The Academy for Psychic Studies - Kangaroo Kourt

Why name them?  You already know who they are.

Kangaroo Court

Those accused of crimes against the people of the state have the opportunity for a fair trial (due process of law) as guaranteed by the fifth amendment of the Constitution of the United States.  Even if you are facing a complaint from a private party, you still are entitled to protection guaranteed by the fifth amendment.

I know the fifth is usually perceived as "taking the fifth" and refusing to provide statements that may incriminate you but it says much more than that.

When due process of law is not provided (where the accused can defend himself and may confront and question his accusers) those judicial proceedings are called a Kangaroo Court.  It's called a Kangaroo Court because it leaps over the correct due process of law and jumps straight to the conclusion - which is generally presuming the unfortunate defendant is guilty until proven innocent and not allowing any evidence to the contrary

Even military tribunals follow due process, even though, per the constitution, they don't really have to.  It's the right thing to do.

As we have all seen, the right thing to do isn't the Spiritual Rights Foundation's forte.  In fact, to the leaders of the Spiritual Rights Foundation, the right thing to do (when viewed from the basic morals and values we were taught as good citizens of the United States) has not a thing to do with fairness but has every thing to do with whatever the hell one or more of the leaders feel like doing, no matter if it's right, no matter if the followers are adversely affected and no matter if there is no reason to do what they want to do in the first place.

The first thing that popped into my mind was an incident where Robin Dumolin was shocked to find that the old, expired food she was planning to push off on the unsuspecting membership as a nutritious and delicious dinner casserole (for 6 bucks a spoonful) before it walked off on its own went missing.  By using her superior and highly developed psychic powers, she knew instantly the name and motivation of the perpetrator.

A member who I'll call "Kenneth" was accused of eating the furry, dripping and infested slop from the refrigerator while Robin's back was turned.  Immediately, Kenneth's status within the iron gates of the cult went from less-than-good to subterranean.  He was demeaned as a low-life thief who preferred to steal the hard-stolen food of the Spiritual Rights Foundation's money-making enterprise than buy a decent meal of his own.

As Robin didn't actually see Kenneth steal food from her, she couldn't really say he did it.  However, it didn't stop her from saying he did.  And she ordered that padlocks be installed on all of her refrigerators immediately.

In classes, workshops, meetings, readings, healings, and whatever else the slave-masters had us do, we were reminded that Kenneth was the worst low-life known to mankind and that he and he alone would have the unmitigated gall, greed and disdain for the personal property of another to have literally raided the SRF refrigerator and steal the rotten, crappy food Robin was planning to con us into paying for.

I remember speaking with Kenneth at that time.  He said very clearly to me "I did not take food out of their damn refrigerators."  When pressed that was all he could say, knowing he can't prove a negative.

That wasn't a problem for the SRF leadership, though.  Kenneth's inability to prove his innocence just proved he was indeed guilty.

So from that day, Kenneth was treated like a felon.

But what really happened?

One of the hangers-on at the Spiritual Rights Foundation is a somewhat eccentric elderly man who occasionally attends a class or workshop but spends most of his weekends cleaning up the considerable mess left in the Spiritual Rights Foundation storage areas.  The bank of SRF refrigerators (now padlocked) were lined up there, holding toxic waste and other tasty items to be served to the unsuspecting membership.

One weekend, the eccentric man hobbled up to Robin Dumolin and croaked: "Reverend, I'll need you to unlock those refrigerators so I can take out all the bad and expired food"

Robin Dumolin: "huh?"

Eccentric man: "I've been cleaning out the rotten and expired food from the refrigerators for weeks now.  haven't you noticed there's more room in the refrigerators now?"

The padlocks were quietly removed but Kenneth remained in the doghouse.

Why?  Because at the Spiritual Rights Foundation, fairness isn't about truth.  It isn't about justice either.  It's all about snapping to attention and carrying out orders, no matter how wrong.  It's all about making sure the leaders retain the illusion of perfection and all-encompassing knowledge and wisdom.

They don't give a damn about what you or anyone thinks.  The SRF Kangaroo Kourt always hands down the correct verdict and appeals are unnecessary. The SRF Kangaroo Kourt dispenses punishment the old-fashioned way: they just beat the living daylights out of your soul, your, self-respect and every ounce of humanity you ever had.

And as Kenneth as a convenient target, he was on the receiving end of the Kangaroo Kourt time and time again.  No matter how thin the evidence.  No matter how wrong the verdict.  No matter if the crime was indeed the responsibility of another.  He was demonized over and over again and subjected to awful dehumanization, characterized as more animal than man, more insect than human.

Kenneth's treatment was far worse than necessary.  Even on the SRF relaxing and rejuvenating Weekend Retreats, where the gathered faithful would otherwise quietly unwind and recharge, he was treated like a disease and portrayed to those who barely knew him as a Judas, an insect, a turncoat and worse.

His is not the only story.  Many of us (me and basically everyone I knew there) faced the SRF Kangaroo Kourt at one time or another.  The Kangaroo Kourt met in secret, reviewing secret evidence, using their psychic powers to question witnesses through the ether and rendering a verdict and punishment unknown to the accused until their SRF "friends" confront them with their transgressions and demand penance.

Did anyone escape the wrath of the Witches who sit on the Kangaroo Kourt bench?

No.

Someday, sooner or later, you'll be on trial.  And someday, the Witches of Ellsworth will hold their tribunal of evil to decide your fate without even considering giving you the opportunity to speak or defend yourself.  If they like you, they will listen impatiently before you are given the command to shut up and accept your ostracization and complete isolation from the rest of the brain-damaged membership.

If you are given the chance to redeem yourself, be sure you can afford it.  Your debts to SRF will have to be paid in advance (of course, your account balance will mysteriously show you still owe money), your dedication will have to be shown in excess and the evil influences of life - your family, your spouse and your career will have to take a back seat to your nights, weekends and holidays slaving for the Witches of Ellsworth for no pay, no appreciation and no recognition.

I think I'd rather face a tribunal at Guantanamo Bay.  At least the weather is nicer.

Today's Title: Entitlement

Happy Days: Robin Dumolin found her new husband!

Now she's looking for a bottle of poison...

You know, when there are two people in the world who think they can have whatever they want because they want it, there's got to be a reason why.

I mean, who grows up thinking like that?  Oh, right...

Well apart from that, how did the Witches of Ellsworth Street gain a sense of entitlement so strong, they had no qualms about doing things like demand money from their followers to pay for things they wanted (and could afford anyway), pay for things their Golden Child wanted (which the Witches could afford anyway), not pay for things they needed like a new public image that would at least take the stink off their cesspool and do crazy shit like file a sure-to-lose lawsuit and build illegal construction that would certainly be reported.

I won't be doing the Sigmund Freud thing and look into their childhoods and parentage.

I'll just start the story from point of hook-up.  It's when the Witches of Ellsworth Street got themselves in with a street hustler, card cheat and madman.  That guy, of course, is Bill Duby.

According to Bill, one of his friends came up to him and asked if he would get a woman out of the "nut house".  Bill said he had no idea it was Angela Silva but went to get her anyway.  After that fateful event, according to Bill, he "couldn't get rid of her".

As Bill became more and more psychotic he traveled along the path of spiritual enlightenment.  One of those events involved Angela.  According to her, Bill took her by the hand as they embarked on a trip into the light.  Bill took her out of her body.  The walls of their ramshackle apartment appeared to be breathing, Angela claims she was up in a high corner of the room and could see her own body lying on the bed.

Someone calls that a psychic enlightenment.  I call it an LSD trip.

I have heard that description from several people who took LSD - walls breathing, their spirit floating while they were lying down.  Worst of all, that trip kept coming back long after the LSD wore off.  Something in their noggins switched.

Paradoxically, Bill claimed over and over again he would have to tie up Angela and beat her to unconsciousness to prevent her from using drugs.  Also paradoxically, Bill would tell tales of Angela pulling a gun on her ex-husband after he imprisoned her in their home and beat her.  How Bill managed to avoid getting shot is anyone's guess.  Actually, how Bill figured out Angela pulled a gun on her ex and how she came to get a gun at that time was anyone's guess as well (although Angela is said to keep a rusty .38 Special in her home currently).



After establishing his psychotic school, Bill Duby was awash in young women eager to please their spiritual leader.  Maybe a little too eager.  Two young women were notable.  They were named "trouble one" and "trouble two".  I don't recall who was who but I do know the names of one of the trouble twins.

Robin Dumolin.

Bill's next tall tale was the time he says he saw Robin.  She came in with another man (who was related somehow to another notable former member - I don't remember who) and was said to be either married or engaged with him.  Robin was also said to be somewhat of a nerd.

Bill claims Robin was being mistreated by her lover and Bill, being the kind, gentle and caring man he is, swept Robin off her feet, expelled her lover from SRF and introduced Robin to a whole new level of mistreatment.

Unfortunately for us, that involved Robin being elevated to the position of Vice President of the Spiritual Rights Foundation, under Angela Silva as President and over us as no-account shitheels.

Now, Bill's master plan was complete.


With the Witches of Ellsworth Street firmly implanted as the not only the co-leaders of the Spiritual Rights Foundation and empowered to do whatever they damn well pleased, the Witches were also Bill's full-time cohorts.

In order to keep his followers following, Bill used his con man skills to weave a tale of spirituality so convoluted and so esoteric, no one could understand it.  So of course, if we couldn't understand it, we weren't as enlightened.  If we weren't as enlightened, we have to listen to him even more.

However, the one thing Bill could not endure was the task of keeping his flock right where he wanted them.  That required muscle.  Psychotic muscle.  When you are taking money from your marks, your really don't want them to think you are taking their money.

So, Bill assigned that task to everyone else.  Especially his two cohorts.

What was worse (for us anyway) was Bill's inherent paranoia.  As Bill was taking Social Security payments for his psychiatric diseases he was afraid his income would be cancelled if he made money from SRF.  Of course Bill totally missed that he could make one hell of a lot more on an SRF ministerial stipend than his 800 dollar SSI payment - and it would be tax-free as well.  Fucking idiot...

As that explanation made no damn sense to me at the time, I wondered what in hell would keep him out of the SRF businesses while spending whatever he damn well pleased on whatever the hell he wanted.

For Bill, after he was accused of molesting Angela's daughter, he made payoffs to his accusers so he can keep his ass out of San Quentin and his potential cellmate out of his asshole.  According to legend, Bill resigned his SRF directorial position and maintained a distance from SRF's business affairs so he would officially have no assets.  That maneuver would discourage any lawsuit (for just about any reason) as it would be not worth the time and expense of filing suit against a man who has nothing and has little prospect of having anything.

Gee, I guess I have to feel great the Witches tried to sue me and Joy.  That means we have enough net worth to hold the Witches' interest.  And they say they don't try to take people's assets...

Anyway, with Bill out of the SRF business picture there was practically no one who could keep a leash on the Witches when it came to using SRF money.  And boy did they use it.

Bill would proudly announce how his women were well taken care of and that we low-life shitbirds need to follow his lead and do likewise.

What Bill didn't say was his women were taken care of by our money and our labor.

Bill used his manic tears to envision new money-making ventures for "SRF".  Without exception, these ventures were headed by one or both of the Witches of Ellsworth Street.  Also without exception, these ventures were providing the Witches with money while the Witches did little to no work.  And if the SRF enterprise Liberty Construction is a model (and I'm sure it is) a percentage of the income (that's not profits, it's income before expenses like wages are paid) went directly into Robin and Angela's cauldron.

While all this skulduggery was going on, Bill made wild and likely exaggerated claims that Angela had superior spiritual powers and such a connection with God Himself that she was second only to St. Peter in piety and psychic wisdom.

I forget what he said about Robin.  Probably "pay her, or else..."

Bill's wild and too-true-to-be-real stories about his Witches not only elevated their status in the eyes of the followers but inflated the egos of the Witches to the point where we had to serve their wants and needs far before our own needs and aspirations could be fulfilled.

Who needed a new car?  The followers had to do it the hard way and settle for whatever they could get for their meager budgets.  The Witches could buy any new car any damn time they wanted.  Clothes?  Followers were literally buying off-the-rack at the Salvation Army and Goodwill.  The Witches shopped at Macy's and other fine department stores.  How about real estate?  Only the older couples who owned their homes well before they were entrapped at SRF held real estate.   The rest could never even come close to owning a home -  at least not until they could escape safely.  We know the Witches held the SRF Blue Sky Ranch.  Who knows what else they are holding.  Oh right... all the real estate SRF owns.

While Bill's followers were routinely going broke, his Witches were routinely getting their hands on more money.  Angela was famous for dropping a gigantic, thick envelope in the tithe basket (to inspire the shitheels to give more)  - then fishing it back out when no one was looking.  Robin was regularly seen counting money.  We thought it was her job to keep the money flowing for our well being.  Actually, she kept the money flowing for her own well being.

The Witches traveled in comfort using Bill's luxury RV or one of their luxury cars.  They provided slimy and barely-edible slop for the followers while they dined on steak.  Expenses for health care, dental work, even Angela Silva's botox and facelifts were hardly a care for the Witches while the followers depended on assistance from the public health system.

Life at the top of the SRF garbage heap was good.  So good, there should have been no need to rock the boat and risk sinking the ship.

Unfortunately, that's not how the Witches think.

Despite their comfortable position, the Witches craved more and more and more:  More money.  More power.  More adulation.  More compliance.

And it's that level of greed that is the Witches' downfall.  Their hunger for money and their urge to abuse their position power to manipulate even their closest comrades was intended to spur their victims into working harder and motivate them into doing all the idiotic things necessary to put them back into the Witches' good graces.  That, of course, is impossible if you think about it.  And instead of motivating the followers for even more work, more money, more running in circles and more loving support, it just motivated followers to walk out the door, leaving the Witches standing alone at a leaky cauldron.

The events of the last few years have borne that out.  What with the church bishop and head of their formerly lucrative ISHI Hypnosis scam leaving due to the Witches cutting her monthly stipend to zero and her share of ISHI Hypnosis revenues to less than one fifth (and recovering by way of charging rent on the bishop's church-owned apartment as well as other charges) with their most enthusiastic female follower running like hell and their general membership crashing down to a single digit, I'd have to say the Witches of Ellsworth Street have been demonstrating what they have been doing well for years: taking advantage of people and pissing them off.

Those who wanted a bit of the good life that was denied them for decades were so degraded and exploited, they finally answered the alarm clock and jumped in the shower.  Their awakening allowed them to see the Witches as exactly who they are: mean, evil and greedy (I guess that could be the names of the remaining SRF board members).

I think it's telling that the only remaining active board member is an endomorph whose own lack of character is legendary; and his own lust for power and vengeance is fed by his obsequious loyalty to the Witches who simultaneously reward and exploit him.  Bill Duby kept talking about "birds of a feather" or in his terms "like attracts like".  With a board of directors as homogeneous as this, you can expect you'll be treated like dirt.

But that really illustrates how the Witches think: when two women are elevated to the level of gods, when their positions allow them unabated power over their followers and when those women abuse their power only to gain advantage over their flock, it's more than a situation of uncontrolled and unrestrained despotism.  

It's more like the Brides of Frankenstein have got loose and are dragging their monster behind them.

Psychic Perversion at The Academy for Psychic Studies Cult - Do The Math - The Rev. Bill Duby Timeline doesn't line up.

Beer.  The breakfast of champions.

Now that's my kind of woman:  check out that stein!

I think she will show you what happens to boys
who don't finish their beer.

Today's guest post comes from the King of Evil, the O.G. of the Spiritual Rights Foundation dissidents.  You know him.  He's the first to fight the Witches of Ellsworth and Rev. Bill Duby and WIN!  Of course, he fought for the well-being of his family and for the freedom of his child. He is an inspiration to us all and he is one of the many people I met at the Spiritual Rights Foundation who has given me moral support and guidance through the choppy seas of our fight with this notorious cult.

Mason, you have been our lighthouse in these dark waters inspiring me to continue the fight to free the world from the exploitative behavior at the Spiritual Rights Foundation.

Mason has generously contributed his Bill Duby Timeline of claimed events.  You will see how all of Bill's claimed accomplishments jsut can't add up.  It's part of the mind control of a deranged cult leader.  He needs to show he is superhuman in order to keep his followers following and in line.

This timeline is updated with some of the Duby-ous achievements Bill told me personally and with additional Duby-ous achievements found from public sources - like the official, very public Spiritual Rights Foundation web site.  Again, Mason has inspired me to dig a little deeper in the trash heap of SRF misinformation to find a few gems.

==============================

Rev. William Duby Timeline

Bill Duby (AKA Bill Baldwin) was the founder of the cult called Spiritual Rights Foundation Inc. Over the years he told us about the things that he did and the major events of his life. The following is a list of things he claims to have done. I contend that he made up and/or greatly exaggerated different parts of it. He would only mention these events one or two at a time in different contexts for different situations to suit his needs in the moment, to give himself credibility with his students. The notion of checking his claims against a timeline never occurred to anyone before. Analysis was highly frowned upon in SRF and by Bill.

The timeline is too full to be true, even if some overlap of events is taken into consideration.

This paints a picture of a man who deceives his congregation to increase his personal power and influence in the church.  And many of Bill's Duby-ous achievements are not represented in this timeline.

First will be a list of many of the things he claimed to have done in his lifetime. Afterward will be a timeline analysis to show clearly that he couldn’t possibly have done it all.

• Born January 6, 1945
• Lived with father in upstate New York for a number of years
• Mother died when he was young (Bill stated she died when he was, 6 or 8 or 9 and always claimed to have "known" the exact moment of her death).
• Moved to Bay Area as a child (without his father. I don’t know why)
• He was in 21 foster homes in Alameda County until age eighteen
• He was state pole vault champ in high school (~1960-63)
  [I confirmed this with Bill's foster mother. MK]
• Gold gloves champ?
• Went into the Army at age 18 for at least 2 years, possibly 4 years and was honorably discharged at the rank of Private.
  He was not married while in the Army.
• Attended Bible College in Galt, CA
• Married for 12 years
• He had two children in this marriage (this is true - we have met both of Bill's children)
• Worked as a programmer at General Foods.
• Worked at the US Army Induction Center in Oakland, CA.
• Ran a card room in Emeryville with his uncle, who owned the card club.
• He got divorced in 1971 (this is true)
• He was seriously ill in the hospital at the time of his divorce and almost died. He said he spent a few months in the hospital.  Bill also claimed the physicians could not find anything wrong with him all the time he was hospitalized.  You would think a few months in the hospital should be enough to come up with a diagnosis - or at least for symptoms to appear.  (At this point he had to be at least thirty years old)

Then...

• He claimed at least 200 sexual relationships with women. He mentioned that some lasted for periods of time of at least weeks or months.
• He meditated for seven years, more or less in seclusion
• He studied nine great scriptures in depth
• He met Angela (one of his women) on the streets of Emeryville
• Took care of her for a period of time to get her off of drugs (months at least)
• He got himself mentally committed
• He was a student of Mark Reymont from 1976 to 1981
• He was a student at the Berkeley Psychic Institute for 1 2 years 1980 to 1982 (along with Angela)
• He started SRF in 1982 at the age of about 36
• He claims to have worked with at least 25,000 people in spiritual matters
• When we worked on various construction projects, he would mention in passing that he had various construction jobs. He never really spelled out exactly when and where, but it gave him credibility in knowing what he was talking about with the projects.

Now for a simple, common sense analysis of the information:

The divorce definitely took place in 1971. It is a public record. He stated numerous times that he was married for 12 years. That would mean that he got married in 1959… when he was 14 years old.

Apart from the obvious unlikelihood of a 14 year old actually marrying, that couldn’t have happened because he was in juvenile hall and numerous foster homes until he was 18 when Bill enlisted in the Army.  Besides, during that time Bill claimed he was more occupied with the well-being of himself and his sister in their many foster homes to even think about girls.

If he got out of the army at age 20 and was married for 12 years, this only leaves at most, 4 to 5 years between the divorce and when he started the Spiritual Rights Foundation in 1982. (this is assuming that he was only in the army for 2 years and got married immediately after he was discharged.)  Bill explained away this discrepancy to us by saying he had "abandoned" his family prior to his divorce.  Unsaid was when this "abandonment" happened.

Somehow, Bill found time to attend Bible College in Galt, CA (in the California central valley) while he got married and started a family in the San Francisco Bay Area some two hours away from college.  How it is possible for William H. Duby to have started a family, supported that family, tended to his studies and have time to commute between college and his family was never explained.  How long he attended or what degree he held has never been said.  The name of the college has never been disclosed either.

Being a programmer at General Foods sounds like a stretch - that means it is very likely untrue.  First, those were the days where only the guys in white coats were allowed anywhere near a computer.  The people who programmed were not the kind of self-taught guys we have today.  You had to go to a prestigious college like Cal to learn how to do it.  There appears to be no opportunity for Bill to have learned the craft of computer programming - unless that Bible College in the middle of California farm country had a million-dollar computer lab.  The Army appears to have taught him how to use a rifle and how to patrol the Nike missile defense system for squirrels.  It is highly unlikely that a young private would be entrusted to recognize an air attack and press the button launching surface to air missiles.  And there isn't a way for a young private with only a high school education to learn computer technology in only two years.  Not in 1963, anyway.

Back then, there were NO $500 laptops and computers were so big, they needed their own damn building. The guys let near the multi-million computers were people who had really expensive college educations.  Bill famously eschewed all forms of higher education no matter the purpose.  It is plausible he would have obtained the university education he needed to program the computers of the day?  Yeah, I don't think so either.

Bill's claims of a months-long hospitalization is probably exaggerated or otherwise untrue.  Bill was famous for lifting his shirt to display a ragged-looking scar, explaining that is what the physicians cut away from his body, in an effort to treat an illness they were unable to diagnose and for which, Bill was unable and unwilling to describe symptoms.

He failed to say no person would be hospitalized for months on end without presenting with symptoms.  Further, insurance requirements (yes, even Medi-Cal would require this) as well as proper medical practice requires a physician have at least a preliminary diagnosis before admitting a patient to a hospital.  If that patient is hospitalized for months, you'd better believe a diagnosis would be required by the hospital's medical director and whatever organization is covering the substantial bill.

Bill Duby's claim he was confined to a hospital for months for an illness that could not be diagnosed is pure garbage.

I would believe he was confined to a hospital for a while, though.  It's not a hospital that would cut away a chunk of his belly fat, though.

Based on my recollection of a bottle of stuff called "Tegretol" on his desk, I'd believe his hospital specialized in psychiatric illnesses and the huge gash on his belly was somehow related to probably the up side of bi-polar disease.  Think about it: if you are so pumped on a bi-polar high you might be bold enough to say something to a person who didn't really appreciate your psychic awareness and that person answered your spiritual insights with a knife.

As far as the gold gloves champ goes, I heard something about that in passing.  But Bill was built like a pole vaulter - wiry.  He didn't have the body mass you would find in a boxer of his height.  Bill's foster mother proudly showed me pictures of "Billy" as a high school pole vaulter and kept some of the trophys and awards Bill earned for pole vaulting.  Boxing at a high level (basically a professional level) immediately after a long stint as a pole vaulter just plain isn't possible for any man.  The two sports require two different muscle groups and two very different body types.  There is no way Bill was a gold gloves boxer - unless he was boxing the Xmas decorations while wearing gold lamè gloves.

Relationships with 200 women would be for the most part after or near when he got divorced and before he started SRF. This would be approximately a 4 to 5 year period. This would mean he had about forty or fifty per year, or about four per month, average. This includes the time he was with Angela Silva, and when he was with Marc Reymont, and when he was at the Berkeley Psychic Institute (which he says he spent with only Angela), not to mention the years of meditation or months in the hospital, etc.

Bill's self-described prowess in female coition exceeds even Tiger Woods' record-setting achievements in that area.  Pair this with what he said about himself as a young man – that he was very shy and girls were not attracted to him and you'll see this dubious achievement as nothing more than a tall tale.

So, commingled with these sexual encounters were…

About six years spent at the Berkeley Psychic Institute and Marc Reymont (another spiritual teacher). We are already over the 4 to 5 years available, but let’s continue.

During this time, Bill claimed he was also a student of Dr. Gene Scott, the infamous TV preacher who was famous for bellowing "get on the phone" whenever he wanted you to hand over your money.  He never said when or for how long.  He also never could describe the facilities at Gene Scott's school.

He spent seven years or so in isolated meditation, doing nothing but lying there with his arms crossed across his chest. When? Certainly not when he was in the Army or when he was married and supporting his wife and two kids, or when he was working in the card club, or when he was in the hospital.

By the time he told his story to me, the "seven years" thing was quietly dropped, probably because Bill started to realize the timeline was as crooked as he was.  However, he did continue to say he spent a significant time in meditation lying on his bed in "the coffin pose", arms crossed over his chest and saying he would get up only to "eat, sleep, shit and fuck".

Perhaps his deep meditation happened when he was simultaneously studying the nine great scriptures.

My take: Bill shoved a Bible under his pillow while he "meditated" thinking the words would magically arise from the pages directly into his noggin.  Or maybe one of his street buddies alternately bashed him in the head with the Bible, The Koran, The Torah and any other scripture found in the gutter.
 
He studied the nine great scriptures. He didn’t mean that he simply read them. He clearly stated, numerous times, that he studied all of them in depth. This gave him credibility as a spiritual leader, knowledgeable in the field of spirituality and religion. How long would it take to study one of these works? Let’s say that he is extraordinary and that he could read and assimilate one of these scriptures in a few months. We would be talking about over two years for the extraordinary feat of reading seven enormous books and absorbing every key topic.  It's a superhuman task.

In fact, it is common that a true study of any ONE scripture takes years.  Ask a priest.  Ask a Rabbi.  Hell, ask one of Bill's fellow students at that Bible College!

As Bill frequently said he not only was a "bad student" and claimed to have dyslexia since he was a young boy, would Bill have the tenacity and personal learning skills to have studied any damn scripture for any longer than a few minutes?  Considering Bill's attention span lasted a few milliseconds unless he was engaged in an all-night screaming tirade about a follower's unsubstantiated crimes or just because he was too wound up to sleep, I don't think he could sit still long enough to turn a page.  Even if he did have the patience and studious discipline to study a scripture, if he really did have dyslexia, it would have slowed him down substantially.

In reality, Bill could have got through less than one tenth of one of his "nine great scriptures" in the time he had available.  That means he could read somewhere around a few chapters of the Bible - maybe it was those few chapters he made us read over and over again?

By the way, can you, the reader, name the nine great scriptures? Bill never mentioned all of them and almost never quoted from any "great scripture" except the Bible.  And even then, Bill misused and misquoted the Bible in order to reinterpret the meaning of scripture.  He re-defined the Bible to match his own twisted and perverse perspective on mind control.

He claims to have “worked with” about 25,000 people in spiritual matters. These numbers are also highly exaggerated - that means it is a steaming pile of dung.

He was making these claims in the 1990’s. From 1983 until the 1990’s he has only worked with the people who came into the Spiritual Rights Foundation. According to the associate member list, about 6,000 people had come to the Spiritual Rights Foundation from its beginning in 1982 until 1996 (and yes, that does account for the numbering system not starting at zero - so stop splitting insubstantial hairs).  And even fewer people arrived after 1996.   William Duby's claim just does not hold up.

At least one third to one half of these people only came once and/or never met Rev. Bill.  His claim would mean he "worked with" (come in contact with) about 3,000 to 4,000 people in the last 15 years.
in fact, very few people got to meet Rev. Bill Duby - only one in ten at best.

To hold water, he would have "worked with" about 21,000 to 22,000 people in the 11 years after his divorce and before he started the Spiritual Rights Foundation in 1982.

That amounts to a small audience of brand new people every day of the year with no time off for holidays. This is all going on concurrently with the above mentioned activities, including the seven years Bill spent in the "coffin pose" getting up only to "eat, sleep, shit and fuck".  So, I guess you'll have to adjust accordingly - meaning you would have to subtract seven years from the eleven years after his divorce and the day he started SRF.  That means you'd have three years to see over 21,000 people.  That means Bill would have "worked with" SEVEN THOUSAND people a year.

But that's only twenty people a day for 365 days a year.  So if each person took only an hour of Bill's time, he'd have four whole hours to eat, sleep, shit and fuck a day.  Crap, I can't even eat three squares a day in four hours.  Don't ask how long the rest takes me.

During its heyday, the Spiritual Rights Foundation saw at most 3 fresh faces per MONTH (not per day).  There were fewer and fewer of them over time.  Actually, two years after I showed up, the number of new faces we saw began to dwindle to a few every couple of months then pretty much crashed to zero by the time Bill dropped dead.

As you can clearly see he was a great con artist. No one dared to call him on any of these boasts and exaggerations lest they be placed on the hot seat and brutally shunned and chastised.


===========================

The events listed in this timeline are events that either Bill himself or the Spiritual Rights Foundation lists as Bill's Dubi-ous achievements.  The dates are as accurate as we can recall and are based again on Bill's own statements, Bill's folklore or official biography published by the Spiritual Rights Foundation.

If you take a few moments to think it through, this time line of events is utterly impossible.  There is no way any one individual can accomplish that amount of items in that amount of time.

This time line clearly shows how Rev. William (Bill) Duby concocted a tall tale to enamor his women and his followers.

But to many of his formerly-faithful, there is only one notable event:

Reverend William Duby dropped face-first
dead on the floor December 5, 2001.

Two Witches, One Cup

They're watching a Special Broadcast of the SRF Church Service

In case you've been lucky enough to have not heard about (or worse, seen) the internet phenomena called "Two Girls, One Cup", I'll just say it's the nastiest thing you will ever see.

What happens in this little clip is pretty much all the things the Witches of Ellsworth have been doing to their followers for many years now.  If you are hell bent on watching it, don't say I didn't warn you.

I was inspired to write about this topic by an anonymous commenter who posted some time ago.  It took me a while to think it over.  Like eight months. It took me that long to shake off having seen "Two Girls, One Cup".  It took me two years to get enough nerve to see it and I think it will take me two more to get over it.

This comment is a good one.  The commenter makes the point that the Witches of Ellsworth's stated mission was to do what is necessary to attract spiritually-minded people into the cesspool that is the Spiritual Rights Foundation, but wound up whoring themselves out to con the hapless of their money.

It's uncanny: the Witches of Ellsworth pour on the charm, love bomb their victims, ply them with free teasers including free attendance at certain events, lure them with free psychic readings in order to hook more casualties into the money-making Clairvoyant Training Program.

However, when the prospect of squeezing you out of more money runs out, if you decide 'enough is enough', if you become tapped out and dependent on their apparent generosity, the love bombing stops.  In fact, while they apply their own brand of spiritual terrorism, deception, and perverse practices directly to your soul, you will likely feel like the cup in "Two Girls, One Cup".

All of us who faced the wrath of the Witches of Ellsworth have.  Things haven't changed, either.  The pressure is on to revive the flagging fortunes of the cult and those who remain better start mocking-up a fortune right away.  If that doesn't happen, the Witches will start a spiritual flogging just like they have done time and time again.

Yes, I know how friendly and helpful they all seem when you meet them and yes, I know that first impressions are the most lasting ones.  But those first impressions last only a short while.  Over time, you may see some tarnish in the shiny armor.  You may notice the warm patina on the Witches' faces begins to dull and the demands start to be made.

Like so many of us, you'll find yourself reaching for that SRF brass ring of spiritual enlightenment and finding it always just out of your reach.  You'll be told you are the reason you can't reach it.  You'll never know the Witches of Ellsworth had been pulling it away inch by inch.

If you show a prospect of giving them a ton of money, you'll always be welcome.  I know one guy there was perceived to be a pain in the ass.  However as he was a rich pain in the ass, his presence was tolerated.  The Witches knew I came from money and would soon come into a windfall.  They tolerated me for as long as the prospect of getting a piece of it existed.

The spectre of giving endless tithes on a portion of your assets (spend 10% to 30% a year so you earn even more?  If that is the case, I should go to Vegas and drop 10% of my net worth on "red" every year - it's better than the stock market) has driven several to bankruptcy and many into serious financial distress.  In fact, the process of going broke from paying the Spiritual Rights Foundation endless tithes, class fees, fees for weekend retreats, special donations, very special donations, gun-to-your-head donations and donations to pay for a donation (and this actually happened) had a special term at this worthless organization.  It was called "the financial growth period".

That "growth" led to growth in the Witches of Ellsworth's brokerage accounts and growth for their golden child's endowment but any "growth" in the hapless member's assets or bank account was a long-lost memory.

And as that "growth period" extended from a few months to years on end, your prospects of sticking around became slim indeed.  The Witches are running a business, not a non-profit church to serve the people, you know. 

A person in the Clairvoyant Training Program had significant mental issues.  By "issues" I mean they would say things like "the people in my head say..." and "God told me to buy this Toyota POS from my crooked neighbor".  This person needed a lot of help (far more than the idotic trailer park wisdom that is provided at the Spritual Rights Foundation) and was in the Witches good graces until this person ran short of cash.  As soon as we realized more help was requred for this person they were out and gone.

And you have to pay if you want to play.  I got my first glimpse of this a few years into the Clairvoyant Training Program.  If you did not show the propensity to toss your hard earned money into the Academy for Psychic Studies trash heap for years on end, the Witches of Ellsworth would heave you out the door making you believe it was your own failure to give that caused your expulsion.

In some sense that is true and in another sense, you would have to be very lucky to have been thrown out before serious harm was done.  Of course, the Witches want to be sure all persons who leave are degraded, demeaned, ridiculed and dehumanized so that control on the remaining members can be maintained.

One person I know was tossed in mid-session from the Clairvoyant Training Program because they quietly expresses some doubt about serving SRF as a brain-dead minister, giving dollar after dollar without thought to the cult.  This person went about their business, following the training faithfully.  But the Witches decided this person will awaken from their spell of slumber shortly and heaved them out the door never to be spoken of again.

Actually, both of these persons were spoken of again and again.  Not fondly.  In fact, some of the most derisive, abusive, base and absolutely untrue things were said about them.  Especially the person who needed help from a mental health professional.  I won't repeat them.  However, if you can think of some of the nastiest things you can say about someone, it wouldn't even come close to what the Witches of Ellsworth would say about you if you aren't falling under their spell.

If you are tempted to join the Witches of Ellsworth at the Academy for Psychic Studies, please have an ample and unending supply of cash available.  Have no concern about anyone to support (like children, elderly parents, your spouse).  Don't worry about preserving the value of your assets.  Don't worry about having any at all!  The Witches of Ellsworth are so much more qualified to steward your dirty and evil money and meager assets.  You have your spirituality to attend to so there is no need for you to think about things like money.

So let go.  Relax.  Settle in and unhook.  There's no need for you to notice the Witches of Ellsworth reaching into your pocket, silently dragging away your child and spreading lies and rumor among the membership.  Don't make a sound when your spouse is used to spirit away even more money from you.

Because if you did, you'll get treated like the cup in "Two Girls, One Cup".


=============================================


Anonymous said...

I just ran into a former associate member recently at the post office.

She asked me if I was still going to the church? I said I no longer was, and she preceded to let me know that she was going there for years on and off, but that just recently an older male one night at a recent healing clinic told her she was no longer welcomed.

The "FREE HEALING CLINIC" that SRF advertises is open to the public, and she was no longer welcomed there. The explanation was that she was "too powerful for the place".

SRF often uses this phrase, along with your too capable for our place. I always thought that it was ironic that it was open to the public, and this woman who took a few workshops and readings over the years wanted to be in the energy.

I remember Angela Silva, President of SRF picked and choose who was welcomed and who was not. Didn't matter if your sign is open to the public via the radio, internet and print publications. It all had to do with if you had potential to unload loads of whats in your bank account. Its like the old saying, if you got tons of money and your wacky or different your eccentric. If you have little to no money your considered crazy!

When Bill Duby was alive, he would chastise Angela Silva for being judgmental about who stays and goes. He called it kick-out-itis!

He would mention that Angela Silva was once considered a threat to herself in Oakland's psyche ward in the late 70's and early 80's. Now she is refusing someone like herself a place to possibly find themselves in this healing place that is advertised.

Angela Silva has no one to stop her and she clearly has that back on her mind, and has a strong male be her henchmen in doing the dirty work and denying access to someone they claim to want to help. As long as you keep her pockets filled, will you remain welcomed.

I'm sure this goes over well in Heaven as God see's her claiming to be a minister yet picking and choosing based upon potential of fleecing you of your $$$$. She will claim she has the right as a business person, but she switches hats to best suit hers, Robin DuMolin and Debi Livingston's agenda (retirement fund).

HYPOCRISY: She will definitely burn in hell under a slow roasting burn. Robin and Debi will surely be given the same fate, since their public face shows them as tireless ministers helping others, when in reality they are really business con woman who behind the scenes push people to take classes continuously otherwise your dismissed when you stop giving.

They also don't tell anyone they are pocketing and stashing away others hard earned monies and offer stale redundant information that is recycled in different forms for years under retreats, classes and workshops. You can learn everything in a few years, but they start subtle pressure tactics to keep you going. No different than advertising and teasing sexual allure to keep the suitor going.

As Bill Duby would say to them and I quote.."WHORES FOR GOD"!

Problem is, they are realistically being whores for security and their retirement funds! Psst! The place, and its assets at last heard and recorded in public records, says Angela Silva and Robin DuMolin were the beneficiaries!

Of course, we are dissidents and considered disgruntled. So those who believe in their agenda, no words can persuade you, but those of you like myself who lived throughout, no longer are words possible to believe what they are selling.

They are lost souls who have an ATM machine called staff members! Just squeeze them from time to time, and flatter them when they start finding themselves and breaking away, in order to keep them hanging on for more. They were trained by a great con man in Bill Duby.

June 1, 2009 3:42 PM

========================================

Thank You Anonymous for the above.

And in case you SRF Net Nazis can't understand the concept of "anonymity", it means that person does not have a name, is unknown to me and is not me.  Oh, and be sure to tell your spiritual mother that.  I'm sure she will appreciate the information before she makes you work all your weekends and evenings at her farm for no pay, no meals, no thanks and no way to escape it.

Shock The Monkey

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 asked for requested demanded a home makeover, complete with hardwood flooring, cedar planking in the closets, a steam room as well as other such bling to the modified double-wide he shared with Angela Silva.

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.

Santa Claus Rage

I'm going to relate an experience I had at SRF. It involves a certain individual who I will not name. The intent here is not to expose that person's behavior or cause embarrassment, but to illustrate and give some background to SRF's response and one of the ways that they discourage good medical care.

Some years ago, the Academy for Psychic Studies operated a Santa Claus booth at a local Christmas Fair. I attended as often as I could. We would let any kid sit with Santa and charged a few bucks if the parents wanted a picture. I got to take pictures of dozens of the cutest kids in the world sitting on Santa's lap. It was a great time for me.

We had guys rotating as Santa, as the fair lasted some 10 hours and that's a long time to sit in a Santa suit. Usually we would have them sit for no more than an hour as that suit gets pretty hot. Steve Sanchez was one of the booth's more popular Santas. He just had a way of engaging the kids and making them feel like they were with Santa Claus himself. He would do a deep ho-ho-ho and a hearty Merry Christmas while ringing his sleigh bells. The kids would run to him and wouldn't leave until they had given him their whole Christmas wish list for the next ten years. Taking pictures of the kids sitting with him was a lot of fun.

One of the guys playing Santa was truly a maniacal member of SRF. This fellow was a hard-core and fairly new student in the basic level of the Clairvoyant Training Program (which I attended) and frankly, he scared the crap out of me. This guy not only took every single class that was offered, he listened to the SRF-published recordings and watched all the videos while not in class. His "dedication to the teaching" made him a very popular guy there. The church leadership held him up as an enthusiastic learner and that he was succeeding practicing meditation and induced trance states. Every unattached female (and a few attached ones) were eyeballing him for a mate and a few were making moves on him. He not only scared the crap out of me, he had a certain way of making me feel like crap when in his presence.

At the Christmas Fair, he pulled nearly a double shift in a hot Santa suit. Instead of doing the ho-ho-ho and Merry Christmas thing letting the kids come to him, he'd try to persuade kids to come sit on his lap. He would shake a basket of candy canes, tell the kids "Hey, it's Santa! Come sit on my lap". He'd even work on the parents, speaking to them directly to drop their kids on his lap. There weren't a lot of takers, as I recall. Hell, if I were one of those parents, I'd pull my kid out of there as quick as I could.

Why he was so aggressive?

After the fair closed for the day, I had dinner at a local steak house with "Santa" and an SRF minister. While tearing through his Porterhouse, old Santa there went on and on about how it was his calling to be the real Santa and he was to bring to message of the spirit of Christmas to the parents of the kids he was pulling in. He went on to talk about how he saw that people were getting a "healing" from his presence as Santa and punctuated his speech with a hearty "THAT'S BECAUSE I'M SANTA CLAUS".

Whoa.

The minister present (perhaps wisely) said nothing.

I finally had enough. I had to do something to get his feet back on the ground. So I said to him, "Maybe you can let those people find their own Spirit of Christmas. It will be a lot easier on you." He said something that I couldn't understand then went back to ripping up his steak, miffed at the affront to his ego.

I thought it would be a great time to head for the Men's room. While I was gone, (as the minister present related to me) "Santa" leaped from his chair, reached across, grabbed the minister by the shirt with both hands and while pulling him over the table and his half-eaten steak bellowed:

"YOU'VE GOT TO OWN YOUR MINSTER SPACE AND SHUT THAT GUY UP!"

The minister then went to the Men's room himself. Not to find me, but to check his underwear.

Two days later, "Santa" went berserk at the SRF headquarters saying that he was sent to save the church from evil influences (probably me) and while running through the building, worked himself into a frenzy shouting about the tidal wave of evil spirits and other threats to SRF and society and that he would be the one to save SRF and the world. He was then quickly heaved out the door. He was left on the street, pounding on the gate shouting about his mandate to save us from evil.

I was not there at the time, so this is a second-hand account of the event. I did hear from several people, including my wife, talking about that event and how scary it was. So, I guess I wasn't the only one who was scared by "Santa".

Now, anyone with a brain would have looked at this event would think: "psychotic episode" - a serious medical event, and would immediately dial 911 for the psychiatric emergency team. He could get the help he needed and you would truly have saved a soul.

But no one at SRF believes in psychiatry or in mental illnesses. So no call was made and no help was obtained. It was blamed on the usual cast of evil spirits and he was just dismissed from our world.

I learned that Santa had a reputation for somewhat disturbing behavior. At one time, the founder said that he could not handle Santa and that it was now the membership's task to keep him in control. He did have a history of drug abuse and some behaviors that ranged from unsavory to potentially dangerous. He was also in a extraordinarily contentious divorce with his wife. 
The court allowed Santa only short, supervised visits with their child due to some concerns about the child's safety. The stress of all that was huge.

I once came to SRF, entering from the rear and going into the basement (as we lower-vibration students who were constantly on the shit list were asked to do). As I approached to basement door, I heard a loud, animated and very angry voice booming from the room. It was Santa, on the phone, bellowing about his frustrations about his divorce and child custody battles.
Santa was working up to this momentous event. Psychosis happens more often that not when someone is under a lot of stress. I saw that happen three times by the time I was 26 years old. It never left my memory.

Later, after a cooling-off period, he was allowed back in to SRF and was given some conditions to observe. Apparently, they realized this fellow had been through a very bad divorce with severe problems with visiting his child. He lost his house in the divorce and was living in his car. There was nowhere else he could go where he could be accepted.

The stress on this guy was enormous. He was having a very hard time because of his divorce but still came up with enough money to buy everything SRF. Seeing an opportunity, they told him that if he would settle down and be humble, he could stay. He later returned the favor by signing over to SRF a plot of land he owned. Whether that was part of the deal, I don't know.
Santa's return was kept quiet. No one knew about it for a while. It later leaked that Santa would return. Back to the Clairvoyant Training Program, where I was still a student. One night in class, a fellow student (somewhat concerned about safety, I think) asked about him and his status. It was confirmed that Santa would return and that certain conditions would apply. It was also said that although he was not yet finished with his fundamental-level training, he would advance to the higher level of training immediately. There was a palpable sense of relief in the class upon hearing this news. He scared the crap out of us all.

He made it through fairly quickly, graduating as a minister. All graduates were given a final exam known as the Ordination Review Board. We were all present at this event as it was touted as a "validation of your knowledge". Basically, it was just theater. Bad theater.

"Santa" took that review. Despite some strange and incomprehensible answers to the questions posed and despite not knowing the basic tenets of the teaching, he passed. Bad theater indeed.

In the days following, several people commented on how bizarre the "Santa" ordination exam was. There was doubt that he was ready to be a minister. More telling was that each person said "that was the scariest graduation I have ever seen here".

Well, now I can feel I was right all along. He scared me from the beginning.

He's still there and he is teaching classes and doing whatever other work the church asks of him. They say they chased all the wolves out of his space and he is clean.

I wonder, though. Had that call to the psychiatric emergency team been made the day he had an episode, would he have still scared the living crap out of everyone through his behavior in the following years? Wouldn't some treatment for the enormous stress, delusions and uncontrolled behavior been in order? This guy wasn't just acting out, he was in pain. Mental pain. And he needed more help than a place like SRF can provide.

Well, to SRF medicine can't help. Prayer does. Meditation does. But "Santa" was praying and meditating and learning all the SRF techniques available. And he was practicing with all his might and consuming all his time with it. So, with all that learning, all that devotion, all that practice and all the validation that he is doing it right, how does it happen that techniques that are said to be beneficial aren't? Why is it that a man could be driven to a psychotic episode by faithfully using calming and soothing meditation?

Margaret Singer described a condition called "relaxation-induced anxiety" that is recognized by the American Psychiatric Association. This happens when someone meditates and sees uncomfortable or disturbing mental imagery or may have physical pain or other discomfort. She cites cases where people can enter psychosis and delusions from practicing meditation. Some can meditate for a few minutes without problem, some cannot meditate at all without problem.  I'll bet "Santa" continued to meditate and enter trance states while experiencing psychosis because he didn't know any better. It probably made things worse for him and likely put him over the edge.

The same meditation and trance techniques are still in practice at SRF today. And all ministers, including "Santa" practice them faithfully.

The wolves may be in hiding.

The ISHI Hypnosis Shuffle

One of the many things there we were "encouraged" to participate was hypnotherapy certification. This course of training and certification cost some two thousand dollars and resulted in a big certificate printed on parchment proclaiming that the bearer is a certified hypnotherapist.

The training was conducted in day-long classes held over a series of weeks. The training was part lecture and part practical application. There was a lot of practice with fellow students and many practice sessions. Not much in the way of books to read outside of a binder labeled "BASIC STUDENT MANUAL" and a spiral-bound book of scripts. The BASIC STUDENT MANUAL was created and issued by the National Guild of Hypnotists (NGH) and was available from any of the NGH-recognized hypnotist training programs. One of the script binders were written by a local hypnotist, not affiliated, trained or otherwise connected to ISHI Hypnosis. The other was a standard set of scripts, also issued by the NGH. I don't recall seeing any material originally developed by ISHI Hypnosis. It appears that the study material would have been available anywhere.

We were told that certification was accredited by the National Guild of Hypnotists and was sufficient to engage in the practice of hypnosis and hypnotherapy. Starting one's own practice was mentioned but mostly, participation on the ISHI Hypnosis clinic and continuing education was encouraged. Hypnotherapists practicing in the ISHI Hypnosis clinic were not paid (even though clients coughed up fees for treatment) and continuing education classes were actually regular ISHI Hypnosis training classes opened up for "graduates".

After the arduous process of practice, study (most of which was memorizing hypnosis scripts, not studying theory) and sitting in lectures, the certification exam was administered. That exam was a fairly large document with pages and pages of questions, some multiple choice, some short answer. There were so many questions, it took some two to three hours to complete it. Once you passed that exam, you would be a real, certified hypnotherapist.

I took that training. Once the training was finished, I took that exam. Once the exam was over, I was presented with a certificate proclaiming me as a Certified Hypnotherapist and was presented with materials for membership with the National Guild of Hypnotists with the blessing of ISHI Hypnosis.

There was one problem, though: I failed the exam.

That's right. I failed.

On the day of the exam, I was running a fever. I was sick to my stomach, had a pounding headache, coughed frequently, was sore all over and somewhat disoriented. I obviously had the flu.

The text started to take on that moving, shimmering quality that you see after your third boilermaker. Not only did I not have the answers, I couldn't even understand the questions! I left about 20-25% of the answers blank. BLANK! The rest, I guessed at.

At best, I estimate I got 75% of the answers right - ONLY if ALL my guesses were correct. And if they were, I think my next stop should be a Keno table. More than likely, I got half or fewer of the answers correct.

I never knew how I actually did. No one ever got back their test. No one. And to my knowledge, no one ever failed the certification exam. No one. There was no provision for a second pass after a failed exam - no one needed a second chance. I recall that everyone who took the ISHI Hypnosis certification course was, indeed, certified.

So, if you failed the test, would you complain? Probably not. There was so much encouragement and reward for participation in the ISHI Hypnosis training program you just could not fail. Literally. What are the odds that 100% of those taking a certification exam passed on the first try each and every time?

I didn't complain. I never practiced hypnotherapy either. At least not on my own. I was required to practice in the ISHI Hypnosis clinic for no compensation, though. If my test results were as dismal as it appears (and by leaving much of the answers blank, I'd say that was pretty dismal) you wouldn't want me putting you into trance no matter what that parchment said.

But that leads me to a question: If I failed miserably but still obtained certification, how many others failed? How many of them have received certification despite failing their final exam? How many of them are in practice today?

Would you want to receive hypnotherapy from a practitioner who has not fulfilled the requirements for certification? Would you trust an ISHI Hypnotherapy graduate with your mental and emotional well being?

If you do, give me a call. I'll trance you. No guarantee that I can get you into trace. Hell, there's no guarantee you'll come out of trance even if I could get you in it!

I wonder if ISHI Hypnosis graduates have come out of their trance?

================

The Academy for Psychic Studies: Psychic-ology 101

This article is from the Bohemian newspaper, distributed in the Sonoma County area. I have excerpted it with a link to the full article.

It pretty much speaks for itself.

----------------------------------------

From The Bohemian

http://www.bohemian.com/metro/01.02.08/cover-0801.html

Medium Cool
By Vrinda Normand

The New Year is the busiest season for psychics, and Silicon Valley has a lot of them. Even true believers are always on the lookout for fraud, and Santa Clara's Edward Carrion wants to protect the psychic consumer.

"I hate people that rip off other people," he says.

So he's doing something about it. He created a free educational resource on his website (readingsbyedward.com) called "Psychic Consumer 101." There you'll find easy-to-read tips on what a psychic is, how to tell if a self-professed psychic is the "real thing," and how to tell if a psychic is "using you."

"Silicon Valley has the highest concentration of psychics that I know," Edward says. "The energy of readings here is huge." Downtown San Jose, he adds, is a major "reception center" for the other side. If that's true, then you're more likely to find a good psychic among the crowded phone book listings, websites and hippie fairs in the South Bay.

Still, Chapman warns, the same trend also invites wannabes who see the profession as an easy moneymaker, especially when the economy is struggling.

"Anything in the psychic realm can be misused," Chapman says.

I gathered lots of practical tips to be aware of if you plan on being a psychic consumer this year, but the most obvious and understated one was this: trust your gut feeling.

So I decided to find out about becoming a little psychic myself.

The Academy for Psychic Studies is tucked into a tiny office space off Lincoln Avenue in San Jose's Willow Glen neighborhood. On some Saturdays, the school advertises its presence with balloons and a sidewalk sign offering a free psychic consultation. 

The Academy's website includes a list of its classes, from beginning meditation to advanced aura reading. On Tuesdays, it welcomes members of the public to an open, complimentary "energy healing clinic."

Unfortunately, the Academy does not welcome members of the media, and refused to speak with me for this article.

"We're not interested because that's not what we're about," a woman from the Academy told me before she hung up the phone (and before I could ask why). The school also requires that visitors sign an agreement promising they're not investigators or journalists .

…be very wary if they respond defensively or try to hide something from you. I told Edward (author of "Psychic Consumer 101") about my strange experience with the Academy for Psychic Studies in San Jose. He raised his eyebrows and said, "Why are they so afraid of investigation?" A trustworthy psychic, he added, is willing to be transparent and should even let you record the reading."

-------------------------------------