Koreshan State Park Journal

The forces that drove the founder to develop his ideas were his narcissism and delusional thinking. Dr. Cyrus Teed and the Koreshan Unity Movement was a very interesting time in history. He believed that woman and men were equal during a time where that idea was not normally agreed with. This is how he charmed so many women into joining the Koreshan movement and following his ideas. This was a deviation from established scientific knowledge. The illumination was when Dr. Teed claimed to see God and that God was a woman. He said the beautiful woman, God, which he saw explained to him the earth and that he would explain the symbols of the bible for the scientific age. The concept of the concave earth was a concept that the earth was not round, and this has obviously been proven wrong by science so his ideas were a deviation from established scientific knowledge. The success of the community was obvious. They imported all sorts of plants, some useful and some useless. They also had many profitable businesses as well that made them extremely successful. Dr. Cyrus Teed believed that women and men were equal and he also believed that everyone should be celibate which eventually led to the end of his Koreshan movement. Some weaknesses in the community would ironically be the increasing prosperity of the group. His communistic way of life was also a weakness. Younger members gradually began leaving the following.

                I initially thought that this tour was interesting and the story was very captivating. However, now I think that the whole thing is completely weird and I do not understand it at all. The Koreshan state park is beautiful and is definitely a great place to take a colloquium class or even have a fun day with the family or friends. The history in the park is very extensive and interesting. The whole Koreshan movement is a huge part of the history of southwest Florida / Estero. I really enjoyed this field trip and I think it was a good trip to end the class with. However, I left very confused about the entire story and what went on there. I think that maybe Dr. Cyrus Teed was a bit crazy and I would have definitely not listened to him or been one of his women. It’s also funny to me that people even listened to him. He was claiming to be the chosen one and be re-born as immortal. It’s all just a bunch of crazy talk. However, he does keep me interested to say the least.