International Journal of Cultic Studies ■ Vol. 9, 2018 59
including karma. In a soul reading, the
Brotherhood (through Mary Miller) assured a
member that the foster child he was raising was
not the result of negative karma (Miller, 1986).
At one point, Mary Miller asserted that GWP
was “essentially Daoist” (WCNJ, 1997). This
assertion was likely an attempt to rationalize and
locate some of GWP’s ideology within an
already existing and recognizable framework.
Yet, GWP’s understanding of Daoism was
superficial at best, perhaps best exemplified by
Miller’s assertion that Daoism was essentially a
philosophy in which “things just are what they
are” (WCNJ, 1997).
GWP’s association with Daoism began in the
name of the organization itself. The GWP
claimed to derive its name (that is, Gentle Wind)
from hexagram 57
445F
446 of the I-Ching (WERU,
1999). Hexagram 57 is The Gentle, The
Penetrating, wind, wood (Wilhelm, 1967, p.
220). In a radio interview, Mary Miller
explained that the hexagram from which GWP
drew its name symbolized the inner voice that
helped to guide a person (WERU, 1999).
Hexagram 57 was the most popular in GWP
literature, but it is not the only one. A hexagram
often appeared at the start of a book or at the end
of a chapter, as an isolated symbol with no
context or connection within the text. Although
GWP may have inserted the hexagrams under
the assumption that the audience understood the
meaning and symbolism, it is equally likely that
the use of the hexagrams was simply an attempt
to position GWP within a recognizable and
established religious tradition.
Many New Age groups in the twentieth and
twenty-first centuries have drawn on ideas
formed in the spiritualism movement, and by
extension, Theosophy. One should note that the
GWP never directly referenced or cited
Theosophy. The lack of explicitly sourced
claims and ideological ideas, however, should
not be seen as proof of complete originality,
446 A hexagram is a series of six solid or segmented lines. Each
hexagram is made of two trigrams, with each trigram consisting of
a combination of three solid or segmented lines. Two trigrams
stacked on top of each other complete a hexagram. The I-Ching
provides detailed description of the meaning of each hexagram and
is a source of divination within Daoism.
void of influence from other movements or
religions, but rather as an attempt to claim
authority and assert the superiority of GWP.
GWP, Theosophy, and many New Age groups
share the idea of an etheric structure or aura.
Theosophy explained that “the shape of all the
higher bodies as seen by the clairvoyant is
ovoid, but the matter composing them is not
equally distributed throughout the egg”
(Leadbeater, 1912, p. 74). Mary Miller described
a similar structure when she asserted that every
person had a netted etheric web/structure/field,
which was 8 to 10 feet high and 4 to 6 feet wide,
32 layers deep, and even present around all the
cells within the body (WOMR, 1997 GWP,
n.d.-d, p. 3). The existence of this etheric
structure is an example of a moment in GWP
ideology in which members had to make leaps
of faith. That is, despite the claim that Kirlian
photography
446F
447 could capture the etheric
structure, the existence of this structure was
something that members accepted without
tangible and verifiable evidence.
According to the GWP worldview, the etheric
structure was “the permanent [individual]”
(WERU, 1997-b), which moved through
reincarnations. Past harms (either from this life
or from past lives) damaged the etheric
structure, and no physical or psychological
medicine was capable of healing the etheric
web. In one interview, Mary Miller described
the etheric web as magnetic so the more
damaged it became, the more harm it attracted
(WOMR, 1997). The concept of damage to this
etheric structure is of utmost importance for
understanding GWP’s primary mission and its
assertions regarding the healing instruments.
The purpose of GWP’s healing instruments was
to “heal and repair mental and emotional
damage at its source within each person’s
energetic structure” (Miller, 1999a, p. 26). GWP
noted, however, that the leaders had “no proof of
447 Miller claimed that this structure existed because Kirlian
photography could capture it (WERU, 1997a). Kirlian
photography, in fact, captures “natural phenomena such as
pressure, electrical grounding, humidity and temperature. Changes
in moisture (which may reflect changes in emotions), barometric
pressure, and voltage, among other things” (Skepdic, 2014,
available online at http://skepdic.com/kirlian.html, para. 2).
including karma. In a soul reading, the
Brotherhood (through Mary Miller) assured a
member that the foster child he was raising was
not the result of negative karma (Miller, 1986).
At one point, Mary Miller asserted that GWP
was “essentially Daoist” (WCNJ, 1997). This
assertion was likely an attempt to rationalize and
locate some of GWP’s ideology within an
already existing and recognizable framework.
Yet, GWP’s understanding of Daoism was
superficial at best, perhaps best exemplified by
Miller’s assertion that Daoism was essentially a
philosophy in which “things just are what they
are” (WCNJ, 1997).
GWP’s association with Daoism began in the
name of the organization itself. The GWP
claimed to derive its name (that is, Gentle Wind)
from hexagram 57
445F
446 of the I-Ching (WERU,
1999). Hexagram 57 is The Gentle, The
Penetrating, wind, wood (Wilhelm, 1967, p.
220). In a radio interview, Mary Miller
explained that the hexagram from which GWP
drew its name symbolized the inner voice that
helped to guide a person (WERU, 1999).
Hexagram 57 was the most popular in GWP
literature, but it is not the only one. A hexagram
often appeared at the start of a book or at the end
of a chapter, as an isolated symbol with no
context or connection within the text. Although
GWP may have inserted the hexagrams under
the assumption that the audience understood the
meaning and symbolism, it is equally likely that
the use of the hexagrams was simply an attempt
to position GWP within a recognizable and
established religious tradition.
Many New Age groups in the twentieth and
twenty-first centuries have drawn on ideas
formed in the spiritualism movement, and by
extension, Theosophy. One should note that the
GWP never directly referenced or cited
Theosophy. The lack of explicitly sourced
claims and ideological ideas, however, should
not be seen as proof of complete originality,
446 A hexagram is a series of six solid or segmented lines. Each
hexagram is made of two trigrams, with each trigram consisting of
a combination of three solid or segmented lines. Two trigrams
stacked on top of each other complete a hexagram. The I-Ching
provides detailed description of the meaning of each hexagram and
is a source of divination within Daoism.
void of influence from other movements or
religions, but rather as an attempt to claim
authority and assert the superiority of GWP.
GWP, Theosophy, and many New Age groups
share the idea of an etheric structure or aura.
Theosophy explained that “the shape of all the
higher bodies as seen by the clairvoyant is
ovoid, but the matter composing them is not
equally distributed throughout the egg”
(Leadbeater, 1912, p. 74). Mary Miller described
a similar structure when she asserted that every
person had a netted etheric web/structure/field,
which was 8 to 10 feet high and 4 to 6 feet wide,
32 layers deep, and even present around all the
cells within the body (WOMR, 1997 GWP,
n.d.-d, p. 3). The existence of this etheric
structure is an example of a moment in GWP
ideology in which members had to make leaps
of faith. That is, despite the claim that Kirlian
photography
446F
447 could capture the etheric
structure, the existence of this structure was
something that members accepted without
tangible and verifiable evidence.
According to the GWP worldview, the etheric
structure was “the permanent [individual]”
(WERU, 1997-b), which moved through
reincarnations. Past harms (either from this life
or from past lives) damaged the etheric
structure, and no physical or psychological
medicine was capable of healing the etheric
web. In one interview, Mary Miller described
the etheric web as magnetic so the more
damaged it became, the more harm it attracted
(WOMR, 1997). The concept of damage to this
etheric structure is of utmost importance for
understanding GWP’s primary mission and its
assertions regarding the healing instruments.
The purpose of GWP’s healing instruments was
to “heal and repair mental and emotional
damage at its source within each person’s
energetic structure” (Miller, 1999a, p. 26). GWP
noted, however, that the leaders had “no proof of
447 Miller claimed that this structure existed because Kirlian
photography could capture it (WERU, 1997a). Kirlian
photography, in fact, captures “natural phenomena such as
pressure, electrical grounding, humidity and temperature. Changes
in moisture (which may reflect changes in emotions), barometric
pressure, and voltage, among other things” (Skepdic, 2014,
available online at http://skepdic.com/kirlian.html, para. 2).
