Aspects of Light is a channeling center built around the messages of a group of entities collectively termed the Counsel of Light, whose utterances are channeled by Cherryl Lynn Taylor. Taylor began channeling in the mid-1980s and established the present center in 1991. The counsel’s members have indicated that they have appeared to assist individuals to get in touch with their soul urges, to discover higher identities and bring those into manifestation. Human beings are divine, but often live in a state of separation from that divinity. Such separation produces fear and leads to all variety of pain and suffering. The answer to fear is learning to love the self. To facilitate the process of learning to love, Taylor has prepared a set of tapes containing dictated messages from the counsel, which concern both teachings and meditative exercises that the students learn and use in their life. Students also learn to picture themselves in three major aspects—physical, emotional, and mental—and to use the techniques as they monitor each aspect.

Aspects of Light carries on an intensive program that includes weekly healing and development classes and group channeling sessions. Tapes of a wide variety of previous channeling sessions are available.

Membership

Not reported.

Periodicals

The Counsel of Light.

Church of Amron

2254 Van Ness, San Francisco, CA 94109

The Church of Amron is a metaphysical church that was founded in San Francisco in the mid-1980s. Growing out of a spiritualist tradition, it has a program built around spiritual healing and channeling (mediumship). It holds weekly worship services each Sunday and midweek activities that include a Tuesday evening forum, healing circles, and an AIDS support group.

Membership

Not reported. In the late 1980s there were two congregations, both in San Francisco.

Church of the White Eagle

2615 St. Beulah Chapel Rd., Montgomery, TX 77316

Alternate Address

International Headquarters: New Lands, Rake, Liss, Hampshire, U.K. GU33 7HY.

HISTORY

The Church of the White Eagle Lodge was established in England in 1934 by Grace Cooke (1892–1979), affectionately known as Minesta, and her husband, Ivan Cooke (d. 1981), known in the lodge as Brother Faithful. For many years, Minesta worked as a medium in the Spiritualist Church of England, primarily in association with the Stead Borderland Library in London. In 1930 she was contacted by a member of the Polaire Brotherhood from France, who informed her that a recently deceased author and Spiritualist, Arthur Conan Doyle (1859–1930), had chosen her as an instrument through whom he wished to speak. She was also given a six-pointed star, symbolic of the Christ star (perfect balance), and asked to train men and women to work with and through the light of Christ to help the world through the “years of fire” into the coming of the “golden age.” The star became the symbol of the lodge.

Clairvoyant from childhood, Minesta had long been guided by one whom she knew as White Eagle. Instead of giving personal spirit messages, as is commonly done in Spiritualist churches, she allowed herself to be used to transmit (or channel) a vast series of teachings, which provided the base of the training she had been asked to do. “White Eagle,”it is believed, is the symbol of St. John, the Beloved Disciple; a sign of the “age of brotherhood,”the golden age; and a title given by the American Indians to a spiritual teacher of great wisdom.

The work spread to the United States in the 1950s and eventually a lodge was established in Texas. More recently, lodges were opened in California and in Canada.

BELIEFS

The church is built around the teachings of White Eagle. These convey the teaching of the brotherhood and emphasize the coming of a golden age in which human intuition will arise as a greater force in human affairs. White Eagle’s teachings are summarized in the “principles”of the lodge and include belief in God as Father and Mother, in the Cosmic Christ whose light shines in the human heart, and in the five cosmic laws: reincarnation, cause and effect (karma), opportunity, correspondences, and compensation. The church teaches that every man, woman, and child has in their heart a little spark of light that is the Christ Light, the spirit of Divine love.

To church members, happiness is a realization of God and a quiet, tranquil realization of God’s love for all of life. They seek a life that is gentle and in harmony with natural and spiritual laws. The basic law that controls life is love—love for God, for humanity, and for the animals and nature. A vegetarian diet is encouraged. Because God is the creative power within all life, individuals can look within and learn to contact the love of God, the Christ within their own hearts, and use that love to comfort and heal others. As one gives oneself through a life of service, joy and blessings from God are received.

ORGANIZATION

The work in the United States is headquartered at St. John’s Retreat Center, a lodge located on a 70-acre rural tract, where both spiritual guidance for humans and a sanctuary for wildlife are provided. The Texas lodge is one of 15 “daughter lodges” located around the world. Among other services, it provides training for center group leaders. The American daughter lodge oversees centers located in various parts of the United States, as well as work in Canada, Brazil, Chile, Japan, and Mexico. Conferences and retreats are held on a regular basis.

Membership in the church and lodge is open to all who feel in harmony with the basic teachings. Meditation and healing are an integral part of the work and there is a special program for children. Sacramental services are held around baptism, marriage, and funerals (with an understanding that there is no death, only eternal life). Members are encouraged to set aside a time daily for prayer using the six-pointed star, the Christ Star, as a focus while sending out the light of Christ. Members may also apply for the brotherhood, an order of men and women within the church who are committed to trying to follow a spiritual way of life and discipline while still living and working in the outer world. The work of the brotherhood includes using and working with the Christ Light for the healing of the planet as well as individuals. The motto of the lodge is “I Serve.”

Membership

In 2002 the church reported 982 full members and 3,000 active supporters in 18 U.S. centers. There was then one minister. There were 4 centers in Canada. Worldwide membership was more than 15,000, with centers located in Australia, New Zealand, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Sweden, Switzerland, and South Africa.

Periodicals

Stella Polaris. Available from Newlands, Brewells Lane, Rake, Liss, Hampshire, U.K. GU33 7HY. • Newsletter for the Americans. Available from 9 St. Beulah Rd., Montgomery, TX 77356.

Sources

Church of the White Eagle Lodge. www.whiteaglelodge.org.

Cooke, Grace. The Illuminated Ones. Liss, Hampshire, U.K.: White Eagle Publishing Trust, 1966.

———. Minesta’s Vision. Liss, Hampshire, U.K.: White Eagle Publishing Trust, 1992. 60 pp.

Cooke, Ivan, ed. The Return of Arthur Conan Doyle. Liss, Hampshire, U.K.: White Eagle Publishing Trust, 1956.

Lind, Ingrid. The White Eagle Inheritance. Wellingsborough, Northamptonshire, U.K.: Turnstone Press, 1984.

The Living Word of St. John. Liss, Hampshire, U.K.: White Eagle Publishing Trust, 1985.

The Story of the White Eagle Lodge. Liss, Hampshire, U.K.: White Eagle Publishing Trust, 1986.

The Wisdom of White Eagle. Liss, Hampshire, U.K.: White Eagle Publishing Trust, 1967.

Circle of Power Spiritual Foundation

Current address could not be obtained for this edition.

The Circle of Power Spiritual Foundation was established during the 1980s to spread the teaching of Tawa, a spiritual entity who speaks through Rey Fletcher. During the 1960s, when the Fletchers lived in a Chicago suburb, Rey’s wife, Candy R. Fletcher, began a spiritual search that led her to read metaphysical books and experiment with the ouija board and hypnosis. Thus it was that on August 22, 1968, Tawa first made contact during a session in which Candy had convinced Rey to join her in asking questions of the ouija board. Tawa identified himself as having been a Blackfoot Indian in a previous incarnation, and asked if he could speak using Rey’s vocal cords. Rey had proven himself a good subject for hypnotism, and after this first encounter Tawa spoke to (and through) him while Rey was in a hypnotic trance. Tawa’s first spoken communication occurred on September 3, 1968.

Tawa continued to speak through Rey until the end of 1970, but for a time the material of these communications was put aside as Rey pursued a successful career. Meanwhile, Candy considered writing a book based on the teachings Tawa had given them. She began work on the text in 1979. Shortly thereafter, the Circle of Power Spiritual Foundation was formed. In 1984 the book was published at about the same time the Foundation moved to Victor, Montana. Assisting the Fletchers are Richard and Bobbie Graham, who head the Foundation branch in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Tawa identified himself as a contemporary of Jesus and the person who served as Jesus’original spiritual teacher. He remained with Jesus through his life, death, and resurrection. The resurrection was the proof that Jesus had been sent by God. According to Tawa, Jesus was reborn in the flesh somewhere in the Orient in 1962. At the time of Tawa’s dictations, the reincarnated Jesus was not aware of his mission as Messiah. However, at some point in the near future he will take on his Christ essence and reveal himself to the world. This time he will be fully accepted. However, prior to his coming forth, the anti-Christ, a person now residing in England, will exert power for one year.

The Fletchers see themselves as part of a chosen circle of followers who will be the messengers of the coming Messiah. The Foundation was formed to bring together an initial group of 52 families/persons who will become the spearhead of the mission leading to Christ’s next appearance. The Foundation planned to establish a network of lodges from which the message can be disseminated.

Membership

Not reported.

Sources

Bjorling, Joel. Channelling: A Bibliographic Exploration. New York: Garland Publishing, 1992. 363 pp.

Fletcher, C. R. Spirit in His Mind. Victor, MT: Circle of Power Spiritual Foundation, 1984. 618 pp.

Cosmic Awareness Communications

PO Box 115, Olympia, WA 98507

In 1962 a voice describing itself as “From Cosmic Awareness” began to speak through the body of ex-army officer William Ralph Duby (1917–1967). In response to the question, “What is Cosmic Awareness?”the group with Duby was told it was “total mind that is not any one mind, but is from the Universal Mind that does not represent any unity other than that of universality.”

As the voice continued to speak, its words of wisdom were collected. In 1963, instructions were received for the formation of an Organization of Awareness as a means of giving to individuals the teaching of the voice. The real organization is said to be composed of 144 entities on that inner plane known as Essence.

Communications from Awareness have covered the whole scope of subjects about which people have questions, but, through it all, a few central ideas have emerged. God is seen not as a personal deity, but as natural cosmic law. The spiritual life is stressed, as is compassion in dealings with men. Man’s purpose is to move toward cosmic awareness.

A summary of the voice’s stance is contained in the “Laws and Precepts of Cosmic Awareness,”printed below:

The Universal Law is that knowledge, that awareness, that all living things, all life has within it that vitality, that strength to gather into it all things necessary for its growth and its fruition.
The Law of Love is that law which places the welfare and the concern and the feeling for others above self. The Law of Love is that close affinity with all forces that you associate with as good. The Law of Love is that force which denies the existence of evil in the world, that resists not evil.
The Law of Mercy is that law which allows one to forgive all error, to forgive equally those who err against you as you err against them. This is to be merciful. To be merciful is akin to the Law of Love, and if one obeys the Law of Mercy there can be no error in the world.
The Law of Gratitude is that sense of satisfaction where energy which has been given receives a certain reward.
Judge Not. Be Humble. Never Do Anything Contrary to the Law of Love. Resist Not Evil. Do Nothing Which Is Contrary to the Law of Mercy.

Duby died in 1967 and a major splintering occurred in the organization. No fewer than seven bodies were formed, each claiming to be the continuation of the original. Disagreement over the publication of materials that some thought should remain secret was one major issue in the schisms. Largest of the several splinters is Cosmic Awareness Communications, which continues the 1963 organization. About four months after Duby’s death, a channel emerged through which Cosmic Awareness continued to speak. In the late 1960s, messages received through this new channel, Paul Shockley, both clarified and altered the older material. The new voice revealed that the Organization of Awareness has helped to accomplish a vast shift of consciousness—a return to the Godhead, which for thousands of years Essence has willed would eventually occur. The return to the Godhead is equated with the return of Lucifer, the fallen angel of light.

Membership

Not reported, but in 1995 the newsletter reported a circulation of 3,000 copies. In the 1970s, Cosmic Awareness Communications claimed 75 centers (including 3 in Canada) and 144,000 members.

Periodicals

Revelation of Awareness.

Sources

Cosmic Awareness Center. www.cosmicawareness.org.

Cosmic Awareness Speaks. 3 vols. Olympia, WA: Cosmic Awareness Communications, n.d., 1977, 1983.

Crest in the Stone Mystery School

c/o Johannine Grove Ministry, PO Box 235, Crestone, CO 81131

The Crest in the Stone Mystery School (formerly known as the Star of Isis Foundation) is a mystery school established in the 1980s by Christine Hayes, better known by her spiritual name, Chrystine StarEagle. Hayes is a channel and the School is built upon the material she has channeled and continues to channel on a regular basis. The School is built around the ancient myth of Isis retrieving the body parts of her slain and mutilated husband, Osiris, recast in the light of present planetary transformations. The purpose of the Crest in the Stone Mystery School is to lead individuals in the “gathering”of the parts of their self into a whole entity/consciousness that leads to a future resurrection of the archetypical Logos/Mind. Through this assemblage, the souls of people can ascend in a Phoenix-like flame, to be emancipated from earth and reborn in a realm of Light and Air.

The School initiates individuals into a specific form of meditation (termed Matrix) and teaches the initiate to tap the source of personal co-creative power. The School expounds a way to access the ancient archetypes of our spiritual-genetic memories that leads to the premise that all goodness comes from God and that God is found within (not outside) us.

Chrystine StarEagle has channeled one volume, Magi from the Blue Star, from Elvis Presley. This book recounts Presley’s past incarnation and his spiritual journey since the end of his earthly life. The volume also recounts his conversations with long-time friend Wanda June Hill and includes stories of his extraordinary effect on people who knew him.

Membership

The School has one center, the Church of the Johannine Origin, in San Antonio, Texas, and in 1992 reported approximately 50 members.

Periodicals

Temple Doors Doctrine of Mysteries.

Divine Word Foundation

c/o Edmund Spitzer, 1999 Pine Grove Rd., Rogue River, OR 97537

The Divine Word Foundation was founded in 1962 by Dr. Hans Nordewin von Koerber (1886–1979), formerly professor of Asiatic studies at the University of Southern California. The purpose of the Foundation is to disseminate the revelation of Jakob Lorber (1800–1864). An Austrian-born musician, Lorber in his fortieth year heard a voice in his heart saying, “Jakob, get up, take your pencil and write.” Obeying, he began to function as the scribe to this Voice, which he believed to be none other than the Lord Jesus Christ. Through Lorber, the Voice dictated 25 books and other, shorter works. The revelations did not end with Lorber. In 1870 Gottfried Meyerhofer (1807–1877), a retired Army officer living in Trieste and a student of the Lorber literature, heard the Voice, which began to dictate through him. Since Meyerhofer’s death, others in succession have continued to hear the Voice, including Leopold Engel, Johanne Ladner, Bertha Dudde, Johannes Widmann, Max Seltmann, Johanna Henzsel, George Riehle, and Johannes Friede.

The works of Lorber were published primarily by Christoph Friedrich Landbeck of Bietigheim, Germany, who headed the Neutheosophischer Verlag (after 1907 Neusalems-Verlag or New Jerusalem Publication House). In 1924, the Neusalem Gesellschaft (New Jerusalem Society) was formed. Adolf Hitler suppressed the Lorber work, but it was quickly reestablished. The Society became the Lorber Gesellschaft and the publishing arm, the Lorber Verlag. In 1921, the Lorber revelations were discovered by Dr. von Koerber. As he accepted them, he began to translate them into English and introduce them to others.

The new revelation fills 42 volumes of approximately 450 pages each. For Lorber, God is the Infinite Spirit behind the universe. The Holy Spirit is the “external life ether”that permeates the universe. The universe is the expression of God, made up of tiny spiritual primordial sparks created to grow into the divine likeness. It is God’s desire to create a society of living love.

The plan of God was thwarted by Lucifer who revolted with the spirits below him and became entrapped in matter: impure spirit condensed. God is using matter as a filtering plant through which the impure spirits can be purified. Earth is the place where the rebellious spirits are being given the chance to return voluntarily to God. God became man in Jesus to accelerate the redemptive process. The cross is a perfect example of love.

A human being is intended to learn, through the imitation of Christ, to love God and his neighbor as himself. He thus achieves rebirth and is allowed to participate in the work of redemption. At death, each soul discards the body and begins life as a spirit. It ascends, beginning from its point of development in the body, ultimately to the New Jerusalem. Christ will return in the near future to recreate the earth and establish the millennium, the first signs of which are worldly conflict and turmoil. The present period will culminate in Lucifer’s making his final choice and in a war of destruction of the most rebellious ones.

The membership of the Lorber Society is concentrated in German-speaking Europe, but has spread to every continent. In the United States, individuals around the country study the revelation found in the books published by the Divine Word Foundation. Study groups are located in San Diego and Newark, California; Denver, Colorado; and Salt Lake City, Utah. Since Dr. von Koerber’s death, his widow, Hildegard von Koerber, has continued his translating efforts. There is also a translator residing in Salt Lake City. Dr. Fred S. Bunger, the Foundation’s first president, died in 1979 and was succeeded by Earl G. Fox of Melba, Idaho. Bunger coauthored with Dr. von Koerber the Foundation’s basic text, A New Light Shines Out of Darkness.

The Foundation has a friendly relationship with the Lorber Verlag in Germany, though it is organizationally independent. It is also associated with another English-language translator in Great Britain.

Membership

Not reported.

Sources

www.j-lorber.com/English/.

Bunger, Fred S., and Hans N. von Koerber. A New Light Shines Out of the Present Darkness. Philadelphia: Dorrance Company, 1971.

Lorber, Jakob. The Three-Days-Scene at the Temple of Jerusalem. Bietigheim, Würtemberg, Germany: Neu-Salems-Society, 1932.

Doctrine of Truth Foundation

Current address not obtained for this edition.

The Doctrine of Truth Foundation was established in the mid-1970s to promulgate the research and ideas of Lewis E. Cook Jr. and Junko Yasui, as contained in their book Goldot: Guidebook of Life and Doctrine of Truth. Following the Korean War, Cook (b. 1925) worked in Korea as part of the reconstruction program and stayed on as head of a construction company. In 1964 he moved to Japan to establish a prefabricated-home business. There he met and fell in love with Junko Yasui. They were married in 1967, and soon afterward moved to the Philippines. There, both began a period of heightened attention to their spiritual lives. They began to practice yoga, read metaphysical and occult books, and meditate.

The couple moved to the United States in 1970 and immediately began to teach all that they had learned. They assembled a summary of their ideas in Goldot, and founded the Doctrine of Truth to disseminate those ideas. Goldot is acclaimed as the modern Bible and Guidebook for humanity. It covers all dimensions of life, beginning with its origins. Creation was, it teaches, an emanation from Spirit. Spirit begat the Oversoul, which in turn led to the development of universal mind, the universe, light, darkness, heaven (the astral universe), and earth (the material universe). The astral light entered the material universe and all life forms resulted. God then released the individual souls within Itself, and these “gods of creation” then created the world and all of the plant, vegetable, and human life within it. The human life was in their image and likeness. The astral gods took on physical bodies. However, the God Men violated their own divine mandate and began to intermingle with that segment of the human race who were not God Men.

According to Goldot, earthly life is governed by Truth, universal principles, and laws. The principles produce life, whereas the laws govern it. Underlying reality is Unity-Equilibrium, the infinite eternal presence within all phenomena, also known as Spirit or God. Unity-Equilibrium manifests as Mind, the essence of all phenomena. The Unity-Equilibrium particle of each human manifests as pure mind, also known as soul or ego. The universe is the result of the creative expressions of the Universal Mind, the collective ego of all souls. Every instant and every detail of an individual’s life is the result of mental creative activity. Life equals creativity. We experience life through sensory perception. Our limited perceptions in the material realm create illusion.

Life and its sensory experiences are governed by the laws of harmony, duality-polarity, cycles, cause-effect, and karma. The universe exists in harmony, disrupted only by human ignorance. Humans should strive for harmonious life and relationships. Because harmony undergirds the universe, in order for it to be perceived, it must manifest as either the negative or positive aspect of a neutral equilibrated image. Thus, phenomena function to produce the illusion of our world. The world of illusion goes through cycles of formation and dissolution. The ongoingness of the cycles follows a pattern of cause and effect. The law of cause and effect in human life manifests as karma, the consequences of the thoughts, words, and deeds of individuals.

The Doctrine of Truth Foundation builds upon the basic principles and laws of life and disseminates teachings that explain the meaning of these principles and laws for all of life. As part of this endeavor, it publishes Goldot and other related literature. Related to the Foundation are the Doctrine of Truth Church, the Doctrine of Truth School, and the Doctrine of Truth Research Center.

Membership

Not reported.

Sources

Cook, Lewis E., Jr., and Junko Yasui. Goldot: Guidebook of Life and Doctrine of Truth. Oceanside, CA: Doctrine of Truth Foundation, 1976.

EarthStar Alliance

1163 N Thunder Ridge Dr., Tucson, AZ 85745-3378

EarthStar Alliance was founded in the mid-1990s by Sara Mattoon and Scott Myrom to assist what they believe to be a planetary transformation now occurring on Earth. Mattoon and Myrom view themselves as two of a number of masters who have incarnated on Earth during this generation who, having lived some years as just a normal human being, now have become aware of their task to aid in the creation of Heaven on Earth. They believe that Earth is in the process of becoming a star. As the planet moves from its state of dense physical reality into being a radiant body of light, stress is produced in humans’ dense earth bodies. EarthStar Alliance provides a way of viewing the world, specific techniques, and new technologies to support the body during this change. These include bodywork, channeling sessions, and group events.

EarthStar Alliance teaches that each individual is both of the One, or God, and also a separate unique individual. In their aspect as part of the One, persons exist in one single reality or dimension; as separate individuals, they exist in a multitude of realms or dimensions. Most individuals live totally in the third (physical and mental) and fourth (astral) dimensions, where the game of good and evil is played out. Individuals also exist in various nonphysical dimensions, from the fourth (light) to the twelfth (experience of the One). Understanding the multiple existence of oneself in these various dimensions (including the lower ones) assists comprehension of one’s divine nature. In the eighth and ninth dimensions, individuals see their Spirit manifesting as individual identities that represent groups— that is, they see themselves as part of a group soul. Individuals from various group souls are now on planet Earth.

When one shifts one’s perspective on who one is, the illusion of reality is also shifted and the manifestation of who one is in other dimensions begins to manifest in the third and fourth dimensions. Basic to the new view of the self is a shift of identity from that of struggling human to that of multidimensional divine self, and from that of student to that of master. Also, each person should shift the way of measuring reality from the beliefs and feelings of the third and fourth dimensions to a fifth-dimension perspective (based in knowingness and inner authority).

Members of EarthStar Alliance and those who resonate with its work are considered part of one group soul now manifesting on planet Earth. This group soul has a specific task in the period of transition to serve as path-cutters bringing light, information, and energy from the more expanded dimensions.

Membership

Not reported. The Alliance supports regular meetings in San Diego and is reaching out to other communities along the Pacific Coast.

Periodicals

True Reality.

Sources

Good Timing Guide. www.goodtimingguide.com/index/index_questions.htm.

The Eloists, Inc.

Drawer O, Duxbury, MA 02321

The Eloist Ministry was founded by Walter De Voe at the turn of the twentieth century. De Voe was born in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, in 1874. As a teenager he became a seeker of metaphysical truth, and in his search, found his way to the Chicago World’s Fair and the Parliament of Religions in 1893. At that time he was exposed to the sacred books of all the major religions. He also became acquainted with many individuals with similar interests and subsequently became a part of what eventually evolved into the “New Thought”movement.

By 1902 De Voe had begun to work with his newly discovered abilities as a spiritual healer. He successfully pursued this work in Battle Creek, Michigan, and then in Cleveland, Ohio, where he published Healing Currents from the Battery of Life in 1904. In 1916 he was inspired to relocate his ministry to the Boston suburb of Brookline, which was a great center of metaphysical activity at the time, and in 1918 the organization was incorporated as a nonprofit, tax-exempt religious entity in the state of Massachusetts, with the name of “The Eloist Ministry.”The Ministry continued its work of spiritual education and spiritual healing until 1954. At that time Walter De Voe’s health began to fail with advancing age, and it was decided to relocate the headquarters to Duxbury, Massachusetts, where it remains today. The focus and emphasis of the organization’s work changed somewhat over the years, and as a reflection of that fact, its name was abbreviated to “The Eloists, Inc.,” in 1972.

Unlike a conventional church that emphasizes the seeking of converts and continual establishment of growing congregations, the Eloists have remained a group of limited size because of the personal demands made by the group’s commitment to a specific spiritual endeavor that, it notes, may not be for everyone. While not presuming to be “God’s spokesmen” or believing they offer the only path to the Creator, the Eloists strive to extend a helping hand to other sincere seekers they meet along the path to greater spiritual growth and understanding.

The Eloists believe that there is but one Creator, who is ever present within all of creation. This Creator cannot be seen as a finite entity, but the Creator’s works stand in perpetual glory and the Creator’s voice can be heard within one’s consciousness and being when an individual is opened and attuned. People are responsible for their own spiritual growth, and no savior can substitute for good works and soul development.

While the primary source of inspiration comes from within, the Eloists enlist the aid of a variety of inspirational books, among which is Oahspe, a book they were directed to read in the mid-1930s by an elevated angelic presence. The Eloists believe the book to be genuine, but make allowances for imperfections within it and do not interpret it literally as an inflexible book of rules; nor, indeed, do they worship any book.

The Eloists note that individuals from many other religious persuasions may find aspects of Eloist activities familiar, though as a whole Eloist belief is unique. While Eloist belief is non-Christian, Christian “New Thought” students would find Eloist perspectives on healthcare and spiritual healing to be similar to their own positions; Quakers would understand Eloist methods of conducting business, the unprogrammed meetings, the absolute commitment to nonviolence, and the mystical religion. Shakers might identify with some aspects of Eloist ritual, while spiritualists might identify with Eloist attention to spirit communion and the interest in developing psychic sensitivity. Eloist activities include, among others, educational instruction, spiritual counseling, publishing, and charitable work.

From 1983 until 1999 the Eloists, Inc., published the journal Radiance. Back issues of this bimonthly periodical remain available, as does Healing Currents from the Battery of Life, revised for the fourth time in 1999.

Membership

Not reported. There are no clergy.

Periodicals

Eloist Focus.

Sources

De Voe, Walter. Healing Currents from the Battery of Life. Brookline, MA: Eloist Ministry, 1919.

———. Mystic Words of Mighty Power. New York: Gordon Press Publishers, 1991. The Eloists. Duxbury, MA: Eloist Ministry, 1990.

Oahspe: A New Age Bible. Los Angeles: Essenes of Kosmon, 1950.

Family of Abraham

Box 690070, San Antonio, TX 78269

In the early 1980s channel Esther Hicks began to receive messages from “Abraham,” the name assumed by a group of evolved noncorporeal entities. In 1986, with the assistance of her husband, Jerry Hicks, who had received the initial messages, she began to inform some close friends and business associates of what was occurring and the messages they were receiving. These people began to offer questions to Abraham and found “his” answers useful and meaningful. Upon receiving this positive response, the Hickses began to make Abraham’s teaching available to the general public, primarily through the circulation of tapes of the channeling sessions.

Abraham has spoken to a wide variety of issues of concern to the New Age community, such as coming earth changes, but has centered his message on the need for individuals to become conscious co-creators of their reality. This process is assisted by one’s becoming aware of the laws of the universe and learning to move in accordance with them. Most important is the law of attraction, by which one can attract whatever one desires. It is used in connection with the law of allowing, by which one becomes free of the negativity that binds our life.

The Hickses have established a schedule of regular weekend “Dialogues” with Abraham around the country, and over the years Abraham study groups have formed across the United States. Those responding to the messages from Abraham have been informally dubbed the Family of Abraham. A quarterly newsletter, Abraham Speaks, was begun. It was superseded by the more substantive The Leading Edge in 1994.

Membership

In 1994 there were nine Abraham study groups and an unreported number of individuals receiving The Leading Edge.

Periodicals

The Leading Edge.

Remarks

In 2006 Esther Hicks came to the fore in the metaphysical community as one of the featured presenters of prosperity-consciousness ideas in the original release of the movie The Secret, developed by Australian filmmaker Rhonda Byrne. In spite of the success of the movie, she declined to participate in the second expanded version.

Sources

Family of Abraham. www.abraham-hicks.com.

Fellowship of the Inner Light

c/o The Fellowship Center, 620 14th St., Virginia Beach, VA 23451

The Fellowship of the Inner Light was formed in Atlanta, Georgia, in October 1972 by psychic Paul Solomon (1939–1994) and his associates. In February 1972, in a hypnotic trance, Solomon began to speak in a stern voice, a voice later to be labeled “the Source.”As the trance sessions continued and Solomon began a vigorously disciplined life, the material that came through the readings began to provide techniques for treatment of disease, prophecies that proved accurate, spiritual philosophy, and a complete system for the development of “Inner Light Consciousness.”The Fellowship was organized as a structure to further the work of Solomon and to disseminate the Inner Light Consciousness. In 1974 the Fellowship moved to Virginia Beach, Virginia, the home of Edgar Cayce, to whom Solomon is likened by his followers. Cayce founded the Association for Research and Enlightenment, discussed elsewhere in this volume.

The material in the transcripts of the Solomon readings covers a wide range of topics: Atlantis, diet and health, healing, reincarnation, sex, spiritual development, and prophecies. The worldview closely parallels that of the Cayce readings. Man is a son of God trapped in material forms that had their first manifestation on Atlantis. Through spiritual growth, the cleansing of the body, and evolvement, the trapped soul can return to oneness with God. Also discussed in the material are the ones who came to aid those who are trapped and wish to return. Reincarnation allows time for the growth of the soul.

The source for the information coming through Solomon is the Universal Mind as manifested in the Akashic records. All thoughts and actions are said to be recorded on the “universal ethers” of the Akashic records, and psychics “tap into” those records to obtain information. In the Fellowship of the Inner Light, contact with spirits is discouraged. From the readings, a course that places the student on the mystic path to cosmic consciousness has been constructed. The course emphasizes the Light Within (or Holy Spirit). Consciousness of the Light is the key to overcoming the limitations of the material. The methods of the course, including relaxation, meditation, prayer, self-control, occult law, and psychic development, lead to mastery of one’s psychic nature, to integration of the total person, and to spiritual development.

The Fellowship is conceived of as a religious association serving the needs of the New Age community. During the 1970s, the Fellowship was headquartered in Virginia Beach, from where a vigorous local program was offered. Two entities, Heritage Store and Heritage Publications, were closely affiliated. Heritage Publications issued the material from the readings, the first volume of which appeared in 1974, while Heritage Store was begun in 1969 to make available to the general public the remedies suggested in the Cayce readings. In 1978, however, a 13-acre tract of land near New Market, Virginia, was dedicated as “Carmelin-the-Valley.” Headquarters shifted to this rural site, and ambitious plans for the development of a new age community as the center of the fellowship were announced. Publication offices remained in Virginia Beach. Affiliated fellowships can be found across the United States, and in England, Holland, and several other countries.

In the years since Solomon’s death, the fellowship has cooperated with the Paul Solomon Foundation, which has charge of all of the recorded readings that Solomon left behind. The Foundation has engaged in editing and transcribing this material, and in making it available to the public. Both organizations perpetuate the notion of Solomon’s likeness to Edgar Cayce (1877–1945), and describe him as America’s “second sleeping prophet.”

Membership

Not reported. There is one center of activity, located in Virginia Beach, Virginia.

Periodicals

Reflections on the Inner Light. Available from Rte. 1, Box 141, Timberville, VA 22853.

Sources

Fellowship of the Inner Light. www.fellowshipoftheinnerlight.com/.

Paul Solomon Foundation. www.paulsolomon.com/.

A Healing Consciousness. Virginia Beach, VA: Master’s Press, 1978.

Spiritual Unfoldment and Psychic Development through Inner Light Consciousness. Atlanta, GA: Fellowship of the Inner Light, n.d.

Fellowship of Universal Guidance

c/o Bella Karish, 1524 Glenoaks Blvd., Glendale, CA 91201

The Fellowship of Universal Guidance was founded in 1960 by Dr. Wayne A. Guthrie and Dr. Bella Karish, both of whom serve as channels for the “great sources of light,” teachers from the spirit world who guide Fellowship activities. The Fellowship has been associated with the Universal Link on occasion, but the thrust of the Fellowship’s concern is the harmonizing of the three levels of consciousness. The Fellowship teaches that there are three separate entities within each person: the high self, the conscious self, and the basic self. The ultimate goal is to bring them into alignment for the eventual good of the karmic pattern by blending them for physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual development. The high self is part of the superconscious structure and is located about three inches above the head. The conscious self functions in interpersonal relationships, and the basic self is that part that evolved from the animal kingdom, according to the Fellowship.

Man reincarnates on earth only once but is re-embodied until his goal is reached. The high self chooses where to incarnate. The basic self carries memory, emotions, and the masculine/feminine consciousness. Unfulfilled karma from previous embodiments can cause the basic self to open to negative forces that can cause diseases, which can be healed only by discharging the karmic pattern. The Fellowship offers a “Three Selves Evaluation”to aid the individual in growth.

The insights of the Fellowship are given to the world through several series of lessons, beginning with the Wisdom Workshop Lessons, Series I. Students may take these lessons by correspondence, and groups have formed to study the material collectively.

Membership

Not reported.

Periodicals

Uniguidance. Available from 1674 Hillhurst Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90027.

Sources

Fellowship of Universal Guidance. www.foug.org.

Master Apollonius Speaks. Los Angeles: Fellowship of Universal Guidance, 1970.

The Prophetic Word: Revelation Number Two. Los Angeles: Fellowship of Universal Guidance, [1980].

Wisdom Workshop Lessons, Series 1. 12 vols. Los Angeles: Fellowship of Universal Guidance, n.d.

Foundation Church of Divine Truth, Inc.

FCDT Publishing, PO Box 802694, Santa Clarita, CA 91380-2694

The Foundation Church of Divine Truth (FCDT) supersedes the former Foundation Church of the New Birth, based upon the writings of James Edward Padgett (1852–1923). Padgett, an assistant district attorney in the Washington, D.C., area, and a Methodist Sunday school teacher, became interested in Spiritualism after the death of his wife, Helen, in 1914. He was told by a medium that he had the gift of automatic writing (the process by which mediums convey, either by writing or typing, thoughts and words transmitted through them by a spirit entity). Padgett received his first message from his wife, Helen, describing her passing into the spirit world and then later her spiritual progress into the Celestial Heavens.

Within a year, Padgett began to receive messages purporting to be from Jesus of Nazareth, urging him to pray for the inflowing of the Father’s Divine Love. On October 5, 1914, Jesus (Master of the Celestial Heavens) told Padgett that he had been selected to disseminate the Father’s Truths to humankind. The result was some 2,500 messages received from Jesus, other high Celestial spirits, and a variety of spirits either progressing through the Spiritual Heavens or stagnating in the lower spheres of the spirit world. The most important messages were published in four volumes, the first of which was printed in 1940. The sum total of these messages from Jesus were said to constitute his Second Coming to earth. Padgett received the messages between the years 1914 and 1923. After his death, the manuscripts were left in the custody of a close associate, Dr. Leslie R. Stone (1876–1967). Stone and others interested in the messages incorporated the Foundation Church of the New Birth in 1958 in Washington, D.C.

In 1982 the Rev. John Paul Gibson, the sole surviving founding trustee of the Foundation Church of the New Birth, died. A group of members, primarily in the Washington, D.C. area, reorganized as the New Christian Healing Sanctuary. They received permission to receive mail at the former church’s mailbox. In December 1985, nine former members of the Foundation Church of the New Birth (eight of whom were ordained ministers) formed the Foundation Church of Divine Truth to carry forward the work of the former church.

BELIEFS

Since their initial publication, the volumes of messages have been variously titled Book of Truths, Messages from Jesus and Celestials, True Gospel Revealed Anew by Jesus, and, more recently, Angelic Revelations of Divine Truth (in two volumes), New Testament Revelations of Jesus of Nazareth, and What Happens After You Die. A summary of the material is found in the tenets of the church, given as direct revelation by Jesus of Nazareth and his disciples from the Celestial Heavens. True to the Spiritualist heritage, the first tenet concerns the continuity of the soul after death. The soul enters the spirit world and continues to progress until it reaches the Sixth Sphere, which is the Paradise of the Old Testament, or the Kingdom of the Perfect Natural Man, beyond which no further progress occurs. Should the soul seek to be filled with the Divine Love of the Creator, however, its progress takes it to the Celestial Heavens, where it continues to receive inflowing of the Divine Essence of the Father and becomes conscious of its immortality. The potential for receiving this Divine Love had been lost with the fall of the first created parents. It was restored in the person of Jesus of Nazareth, a human son selected by God as the first recipient of this Love and as his message bearer (Messiah). Jesus’ earthly mission was to inform humankind that possession of Divine Love was now available to all through fervent prayer to the Father for this Gift, the ultimate result of which would be transformation of the soul from mortal to immortal and its eventual angelic status in the Celestial Heavens.

ORGANIZATION

The Foundation Church of Divine Truth is governed by a board of trustees that has the power to ordain ministers and charter churches. Members relate to the church primarily through the mail or e-mails. The church describes itself as “a through the mail, nonprofit Christian Spiritualist organization that exists solely for the purpose of spreading the Truths of God’s Divine Love as taught by Jesus of Nazareth, and as contained in its publications.”The church is “interdenominational in that it upholds the highest spiritual teachings of all religions, with the added commandment given by Jesus when he was on earth to ‘Love One Another as I Have Loved You’ with the Divine Love of God received into the human soul.” Spiritual advisors are available to correspond via conventional mail or e-mail.

Membership

Not reported. The church states that membership is “open to all who spiritually and morally uphold the purpose of the church to disseminate the Truth’s of God’s Divine Love to humankind.”

Sources

Foundation Church of Divine Truth. www.fcdt.org/.

Padgett, James E. True Gospel Revealed Anew by Jesus. 4 vols. Washington, DC: Foundation Church of the New Birth, 1958–1984.

———. Angelic Revelations of Divine Truth. 2 vols. Santa Clarita, CA: Foundation Church of Divine Truth, 1989–1992.

———. New Testament Revelations of Jesus of Nazareth. Santa Clarita, CA: Foundation Church of Divine Truth, 2003.

———. What Happens after You Die. Santa Clarita, CA: Foundation Church of Divine Truth, 2003.

Foundation Church of the New Birth

Box 996, Benjamin Franklin Sta., Washington, DC 20044

The Foundation Church of the New Birth, reestablished in 1991, is a through-the-mail church organization that continues the work of the organization of the same name originally founded in 1958. The earlier church was built around the channeled messages of James Edward Padgett (1852–1923), who received numerous messages from Jesus via automatic writing between 1914 and his death in 1923. These messages were published by the church in four volumes under the title True Gospel Revealed Anew by Jesus. During the mid-1980s, the church passed through a period of organizational disruption, after which it was disbanded. An attempt to reorganize led, in December 1985, to the formation of the Foundation Church of Divine Truth, by nine of the former members. In 1991, another group of former members reorganized under the original name. The church is led by its trustees, with Rev. Jocelyn Harleston serving as current administrative head. It continues to reprint the first four volumes of True Gospel Revealed Anew by Jesus.

The church seeks to inform mankind of the availability of the Heavenly Father’s Divine Love, which is received into the soul when earnestly sought for through prayer and soul longings. Its inflowing is felt as a radiant glow in the heart region. When sufficient abundance of this love is obtained, it will transform the soul from the image of the Father into his very substance, which is not only divine but also immortal.

The church teaches that Jesus of Nazareth brought this love to light during his public ministry on earth and continues to teach its availability today, from the realm of spirit.

Membership

Not reported.

Periodicals

New Birth Commentary.

Sources

Foundation Church of the New Birth. www.divinelove.org/.

Padgett, James D. True Gospel Revealed Anew by Jesus. 4 vols. Washington, DC: Foundation Church of the New Birth, 1958–1972.

Foundation for Meditative Studies

PO Box 908, Ashland, OR 97520

The Foundation for Meditative Studies, originally known as the Foundation for the Realization of Inner Divinity, was founded in 1990 by Swami Paramananda Saraswatti, and supersedes an earlier organization, MAFU Seminars. The founding of the foundation followed an intense religious experience by Penny Torres Rubin, a New Age channel (medium) of the entity MAFU. During the late 1980s, Torres Rubin had emerged as one of the most popular channels within the growing New Age Movement. She started channeling in 1986 when she began to communicate with the disincarnate personage known as MAFU. Within a few months she was channeling regularly in public sessions in Los Angeles and Santa Barbara, California. Torres Rubin’s organization, MAFU Seminars, circulated cassettes and videotapes of the channeling sessions around the world.

MAFU is characterized as a 32,000-year-old entity who has incarnated on earth at least 17 times. His enlightened messages insist that each person is, in essence, divine. God is equated with the power of life. Thus all things are of God and in God. The goal of life is to realize one’s own divine nature, by which knowledge one becomes a master.

Toward the end of 1989, Torres Rubin traveled to Hardiwar, India, in the Himalayan foothills. She took the vows of a sannyassi (accepting the renounced life), and also accepted a mission as the “ordained leader of spirituality” for the present age. Here, she received her new name, Swami Paramananda Saraswatti. Upon her return to the United States, Saraswatti established the Foundation for the Realization of Inner Divinity and its subsidiary, the Center for God Realization, which now disseminates MAFU’s teaching materials and regularly conducts seminars and retreats for thousands of seekers.

The Foundation has brought together all of the wisdom received from MAFU and presents it as a distinct path to God consciousness. The organization has purchased a campground near Ashland, Oregon, as a retreat center. It has also developed a mastery course that introduces people to MAFU’s spiritual path.

Membership

In 1992 the foundation reported an active membership of 15,000.

Sources

Foundation for Meditative Studies. www.foundationformeditativestudies.org/.

Torres, Penny [MAFU]. And What Be God? Vacaville, CA: Mafu Seminars, 1989.

———. Reflections on Yeshua Ben Joseph. Vacaville, CA: Mafu Seminars, 1989.

Grail Movement of America

2081 Partridge Ln., Binghamton, NY 13903

Alternate Address

International Headquarters: Internationale GralsbewegungVomperberg, A-6134, Vomperberg, Tyrol, Austria.

The Grail Movement of America is supported by the Grail Foundation, which is the structure for disseminating the teachings of Oskar Ernest Bernhardt (1875–1941) of Bischofswerda, Germany. In 1924 Bernhardt moved to Bavaria, where he began to write lectures under the pen name Abd-ru-shin. In 1928 he settled in Austria, where he wrote In the Light of Truth, the Grail Message. He continued writing until he was expelled by the Nazis in 1938. The first center in America was formed about 1939 at Mt. Morris, Illinois. Abd-ru-shin’s message is termed the Grail Message, a reference to the Holy Grail as the power center of creation.

According to Abd-ru-shin, God created man equal and set him in search of self-consciousness and maturity. In his search, man was led to the world of gross matter. Men’s physical bodies were fashioned for our true selves to function within while on Earth. The purpose of man is to learn to live in harmony with the divine laws that brought forth the creation and now maintain it. Eventually, man can return to the spiritual realm as a mature human spirit, ready to enter life-eternal as a fully seasoned and self-conscious entity capable of serving the Creator as a true human spirit.

The Grail Message is contained in the three volumes of In the Light of Truth. There are also other writings by Abd-ru-shin. They are circulated in North America by the foundation through its two headquarters, formerly located in Mt. Morri and Lapeer, Michigan, and now in Binghamton, New York, and Quebec, Canada. The International Grail Movement also works in most European countries, Australia, and New Zealand. There is some work in South America, Asia, and Africa.

Membership

In 2002 the movement reported 400 active adherents in the United States and 1,000 in Canada. Worldwide the movement has some 19,000 adherents.

Sources

Grail Movement of America. www.grailmessage.com.

Abd-ru-shin. Awake! Selected Lectures. Vomperberg, Tyrol, Austria: Maria Bernhardt Publishing Co., n.d.

———. In the Light of Truth. Vomperberg, Tyrol, Austria: Maria Bernhardt Publishing Co., 1954.

Inner Circle Kethra E’Da Foundation, Inc.

Box 121722, San Diego, CA 92112-1722

The Inner Circle Kethra E’Da Foundation, Inc., was established in 1945 by Mark Probert (d. 1969) and his wife, Irene Probert, of San Diego, California. Mark Probert, an orphan with little formal education, one evening began to speak aloud in his sleep. According to his wife’s description, he spoke in foreign languages and sang arias from operas. Dr. Meade Layne, founder-director of the Borderland Science Research Society, a large southern California psychic organization, recognized Probert as a trance medium and helped guide his development. Gradually, teachers from the spirit world began to contact Probert. One afternoon, five of his teachers appeared to him and told him that they wished to bring their teaching to the world using him as their channel. Many of the teachings were published in 1954 and 1955 in Mystic, the Magazine of the Supernatural and later collected in a book, The Magic Bag; more recently, they were gathered in the book Yada Speaks.

In all, 11 teachers manifested themselves in light bodies (figures similar to shining, brilliant ghosts), and Mark was able to make sketches of them. The three main ones were Professor Alfred Luntz, an Anglican clergyman; Ramon Natalli, a contemporary of Galileo; and Yada di Shi’ite, who lived half a million years ago in the ancient civilization of Yu in the Himalayas. These teachers are members of an Inner Circle that at one time existed on earth, with Probert (in an earlier incarnation) as a member. Eternal life is at the heart of the teachings of the Inner Circle. The goal of life is to attain one’s original state as a divine being. Earth experiences are seen as movement through a series of initiations into higher and greater states of awareness. When one attains a state in which there is no break in consciousness, freedom is attained and there is no necessity to return to the physical. Work pursued with love and sincerity is the way to awareness. Yoga practices, secret mantras, sitting in meditation, and deep concentration are considered futile attempts to hurry progress. The basic entity in the universe is the individual. The plan of the universe lies within the individual, and becomes apparent as one solves one’s own riddle of the universe. God, or the Creative Force, is said to be the impersonal soul with which one becomes aware of the unification.

The foundation has preserved the numerous tapes of Probert’s trance-lectures and disseminates them in both cassette form and as transcripts. Members gathered on Friday evening for dictation prior to Probert’s death in 1969, and now gather to listen to tapes and for discussions.

Membership

There is no formal membership. In 1997 there were three centers in the United States.

Sources

Probert, Mark. Excerpts from the Mark Probert Séances: 1950 Series. 3 vols. San Diego: Inner Circle Press, 1950.

———. The Magic Bag. San Diego: Inner Circle Kethra E’Da Foundation, 1963.

———. Transcript from Deep Trance-Lecture. 10 vols. San Diego: Inner Circle Kethra E’Da Foundation, n.d.

Wassen, Ralph, ed. Yada Speaks. San Diego: Kethra E’Da Foundation, 1985.

Lifelight University

4030 Dodd Dr., Cable, WI 54821

Lifelight University, an esoteric college of Light, grew out of the channeling activity of Arlene Nelson. Since 1983 Nelson has channeled an entity named Sinat Schirah, who is generally referred to more simply by the nickname Stan. Nelson is a full-trance medium. In 1986 a newly intense phase of the channeling work, described as pure channeling, began and this type of channeling now occurs one weekend per month from January to May each year. During these pure channeling sessions, Stan completely takes over and Nelson has no memory of the sessions. Nelson is married to Mervin Colver and believes that she, Stan, and Colver have been reunited for present work because of their association together in previous incarnations.

Lifelight University opened in 1987 to assist people in assuming greater responsibility for their own spiritual, mental, and physical growth. It offers a year-round program of seminars, workshops, classes, and retreats for New Age seekers. Off-campus two-day intensives and introductory sessions are offered at which Stan gives instructions on a variety of topics. New students are invited to take introductory courses in meditation and then proceed through a set of progressive intensives. Material channeled through Nelson from Stan has been published in tapes and books. Weekly devotional sessions called “affirmative sharing” are held each Sunday.

Membership

Not a membership organization.

Periodicals

Lifelight Newsletter. • 7 Rays.

Sources

Lifelight University. www.lifelightuniversity.org.

Michael Educational Foundation

10 Muth Dr., Orinda, CA 94563

In the years since the first contact with “Michael,” the collective entity who has been communicating with the Michael Teachings group in the San Francisco Bay area, and especially since the 1979 publication of the original book on Michael by Chelsea Quinn Yarbro (b. 1942), several other teachers also claiming contact with Michael have appeared. Two of these teachers, J. P. Van Hulle and Aaron Christeaan, founded the Michael Educational Foundation in 1984. Though in basic agreement with the Michael Teachings group, the Michael Educational Foundation has expanded its teachings in some very different directions.

According to the Foundation, Michael is the name of a group of 1,050 souls, all of people who have lived many previous lifetimes on Earth. These souls have come together as a single entity to share their vast experience with humanity and to speak to the challenge of being human. Michael speaks through a number of human channels, offers guidance and mentorship to those who choose to listen, and offers a cosmic perspective on life.

Unlike the more anonymous Michael Teachings group, the Foundation has carried on a high-profile public program, has published a number of books and tapes drawn from the weekly channeling sessions, and sponsors various public events in the San Francisco Bay Area and in Hawaii. It has nurtured the formation of Michael study groups at different locations around the world. The group’s newsletter is now available by e-mail. Personal channeling appointments are available with J. P. Van Hulle and Michael North. The Foundation also hosts weekly “telegroups”(meetings via telephone), Wednesday evening gatherings in Orinda, California, and free bimonthly Saturday events around the Bay Area held to introduce new students to Michael’s work.

Membership

As of May 2008 the Foundation had 700 members.

Periodicals

MEF Monthly Newsletter. Available by e-mail only. • Michael’s Monthly Forecast. Available via e-mail subscription. • Michael’s State of the Planet Annual Forecast. Available via e-mail and on CD. (To obtain any of these three periodicals, contact the group at [email protected].)

Sources

Michael Educational Foundation. www.michaeleducationalfoundation.com/.

Baumbach, Emily. Michael’s Cast of Characters. Orinda, CA: Affinity Press, 1989.

Christeaan, Aaron, J. P. Van Hulle, and M. C. Clark. Michael: The Basic Teachings. Orinda, CA: Affinity Press, 1988.

Pope, Joya. The World According to Michael. San Mateo, CA: Sage Publishing, 1987.

Steven, Jose, and Simon Warwick-Smith. Essence and Personality: The Michael Handbook. Orinda, CA: Warwick Press, 1987.

Michael Teachings

PO Box 5459, Lacey, WA 98509-5459

“Michael,”a disembodied reunited entity, first manifested in 1970 during a dinner party in the home of Walter and Jessica Lansing, a couple living in the San Francisco Bay area. The couple was playing with a ouija board when a simple message appeared: “We are here with you tonight.”When inquiry was made as to the identity of this “we,”the response received was: “Each soul is part of a larger body, an entity. Each entity is made up of about one thousand souls, each of which enters the physical plane as many times as necessary to experience all aspects of life and achieve human understanding. At the end of the cycles on the physical plane, the fragments once again reunite as we have reunited.” Michael went on to indicate that he/they comprised an ancient entity that would come to those who requested valid assistance and instruct them in the nature of human evolvement.

Michael described a universe created by evolution from the Tao into seven planes of existence (buddhaic, messianic, mental, akaskic, causal, astral, and physical) similar to Gnostic/theosophical understandings. Michael resides on the causal plane. He/they call attention to the individual’s personal life plan, with particular emphasis on aspects of choice. Understanding is centered on agape, an all-embracing and selfless love.

The Lansings and their guests, Craig and Emily Wright, stayed at the board for the next five hours that first night. They were joined on subsequent occasions by Lucy North (the group’s typist) and Leah and Arnold Harris. During the first six months the group steadily grew until it numbered around 30 members. In 1978 popular novelist Chelsea Quinn Yarbro (b. 1942), who had long been a part of the group, took the material that had accumulated over the eight years of its existence and edited the book Messages from Michael (1979), which first brought widespread public attention to the Michael teachings. The initial group has remained together, and continues to meet twice monthly. Yarbro has edited three subsequent volumes that expand upon the teachings.

Membership

There is one group of some 30 people who meet regularly to receive the messages. In addition, a much larger number of people have received and found guidance from the teachings, especially since the publication of Yarbro’s books.

Sources

Michael Teachings. www.michaelteachings.com/.

Yarbro, Chelsea Quinn. Messages from Michael. Chicago: Playboy Press, 1979.

———. Michael for the Millennium. New York: Berkley Books, 1995.

———. Michael’s People. New York: Berkley Books, 1988.

———. More Messages from Michael. New York: Berkley Books, 1986.

Ramtha’s School of Enlightenment (RSE)

Box 519, Yelm, WA 98587

J. Z. Knight, born Judith Darlene Hampton, founded Ramtha’s School of Enlightenment (RSE) in May 1988. Born in 1946, she was living in Tacoma, Washington, when she first encountered Ramtha in February 1977. In her autobiography, A State of Mind: My Story, she describes a “giant man at the other end of my kitchen … just standing there, aglow. His face … it was the most beautiful face I had ever seen … eyes that shone like ebony stones with copper flashes … skin, if that’s what it was, the coloring of olive, bronze, illuminated, and a fine chiseled nose and a broad jawline and a smile that would rival any Hollywood star’s.”

“You are so beautiful. Who are you?”she asked. “I am Ramtha the Enlightened One. I have come to help you over the ditch. Beloved woman, the greatest of things are achieved with a light heart. It is the ditch of limitation and fear that I will help you over.”

In the months that followed, Ramtha continued to appear to her and teach her. Eventually, he began to “channel”through her—that is, he began to take over the body of J. Z. Knight to deliver his message. According to RSE, this phenomena of channeling was tested in 1996 by a panel of 12 scholars composed of scientists, psychologists, sociologists, and religious experts, who utilized the most current technology to observe J. Z. Knight before, during, and after channeling Ramtha. They concluded that the readings taken from J. Z. Knight’s autonomic nervous system responses were so dramatic that they categorically ruled out any possibility of conscious fakery, schizophrenia, or multiple-personality disorders.

The physical body and the material world, in Ramtha’s thought, are only one aspect of the real world; in fact, they are only the product and effect of the real world constituted by consciousness and energy. The human person is best described as consciousness and energy creating the nature of reality. Ramtha uses the concept of the observer effect found in quantum physics to explain his concept of consciousness and energy. He also uses the concept of God as creator and sovereign to describe the human person as consciousness and energy.

Ramtha himself is the embodiment of his own philosophy, as he is an immortal God, consciousness, and energy, and lived once as a human being 35,000 years ago in the long-gone continent of Lemuria. He grew up among the Lemurians, then a despised minority living at Onai, the port city of Atlatia (Atlantis). He hated the dominant Atlatians and eventually left the city and led a successful revolution against them.

Ramtha emerged as a powerful warrior/conqueror but his career was interrupted by a would-be assassin, who almost killed him with a sword. During his recovery, Ramtha had time to contemplate the unknown God manifest in the life force all around him, and wondered what it would be like to be the unknown God. He was led to consider the wind, that powerful unseen force free of boundaries, limits, or form. After several years of contemplation of the wind, he discovered the ability to separate his consciousness from his body. Further contemplation led to further change; in time, he was able to become one with light and to change his entire body. Eventually, he ascended with his body into a new level of existence. In his lifetime he addressed the questions about human existence and the meaning of life, and through his own observation, reflection, and contemplation he became enlightened and conquered the physical world and death.

BELIEFS AND PRACTICES

Ramtha’s teachings derived from the Gnostic tradition that began with such ancient teachers as Valentinus and Plotinus and were continued through modern movements such as Rosicrucianism, Freemasonry, and Theosophy. According to Ramtha, what we know as the universe originated in a sea of pure potentiality called the Void.

The Void is the source from which all that exists sprang. He describes the Void as “one vast nothing materially, yet all things potentially.”The Void is self-contained, self-sufficient, in a state of rest, and of no need. In its original state, this all-encompassing vastness contains no knowledge of itself, for knowledge is an action. The concept of God as creator and “first cause”is described by Ramtha in terms of the Void contemplating itself and knowing itself. This act of contemplation represents a unique movement in the Void that produced a point of awareness, referred to variously as Point Zero, the observer, primary consciousness, consciousness and energy, and God. Point Zero carries the primordial intent to make known and experience all that is unknown and in a state of potentiality within the vastness of the Void.

Between the two points there appeared space and time. In the atmosphere resulting from the separation a flux emerged in which could be found the original particles of energy; out of these particles of energy (analogous to subatomic particles), the universe was created. Existence was then characterized by the very high frequency at which the points of awareness (entities) and the particles of energy vibrated. Eventually, desiring to explore the Void further, the points of awareness moved further away from Point Zero. That movement led to the formation of a second level of existence characterized by the slowing of the frequency at which the points of awareness and the particles of energy vibrated. In a similar fashion, five additional levels were formed, each characterized by an increasingly slower rate of frequency. The universe that resulted from the entities following their original directive can be pictured as a triangle with Point Zero at the top. Once some entities came to the first level, they began the process of creation and evolution that has resulted, over millions of years, in our present existence as human beings on Earth. The present gross material existence is at the first level along the bottom, the slowest level of frequency. This is the basis for evolution.

The four cornerstones of Ramtha’s philosophy are the concept of the Void, the idea of consciousness and energy creating seven levels of reality, the statement “You are God,” and the mandate to make known the unknown. Many traces of Ramtha’s thought are found in ancient traditions, though usually in faint echoes that barely survived the passing of time and loss of the appropriate context for interpretation.

Ramtha considers the teachings concerning the creation of the world, the evolution of humanity, and the understanding of humans as gods who have forgotten their origin to be mere “philosophy.”While the adoption of that philosophy is a precondition if masters (students) are to recover their divine status, change occurs only as the philosophy is turned into truth. Truth is apprehended when the philosophy is experienced and believed. This is accomplished through pursuing several spiritual practices collectively termed Consciousness & Energy (C&E). Various additional disciplines provide a means of practicing C&E in different settings, with specific goals to be accomplished as a means of training the self in the new reality being proposed by Ramtha.

People interested in the program of study offered at Ramtha’s School of Enlightenment are shown a 1998 video recording entitled Creating Personal Reality, after which they decide whether they want to continue training. The next step is to complete an introductory retreat for one week. Students are then incorporated into the general body of the school, and are asked to participate in a general retreat and a follow-up every year in order to retain their status in the school and participate in its ongoing program, activities, and workshops.

Membership

School records from the year 2002 show that there were then approximately 3,500 students worldwide. Half of this student body resides close to the school campus in Yelm, Washington. An annual world tour that has visited Australia, South Africa, Scotland, Japan, Italy, Spain, Germany, and Mexico has resulted in foreign students in more than 40 cities in 17 countries being supported in their continued learning through regular showings of videotapes made at the school in Yelm.

Periodicals

Windworks: Ideas for Awakening Masters.

Remarks

During the early years of the school, Knight experienced a period of intense criticism, much of it directed at her channeling, an activity considered by many to be inherently questionable. Some within the New Age movement, unaware of what was occurring at the school, suggested that Knight’s withdrawal from the public spotlight signaled a change of focus toward preparing for a darker, apocalyptic future. However, as Knight once again became relatively public, that conception gradually dissipated. Also in the 1980s, Knight’s love of horses led her to begin a business of raising and selling Arabian horses. This enterprise prospered until the mid-1980s, when the market for Arabian horses collapsed and the business went bankrupt. Knight was plunged into debt and a number of students who had invested in the business lost their investments; many had done so with an understanding that Ramtha had approved and sanctioned their investment. As Knight recovered financially, she offered to pay back all of the students (as well as other investors) any money they had lost; while some refused her offer, she eventually returned investment capital to all who accepted it.

Sources

Ramtha’s School of Enlightenment. www.ramtha.com.

Knight, J. Z. A State of Mind. New York: Warner Books, 1987.

Ramtha (J. Z. Knight). A Master’s Reflections on the History of Humanity. 2 vols. Yelm, WA: JZK Publishing, 2001–2002.

———. I Am Ramtha, ed. Cindy Black, Richard Cohn, Greg Simmons, and Wes Walt. Portland, OR: Beyond Words Publishing, 1986.

Melton, J. Gordon. End Enlightenment: Ramtha’s School of Ancient Wisdom. Hillsboro, OR: Beyond Words Publishing, 1988. 216 pp.

Weinberg, Steven L., ed. Ramtha. Eastsound, WA: Sovereignty, 1986.

———. Ramtha: An Introduction. Eastsound, WA: Sovereignty, 1988.

———. The Mystery of Birth and Death: Redefining the Self. Yelm, WA: JZK Publishing, 2000.

River of Crazy Wisdom

c/o Rio Sabe Loco, PO Box 65870, Tucson, AZ 85728

The River of Crazy Wisdom (formerly HomeWords) is the outreach vehicle for New Age channeler Sheradon Bryce (born Susan Johnson). Since 1987 Bryce has channeled an entity named Philip, whose teachings have been compiled in a book, Joy Riding the Universe (1993). Bryce is a full-trance channel (medium) who has moved to demystify the channeling process. She suggests that it is possible that the individual’s mind taps into a larger body of knowledge during channeling than is available to the waking consciousness, and then creates a new personality to hold that new knowledge. Perhaps channeling is simply a way of giving the self permission to do what it would not normally allow itself to do.

Each person, according to Bryce, is a god spark. That god spark inhabits a physical body as a vehicle for expression. It is common for individuals to put the power of the god spark outside of the self, to externalize it. That process occurs whenever individuals believe that they are not god. Whenever one worships a god apart from oneself, one has externalized one’s god spark. This externalization also coincides with irresponsibility, the claim that one is not accountable for one’s circumstances. By externalizing one’s godly power and then not understanding the resulting sense of powerlessness, one makes oneself into a victim. To become a fully functioning individual, one must first accept one’s status as a god in embodiment.

Bryce has been a prolific channeler and distributes her work via both tapes and written transcripts of channeled sessions. She offers periodic retreats and workshops, leads tours to “power” places of the world, and infrequently holds private sessions with Philip. Her channeled material, over 2,000 hours of sessions, covers a wide variety of New Age topics from earth changes to ascension, kundalini and sexuality, and prosperity consciousness.

Membership

Not reported.

Periodicals

HomeWords.

Sources

River of Crazy Wisdom. www.riosabeloco.com/.

Bryce, Sheradon. Joy Riding the Universe: Snapshots of the Journey. Salt Lake City, UT: HomeWords, 1993.

Robin’s Return

1008 Lamberton St., NE, Grand Rapids, MI 49505

Dorothy and Ray Davis founded Robin’s Return from their home in Grand Rapids, Michigan. In the mid-1960s, they began to receive messages from Paramahansa Yogananda (discussed in the chapter on Hindus). At the time, they did not know who Yogananda was. Then, in 1965, Robin, Dorothy Davis’s son by a previous marriage, was killed when his bomber was shot down over Vietnam. After his death, both Ray and Dorothy began to receive messages from him, as well as from Yogananda and other masters. They gathered the messages together and began to publish them, first as a booklet entitled Robin’s Return and then in a newsletter sent to a contact across the United States. During the last six months of 1966, Chimes, the Spiritualist magazine, ran a series of articles by the Davises on their experiences. Reader response led to the establishment of a national network of people who receive the Davis material. Though many of the early messages were from Robin, over the years the majority came from master spiritual teachers and a divine Spirit usually referred to as “I AM.”

According to the Davises, light and love are the basic reality of the universe. The soul is evolving toward God through a series of incarnations in which the attempt is made to raise the vibrations of the soul. As one moves in the light of God, one is growing spiritually. Death is the gateway to a new sphere of light. Love is a means of raising one’s vibrations, thus creating a channel of communication with the masters. The purpose of life is to become a living expression of love. Growth through the light and love are the essence of the great plan of the universe. Although Ray died in 1976, Dorothy continues spreading their beliefs.

The Davises have been close friends of Nellie Cain of the Spiritual Research Society and Illiana of New Age Teachings (discussed elsewhere in this chapter), and have moved freely in Universal Link circles.

Membership

Several hundred people receive mailings from the Davis home in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

Royal Priest Research

PO Box 30973, Phoenix, AZ 85046

Royal Priest Research was founded in the 1980s to facilitate the work of Lyssa Royal, the channel for a variety of entities, some of which are extraterrestrial.

Royal experienced a UFO sighting in 1979 that sparked her interest in extraterrestrial consciousness. While in college, she developed the ability to put herself into a hypnotic state in order to manage stress, which then led her to discover her natural intuitive abilities. Through these experiences, she developed the ability to channel other beings.

Through the organization’s books, tapes, and sacred site tours, Royal Priest Research explores teachings from historic and extraterrestrial cultures and applies lessons learned from those cultures to the present day. Teachings present lessons that strengthen human potential and encourage self-development, as well as a sense of interconnectedness with all life. Royal currently gives seminars on channeling throughout the world.

Membership

Not reported.

Sources

Royal Priest Research. www.lyssaroyal.com.

Royal, Lyssa. Millennium: Tools for the Coming Changes. Hollywood, CA: Light Technology Publications, 1998. 206 pp.

Royal, Lyssa, and Keith Priest. Preparing for Contact: A Metamorphosis of Consciousness. Hollywood, CA: Light Technology Publications, 1994. 188 pp.

———. The Prism of Lyra: An Exploration of Human Galactic Heritage. Hollywood, CA: Light Technology Publications, 1993. 110 pp.

———. Visitors from Within. Albuquerque, NM: Wildflower Press, 1999. 201 pp.

School of Natural Science

PO Box 1115, Cedar Ridge, CA 95924

The School of Natural Science is an organization of men and women devoted to the study and application of natural laws as these operate in all realms of life. Its general purpose is to conduct education along moral, ethical, and spiritual lines, the basis of which is outlined in textbooks known as the Harmonic Series, written by John E. Richardson. Its specific purpose is to help individuals live in harmony with the Constructive Principles of Nature, and to thereby attain self-unfoldment, self-mastery, and resultant health and peace. Those who achieve these goals become, in turn, wholesome units in the aggregate of individuals who comprise nations. The School of Natural Science does not charge for its instruction—it is offered as a gift to those deemed qualified to receive it.

The School of Natural Science teaches that the Universal Intelligence is revealed through his immutable laws, that nature is engaged in the evolvement of individual intelligences, that nature impels individuals to higher levels of consciousness, that the soul is immortal and passes successively into physical and spiritual bodies, that man’s free will works within a law of compensation (karma), that willing conformity to the laws of nature leads to self-mastery, poise, and happiness, and that by living the laws of nature, people come to know instinctively that spiritual reality exists and that life continues after death. Correspondence courses based on these teachings are offered to students.

Membership

Not reported.

Periodicals

Life in Action.

Remarks

The School of Natural Science was established in Stockton, California, in 1883 by John E. Richardson, a practicing attorney. According to Richardson, in the summer of 1883, he was encountered by a stranger at the Grand Central Hotel in Stockton. He had been drawn by a voice telling him, “There is someone at the hotel who wants to see you.”The stranger, who identified himself as Hoo-Kna-Ka, told Richardson that he had known him all his life and had come over continents and oceans to see him. He described Richardson’s spiritual journey from Baptist to Spiritualist to the decision that both hypnotism and mediumship were the results of the same destructive process. Hoo-Kna-Ka then invited Richardson to become an initiate of the School of the Master, headquartered in India, on the condition that he would begin an education movement of that school in the Western world. He was taught by Hoo-Kna-Ka without charge, and was instructed always to give the teachings as a gift: “By an endless chain of Gifts shall the Great Work be established.”

In 1894 Richardson (popularly known as “TK”) moved to Chicago and associated himself with Mrs. Florence Huntley. In 1907 he founded the Indo-American Book Company, which became the publishing arm of the “Great Work,” the name of the movement that spread Hoo-Kna-Ka’s teachings. The company issued the Harmonic Series, still the basic teaching materials of the School of Natural Science. In 1916, after what was termed “certain disclosures” (which included charges of financial mismanagement), TK withdrew from the School in Chicago and the Great Work, and moved to California. In California, he reestablished the School and continued to teach and publish his books.

Sources

School of Natural Science. www.gsns.org/.

Leech, W. Stuart. The Great Crystal Fraud or the Great P. J. Chicago: Occult Publishing Company, 1926.

Richardson, J. E. The Great Message. Great School of Natural Science, 1950.

———. The Great Work. Chicago: Indo-American Book Co., 1907.

———. Who Answers Prayer? Great School of Natural Science, 1954.

West, Sylvester A. TK and the Great Work in America. Chicago: Author, 1918.

SOL Association for Research

Box 2276, North Canton, OH 44720

The SOL Association for Research (SOLAR) is dedicated to preserving and disseminating the spiritual insights gained through the deep catatonic trances of psychic William Allen LePar. Paranormally gifted since childhood, LePar shunned these abilities until his early thirties, when he began to enter into periods of trance, at first involuntarily. SOL was founded in 1974, and in the early 1980s was expanded to SOLAR.

While LePar is in a deep trance state, a voice identified as a union of 12 souls known as the Council speaks through him. The Council’s members have reached an exalted level of growth. They reportedly speak from the “Celestial Level of the God-Made Heavenly Realms,” and they state that this is the only time in history that humanity has been directly contacted by beings in the God-Made Realms. More than 1.25 million words of dialogue with the Council have been recorded, covering virtually all areas of the human condition. This material constitutes one of the most extensive bodies of psychically derived (channeled) material available.

SOLAR, which is non-profit and tax exempt, offers a membership program that includes access to a lending library and quarterly newsletter. Monthly meetings are held in Canton, Ohio, and LePar and SOLAR associates are available for lectures, presentations, and interviews. As of 1995, the organization had produced a dozen books, two video documentaries, and numerous audiotapes.

Membership

In 1995, SOLAR reported several hundred members in the United States, along with members in several foreign countries.

Periodicals

SOLAR Newsletter of the SOL Association for Research.

Sources

SOL Association for Research. www.solarpress.com.

Spiritual Education Endeavors–The Share Foundation

1556 Halford Ave., No. 288, Santa Clara, CA 95051

Spiritual Education Endeavors (S.E.E.)–The Share Foundation was founded in the mid-1980s by Virginia Essene (b. 1928). According to her account, in 1984 Essene was contacted by the Christ, the same entity who had lived on earth almost 2,000 years ago as Jesus, and was asked to be the instrument through which he brought his present message to humanity. She worked intensively over a six-month period in 1985 to receive his message via mental telepathy and produced what became a book, New Teachings for an Awakened Humanity, published in 1986.

The book records the Christ’s warning that failure to acknowledge God in our lives had given humankind a war-like mentality that not only threatened grave harm to the planet but also posed the risk that weapons would be taken into outer space. He called for a new peace consciousness and called upon all to join together as light workers in a Light Corps to work for peace on earth. For this endeavor, his Christ energy would be put at humanity’s disposal.

The Christ also declared that he was preparing for his Second Coming and a new Golden Age. By the end of the twentieth century, every loving soul would be given the opportunity to achieve self-mastery. Light workers were to choose a spiritual path that forsook all desire for war and hatred. To bring about this reality, each light worker was to meditate daily and gather with a group to meditate together at least once a week. The Christ also called upon light workers to join with others in efforts to influence governments and to embody peace in all they did and intended.

Spiritual Education Endeavors was formed to help mobilize and organize the Light Corps, so that it could respond positively to Christ’s call. It published New Teachings for an Awakened Humanity and through the Light Corps has sought to distribute it internationally. A newsletter especially intended for those just beginning in the work was issued nine times annually. Since that time Essene has regularly received additional messages expanding on the original message from the Christ and commenting on ongoing earth changes. These messages have been published in several subsequent books and released in seminars. The period from 1987 to the mid 1990s has been designated a period of the awakening of humanity to the new age that is dawning. Shortly after beginning her work, Essene was joined by Ann Valentin, who also channels from the Light realm.

Membership

Not reported.

Periodicals

Love Corps Newsletter.

Sources

Share Foundation. www.sharefoundationnetwork.com.

The Christ (through Virginia Essene). New Teachings for an Awakened Humanity. Santa Clara, CA: Spiritual Education Endeavors Publishing Company, 1986. 197 pp.

Essene, Virginia. Secret Truths for Teens and Twenties. Santa Clara, CA: Spiritual Education Endeavors Publishing Company, 1986. 120 pp.

Valentin, Ann, and Virginia Essene. Cosmic Revelation. Santa Clara, CA: Spiritual Education Endeavors Publishing Company, 1987. 160 pp.

———. Descent of the Dove. Santa Clara, CA: Spiritual Education Endeavors Publishing Company, 1988. 185 pp.

Trinity Foundation

c/o Athena Leadership Center, 11827 E Cannon Dr., Scottsdale, AZ 85259

The Trinity Foundation was founded in 1991 by Norma J. Milanovich, a channel who in 1981 had begun receiving messages from entities who identified themselves as originating from the Great White Brotherhood (the spiritual hierarchy that guides the affairs of the planet) and the Galactic Command, a group that rules this segment of space. Those who began to give messages to Milanovich bore such names as Kuthumi, Moinka, and Soltec—names familiar to theosophists, flying saucer groups, and New Age seekers. Much of this material was circulated informally, but a growing response led to the publishing of selected portions received from a number of entities who claimed to have visited earth from the star system Arcturus. We, the Arcturians appeared in 1990. At about the same time, Milanovich was invited to share the material from the masters with the members of the United Nations Parapsychology Committee. These two events occasioned the inauguration of a newsletter, Celestial Voices, in October 1990.

Kuthumi, a representative of the Tribunal Council of the Space Command, has emerged as the major voice speaking through Milanovich. He delivered the first message to the United Nations Parapsychology Committee. He noted that the Space Command had made themselves available to assist humanity in transforming the earth into a world of peace and prosperity for all. The Space Command is composed of individuals who have completed their journey through earth incarnations and have learned the curriculum earth had to teach. They now exist at a higher frequency and seek to bring the Light to the earth.

In subsequent messages, Kuthumi outlined his vision of coming changes. During the next 20 years (1991–2011) earth will be birthed into a star and individuals will emerge from the three dimensional world in which we now live into the fifth dimension. To prepare for this change, Kuthumi released a Curriculum of Thought Manifestation, containing the material that must be mastered for entry into the fifth dimension. This world is composed of solidified energy perceived through the five senses. To move to the fifth dimension, one must first accept the possibility that other realities synchronized with the physical world exist and can be perceived as one raises one’s consciousness.

Also, one must learn that we create reality. Reality is created by thoughts, will, emotion, and actions. The path to higher consciousness is one of choosing right thought, right will, right emotion, and right action. As one changes consciousness, one changes reality. Consciousness creates with Light energy. Light is found by looking within.

On September 24, 1991, Kuthumi delivered an important message, making public a project he had initiated two years previously, the Templar. It was imbedded in an understanding of the earth as an energy system with certain power points similar to the chakras in the tantric understanding of the human body. The United States represents the crown chakra at the top of the head. The crown chakra is being prepared to receive energies from the Most High. The point of the earth that will actually receive the new energies is in the process of being prepared to receive a structure known as the Templar. The Templar is designed to realign earth with the heavens and to stabilize it as it moves through the transition. The Templar will be a pyramid with a base of approximately 500 square feet and a height of 450 feet. Its face will be pink granite and its capstone will be obsidian. It will be surrounded by a six-sided wall.

Milanovich founded the Trinity Foundation to support the building of the Templar. Shortly thereafter, the foundation received a grant of land in Crestone, Colorado, upon which to build the pyramid. The proposed structure has become a major item of controversy in the small community. Meanwhile, Milanovich has published several other books detailing the Masters’ messages: Sacred Journey to Atlantis and Many Paths, One Way.

Membership

Not reported.

Periodicals

Celestial Voices.

Sources

Athena Leadership Center. www.athenalctr.com/.

Milanovich, Norma. The Light Shall Set You Free. Albuquerque, NM: Athena Publishing, 1996.

———. Sacred Journey to Atlantis. Albuquerque, NM: Athena Publishing, 1992.

———. We, the Arcturians. Albuquerque, NM: Athena Publishing, 1990.

Universal Faithists of Kosmon, Inc.

c/o C. Vostatek, Sec’ty, 3439 Grand Valley Canal Rd., Clifton, CO 81520

Universal Faithists of Kosmon, Inc. (previously known as the Universal Association of Faithists) is a group devoted to disseminating the knowledge received by the Spiritualist medium and channeler John Ballou Newbrough (1828–1891). In 1881, Newbrough received through automatic writing on a typewriter a revelation later published under the title Oahspe. Newbrough rose early each morning for 50 weeks and, as the “lines of light” rested on his hands, typed for an hour. The first edition of the resultant book was published in September 1882. The next year a convention was held in New York City to work toward founding a communal group to care for orphans and foundlings, as directed in Oahspe. A colony was founded in New Mexico, but failed after only a couple of years. Since that time, small bands of followers have kept Oahspe in print. The recently published Inside the Shalam Colony (1991), by Elnora Wiley, is a partly romanticized, partly historical account of the original colony.

Oahspe is a large volume, written in the style of the King James Version of the Bible. It contains the story of human creation about 78,000 years ago and recounts the upward struggle of the human race. Humanity originated on Pan, a Pacific continent much like Lemuria, which was the sole victim of the biblical flood. Religion evolved through the messages of 11 prophets, beginning with Zarathustra and continuing through Joshu (Jesus). All religion and spiritual effort have been guided by angelic forces toward the Kosmon Era. During this era, which began in the nineteenth century, a new people will emerge, and will transform the world into a place of joy and beauty.

Over the decades, a wide variety of Faithist groups have emerged and disappeared. The movement is sustained by a number of independent groups who stay in touch through several informal networks and periodicals. The Universal Faithists of Kosmon (a church) is the most active center. It is headquartered in Riverton, Utah, with affiliated centers in Colorado, Utah, California, and West Virginia. It publishes a newsletter, Kosmon Voice. The Faithists also sponsor a committee, the Global Council, which carries out various projects suggested and inspirited by Oahspe, and holds an annual conference. The leaders of the committee meet monthly through a conference call.

The Eloists, Inc., headquartered in Henniker, New Hampshire, is another active Oahspe group. It publishes a periodical, Radiance. The Faithist Journal is published by Oahspe followers in Arizona. During his mature years, Ray Palmer, the founder/publisher of Search Magazine became an enthusiastic believer in Oahspe and added “The Oahspe Circle” as a column in the magazine. The “Circle” carried news of Oahspe groups, discussed its main ideas, and promoted networking among the scattered believers. Search is now published by Judith M. Statezny at Owl Press in Rosholt, Wisconsin, but still carries “The Oahspe Circle.”

Worship among Faithists follows the format suggested in the Kosmon Church Service Book, kept in print by a group of British Faithists. This book includes liturgy for worship, baptisms, weddings, and funerals. Ministerial training is offered and ordinations of new ministers scheduled as appropriate.

Membership

Unknown. There are several hundred people who have identified themselves with the Faithists and have agreed to have their name published in their directory. Many more have purchased Oahspe (over 20,000 in the last decade) and, though unaffiliated with any of the Oahspe groups, are sympathetic to the movement’s teachings. Groups active in the informal networks can be found in Australia, New Zealand, Great Britain, Nigeria, and Ghana.

Periodicals

The Faithist Journal. • Kosmon Voice. • Radiance. • Kosmon Unity. • Global Council Newsletter. • Four Winds Village News.

Sources

Dennon, Jim. Dr. Newbrough and Oahspe. Kingman, AZ: Faithist Journal, 1975.

———. The Oahspe Story. Kingman, AZ: Faithist Journal, 1975.

Oahspe. Los Angeles: Essenes of Kosmon, 1950.

Stowes, K. D. The Land of Shalam, Children’s Land. Evansville, IN: Frank Molinet Print Shop, n.d.

Universal Life: The Inner Religion

PO Box 651, Guilford, CT 06437

Alternate Address

International Headquarters: Universelles Leben, Postfach 5643, 97006 Würzburg, Germany. Canadian Headquarters: Universal Life: The Inner Religion, PO Box 54002, Toronto, ON, Canada M6A 3B7.

Universelles Leben, or Universal Life: The Inner Religion, is a worldwide free Christian movement that originated in 1975, when, those affiliated with the movement believe, Christ entered the life of Gabriele Wittek (b. 1933) and revealed to her his plan to use her as his instrument on earth. Since then, Wittek has served as his prophetic instrument and ambassadress in fulfilling this plan, which is to show his children the way back into their eternal home and to build up his Kingdom of Peace on earth. In 1980 the Cosmic School of Life, the first “Original Christian Gathering Places for All Godseekers,” emerged, initially under the name the Inner Spirit Christ Church. Here people came together as in early Christianity to hear the prophetic word, to pray together, and to speak openly with each other about all questions of life, using the Sermon on the Mount and the Ten Commandments as a basis.

Also in 1980, the movement believes, Christ called into being the spiritual, mystical path to the divine self, the Homebringing Mission of Jesus Christ. Through the Homebringing Mission, the Spirit of God teaches all seekers on this earth the Inner Path, the path to experiencing God in one’s own inner being. On this Inner Path, the person attains a spiritual expansion of consciousness, becoming one with Christ, God, and all forms of nature, by gradually overcoming sinfulness step by step with the power of Christ. On this foundation, in 1984, Universelles Leben was established.

Since the late 1990s, an inner Christianity community has emerged. Adherents consider themselves Original Christians who pursue an inner religion, a religion of the heart, and strive for liberation from sin and gradual oneness with Christ in their innermost being. They believe that all people are the temple of God and that the Spirit of the Christ of God, which is a spirit of freedom, dwells in everyone. Theirs is a religion without human leaders, rituals, dogmas, denominations, institutions, or “temples of stone.”Such movements of inner Christianity are not new, they maintain. Since the time of Jesus of Nazareth, there have been groups of people who took seriously the high ethics of his teachings, who perceived how Jesus gave mankind an example of how to live in the Spirit of God in unity with neighbors, animals, nature, with all of creation, by observing the Sermon on the Mount and the Ten Commandments.

Universal Life is based on the prophetic word of this generation, given in the form of revelations. These revelations are seen as deepening and clarifying the divine laws of God and their application in daily life. They explain many basic spiritual principles, such as the why and how of our earthly existence, eternal damnation, reincarnation, the law of sowing and reaping, active faith, health and illness, life after death, and man’s relationship to the cosmos. This information is made available to all who desire it through the books and tapes produced by Universelles Leben, whose members believe that only the actualization of the laws of God makes us free, glad, healthy, and loving persons.

Membership

Universal Life is not a membership organization. In 1997 there were three centers in the United States and two in Canada, and an unknown number in Europe. Additional centers have opened in Africa, Australia, South America, and Asia.

Periodicals

The Prophet.

Remarks

Universal Life has emerged as one of the more controversial groups in German-speaking Europe as a growing concern over new religions has swept across central Europe. Several books denouncing Universal Life have appeared from an anti-cult perspective.

Sources

Universelles Leben/Universal Life: The Inner Religion. www.universal-life.cc.

Universalia

Current address could not be obtained for this edition.

Universalia is a New Age channeling group which grew out of a study group that formed in Denver, Colorado, in 1981. Meeting weekly, the group began to channel through a technique that it termed thought plane transference, i.e., clearing one’s mind, being open to whatever information comes, and writing it down as it enters one’s consciousness. As a mass of information was accumulated, the group incorporated and in May 1985 released the first issue of a newsletter, The Universalian.

Universalia means “of the universe.”Information from the process of channeling comes through the individual members of the group from such energies as Kyros, the Brotherhood, Archangel Michael, and so on. Two books of channeled works by Universalia members have been published: The Kyrian Letters: Transformative Messages for Higher Vision, by Sandra Radhoff, and The Wisdom Teachings of Archangel Michael, by Lori Flory as told to Brad Steiger. The thrust of Universalia’s teaching is toward the expansion of conscious awareness and follows the main affirmation of New Age philosophy. God, the I AM, resides within each person. Spiritual life is perfect; the physical dreamspace dimension is illusionary. Having created illusions, humans tend to believe in them and empower them. Hence, they follow outward form instead of inward reality. Members are taught that they are the loved and beautiful expressions of God and have unlimited potential. As they are connected to all of creation, service is an integral part of their life.