60 International Journal of Cultic Studies ■ Vol. 9, 2018
this” (GWP, 1996, p. 20) effect, suggesting that
faith was required to accept the existence of the
structure, it’s need for repair, and the
effectiveness of GWP instruments on this
alleged structure.
GWP’s healings were individualistic and
private, which echoes part of Horie’s definition,
since all that was required was for a person to
hold an instrument. When discussing the
problems with religion, Mary Miller asserted
that religion made “people ...live their lives as
the member of a herd rather than as an
individual person trying to establish one’s
individuality” (WERU, 1997a). Miller went on
to state that since people were “damaged as
individuals they must also be healed as
individuals” (WERU 1997a). This outlook may
explain why individuals who owned the healing
instruments were geographically dispersed
rather than concentrated in a central location. As
Miller further elaborated in a separate interview,
there was no one to follow in GWP but oneself
(WCNJ, 1997). This focus on the individual also
supports my assertion of GWP fitting Horie’s
definition of spiritualism.
The antiauthoritarianism aspect in the GWP is
exemplified in the organization’s position
regarding alleged damage to one’s spiritual
development caused by modern, formal
education. GWP literature claimed that the
modern education system as the biggest source
of damage to the etheric structure in the current
age (Carreiro, 1988a, p. 139). It argued that this
damage occurred because education separated
children too soon from their parents, forced
them into school systems that used public
humiliation as a form of reinforcement, and
made students memorize information for which
they had no practical use (WCNJ, 1997).
Furthermore, GWP noted that
schools were] not run for the benefit of
all ...Education is run on
convenience—The convenience of the
teachers, administrators and government
officials involved in the educational
process ...America has government
schools not public schools. (GWP, 1989,
p. 15)
By stressing the authoritarian nature of the
public-school system in this way, and
advocating home schooling, GWP certainly
positioned itself in an antiauthoritarian, or at
least antiestablishment, worldview. This view
can be seen in other early GWP writings. For
instance, in a newsletter, GWP expressed
dismay regarding the current political structure,
stating that “the fate of each country falls in the
hands of a small number of people. If one could
[only] see the actual backwardness of this”
(GWP n.d.-b, p. 5). GWP positioned itself
against many traditional sources of authority, the
state being only one of them.
The final aspect of antiauthoritarianism to note
is GWP’s assessment of science and scientists.
The position that GWP’s leaders developed
regarding science and scientists was important
for two reasons. The first is the prevalence of
science as a source of authority and knowledge
in the modern West. The second reason was
evident in the leaders’ attempt to assert GWP’s
practices as scientifically validated. According
to GWP, science had “severely impeded the
process of spiritual evolution” (Carreiro, 1988a,
p. 110). Its leaders accused scientists of creating
the threat of nuclear war, purposefully using
language to obscure meaning and make
knowledge only for the elite and initiated, who
were out of touch with reality and lacked
practical skills, and who were becoming the
focus of worship in the modern world (Carreiro,
1988a, pp. 111–112). Therefore, GWP teachings
had asserted that most traditional sources of
authority in the modern West were ineffective, if
not outright harmful. In this vacuum created by
discrediting traditional sources of authority,
GWP leaders implied that the Brotherhood—and
by extension themselves and their doctrines—
were a better source of information and
authority.
The religious aspects of GWP fit well
within the New Age. The New Age
alone, however, does not fully explain
the GWP phenomena. In order to fully
examine how GWP exemplified the
quasi-religious concept, it is important
to examine the secular aspects of the
group.
this” (GWP, 1996, p. 20) effect, suggesting that
faith was required to accept the existence of the
structure, it’s need for repair, and the
effectiveness of GWP instruments on this
alleged structure.
GWP’s healings were individualistic and
private, which echoes part of Horie’s definition,
since all that was required was for a person to
hold an instrument. When discussing the
problems with religion, Mary Miller asserted
that religion made “people ...live their lives as
the member of a herd rather than as an
individual person trying to establish one’s
individuality” (WERU, 1997a). Miller went on
to state that since people were “damaged as
individuals they must also be healed as
individuals” (WERU 1997a). This outlook may
explain why individuals who owned the healing
instruments were geographically dispersed
rather than concentrated in a central location. As
Miller further elaborated in a separate interview,
there was no one to follow in GWP but oneself
(WCNJ, 1997). This focus on the individual also
supports my assertion of GWP fitting Horie’s
definition of spiritualism.
The antiauthoritarianism aspect in the GWP is
exemplified in the organization’s position
regarding alleged damage to one’s spiritual
development caused by modern, formal
education. GWP literature claimed that the
modern education system as the biggest source
of damage to the etheric structure in the current
age (Carreiro, 1988a, p. 139). It argued that this
damage occurred because education separated
children too soon from their parents, forced
them into school systems that used public
humiliation as a form of reinforcement, and
made students memorize information for which
they had no practical use (WCNJ, 1997).
Furthermore, GWP noted that
schools were] not run for the benefit of
all ...Education is run on
convenience—The convenience of the
teachers, administrators and government
officials involved in the educational
process ...America has government
schools not public schools. (GWP, 1989,
p. 15)
By stressing the authoritarian nature of the
public-school system in this way, and
advocating home schooling, GWP certainly
positioned itself in an antiauthoritarian, or at
least antiestablishment, worldview. This view
can be seen in other early GWP writings. For
instance, in a newsletter, GWP expressed
dismay regarding the current political structure,
stating that “the fate of each country falls in the
hands of a small number of people. If one could
[only] see the actual backwardness of this”
(GWP n.d.-b, p. 5). GWP positioned itself
against many traditional sources of authority, the
state being only one of them.
The final aspect of antiauthoritarianism to note
is GWP’s assessment of science and scientists.
The position that GWP’s leaders developed
regarding science and scientists was important
for two reasons. The first is the prevalence of
science as a source of authority and knowledge
in the modern West. The second reason was
evident in the leaders’ attempt to assert GWP’s
practices as scientifically validated. According
to GWP, science had “severely impeded the
process of spiritual evolution” (Carreiro, 1988a,
p. 110). Its leaders accused scientists of creating
the threat of nuclear war, purposefully using
language to obscure meaning and make
knowledge only for the elite and initiated, who
were out of touch with reality and lacked
practical skills, and who were becoming the
focus of worship in the modern world (Carreiro,
1988a, pp. 111–112). Therefore, GWP teachings
had asserted that most traditional sources of
authority in the modern West were ineffective, if
not outright harmful. In this vacuum created by
discrediting traditional sources of authority,
GWP leaders implied that the Brotherhood—and
by extension themselves and their doctrines—
were a better source of information and
authority.
The religious aspects of GWP fit well
within the New Age. The New Age
alone, however, does not fully explain
the GWP phenomena. In order to fully
examine how GWP exemplified the
quasi-religious concept, it is important
to examine the secular aspects of the
group.
