus the Great, the King of Persia roughly 2500 years beforehand, who was known for conquering
2:02.5	Babylon and liberating the Jews from captivity. Abandoning the life that he had known beforehand,
2:08.8	Cyrus Teed set out on a quest to spread his newfound beliefs to his fellow man, hoping
	...

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