Panacea Society visit March 2024
Joy Wilkinson
On Saturday 9th March Bedford Writers Circle visited the Panacea Museum in Bedford. We were kindly led around the museum by our guide, Emma. This was a whistle stop tour of the buildings to get an idea of where key things were such as the Founders House, and the cafe.
For those who have never heard of the Panacea Society (and how could you not?), this was a society founded in 1919 by Mabel Barltrop (who later changed her name to Octavia) in Bedford that followed the teachings of the prophetess Joanna Southcott. The society ended in 2012 on the death of its last member, but there are people who still follow the teachings of the prophetess.
Southcott produced numerous prophecies which were sealed in a box. The main business of the society, then called the Community of the Holy Ghost, was to open the box according to requirements which necessitated the presence of 24 bishops. A lot of the rooms you see at the museum were rooms set up to accommodate the 24 bishops. Needless to say, the society has not yet been successful in getting all the bishops together in the same place at the same time and the mysterious box remains unopened. You will see a replica of the box in the museum because of course the real box is too valuable to leave lying around.
Anyway, despite their failure in the box opening activities, the society switched to offering healing water, the so-called Panacea, and changed their name to the Panacea Society. They sent pieces of linen all over the world which people soaked in water, then drank the water which cured all their ills - you can see their testimonies to their cures at the museum.
The mystery box full of prophecies, the magical properties of the Panacea healing water, the belief that Bedford is the original site of the Garden of Eden, and the keeping of the house called “The Ark” on Albany Road for when Jesus returns to earth, are some of the many things you can find out about at the museum. It is an endless source of stories and all based in Bedford! If you have never been, do go, and when it all gets a bit overwhelming, there is the cafe selling hot drinks and cakes to revive you.
A reminder that our May theme night is on the Panacea Society or Secret Societies in general. Will that evening be even more interesting than the museum itself?
For more information, watch this You Tube video:
The Panacea Society - Maidens of The Lost Ark (Bedford)
