Hey y'all: da witches are in da house - YOUR House

Gee, I wonder how she rides her broom...

As a cult, The Academy for Psychic Studies exerts great control of their ministerial staff and students. Members were told where and with whom to live with, where to work, what kind of vehicle to drive. Individuals were not encouraged to make decisions for themselves and were strongly discouraged from making decisions on behalf of the organization. I have seen several instances where someone would be compelled to call the president of SRF or one of her directors for permission to execute even the most simple tasks.

As I had somewhat more independence of thought than most members, there was a lot more pressure on me to change my lifestyle to one compatible with SRF's plan for my spiritual arising. I was told that I must work in Berkeley, even though my line of work (technology) was based elsewhere. If I did not stay in Berkeley, I would lose my spiritual enlightenment. I was led to believe that I could work a construction job or find a good job in a supermarket so I could stay in Berkeley. Eventually, I was told I could start a computer repair business for myself, sort of a one man Geek Squad. Quite a step down from my usual work of managing software projects and creating entertainment software. But, more enlightened, I suppose.

I never did make that change in career. The heads of SRF and many of the ministers believed that my career was one of the biggest reasons for my lack of spiritual growth. I had to endure everything from friendly teasing to outright ridicule for choosing a real career. What kind of church pressures you to leave a rewarding and personally satisfying job? I mean, building games is not exactly in the same league as international arms dealing or drug smuggling.

The control over my life, my wife's life extended well beyond our normal participation in church activities. To have a church go so far as to even attempt to direct the location of our careers, the location of our home, direct the disposition of our most important asset (our home) and demand that a tithe be paid in addition to that was mind boggling.

That issue alone was more than enough to prompt me to part ways with SRF. I ask you: what church injects themselves so intimately in so many parts of your life? What kind of church has you living on their properties, giving them 10 to 30 percent of your income while requiring additional donations of time, money, property, using every opportunity available to obtain even more money, time and property?

oh right, a CULT.  my bad...

In a closed society, that kind of control is not only common, it is critical to the cohesion of the society. The world is shut out so that control of the members can be made with efficiency.

Any contact with the outside word is closely controlled. Communications with the outside world is conducted through the SRF a bi-monthly newspaper and weekly radio show well, it's nothing now. A web presence is available as well but it doesn't say a damn thing about who's there or what they really stand for. Press articles written by reporters unaffiliated with SRF are never sought and requests to participate in articles are generally turned down.  You'll be lucky if they don't slam the phone on you if you ask about what they do.

The members are expected to follow SRF rules and live in a manner that SRF believes is correct for them. SRF proudly states "there are only two rules here: be on time and don't use drugs". Reasonable enough.

However, there are several "hidden" rules. Clairvoyant Training Rules of conduct are created from the leadership and are developed (and dropped) impulsively. Enforcement of these rules vary from cursory to intensive, depending on the mood of the SRF Kangaroo Kourt.

You want a list of rules?  Maybe a set of appropriate fines or sanctions for SRF offenses?  What, you think SRF is a free country or something?  You think the Constitution and laws of the United States of America should apply at SRF to protect your rights?  I guess you are just filled with the evil energy of the world, invalidating the holy mandate of Robin Dumolin and Angela Silva to kick your ass any damn time they want for any damn reason they can think of.

But hand over your wallet and you'll escape a severe spiritually-correct punishment.  You'll just end up shoveling out the cesspit at Robin and Angela's farm as they empty out their trailer's toilets.

My fiance and I had been living in a church-owned apartment located in Berkeley, in what has to be the worst area in the San Francisco Bay Area (I guess except for SRF HQ on Ellsworth Street). In this neighborhood, gunshots were heard nearly every weekend and dead bodies would generally turn up about once a month. Several other SRF members lived there as well. A tall, iron fence and gate system along the street sides surrounded the apartment complex to secure us from the mayhem. However, the back fences were simple wood and were frequently kicked in or climbed over by drug dealers and others wanting a shortcut.

I love it.  The crappy back fence let bad guys could get in anytime they wanted.  The iron fence just kept them inside.  Brilliant.

As bleak as this neighborhood sounds, the attraction was that we would be close to the church and our fellow members. After a few years of this, we were more than weary of living in a ghetto war-zone, sending money to SRF for the honor of dodging bullets, stepping over drunks and walking around crime scene tape.

I have been fortunate enough to have received an inheritance of a home in a nice, comfortable neighborhood in the San Jose area. After years of struggling to survive, we saw this as our way out, a fresh start.  And if those idiots at SRF weren't Angela wasn't so fucking stupid as to make an overt attempt to pull it out from under us, we'd probably have lasted a hell of a lot longer at that spiritual garbage heap than we did.

We can afford to marry (which we did) and look forward to raising a family in a great neighborhood well away from crime, with top-shelf schools, great neighbors who we know (none are drug dealers as we had in Berkeley, in fact one is a very nice minister and his wife; many of our neighbors attended our wedding) and have a great life together.

After announcing our windfall, we made arrangements for a "salt ritual" to inaugurate our new home. The ritual was designed to clear out foreign spirits (like my family) and allow us to own the home in a spiritual sense. It cost about $500.00.

No sooner than the plans to move to a new house (our first after nearly a decade of renting from the church) and establish ourselves away from the church in Berkeley reached SRF the intense pressure to rid ourselves of it began.

The president (and co-founder) of SRF came up to me and said, "sell that goddamn house" and stay in Berkeley.  What the hell for?  I HATE Berkeley!  Oh right, it was to continue the mind control.  my bad...

Since SRF strongly believes in giving a tithe, I would need to give the church a cash donation equal to 10% of the home's value per year. That's right: the SRF tithing "law" said each year, a tithe of 10% of all property you own must be paid to SRF. In addition to this yearly "first fruits" tithe, 10 to 30 percent of any income (before taxes and other expenses) would be required to be "tithed" to the church.

Hey don't believe it?  I got a copy of "Ultimate Prosperity" from the warm and nourishing folks at the Spiritual Rights Foundation right here.  It says exactly that.

A tithe was required on the house because it was considered tainted by the world - full of greed, avarice, lies and deceit. They saw a dark energy clouding the house and our spiritual growth. The only way to remove that cloud was through the giving of a tithe on that house every year. Every year at least until it was financially depleted and we were back in the SRF ghetto.

The leadership, aw crap, it was Angela Effing Silva who told us that the house would never be ours because it was part of my family history - the house was built on what was my dad's family farm before World War II. The farm was lost to a dishonest caretaker while he was confined to a relocation camp, then developed as a housing tract and the house (through a lot of good fortune) subsequently re-purchased by my parents. It's all that is left of the old family farm and we had to buy it back.

It seems to me that two people who went through all that, would rather the house stay in the family. In fact, their plan was that I would be entrusted with the property for the benefit of my future spouse and our family. So, how does that translate into: "that house will never be yours"? That house was absolutely intended to belong to myself and my spouse. That is not in doubt.

Now before any of you guys want to argue that I have no one to back this up: I do.  I married her.  She marched up to Angela and asked what the hell Angela said about the house my wife just moved into and was planning to raise a family in.  Angela admitted she DID INDEED tell me to get rid of it (and make a tithe so she could get her damn cut) and went on to explain in her usual clumsy manner while Joy did a slow burn and began her journey to get the hell out of there.

I guess Joy should have had a rose up while she listened.

How does someone like Angela Silva, with no knowledge of my background and my parent's wishes suddenly know that the house is not mine?

They believe inheritances are poison, influence of the world on the purity of your spirit. They say time and again that people who inherit property become of the world and are tainted, recalling the story of a woman who was a student there then left to move to a farm she inherited. She probably had the same situation and a similar history as my own. And she probably figured out that a huge tithe on the property would proper someone else - not her.

I know of others who were subtly or not so subtly arm-twisted for a cut of their own inheritances.  It is saddening: they could have really used it for their own security - or to get the hell out of there.

Your family doesn't matter to SRF. Your family history doesn't either. Honoring your parents, as so many of us do, is looked down upon. A major fault of all who enter SRF is "family programming", which is partially that dedication and honor we all have for our families and they work tirelessly to "clean" that out of your psyche. It's not a good thing.

Remember that "salt ritual"? That's the one that ensures that we can "own" the property in a spiritual sense. Well, according to SRF, that ritual has no effect in our situation of an inherited property. How does a $500 ritual that they say absolutely cleans out evil spirits and allows the new residents to fully own a residence (in a spiritual sense) suddenly become invalid when applied to my particular situation?

If spiritual ownership in my property was impossible, why wasn't SRF candid about that situation before the ritual was conducted, and prevent or discourage the conduct of a $500 ritual that would be, in the end, useless?

It's also deceit: allowing a "salt ritual" to be conducted that may be ineffective is one thing. Charging a person $500 for a knowingly ineffective ritual smacks of fraud, theft by deception or whatever you want to call it. I believe they know an easy mark when they see it. Especially when that mark gets a windfall of prime Bay Area property.

Look at how SRF applies the requirement to tithe. The tithe is said to bring the worldly influence off of property. If I gave 10% of the home's value per year, how long would it take before that asset would have to be sold to cover my losses? Would any rational homeowner give away that much? And where would that money go? Straight to SRF.

I guess when they said "that house will never be yours", it really meant "that house will belong to us - SUCKER!".

In my opinion, SRF is an organization of thieves - I'm not the only one saying that.  Ask the many who have departed recently.  I heard there is a woman with a well of tales.  And many more have so many dark and horrifying experiences to relate, you'd need to grab a stiff drink afterwards.

The game is to keep people in poverty and working until they drop dead while taking huge portions of their meager incomes. What do the members receive in return? How much of that tithe comes back to the membership? I am still waiting for someone to give me an answer.

Can you understand my belief that it was the unending desire to control my relationships, life, my assets and my income that lead me to depart the Spiritual Rights Foundation?