Healings Done with Love, SRF style.

I don't think they are going to church.

I started thinking about the implications of the Spiritual Rights Foundation's failed lawsuit against us.

It's never an easy thing to be sued. Even by idiots. Actually, if you are being sued by idiots it's a lot scarier. Idiots can't be reasonable. Idiots don't understand the law. Idiots want things that make no sense and are impossible to deliver. Idiots can't be satisfied.

So as far as the Spiritual Rights Foundation goes, their lawsuit claiming defamation and accusing us of everything short of assassinating President Kennedy pretty much was all that.

It was crazy. And claimed things that made no sense. They claimed I did things I didn't do (and that was obvious to everyone but SRF). They misapplied the law to make a false claim - just like they've been misapplying the Bible all these years!

The lawsuit kept both Joy and I up at night for many a night. Some nights were spent preparing our defense (which would have been impossible without our brilliant attorney, Josh Koltun). Many nights were spent lying in bed staring at the ceiling swinging between anger and fear.

So, that's the personal effect of the lawsuit. Of course when they dismissed their suit, I was happy, sad and frightened all over again.

I was happy we beat them, of course. I was sad to find that others who would speak out were even MORE afraid of the wrath of the SRF Cult.

But the fear came in the form of the Spiritual Rights Foundation's habit of revenge and suppression of their opponents.

The original whistle blower, the previous wearer of the King of Evil crown endured SRF's campaign to discredit him and ruin him. At the direction of the Spiritual Rights Foundation leadership, ministers of SRF wrote letters claiming child abuse and molestation then sent them to his employer, a local elementary school district.

The claims were false, of course. Their intent was to create an air of suspicion around the whistle blower and compel his employer to fire him. That action would ruin the man's career - which the Spiritual Rights Foundation intended. I remember that. Several people said they wrote letters to "get him fired".

Their next target endured something less oppressive but every bit as false and scandalous. Steve Sanchez wrote a tell-all book honestly depicting life in the cult. SRF responded with a statement on their web site claiming Steve's writings were made in the throes of mental illness. It's still there (but you have to search for it. Google: Steve Sanchez SRF to find out).

Any member, no matter if they were man or woman, if they left quietly or in rancor found that the leadership depicted them as demons, malcontents, cretins, thieves or any other derogatory or degrading description could be concocted.

Some of that made it to the public (as I describe above).

I'm not too worried about that, though. After all, lately the Spiritual Rights Foundation has been losing members and their own credibility as quickly as water runs through a sieve. No one (at least no one with two brain cells huddling together for warmth, anyway) believes their claim of being a beneficial and nurturing organization who's selfless leaders are dedicated to the advancement of their brokerage accounts.

Uh, sorry that was supposed to be the advancement of your spiritual growth. My bad...

It's still a pain in the ass to have to explain your side of the story to complete strangers who ask about the things an obscure cult in Berkeley have to say about you, though. If those strangers care to read this blog, they might have the opportunity to make up their own minds. Those strangers who start to cry, complain and beat me over the head with Bill Duby's "Cosmic Acid" aren't exactly in their right mind in the first place. So forget about them.

Anyway, it's more along the lines of the physical level. I know at least one person currently affiliated with SRF owns several firearms. One SRF official has proclaimed on the air (on their radio show "Total Prosperity") that he was tempted several times to get in his car to deliver a "healing" to certain persons.

To give you an idea of what I'm feeling right now, I was reading about Susan Atkins, the dead Manson Girl. When asked if she thought killing actress Sharon Tate was wrong, Susan Atkins said "How could it be wrong if it's done with love?"

And people wonder why she was locked up so long.

Well our own experience with an SRF "healing" had to do with love as well - the kind of love you might have run into if you were in Sharon Tate's shoes.

I'm thinking if there is trouble on the horizon, we do have a lot of things going for us. First, we live in an area that is patrolled by two law enforcement agencies. Since some local yahoos dropped in uninvited a while back, the police stepped up patrols and have been more aggressive about stopping people who look like they don't belong in an upper-middle class neighborhood. A car load of SRF dorks looking like day laborers might fit the bill. And both the Campbell and San Jose police know who lives here and who doesn't.

And those dorks know I have mad skills with the net and electronic stuff because I have buck teeth, laugh like a constipated mule, wear coke bottle glasses and wear my pants too high. Other than that, I'm like every other stereotype those SRF bucketheads can imagine.

So, I think they know how well my house is "connected". The next video I post may have some guest stars from Berkeley. And they'll take their publicity shots wearing stripes, holding a number board in front of them. The profile shot will be done at no extra charge!

I'll get into the SRF version of healing later on. But for now, the house is well-lit, the streets well-patroled, and we remain vigilant.

Pump Up The Volume

Talk hard, I like that. It's like a dirty thought in a nice clean mind. 

Truth is a virus.

Remember my dear, I can smell a lie like a fart in a car.

You know what empowers me?  It's watching films like Pump Up The Volume.  Gaining inspiration from the likes of Christian Slater giving voice to not only teenage angst and young adult confusion but also suburban men in mid-life crisis.

The strength of the human voice, the power of expression, the long-lasting and pervasive impact of words are the things that sustain me and give me the kind of enthusiasm for life in all its glory I had as a teen and a younger man.  

So, if you want to know what keeps me going, what compels me to write and propels me into the inner depths of our collective experience at the parasite-infested Spiritual Rights Foundation go take a look at Pump Up The Volume.  What kept Christian Slater going is what inspires me.

As far as the Witches of Ellsworth Street go, as they continue to flog the dead horse that is the Academy for Psychic Studies, now is a great time to expose all the half-truths, mendacities and all out lies we were told.  It's also a good time to expose their failed initiatives and let the world know what goes on behind the iron gate of the Academy.

They have one person left to operate both the San Jose and Berkeley locations.  This guy is spread thin between his duties as the lone officer of the detention facility in Berkeley where the most recent ex-followers reside, half-witted promoter of classes and activities, lame-duck member of whatever remains of the governing board of directors and his duties as the main purveyor of Academy for Psychic Studies poison I would be surprised if he can keep it up for much longer.

As they are so blind to their situation they continue to make the pretense of great activity and interest in this odd and idiotic cult, I would expect him and his leash-holders to maintain as high a pace of frantic and unorganized activity for a while, though.

Think about what happened to us and our colleagues.

Weren't we all stretched to the breaking point with attending county fairs, local fairs and whatever else the leaders could get a cheap booth at so we can provide psychic readings and healings to an unsuspecting public?  How about the money they charged for those services?  Was that distributed to anyone who took their time to provide the actual work?  How obsessed were the on-site organizers with money?  Wasn't a trusted minion assigned to collect the day's take?

After a while, it looked a lot like these public presences were anything but an opportunity to "shine our light unto the world".  It looked a lot more like we were running a lemonade stand to fill another person's pockets.

What about Health and Wealth.  H&W continues to sell helpful recordings and publications on topics such as meditation, hypnosis, self-healing and overall spiritual awareness and growth.  The CD's were about $17.  Video recordings started at somewhere around $25 and went up from there.  Don't ask about the books.

The public saw a full line of products to increase their psychic awareness and prosperity.  They saw products that just might make them feel good.

We saw something different.

Late at night, the faithful followers of the Academy for Psychic Studies spoke into microphones to create the recordings.  Other times, they acted like giddy fools for a Health and Wealth video recording or three.  And when those recordings were completed, those same followers happily packaged the goods into cases, creating the disks, copying the tapes, printing the cover sheets and placing them in a spiritually-correct way in the Academy for Psychic Studies storefront.

That work was vaunted as the highest spiritual work, outside of throwing all your cash and assets at the leaders.

What was hidden from the public, not spoken within the iron gate of the cult compound or ever even approached as a topic of conversation was the people who did the work never got paid a nickel nor were they provided with even a complimentary copy of the products they created.

Well, where is my charity, you might ask.  After discovering Health and Wealth is a separate entity from the Academy for Psychic Studies and was intended as a for-profit and TAXABLE money-making enterprise, my sense of charity faded faster than the hair color on Robin Dumolin's grey roots.

The revenues are controlled by Robin Dumolin.  It's pretty clear.  Robin is listed as the "manager" and presumed CEO of this conglomerate of psychotic products and services in several public listings.  It's also clear Health and Wealth loves to avoid taxes.

I remember one day I ran into the head psychotic, Bill Duby.  He came up to me, reeking of too-much of that cheap after shave he liked to use.  Bill related that Robin ran up to him in a panic saying the revenues of Health and Wealth was so high, they'd have to pay their fair share of income tax.

Most business owners wouldn't be bothered by that as paying income tax means they, you know, have income.  Enough income to have made a good profit.

Robin, however was in a funk.  How dare the government ask for taxes when she preferred to keep the money? 

Bill Duby, the genius founder of the cult, resident financial expert and tax guru had a brilliant plan:  just give a huge donation to the non-profit church and watch the taxes disappear.

Brilliant!  Bill had a tremendous talent for making all kinds of money disappear.  Money he threw into so many businesses, toys, cars, trucks, farm equipment, farm animals and whatever the hell else he wanted (like a King-Sized commercial satellite dish that allowed him to watch foreign language channels and other crap he couldn't understand) disappeared faster than Angela's wrinkles after her fourteenth Botox treatment.

His heirs to this perverted empire are no different.

We all know some hundreds of thousands of dollars were spent at the Blue Sky Ranch to create was was ultimately an illegal structure and unsafe environment.  We also know it will take up to a hundred thousand more to correct it, now that the county government caught on to them.

Still, they pamper themselves in trips to the spa and shopping sprees.  Religious retreats are the order of the day, allowing Robin and Angela to ease away the stresses of their busy days.  The cult headquarters was painted and re-decorated just a few years after it was painted and re-decorated.  Boxes from QVC and online shopping sites arrive regularly as well.

Through it all, Angela professes her dedication to keeping alive a spiritual place for sensitive beings.  A schedule of classes continues.  Open house healing clinics remain open.  Promotions for the elite Clairvoyant Training Program are continually held.

The voice of the Academy for Psychic Studies remains in the public eye, although it's sounding a little hoarse and ragged these days.

The class descriptions are lame and the usual class enrollment is about, oh, ZERO.  A few special classes are held, usually for female issues.  No teacher is listed for those classes, though.  I doubt the corpulent remaining follower would teach it as one look of him will clear the room.  If one of the Witches has the will to pull away from Oprah re-runs or QVC long enough to face a room full of quizzical faces, there is a chance they'd have one or two people who'd attend.  But as that requires exposure to the public, maybe not.

A few retreats to places like Calistoga and the "healing center" in Berkeley (which is the insect infested back yard of the Academy) are offered for prices that would cause a stroke.  Public appearances are rare.  In fact, you'd be hard pressed to find any event the Academy for Psychic Studies attends, except for whatever they do in their own compound.

Still the voice of those who have been there and have seen the inner workings of this cult and have been the victims of its abuse, exploitation and bad practices remain strong.

I have no stats on how many people read the Academy for psychic Studies site but I can tell you my perusal of this blog's stats show people are reading intensely and regularly.  A few of them make comments.  Most read.

Like Christian Slater's character, the volume of the readers are pumped up and moves them away from the remains of abuse into the path of recovery and true freedom.  With the Witches of Ellsworth Street being shown as having no clothes and the public now seeing their true nature, what was once a small voice crying out from your inner being has the freedom to shout.

Or maybe all it really needs to do is say "now, things are better.  much better".



Now, if you want to see a bit about someone who has found him/her self much better, you should take a look at this entry in a certain blog written by someone who may be familiar to you readers.  Before you do, I will tell you if you have triggers (well, I guess if you did you wouldn't be reading THIS blog) you should take care with this link.  As this person's departure from the inner sanctum of the Academy for Psychic Studies was not discussed publicly until now, I think it would be of interest to those of us who read this blog.

http://healedhearthypnosis.com/2012/06/08/graceful-transitions-and-the-art-of-giving/

Keep in mind I take no position on this person's spiritual views.  As always, I leave those issues for you to decide.  However, the main takeaway on this thing seems to have some relationship to a couple of Witches quite likely taking revenge.  If you were to add up the things that happened in the last couple of years: the revenue ISHI Hypnosis has not realized (due to lack of interest), the fact this person joined a losing lawsuit against this blog, that the Clairvoyant Training Program evaporated as well as the Witches wanting to preserve their cut of the action at the expense of anyone else, I think it's clear the only deal you get with the Witches of Ellsworth Street is one where YOU lose.

Making a Mezz Out of the Blue Sky Ranch

The newly remodeled Blue Sky Ranch!

built like a brick... house

Well, the Witches of Ellsworth Street have their work cut out for them.  Actually, it's the crap mobile home they had us slave over at the Blue Sky Ranch in Bethel Island that's getting cut out.

The Witches built out an illegal second floor (a "mezzanine" technically) in the amazingly illegal main structure.  The second floor was finished with drywall, outfitted with a single shower and toilet and two dormitories that were intended to cram so many people in them, they would look like one of Tyson's chicken factories.  However, unlike Tyson's chickens you'd approach the bunk beds in your cramped sleeping quarters by way of an authentic hand-built oak staircase.

Any of us with the Academy for Psychic Studies Healing Retreat experience know there is less attention paid on attendee comfort and more attention paid to the Witches getting paid as much as possible.  Installing adequate facilities cuts into the Witches profits.  Why can't you twelve people learn to use that one shower and single toilet?  If you can't wait, you'll need to learn how to piss in the field and jump in the goose pond as the bathroom line could be as long as the line of convicts in the Witches Kangaroo Kourt.

Of course, the purpose of that mezzanine was to entrap as many people there as possible (one weekend at a time) so the Witches can collect $300 or so from each of them for the privilege of roasting in the hot sun, freezing in the winter's cold and being packed six at a time into rooms better suited for two.  That the windows were so small you could barely wave your hand out them in an emergency was a stroke of genius: when the people attending a retreat were caught in a flood, they would be easily eliminated and the bodies would be hidden until the surviving inmates returned to put them in the ground with the rest of the dead animals.  How about that!  No Witnesses!

So, I guess that's why the Blue Sky Ranch is still on the market for a still-outrageous price.  It's also still being touted as a luxurious corporate retreat.

I can tell you as a guy who's been on corporate retreats: this ain't no luxurious corporate retreat.  Well, it would be the first corporate retreat where I would have to dance around the goose shit and cow dung on my way to the outdoor shower and shit house (located next to the pig pen - I'm NOT kidding).  So, I guess it's got value there.  Why would we corporate types want to have a place where there are adequate facilities to feed us during the day, pour booze for us all night and allow us to nurse our hangovers in spacious meeting areas while we try to make our way through a presentation of quarterly objectives and market analysis?  The Blue Sky Ranch has a decrepit barn, Tuff Sheds smelling of horse turds and an abandoned chicken coop with a forgotten bird or two left behind.  The Witches of Ellsworth consider those to be more than adequate accommodations for those of us who know how to wear a suit as they usually consider cramming their followers in those facilities while the second floor mezzanine was under construction.

Eventually that second floor was completed but somewhat below the Witches high expectations.  To enhance the illegal second floor mezzanine to the high standards of the rest of this shithole, the Witches will be making a few minor amendments to their floor plan:

That the shower, toilet, sink, lighting, dormitories, parquet wood floor coverings, wall boards, wall studs, window trim, ceiling, insulation and white trash curtains from K Mart have to be permanently removed doesn't matter.  I mean, wouldn't the Blue Sky Ranch be still unbelievably valuable as a corporate retreat center even though there's no place to, you know, retreat?

No matter.  Such a uncomplicated and uncluttered space is completely in character for this bucolic rural retreat.  Why, plumbing, lights, ventilation, finished floors and safety from drowning and emergency exits would just plain spoil the pristine beauty of the Blue Sky Ranch and Bethel Island.  The corporate types will be glad to leave their complex world of creature comforts behind to sleep on a dirty, unfinished floor in a building that could kill them while they grope around for a light switch that isn't there.

So, when the Witches finally get to the point where they are demolishing that ground floor space, removing the cabinetry, appliances, furniture, wall boards, wall studs, ceiling, tile floor and more white trash curtains from K Mart, at least they'll still have that fucking oak staircase.  What a great thing to have in your storage space!  Imagine the value of a real, hand-built oak staircase situated in an area where you can't have lighting, plumbing, bedrooms or anyone who might see it.  I think I'll install an oak staircase in my own garage so I can show I can be as stupid, careless, and have the same disregard for safe building practices as Angela Silva and Robin Dumolin.  Oh, and wasteful too.

When Angela and Robin were able to use their cat 'o nine tales to whip the slaves into erecting this homage to exploitation, they cried of their poverty and that we of little faith and spiritual inferiority were doing all we can to take advantage of their generosity and renege on our commitment to sweat, bleed, empty our wallets, drain our savings and charge up our credit cards to create a community in the swamp.

We were always taunted with pleas to give to them so they can complete their monument.  The Witches would always be quick to take our money and slow to ever give it out.  Did they feed anyone who worked for them?  Did they pay any of the cult members who worked for them?  Were any of the cult members recognized or thanked for their hard work?

Well... no.

Instead, we were all berated for not giving all the Witches wanted us to give.  We were demeaned when slaving away on our free evenings and weekends was seen as inadequate.  We were driven to work harder than we had ever worked before to complete a demented and warped vision on a farm that (at least at the time) was the personal property of the Witches themselves.

That the Witches now have to remediate the Blue Sky Ranch at the point of the building inspector's pen is the one shining light in the dark cavern that is our experience with the Academy for Psychic Studies.

However satisfying it may be, I don't see it as comic and spiritual retribution.  It's more simple than that.  

It's just plain justice.

Salute the True Colors of the Academy for Psychic Studies

A member demonstrates the official
Spiritual Rights Foundation salute

Quite possibly the biggest complaint made by the Spiritual Rights Foundation was that no member or supporter was allowed to post a comment on this blog.

As usual, that claim was just plain false.

At about the time SRF was making the lame and incompetent attempt to sue this blog and everyone else who doesn't like them out of existence, I made a comment on Joy's blog.  I invited one of the most vocal and obnoxious persons who has ever been allowed near a computer to come comment right here on this blog.  I promised not to reply, block or delete their comments.  They could comment as much as they pleased.  However, because this person incited a major firestorm on Joy's blog and on YouTube, I asked him/her to be more thoughtful and direct about what they believed was true.  I also asked him/her to tone down the aggressive statements because all he/she was doing was igniting a flame war, which I really didn't want to have here.

Before anyone says I must have lit a fire of my own, please read the comment.  I said something like: show everyone how intelligent you really are and make a well-thought and well-formed comment in the way I know you can do.  That would keep the flamers from being, you know, flamers.

Again, as usual, this person came back with a comment that showed his/her true colors: sour and nasty.

There were people who replied to this person asking him/her to stop telling us his/her father was a dirtbag as he had his kid's best interest at heart and truly cared for them.  He/she made up a story about our activities making things even worse for them.  It's just another example of a Spiritual Rights Foundation member adopting the SRF edict of blaming everyone else for all the things they don't like.  I mean, if the leaders could blame all the followers for all the things the leaders did wrong, why can't the followers blame everyone around them for all the things the followers didn't like?

The remaining few at this wacky cult are still blaming us and the world for their current travails.  I am sure if I were to go out for a dinner near the secluded SRF storefront in San Jose, the remaining corpulent sycophant will give me the SRF salute if he were to see me.

The habit of withdrawal and the shifting of responsibility is so strong with the former members, most won't acknowledge any other former member or they will associate only with a small circle of familiar culties who have nothing really good to say or hope someone will take the blame for their travails.

I'll take the blame!  Why not!  I get to feel vindicated, and those guys will go away to the same kind of wretched existence they've always lived!  I have heard of those who still sing the praises of the cult even though they secretly loathe it.  I know of some who are practicing the wicked art of psychic reading and healing in the same perverted manner.  Even more still do the daily mind-erasing practices of energy running and the futile attempt at picture blowing.  All while they continue to harbor enmity against all of us who speak out in public or listen to those who do.  

So many of those raised at this idiot cult and who were indoctrinated in their ways were trained to respond to Spiritual Rights Foundation enemies with the same kind of vitriol and unrestrained adolescent bullying tactics it's a wonder to me how anyone got out of there with a few embers of humanity still glowing.

Of course, those tactics are the ones employed by none other than the current leaders of the cult - the DEAD one too.

A recent comment here by a prospective caretaker of the infamous Blue Sky Ranch confirmed they kinds of soul-crushing and demeaning verbiage used with we former members were utilized on anyone the leaders thought was an enemy or otherwise.

And speaking of the Blue Sky Ranch, they have applied for a permit for that Death Row style second floor dormitory.  They'll have to remove the cells, the San Quentin toilets, the double-tier cots and otherwise bring it into compliance (or pay a hefty fine) but the permit is applied for.  Who knows if they'll follow through with the repairs, though.  Wouldn't you want to pay a half-million for a structure that is illegal and would have to be repaired or torn down at your expense?  Looks like the Witches of Ellsworth are thinking just that.  This damn place is back on the market and it is unlikely any corrections have been made.

So what do you think Angela Silva will say when a prospective buyer tells her the Blue Sky Ranch isn't worth the price she's asking and that the illegal work will have to be corrected or the price reduced to reflect the true value of the property?

Probably something like what the commenter below has to say:

1. Mike KawaharaJanuary 20, 2009 1:17 AM

   ****** and ***** are commenting on this and other forums, especially the ISHI and SRF related YouTube pages that Joy has put up. And when they comment, the follow-ups that appear have been fierce.
   
   You two are grown women now so it's not appropriate for me to tell anyone to lay off you as it was when you were children. But I will tell you that you really ought to leave any arguments between parties not involving you alone. If you get caught up in that stuff, you'll make yourself a target.
   
   That has happened already in a previous post. Don't go through life with a kick me sign on your back. But by changing the way you comment, you can change the kinds of responses you receive.
   
   You've both been reading my blog. You haven't commented yet. I won't stop you from commenting and I won't delete your comments if you do. In fact, I won't even make a response if you care to comment.
   
   But I can't do anything about anyone who responds in the vicious manner you guys seem to attract with the kind of sarcastic, unfocused and sophomoric comments you have been making.
   
   I'm betting that the people who slammed you on this blog are now furiously searching my blog and YouTube for your comments and are plotting their attack.
   
   Get off that radar screen. You just don't need it. Lay low for a while. Then if you want to post a thoughtful comment, do that instead of trying to incite the kind of responses you have been getting. Thoughtful comments will make you look good. Thoughtful comments show you in your best light. Thoughtful comments won't give people a reason to flame you.
   
   Show them how smart you really are. Show them how you can address the issues. Show them you can write clearly with a point to communicate.
   
   I know you can. ***** writes for the school paper. ****** supervises workers. You two can work together to make a great and passionate statement instead of making two sarcastic, unfocused, unorganized ones.
   
   It's your choice now that you are adults. How would you like to be remembered? As two talented young women with a good point or two little girls with a bad temper?

   Reply
2. 
   ***** **** **********January 25, 2009 10:42 PM

   Whoa, looks like I’m pissing someone off. Hit a nerve, did I?
   My status on this blog went from being the poor victim of forced child labor and abuse, to a bitch and whore. I guess you guys don’t like it when people point out the flaws in your concocted stories.
   
   On the note of this blog being one big ridiculous invasion of my life, I’d like to request that you leave out ******** too. I realize in all you peoples renditions of the past, he is cast as a helpless victim. Which makes sense, because you’re all friends and its much more fun to tell fairy tales about big bad Bill ruining everything.
   But bringing him into this is unfair to him, and to our relationship. It only adds stress to our relationship. I can absolutely guarantee that none of you know the full story behind everything that happened between us, and you sound naïve pretending you do. I don’t need anyone to tell me to give him a fathers day card, or that I should thank him for my ‘freedom.’
   My dad and I agree on this so if you can’t show me the respect (since many of you perceive me as a evil bitch), at least show it to your friend, ********.
   Thanks for looking out for me Mike, Laying low was never my style, but I appreciate the concern. I can take the fierce comments. They’re entertaining, but kind of a let down. I would enjoy being dragged over hot coals so much more if I at least knew who it was the feels such hatred towards me.
   As for my writing style, I am sorry if it comes off too sarcastic for your taste. I’m trying to tone it down. (No joke, my mom, dad and even my boyfriend tell me I need too.)
   Hopefully you remember that I’m a very sarcastic person, and when it comes to responding to the ridiculous stuff I see on here I guess that tone comes out a bit too strong.
   I do disagree with you on my writing skills. I feel I come across clearly enough.
   You said I am unfocused, unorganized and sophomoric. I don’t think so.
   If I may quote your wife “But like, Its like, you know, ummm, it obviously shows... ummm, you know, ummm, yeah. I don’t know. It shows a lot. Yeah. So, anyways. . .”
   If I am unfocused, unorganized and sophomoric, then surely we can categorize Joy’s communication skills as infantile?
   (That’s a real quote. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nxy3atB5_3Q. . . I realize you may suffer a boredom induced coma from trying to watch the entire video, so just go to 8:22)
   
   As for how I would like to be remembered by the writers and commenters of this blog, that’s not something I am really concerned about. I highly doubt there is anything I can say that will change your perceptions of me.
   I’m not fooling myself into thinking that anything I have written on here will change your guys’ mind. Don’t worry, I know I am wasting my time. It hardly matters if I come off eloquent or a mess, either way it will be twisted to suit how you all choose to view me.
   
   Anyways, this little Internet exchange is hardly entertaining for me. I post with my name, and willingly take the online beatings that inevitably follow. Yet all of you who are so quick to throw me under the bus post your thoughts anonymously. BORING.
   As I said before, I have nothing to hide or be ashamed of. You all apparently do.
   Then again, if I where a adult posting trash like: “If you girls were stone cold drunk, I wouldn't even want to take advantage of you. Wouldn't want to soil myself on such piece of trash. I might catch something.” or “LETS TURN UP THE HEAT AND SEE HOW LONG IT TAKES TO MELT THESE BARBIE DOLLS!”
   I guess I would have something to be ashamed about. Have fun hiding.

   Reply

Serving Up The 4th - Academy for Psychic Studies Style

Alice is your new mediator.

I'll give her whatever she wants...

Well, what a hello to the regular week:  had to deal with not one, but two clods who are stirring up trouble in their own way and doing my best to help out the people they affected.  It's interesting that these two situations are on opposite sides of the coast and that they are somewhat flip sides of similar issues.

You won't get details on those situations from me but I will say neither are directly cult-related, although one of them is peripherally related to cult issues.


Anyway, I was actually hoping to tell you about a different situation.  This was a happy situation.  It's pretty much about what we did this Independence Day weekend and some of the thoughts I had during it.

We did a good deal of things this weekend like look out the window and realize some yahoos were using really illegal fireworks in our neighborhood.  The Campbell PD came by to shut them down and that restored a little calm to the area - at least we don't have to worry about them setting the neighborhood on fire tonight.

I will admit, the fireworks they were using were pretty awesome.

A local church - actually the big church a couple of blocks away, held a 4th of July Spectacular at an outdoor concert venue.  They had musical performances, plays, exhibits and a fireworks display about as awesome as the yahoos in our neighborhood were putting on.

OK, so the show was pretty much Velveeta-worthy and the tributes to the USA, our military and our American Way Of Life were themselves cheddar-ific.  But for a evangelical mega-church, you have to admit they did a fantastic job and they included as many of the church members in the show as they could and created a fun event.

It was a big affair - the venue is the kind used for arena rock shows and big events like OzzFest and Lilith Fair.  Lots 'o people came to take in the show.

You saw polite church volunteers everywhere helping people find a seat, making sure the elderly and handicapped were comfortable and basically being welcoming and friendly to their neighbors.

Food and drink vendors were present but most of the audience brought in picnic meals of their own.

The bottom line: this whole thing was free.

Yes, free.

Free fireworks (without the threat of burning down houses or having to answer a misdemeanor charge, like the neighborhood yahoos would), free entertainment and free activities while you wait for the show to start.  This show was open to all, no matter your faith.

Everyone here was here for a good time - even those who were behind the scenes putting on the show.  Actually, I think ESPECIALLY those behind the scenes.

Why is that?  I think it's because that church has a mission to serve the community.  That church is well known here for their commitment to community service, helping those with addiction recovery, helping couples with disabled children have a night to themselves for a change, serving where needed - even helping the neighborhood dispose of the old junk you have lying around.

This is a church who gives back to where they receive their support.  Any wonder why they are so large and why they are well regarded?


During the show Joy asked what I usually did for the 4th - I told her we'd commit arson.  As a kid, I'd spend Independence Day with my grandfather in the Central Valley.  That man, 5 foot nothing and 100 pounds soaking wet, would love that holiday, despite what the nation did to him and his family.  He'd be seen standing with a huge grin on his face holding a tray of TNT, Dynamite, C-4 plastic explosive and a box of sparklers asking "Wanna blow shit up?".

That's one of those "I can't believe I survived that" stories.

After that, of course I got mixed up with a different group of hooligans and malcontents.  These guys carried the books of Rev.William Duby and smacked you across the face with them.

At the Academy, the 4th wasn't about blowing shit up (except for the rose-blowing we were forced to do when we asked to grill hot dogs instead of work).  It wasn't about having a fun day at a park or other venue enjoying a little entertainment.  It for sure wasn't about honoring the birth of our great country.

It was about working your ass off.

How many of us remember not taking the day off and celebrating as we normally would?  How many of us remember how we were assigned (did I say "assigned"?  I meant "agreed with a warm and nourishing attitude",  my bad...)  to perform psychotic readings and healings at county fairs?  How about how we were told to not only pay for our own transportation, we would have to pay for our own food and lodging. How about sleeping in smelly old tents provided by the cult - for the bargain price of $35 a night.  How about sitting in a hot, dry fair hall all day waiting to give a psychotic reading that never came. What about sitting outdoors in 100 degree heat under a barely-enough tarp that seemed to make thing hotter?  What about having to walk the fair in that same 100 degree heat in the middle of the afternoon risking heat stroke and severe sunburn to attract customers for psychotic readings who were smart enough to stay indoors?

That's what the students were told to endure as part of the fun learning experience of their psychotic training.

And if you hadn't agreed to work the county fairs with a warm an nourishing attitude or if you were a male minister, you can have fun in the 100 degree sunshine of the cult leaders' farm in Bethel Island, CA.  You would have the privilege of shoveling manure, tending to animals that will be sold for the leaders' benefit, improving the leaders' living quarters with deluxe A/C and other amenities while you get to stay in an old trailer saturated with dirt from the Delta winds, with no electricity, water, toilet or shower.  No meals either.

There was plenty to do at cult HQ.  The newspaper still needed to be published and the web site needed updating and there were more recordings to be made.  You'll have to spend the night working on all that while maintaining your warm and nourishing attitude.  You'd be happy to work all night too: the web and recordings were produced in the attic, which would become evilly hot on a summer's day.

I remember one 4th weekend I spent at SRF with Joy.  We were sent to a county fair in Northern California (which I won't name just yet).  As the weather was hot enough to cook hot dogs without a grill, we passed on the cult's generous offer of paying them to sleep in a smelly tent on a hot night and being served fried, salt-coated grease for dinner for a comfortable hotel and healthy meals.  I especially enjoyed dining at the CIA at Greystone - oops, that just gave away the location. my bad...

Sure we got a hard time for it.  It was thought we were acting like we were above the hard working followers who chose to sleep in the horse pasture the cult rented and eat the grease balls served on a bed of weeds and flour paste.  They thought we were displaying our own inadequacies by showing the arrogance of staying in a place that didn't smell of horse dung and served healthy meals.

It didn't stop there.  They women of the cult in particular gave Joy and I a hard time because we dared to stand up for ourselves.  They told me to go walk around in the 102 degree heat of a Northern California summer's day.  I told them I was recovering from heart failure and such a walk would pretty much kill me.  That remark caused several stern looks, gritting teeth, faces red with anger and knife sharpening.

Joy got a hard time because she was with me.  They women thought they could get to me through Joy.  As Joy was a bit younger and was my spouse, the women of the cult worked her over to get her to force me to comply with their desires - and those desires were focused on ensuring I was fully subservient to their needs to be honored as spiritually superior and perfect beings while I listen to them tell me all the ways I am a scumbag.

The first night after all that, Joy was up very late angry about what happened.  I was exhausted but stayed up anyway like a good spouse should.

That foul atmosphere and climate of anger was directed at us all weekend.  Why?  It boiled down to our hotel room.  Interestingly, this psychotic church emphasizes "havingness".  "Havingness" was never defined but it appeared to mean you can accept the good things that you have and can enjoy the the good things that come to you - like a cool and comfortable hotel room and healthy meals.

Unfortunately, when you are displaying a "havingness" that is a cut above what the unfortunate faithful of the Academy for Psychic Studies can "have" the faithful display their "havingness" of harassment, hatred, dehumanization and envy right at you.

You really couldn't expect the leaders to come to your aid.  If they noticed, they'd just laugh their collective asses off.  Usually though, someone would complain and you'd end up being debased in front of all the warm and nourishing psychotics who embrace the concept of "havingness" of having your ass kicked.

Of course, the concept of "havingness" extends well past the followers.  Your "havingness" has to be acknowledged to the Supreme Being through a charitable tithe of 10% to 30% of your bounty to the church who told you to give it up.  Since we were told the church is embodied in Angela Silva and Robin Dumolin, you'd better pay them the tithe to thank them for the things you receive.

I think I'll go back and enjoy that cheese-a-rific Independence Day show our local church is putting on.  In fact, I plan to go there every year they have it.

I'll also drop a 20 in their donation bucket every time because 20 bucks given to that church is demonstrably and visibly paid back to the community in spades.

Can you say the same about 20 dollars donated to the Academy for Psychic Studies?

Your Opportunity For Learning

Rose McGowan is... uh.... ummm...

crap, I forgot what the hell I was going to say

The OFL.

It stands for "Opportunity For Learning". It's really a fine. A fine you pay any time a leader or one of their designated henchmen is offended by your words, deeds, appearance, aura, chakra, energy, or because your trousers are clean and pressed.

To reinforce the "learning" process, the students of the Academy for Psychic Studies were given special projects to accomplish. Over some retreats, Clairvoyant Training Program students were given tasks to perform on a particular schedule. Enforcement was strict. Really strict.

The amounts of the "OFL" was set pretty much arbitrarily. Usually, it ranged from $50 to hundreds of dollars per infraction. Over a retreat weekend, some students racked up over a thousand dollars in "OFL's".

How or what this fine did to help in the student's education is still not known. I have personally seen OFL's levied for infractions such as moving a clock on a table so you can answer a call on the "Psychic Help Line". Apparently, the clock was not to be touched, even if you had to move it to accomplish the cult's work. I've seen others levied because people used the front entrance at a County Fair rather than sneaking in through the back. Once, I saw a fine levied for an OFL because the offender had appeared a few minutes EARLY for a gathering. Her explanation that she was attempting to avoid being late didn't matter. Her instruction was to show up exactly at the appointed time only (which, of course, is an impossible task).

And that is the main failure of the OFL. At the Spiritual Rights Foundation, there is no such thing as a reasonable task. There is such a thing as a stupid, unreasonable, impossible and ludicrous task to be heaved on the shoulders of anyone below the rank of Robin Dumolin, Angela Silva or Bill Duby.

One happened to me. Bill had some kind of catalog for RV supplies. It was a big one full of everything for the sophisticated RV buyer like Bill. Bill handed the thing to me one afternoon asking me to take a look at it. I accepted and told him exactly how long I would have it and where it would be when I was done.

After ten minutes or so of flipping the pages (I wasn't THAT interested in it) I put the catalog exactly where I said I would put it. Ten minutes was a little less than the time I told him but it was close enough.

While no one was looking, someone came along and snatched up the catalog, probably for a little toilet reading. When Bill came to retreive his beloved catalog and found it gone, he mustered the troops to surround ME with accusations of betrayal, instant trances to force me to divulge the whereabouts of the missing catalog. Oh, and impose upon me an OFL. I don't recall the amount but it was one hell of a lot more than that damn catalog was worth.

While all this was going on and while the sludge-encrusted minds of Robin and Angela concocted the amount of the OFL and the duration of my subsequent punishment and derision, someone discovered the catalog was returned to exactly where I left it. Even those fucking half-wits had to admit I had nothing to do with the catalog's disappearance.

So, this arbitrary fine, this concoction of the SRF Kangaroo Kourt called the Opportunity For Learning has not a thing to do with learning. Or opportunty. Or anything at all. Well, nothing at all except to drop a couple of hundred into someone's pocket. And to satisfy someone's need to control. Oh, and the preverse, psychotic and sadistic desire to watch a person with few resources, someone who is dedicating much of his wealth and income to an organization that worships only money get socked for even more of his hard earned cash. Even cash he may need to survive.

Because, wouldn't you rather be in love than be right? Wouldn't you rather be giver? Isn't money no good unless you spend it? And aren't you worth an investment in yourself? So invest in that Opportunity For Learning.  Just remember you won't get your principal investment back.  Or interest.  Of anything more than a kick in the ass.

At some organizations, fines are levied in fun. I once fined a guy a pound of Kona coffee and a box of chocolate-covered macadamia nuts because he was answering his work email on his vacation in Hawaii. We shared the Kona coffee and macadamia nuts when he got back and yes, they were amazing. Sometimes, they are levied for a specific purpose. James Brown vowed to slap his musicians with a $100 fine if they came on stage with unpolished shoes. I'd say that's reasonable to expect, considering he's the Godfather of Soul.

There was no real, specific purpose for an SRF fine. It just depended on how crappy a mood the giver of the fine happened to be in and whatever that person can think of to tell someone who believes they are doing the right thing they are doing something completely wrong.

Yes, it's arbitrary. Yes it is punitive. And yes, it made no damn sense at all.

But the leaders imposed it, and people paid it.

You had to.

The leadership was meticulous about accounting for every nickel levied against you as an OFL fine. In fact, some of the figures I heard of seemed impossible, as if there were double-booking of the fines or inflation of the amount imposed on the hapless victim.

And that detailed, slightly accurate record would follow you around until it was paid. In full. If you did not pay in full, you would be denied the ministerial title you worked so hard to achieve.

Well actually, you put up with a hell of a lot of crap to get it.

OK, so it's more like you stuck a "kick me" sign on the seat of you pants while the leaders rummaged through your pockets to get it.

I'm sure someone, somewhere is just burning up with frustration wanting to ask me how I can say the Spiritual Rights Foundation can pick your pocket while slapping you in the face.

The answer is three letters:

OFL

Anonymous said...

Most of the time, the students were given a very difficult assignment that took them to camping spots, casinos and of course county or city fairs. Usually, it was a set up, as Bill would make it difficult for the unsuspecting students to complete the task. We were suppose to use our intuition in fulfilling not only the spirit of the law but of the letter.

So, he would create the rules and regulations of assignment, knowing it was going to fail because he pigeon holed the students to fail! So after a while, one of the founding members offered OFL insurance for a flat fee. Sometimes the flat fee would be 2 or 3 hundred dollars per year class student on assignment. That way, they would have no fear of screwing up and getting fined, and just enjoy the assignment and the journey through it.

Sometimes they would roll the dice and have to pay over $500 for one weekend alone! In the later years, when they realized those with less deep pockets than the early stalwarts were given a free pass. Though in return, they would lean more on the staff and especially the older ones who had their pockets picked for years in the name of "spiritual freedom".

One of the leaders was famous for emotionally black mailing ministers and students if having to collect donations for a false cause (hay for the farm which is owned by Robin DuMolin and Angela Silva not the church), a lavish birthday gift for Rev. Bill, Angela or Robin, by saying..."Don't you want to give to your church"? Implying that we didn't or that we wanted to spend it friviously on I don't know...US!

If you didn't comply, someone would smile in your face, and then report back those who were stuck in their personality and wouldn't give. In fact, our monthly staff meetings and pre church service minister class, there would be between 5 and 8 envelopes passed around with an occasional abusive verbal beat down if they didn't receive what was expected of them.

Then turn around and tell us how expectations were a bad thing and always with strings attached.

Angela Silva probably was laughing at us all for falling for her bullshit causes. As Rev. Bill would say, she is back at home marinating her fat! Lord knows she never did any work except for spew bullshit out of her mouth at meetings.

September 4, 2009 3:05 PM 

Blue Sky Ranch Back From The Dead!

And you thought they didn't believe in resurrection...

Astounding!

It's back on the market, although it's 9K cheaper.

You have to wonder what is happening there.

At that price, it's going to be tough to get financing.  The mortgage lenders will want you to have National Flood Insurance, which would be really hard to get if the place is still illegal.  Maybe they'll try to seller finance the thing - which would be a good thing.  It's good because they'll be stuck with worthless paper and a buyer can hold it over their heads if he discovers there's nothing he can do with the property.  Also good because they'll likely get only someone who is crazy enough to buy it and is probably crazy enough to do something, well, crazy.

I have a hard time believing the county inspectors will just let it slide with just a fine.  Maybe the cult found a loophole?

One thing is for sure, the interior shots that caused the ruckus are conspicuously absent from the listing.  It's pretty much standard operating procedure for the Spiritual Rights Foundation.  If there is something they don't like or are uncomfortable with, just pretend is isn't there.  Kind of like all the people who got screwed.  Or maybe like all the shenanigans they have been up to these past decades or so.

Amazing.  I am not sure if the Spiritual Rights Foundation is trying to sell the property despite the problems or if those problems suddenly went away.  I am sure there hasn't been enough time to complete all the inspections or demolitions they needed to do.  At least, the building inspection division isn't showing any progress besides an application for a permit.

My read of the law says the required repairs are, you know, required.  Who has to do that may be a function of who owns the property at a particular time.  Maybe they got a delay in enforcement so they can get this den of iniquity sold.  So, it may be that the new owner will have to make repairs.

If that is the case, my sympathies go to the buyer - if there is one.  I also believe if there is a buyer and that he does get pissed off (likely if he's stuck with up to $80K of repairs and loss of property value) he may try to track down anyone who was there to witness the construction and knows that the Witches were well aware of the impropriety of their actions.

How about that?  Erase some pictures and the problems go away!

So, no more talk about how the Witches are not following "the teaching"!  Looks to me like they have done some erasing in their spaces and have "blown" some pictures when they met with "resistance".

Now, let's see how much these pictures blow back on them.

The Academy for Psychic Studies - Church Funny Business

So, it's a fact that the Spiritual Rights Foundation and its Academy for Psychic Studies are set up as a 501 (c) (3) tax-exempt religious organization - which is a description of a church only the federal government could concoct.

I started to wonder what a real church does vs. what the Academy for Psychic Studies does.

I took a look at a couple of them, mostly from memory.

In the church I grew up with, we gave our time and money to help our seniors live a better life.  My dad (an architect) designed a residence for our community's elders who needed assisted living.  No, he didn't do it because he was getting a wad of Benjamin's.  He did it because he wanted to give to our elders.

We also did things to help the community.  Things like rushing to repair the leaky roof, peeling paint and decrepit floors of  a community action group's building.  This  group was key to our community receiving legal justice, fair representation in Congress and the Legislature as well as pushing for the repeal of the executive order that imprisoned thousands of our ancestors.

Without beating this like a dead horse, the church supported the community that supported us.

Today with my wife dragging me to the Unitarian Church by the ear, I see a whole different side of things vs. SRF.  The Unitarians are very politically active and do expend funds and volunteer to support many worthy causes.  They support social justice as well as the usual charitable activities churches tend to do.

Now, neither the Buddhist Church (where I grew up) nor the Unitarians act like a holding company for a conglomerate of "businesses", "institutes", "seminaries" or special massage specialists who give extra-special happy endings like the Spiritual Rights Foundation.

Instead, the congregation disbursed some church funds to support worthy causes.  We gave to the church and only the church.  The church gave as the church and never had to hide behind a wall of bogus companies.

Rev. Bill Duby, the Witches of Ellsworth, the Spiritual Rights Foundation, the Academy for Psychic Studies and (aw fuck, I can't keep typing) never gave a dime of their own money to any worthy charity besides themselves.  They did, however, create several bullshit companies for the purpose of sucking their followers dry.

And I do recall that Bill once told me he set up his multinational conglomerate for the purpose of concealing that his bogus church was the real owner of the companies.  He said his reason was because the world would not accept a business owned by a legitimate church.  Yep.  Nor would the world accept a business run by psychotics, con artists and greedy witches.

Let's look at the structure.

First, why does a "legitimate church" like the Spiritual Rights Foundation need to name their "seminary" The Academy for Psychic Studies?  To say it's a separate "company"?  We paid them with checks made out to "SRF".  How come they have to hide behind a fictitious business name?

Second, the Spiritual Rights Foundations "owns": "Health and Wealth", "Freedom Estates", "ISHI Hypnosis", "Liberty Construction", "Sterling Rose Press", "American Spirit Newspaper",  "Blue Sky Ranch", "The bookstore that kept so damn much porn there were more people coming by to get off than buy books." and of course the infamous "Academy for Psychic Studies".

OK, so I'm a business major.  I've studied this and I've lived it IRL.

The organization of the Spiritual Rights Foundation looks a lot more like The Donald's company portfolio than any church I've ever seen.  It's utterly unnecessary to build a labyrinthine conglomeration of companies for a small church.  The administrative effort is an order of magnitude higher than a simple ownership structure.

My investigation showed a not so surprising thing:  licenses, DBA filings, corporate name filings and more are out of date and expired.  The legal registration for these companies is no longer valid.  The only real effect of that is someone can go in and reserve those business names for themselves and the city will just get pissed that the business licenses aren't paid.

The real point (for you guys splitting hairs over details that aren't relevant) is: there is so much administrative work to keep up this delusional, complex, idiotic and unnecessary structure the Witches of Ellsworth can't keep up.  That they could just have someone in charge of it doesn't occur to them.  Still, the complexity of the organizational structure is clearly to conceal activities, hide true intentions, and cloak the true ownership of the companies in secrecy - which is perfectly in character for these psychotics.

Even now, the Witches of Ellsworth maintain this structure.  Why is unclear to the true business person.  It costs more money to do business like that. So, they are either too dumb to figure out it's an inefficient structure, too lazy to fix it or they like knowing it's harder to figure out who really owns these various companies.  I'm betting it's all three.

And, as we proved in the legal system, you can build a wall of companies but you can can't hide from the truth.  And you can't skirt the law, either.

The truth is that all those companies are ultimately controlled by two of the Witches of Ellsworth.  And control it, they do.

Steve Sanchez said it was standard operating procedure to peel off a percentage of the company revenues and hand it to Angela.  Another cut went to Robin.  He had to peel off yet another cut as a "donation" to the Spiritual Rights Foundation.  I don't know how many other cuts he had to peel off but there's only so much you can peel a banana.  Whatever was left was the thin operating margin the company had to work with.  No wonder there wasn't any money for worker benefits or even to improve and modernize the equipment.

I also am certain "donations" to SRF was made by all the other companies.  Bill declared proudly that all "his" companies tithe 10-30% of the take to his Spiritual Rights Foundation so SRF could have tax-free money.

And once in SRF's hands, that money can go to Angela and Robin as their church stipend, church vehicle, church housing, church food, church clothing allowance, church credit card, church (crap, my fingers are getting tired again but you get the idea).

So because SRF has all these companies squeezing all that money from all those people over the years, I guess I know why it was set up that way.

So you'll never know where the money is really going.

Do you have any ideas why?  Or did I just state the obvious.

Wow, a real estate holding company - owned by a "church"!

So, what's a church doing with a real estate investment company?

Buy an SRF CD, DVD or Book!

Don't ask how many are on the payroll; no one is.

For only 499, you can be a psychotic hypnotist!

The only "liberty" this company created was the liberation

of the company manager of his hard-earned money.

Total Relaxation sleeping on the floor, eating the greasiest food

you'll ever see and it only costs some $300 a weekend!

Who knows what the hell this was.  It crashed hard.

Mind Control at the Academy for Psychic Studies

To those who never saw the bowels and inner sanctum of the Academy for Psychic Studies and the Spiritual Rights Foundation, the concept that mind control is practiced there just doesn't make sense.

After all, the Academy/SRF shows such a quiet and happy exterior.  The people there are oh-so-helpful, caring and generous individuals.

The classes there are so relaxing, positive and fun.

How could a group so happy and helpful corrupt your thinking, your being, your soul?

It revolves around the mean spirit behind the curtain.  The founder, Rev. William (Bill) Duby.

His own personal emptiness and deep hatred of himself radiated out to the people he knew he could bully.  He got away with it - for a while, anyway.  Bill died suddenly while plying his demented craft in front of a class of Clairvoyant Training Program students.  I know this.  I saw it.

Today, his two wives continue his perverse legacy continuing to open deep spiritual wounds only their organization can heal.  But that healing isn't easy, free or even cheap.  Hell, it doesn't even work.  You'll carry those wounds for a long time.  Even a lifetime.

SRF is very certainly a pay-to-play organization.  You pay, they play with you, your money, your family, your soul and everything valuable to you.

And pay you will.  Not a lot at once but more like a drop of blood at a time.

That long, slow drain of your self-worth takes a long time to get over.  My wife and I paid the price with not only our self-worth but our confidence to go on with our lives.

Many people who were with the Academy for Psychic Studies/Spiritual Rights Foundation thought about or attempted suicide.  One gentleman carried it out with a shotgun.

This emotional pain and struggle continued long after the Founder, Reverend William Duby, suddenly dropped dead right in front of his followers.  Amazingly, the disdain for an individual's efforts to be, you know, an individual, the endless and unrelenting pressure to follow the perverse and bizarre philosophies of the Spiritual Rights Foundation continued long after the founder's ashes were sprinkled in a farmyard for the animals to use as their toilet (hey, don't blame me - it was his sister wive's idea)

This amazing control over one's self-worth and value as an individual was perpetuated by the founder's sister wives on the followers and by the followers among each other.  But without the founder being alive to conduct mischief, the current leader's did it to line their pockets and the followers did it just for fun.

Here's an example of what the remaining faithful few conducted on one of their own - with the implicit endorsement of the current leaders:

For my wife, her struggle to remain an individual began soon after we were a committed couple (but not yet married).  She made the decision to go to college.

From the day she enrolled, the day she first set foot in class, the disparagement, the disdain and overall disapproval of her quest to achieve a great education in a well-regarded college began.  It was a daily barrage of insults and nasty comments.

Most said she was wasting her time at college.  Oddly, one man who held a Phd was most vocal with me about his opinions.  He called her college career a waste of time and that she would be better off spending more time at the Academy.

Despite that daily battle, Joy graduated from Berkeley City College Magna Cum Laude (with high honors).  We invited all the SRF members to her graduation.  None attended.  Some didn't want to be associated with the worldly pursuit of true self-improvement.  The rest were called in to attend a last-minute, emergency meeting called by the leaders at precisely the moment of her graduation.  The topic was a discussion of great importance like keeping animals away from the leader's flower garden.

Soon after graduation, my wife enrolled in Sonoma State University - a well-regarded college in Northern California and part of the California State University system.  Every day, it was a struggle to maintain her education as well as the demands of the Academy.

But did anyone at the Academy care?  No.  In fact, none would recognize her.  One man with a PhD railed against it.  The majority who barely got past the 10th grade booed and hissed.  The few who were college-educated wisely kept their mouths shut.

That and other issues combined for a devastating loss of confidence.  Despite her amazing academics, she had a hard time with living: thinking she was so behind in school, she would never graduate, finding loss and inadequacy in everything she did and all around her.  It was a difficult time.

Even so, in a short time, Joy graduated from Sonoma State Cum Laude (with honors).

A tremendous achievement!  Of all of us who are college educated, few graduate with honors.  Fewer still do it twice.

But that daily disdain of Joy's quest to bring herself up to become the full, enriched individual we all have the right to become plagued her daily for years.

Withdrawal from society, unnecessary involvement in petty issues between people, emotional turmoil over transitory, temporary issues lasted for some number of years after she pulled herself away from the cult.

Is there a happy ending?  Yes.

Since leaving, Joy has become far more social, founding a women's activity group that is thriving.  She also has people over almost weekly to play board games and socialize.  Her health, which deteriorated in the cult (gee, didn't everyone's health decline while at the Academy?) is on the way up.

And most of all, her emotional and psychological health is mending.  As many have experienced, Joy developed PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder) as a result of the cult experience.  That, thankfully, has improved to the point where treatment is no longer an acute need.

I have noticed she is able to handle the potholes in the road of life with more confidence and objectivity.

Is life perfect for her now?  No.  Who's life is perfect anyway?

But life is a lot better without the Academy for Psychic Studies than it was with it.

Without that daily struggle, without that daily fight to overcome the "invalidation", the lack of support, the ever-present transparent sneer from your peers, and the leaders, she has found her way back to life without having to endure more emotional pain and inner struggle.

It's mind control.

It's the mind control that only a cult can create.  And only by freeing yourself from the influence of a cult, can you begin your own path to freedom.

Better yet, if you aren't there yet, don't do it.

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

This article appears on Steve Sanchez's blog.  I think it is a great description of the practices used at the Academy for Psychic Studies.

Some of the ways Bill practiced mind control

I will give you some idea here of how Bill Duby used his mind control.

As an enlightened or ‘X-ray’ clairvoyant he claimed to be able to see all the foreign entities in a person’s space. Knowing this gave him free license to berate, insult, and abuse a person to no end and afterward say he was talking to, and cleaning out the foreign entities in that persons space for their own good. He claimed he was giving tough love for the sake of healing - like sand paper smoothes wood. He claimed this was his personal commission from God. Along with many other abuses, he claimed to be able to “see” who a person’s soul mate was. He even claimed to be able to channel Jesus Christ at times.

Bill Duby made himself the central hub of all relationships in his church. He had to have the primary loyalty of everyone. Couples were manipulated into crisis, and out of bonding with each other, so that he would be in the position of primary loyalty with each. If two people were to bond with each other that would be a force out of his control, and he didn’t want that. He opportunistically used problems in people’s lives - or more often, manufactured crisis - so that he could council, berate, heal, and finally save them. In this way “his superior psychic abilities” were demonstrated again and again. His member’s dire need for him was solidified over and over.

After years of establishing this kind of authority our lives when some of us began having kids he was able to influence the decisions we made with our kids. He defined - on his ‘enlightened’ terms - how all of us should be raising our kids. He worked hard at getting the primary loyalty of all the kids toward himself and his two wives. He did this by having the absolute loyalty and love of the mothers. He gave them as he did everyone ‘tough love’. For years he publicly shamed the mothers. On a weekly basis one or all were embroiled in crisis, berated on the hot seat, and then healed. The woman received the light from Bill, but not the men. Every time we were berated we worked ever harder to win back his approval.

The fathers or men in general were considered below the women. He often made a joke that ‘first come the children, then women, then dogs, then snakes, and last - men’. He controlled the relationships of the men by controlling the woman. He always said the men were beasts, and sneaky and that ‘if they breathe - don’t trust them’. This was accepted as profound streetwise wisdom. The men were kept in a tense state always yearning to be with their woman, if they were lucky enough to be with one. We were held at arm’s length because of our beastliness and unworthiness. Every single man that was in a relationship was banished to live alone in a mobile home for months or years at a time.

Bill set everyone up to be in competition with himself and at the same time to know that they would lose to him. He constantly claimed he could psychically and mentally run circles around anyone. He claimed that most people on the street were empty pods who, if he chose to, he could easily make act out his will. These notions devalued ‘the other’ and fed the sense of our elitist superiority. He would say that his Aura was so powerful that anyone who competes, or ‘F---’ with him would take on his ‘past-time’ aura.

In other words he was super powerful and if you competed with him you would suffer the ultimate humiliation of living the dregs of his personal past. Then he would give inviolable examples of how this was happening to certain disfavored members. He often pounded us with the idea that if Christ came into the room all the women would instantly fall in love with him and all the men would go into competition with him. Then, at the right moment, he would follow up by saying, with super intense emotion, that he was the closest thing to Christ we would ever see; that he carried the Christ consciousness within him.

This and other such manipulations caused his members to feel they had no rights in relation to him and his teaching. We gave up much of our normal instinct for self interest and self protection. In this way he compounded his control on level after level, because his subjects had no self esteem, no rights; we felt that everything bad that was happening to us was our fault, and especially because we had no idea that we felt this way.

We could justify everything because we were close to him.  We were the elite, part of the .01% of the enlightened population that could ‘have it’.

There was a pretense of normal relations on the social surface which Bill fostered for his members and especially for beginners. No-one knew how to look underneath even though it was right in front of our face. Our minds were blocked from it. This played right into his hands because he lived underneath; he had a field day there.

A great example of the intensity of his control is in the sexual arena. He kept the men and women at odds and distrustful of each other. Men were beasts, sneaky, selfish liars; and women were the source of evil, full of ‘female insanity’. He claimed that to satisfy a woman, or to sweep her off her feet you had to give her ‘the light’. But only he could do it.
The men were set up to try, and set up to fail.

He berated individuals, couples and groups for hours without a break, deeply insulting and demeaning them for problems that didn’t exist.  He called it “spiritual counseling”. Bill’s “spiritual counseling” only created problems. Crisis always arose and relationships always failed under his counsel.

There were men and women there who didn’t have sex for fifteen to twenty years. Eventually he called the men confirmed bachelors or eunuchs. This gives you some idea and feel for the cult.


As in all cults, Bill Duby controlled and manipulated with elements of the truth. Children were held as being the most important and special. Bill claimed that because he was enlightened the children loved being close to him. He said that he was like the children because he had never been shut down, and that they loved him because he spent the most time with them and had innocence like them.

Some of us adults were said to have innocence - this was said when one of us happened to be lucky enough to take our turn in the position of the “golden boy or girl” - but Bill always intimated that his innocence and enlightenment ran circles around the rest of us. The kids, including my daughter, spent a lot of time with Bill and his wives, especially at the cult farm.


In the inner circle was Bill his two wives, four children and the mother of two of the children named Rev. Debi. Everyone wished they were in the inner circle. The children felt very special to be there. It took no effort on their part, Bill chose them. If the children didn’t act in a way that pleased him or that he didn’t approve he claimed that their vibration slipping under the control of their parents, or dark forces, and that they were losing their place in the inner circle.

Bill, of course, controlled the children by the safety and prestige of being in the inner circle and conversely by the devastation of not being in it. Once, when my ex-wife and daughter lived on the main cult property where Bill was, Bill’s daughter came into their room and wanted to play with my daughter. My daughter said she would play later but wanted to have breakfast with her mom first. Bill’s daughter went back home, but then she and Bill showed up a few minutes later and Bill asked my daughter to come play.

Thinking it was okay my daughter said the same thing. Bill was incensed and said that my daughter had a cruel streak. He brought all involved upstairs and in front of the other members shamed my daughter by saying the anger and dark forces from her parents were shutting down her innocence and clairvoyant abilities. He said she was being cruel and that this was causing her vibration to sink. He said she was leaving the inner circle.  My daughter cried bitterly and fought for days to make up for it so she could get back into the inner circle. This, along with other manipulations, caused her to shun her parents especially me.

Bill Duby did a lot of this kind of public shaming to his members. There were a few kids of long time members who he couldn’t control, usually because one of the parents was not completely under his control. In the SRF cult there was a supposed air of normalcy, and for those things which were beyond normal there was total justification by enlightenment. Most of the women in the cult “confessed” to loving Bill and to being very attracted to him.

One woman named Carol did not feel this way because it was her innate belief that she shouldn’t be involved with her teacher and she didn’t find him attractive. Bill could not control her son even though his father was utterly dedicated. Carol was under the spell but remained on the outskirts and was eventually shunned for the above reasons.

Because he couldn’t control her son, Bill said her child was spiritually retarded. He was considered lesser and therefore semi-shunned by the other members and kids. Because the parents believed in Bill’s authority they believed what he said about Carol’s child. They worried terribly about him and tried to get him to be more accepted. Her child was treated this way for years, but once he left the cult and joined a regular school he thrived because of his natural intelligence and enthusiasm.

When Carol left, Bill told her she was an unfit mother and that he would have his whole congregation testify to that effect (at her divorce hearing). The debilitating fear Bill created left her under his spell for years after she left.


posted by Steve at 10:54 PM 0 comments