Editing Koreshan Unity (section)

==Beliefs==
The Koreshan Unity, led by Cyrus Teed, was a religious cult that followed the ideals of celibacy, community, and equality to attain immortality. Teed described God as a hybrid of male and female. Due to this belief, he and the cult as a whole were very open to feminism and the equality between the sexes. The ruling body of the Unity was the Planetary Court; it was composed exclusively of women, aside from Teed as the leader of the Court.

Koreshan celibacy, according to Teed, was the guiding principle humans should live by in order to attain immortality. Teed preached that women were slaves in their marriages and a way for them to be liberated was to move to the commune and practice celibacy, which was very appealing to some women at the time.

Teed denounced [[commercialism]] and wished for the Unity to eschew [[personal property]]. However, archaeological research has shown that some members did keep private keepsakes and an iron-key was discovered, showing that even if the Koreshans called for communal ownership, some places or things were off limits. The group was also known to sell excess goods to locals who lived outside the commune.{{sfn|Tarlow|2006|page=92}}

The Unity also believed in a concave [[hollow Earth]]. They thought the world was on the inside crust of the planet and the sky was the inside of the earth. Teed's evidence for these claims included a device he invented called the "Rectilineator", which could measure the supposed concavity of the Earth's surface.{{sfn|Tarlow|2006|pages=89-90}}
[[File:Koreshan Unity picnic on Big Hickory Island (12102820954).jpg|thumb|Koreshan Unity picnic on Big Hickory Island (12102820954)]]

===Membership levels===
There was a tri-level system of membership.  
*The outer level was made up of non-believers who were willing to work for the Unity.  This group was called the Patrons of Equation, and allowed for marriage and participation in the secular aspects of the unity.  
*The middle group, the Department of Equitable Administration, allowed for marriage, but sexual relationships were only to be for the purpose of reproduction.  
*The inner, core, group (called The Pre-Eminent Unity) was the [[Celibate]] and Communal group, which did not allow marriage and practiced [[celibacy]].    
Within each of these three levels were three distinct branches, the Secular System, the Commercial System, and the Educational System, with a total of nine groups.