35 VOLUME 9 |ISSUE 3 |2018 ||
protested in May that the children of a
certain school were tricked into going
to see the movie. It is also alleged that
on some occasions the sect bought
all the tickets to the movie to give the
impression it was sold out.
On June 10, Gregory XVIII, ex–pope of
the Palmar de Troya Christian Church
(separated from Rome and with its
own pope), together with his wife,
were hospitalized for stab wounds
they suffered when attempting to steal
objects from the sect’s basilica. They
are both now incarcerated. The sect’s
former third pope had left the sect in
2016, claiming it was “a hoax.”
Groups of Asian Origin
The Ministry of Education for the
Neuquén Province in Argentina signed
an agreement in April with the Latin
American leader of the Fundación
El Arte de Vivir (The Art of Living
Foundation) to teach the meditation
techniques of Sri Sri Ravi Shankar in
public schools.
Esoteric groups
On July 4, the Peruvian police detained
Felix Steven Manrique, guru of a small
gnostic group, in the San Martín de
Pengoa jungle. Accompanying “Prince
Gurdjieff” were two women and their
small children. In a nearby house,
Patricia Aguilar, a young Spanish
woman who disappeared in January
2017, was found taking care of the
one-month-old baby she had with
the guru with her were other children
from the sect, poorly nourished and
unschooled. The rescue operation was
carried out thanks to the insistence of
the family of the Spanish girl, who had
been recruited and indoctrinated on
the Internet by the cult leader since she
was 16.
New Age and Shamanism
Several ex-followers and people
otherwise affected by Spaniard Carlos
Herranz, who goes by the various
names of Lama Losel in his Buddhist
version, Swami Premananda in his
Hindu identity, or more recently Arif,
have complained about the cultic
functioning of his group. Presently he is
under investigation in Spain, although
he continues to remain publicly active,
promoting activities such as Tibetan-
bowl concerts.
In May a Peruvian shaman was detained
in Spain, accused of sexually abusing a
woman who had taken part in a native
ayahuasca ritual. This happened in
Navarra province, where the victim had
to be hospitalized for an episode of
hallucinations after she consumed the
illegal substance.
Peru’s Amazon jungle region continues
to receive tourists from various
countries who want to take part in
shamanic rituals that use ayahuasca,
an infusion of plants that provokes
altered states of consciousness. Despite
numerous deaths reported recently due
to ayahuasca use, the Associated Press
states that there is an increase in these
New Age therapeutic activities. n
Correspondents
,
Reports
Note
[1] See https://pl.aleteia.org/2018/07/14/
nie-straszmy-mlodych-sektami-
nauczmy-ich-krytycznego-myslenia-
takze-o-kosciele/
protested in May that the children of a
certain school were tricked into going
to see the movie. It is also alleged that
on some occasions the sect bought
all the tickets to the movie to give the
impression it was sold out.
On June 10, Gregory XVIII, ex–pope of
the Palmar de Troya Christian Church
(separated from Rome and with its
own pope), together with his wife,
were hospitalized for stab wounds
they suffered when attempting to steal
objects from the sect’s basilica. They
are both now incarcerated. The sect’s
former third pope had left the sect in
2016, claiming it was “a hoax.”
Groups of Asian Origin
The Ministry of Education for the
Neuquén Province in Argentina signed
an agreement in April with the Latin
American leader of the Fundación
El Arte de Vivir (The Art of Living
Foundation) to teach the meditation
techniques of Sri Sri Ravi Shankar in
public schools.
Esoteric groups
On July 4, the Peruvian police detained
Felix Steven Manrique, guru of a small
gnostic group, in the San Martín de
Pengoa jungle. Accompanying “Prince
Gurdjieff” were two women and their
small children. In a nearby house,
Patricia Aguilar, a young Spanish
woman who disappeared in January
2017, was found taking care of the
one-month-old baby she had with
the guru with her were other children
from the sect, poorly nourished and
unschooled. The rescue operation was
carried out thanks to the insistence of
the family of the Spanish girl, who had
been recruited and indoctrinated on
the Internet by the cult leader since she
was 16.
New Age and Shamanism
Several ex-followers and people
otherwise affected by Spaniard Carlos
Herranz, who goes by the various
names of Lama Losel in his Buddhist
version, Swami Premananda in his
Hindu identity, or more recently Arif,
have complained about the cultic
functioning of his group. Presently he is
under investigation in Spain, although
he continues to remain publicly active,
promoting activities such as Tibetan-
bowl concerts.
In May a Peruvian shaman was detained
in Spain, accused of sexually abusing a
woman who had taken part in a native
ayahuasca ritual. This happened in
Navarra province, where the victim had
to be hospitalized for an episode of
hallucinations after she consumed the
illegal substance.
Peru’s Amazon jungle region continues
to receive tourists from various
countries who want to take part in
shamanic rituals that use ayahuasca,
an infusion of plants that provokes
altered states of consciousness. Despite
numerous deaths reported recently due
to ayahuasca use, the Associated Press
states that there is an increase in these
New Age therapeutic activities. n
Correspondents
,
Reports
Note
[1] See https://pl.aleteia.org/2018/07/14/
nie-straszmy-mlodych-sektami-
nauczmy-ich-krytycznego-myslenia-
takze-o-kosciele/
