Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!

Tis the season for the seasonal hijacking with “school’s” big Christmas Party. Every November, I feel grateful for my cult-free holidays. I do wonder if “school” still throws the big bash.

Speaking of hijacking, yep, OSG’s Boston branch is still out there “making new friends…” I’ve gotta give them credit, this cult keeps on cult-ing on. Like mold, the spores never die.

During my misadventure, Robert would warn us against Internet research into “school”, claiming, “It’s all lies and slander.”  After I left, I saw that he was trying to get ahead of online sleuths and cult busters who were exposing the grift. 

You see, the “all lies & slander” is a common cult trope – a tactic used to dismiss critics. Narcissism experts call this strategy DARVO: Deny, Attack, Reverse Victim Offender.

Recently some of “school’s” targets for “new friendships” contacted me and filled me in on “School” propagated DARVO of du jour. Here is what I’ve learned: 

1) DENY any connection to Odyssey Study Group, NYC, Alex Horn, Sharon Gans, California, The Theater of All Possibilities, etc. 

2) ATTACK these reports & call them “manipulation,” while trying to manipulate a potential target into the Hollow Halls. 

3) Claim VICTIMHOOD on par with the Sandy Hook families. Let me repeat this – when “school” recruiters get confronted about having deep roots with OSG, a shady, abusive cult, they whine that those claims slander & victimize the group and leaders, the way Alex Jones victimized Sandy Hook families. Let’s unpack this: in Dec, 2012, an unhinged shooter ambushed Sandy Hook Elementary School with an AR15. He murdered teachers and kindergartners. Then Jones–a narcissist peddling “vitamin supplements” (cough) and self-serving rants about masculinity — claimed the massacre was staged, calling it a “false flag” — the preferred nomenclature for those who cling to their AR15s, mumbling, “My Precious, my precious … ” Then unhinged minions, Jones wannabes, served up death threats to already traumatized families.

When “school” leadership compares its victimhood to Sandy Hook families, they demonstrate what I call, Stupid Narcissism.: only a pathologically selfish person would say something like this out loud, believing it to be an acceptable and winning statement. 

Finally, the latest version of “school’s” cult recruitment has not changed too much from my “friendship” in 2006: 

1. Recruiter engages a target in conversation at a coffeehouse, a concert, a performance, a bar, Trader Joe’s, etc, expressing an intense interest in getting to know you, aren’t you special (aka, love bombing.)
   
2. Recruiter says, “Let’s get together! Here’s my phone — what’s yours?”
   
3. Recruiter pursues relentlessly, becoming increasingly insistent. As time passes, you sense desperation behind the placid presentation, as though he or she has an unspoken agenda–also called a 5-week AIM— a “critical” task to fulfill for a secret cult. 
   
4. Over the course of this “new friendship” Recruiter will bring up “ideas”, psychological & cosmological “experiments” & “opportunities to study ideas with other friends…” with a don’t miss out on this rare offer kind of sub-text; think, Tom Waits, Step Right Up.  
   
5. Recruiter will eventually introduce you to another “friend” who echoes the pitch, “join us to study … ideas!” 
   
6. After several “meetings” recruiter will pitch a generic invitation: “It seems like these conversations might really align with you. If it’s interesting and exciting to you, we would love to have you join us in our next meeting, since we’ll be opening the group up for new people to see what we discuss, which we don’t do very often— It’s always nice to go into something new with other people who are also just starting out. We’ll help you develop an experiment to try out in your daily life and then you can share your experiences with the rest of the group. We will need to have a meeting with one more of our friends before that group meeting. He will be able to offer you a formal invitation to our group meeting.”
   
7. Recruiter arranges a meeting with one more “friend” and likely introduce you to “school’s” current cult leader, without mentioning his leadership role. If you attend this meeting, you will note that your friends will defer to his “wisdom”. 
   
8. If you’re reasonably intelligent, have money, or the potential to earn money, and can follow these “rules:” 
   *no romantic or sexual relationships with other people in the group
   *no drug use at all. Alcohol is fine, though.

The newest “new friend” will invite you to “study esoteric ideas” in a “free experiment.” It’s likely that they need warm bodies who will eventually pay a monthly “tuition”. If you ask about the “tuition” it’s likely he will dodge that question, responding, “It really depends on each student. We’ve never turned anyone away because of money.” 

Back in 2006, that’s what Robert told me, which vaguely nodded to a group that accepted voluntary donations. Really, it cost $350 / month, which Robert revealed only after my “free 5-week experiment.” Who knows what it costs today, not to mention the hidden interest rate of increasing time, energy, focus and attention as well as damage to relationships outside the hollow halls. 

I suggest that you never find out. IMO, Keep your holidays, cult free!

Happy, Merry 🙂 Moving on! GSR