One of the things many of those who have survived the evil experience we have suffered at the Spiritual Rights Foundation is a long lasting fear of the unknown and a mortal dread of becoming a useful and vital part of the world around them.
I've seen people who are scared for no damn reason, people who won't speak about their experience even after eagerly shilling the cult on the public airways and the internet and people who hang onto the thought that doing anything in the public interest or because it is morally right doesn't apply to the Spiritual Rights Foundation only because the Witches of Ellsworth Street might consider it vengeance.
On hearing that sentiment, my first thought was "fuck the fucking fuckers".
After that, I thought there might be a reason for the reticence.
Well think about it...
While we were confined inside the iron gate of the Academy for Psychic Studies, weren't we required to exhibit the kind of "energy" and "vibration" acceptable to the leaders? Wasn't that enforced by whoever the corpulent turd of the day happened to be?
Think about what happened to people who didn't exactly fit the expectations of the leaders.
I'll tell you one of them:
I was sitting in the shithole the Academy called the "basement space" clearing my own basement space of the kind of crap essential for the conduct of a fulfilling life. I guess that's why the Witches of Ellsworth Street wanted it cleared as the only fulfillment valuable to them is the fulfillment of their cauldron with as much money as you have.
While practicing the mind control methods the Witches loved to perpetuate, I heard the infamous Reverend William Duby conducting a session of spiritual and loving healing with a follower using more profanity than even I could possibly use in a sentence, more threats to conduct bodily harm than a prison gang and more idiotic reasoning than anyone with a good education and moral upbringing could have ever imagined.
Duby had
When the follower (who operated the sham enterprise "Liberty Construction" for Angela Silva - who in turn, received a cut of "Liberty Construction" revenues before expenses) balked, citing the cash position of the sham company (and implying if Angela Silva and Robin Dumolin would stop dipping into the company pot, there would be plenty of benji's to accomplish Duby's demand), Duby went ballistic and entered his own unique method of healing through personal degradation, physical threats and forced labor.
That's just one of the stories. Of course, you might say once Duby kicked the bucket and who's ashes were scattered at the "Blue Sky Ranch" for the goats to piss on, the Academy became a gentler, warm and nourishing place.
Seriously?
What with Angela Silva demanding more money to support her botox treatments and Robin Dumolin demanding money to buy leather suits, whips and special boy-toys, things not only got intense, they were getting strange.
I remember the ministers of this spiritual cesspool were gathered together one fateful evening to receive another of Angela Silva's rant and raves. That Robin Dumolin was out of sight only meant she was oiling up a whip and sandpapering her strap-on.
During this session (where you needed to apply a large glob of Vaseline beforehand) Angela announced to the faithful ministers that she had overheard one or two of them conveying information that was outdated or otherwise inaccurate. Never mind Angela never did something sensible like create a handbook or binder of up to date Academy policies - that would make changing her mind and doing whatever the fuck she wanted more difficult.
In response to the perceived misdeeds of the few, Angela prescribed that ALL ministers are henceforth forbidden to speak to any person who has come to the Academy for Psychic Studies for the first time unless that minister is selling an overpriced class, worthless psychic reading or idiotic self-help product. Any other communication would require approval unless that communication was in the context of a reading, in which case speech was allowed but only if it is not too much so they can pay more for another visit where you still can't talk to them but you can say something in a reading when they pay but if you say too much she will issue a OFL of an undetermined amount.
OK, makes sense to me...
Anyway, that single act of confusion and despotism created an atmosphere of not only fear but paralysis. No one made even a simple decision without asking Angela Silva what should be done. Class instructors regularly had to consult with Angela Silva about answering questions posed by the students - should an answer be given, and what would it be.
One such event happened after I out-ed the infamous church service where the Bishop herself announced that the Academy for Psychic Studies and Reverend William Duby are the incarnations of "Jesus Effing Christ". Shocked students of the demented "Year Class" soon asked their instructor if the Bishop really did say that and did she mean it.
The instructor ran to Angela Silva in a panic - how can this be answered? Angela's response: "tell them I listened to the whole tape and found she never said that".
You see, the truth was never Angela's strong point.
So was life at the Academy for Psychic Studies. Confusion, paralysis and fear were the order of the day. We all wore doggie shock collars around our necks. We tread lightly around the precepts and perverse value system of the Academy for fear of the shock that would come if we got too close to the border or if Robin Dumolin pressed the button on the remote because she was bored, we would get a thousand volts burst through our lame asses.
No wonder everyone is still scared.