Question Your Gurus

The High Priestess from the Melanated Tarot deck https://www.oubria.com/melanated-classic-tarot.html

 

If you want your tarot cards read, an astrological consultation or a chakra realignment you have 1,000s of options online to choose from. The spiritual community is a thriving industrial complex entangled in capitalism. There are a lot of people out there purporting themselves as experts and healers who are actually scamming innocent people. What typically attracts people to want their cards read or aura cleansed? Many people turn to the woo when they are desperate, confused or have exhausted other options. People are scared, bereft or alone. They want answers, they want their life to improve, they want something to believe in. They are vulnerable. 

 

But we cannot simply trust that people are who they say they are (especially online). Skepticism and discernment are necessary skills to cultivate when navigating spiritual communities. There are people out there looking to exploit you and take your money. In extreme cases there are rapists, narcissists, and megalomaniacs preying on people searching for a sense of belonging and community.   

 

Teal Swan is a cult leader masquerading as a spiritual guru who is incredibly predatory and reckless with human life. Swan appeals to those coping with suicidal thoughts, depression or trauma. She uses psychological language and her Completion Process is supposed to treat those suffering from trauma. She is not a doctor or therapist and has no mental health credentials. She positions herself as more spiritually evolved than others (she claims to be a reincarnation of Indian Guru, Sai Baba of Shiri, and have extrasensory powers). She discourages her followers from seeing therapists because apparently her methods are all they need. She is a predator with over a million followers on Youtube.  

 

Her behaviors are clear indications of what one should avoid when looking for a spirituality community or guru. Below I will identify some commonly used tactics of false gurus and manipulative woo scams people should be on the look at for: 

 

False gurus will reinforce a hierarchy in which they have supreme knowing over others. They often will use violence and abuse to reinforce this power dynamic. 

 

A false guru will reinforce a hierarchy that puts them above you, distinguishing them from others by asserting they have absolute knowledge and infallibility. A false guru wants to be worshipped as a god on earth, they want to be deified by their followers. Some will go as so far to assert themselves as omnipotent (like Swan).  Most false gurus are operating from their own narcissism and the root of narcissism is a very insecure sense of self. This characteristic has shown up in all kinds of cults. In Scientology, Chairman, David Miscavige, is treated like a supreme ruler and he uses violence and abusive tactics to keep his underlings obedient. Bikram Choudhury, inventor of Bikram yoga, used verbal abuse, public shaming and sexual abuse to subjugate his followers. It is imperative to these figureheads to use any methods necessary to retain their power over others which leads to the next characteristic…

 

They will discourage challenging their status or credibility. 

 

One teaching of Tibetan Buddhism that has stayed with me is question your gurus. A teacher will never expect you to blindly follow them, a skillful teacher will encourage you to question their methods and only adopt them if you see them as effective for yourself. Many reputable teachers will encourage you to cultivate skepticism regarding their teachings.  Don’t do X because someone tells you to do it. Do X because you find it a worthwhile practice independent of anyone else. 

 

Many false gurus expect blind faith followers and intentionally cultivate a community where dissenters or questioners are vilified or shunned. They don’t want anyone to threaten their status. Pay attention to how a spiritual community reacts to someone questioning their methods. If this person is attacked mercilessly then you have all the info you need that this community is abusive. 

 

They often piece together their philosophy from several other philosophies without citing their sources.

 

Not everyone who does this is a guru, but most false gurus do commit this fallacy. This speaks to the egotism of most false gurus that they think they are so knowledgeable that they don’t need to reference that their ideas come from specific religions or philosophies. It is a show of humility and respect when we cite our references and give credit to people for their ideas. In many traditions showing reverence for your teachers is a fundamental component of being a student. Many cults are strange amalgamations of philosophies. Again, if you watch enough Teal Swan videos you will notice that she references many ideas from modern psychology and other philosophies without ever crediting a person, yet we are supposed to trust this woman to have the answer to heal all our trauma? Yeah, right. 

 

They want to cultivate a dependency where they are relied upon completely to be your whole support system effectively cutting you off from any non-cult resources.

 

This is a common tactic of cults to separate you from your non-cult support system (friends, family, therapist, etc.). Teal Swan has discouraged people from seeking therapy stating that their therapist is not capable of providing the support they need to process trauma or overcome suicidal thinking. In Scientology members are banned from relationships with people outside the church and they are punished severely for breaking this rule. In many cults if they have the resources, they want you to live on a commune effectively separating you from “outsiders”. If any community or singular person wants to separate you from healthy, supportive relationships they have nefarious intentions. 

 

They assert that their methods are your only effective avenue for healing 

 

This is a common manipulative tactic exhibited by 
“healers” looking to scam you. They will proclaim you are cursed, hexed or damaged and that they are the only person that can reverse the magic or heal the wound for a very large price tag. If anyone tells you this, they have immediately discredited themselves. If you find yourself in this situation know most likely you are not cursed (it is truly more uncommon than it is common). You are your most skilled healer and if you do have malevolent magic cast on you, you are your most effective bet at reversing and clearing that magic. You are the only healer you need and there are infinite ways to cleanse yourself and reverse magic. And they don’t cost hundreds or thousands of dollars! This scam is typically executed by online “healers” so be careful to vet people online to the best of your ability. 

  

They use hypnosis techniques to manipulate thoughts.

 

Cults use hypnosis to manipulate mental states or trigger age regression. If you watch a Teal Swan video she speaks in a strange voice-monotone, flat and drones on while in front of a repetitive background of a waterfall or lake. Steven Hassen, a mental health expert specializing in mind control and cults, states that her tone is intentional to encourage the listener to zone out, but still be malleable to picking up the content (The Gateway Podcast). The combination of her droning voice and repetitive background can be hypnotic. This tactic doesn’t affect all people equally. If you are in a desperate state, you may be more susceptible than others. 

 

They control when you eat, sleep or use the bathroom. They physically, emotionally, financially, sexually abuse you or abuse you in any way that I haven’t mentioned. 

 

Any kind of control over basic bodily needs is a clear sign you are under cult influence.  Bikram use to force his yoga followers to practice Bikram yoga in 100 F plus conditions and refuse them the ability to leave to use the bathroom. His members report pissing in water bottles in the studio and Bikram commending them for taking the practice seriously. In Scientology they have a practice called bull baiting where they attempt to make a person agitated and uncomfortable through intimidation, one woman reports as a minor being bull baited by a member unbuttoning her shirt. Sexual abuse is rampant in cults and abusive communities. Bikram has sexually abused over 5 women who looked to him for spiritual mentorship. Scientology has protected their rapist members from police intervention such as Danny Masterson. 

 

In this era where we worship influencers, social currency reigns and our attention is a commodity we must be pragmatic about what we are absorbing. Astrology, witchcraft and modern spirituality, in itself, aren’t cults, but there are scammers and cults creeping in these communities. I use to follow this one astrologer on Youtube. She still has a very large following. I went to an event she did in my city years ago. During the Q&A one brave woman came forward and shared her experience of surviving sexual abuse. This astrologer had the audacity to imply that this woman was raped because she attracted that situation to her (law of attraction). Can you imagine sharing such a tender piece of yourself only to be told you got yourself raped? That is fucking vile. Don’t worship any human like a god. Be skeptical of the ideas and communities you are a part of. It is healthy to have doubt, to question and to not always be in agreeance with others. Question your gurus. Refer to your intuition and gut about if situations or people are safe. Beware the ego of others, don’t let those egos consume you. Do research about the people you give your time to, don’t just look for credibility, look for warning signs too. And if you are coping with trauma or suicidal thoughts, please take gentle care of yourself and know that you might be more susceptible to manipulation from nefarious sources. 

 

References:

The Gateway: Teal Swan Podcast by Jennings Brown 

 

Teal Swan Exposed https://tealswanblog.wordpress.com/

“Bikram: Yogi, Guru, Predator” Netflix Documentary