Cultic Studies Journal, Vol. 12, No. 2, 1995, page 51
progressive after the first one in which recruits are taught to experience the human aura
and color energy. Shaw paid 45 pounds for a 10-lesson course called “The Search for
Truth.” Twice a week he attended meetings that went from 7:45 p.m. until midnight. He
learned about forces from unseen worlds and how to connect with and understand them.
Shaw learned to sense the extent of his aura by chanting “nerve, nerve, nerve,” with his
hands extended. He noticed that the teachers were heavy cigarette smokers. Members were
told not to discuss the course with outsiders, yet after three weeks they still did not know of
the existence of Emin or its leader, Leo. A guard always stood outside the meetings to
discourage intruders. The information put forth at these meetings got stranger. Shaw
learned about “natural laws” that govern the planet, a mystical system of numbers and
colors, the Law of Two or opposites, and something called Electrobics. To learn Electrobics,
members must wear loose clothing and soft shoes, and perform T‟ai Chi-like exercises used
by Emin members to cleanse their aura and bodies of destructive electric forces. Some
members claim that they can see these forces. When they do, the infected persons are
instructed to gather the electric forces with their hands and flick them away.
In the fourth week the teacher told them about Leo, the great mystic who has powers that
none of them even comes close to. Leo‟s picture appeared on the wall at the next meeting.
He is a tall, bald Briton with a goatee who now lives in Florida. Leo was born around 1925
as Raymond John Schertenleib, but often gives his name as Raymond Armin. After 1945 Leo
was sent to India by the Royal Air Force as part of his national service. While there, he
developed a fascination with Oriental cosmology. Later he became an encyclopedia
salesman, and went bankrupt in 1965. In the late 1960s Leo developed a small following in
England. By 1972 he founded Emin and began his immense outpouring of mystical texts. He
claimed to have mystical powers--even though he smoked heavily, for example, he stated
that it was no longer harmful to him.
Emin attracted some critical attention from the press in 1977 and 1983. As a result the
group became more secretive. Each member has a cult name and may not know other
members‟ real names. Members claim that there is no group, no cult. Yet, Shaw
experienced Emin as multilayered and purposeful. The purpose is for members to gain
psychic awareness and power through such techniques as chanting, clapping, and ritual
marching. Emin subgroups might be called Gemrod Petition or Gemrod Endeavor. They
believe they are fighting an invisible enemy of dark forces. Every event and symbol they
encounter is a mystical text to be interpreted. They believe that their psychic techniques
can cure cancer. They worry about impending doom. They await every missive from Leo,
whom they rarely see. They consider themselves the vanguard of the New Age human.
At times Shaw was afraid that his lack of belief would betray him as the spy he was.
“Instead, I am discovering that in many ways it is easy to exist inside a cult. You are
welcomed with open arms when you show the slightest interest. Cult members‟ beliefs are
absolute and real. They can‟t understand why everyone isn‟t doing it.”
Eventually Shaw quit the Emin group. Two months later he checked in with some Emin
members at the Healing Arts Festival, a psychic fair. He avoided many Emin phone
invitations for him to attend another meeting. He discovered that most, if not all, of the
people who joined with him had dropped out. This is consistent with what Shaw has noted
about most cults and recruits: the dropout rate is high.
In the subsequent chapters, Shaw joins ISKCON (the Hare Krishnas), the Aetherius Society,
the School of Economic Science, and Noel Stanton‟s Jesus Army. There are at least a few
groups that I have studied that might have been less kind to Shaw had he infiltrated them
and dared to criticize them. He reports on the history of each group so that it is easy for the
reader to place Shaw‟s experience in context. He interviews a confused ex-member of the
Brahma Kumaris, and he analyzes the Branch Davidian holocaust at Waco. His vicarious
progressive after the first one in which recruits are taught to experience the human aura
and color energy. Shaw paid 45 pounds for a 10-lesson course called “The Search for
Truth.” Twice a week he attended meetings that went from 7:45 p.m. until midnight. He
learned about forces from unseen worlds and how to connect with and understand them.
Shaw learned to sense the extent of his aura by chanting “nerve, nerve, nerve,” with his
hands extended. He noticed that the teachers were heavy cigarette smokers. Members were
told not to discuss the course with outsiders, yet after three weeks they still did not know of
the existence of Emin or its leader, Leo. A guard always stood outside the meetings to
discourage intruders. The information put forth at these meetings got stranger. Shaw
learned about “natural laws” that govern the planet, a mystical system of numbers and
colors, the Law of Two or opposites, and something called Electrobics. To learn Electrobics,
members must wear loose clothing and soft shoes, and perform T‟ai Chi-like exercises used
by Emin members to cleanse their aura and bodies of destructive electric forces. Some
members claim that they can see these forces. When they do, the infected persons are
instructed to gather the electric forces with their hands and flick them away.
In the fourth week the teacher told them about Leo, the great mystic who has powers that
none of them even comes close to. Leo‟s picture appeared on the wall at the next meeting.
He is a tall, bald Briton with a goatee who now lives in Florida. Leo was born around 1925
as Raymond John Schertenleib, but often gives his name as Raymond Armin. After 1945 Leo
was sent to India by the Royal Air Force as part of his national service. While there, he
developed a fascination with Oriental cosmology. Later he became an encyclopedia
salesman, and went bankrupt in 1965. In the late 1960s Leo developed a small following in
England. By 1972 he founded Emin and began his immense outpouring of mystical texts. He
claimed to have mystical powers--even though he smoked heavily, for example, he stated
that it was no longer harmful to him.
Emin attracted some critical attention from the press in 1977 and 1983. As a result the
group became more secretive. Each member has a cult name and may not know other
members‟ real names. Members claim that there is no group, no cult. Yet, Shaw
experienced Emin as multilayered and purposeful. The purpose is for members to gain
psychic awareness and power through such techniques as chanting, clapping, and ritual
marching. Emin subgroups might be called Gemrod Petition or Gemrod Endeavor. They
believe they are fighting an invisible enemy of dark forces. Every event and symbol they
encounter is a mystical text to be interpreted. They believe that their psychic techniques
can cure cancer. They worry about impending doom. They await every missive from Leo,
whom they rarely see. They consider themselves the vanguard of the New Age human.
At times Shaw was afraid that his lack of belief would betray him as the spy he was.
“Instead, I am discovering that in many ways it is easy to exist inside a cult. You are
welcomed with open arms when you show the slightest interest. Cult members‟ beliefs are
absolute and real. They can‟t understand why everyone isn‟t doing it.”
Eventually Shaw quit the Emin group. Two months later he checked in with some Emin
members at the Healing Arts Festival, a psychic fair. He avoided many Emin phone
invitations for him to attend another meeting. He discovered that most, if not all, of the
people who joined with him had dropped out. This is consistent with what Shaw has noted
about most cults and recruits: the dropout rate is high.
In the subsequent chapters, Shaw joins ISKCON (the Hare Krishnas), the Aetherius Society,
the School of Economic Science, and Noel Stanton‟s Jesus Army. There are at least a few
groups that I have studied that might have been less kind to Shaw had he infiltrated them
and dared to criticize them. He reports on the history of each group so that it is easy for the
reader to place Shaw‟s experience in context. He interviews a confused ex-member of the
Brahma Kumaris, and he analyzes the Branch Davidian holocaust at Waco. His vicarious
