"...he just said it was to help spread awareness and that it would come back to him."

This sounds like classic "Seed Money" pushed by the most vile of the christian preachers: "Give some money and God will give it back to you 3 fold".

This is clearly a cult.

"Michael Ultra" as in MK-Ultra? "Ultrafication" meaning "spiritual enlightenment"? Yeah, right. Sure. He's a done a great performance but the act is just a little bit too blatant and silly to be taken literally. Notice he doesn't have any books or articles.

Some of the videos have been shot in what looks like a studio theater and the people in them are quite obviously actors improvising around a basic script. Some of what they're doing is in fact an elaboration of basic acting exercises. They have done a good job of it, but it is just a performance art project, a hoax cult. Certainly, they will be pleased to have fooled members of the Cult Education Forum.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/16/2010 03:09AM by Sandman.

I watched some of the leader's vid's--I had the impression that it was some kind of improv, maybe for publicity, a showcase of some sorts.
There is a donate button that works so maybe they are hoping to cover their costs that way.

I can't see this as a serious attempt, only a spoof----but then look at Desteni---stranger things have happened.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/16/2010 03:24AM by Stoic.

No one is fooled by them, either way.
Other hoaxes have been exposed on this forum many times, like this one.

Help and advice needed to get out of a cult [forum.culteducation.com]

Someone posted the link here, claiming money was taken.
Its really not appropriate to say its a hoax yet, until there is some evidence of such, as the case above.


If its a hoax, the website is actually very close to many actual new agey sects, even down to reframing the "cult" word. Royal Way did the exact same thing. Royal Way sounds like a hoax, but its very real.

Royal Way/Jacumba/Ranch/Michael Gottlieb [forum.culteducation.com]


I will try to watch the videos in the next few days.

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If someone got scammed for money, now they know where to look. [who.godaddy.com]

If its a hoax, then instead of being a smug douche, why not use your media production skills to look into real sects and cults, and what they really do to people, and exactly how they do it? Its more interesting than acting like a tool.

Quote
The Anticult
Someone posted the link here, claiming money was taken.
Its really not appropriate to say its a hoax yet, until there is some evidence of such, as the case above.

It is not appropriate to say it's a functioning new age group or cult -- there is no evidence it is, but there is evidence it's a hoax: the videos, as I said already. The people in the videos are all actors. They could fool some people maybe, but it should be pretty obvious to anyone who pays attention.

If money was taken it doesn't mean it's a functioning new age group or cult. It isn't even necessarily a scam. The money will pay for the production costs and if anyone is dumb enough to imagine it's a real new age group then sorry, but that's their problem.

Quote
The Anticult
If its a hoax, then instead of being a smug douche, why not use your media production skills to look into real sects and cults, and what they really do to people, and exactly how they do it? Its more interesting than acting like a tool.

I disagree. Just because someone has media production skills doesn't mean they have to make documentaries. A spoof cult website is an entirely legitimate form of satire.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/16/2010 07:31AM by Sandman.

Maybe this is one to suspend judgement on until further evidence comes to light.

Ideally the first poster should find out whether money really was donated and exactly what for. People are free to donate to whatever cause they choose--even dodgy ones or slick actors looking for their private projects to be underwritten.
I had a look at what other films this Evan Georgiades has been involved with and they seem to be of the improv docu/realism type, which would fit well with a spoof cult to see if anyone would give them money for old rope.

Perhaps our first poster's husband is embarrassed to admit what he really did with the money.

Evan Georgiades IMDB page: [www.imdb.com]

My first thought is that the videos and website are ways to publicize some truly low-rent fictional work. I bet they've tripled their amount of traffic since the OP's first post.

The videos are incredibly lousy. They look like a fairly unimaginative person's idea of what gurus and cult victims are like.

It's very hard for advertisers to attract audiences to their products, and they're trying all sorts of approaches, including posting to legitimate message boards where real people discuss genuine problems that truly confound them.

This Michael Ultra horseshit looks like a complete hoax. I wouldn't be at all surprised if Joyce1969's posts in this thread are a part of that hoax.

Of course they can do what they want with their skills. I never said they have to make a documentary, they can film grass growing if they want.

People who get scammed by silly sects are not "dumb" and don't deserve to get scammed. There are many things that are far crazier than this, where people have had serious damages.
Gentle Wind Project [forum.culteducation.com]


But by just saying this is a hoax, that is saying the person posting here is being dishonest?
So either the person posting here is part of the hoax, or is worried about something that is real.


But regardless, the actual guy who is behind this is exposed above. If someone has been ripped off, they know where to go.
Its either a scam or a hoax.