Quote

(Name omitted by Corboy for privacy)
3 years ago
I am a tealer. I read comments that others write on facebook and think to myself wow there alot of tealers that are so messed up. Then I read a post about people wanting to get the teal alchemy tattoo. Then I see a picture of teal with a few others all showing the same tattoo. I begin to think wow this is so cultist. She is attracting and manipulating vunerable people. This is dangerous thank you for sharing. I couldnt comment on fb because it doesnt allow me to. No surprises there. ?

Quote

Painted Starlight
3 years ago
(Name omitted for privacy - Corboy)

I want to thank you for bringing the truths into light. Although I have no personal experiences w/ Teal.

My first sense of doubt of Teal came to me was when I watched the video of her interview where she disclosed her childhood tortures and claimed that there were many scars on her from her handler but then I remembered seeing many photos of her modelling in swimsuits with her beautiful body and perfect skin with no scars whatsoever. Being a fan of her at the time, I just told myself maybe they photoshop it out but then was that when I kinda stopped taking her too seriously...

There are many people really deep into her stories and I hope they could wake up and see her for what she is. Even if she really was a hybrid and pyschic. No one should put her above anyone else because that is a potential that we could all reach one day.?

Quote


CB (Name omitted by Corboy for privacy)
3 years ago
I think that statement is way over the top. You are crediting Teal and the New Age movement with too much power and people with too little common sense or self awareness. No one is going to fall of any cliff, they will just move on, like you ought to.?

(A typical denial of the power of social influence in groups centered on authoritarian leaders- go study the Stanford Prison Experiment done by Philip Zimbardo [www.prisonexp.org] - Corboy.

CB (Name omitted for privacy by Corboy)
3 years ago

I believe Teal can be very helpful and stimulate a lot of discussion as a philosopher, rather than a 'spiritual catalyst' per say, and for me that's a healthy way to perceive her.

Her self appointed role as a spiritual guide is something which comes down to personal preference and more of a reflection of where you are at the time, I feel.

The only part about Teal that I don't like is that I know she lies.

I saw her in an interview with a Danish woman a few weeks back, and she claimed to be able to see the woman's aura through her skype computer camera. The woman asked if that was possible, and Teal answered that it was, depending on how good the cameras were! I know this isn't possible through skype or ordinary TV cameras, and that you would only see an aura in your mind's eye through your own connection to that person, not as an energy field on screen unless it was a kirlian camera.

The other thing I find hard to believe is her claim that she has to focus really hard to make out solid objects because everything is just merging energy fields that she finds hard to decipher. She has no trouble focusing enough to put her make up on every day and dress the part, and I really feel if that were the case her own appearance would be one of the least important aspects of her presence. I know most women are conditioned to be really vain and self conscious, but you would think being so much more spiritual none of that stuff would really matter much to her.

From this I would conclude that her ego is more important than her message. Mother Theresa she isn't!

But I like Teal, because she just does her thing, and I can take it or leave it.?

Quote

But such was his popularity, people in Macerata are struggling to believe the revelations. The local macrobiotic restaurant, offering cheap and healthy meals, is well-visited.

“I know many who work at the restaurants and are not exploited,” said Marco Ribechi, a journalist who reflected on Pianesi as a potential Jekyll and Hydecharacter in an article for the local online newspaper, . “Some of it may be exaggerated, but this is just my opinion.”

He said there may have been “layers” within the movement, whereby some people were exploited and others were not.

Quote

Complainants described a sinister network which allegedly wielded power through a diet claimed to provide miracle cures for viruses and illnesses such as HIV, cancer and diabetes. Rules allegedly included banning women from wearing short skirts, make-up and from washing during their period. More bizarre customs were said to include having to get out of bed on the right side and cutting hair and nails on any day of the week other than Tuesday or Thursday.

People were also allegedly banned from laughing too much, using the internet and going to the gym, while men were told that wives who left them were akin to prostitutes.

“The rules came about over time,” said Vanda Secondino, who became involved with the group in 1989 after attending one of its first holiday camps.

Quote

Spiritual guru Teal Swan, founder of “The Principle of Authenticity”, author and speaker will be offering workshops in Costa Rica July 7 through July 14 during the retreat “The Curveball”.

33-year-old Swan who was born in Santa Fe, New Mexico, has raised plenty of controversy, she considers herself revolutionary (like Martin Luther King and Gandhi)and according to Dailymail.co.uk “She believes she’s an alien destined for world domination, says she can enter people’s brain stems, and claims Hitler was the greatest contributor to world peace”.

The retreat consists of 4 days of workshops and 2 days of excursion; the all-inclusive retreat has a cost of $4,200 in a shared room or $5,000 in single room. The meals included are vegan with vegetarian options. The event will take place at the Philia Center in Atenas, Alajuela, Costa Rica, a place that was created by Teal Swan herself and her husband Ale with the vision of “building a retreat where people could awaken, heal and come alive in an atmosphere that is centered on human connection”.

Teal Swan claims to having been born with several extrasensory abilities, among them, clairvoyance, clairsentience and clairaudience. In her blogs she has told her story which includes being a survivor of childhood abuse.

Currently Swan has 434 thousand subscriptions in You Tube, 53 million views of her videos, 162 thousand followers on Facebook and 60 thousand in Instagram.

According to the information on her website:

”In this extraordinary workshop, you will be going into it completely blind and so will she. As an extrasensory, Teal Swan, the internationally recognized spiritual leader will show up completely unprepared. She will observe the group and based on her observations, she will custom design the workshop to the specific attendees that stand before her.

"A curveball is something that is unexpected, surprising and disruptive.

"We call this workshop “The Curveball” because those of us who know Teal, know that she loves to throw curveballs. It is a guarantee that by attending this workshop, you will encounter the unexpected, you will be surprised and the patterns that are holding you back will be disrupted.”

Quote

She believes she's an alien destined for world domination, says she can enter people's brain stems, and claims Hitler was the greatest contributor to world peace.

She has called death 'delicious', seemingly endorsed suicide, but also believes she has the power to help people 'stay physically alive'.

She is Teal Swan, better known as the Gucci Guru, and she has become what some call the leader of a terrifying posh cult detailed in a new Medium article.

You will never find Swan in robes, she prefers tight skirts. And the self-appointed leader is unabashed about her preference for expensive jewels and luxurious hotels.

That's because Swan is as forthright in her thirst for fame as she is with the belief that she was anointed in this life by 'sixth dimensional beings'.

'I knew that I wanted to be famous and be on people's television screens and be on stage,' she once said.

'At a cellular level, I knew that I was destined to be a performer.'

'Before I even came down, there was an entire panel of Arcturian beings - sixth dimensional beings - who even chose the way I would look in this life.'

It may sound silly to some, but Swan has successfully spread her message far and wide.

She has 434,000 subscribers on YouTube, 53 million total views on her videos, 162,000 Facebook likes, and 60,000 followers on Instagram.

And that's not including the people who come from all over the world to attend Swan's workshops and seminars at her center in Atenas, Costa Rica.

Quote


(Interviewer)How did he find out about the order?

It was through our aunt, originally.

The legion organized summer camps for teens, and one year, she asked us if we wanted to go. Our cousins were going, so my brother and I decided to just tag along. It wasn't weird—there was an hour of religious education each day, but aside from that, it was really fun. We went hiking a lot, did a lot of cool stuff, and had a lovely summer.

(Interviewer) So were they trying to recruit you guys at the summer camp?

Yes. They have a youth club called ECYD, which is a Spanish abbreviation for "Education, Culture, and Sport." Physical activity is what distinguishes the legionaries from other orders—they pride themselves on being slim and fit.

The people at the youth club were encouraging everyone to sign up. It already felt a bit cult-ish then, so, to me, it was very obvious that neither of us would actually do it. But I was wrong.

Quote

In one of my earliest pieces, “Bhagwan’s Hypnotic Spell,” I recounted that counselors and researchers in the field of mind control and cults believed that Rajneesh was a master of various techniques of inducing altered states of consciousness, techniques that they said he and his assistants used to bind followers to him and his organization. Josh Baran, who ran a support organization in Berkeley called Sorting It Out for people who had left spiritual groups, was my first source on this subject. Baran told me he had learned that Rajneesh and his assistants were extremely skilled in a wide range of techniques for manipulating and controlling people, many of which derived from Eastern religions:

He is quite fluent in various altered states of consciousness, much more than other cult leaders I know of. His techniques include chanting, meditation, Sufi dancing, staring into lights for extended periods of time, and powerful music, all of which induce altered states of mind. What went on at his ashram in Pune was literally a smorgasbord of altered states of mind.

Hilly Zeitlin, a clinical social worker who was co-director of Options for Personal Transition in Berkeley, an organization dealing with cult involvement and related religious issues, said that Rajneesh had made a study of techniques of hypnotic induction used by cults, and told me that he believed Rajneesh to be a “one of the best hypnotists I have ever encountered. The way he uses language, his tone of voice, the way he sequences ideas ... all are essentially hypnotic.” He went on to say that “the art of hypnosis is the art of being vague, while pretending you are being profound,” an art that he thought Rajneesh practiced masterfully in his lectures to his disciples in Pune. “Rajneesh,“ he added, “can be even vaguer now by not saying anything at all.” Rajneesh had taken a “vow of silence” when he left India for the United States. “Now you can project onto him whatever you want to believe.”

Kathleen McLaughlin, an associate professor of religious studies at Lewis & Clark College in Portland, was at the University of Pune from 1977 to 1978 and went to hear Rajneesh lecture at his ashram on several occasions. She told me: “His use of language is wonderful. He is a hypnotic and beautiful speaker who is profoundly psychically connected to his audience. We have an immature understanding of spirituality in the West,” she contended, “and since we don’t believe in psychic phenomena, we are very vulnerable to them. In India it is understood that anybody who meditates can develop psychic powers—the notion is commonly held that there are such powers and that you can develop them if you want to.” McLaughlin said that Western, academically-trained intellectuals are “especially vulnerable to this because they have been trained to use their heads, but not their emotions, and these techniques bypass rational thought.”

Zeitlin asserted that the entire social system of the Rajneesh organization functioned to create hypnotic suggestibility in its members.
Zeitlin asserted that the entire social ystem of the Rajneesh organization functioned to create hypnotic suggestibility in its members. “There is an intense effort to break down normal ways by which people measure themselves, under the guise of going beyond or transcending the ego,” he said, “and all of this is done in hypnotically binding way. They overload the circuits of the conscious mind and then present you with the alternative of ‘inner consciousness.’ Meanwhile, dependence on the group has developed.” Zeitlin told me that he had found in his interviews with ex-Rajneehsees that they were “extremely psychologically regressed” and that their capacity to relate to others and articulate their feelings was “drastically reduced.”

“These techniques, by themselves, are not bad,” asserted Baran. “They are only bad when they are used to control and enfeeble people.” The problem was that Rajneesh and his assistants were using these techniques “to get people to become followers.”

Quote

As reported by Krishna Deva, the ex-mayor of Rajneeshpuram who turned state’s evidence, Rajneesh was comparing himself to Hitler toward the end, stating that Hitler had been similarly misunderstood when he sought to create a “new man” (something Rajneesh also claimed to be doing). Rajneesh, like Asahara, had a medical facility in which deadly substances of various kinds were stockpiled, and were in instances actually deployed.

Quote

n a 1978 issue of the German magazine Stern, a woman named Eva Renzi recounted her experiences in a Rajneesh encounter group. “In the room were eighteen people,” her account begins,

I only knew Jan, a fifty-year-old Dutchman. The leader sat down, after he had closed the thick sound-proofed door. Suddenly a woman hurled herself at another and screamed at her, “You make me sick. You are a vampire. I want to scratch your face, you filthy thing.” She beat her ... . Meanwhile two women and a young man had got up. The young man threw himself on a girl of about eighteen, and boxed her on the ears with the words: “You are a caricature of a Madonna. You think you’re better than us, don’t you. You are the worst person here.” And then, pointing at me, he said, “Together with you, you bitch. You’ve got it coming to you, too.” The girl’s nose was running with blood. She tried desperately to protect herself against the blows. Then the leader took charge: “You probably think that you have control over things. You have not even got control over yourself. You are under total control here.”

Renzi was assigned by the group leaders to spend the night with the Dutchman Jan. However, after eating dinner she went quickly to sleep. “Next day, I appeared for the group punctually,” she wrote.

I said a friendly “good morning,” and icy silence answered me. I sat down. The leader asked what had happened in the previous 24 hours. Then Jan sprang up, pulled me up, and began uninhibitedly beating me. “You whore,” he shouted, “you have humiliated me, you cursed woman, I’ll kill you.” I was horrified. My nose began to bleed. I shouted: “This is your problem, if your masculine pride is hurt.” He beat me further. He tore my blouse and threw me on the floor. Like someone possessed he sat on me, beat me with his fists on my head, choked my neck, and shouted: “Say the truth, you piece of filth.”

“What truth? Are you out of your mind, are you hypnotized?” I shouted. Suddenly he left me ... . I got up trembling, trying to stop my bleeding nose. “Is this a center for developing a crazy masculinity?” I asked. I thought the craziness had passed, and would go. Then first of all a man dived on me. “Exactly that,” he said. “What did you think we’re doing here?” Then two women grabbed me, and then the whole group.

“What happened next was like an evil dream,” Renzi continues. “‘Fight with us, you coward. Will you play holy in here, you whore?’ someone said. I fled from one corner to another. They punched, scratched, and kicked me, and pulled my hair. They tore my blouse and pants off my body. I was stark naked, and they were so surrendered to their madness, that I was filled with death-anxiety. My one thought: to stay conscious. I screamed: ‘Let me go. I want to get out of here.’ At a signal from the leader they let me go.”

Renzi concluded her account for the German public of her experience of Rajneesh group therapy techniques by saying: “This craziness garnished with sadism, this fanaticism with world-beating claims, had I not already heard it somewhere before?”