Has anyone here heard of or come across a *guru* based in Glastonbury, UK called Michael O'Connell? Last time I heard of him he was running his house, Rosemullion, as a detox centre. Used run a vegan cafe on Glasto High Street called Ploughshares. I was drawn into his influence some years ago when in an emotionally vulnerable condition. Reading Lizzie Cochran's blog on Christopher Hansard today I realised that Michael O'Connell ticked many of her boxes regarding how abusive/coersive cult leaders and/or phoney healers entice and retain their followers.

Far from “abusive/coercive”, these enterprises were bought into existence in an atmosphere of equality and collaboration with strong, independent women and men and to suggest anything else undermines the strength of personality and self-determination of these people who would not respond well to abusive behavior. To call these businesses/projects a cult implies some crowd of followers, which is ludicrous, unless you want to call every customer of the restaurant a cult follower and to call Michael a Guru equally ludicrous, or are we now calling all who initiate projects in Glastonbury Gurus? To call Michael O’Connell a phony healer may very well be slander as he has qualifications and has helped many people through the Cleansing Retreat Centre where he has received positive and heart felt testimonials. I would also suggest that as this entry has been here since 2008 and there have been no others in support of it, that it could been seen as a personal vendetta and I quote from this web sites’ terms… “Vitriolic posts that personally attack people, will not be tolerated and are grounds for banning the author from this message board.” and because of this I think there is a strong case for the above comment to be taken off the site; and I quote from your site again…. “Any comment posted at this message board may subsequently be edited or deleted by the specifically designated moderators.”

Hi Pema, firstly, thank you, and respect! I'm posting this as a warning to anyone who may find this subject, in hopes that we're collectively able to safeguard people. I can only speak of the facts I know, and they are that he has perpetrated the most heinous kind of sexual abuse there with at least one teen (and the context of that of would be enough for him to spend years behind bars. He needs serious psychiatric treatment.

I will not give any details, due to the nature of the abuse, the person's anyonymity, and the fact that it is not my story to tell. The incidents alone would be enough reason for anyone to avoid him at all costs. I cannot emphasise the severity of this enough. Again, I will not give details as there are further complications from this abuse, and the people impacted by it are trying to live their lives.

These are facts. The person I knew was aware of it and tried to help the person he was abusing. At least one other woman in the highest echelons of the community (one who was in relationship with him) knew the details of the abuse. They also tried to help the person he had abused.

I found this thread today, searching for any mentions of him or Rosemullion around these very contexts, and registered specifically to leave this comment to support yours, Pema, and to leave the maximum, most serious warning for protection of anyone who sees this and considers getting involved. The details would leave you sick to your stomach.

I met him briefly in the 90s, with someone who had lived in (and was active in) that commune previously, on an ethical level, then left. People in Glastonbury joked about them "bringing another bride for Michael". I wasn't impressed by him at all, and thought the whole situation was toxic and vampiric, and that he was feeding off the womens' powerful creative energy and playing master wizard. When I found out the details of what he had done, it was so disturbing.

Anything else he may have done, any enterprises by the other women who lived there are completely overshadowed by what he did. I don't think they all knew what he'd done, but at least the two I knew of certainly did.

This is all I have to say. Best of luck, and thank you to the people running this forum for the work that you do to protect and help people.