Small Universe

The Millennial cults and movements of the Middle Ages in Europe described by Norman Cohn in his book "The Pursuit of the Millenium" are very similar to the "Ghost Dance" movements among so-called primitive peoples in the modern world by Weston LaBarre in his book, "The Ghost Dance." The "Brethren of the Free Spirit" was one such movement that along with their clothes seems to have chucked off all moral restraint as well. The trouble was that in their state of "innocence" they imagined they could steal, rape and murder without sin. See Cohn's book for more details.

"In this context the Adam-cult which is frequently found amongst the adepts of the Free Spirit becomes perfectly comprehensible. One can probably discount the chroniclers' claim that this cult involved communal sexual orgies. From the days of the early Church onwards such tales have been told for the purpose of discrediting minority groups and there is nothing in the extant documents to suggest that even when told of adepts of the Free Spirit they were justified. On the other hand the adepts did at times practice ritual nakedness, just as they did at times indulge in sexual promiscuity; and there is no doubt that in both cases they were asserting - as one inquisitor put it - that they were restored to the state of innocence which had existed before the Fall. That acute commentator Charlier de Gerson saw the connection perfectly clearly. He noted that the 'Turlupins' were often naked together, saying that one ought not to blush at anything that was natural. To be naked and unashamed, like Adam and Eve, they regarded as an essential part of the state of perfection on earth; and they called this 'the state of innocence.'" p. 180

"...For the rest, these Adamites are said - just like the adepts of the Free Spirit - to have lived in a state of community so unconditional that not only did nobody possess anything of his own but that exclusive marriage was regarded as a sin. Whereas the Taborites in general were strictly monogamous, in this sect free love seems to have been the rule. On the strength of Christ's remark about harlots and publicans, the Adamites declared that the chaste were unworthy to enter their messianic Kingdom. On the other hand no couple could have sexual intercourse without the consent of 'Adam-Moses', who would bless them saying: 'Go, be fruitful and multiply and replenish the earth.' The sect was much given to naked ritual dances held around a fire and accompanied by hymn-singing. Indeed, these people seem to have spent much of their time naked, ignoring heat and cold and claiming to be in the state of innocence enjoyed by Adam and Eve before the fall." p. 220

From "The Pursuit of the Millennium: Revolutionary Millenarians and Mystical Anarchists of the Middle Ages" by Norman Cohn; Oxford University Press New York 1970