Encyclopedic Dictionary of Cults, Sects, and World Religions: Revised and Updated Edition

By Larry A. Nichols, George Mather and Alvin J. Schmidt

Up-to-date, well-documented, comprehensive coverage of cults, sects, and world religions, from the historical to the contemporary INCLUDES • Well-known groups and world religions, such as Jehovah’s Witnesses, Mormons, Islam, and Baha’i • Groups with a significant North American influence, including Santeria, Rastafarians, Haitian Voodo, white supremacy groups, Wicca, and Satanism REVISED, UPDATED, AND EXPANDED TO INCLUDE NEW ENTRIES AND NEW INFORMATION • Updated information on Islam and its global impact • New entries: the Branch Davidians, Native American religions, Heaven’s Gate, Aum Supreme Truth, the Boston Movement, the Masonic Lodge, and many others • Developments in the world of cults and the occult Encyclopedic Dictionary of Cults, Sects, and World Religions is arguably the most significant reference book on the subject to be published. Formerly titled Dictionary of Cults, Sects, Religions, and the Occult, it provides reliable information on the history and beliefs of nearly every form of religion active today. This extensively revised edition includes new topics, updated information, and a brand-new format for a clearer, more organized approach. The authors evaluate the beliefs and practices of each group from the perspective of the Bible and the historic creeds of the Christian church. You’ll also find group histories, numerous illustrations, charts, current statistics, websites, bibliographies, and other useful information.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Zondervan
• Release date: Feb 23, 2010
• ISBN: 9780310866060

Larry A. Nichols

Larry A. Nichols is the pastor of Our Redeemer Evangelical Lutheran Church in Greenville, Rhode Island. He is coauthor of "Masonic Lodge" in the Zondervan Guide to Cults and Religious Movements.

Book preview

a600a60

ZONDERVAN

Encyclopedic Dictionary of Cults, Sects, and World Religions

Copyright © 2006 by George A. Mather, Larry A. Nichols, and Alvin J. Schmidt

All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of Zondervan.

ePub Edition August 2009 ISBN: 978-0-310-86606-0

Formerly published as Dictionary of Cults, Sects, Religions, and the Occult

Requests for information should be addressed to:

Zondervan, Grand Rapids, Michigan 49530

---

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Mather, George A.

Dictionary of cults, sects, and world religions / George A. Mather, Larry A. Nichols, Alvin J. Schmidt.— Rev. and updated ed.

p. cm.

Rev. ed. of: Dictionary of cults, sects, religions, and the occult. 1993.

Summary: This updated dictionary explores a variety of religious beliefs—Provided by publisher.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN-13: 978-0-310-23954-3

1. Religions—Dictionaries. 2. Cults—Dictionaries. 3. Sects—Dictionaries. I. Nichols, Larry A. II. Schmidt, Alvin J. III. Mather, George A. Dictionary of cults, sects, religions, and the occult. IV. Title.

BL31.M295 2005

200'.3—dc22

2005000820

CIP

---

All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the Holy Bible: New International Version®. NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved.

The website addresses recommended throughout this book are offered as a resource to you. These web-sites are not intended in any way to be or imply an endorsement on the part of Zondervan, nor do we vouch for their content for the life of this book.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means—electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, or any other—except for brief quotations in printed reviews, without the prior permission of the publisher.

---

06 07 08 09 10 • 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

---

George Mather would like to dedicate this book to those

friends and family who have been a continued source of

encouragement during the writing of this book.

Larry Nichols would like to dedicate this book in loving

memory of his mother, Joyce Nichols, and his father-in-law,

Alfred Medeiros, along with all of the members of

Our Redeemer Evangelical Lutheran Church,

Smithfield, Rhode Island.

Alvin Schmidt would like to dedicate this book to his two sons,

Timothy and Mark, to help them see that religious diversity

does not conform to what Christ said, "Not everyone

who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter into

the kingdom of heaven."

Table of Contents

Cover Page

Title Page

Copyright Page

Acknowledgments

Introduction

World Religions

Dictionary Entries

Appendixes

Bibliography

About the Publisher

Share Your Thoughts

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to acknowledge various individuals for their support and contributions to this project.

George and Larry extend thanks to Alvin Schmidt, who has come aboard as one of the authors. In the first edition he served as consulting editor. It has been good to have him contribute his scholarship.

We thank Kurt van Gorden, our present consulting editor, for his very careful reading of the entire manuscript and his many helpful suggestions, comments, and constructive criticisms along the way. Kurt has done a yeoman’s work and is a true servant of the cross of Christ.

We wish to thank Arthur Pena for his critical review of the article on The Baha,i Faith. We thank Keith MacGregor and MacGregor Ministries, Kurt van Gorden, Jill Rische, Paul Carden, Arthur Varnick, and Dale Broadhurst for their review and remarks on Mormonism. Concerning the Jehovah’s Witnesses, we thank David Reed, Watchman Fellowship, and Christian Research Institute. We thank Verle and Orie Streifling for their contributions to the article on Seventh-day Adventism. We offer thanks to Gary Zeolla for providing helpful information on several parts of the book. The authors acknowledge and thank Robert Pardon, the director of the New England Institute for Religious Research.

Special thanks goes to Lois Smith for her tireless work in xeroxing the entire hard copy used in the editing process. We also thank Melissa Nichols for her work on the appendixes.

Larry Nichols would like to note that during the final months of writing, his mother was afflicted with a terminal illness. The dedication of this book is for her along with his late father-in-law and grandparents. At the same time, Larry’s father was diagnosed with cancer. By the grace of God, he has had successful surgery and has recovered. He wants to thank both of his parents (as was done in the first edition) for their love, prayers, and support through the years.

Larry would like to acknowledge and thank professors who have taught him throughout the years:

John Calvin Holsinger, history professor at Evangel University, who has kept in touch and has been a constant source of encouragement for continuing to pursue graduate studies

John Stroup, professor of church history at Yale University Divinity School (now at Rice University), who taught his students to think and write critically and at times skeptically

Paul Holmer, George Lindbeck, (the late) Hans Frei, and Brevard Childs of Yale University Arthur Just, who taught him to understand Luke and the sacraments the late Robert Preus, who manifested a breadth of knowledge of Post-Lutheran systematic theology and a deep understanding of the doctrine of justification by grace through faith

Timothy Quill, who, because of the first edition to this encyclopedic dictionary, invited him to participate in the Russian Project—that is, to teach at the Siberian Lutheran Seminary in Russia and at the Luther Academy in Latvia

David Scaer (All theology is Christology), for teaching all of his students to never take ourselves too seriously, but to take Christ most seriously

William Weinrich, a great patristics scholar whose writings and personal conversations through the years have proved most enlightening Dean Wenthe, for his outstanding scholarship, exceptional leadership, and deep insights into the ongoing narrative of the Old/New Testament church and the response of the church to today’s postmodern world.

Finally, we would together reserve our deepest appreciation for our wives and children, who certainly sacrificed the most. Larry Nichols would acknowledge his wife, Zelia, for her constant love and devotion and patience for putting up with his many hours at the computer. His daughters—Melissa, Charissa, Alicia, and Faythe—are the wonderful gifts of God for whom he is deeply thankful.

George Mather would like to thank his wife, Sharon, for her patience during the writing of this work, and acknowledge his daughter, Jennnifer, and his sons, Khristian, Joshua and wife, Shannon, and Andrew and wife, Berenice. He would also like to acknowledge his grandchildren: Grace, Priscilla, Benjamin, Ethan, Emma, and Vasty, along with his sister Charlotte, and her husband, Paul, and his brother Jack, and his wife, Mary, his mother-in-law, Phyllis, and her husband, Bob.

Alvin Schmidt would like to thank and acknowledge his wife, Carol, fort her support and patience.

Introduction

When the First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States of America was added, it was agreed that Congress and government in general would not be actively supporting or participating in the establishment of religion, nor would it be in the business of prohibiting the free exercise thereof. Religious life in our newly formed country would never be the same thereafter. The religious milieu and the historical context in which the First Amendment was first applied were to the so-called Judeo-Christian (mostly Christian) heritage. Had this and many other books whose theme addresses American religious cults, sects, and new religions been written in the late 1700s, they would be considerably thinner volumes.

Changes over the centuries of this nation’s comparatively short history, however, have been voluminous. The nineteenth and twentieth centuries witnessed a veritable explosion of growth into the many denominations of Christendom. Adherents to the world religions and the cults have found a welcome home under the protection of the First Amendment. In just the thirteen years since the first edition of this volume (1993), the authors have labored to keep up with the rapid evolution of multifarious new religious groups that are constantly springing up.

In recent decades, words like multiculturalism, diversity, and postmodernism have become household nomenclature in religious dialogue or conversation. Many people today distinguish between religion and spirituality. The former is (negatively) associated with organized objective and structured forms of religious expression while many understand the latter as a mystical and liberating opportunity to tap into the inner soul in the quest for religious meaning independent of the extraneous discipline of objective religion.

In the words of Ronald Enroth, the writer of the foreword to our first volume, religious freedom has allowed for and in fact encouraged, religious pluralism. Multiculturalism is a word that not only describes the cultural diversity of America, but the complete and total tolerance of religious diversity as well. All religions are considered equally valid or equally invalid—that is, if we press the meaning of postmodernism. In the postmodern outlook on life, truth (religious truth or otherwise) is not believed to lie in objective propositions contained in a sacred or even in a scientific text. Truth is simply not there to be encountered, apprehended, or discovered. Truth in a postmodern world is manufactured and contextualized, rendering a meaning for the moment to propositions and utterances.

The authors of this volume are committed to the belief that there is, in fact, objective truth that can be discovered or encountered. We know that Christianity’s claim that the Bible is God’s inspired Word, providentially preserved in the sacred texts of both the Old and New Testaments, is the truth. We know that there is an answer to Pilate’s question, What is truth? (John 18:38), and Thomas’s confusion (John 14:5) and his doubt (John 20:24–29). The answer we moderns of the early twenty-first century give is that Jesus Christ is the way, the truth and the life (John 14:6). Our volume attempts to present this central truth to those who believe a host of other competing claims, whether it be the vague spirituality of the New Age Movement, the various enlightenments of Hindu and Buddhist gurus, the utopia of Mormonism, or the dark world of magic, neopaganism, satanism, and witchcraft.

Concerning this volume, we believe that in the spirit of St. Peter, we are engaging in the task of rendering an answer to everyone who asks [us] to give the reason for the hope [we] have (1 Peter 3:15). And in the spirit of St. Paul in his encounter with the worldly philosophers on the Areopagus (Acts 17), we are offering a challenge to the religious pluralism of our own day. This volume rests on the foundation of Christ and him crucified (1 Cor. 2:2); thus, all competing claims that challenge that Christ is the truth or suggest that there are other ways to salvation are therefore false. We also believe that those who oppose us [we] must gently instruct, in the hope that God will grant them repentance leading . . . to a knowledge of the truth (2 Tim. 2:25).

This is the second edition to our first volume Dictionary of Cults, Sects, Religions, and the Occult. This new edition has taken on the threefold task of updating, adding/including, and excluding/deleting.

In terms of updating, much has happened in the last thirteen years in the histories of the groups originally covered in the first edition. One need only think for a moment about Islam, the attacks of terrorists on 9/11/01, and the subsequent wars with Afghanistan and Iraq. Much has also happened in the world of the cults and the occult.

It has also been a task of including new religious developments that have transpired since then. On the week when the first edition was published, we were getting calls from the media and other interested parties as to our knowledge of David Koresh and the burning of the Branch Davidian compound in Waco, Texas.

The fact of the matter is that we did not include, nor did we know much of anything about, the Waco group when we turned in our manuscript to our publisher in 1992, several months before the country and the world would know about the Branch Davidians’s standoff with the U.S. government.

This new edition has included the Branch Davidians, along with the other new groups that have come into existence. We have included numerous new articles including Native American religion, the Masonic Lodge, Aum Supreme Truth, Heaven’s Gate, the Boston Movement, and so on, along with numerous new terms and personalities to the dictionary portion of this work.

Several articles of the original volume that that have been excluded from this new edition were not necessarily eliminated because they ceased to exist or no longer exerted significant influence on contemporary America society, but because there was simply nothing new to say. Readers would be equally served by reading our first edition.

This volume’s arrangement has also changed from the first edition. The first volume was entirely arranged alphabetically. This second edition has separated the encyclopedic articles on religions, cults, and sects from the dictionary terms and personalities associated with the groups included in the encyclopedic section. Whenever a major religious group included in a longer encyclopedic entry appears, the group is put into small capital letters (e.g. MORMONISM).

When a dictionary term or a person associated with a particular group included in the encyclopedic section appears, it is noted with this symbol a . For example, the term a Aaronic priesthood informs the reader that this term is in the dictionary portion of the volume.

Personal names appear in the dictionary portion, such as Joseph a Smith (the last named being noted). The reader will seek information under S for a Smith, not J for Joseph.

As far as overall structure of the entries is concerned, the encyclopedic articles include the following general outline:

Name of the group

Brief introduction

History of the group

Organization

Teachings, beliefs. (accompanied by a Christian evaluation of the religion)

Conclusion

Address

Website

Sacred Text(s)

Literature

Statistics

Notes

Regarding the shorter dictionary entries, the group that each term is associated with appears in parentheses at the head of each entry. To follow our Mormon example, the name Joseph Smith appears as follows:

Smith, Joseph (MORMONISM). Then follows a description who Joseph Smith was.

The Mormon term Aaronic Priesthood in the dictionary portion appears similarly as:

Aaronic Priesthood (MORMONISM). The definition of this term.

There are also several appendixes (see the Table of Contents).

The authors have each contributed to this volume in the following way:

George Mather was responsible for the gathering of data, sources, some of the photos, writing some of the definitions, and editing.

Larry Nichols sifted through the data, provided additional research, and wrote most of the articles.

He also updated the bibliography and the appendices in the first volume, including the new one on claims of exclusivity of cult leaders.

Alvin Schmidt, the consulting editor in the first edition, authored and edited a number of the articles in this second edition.

Kurt van Gorden, our consulting editor, read each of the articles and dictionary terms carefully and edited the entire manuscript.

Recognizing that an attempt to be encyclopedic and at the same time current with regard to telling the story of religions and their respective developments is only successful if it remains an ongoing project. Books, like photographs, capture isolated moments in time that exclude the future. One must continue to write as one must continue to snap photos as the future progresses.

We therefore look forward to the possibility of a third edition someday in order that the narrative may remain up to date.

We relate our work in the name of him who is the Alpha and the Omega . . . who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty (Rev. 1:8).

—Larry Nichols

World

Religions

ABAKUA

Abakua dance and music have been popularized by dance companies as a harmless cultural heritage. Abakua, however, is much more than music and dance troupes. Also called Naniguismo, it is an all-male secret religious society in Cuba. It is one of many religions blending together West African, Cuban, and Christian elements. The slave trade of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries saw the transport of native Africans to the West Indies, and when they arrived at their new homes, they brought along with them their culture, music, and religion.

HISTORY

In Cuba, Abakua is considered to be the most African of all the West Indies a cults. Abakua began as a secret society in 1834 in the village of La Regla, Cuba. The group was named after its leader, Abakua. His strategy was to form a number of independent societies in order to make it difficult for the secrets of the cult to be revealed or exposed. Originally, whites and mulattoes were barred so as to retain a strictly African influence.

Four major ethnic groups from Africa were taken to Cuba: the a Bantu, a Yoruba, and Ibibio, and the a Dahomey (present-day Benin) people, called Ewe/Fon. Today, the Abakua cult consists of two large groups: the a Efo group, which still excludes whites from membership; and the a Efi group, which has relaxed its reins a bit, allowing nonblacks to become members. Despite ambitious proselytizing efforts on the part of Roman Catholic missionaries, both Portuguese and Spanish, these West Africans and the natives indigenous to the regions of the West Indies and South America have consistently refused to allow CHRISTIANITY an exclusive place in their considerable pantheon of deities. Any attempt on the part of the Christian church to replace the cultic rituals of these peoples has steadily been resisted.

ORGANIZATION

It varies from group to group. Because of the secret nature of the societies, no accurate organizational model can be presented. The lavish ceremonies are described below.

BELIEFS AND PRACTICES

The priests of the Abakua cult, called a okobio, are all male, with the exception of one priestess called a a casican. The worship centers around the temple, called the a famba. Candles, plants, bowls, and other instruments adorn the altars of the famba. Christian influence is evidenced by the presence of crucifixes and pictures of the Christ child and the Virgin.

Music is extremely important in Abakua ceremonies. The drums, called by various names (see .erikunde, .ekon, a maracas, and a ifon), play rhythms that are strictly African. The dance, the music, and the sacrifices all center around the goal of conjuring up a supernatural spirit popularly known as the a diablito. The name used by members of the cult for this spirit is a Ireme. The shaking action of the maracas is instrumental in causing Ireme to appear. In his left hand he holds an ifan, and in his right, the iton. The presence of Ireme is announced by the ringing of metal bells known as a enkanika. Ireme is adorned in a decorative mask and his presence wards off evil spirits. The whole concept of the diablito is West African. There is no syncretism with indigenous cultic practices of Cuban Indians.

Much of the Abakua ritual is derived from religious rites of the Yoruba. The a divination practices are parallel. Initiates undergo ceremonies wherein they are baptized by soil contained in a bowl made from a skull. The alternate method of initiation, used by the Efi group, is to pour water on the initiate and cover or sprinkle him with a albahaca. The new member becomes servant to a specific a orisha, and he is then referred to as a omoorisha. Often the new member comes to the group with a Christian name. Upon initiation, he or she is assigned an African name that is forever to remain their secret identity.

As stated above, Christian missionaries have met with much disappointment and a sense of failure in their many attempts to bring the gospel of Christ to the devotees of Abakua. It is not that Christianity is out and out rejected, but it is adapted and incorporated into the pantheon of deities already worshiped by its adherents. Religious syncretism has had a long history dating back to Israel in the Old Testament. The judges, prophets, and righteous kings of Israel and Judah were often raised up by Yahweh to extirpate all idols and false gods as these were forbidden in the Israel’s law (Ex. 20:1–6). This tradition was carried over into the New Testament as the early church taught that the center of faith is exclusively in the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ as described in Scripture and the ecumenical creeds (see Appendix 1).¹

CONCLUSION

Abakua continues to flourish alongside numerous other cults in this unique area of the world. Many of the South American and Caribbean groups are making inroads into the United States, chiefly through migrations into the larger metropolitan areas of the country, particularly Miami and New York City.²

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

Websites

www.rhythmweb.com/bongo/history.htm; www.folkcuba.com

Statistics

There are roughly six million people in Cuba who practice Afro-Cuban religions of various forms. Precisely how many of these are adherents of Abakua is indeterminate.

Notes

1 See SOUTH AMERICAN, CENTRAL AMERICAN, and CARIBBEAN CULTS for a further evaluation of Christianity as a religious phenomenon in its encounter with West African cults.

2 See SANTERIA and VOODOO for more specific observations of the growing links between South American and Caribbean cults.

AETHERIUS SOCIETY, THE (TAS)

Service is the jewel in the rock of attainment! Other phrases like cosmic evolution of man, read and evolve, and the claim, For the first time the connection between the science of Yoga, the theology of all major religions and the mystery of UFOs is explained, greet those who happen upon the website of the Aetherius Society (TAS). There are a host of NEW AGE MOVEMENT a cults that are specifically classified as UFO groups. Several are covered in this present volume. Among the more popular is TAS.

HISTORY

The Aetherius Society, founded in 1955 in London, traces its beginnings back to George a King (1919– 1997). King spent ten years mastering Yoga while residing in London. On May 8, 1954, he heard a loud, audible voice that he attributed to an extraterrestrial being, who told him, Prepare yourself! You are to become the voice of Interplanetary Parliament. Eight days following this prophetic message, King was visited by a world-renowned Yoga master who entered the apartment while the door was locked and gave King certain instructions in advanced Yoga. From this, he was able to establish rapport with Master Aetherius, who resided on the planet Venus. King was selected as the primary terrestrial channel for communications between space masters and earthlings. King then founded the Aetherius Society.

King began to lecture in London, charging a small fee, but met with little or no success. During Operation Starlight, begun in 1958, King allegedly made contact with one Master Jesus who, like Aetherius, was residing on the planet Venus. Master Jesus gave King the first chapter of his a Aquarian Age Bible. King also began to receive transmissions from Master Aetherius, which were subsequently published in a magazine titled Aetherius Speaks. In another revelation about Jesus, King attacked the virgin birth of Christ by claiming that Jesus was dropped to Earth by a spaceship, the star of Bethlehem, and he denied Christ’s divinity as the Son of God.

0310239540_content_0018_014

This ten-foot alien display was brought in for a Milwaukee fantasy convention. The UFO phenomenon is growing with such Hollywood TV events as Roswell.

Courtesy Jack M. Roper/CARIS

King gained a small audience in California who were open to his ideas. He claimed he was able to receive frequent transmissions from other voices of the cosmos, which he published. Aetherius Speaks was changed to the more descriptive title Cosmic Voice. At the bidding of the space masters, King was instructed to go to Los Angeles in 1959. The following year, TAS was incorporated in California. Amid his travels to the United States, Mr. King began calling himself Dr. George King, although no record exists for an earned doctorate in any legitimate American institution.

Any transmissions from cosmic masters are recorded on tape. Three tapes of the received transmissions are made and stored in underground vaults in Los Angeles and other areas in California. Thus, all of the cosmic messages are preserved for the future. "In years to come, these tapes will be an impeachable [sic] reference source as to the exact words of the Cosmic Masters," says King.

ORGANIZATION

TAS is organized around its various centers. The American headquarters is located in Los Angeles and the European headquarters in London. There are various societies located in Canada, Africa, Australia, and New Zealand. One may seek membership by filling out an application that is available online. Membership is offered on three levels. A Friend of the Aetherius Society pays a small fee, receives the periodical and newsletter, and generally is considered a seeker who wishes to learn more. An Associate Member pays a higher annual fee, receives the periodicals, has read King’s The Nine Freedoms, his treatise on evolution, and The Cosmic Plan. A "Full Member supports the cosmic missions of the society. Full members pay the same fee as Associate Members. They make pilgrimages to holy mountains, attend prayer services in various locations around the world, visit hospitals, and administer spiritual healing" to patients.

TEACHINGS

The essential mission of TAS is to serve. Aetherian minister Alex Moseley puts the matter bluntly: We are not really popular. It’s because our message is work and service. People don’t want work and service. Numbered among the various service projects was Operation Bluewater. A glass pyramid filled with coils was maneuvered in a boat over the psychic center of the earth. According to King, Operation Bluewater prevented the worst earthquake America would have ever known. Operation Bluewater was completely successful, announced King to his followers at its conclusion. The fact that the West Coast of America is intact proves its success.

Ascended Masters

The Ascended Masters are the long line of spiritual leaders who have ascended to the higher order of the cosmos and whose wisdom and powers are available to those are willing to seek and serve. They include Jesus, St. Germaine, El Morya, and the a Buddha. In 1954, King claims that he was to take up his place as the next of the next Cosmic Master.

Like a host of other religious personalities, King claimed to have been contacted by Master Jesus, who visited from Venus and gave him a new Aquarian Age Bible. Traditional orthodox CHRISTIANITY maintains the uniqueness of Jesus Christ (John 14:6), who sits at the right hand of the Father (Nicene Creed; see Appendix 1). Jesus, that is, is in heaven, at the right hand of the glory of God (Acts 7:55), not on Venus. He indeed was virgin-born (Matt. 1:23, a verse that also testifies to his deity as God with us).

Extraterrestrial Life

King and members of TAS assumed the existence of energy planes in outer space. These beings are superior to those on Earth and can be evasive to the telescope and space travel. They make contact with select people on Earth when they choose to.

Humanity and Prayer

Each person exists within his or her consciousness.

This means that after death, the soul survives the body, when it ascends to the a astral plane. Here it remains until the time comes for it to be reincarnated (see a rein-carnation) in another body. Once born to another body, it is subjected to the law of Karma, only to be reincarnated again.

Traditional Christian doctrine also affirms the soul’s distinction from the body. But at death, the Christian is brought into the presence of God in heaven (2 Cor. 5:6, 8) and will not be returned to the earth for another lifetime in another body (Heb. 9:26–28). Christianity has little or nothing to say concerning the existence of life in other regions of the universe.

The Bible speaks concerning the existence of invisible beings such as a angels, a demons, and the like. But heaven is not described in terms of energy planes or a specific location in outer space. The word eternal (timeless) as distinguished from temporal (time) is used to describe the difference between heaven and earth (2 Cor. 4:18).

TAS believes that it forestalls world disaster through Operation Prayer Power. The end of the world has been imminent for several decades. To respond to this threat, King constructed what is known as the prayer battery. This device resembles a pale blue box and is designed to be capable of receiving the highest frequencies of Spiritual Energies and putting them in a physical container. It is loaded on Thursday evenings at a charging session. Here the prayer leader approaches the battery and begins to pray. His prayers are then graded by onlookers. Good prayers increase the power in the prayer battery; poor prayers decrease the charge. Prayer power stored up in the battery is reserved for crisis periods such as famines, earthquakes, wars, and other related phenomena. TAS members believe that the end of the world will come as a result of advanced technological developments and crass materialism.

TAS places much deal of emphasis on the study of extraterrestrial visits to earth by the Cosmic Masters.

These visits prove the validity of Aetherian doctrines.

TAS investigates UFO reports and claims worldwide governmental cover-up conspiracies to answer critics.

King had been a disciplined student of Yoga. Eastern rites are evident during the group’s ceremonies.

Part of the cultus of charging the prayer battery involves the intonation of a a mantra taken from a Tibetan chant—mani padme om. As a result of praying this chant, it is believed that spiritual energies are stored up and subsequently released for the benefit of humankind when needed. The power of the prayer battery is coveted by evil powers as well as good.

In order to join TAS, one is carefully screened. Only members, associate members, and sympathizers are allowed to attend meetings. To become a sympathizer, one must perform mantra exercises for fifteen minutes on a daily basis. King rewrote the Lord’s Prayer, which he claimed as a revelation from the Venusian Jesus in 1961. In conformance with TAS doctrine, the prayer was converted to a longer mantra to channel inner vision and energy to our higher selves. At the end of some meetings the group energetically chants this prayer.

Certainly the mission of the Christian church is to serve, as is the mission of TAS: The Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many (Mark 10:45). The purpose for Christ’s coming into the world was to atone for sin.

This constitutes, for the church, the ultimate form of service. Service, for TAS, has more to do with utilization of cosmic powers to benefit humanity and humanitarian concerns.

Christianity, like TAS, believes ardently in the power of prayer. But unlike the society, Christianity has no concept of classifying prayer as being good and bad except in connection with whether a prayer is offered up to God in faith or unbelief. If a prayer is prayed in faith and is according to God’s will, God hears it, and it is a good prayer (Mark 11:24). God does not hear prayers that are not offered up in faith (James 1:6–7).

A second contrast concerning prayer is the differing roles it plays for the group. In TAS, prayer and the accompanying emotional fervor is measured by a physical object (the prayer battery). The prayer’s success or failure depends on the power left in the battery after the negative forces have been subtracted. We should note that the creeds of the church are silent on the subject of prayer, for they concern themselves with who God is—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—and with what he does as Creator, Redeemer, and Sanctifier. Prayer is not alluded to because it does not change in any way who God is and what he does. God is still Creator, Redeemer, and Sanctifier, with or without prayer. In short, the creeds of Christendom speak of God’s grace to the Christian; prayer is the response of the Christian to God. Prayer is not to be substituted for grace or be used as a means of grace, as it is in TAS.

Third, the Bible represents a closed canon. God does not grant new revelation or revelation that will alter, contrast, or add to what he gives in the Bible. When King altered the Matthean text for the Lord’s Prayer (6:9–13), he violated Proverbs 30:6 and proves himself a liar.

Fourth, the goal of Christianity is to spread the message of God’s kingdom; this kingdom is not of this world (John 18:36). The thrust of TAS lies in establishing peace in the present with the aid of the cosmic master.

Both TAS and Christianity predict the end of the world. While the former seeks to delay it through charging up the prayer battery, the latter confesses, from thence he will come to judge the living and the dead (Apostles’ Creed; see Appendix 1). This anticipated day is the blessed hope of the church.

CONCLUSION

TAS continues to exist into the twenty-first century. Operation Prayer Power meetings are regularly held along with spiritual healing services. Classes and lectures are frequently held at all of the TAS centers. Members continue to believe that contact with extraterrestrial intelligence will bring enlightenment to the inhabitants of the earth. The official website provides current information on the various activities, seminars, products, and services offered.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

Headquarters

(American) The Aetherius Society, 6202 Afton Place, Hollywood, CA 90028.

(Europe) The Aetherius Society, 757 Fulham Road, London, England SW6 5UU.

Website

www.aetherius.org

Sacred Texts

The Twelve Blessings; The Nine Freedoms; Cosmic Masters Speak to Earth. Other writings by King include You Are Responsible (1961); The Day the Gods Came (1965); The Five Temples of God (1967); You Too Can Heal (1976);

Operation Space Magic—The Cosmic Connection (1982);

The Three Saviours Are Here (1982).

Periodicals

Cosmic Voice; The Aetherius Society Newsletter.

Membership

The latest figures for membership are unavailable but in all likelihood, it is under 1000 members. The organization itself will not give out exact figures but claim that there are several thousand members. Most members of TAS reside in England.¹

Note

1 J. Gordon Melton, The Encyclopedia of American Religions, 2 vols. (Wilmington, N.C.: McGrath, 1978), 2:119.

ALAMO CHRISTIAN MINISTRIES;

ALAMO CHRISTIAN FOUNDATION (ACF)

The Alamo Christian Foundation was one of many popular groups that proliferated in the heyday of the coun-tercultural Jesus people revolution of the 1960s and 1970s.

HISTORY

Established in 1969 by Susan a Alamo (d. 1982) in the Los Angeles area, the ACF began as a Pentecostal-style gathering of hippies and misfits evangelized off the streets by the charismatic personalities of Susan and her husband, Tony. Susan Alamo’s real name was Edith Opal a Horn, and Tony’s former name was Bernard Lazar a Hoffman. According to a feature article in People Weekly, June 13, 1983,

Susan was the foundation’s spark, the divinely chosen handmaiden of God, who would make a miracle, curing herself, thus focusing attention on the foundation. Then she and Tony would lead a glorious world crusade. . . . Susan’s death shook the faith of her followers. This, says an insider, is why Tony preaches resurrection: As long as Tony has Susan’s body, he has her power.

The Alamos’ method of evangelism (in the 1960s and 1970s) was to invite hippies wandering the streets to come in for free food and music, after which Tony would come out and preach. An appeal to accept Christ as personal Savior was made, and many did so. Converts were then assigned to an older Christian, who would maintain constant supervision over them. Once absorbed into the foundation, they would work in one of the many business interests established by the group.¹ In 1977, the U.S. Department of Labor filed suit against the ACF for violation of fair-labor practices in thirty-two commercial enterprises run by the organization. The Los Angeles Times, April 24, 1985, reported:

The foundation derives most of its income from service stations, clothing stores, groceries, hog farms and other commercial enterprises that are staffed by workers it calls associates. The workers do not receive salaries but are compensated with meals, lodging, clothing, shelter, transportation and health care.

Tony’s response to the suit was: The U.S. Department of Labor is a poison on the American system that needs to be yanked like a rotten tooth and thrown in the garbage.

Headquarters for the ACF shifted to Alma, Arkansas, in 1975, and large tracts of land were purchased in order to operate the diversified commercial interests in which the Alamos engaged. Arkansas social services found it necessary to investigate the foundation’s day care center, which was reported to have an enrollment of seventy children. They found the conditions at the facility deplorable, and no children were enrolled at the time of the inspection.

Defections from the ACF were common in the later 1970s. Many who left reported such things as having been under constant supervision, poor nutrition, brainwashing, hard labor, and deprivation of sleep. The Alamos’ own daughter, Chris Mick, testified against her mother before a Senate subcommittee after leaving the foundation.

Like so many groups that arose in the era of protest, the ACF experienced widespread appeal within its sphere of influence. That sphere of influence, however, has rapidly declined in the mid-1970s to the present.

The year 1982 proved to be fateful for the ACF in that Susan Alamo died, marking the end of an era for the foundation. Add to this the extensive media coverage of the a Jonestown tragedy four years previous, which resulted in a mass public awareness of the goings-on in cultic circles, and the tide began to shift away from groups controlled by charismatic personalities. The ACF was no exception to this trend.

Trouble erupted for Tony Alamo in 1988 when he was sought by police for alleged child abuse, for which he was later acquitted. The December 21, 1989, Los Angeles Times reported that Alamo Designs, Inc., had filed a $250 million lawsuit against the Jewish Federation for libel and slander. Alamo claimed that the federation had been persecuting and maligning him, accusing him of child beating before he could defend himself by due process in a court of law.

Alamo’s protest centered around the issue that the Jewish Federation was attempting to discourage sales of Alamo Designs clothing, claiming that profits went toward the financing of a cult. Alamo Designs attempted to distance itself from Alamo, as sales had drastically dropped in the Los Angeles area. The explanation for this was bad public relations, which Alamo attributed to the activities of several anticult groups.

Alamo sued the several organizations but was unsuccessful in court.² The Los Angeles Times makes a different claim, however. In a telephone interview with the Times in August 1989, Tony Alamo is quoted as saying (with respect to Alamo Designs), I make all the decisions in the business, all of them. Wherever I am is the [company] headquarters. If you can find me, you’ve found the headquarters.³

In February 1993, Alamo was indicted by a grand jury in Memphis, Tennessee, on charges of falsely filing income tax returns from 1985 through 1988. He was arrested in April, and in June was convicted of all of the charges against him and sentenced to six years in prison. In 1995, further tax cases were heard against Alamo, who in July of that year filed a double jeopardy motion, claiming that he was punished twice because the amount of money and assets that the government seized was far in excess of his actual tax liability. Alamo was considered for parole as a model prisoner in June 1995 but was denied and later released in late 1998.

TEACHINGS

The Bible

The ACF claims that the a Bible is the Word of God and the ACF’s authority in matters of faith. Tony Alamo, however, claimed to have received personal revelations from God, which he then passed on to the group.

God

The foundation maintains a belief in the theology of the a Trinity of traditional CHRISTIANITY.

Jesus Christ

Jesus is the Son of God and Redeemer of humankind. He was physically resurrected from the dead and is able, therefore, to impart forgiveness of sins to those who turn to him in faith. This simply stated a Christology is also in conformity with historical Christian .orthodoxy. The ACF has not developed its Christology beyond this.

Salvation

The following prayer and subsequent instructions, published in Tony Alamo’s The Pope’s Secrets, reveals the foundation’s basic beliefs regarding how one may receive salvation:

My Lord and my God, have mercy upon my soul, a sinner. I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of the living God. I believe that He died on the cross and shed His blood for the forgiveness of all my sins. I believe that God raised Jesus from the dead by the power of the Holy Ghost. I open up the door of my heart, and I invite you into my heart, Lord Jesus. Wash all of my sins away in the precious blood that you shed for me. You will not turn me away, Lord Jesus; you will save my soul. I know because your Word, the Bible, says so. Your Word says that you will turn no one away, and that includes me. Therefore, I know that you have heard me, and I know that you have answered me, and I know that I am saved, and I thank you, Lord Jesus, for saving my soul. . . . [To readers] Now that you are saved, raise your hands toward heaven and praise the Lord.

After you have said this prayer and know that you are saved, read only the King James Version of the Bible. And call or write us soon for instructions on how to receive power from God by receiving the baptism of the Holy Ghost, and for instructions on how to please the Lord fully.⁴

Insofar as the foundation preaches the person of Jesus Christ—that it is Christ as the Son of God who grants the forgiveness of sins, and that this forgiveness is imparted to the penitent—it is in conformity with the idea of salvation in the Christian church of the first four centuries. However, with respect to a soteriology, there are two notable differences between the foundation and the traditional Christian a orthodoxy and orthopraxies. First, baptism is treated differently than it was in the early church. The ACF regarded the sacramental washing to be an integral and essential part of the conversion process. Just as circumcision was a mark of the old covenant (Gen. 17:10–11), an act that incorporated the believer into the covenant community of faith, baptism was regarded as being the mark of the new covenant (Col. 2:11–12) that incorporated the believer into the body of Christ. Baptism was much more closely linked to the doctrine of justification in the early ACF communities than it is in contemporary Protestant groups that place more emphasis on the actual decision to receive Christ and less on the sacrament of incorporation and initiation into the church.⁵

This leads to a second observation. The New Testament reports the conversion of individuals, but the households of such individuals were also included in several instances (Acts 16:15, 30–32). In the social matrix of twentieth-century American society, particularly within the hippie counterculture of the 1960s and 1970s, the emphasis was on the individual, who more often than not was disenfranchised from his or her family. Furthermore, modern conversion is not so much a matter of salvation from pagan deities, as was the case in the early church, as it is conversion from a dead mainline Christian denomination to a more alive and Spirit-filled group of believers who are true Christians. Insofar as the ACF is concerned, this idea takes on a special significance with respect to its doctrine of the church.

Church

All other churches in the world are corrupt. The ACF is the only true church. For traditional orthodox Christianity, by contrast, all believers are a part of the one holy catholic and apostolic church (Nicene Creed). No one denomination or leader has sole claim to the truth to the exclusion of all others. The standard lies in the doctrines laid out in the Bible and expressed in the ecumenical creeds. which unite all of Christendom in matters of faith and doctrine (see Appendix 1). Other evidence of their exclusivity is that Tony Alamo is frequently called World Pastor Tony Alamo, which elevates him to an unbiblical position.

Other beliefs taught by the ACF include the conviction that the Vatican is the tool of the a devil and that the pope is the Antichrist. Alamo adamantly believes that the Vatican is on a conspiratorial mission to seize control of the world. In The Pope’s Secrets, Alamo asserts:

Because of her age-old desire to control the world government and church, the serpent-like Vatican has infested the world and the U.S. government with so many of her zealous, highly-trained and dedicated Jesuit devotees, that she now controls the United Nations (which she created); the White House; Congress; every state, federal, civic, and social government agency including the U.S.Department of Labor, the IRS, the FRO, Supreme Court, judicial systems, the armed forces; state, federal and other police; also the international banking and federal reserve systems (called the Illuminati and Agentur); labor unions, the Mafia and most of the heavyweight news media.⁶

Alamo also argues that in addition to the corruptions resulting from Vatican infiltration, communism is an evil force threatening the welfare and safety of the United States. In this contention, he is in agreement with Sun Myung a Moon and numerous conservative fundamentalist (see a fundamentalism) groups.

CONCLUSION

Alamo continues to minister and lead the organization that bears his name. Followers call him World Pastor.

The negative media exposure, the attacks by (now defunct) CAN, and the government seizures of much of the assets of the organization took its toll on the organization.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

Headquarters

Holy Alamo Christian Church, P. O. Box 398, Alma, Arkansas 72921.

Website

www.alamoministries.com

Sacred Text

The Bible

Other Writings

Numerous pamphlets have been published by Alamo, including The Pope’s Secrets (n.d.); Guilt by Association (n.d.); and Alamo’s Answer to Rabbi Nuri (n.d.). World Newsletters is available online with Alamo’s monthly messages.

Notes

1 Gregory Perrin, Cult Begins Local Recruiting Drive (Brooklyn, N.Y.: Prospect Press), vol. 21 (November 1982), 11–24.

2 Eric W. Francke, A Brief History of the Alamo Christian Foundation (see http://nierr.org/alamohist.htm).

3 Ibid.

4 Ibid.

5 Michael Green, Evangelism in the Early Church (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1970), 152–65.

6 Alamo, Pope’s Secret, 1.

ANANDA MARGA YOGA SOCIETY

Ananda Marga is one of the numerous Hindu (see HINDUISM) family of a cults that proliferated in the United States during the 1960s and 70s.

HISTORY

This movement was founded by Prabhat Ranjan Sarkar (1921–1990). He was renamed Shrii Shrii a Anandamurti, which means One upon seeing him turns to bliss. Sarkar achieved religious enlightenment at an early age. At four he began to propound his philosophy in India.

Ananda Marga came to the United States in 1969 under the leadership of Acharya a Vimalananda, who has since left the movement and founded the Yoga House Ashram. In America, Sarkar gained much more of a following than he had in India, where he was not without his problems. During the turbulent 1960s and early 1970s, when Indira Gandhi was becoming less and less popular, Sarkar ran for political office. Former members of his group, however, accused him of participating in a conspiracy to commit murder. He was arrested and remained in prison throughout the national emergency declared by Gandhi, which lasted from June 1975 to January 1977. Sarkar, along with many political opponents who had also been arrested, was subsequently set free. In the mid–1970s the Indian government considered the Society a terrorist organization that taught its members to carry out ritual murder. Sarkar continued to teach the values and ideals of the organization until the time of his death in 1990. As of May, 2004, 125 of Sarkar’s books have been published in English, with more and more translations being made.

ORGANIZATION

The different centers of Ananda Marga activities around the world are called sectors, and each of these are listed on the organization’s website. Spiritual and social activity centers are found in over 160 countries in the world. By 1973 over one hundred centers had been established in the United States and abroad. Because it considered itself service-oriented, several organizations were formed for the purpose of helping disaster relief victims. These included Ananda Marga Universal Relief Team (AMURT) and Ananda Marga Universal Relief Team Ladies (AMURTEL). Other activities carried out by the Society include aid to refugees around the world, outreach to prisoners, the bringing of pure drinking water to areas of Africa, and disaster relief to the victims of the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001.

TEACHINGS

Ananda Marga’s teachings are based on HINDUISM with special emphasis on a Kundalini and a Tantra a Yoga techniques. Part of the meditation rituals include a dance known as a Kiirtan, accompanied by the a Mantra Baba Nam Kevalam (the universal father is everywhere). The world, according to the movement, is an expression of the personality and character of God. The individual achieves enlightenment when the ego-bound mind is broken down and the individual is displaced from dwelling on his or her own needs. Having accomplished this, the devotee is able to then dwell on the needs of others. As already noted, members of Ananda Marga expend considerable energy in public service. The con cept is essentially that the more one devotes to others, the less bound one is to oneself, and the closer one is to enlightenment.

Ananda Marga uses what is called the a sixteen points created by Sarkar. Under the sixteen points comes the term paincaseva, which means five services. Whatever service is needed at a given time should be rendered. These include free food distribution, sale of cheap vegetarian food, clothing distribution, medical supplies distribution, and books and educational supplies distribution.

A striking comparison with a orthodox CHRISTIANITY lies in the biblical principle of God’s love and concern for the poor (Isa. 1:17; Luke 4:18; James 2:5–6). For the Christian, the display of love and concern for others is motivated by God’s love, already given to the Christian through the work of redemption accomplished by Jesus Christ. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit (Matt. 7:18).¹

CONCLUSION

The society continues to grow and proliferate in many areas of the world.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

World Headquarters

Ananda Marga Global Headquarters, Eastern Metropolitan ByPass, V.I.P. Nagar, Tiljala, Calcutta 700039, India.

New York Sector 97–38 42nd Ave 1-F, Corona, New York, 11368. Other North American sectors include locations in California, North Carolina, Missouri, and Mexico City.

Website

www.anandamarga.org

Sacred Texts

The numerous writings of Sarkar

Publications

The society produces several periodicals, including a monthly newsletter, Sadvipra, begun in 1973, and a magazine titled Renaissance Universal.

Membership

Exact figures are uncertain. The official website, however, claims that there are close to one million followers.

Note

1 The implications of this point along with a further discussion of comparisons of and contrasts with Christianity are found in Hinduism.

ARICA (ARICA INSTITUTE)

Arica is a NEW AGE group that brings together a blend of Eastern religions and psychotherapy, which was eventually merged with a defensive martial arts school known as the T’ai Chi Foundation and the School of T’ai Chi Chuan (Supreme Ultimate Fist). It was invented and developed by Oscar a Ichazo and takes its name from the remote town of Arica, Chile.

HISTORY

In 1971 Ichazo came to the United States and founded the Arica Institute in New York City. Since that time, it has expanded rapidly, with centers in San Francisco, Los Angeles, London, and elsewhere.

TEACHINGS

The student of Arica learns to focus on the mind and through training is able to awaken it. Ichazo contends that the subconscious mind alone possesses the knowledge of salvation. One must tap this vast treasure lying within to arrive at one’s essence. Essence and ego lie in diametrically opposite poles in the human psyche. In the beginning, the conflict people encountered with their world resulted in a falling away from pure essence. As a result, they tumbled into ego.

Each individual is born of pure essence but begins to experience a dissonance because of societal demands to conformity. This begins between the ages of four and six. Conflict that the individual experiences results in the rise of the ego aspect of the mind. Ego is the fundamental problem of a self living in a world inhabited by millions of other egos.

The student of Arica is taught to think with all parts of the body. Different parts of the body are assigned to different planes, called mentations—twelve in all.

Additionally, three specialized centers make up the individual: a path, a oth, and a kath. Kath is the most important, as it is in control, or at least one learns to allow it to be so. The idea is to learn to transfer mental energies and conscience from the mind (path) to the body center (kath). The goal of Arica is to expose and destroy the ego and usher the person into a state that Ichazo calls a Permanent 24, the state of total awareness and personal enlightenment.

In essence, Arica is a philosophy comprising a potpourri of ancient Greek thought, HINDUISM, BUDDHISM, and SUFISM, while T’ai chi discipline draws heavily on the dualistic philosophy found in TAOISM, whereby everything is connected to the bipolar opposites such as positive–negative, male–female, and the like. There is little that resembles traditional CHRISTIANITY in Arica.

As one of the many therapeutic self-help groups that constitutes the New Age, Arica’s basic assumption is that divinity resides within each individual. It remains for a trained specialist to awaken it. This is done for a fee, and the training lasts as long as three months in its initial stages, followed by open path workshops.

Ichazo contends that Arica is not a religion and that he is not a a guru. When you are mature, he says, you don’t need a papa, you need a friend. A friend will advise you with goodwill. You can either take it or leave it.¹ One of the basic goals of the therapy is to liberate one from guilt and other psychological maladies. The methods used in accomplishing this closely resemble aspects of Eastern religions. The mystical name of the radiant being that is latent within every person is toham kum rah. The student learns breathing techniques, .mantras, and incantations, all for the purpose of reaching Permanent 24. Arica has no concept of human malady having any relationship to sin and active rebellion against God, as in the case of Christianity. There is, therefore, no concept of atonement for sin. Christianity teaches that all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus (Rom. 3:23–24).

There is no concept of church, a sacraments, creeds, or any other aspect of Christianity in Arica. Ichazo contends that one may embrace the tenets of any religion and still utilize his techniques. Christianity, however, posits a view of the world, of life, of God, and of humanity that is diametrically opposite from Arica.

Arica presupposes an existential philosophy in which the individual views himself or herself as being the center of existence, while the Christian places the triune God at the center of life, both in the present world and in the life to come.

The Christian outlook is one where the present life is a prelude to heaven. Permanent 24, the Arica equivalent to heaven, is a state of existence one never attains in this life, or at least no one yet has. It is a state not unlike that of a nirvana in Eastern thought.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

Website

www.taichifoundation.org/arica.shtml

Note

1 The Same Old Yen for Zen, Newsweek (November 9, 1981), 20.

ASSOCIATION FOR RESEARCH AND

ENLIGHTENMENT (ARE)

This is an organization that gathers chiefly for the purpose of studying the writings and teachings of Edgar a Cayce and for the continued promotion of a psychic awareness, a clairvoyance, and other related phenomena.

HISTORY

Edgar Cayce was born March 18, 1877, on a farm outside of Hopkinsville, Kentucky. His father served as a Justice of the Peace. As a child, Cayce was interested in the a Bible and enjoyed attending church regularly. Several key events in his childhood shaped the direction his life would take. As an infant, he is reported to have cried incessantly throughout his first month. An elderly black woman whom the family knew suggested pricking his nipples with a pin. Milk was reported to have flowed from his breasts, after which the crying marathon stopped. At the age of either seven or eight, Cayce was one day

off by himself in a secluded outdoor nook where he had been reading in the Bible of the vision of Manoah, for he loved dearly the story of Samson. Suddenly there was a humming sound, and a bright light filled the glade where he usually hid to read the wonderful stories. As he looked up, he saw a figure in white, bright as the noonday light, and heard a voice: Your prayers have been heard. What would you ask of me that I may give it to you? The boy was not startled. Even then it seemed natural to see visions. Just that I may be helpful to others, he replied, especially to children who are ill, and that I may love my fellow man.¹

This vision began to affect Cayce’s life almost immediately. Not a good student, he attempted to put his vision to work in improving his grades. Cayce recalls what happened shortly after his vision:

In the evening I had the same hard time in preparing my spelling lesson. I studied it and each time felt that I knew it, yet when I handed the book to my father and he gave me the words to spell I couldn’t spell them. After wrestling with it for two or three hours, receiving many rebuffs for my stupidity, something inside me seemed to say, Rely on the promise. I asked my father to let me sleep on my lesson just five minutes. He finally consented. I closed the book, and leaning on the back of the chair went to sleep. At the end of five minutes I handed my father the book. I not only knew my lesson, but I could spell any word in the book; not only spell the words but could tell on what page and what line the word would be found. From that day on I had little trouble in school, for I would read my lesson, sleep on it a few minutes, and then be able to repeat every word of it.²

This method spelled out the way that Cayce