LOVELAND, CO – On August 8, 2014, I attended a music festival located on the grounds of a religious cult. Had I known this was the case beforehand I would have never have attended, nor promoted the event through our publication. This article is to warn and inform concert-goers who might make the same mistake, and raise the larger issue of cult recruitment at live music events.
Emissaries of Divine Light Cult
The Emissaries of Divine Light was established in 1945 by Lloyd Meeker, after a supposed 2-day conversion experience in which he stated he had been chosen by God to initiate the salvation of the world. The cult recruits mainly on University campuses and invites recruits to Sunrise Ranch to experience their lifestyle.
According to former member Nancy Miquelon, who spent 13 years in the cult, “Perhaps the greatest personal violation is that a person is attracted to this group because of strong moral and spiritual values, a high personal vision for humankind. This ideal is used to attract people, then twisted to the ends of the cult. A fellow ex-member calls it spiritual rape. You don’t see until you leave, of course, how you’ve been victimized.”
In the book, “A Brief Guide to Secret Religions” author David V. Barrett states “Trying to describe Emissaries spirituality with any kind of precision is like trying to nail Jello to the wall.”
The emissaries of divine light are not the first to usurp the uplifting power of music for their own recruitment purposes. The Twelve Tribes, a quasi-Christian sect, has been following a number of acts on tour since the 1980s under the pretense of offering medical assistance to concertgoers while recruiting lonely fans who turn to music for community and connection. One Tribes member and Bob Dylan fan told the New Yorker that he joined because his life was ‘going downhill fast.’ A Vice report on the Tribes’ presence on the Dylan tour cited seriously anti-Semitic statements in the group’s literature, as well as evidence that they have tried to recruit Dylan himself.
While the sunrise ranch, one of the most active cults in Colorado offers a message and intentions that may be troubling to some, their motivation–as is so often the case with cults–is easy to understand: money. The Tribes require, or at least strongly encourage, followers to turn over their assets to the group. According to Rick Ross, a law enforcement official and cult expert that may explain their transition to following acts Like Dylan with an older following. Ross told the New Yorker “It’s not a big deal if you’re a young person—you may have a car and a little bit of money. But if you are an older Bob Dylan fan, you may have an estate and a substantial amount of money.”
Arise Music Festival
The Arise Musical Festival Attendance was estimated around 2,000+, with most likely unaware that the venue for Arise, the Sunrise Ranch Colorado is the international headquarters of a religious cult known as the Emissaries of Divine Light. The ranch is located just outside the town of Loveland, Colorado. Sunrise Ranch is marketed as a unique combination of consciousness, organic farming and gathering place for the intentional spiritual community.
The Arise Music Festival was billed as a conscious music festival that celebrated “uplifting the world through music.” Over 90 bands played the festival ranging from national touring acts to up and coming Colorado bands. Along with the music Arise provided a variety of free workshops including yoga, access to healers and even Chakra activation classes.
We asked the musician, and Grateful Dead historian David Gans if he has ever found himself or knew of the Grateful Dead ever performing at a venue with questionable intentions “As a performer, I would prefer to know before I sign the contract if a festival has a mission above and beyond entertainment and recreation.”
As my experience demonstrates, it can be hard for fans to spot cult sponsorship and involvement in concerts. Cults don’t call themselves cults, and they often disguise their predatory recruitment tactics as entertainment or community service. I plan to never visit the Sunrise Ranch Loveland Co Cult ever again.
Cults in Colorado? go figure. However, the Emissaries of Divine Light Controversy has been documented time and time again.
The best way to steer clear of these folks is to ask yourself, “is it about the music?”
Related Articles:
My years spent in association with EDL were some of the best. I learned a lot about my self. The article just shows a lack of understanding and experience. Best, always.
This is very very interesting to me. My mother joined the EDL in the UK back in the 80s shortly after my late stepdad had a severe stroke, and she was left a single parent and carer. Little income, little help and few options.
A friend suggested she meet the late Donal Factor, son of Max Factor, who was active within the EDL network.
My mother ended up working for hm and his wife at their beautiful country mansion in Devon… The Factors were kind to us and caring…no idea if any strange things went on behind the scenes though.
From there my Mother opted to move to an Emissary center in Mickleton in the cotswolds. It was a repurposed hotel, which ran a cafe out the front that was open to public at the time.
We were give board, food and a living wage in return for our work.
Now, in my opinion, despite the bullying I got at school for being a “Moonie” because the narrow minded villagers could not differentiate between two separate organizations, I have no issues with any of the plethora of people from all over the world, that I knew there. THey were all caring, fair and overall good people.
From my perspective as a kid, I hated attending services/sermons as i was not interested, but I enjoyed the work we did together, including carpentry, gardening, maintenance and redecorating. I learned soooo many life-skills that benefit me greatly today.
I did experience some punishments though, but nothing too harsh, just some silent time, and once I got the belt….but in fairness I had been a real little shit. I mean, I used to get the cane at school in Scotland, so it did not strike me (no pun intended) as AB or anything, at that time.
My mother was assigned to work at the Colorado Sunrise Ranch, where we stayed for a year helping with all kinds of physical labor tasks that are required to run any community, and Green Pastures later when I was a teen, where I stayed for a month, did an art course and got mutually frisky with a cute girl I met there….for which I was reprimanded by my rather neurotic host, and sent home for!
We also stayed a year at Edenvale in Canada when I was 8 or 9, that was a good experience, I had to help on the farm, slaughtering poultry and harvesting / planting etc… but again, it was good experience and I learned some real skills.
I even met Martin Exeter and his sons, on a number of occasions, again I did not get the impression they were trying to control or make people financially tied to the institution, but maybe it has changed for the worse under new leadership.
My Mother decided to leave eventually, in time, and so did her partner, who she met at Mickleton in our later years there (early 90s), to live together independently of the commune. They still kept in touch with many of the friends made there and, many of them left too to pursue an independent life.
My understanding of the commune, was that most people who went there, had experienced difficulty or trauma in their lives, and it was a place to heal emotionally/spiritually and focus on their path and discover themselves again, learn skills along the way….and with some advice many achieved this and moved forward.
I really have mostly fond memories of the people there and the friends I made. I was never sexually AB’d and I do not think I was enslaved either…sure I worked but not THAT hard, I had freedoms, played a lot, we even watched horror and comedy movies at the commune, together….it was fine, plus I got to eat cuisine from all over the world as we had so many ethnicities visit or stay.
There MAY have been some kind of hierarchy with some sort of sexual servitude that i was not aware of, being young…but maybe that was more to do with particular people rather than EDL culture.
I guess things have change…been away from EDL for over 30 years now….
The current Sunrise Ranch resident’s description of being trapped matches my mother’s experience. She couldn’t get out. Having grown up in the Emissaries, from age 5-17 (1975-1988) I agree that it is a cult. I reflected on how many other single mothers were recruited into EDL. If they didn’t have outside support, they were dependent financially and couldn’t easily leave. From this article it sounds like they are recruiting young people, another vulnerable population. There is nothing about using money to trap people into your group that is spiritual.
If you want to know the true intentions, the heart of an organization, culture or group, look to how they treat the children. The Emissaries did not treat the children well from everything I saw and experienced as a child.
For those who lived there or visited for spell and did not get hooked into dependence or experience anything negative, get real.
There are levels to this, like an onion. The ones who are at the core living in the “units” were told they were the most special and saw the worst abuse.
Just because it didn’t happen to you or you didn’t see it, doesn’t mean it didn’t happen to other people.
The Emissaries taught me how toxic and harmful positivity can be, the manipulation of language, the pervasive spiritual bypassing, the gaslighting, the not subtle vyying to be the most positive in the room.
I can feel it coming off from some of these comments. “Pointing at another, you have four fingers pointing back at you.” Hmmm… where have I heard that before?
The comments from those who grew up in EDL and have only glowing reviews sound hauntingly familiar. You may still be living in a delusion.
Find your own words, your own wisdom instead of parroting someone else’s truth. There was so much Emissary speak. Someone could write a book to decode it. That’s part of what cult’s do – create a special culture only for members. It’s part of the manipulation.
I briefly watched a video with this David Karchere and he definitely has the vibe of a cult leader, more than anyone I met when I was in.
As a pure being that all children are, I did not feel or experience purity of heart in any of the leaders – not Martin Cecil/Exeter and his wife and lover (can’t remember which was which) Jim Wellemeyer, Michael and Nancy, David Pasokov. Definiteley not John Gray. I don’t remember meeting Bill Bahan but the chiropractic community in EDL that were a part of his clinics were cruel and abusive people, from the stories I heard from those who worked there as indentured servants. Sexual favors were common there an the power structure of EDL.
The “Focalizer” situation was abusive for some. And enough of it happened to create a culture.
American Heritage Dictionary description of a cult:
“A religion or religious sect generally considered to be extremist or false, with its followers often living in an unconventional manner under the guidance of an authoritarian, charismatic leader.”
The “Focus” (always male, usually married and also has a secretary who he is obviously intimate with) was someone you had to consult with for major life decisions like going back to college or marrying someone or having a baby. That previous post with the story about the “Center” telling the pregnant woman she had to leave illustrates how this relationship works.
The “Focus” or the “Center” says it and you are expected to it. That is authoritarianism.
If you are stuck in EDL, I hope you find the resources to get out. Perhaps those of us who survived it and went on to thrive could start a fund for those trapped in it.
If you have not yet entered into this clearly distorted situation, why would you?
EDL IS ABSOLUTELY A CULT. MY parents lost over $100,000 buying their stock in the 70s? While they shipped me out from our home every summer to be forced into work in the hotel in New York and cutting grass at Green Pastures till my hands bleed then beaten to work harder. I also worked on Sunrise zranch and was molested numerous times at both facilities. My injuries were so bad that my grandmother had to threaten to call the governor of New York so my Uncle could come rescue me. Everyone was shocked at my injuries. EDL made my parents house strangers at our house as well. There the cult members would hold me down for multiple hours at a time on my parents living room floor for yelling about the idiocy of the cult. Even my lite sister knew it was a crok of shit as we watched our parents become zombies to Lord Cecils ridiculous tapes of him saying 3 or 4 words then a long pause, repeated over and over for hours. God Bless you if you have ever been affected by these fools. And for any doubters, I personally sat in spent alot of time in Lord Cecils house/ cabin playing and drawing cars with his secretaries son. I purposely listened and spied on them and my parents for information on my grandparents behalf and concern. I could say so much more here but I’ve said my 2 cents. They are an evil. What do you think happens in these attunement rooms!!
i was born into this cult and that’s exactly what it is …. in hind sight there are many aspects of childhood that would be considered envious by many farm life and a rat pack of kids on hundreds of acres and general good safe people to care for us …..generally … i can’t say for sure i was abused sexually but at times not treated well for sure by adults ………… in the end i watched my father waste his life devoted to a false prophet he meant well and was a kind and loving man ….but my guidance came from others on the farm so my connection to family is skewed ….. i have done my work to sever the the threads that tie me to the forces that lie beneath the surface of this group …… what i have come to is that uranda was likely possed through a ritual involving crowley and or the golden dawn … yes he was spiritual as in possesd by a spirit but a false prophet for certain …. much of his work also parallels theosophist philosophy by madam blavavatsky also a friend of crowley in the end it was a doomsday cult of sorts early preppers if you will but the key was as mentioned by many that your vibrational quality could save us from the rapture ……..i was personally at age maybe 9-10 ? involved in saving the west coast from a massive incoming earthquake yep !martin led that one the group had rented out the vancouver planetarium to hold the sunday service for this event ill never forget it we all gave attunements to the earth or some bullshit to stop the big one !!
this attunement practice needs to end asap it is unclean and unsafe healing practice and you are basically channeling your life-force to a lucifarian entity ….renounce this practice at once ….never stopped to ask what u were tuning into did you ?.. i hate how this part sounds but ask the creator for forgivness ask for salvation and liberation from that witch does not serve me burn some sage or sweet grass and sit under a tree watch a sunset breathe …… ……… i believe no spiritual path can be taught by another man(or woman) so i only hold a sign that say go listens to the plants the trees the birds and the bees you don’t see them doing this sort of stuff learn from nature our native cultures did this well ….find balance …. also on the note of this festival arise ? anybody see the giant moloch owl statue ?um no u shall not arise owl demon go back to the grove in california
karchare your a fraud any idiot that wants an audience with the pope is a fool i bet you wear red shoes too …..your not even a king of the fools
in the end stay away most anything resembling a new age movement of any kind be it any kind of political , indoctrination ,cult festival or psychedelic prophets you are really just allowing the dark side to enter instead just live your GOD given life work hard make a garden climb a mountain ride a bike and swim in a cold stream and make a baby or two …….find your tribe and don’t try to be spiritual its mostly bs and willl rob you of your true creative potential ……all that said there are good medicine paths to walk but they are very strict and hard to find and the end may just make u into the king of the fools
I recently became interested in EDL a few days ago. I was listening to one of the videos on the website and I had to stop the video with Karchere in mid-sentence because I was like “allllllright let’s see if this is cult” so I googled it and it led me here.
I’m seeing a lot of opinions. Not an overwhelming amount of negative reviews, but some.
One thing that Rob said which I found to be very true is “I’ve found that in this world, if you claim to be a victim of some kind, that’s what your mentality is. How you do anything is how you do everything.”
Right!
I think if I were to join this organization, I’d go in there being able to think for myself (which I’m very capable of), being able leave and take care of myself (which I am very capable of), and to only buy into the community about 90% of the way, the other 10% being reserved for an element of distrust; initially anyways.
Like anywhere you go, there’s gonna be some bad apples. I don’t see it as a conspiracy. I see it as a community which may or may not be right for me, and I need to find out for myself.
I have read the thread this morning with some interest. I was with the Emissaries beginning in the summer of 1979 in Minneapolis MN. I attended a lecture at the Minneapolis Public Library downtown at the urging of a family friend. George Emery was the speaker and much ink has been spilled about his charisma, which was abundant. I found him to be a loving man, devoted to meaningful contact with people. (I met my first husband at this gathering and we married two years later, nice benefit). I had just that summer decided to discontinue my formation process with the local Benedictines and was hot to find another spiritual home. I attended one-week class at Rainbow Farm in Indiana.
After spending some time with group housed at the Mpls. Emissary Center (George and Joelle were also in-house), I moved in and spent the remainder of the summer there. George asked me to travel with him and Joelle to Madison WI to house-sit for a couple attending two month class at Clearwater in upstate New York. We were supposed to be conducting Emissary meetings there in the city but we ended up just hanging out at the lovely home on the lake. When the couple returned from Clearwater, George and Joelle and I went to Rainbow again and I was handed off to Robin and Pam Reilly and went to live with them at the Emissary center in Elgin. I was on the “home pattern” for a few months and then went to one-month class at Lake Rest, staying through the summer to work as a maid in the hotel. I exercised my free will in joining the organization and when I was finished, I left. No hard feelings.
Just a quick question. People are mentioning various shades of “sexual abuse” — but I am not seeing any particular case or details or “evidence” described. It looks like ugly smear or misunderstanding at best. What am I missing? Thanks!
Thank you for this article. I became involved with this cult through my husband at the time. We associated with Sunrise Ranch and lived in two of the communities, one in NH and the other, NY. It is a cult. It has taken me years to heal from the mental and, yes, sexual abuse I experienced. Karchere is a freak and a manipulator. The comparison in the comments above of him to Donald Trump is apt. The defensive double-speak from “happy members” above is chilling to read, but not unexpected. But like Donald Trump followers, you can’t argue with the illogical and insane. Living well, truly, is the best revenge. I am free!
I want to know more about the sketchy ranch my sibling spent a few days there And they definitely got the cult vibe from them. I wanted to watch the videos on the links and on this page but they are unavailable!!! Anyone know how i can find a way to watch them ???
My parents were recruited out of Palmer college involved for 14 before my birth in 1974. I grew up with attunement and/ chiropractor as a father. Never had immunizations. It was not forbidden my parents just believed in positive energy and attunement. My parents were residents at sunrise ranch no idea how long they lived there . Louisiana was our home and there was of course a ranch. Main house with other houses/ apt with barn and and equipment. Nothing but good people with fantastic positive energy. Later moving to California and going to glen Ivy around the same warm loving people. We stopped going when I was 12 or 13. I was ever mistreated or touched inappropriately. I was never told a different religion was bad or wrong. To my young mind I never would have labeled it as a cult. To me that was shaved heads white sheets passing out poppy’s at the airport. Those people were strange! Never thought one time EDL was considered a cult . My children always had chiropractic care . yes! Attunement when my children were sick along with a DR visit and what meds were prescribed. My children taught vibration carries to the next person . Positive thought brings positive things. So many years later someone told me “ “ you were raised in a cult” totally confused. I read things online . I was very confused questioning everything… thinking “ who the hell am I?” After exploration of many religions. My conclusion so far is “ I am a good person who raised positive ,thoughtful &loving children “ so I have no idea what EDL is about after 30 plus yrs of non involvement . I know this much . we were not told a space ship is coming for us , we were not told to give money we did not have, not told to drink the kool-Aid and I was not told that I must marry a man who might already have 4 wives! Ha! I had to say it ! I am still in touch with ex members who were and still are positive people.
Hello Coletress: I just read your entire entry. I too, lived on Sunrise 1970, knew many people living there already. I later focalized a Chicago Center until 1974. I was married, had a baby son. I at NO time experienced ANY inappropriate touching, fondling, suggestions of..in any way whatsoever. Everyone was so together. Martin was alive, Roger DeWinton, Wellemeyer, Bill Bahan (my mom in law married his son)…and George Emery come to mind. We eventually grew away from the Emmissaries, but I’m still in touch with Oakwood Retreat in Indiana, and have recently visited there. Later years, people would say to me (naive to what was online) that I was in a cult. It never dawned on my husband or I..raising goats and turkeys and canning peaches just never had that kind of power. I will say, there were very spritual moments that came to be during our association..all of them positive; respond and not react kind of philosophy. What say you? thanks for you input. I seldom read much on the ranch/emmissaries today, but know the ranch is there, and they hold music concerts.
I have a family member at the ranch. They are into eastern mysticism big time! Open your 3rd eye & chanting & some weird yoga. I can’t stress to my family member that this is a cult! But oh no, Im not enlightened so I don’t know squat. Take heed & steer clear of these people & anything they try to sell. Not going to use my name as I fear retaliatory actions to my family member.
Have been an emissary for over 50 years and find the bitterness here most unfortunate. The principals given to me and the direction and support has paved my life with a great deal of BLESSING. I think the experience one has depends on the baggage they carry with them. I do not know Mr. Karcheres but I know he would not get away with any BS with me if I was able to be there. MARtin Cecil played NO mind games with anybody!!!! He was a man of the highest integrity! There are all kinds of people in the world, and there is the opinion if one is
Pointing at another there are four fingers pointing back at you. God bless all of you
I have been asdciated with the EDL organization for over 50 years.
.
Hello. Maybe we know each other? I lived on the ranch for short class, 1972. Associated since 1970.My husband and I later focalized the Chicago Center/EDL. I don’t know who’s there now. We left about 1976. Knew Martin, and everyone else very well. I saw no weirdness but for some mismanagement of multiple family groups having usual issues as anyone does. In recent decades have visited Oakwood Retreat in Northern Indiana, my mom in law helped create it, she married into the St.Onge/Bahan family. What to say…but 50 years ago, I knew what cults were (Hare Krishna, Scientology) and it felt nothing like that at Sunrise.
Great article! I was involved in Sunrise Ranch through my siblings in the early to mid-70s. I remember that they did play quite sophisticated mind games but one thing that I always thought interesting is that although it was very clearly a cult, they did not try to isolate people from their un-culted family members. While there, I learned about attunements, which were pretty much something that was suggested everyone there receive. Although nothing was really said during any of my attunements, and there was no touching involved, I felt like it was a an invasion of personal space. I always felt a little creepy and uncomfortable about it. Another thing I remember is that certain words and phrases were taboo and after being there for awhile you learned what phraseology was and was not acceptable. I remember the word “conception” and all forms of that word as being taboo. So you learned to speak around normally used words that were not considered to show an acceptably enlightened mindset. Questioning the ideology of EDL was looked down upon. When I was there, the Geodesic Dome was just beginning to be constructed. It was expected to give out good energy by its shape and location. I remember being a part of the group that participated in building the dome. The females of course, just participated in feminine ways, such as bringing the men food and drinks. On the surface everything at Sunrise Ranch was beauty, light and friendliness, but every now and then, a flash of something else would be visible and you were reminded that these were just a group of regular old human beings after all, no matter how enlightened they tried to portray themselves. There was a constant theme of “enlightenment” there that was intimidating,as if a contest was constantly being played out, each person trying to show that they were the most enlightened by challenging and scolding anything smacking of non-enlightenment. Yes, the men in power did, indeed have a wife and a “secretary”, and these secretaries were very powerful women in the group. But no one could venture to think anything askance was going on, because that wasn’t enlightened thinking. By having that thought even enter your mind was proof that you weren’t worthy to be in the midst of this glorious place. My sister and brother both lived at Sunrise Ranch and worked the farm. My sister received $30 per month for milking and caring for the sheep. In the 70’s I guess $30 per month was barely enough to live on, but as much as she tried to put forth her most enlightened attitude each day, I perceived a sadness. Eventually, she got sent to Canada (right near Detroit), to work as a teacher in a school for wayward boys. She lived on a bus through the bitter cold winter and after that ordeal, although she never said a word of negativity about it, she left the “protection” of EDL and got married to a regular person who didn’t belong to the cult. Although she always has kept in touch with certain people, and she still has the same beliefs that she learned at Sunrise Ranch, she’s stayed apart from intimate association. I was really more of a person on the outside looking in, as I never was extremely personally attached to their ideology but I did attend meetings and through my siblings knew many of the people in the organization at the time. Strangely, when I look at the articles and pictures today, I see many people whom I knew then. It does not seem like there’s a lot of fresh blood in the organization, the kind that George Emery, and Bill Bahan used to bring in in droves. After all the hard work they put into supplying people to the cult, at least one – George – who was an integral part of Sunrise Ranch, was left to live out his last days in a nursing home, which I found eminently sad.
If you could email me, could I ask you a few questions about your time at Sunrise Ranch?
Sure. How do I email you?
Yes. I’m sorry – I answered you before but it looks like it got lost. I’m not sure how to email you though.
I got your email from the publisher I have sent you a message.
Wow. I lived on the ranch for short class, 1971. I was 22. I’d already been there for visits from Ohio since early 1970. My husband and mom in law had joined with John Gray. My mom in law married Chris Bahan’s father in law, a St. Onge. I remember George Emery well. We’d go with him to Colorado Springs when he gave lectures/talks. Attunements could feel strange at times. Don’t remember a taboo at all about ‘enlightenment’.I was a prenatal educator, have zero recall the word ‘conception’ was taboo. What would be the reason for that? In physiology classes for Long Class (still have my mom in laws books)…the info is straight up from a medical text book. Remember the older folks being downright stuffy, older. I liked Lillian but thought Grace, well, maybe just me..she was too reserved, like a lot of them. I was just a young mom, so maybe not ‘in the fold’ long enough. I have mostly good experiences and memories of the Ranch. I spent many many hours with Bill Bahan, liked him more than George E. Also like Jim Wellemeyer a lot. And most of all, Mac and Jane Duff, from Canada. My husband Jim was on the work committee constructing the dome, the one on the playground. Was another real structure dome also built later? Needless to say, the demise of more than one from that era didn’t land well in the end. Allen ? and Nancy and Michael Cecil, all have really left hard/strong/troubles? What to say about George E. in a nursing home? I could write forever; will end with this: In our Chicago Center I was the home focalizer, young mom, married, a toddler. One of our residents who was a very naive single woman, was ‘courted’ secretly by a very newcomer to EDL and to our center. I could tell there was hanky panky…and it ended up a pregnancy that the Center decided she should be sent back to her home state and never heard from; while the man who pursued this unknowing woman wasn’t even talked to. It ended in me packing up a leaving back to Ohio; so awful was the lack of integrity by those who were advising what to do in response to unwarranted advances by a guy who should have known better. It is what it was; I have no need to say other than what happened, I was there, every single day, watching it play out and unable to do anything but be alarmed. Eventually, I became a patient advocate for women at high risk, based partly on that awful event..and it led to positive reinforcement for scores of others. Peace Out
I lived Sunrise Ranch for 3 years and definitively see it as a cult. Karchere reminds me so much of Donald Trump in that they both exhibit Narcissistic Personality Disorder. Karchere used his narcissism to get into the position he is in and uses it frequently keep the lower classes in line. I’m sure Karchere will take this analogy as a compliment.
Hi. I see Kachere a little on YT. He’s not my thing. He’s not at all bringing forth what Sunrise did in the time I was there. I was involved with EDL in the 70’s. You can see some of my replies elsewhere on here. Thanks for your insight.
I am a current resident of Sunrise Ranch. I will say that I have not experienced any kind of sexual abuse nor have my children. I will say that similar to an abusive relationship, the “leadership” of Sunrise makes it very difficult to leave by keeping us poor. Yes, we are given housing and food. Yes we are free to leave. However some of us here make as little as $1 a day. We have to pay for things like soap, shampoo, hygiene products etc out of our paychecks which are usually less than $500 for an entire month. I’m fairly confident that David Karchere would sell the ranch and kick everyone out if he could achieve any modicum of respectability in the real world, but the ranch is his kingdom and he is the king. If you go against him in anyway you are thrown out on the street or at least threatened with it. The director of operations, Keahi Ewa is a total sociopath with the warmth of a goldfish. I have seen her berate people for disagreeing with her decisions. She gives preferential treatment to people who are her friends while others work much longer hours and harder jobs and get shafted as far as money and housing are concerned. Overall, we are basically indentured servants. We work for our housing and a small stipend but without the ability to save money to leave many of us feel trapped. I’m pretty sure that one resident, Rachel, gives sexual favors to David in exchange for higher pay, a nicer house and traveling around the world. I think it isn’t unreasonable to call Sunrise Ranch a cult
Why are you still at Sunrise Ranch then? If you could please email me I would like to ask you a couple of questions, sincerely Jane Doe.
Reading this is stunning! Paid? Hygiene Products? What to say? We had none of that in the 70’s. We had jobs elsewhere. Some folks permanent at the ranch then had real homes, were retired, or were contractors, etc. I can mentally go through the whole place back then, no one hurting for upkeep. We later had a center in Elgin, Ill, printing a lot of EDL material and other many unrelated jobs for the printing industry. None of us were like servants, we had a decent wage, my printer husband and I. Times have changed. Doubt I could live how you are describing now.
Thanks for sharing anonymous Sunrise Ranch resident. I’m sorry to hear you are being treated this way.
What you describe matches my mother’s experience. She couldn’t get out. Having grown up in the Emissaries, from age 5-17 (1975-1988) I agree that it is a cult. I reflected on how many other single mothers were recruited into EDL. If they didn’t have outside support, they were dependent financially and couldn’t easily leave. From this article it sounds like they are recruiting young people, another vulnerable population. There is nothing about using money to trap people into your group that is spiritual.
If you want to know the true intentions, the heart of an organization, culture or group, look to how they treat the children. The Emissaries did not treat the children well from everything I saw and experienced as a child.
For those who lived there or visited for spell and did not get hooked into dependence or experience anything negative, get real.
There are levels to this, like an onion. The ones who are at the core living in the “units” were told they were the most special and saw the worst abuse.
Just because it didn’t happen to you or you didn’t see it, doesn’t mean it didn’t happen to other people.
The Emissaries taught me how toxic and harmful positivity can be, the manipulation of language, the pervasive spiritual bypassing, the gaslighting, the not subtle vyying to be the most positive in the room.
I can feel it coming off from some of these comments. “Pointing at another, you have four fingers pointing back at you.” Hmmm… where have I heard that before?
The comments from those who grew up in EDL and have only glowing reviews sound hauntingly familiar. You may still be living in a delusion.
Find your own words, your own wisdom instead of parroting someone else’s truth. There was so much Emissary speak. Someone could write a book to decode it. That’s part of what cult’s do – create a special culture only for members. It’s part of the manipulation.
I briefly watched a video with this David Karchere and he definitely has the vibe of a cult leader, more than anyone I met when I was in.
As a pure being that all children are, I did not feel or experience purity of heart in any of the leaders – not Martin Cecil/Exeter and his wife and lover (can’t remember which was which) Jim Wellemeyer, Michael and Nancy, David Pasokov. Definiteley not John Gray. I don’t remember meeting Bill Bahan but the chiropractic community in EDL that were a part of his clinics were cruel and abusive people, from the stories I heard from those who worked there as indentured servants. Sexual favors were common there an the power structure of EDL.
The “Focalizer” situation was abusive for some. And enough of it happened to create a culture.
American Heritage Dictionary description of a cult:
“A religion or religious sect generally considered to be extremist or false, with its followers often living in an unconventional manner under the guidance of an authoritarian, charismatic leader.”
The “Focus” (always male, usually married and also has a secretary who he is obviously intimate with) was someone you had to consult with for major life decisions like going back to college or marrying someone or having a baby. That previous post with the story about the “Center” telling the pregnant woman she had to leave illustrates how this relationship works.
The “Focus” or the “Center” says it and you are expected to it. That is authoritarianism.
If you are stuck in EDL, I hope you find the resources to get out. Perhaps those of us who survived it and went on to thrive could start a fund for those trapped in it.
If you have not yet entered into this clearly distorted situation, why would you?
I was involved with the Emissaries for about 12 years, which culminated in moving to Sunrise Ranch, then ruining my back by hauling the vacuum cleaner up and down the apartment stairs until I no longer could. I asked Lou Rotola (my “Focus”) if there was anything else I could do, and he said, “Why don’t any healthy people come here?” And I was shipped to a communal house near Boulder.
I can tell you that I saw so many people repress their feelings, as did I, that I knew an implosion was imminent, and it happened soon after I left.
Regarding the “Secretary” that men had, I can tell you this. I became the personal secretary of one such man, and after some time, talk began of a more intimate relationship. I was being groomed. I learned that the triangle was the strongest structure, with two women at the bottom points and the man at the apex. I learned that the only way for a woman to reach God was through a man. I learned that some people were “destined to be servants” and they should be happy with that because they were serving God. I learned that it was not important how the wife felt about this triangle relationship—it was her duty to serve and obey her man. I saw a letter from Alan Hammond that said we should go ahead no matter what his wife felt about it. I learned that this information was not divulged to members unless they entered the inner sanctum, or inner circle. Outside of that circle, it was forbidden to speak of it.
When this was all revealed to me, I said “No” and I was shipped out of there post haste. I moved to Sunrise Ranch and saw the reality of this utopian lifestyle that I had been drawn to began to unfold. There was a very structured hierarchy and class system. Martin Cecil was an English Lord, after all.
After I left, I heard there was a large exodus of women. I’m not surprised, it was a very patriarchal organization. I lost contact with everyone I had been close to. I had been told from the beginning that anyone who left would be “dead” to them.
Although this is an old article I feel I must comment. I am a former resident of Sunrise and I’ll tell you this is definitely a cult. All manner of nefarious things go on there. One particularly distressing practice involves their frightening initiation ceremony. Unwitting and naive initiates are placed in a locked room. In the room are several of the cult’s members dressed up as hideous looking clowns (and you know how scary clowns can be). After awhile the poor initiate invariably approaches one of the clowns and asks how long they have to stay in the room. At this point, without any warning whatsoever, the rather intimidating clown squirts a blast of cold water from his plastic lapel flower right into the initiates face! I can tell you that the shock of it is quite distressing. But at least at this point you are allowed to leave the room albeit taking the memory of that ordeal with you forever. I have asked Mr. Karchere, the group’s leader, to please, please discontinue this traumatizing ceremony, but he just squirted me with his own plastic flower. All in all, it seemed like a pretty big price to pay to become a member, but the upside is that after withstanding this ordeal you do get your own plastic flower… and even a horn to boot, which is really cool to sneak up behind people with.
Thank you for posting this!!! Interesting all the attacks on your article by those defending EDL. Thought I would just chime in.
My mother was a part of this Emissary cult from the time I was 5 until I left when I was 18. Many, many single mothers with no money were recruited into this “community” looking for a better and more stable life for them and their children. Many had issues leaving because they were not paid and all work was “volunteer”. They had to hustle “outside the community” to raise money for basic needs for their children. As a child in this community, I did not feel loved and support but deeply neglected. At 12, I was “assigned” to an another adult in the community and did not see my own mother often. The teenagers in the community were experiencing deep anger and despair trying to understand the situation during their coming of age, especially because the Emissaries looked down upon “negative” emotions and encouraged suppression and replacement with “positive ones.”
Then, there are the stories of women being asked to do sexual favors for the men in positions of power (in the power structure, people had to ask the “focus” for permission to make any move in their lives. This subservience was often exploited. This I heard from my mother and others once they had safely left the community. I don’t have any personal memories of sexual abuse. Perhaps #metooEDL is coming. However my brother was physically assaulted in front of me by the member of the community he had been “assigned to” when he was about 15 year old. The boys were required to do a lot of hard labor at a young age and the girls were trained to cook, do laundry and clean. We were programmed to be in service to men and the highest aspiration was to be in a triangular relationship with a man of power. The men in power in EDL had a wife and a “secretary” or two. This was supposed to increase the power of their focus.
Many EDL kids were messed up by living in this idyllic community. We were brainwashed to believe that the Emissaries were the only one on Earth who had the key to how to live and the outside world was shunned. How do you think this affected us as we moved into the world as adults? I know whole families who went into therapy after leaving EDL to try to heal the damage. Unfortunately.. mine was not one of them. I went from living in the “inner sanctum” to surviving the bad, bad world, with no guidance on how to unravel my programing.
That’s all I have to share now. Dig deeper folks. False, positive, white light cults are toxic. Thanks to the brave ones who come forward about how fucked up this and other cults are. Brava!
Sasha,
Thanks for coming forward with your experiences growing up with the EDL. This part seems spot on ” Many, many single mothers with no money were recruited into this “community” looking for a better and more stable life for them and their children. “, this was the feeling I had yet directed towards young music fans / yogis / burners.
Anytime we get comments on one of our articles, it usually means we hit a nerve. Perhaps looking at the comments here there is something much deeper at play.
Stay strong,
Mike
Thanks, Mike! I am doing well in my life now and have become a lover of truth.
Thanks for sharing yours.
Sasha, thank you for your story. I was a young (20 yr old) young adult when I became involved with the emissaries in Ontario in the late 70s. I made the same observations. Women had their place in the kitchen. People with money seemed to move up the hierarchy otherwise you were a serf living in dorms and working your butt off for little pay. No privacy, no rights, little respect. I went though a the one month and then 2 month class in NH. It’s there that I learned their (Uranda’s) racist doctrine about god turning people black to punish them for their evil doings. I always wondered why no people of colour were involved. Between that, the sexist roles, the closed hierarchical structure (only the chosen few were special) and the leaders’s sexual triangulation i eventually walked but I was scared. I thought that I was turning my back on my soul only to find it.
I joined the Emissaries back in 1976 and lived in a “Center” as they were called then. It was pretty much their heyday with a really charismatic leader who was an actual English Lord in charge. I went to one month class in the Catskills at Lake Rest and listened to Tapes of Uranda (Pen name fort Lloyd Meeker) nad watched everybody in the room fall asleep listening to these tapes of him describing all the grand cycles of humanity. He was the number 2 guy underneath Jesus and completing the triangle was Martin Exeter who ended up dying just like Uranda and then Exeter’s son had to take over but he just didn’t like the job and struck out on his own. Now there’s a new guy running things who isn’t really all that charismatic like the super charismatic personalities of Exeter and Meeker running things.
I went to college under protest from the “focalizer” and when there I happened across Robert Lifton’s writings about mind control and decided that I was in a cult. A rather non-destructive cult, in comparison to, say, Scientology, but a cult nonetheless. I was of rather low standing in the heirarchy and pretty young at the time but I tried to work my way up. Of course there is a divine plan for all of this and for everyone. The outline of it is the Book of Revelations, according to Uranda. The whole idea is to bring spiritual expression into the eath in agreement with each other so that the vibrational foundation can be laid for the Second Coming. I didn’t make it to the three month long class so I didn’t hear about any of the really good stuff. They had to stop the long format classes for time and money reasons, which was too bad at the time because I really thought I would “make it” if I could only attend Long Class at Lake Rest.
There’s a lot of energy work being done and if you trust it then welcome to it. I can still feel the affects of the attunements I was given and always thought was a normal thing. I’m not sure I would trust anyone with my personal space that way now.
I will say Meeker was a genius at the cult game. He came up with a creation story that just couldn’t be shot down in the love bombing that was going on. Sandy Jensen has an Esssay about it online if you want to read up.
So the EDL leadership got caught with its hand in the cookie jar or down the pants of a lot of women and had to clean up shop and introduce Ethics into their Garden. It was a lot nicer for them before the Internet and the ability to share knowledge.
Yeah, I got mind raped. It takes a lot of courage to face your rapist, no matter what part of you they raped. Most people that are pretty deep into edl don’t want to face it. I remember asking someone who was friends with people in the Emissaries if I would die if I got out. He told me no, I wouldn’t die. Even then, I still had confused feelings. Even today I still feel the effects of the psychological rape I went through. Good luck if you’re going through the process. There’s a lot of help out there. And no, there is no group on earth that has “The” answer. You will not become a divine being by giving up your free will to EDL.
I see all these posts saying that EDL didn’t ask for any money but I remember differently. When my dad died I got a bit of money left to me. It wasn’t a day that passed before they were asking for it to make renovations to the “center”. Never mind that I could use the money for something useful like college or even buy a car.
I almost gave it to them but I resisted. and kept it.
I have to thank you Mike. I have been to therapy and talked to my wife about all this but it wasn’t until I said something on a public blog that could help get word out that I actually started to see a lot of the things that are just flat out wrong about EDL. They may have changed the way they recruit or raise money but the fact is that their cult’s whole basis for existence is just a lot of BS that actually damages people and is, unfortunately, not seen until it is too late and the brainwashing begins.
EDL may seem to be loving and divine light vibrational healing for the world but it sure screwed me up.
I know I’ve said a lot here, so this will be my last post to this blog on this subject. Take care of yourselves.
Rob,
Thank you for taking the time to comment and share your story publicly, never the easiest things to do. There is lots of honesty in these comments and also people that may have been led to believe in things that are not spiritually / mentally or physically healthy. Luckily we have a public forum here to discuss what’s going on. Stay strong my friend!
Sunrise Ranch and EDL thanks for the scares. I wonder how many of the folks that actually lived there can say they came out unscared. In the beginning Uranda and his lot set out to change the world. The goal was to change the world by bringing ourselve into alignment with God’s plan. We would do that by maintaining a right attitude. Which meant going along to get along. They were as successful as the Catholic church keeping alterboys safe.
Today EDL/ Sunrise Ranch is a mere shadow of itself. In the beginning it was ground zero for emissary thinking and desimmination, today it is little more than a for profit convention center hosting every off the wall new age philosophy.
Hello. These are just facts in response to your own experience. I’m now 72, a social/cultural historian. I was involved with EDL in the Summer 1970 to Summer 1975. Sunrise Ranch and Chicago Center, Elgin. I was 22 and newly married and had a young child, making me a super vigilant mom that no one could get past, this is normal. Had single girlfriends and males who joined also. At NO TIME were there sexual favors at the ranch….no sexual advances. I did know of some ‘affairs’ between young adults..and word got around fast about that. I was the focalizer of the entire household in Chicago, there 24/7…with 3 other males, my husband, and one or at times,two other women. AT NO TIME was anyone conditioned, programmed, mandated, suggested..to be ‘in service’ to the men there. I was there when Martin was alive. There were younger people like us there from all across the country.Hippie types. None of us ‘played’ on each other…ran around bed-hopping. That I know distinctly. I do not remember any shunning, any ‘threesomes’…My mother in law married into the Bahan family..and to her death in the 2000’s..there’s never been anything to talk about regarding your own experience being ignored or neglected (though I get that, I understand there are levels of things beyond me). I am not disputing your own experience, just adding here what mine was. EDL had profound effect on my life; and my reason for leaving was indeed, about the mishandling of an unwanted pregnancy by a naive woman at our center…who left forever, and it was not addressed by the leaders. I packed up and left too.
Just because it didn’t happen to you there and you didn’t see it, doesn’t mean it wasn’t a part of EDL culture. 4 of my peers were sexually violated while living at Emissary units. Teenage boys were worked relentlessly. The man “in charge” of one teen who refused to comply with this forced labor, attacked him in front of me. His back went out and the teen won but it was demonstrative of how power is used in this culture.
Blow jobs and sexual favors were regular occurrences at the Bahan clinics and Green Pastures. Have you talked to anyone who lived and worked there?
Seeing these comments by people so sure that none of these allegations are true is disheartening.
Thank you for the story about the pregnancy. It shows how authoritarian EDL was. The “Center” directs the most intimate decisions of member’s lives. Definitely a cult.
Sunrise Ranch has NEVER asked me to turn over assets or taken money from me! Quite the contrary- I am given a stipend, housing and delicious home grown food/meals in exchange for a full time work week! Nothing but love and care from this community. This is slander and if the people who live here were not so preoccupied with loving life and spreading good vibes in the world, you could be sued. This article is utter garbage.
“asked” so you willingly? Nothing is free in life honeybear
No. As I stated above EDL has never taken money from me in an way, shape, or form. Why are you so intent on misconstruing comments about this organization? It sounds like you’ve made up your mind on what you intend to believe about it without actually listening to the facts. Interesting coming from a “journalist”.
you do realize this is a blog correct? My personal one 🙂
Regardless blogs are treated the same as any publications in the eyes of the law. You yourself call this an “article” in the above. Your lack of integrity is appalling.
Black bear, glad your experience was better than mine.
Yes, this may be correct in your situation but, are you currently in contact with the higher ups or are one yourself. Who knows you may be biased based on your position in the Sunrise Ranch community.
Most people in cults can’t see the forest from the trees until they have a clear view of their surroundings! I suggest you be more open & less defensive as your hostility is quite evident. I guess the peace & serenity of the ranch hasn’t filtered through your inner being yet?
Cult does not automatically = bad. It’s merely culture shared by people living together. The Emissaries promote wonderful values and open-minded spirituality. Demonizing them because they could technically be called a “cult” is ignorant and shows your immaturity as a journalist. I work for Arise Music festival and they pay to rent the space from Sunrise Ranch. Arise is not promoting any particular spiritual belief, only conscious movement towards a better world, which is why they align with Sunrise Ranch and their shared values.
Thanks for the comment, this part “It’s merely culture shared by people living together” haven’t heard it explained as such, appreciate that. As someone that is very energetic, I picked up on some energy from the farm that did not resonate with me. So I won’t be going back, turns out there was some different types of energy work, healers and such calling that part of Colorado home. Tell Ami we say Hi 🙂
EDL needs to be demonized because they are f-ed up. Did you grow up thier? My wife is from there. I got kicked out because of my unwillingness to go along to get along. My father in law got kicked out. My father is burried just below the rim rocks. I know of what I speak.
Have you ever had an attunement, or anything like that from Sunrise ranch?
And what where you unwilling to do, that got you kicked out?
You’ve got that right. Most religions/churches have cult features/elements to them. Most of my experiences in the 70’s were positive while at Sunrise. I’m good for now.
Definition of a cult by American Heritage Dictionary:
“A religion or religious sect generally considered to be extremist or false, with its followers often living in an unconventional manner under the guidance of an authoritarian, charismatic leader.”
It’s the authoritarian part of the definition. Anti-freedom, anti-free will, anti-following inner guidance.
Cults are inherently harmful because they are designed to cut off people’s connection to their own guidance.
That’s not a better world to me.
article brings up twelve tribes, emissaries video that follows contains intensely open-minded open-ended lines of questioning/reasoning. whelp, i’m an atheist, i must admit, but i can get down with their genre of philo still. this article is deceptive af
Agreed
A very garbled, conflated article. What nonsense people write when they have no experience of the reality. Suggest, as Mr. Berlin does below, you go live there for a week and see for yourself.
Already did the live there thing. I know what I speak of.
A very garbled, conflated article. What nonsense people write when they have no experience of the reality.
Hi Mike! Somehow I landed on this and read your words. I used to be the Director of the Emissary Community in the Catskills in NY. One day someone came to me and said, “There is a reporter who wants to interview you about the Emissary Community and has a lot of questions.” I went out to meet the fellow. I introduced myself, welcomed him, and asked what he had in mind. He said he had heard (?) a lot of things about the Emissaries, had a lot of questions, and would like to sit down with me and get some answers. I smiled and said that I would not sit down and answer any questions, but I wanted to make him an offer. I told him that he already heard things ( ? ), so that he was coming with preconceived ideas, and I was sure that his questions would be about the things he heard ( which were not necessarily true ). My offer to him was that he stay and live in the community for one week. Make friends with those who lived there, get into some daily work and see what we do and how we do it ( the Spirit of it ! ), come to the services, share Attunement ( vibrational healing similar to Reiki ), and basically experience the rhythm of whats it’s like to live in the community ( have the actual experience of the community’s spirit rather then just formulating an opinion from “things he had heard” ). He refused the offer. I thanked him for stopping by and wished him well. Mike. I’m not a Bible Thumper, but I do remember a line in Job that said, “Who darkeneth council with words without knowledge?” You, like many journalists, darkeneth council with words without knowledge. You use terms like “religious cult”. You find someone who was unhappy , like Nancy, and use their words to define the entire program, etc. What organization on earth doesn’t have a wide range of people who belong to it, and a wide range of opinions and experiences had from being part of something? Actually, you can’t really take either the good or bad comments that people make as
gospel, but, if your really interested in writing the “Truth” based on facts, you could go and live on Sunrise for a week. Why not go with a clear mind, participate, see what’s really going on, and then write something based on YOUR EXPERIENCE. It would carry a lot more weight!
What needs to happen is all voices need hearing about sunrise ranch and the emissaries. A forum would nice. Your opinion just might change.
I was part of the Emissaries in my 20’s for MANY years. (that was a while ago) They NEVER got money out of me. They never tried to convince me to do anything I did not want to do. It was a big part of my spiritual life at the time. I moved to Colorado recently and attended ARISE festival and Sunrise Ranch. It was a fabulous experience and other than one poorly staffed info tent for the Emissaries, they were not present at all. I had to go out of my way to seek out information about the Sunday service, and there were only a handful of festival attendees there. I enjoyed the service for old time’s sake, and had a hard time finding someone to give me info on other events. It was not at all a “recruiting event” since they seemed to just go about their life and the festival went on without much presence from them. They were great hosts. The land was amazingly fine after al those people had camped there.
It’s so easy for people to judge and want to make things look much worse than they really are. It is also easy and dramatic (which seems to get lots of attention in this society) to call spiritual groups that do not conform with the norm a “cult”. It’s fear mongering and sad. If people have a poor experience with the Emissaries is because they are not taking full personal responsibility for their own experience and they created the poor experience, which then conveniently blame on the group and call it cultish. Let’s grow up here. The only brain washing here is this article spreading poor facts and fear. I wonder what the underlying motives are of the author to spread such poor information based on so much fear. If I may recommend that people not listen to the voice of fear. If you are interested in Arise, or the Emissaries, go check them out with an open mind (not someone else’s opinion) Your heart will tell you if it is for you or not and if it’s aligned with your principals or not. They don’t bite. If you are susceptible to brain washing or cultish behavior, you have bigger problems that should be addressed. If you read articles like this and jump on the band wagon of fear and negativity and someone’s need to put down an entire group and judge them like that with no real facts other than un-based personal opinion, well, you probably see most any group as a “cult” and live a fear based life. My heart goes out to you.
You create your experiences every moment, so lets be responsible about what we create!
thanks for the comment. One question you said you lived there for many years in your 20’s however never gave them any money. So you lived for free on their land? How about food, did you grow and harvest your own? What happened come Colorado winters? I went to Arise with an open mind and did not like the energy of the Sunrise Ranch Cult. I practice Reiki, Meditate and in very in tune. Something is and was not right about that place.
No fear at all, just a knowing I was not supposed to be there. Maybe they just don’t like jews?
What about all the people who have had a bad experience at Sunrise Ranch? Is there a possibility that these accounts of terrible things only happened to certain people or do you think they are just lying?
“If people have a poor experience with the Emissaries is because they are not taking full personal responsibility for their own experience and they created the poor experience, which then conveniently blame on the group and call it cultish.”
Now that’s the Emissary spirit! If you were mistreated and voice your experience, you are not taking responsibility (4 fingers pointing back?)
The spiritual bypassing is classic EDL. And now so prevalent in New Age spirituality that has gone mainstream.
How about you talk to 10 people that were raised in the Emissaries (not the Focuses children though) and ask them about their experience before you stamp it with your shiny endorsement and encourage everyone to check it out?
I actually lived at this cult for a while. Most of what is being said here is true. They’ve had opportunities to work the land holistically, to reach out to the larger community and actually provide some good in the world. Instead, they use their pseudospirituality to hide rape and sexual assault, to bleed people’s finances dry so they have no choice but to remain, and to indoctrinate people into avoiding any sort of real social responsibility. And if you aren’t willing to attend their “spiritual education” sessions, they kick you out.
I was there when they started to transition to this new concert-based model of revenue. They’ve been in the red for years and needed to find a way to keep the doors open. Now they’ve taken hundreds of acres of beautiful Loveland pasture and trampled it into the ground, with no efforts at remediation. Every ticket bought for this event, every room rented from this company, just allows them to keep insulating themselves further and further, attracting unpaid labor to clean and cook. This is a sick organization that needs to be investigated.
This is totally untrue……….The land was not trampled and destroyed…After the concert goers left it was as if thousands of people had not been there. I too was connected with the Emissaries for many, many years and was never asked to give one cent of my money or possessions……….Why do you spread such horrid rumors.
Rumors? Did you attend the festival.
No Mike,I lived in the valley for 10 years…but many years ago and was associated with The Emissaries. As to the music festival, No I did not attend as I now live in Mexico. But, I was there walking thru the land with old friends a short time after the festival and the reports were very good that the land was taken care of . This was after the first festival and I understand there was also one this year.
Jeannie Kezlan, good to see your experience was so good. Your right that no one was asked to give thier wealth to the ranch or EDL bu it was encouraged. All centers for EDL encouraged thier members to give thier income to the center if they were living there. Folks were asked to labor for free. My wife work at 100 milehouse in the lodge and Glen Ivy for free. Jeanne, go talk to folks that feel they where mistreated and see if you can help heal.
I just recently found out that Both of your sons were involved in gang raping at least one young girl. And when later confronted Reno stated that he apologizes for nothing.
Silly article.
Hope you haven’t drank the punch too Douglas
Is it pure silliness if you have seen it happen? People who think a different way as main stream America are made fun of and thought of as weird… I personally call a lot of these people family. If someone wants to live off the grid, I want to learn more. If they want to improve the environment or create a more tranquil way of life, I want to champion them forward. This all being said, if people need to slip you drugs in order for you to feel love and acceptance then get you to do their bidding because they “love” you… You are no longer trapped in a 9-5 job but you are working for someone and this time you haven’t truly made that choice… Doing things that compromise your ethics and your integrity… If you want to go to these concerts, go if you must, but be aware of who touches your water and food… What drugs you buy and be aware of who is sharing them with you… Your choices can be taken from you quickly and then its all about what you can do for them.
This article is pure silliness. I have spent five weeks over the past few years working as a freelancer at the Ranch. It’s a lovely place full of wonderful people who have never, ever, once attempted to recruit me in any way whatsoever. I have even quipped a few times with them that my wife and I admire their values and lifestyle so much that we have occasionally talked about moving there. A rapacious cult would have jumped all over me for saying something like that but all they have ever said was to thank me for the compliment..
After having worked closely with them on a regular basis for the past few years, I have nothing but good things to say about edl. They do not proselytize at all (which cannot be said for most mainstream religious groups). You can even drop by and eat lunch in their cafeteria for a donation and see for yourself. Nothing hinky going on here. If someone I cared about wanted to join them, I’d probably say “good for you!”.
Just wait, Aron. As a freelancer, they will treat you just fine. They don’t show you their true colors until they know they’ve got a strong hold on you. Of course they aren’t going to immediately recruit. They want to keep their core population pure. If you decide to stay for longer, they will watch and see how you contribute, what you say during services, determine whether or not you are a threat, and whether or not you have skills they need to keep the doors open.
I spent months living there, and its a soft sell at first. Very much “Create your own path” and “Live the life you want to live”. Then, when they realized that because of my gender and sexuality, I was a bit more of a threat to them (and because I didn’t attend every one of their services and jump at the chance to be indoctrinated on my own free will) they gave me an ultimatum: Pay the full price of our “Full Self Emergence” courses and attend them 100%, or we are kicking you out, knowing full well that by working you 50+ hour a week as an unpaid intern, you have no money.” I had to leave. I even asked to have the fees waived or reduced so I could continue to help the community grow, but they just wanted my money and my mind.
Mitchell,
Thank you for taking the time to respond to this post with your first hand knowledge of the inner workings of this “organization” i know it must be tough to come out about this, however I personally want to say thank you. I have a good sense of energies and when things are off, needless to say I didn’t vibe well with the CULT..
And using music as a way to potentially gain new members, yikes. Wish more people were atleast willing to talk about this, could it happen, sure? Is it happening, you better bet, now what can we do to educate people..
Thanks again
Mime Hardaker
Yup. The strategy is to Love Bomb you until you are more deeply involved. Seen it over and over as a child with the people coming to “Sunday service” when I lived in this cult.
I have lived nearby sunrise ranch for 30 years and all i know is that the residents there have consistently crashed their cars on cty rd 29 and 27 because they are drunk or on drugs. That being said, i have been to arise fest and never been approached by a recruiter or anything of the sort. When i have encountered the people there they all seem very nice
They are love bombing you, silly.
I’ve visited sunrise ranch about three times for Sunday service and stayed for attune meant – reiki and lunch walked around the centre talked to people and bought from the gift shop… Clarissa Pinkola Estes lectures there regularly who is a world renowned writer of forward thinking spiritual development… The services the speakers are gently enlightening informative intelligent and beautifully real … Having worked, experienced and lived within with a Ghandi led type community – Sunrise Ranch is nothing more than a divine community a lotus blossoming out of the mud to emit light throughout the world and share a Community Spirit freely. Community which we desperately need globally is gently and lovingly being expressed at Sunrise Ranch … Let it grow as divinely as it has and will continue to as an expression of light and love.
Karen,
You know nothing from these superficial experiences. How about you listen to the people in this thread who grew up in it or lived there and are sharing that it was harmful?
Spirituality is not throwing love and light at abuse and walking away.
The claims that this article is about is ridiculous and barely warrants a response… however, I will let you know… I have lived at Sunrise Ranch, and have supported their mission and vision, and I’m not brainwashed, I was not baited, I was not recruited, and there is no such thing as is mentioned in this article. I have contributed my time and efforts for equal value exchange, and am respected both organizationally, as well as in the community. I suspect that this person, if we do some deeper digging, either was not given a free entry and got mad, or has some other ax to grind… or maybe merely trying to find a target to get some exposure… I’ve found that in this world, if you claim to be a victim of some kind, that’s what your mentality is. How you do anything is how you do everything. This person writing this article is negatively biased, and has some other agenda. Sunrise Ranch is a place that provides you an opportunity to practice universal spirituality, without coercion, and without any organized religion. Just a sharing of ideas around the seven days of creation, and oh, by the way, many of the services incorporates Eastern philosophy and teachings for perspective. I have experienced that they meet people where they are… anyway, I have found that the folks that have left the ranch, just had some conflict with another person there, which is common in life… and instead of working it out, they just left and made disparaging things up to support their sour grapes. People, please, be empowered in your life and stop blaming other people and organizations for your unhappiness!
This is BS, Im from California and have been visiting Sunrise for about 2 yrs and never has anyone approched me or try to convert me into a different mine set. I’ve been to service
many times. The residence there are kind, friendly and enjoy being there. You need to check yourself and get a life!
But there are multiple accounts of people saying that this happened to them are you saying there lying for attention?
I just found this article when I googled the ranch for a friend who wants to intern. Umm, I was at Arise last year as a vendor for the Right To Know campaign. I had no idea nor was I ever approached to “talk” or even heard of this cult. I had a blast and enjoyed the music, art, and the people very similar to my experiences following the Dead years ago. Just a whole lotta love and good will. I’m going back again this year AND bringing the whole family. Sorry you had a weird experience but the bottom line is, know who you are and enjoy yourself. No one is going to steal your soul.
I love at sunrise… This is silly… It’s paradise with spiritual freedom… Much love though
Did anyone try to “recruit” you? Were you even approached by a single resident of the Sunrise Ranch?
Marc,
The recruitment table was setup amongst the vendor row next to people selling art, musical instruments and what not. I was approached by numerous Sunrise Ranch citizens, they were easily identified by the wrist bands they were wearing. (having worked numerous music festivals around the country, I always notice the different bands everyone wears as it can easily identify the general public, media, bands, what not.. Sort of like wearing a laminate showing your credentials around your neck.
I had people come sit in our camp site to “talk” two young men actually sat in our chairs for hours and were there when we returned? Strange..
Each time I found a nice young women approaching me out of the blue to “talk” I also noticed they had the same wrist bands on that said they were a member of the ranch.
What finally set me off an made me look into this further was the fact that they were using a chapel on site to host workshops. Chapels are religious correct?
Thanks for taking the time to comment. I just wanted to raise questions..
Have you ever been to a camping music festival before? Random people go to each others camp sites all the time to hang out and meet new people. That is not an unusual circumstance.
The Dome is the chapel you are referring to. Why does it bother you that an event and retreat center uses the meeting space that they hold services in as an option for their event participants to use? 99% of the events Sunrise Ranch holds are put on by external facilitators, not internal events.
I spent a decade working in the music industry, so yes, I have been to many a festivals with said camping. Although none have ever been located on the grounds where a cult calls home, expect for. Sunrise Ranch and Arise
Again, accusations based on anything but fact. Think what you will, but writing an article based on downright lies is anything but writing with integrity.
Hardaker. You’re a horse’s ass. 🙂
Good lord. Of all the things to worry about, I think a group of nice people with odd beliefs is near the bottom of the list. They never came down but were very welcoming for us to chat with them. If I hadn’t gone looking for them, I never would have known they were there.
RUN!!!!!!!!
Sorry you had to deal with that. Thanks for the heads up!
Its bad enough when they knock on your door but to be baited in under the guise of a music festival is worse than a time share seminar.
Wow!
Ok…I grew up in the Emissary community. I lived at Sunrise ranch twice and spent my summers growing up in the Lake Rest Community. I was involved until the age of 31. Mitchell Johnson, you have some anger issues to resolve but little you say on this blog is valid. Yes, like all spiritual or religious movements they have core beliefs. Were there some bad people. What organization doesnt have a few.
But my many years with the emissaries left me with an inner strength, an appreciation for all the great male role models I grew up with and a respect for what Sunrise Ranch has tried to do in the world. I grew up in it. I was steeped for a few decades in its atmosphere. I cleaned barns and milked goats on its communes. I spread its doctrine until I left and developed my own way.
So, owner of this blog, cut the bull as you really know little about this organization….
Sincerely….Teddy Goldman
What did he say in the article that offended you?
I am trying to learn more about Sunrise Ranch but the website is so vague I feel like I would have to become apart of the community to even learn anything. There are so many allegations against it that going to the community is out of the question.
Wow – you still sound like an Emissary – all these years later.
And you know about Mitchell’s anger issues just by reading his post.
It is not about a few bad people. It is about an exploitive system that was harmful to many. Deep down Teddy, you know this. How about you drop the defense and look at it?