International Journal of Cultic Studies ■ Vol. 9, 2018 57
Christianity, and Catholicism)
441F
442 and at
Communism and New Age groups. The leaders
declared Eastern religions—particularly Daoism,
Confucianism, and Buddhism, however, to be
philosophies, not religions, and therefore not
“involved with evil” (GWP, 1996, p. 33).
Although GWP leaders asserted that three of the
large religious groups of the East (Buddhism,
Confucianism and Daoism)
442F
443 were better than
religions of the West, it portrayed India
portrayed as a “spiritual burial ground”
(Carreiro, 1987, p. 35). On the one hand, this
criticism could be the result of prejudice on the
part of GWP leaders but on the other hand, one
could see it as a tactical choice to limit
competition. During GWP’s early years, an
influx into Western culture of New Religious
Movements tied to Indian thought, religious
practices, and teachers occurred. It would have
been advantageous, therefore, for a group such
as GWP to define its boundaries clearly and
demonstrate its superiority in an environment of
competition.
For instance, Rajneesh (1931–1990), an Indian
guru, and the movement that formed around him
(Rajneeshees) were at their peak during the
1970s and early 1980s. The Rajneeshees offered
“sixty different therapies ...as well as Eastern
meditations like yoga, vipassana,
443F
444 Sufi
dancing, and tai chi” (Palmer &Bird, 1992, p.
S71). Although GWP did not offer or promote
Eastern meditations, the services offered by
Rajneeshees were a potential source of
competition—both spiritually and economically.
For GWP, individuals such as Rajneesh who
attempted to convey spiritual knowledge without
the protection from a reputed collection of
entities known as the Brotherhood only ended up
442 GWP’s publication intentionally listed Catholicism separately.
443 I suspect that GWP did not include Hinduism in its Eastern-
philosophy list, because of its negative perception of India and
Indian spirituality. That is, in one early publication Mary asserted
that India was a “country of darkness, hardship, pollution and
despair” (Carreiro, 1987, p. 36) and “spiritually bankrupt,”
(Carreiro, 1987, p 36). These obviously negative perceptions of
India may have contributed to the exclusion of Hinduism from
GWP’s discussion of religion.
444 Vipassana is insight meditation in Buddhism that focuses on
suffering, impermanence, and anatman (no-self), with the goal of
obtaining insight into reality and ultimately escaping the cycle of
samsara.
“pulling difficulties” (Miller, n.d.) toward them
because of the inaccuracies in the information
they shared (Miller, n.d.).
Despite rejecting the New Age label (a GWP
spokesperson stated, “we’re not New Age
wackos [sic]” (Shepard, 2004, p. 1, para. 1), the
group in fact demonstrated several
characteristics of New Age. For instance, Steven
J. Sutcliffe and Ingvild Saelid Gilhus described
the New Age of the 1980s as
marked by an ethnically ‘white’, lower-
middle-class and/or middle-class profile,
middle-aged (30- to 50-year-olds) and
superiorly educated, made up of
professionals, IT, arts, and healthcare
occupations, and strongly represented by
women. (2003, p. 5)
This description adequately fits the GWP.
Individuals central in GWP had a variety of
educational backgrounds, including publishing,
social work, and nursing (GWP n.d.-k GWP
n.d.-e). Only one complete photograph of the
core group exists, but in it members appeared to
be mostly Caucasian women (GWP, n.d.-c, p. 1).
In a later instrument manual, GWP further
confirmed that a majority of its members were
women (GWP, n.d.-a). One has to assume that
the majority of those partaking in GWP had
some form of disposable income (thus implying
that members were middle class) in order to
afford the price of the healing instruments. In the
examination of GWP’s religious aspects, I
applied Norichika Horie’s definition of
spirituality that “includes New Age and new
spirituality and is still related to religion” (2013,
p. 111). He defined new spirituality as
both belief in what cannot usually be
perceived but can be felt internally, and
practices to feel it with the whole mind
and body, accompanied more or less by
attitudes of individualism or privatism,
anti-authoritarianism, and selective
assimilation of religious cultural
resources. (Horie, 2013, p. 111)
For exploring GWP, I suggest that one also
should include elements of the supernatural and
a conceptualization of what happens after death.
Early in GWP’s history, individuals could
Christianity, and Catholicism)
441F
442 and at
Communism and New Age groups. The leaders
declared Eastern religions—particularly Daoism,
Confucianism, and Buddhism, however, to be
philosophies, not religions, and therefore not
“involved with evil” (GWP, 1996, p. 33).
Although GWP leaders asserted that three of the
large religious groups of the East (Buddhism,
Confucianism and Daoism)
442F
443 were better than
religions of the West, it portrayed India
portrayed as a “spiritual burial ground”
(Carreiro, 1987, p. 35). On the one hand, this
criticism could be the result of prejudice on the
part of GWP leaders but on the other hand, one
could see it as a tactical choice to limit
competition. During GWP’s early years, an
influx into Western culture of New Religious
Movements tied to Indian thought, religious
practices, and teachers occurred. It would have
been advantageous, therefore, for a group such
as GWP to define its boundaries clearly and
demonstrate its superiority in an environment of
competition.
For instance, Rajneesh (1931–1990), an Indian
guru, and the movement that formed around him
(Rajneeshees) were at their peak during the
1970s and early 1980s. The Rajneeshees offered
“sixty different therapies ...as well as Eastern
meditations like yoga, vipassana,
443F
444 Sufi
dancing, and tai chi” (Palmer &Bird, 1992, p.
S71). Although GWP did not offer or promote
Eastern meditations, the services offered by
Rajneeshees were a potential source of
competition—both spiritually and economically.
For GWP, individuals such as Rajneesh who
attempted to convey spiritual knowledge without
the protection from a reputed collection of
entities known as the Brotherhood only ended up
442 GWP’s publication intentionally listed Catholicism separately.
443 I suspect that GWP did not include Hinduism in its Eastern-
philosophy list, because of its negative perception of India and
Indian spirituality. That is, in one early publication Mary asserted
that India was a “country of darkness, hardship, pollution and
despair” (Carreiro, 1987, p. 36) and “spiritually bankrupt,”
(Carreiro, 1987, p 36). These obviously negative perceptions of
India may have contributed to the exclusion of Hinduism from
GWP’s discussion of religion.
444 Vipassana is insight meditation in Buddhism that focuses on
suffering, impermanence, and anatman (no-self), with the goal of
obtaining insight into reality and ultimately escaping the cycle of
samsara.
“pulling difficulties” (Miller, n.d.) toward them
because of the inaccuracies in the information
they shared (Miller, n.d.).
Despite rejecting the New Age label (a GWP
spokesperson stated, “we’re not New Age
wackos [sic]” (Shepard, 2004, p. 1, para. 1), the
group in fact demonstrated several
characteristics of New Age. For instance, Steven
J. Sutcliffe and Ingvild Saelid Gilhus described
the New Age of the 1980s as
marked by an ethnically ‘white’, lower-
middle-class and/or middle-class profile,
middle-aged (30- to 50-year-olds) and
superiorly educated, made up of
professionals, IT, arts, and healthcare
occupations, and strongly represented by
women. (2003, p. 5)
This description adequately fits the GWP.
Individuals central in GWP had a variety of
educational backgrounds, including publishing,
social work, and nursing (GWP n.d.-k GWP
n.d.-e). Only one complete photograph of the
core group exists, but in it members appeared to
be mostly Caucasian women (GWP, n.d.-c, p. 1).
In a later instrument manual, GWP further
confirmed that a majority of its members were
women (GWP, n.d.-a). One has to assume that
the majority of those partaking in GWP had
some form of disposable income (thus implying
that members were middle class) in order to
afford the price of the healing instruments. In the
examination of GWP’s religious aspects, I
applied Norichika Horie’s definition of
spirituality that “includes New Age and new
spirituality and is still related to religion” (2013,
p. 111). He defined new spirituality as
both belief in what cannot usually be
perceived but can be felt internally, and
practices to feel it with the whole mind
and body, accompanied more or less by
attitudes of individualism or privatism,
anti-authoritarianism, and selective
assimilation of religious cultural
resources. (Horie, 2013, p. 111)
For exploring GWP, I suggest that one also
should include elements of the supernatural and
a conceptualization of what happens after death.
Early in GWP’s history, individuals could
