Hello,

Does anyone have any knowledge of or experience with the Imzaia Movement (http://www.imzaia.com/main/)? My mother (who went from Landmark/The Forum to Crimson Circle to this with probably a few other "out there" ideas/groups in between) is now FULLY immersed in this group. In fact, she recently cashed out her 401K from an old job, got a visa & went to Tintagel, UK where they are headquartered. None of us know when she's coming home, if ever. This group is just insane! They have tons of videos of this one particular guy who happens to be the "body" for the channeling of several angels or gods (currently it is Quan Yin). They are all waiting the "ascencion of all matter" which is supposedly taking place on 12/21/12 although they can't really explain what that means. Any info anyone can provide or any experiences that anyone may have had with this group either personally or through family members would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks,

somewhatconcerned

I know 12/21/12 is the "end"(reset) of the Mayan calender. Many "end-times" groups think that this date will either be the end of the world or even an evolutionary enlightenment of all mankind.

"ascencion of all matter" sounds like they believe they will become spiritual beings on this date, since matter does not make up "spirits". Could this be a belief in "The Rapture" of The Book of Revelation? Who knows. I'll look into this a little further.

One thing for certain, most groups predicting this date (12/21/12) as something big will have a "plan B" when nothing happens and they have to keep their money-paying flock in line.

A classic book to pick up would be Leon Festinger's When Prophecy Fails.

I think it was in the 1950s, that Festinger and some social psychologists became aware of a group convinced that at a specified date, they would all be taken aboard a flying saucer and be saved from world catastrophe.

Festinger and some others managed to gain entry into the group, curious as to how the group would cope if and most likely when things didnt happen as predicted.

You can narrow the search by arranging to exclude references to amazon and other book venders; this may direct you toward essays and articles describing this quite fascinating story.

[www.google.com]

And on behalf of somewhat concerneds mom, it might be worthwhile to have a two way consultation with a licensed clinical social worker/casemanager and an attorney.

If there is valid concern that your mom is going to risk being without funds when she gets sick and if other members of the family would be unable to pay the bills, there might be a way for her own protection, to put your mothers funds in some kind of conservatorship to limit how much she can give away to groups.

corboy, I agree. We should be concerned about somewhatconcerned mum.

I do not wish to appear insensitive since I am not and like all of us are completely concerned about the folks here and their families.

I would ask you, corboy, on your flying saucer cult from the 50's, was that Bo and Peep? I think those cultists are dead (natural causes).

Since somewhatconcerned's mother is currently resident in the UK, it is unlikely that the Court of Protection would grant lasting power of attorney to a family member simply because the mother is giving money to an organisation that the family does not approve.
Such a measure is usually successfully pursued only in cases of diagnosed, long-standing dementia.
Such a measure requires declaring the person mentally incompetent to manage their own affairs, can take up to 6 years to push through the courts if it is disputed and will definitely alienate the mother from the family.

[alzheimers.org.uk]

[www.publicguardian.gov.uk]



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/22/2011 04:48PM by Stoic.

Dear Sparky, am not sure who ran the group that Festinger wrote about. Will have to look for a copy of When Prophecy Fails to find that out.

(Glum) It is a very painful and complicated situation when a parent or grandparent is giving away important sums of money in this way. What if they dont have enough left to pay for medical and other care they may need later on?

Its tough. A family might have to sit down, discuss the matter and thresh things out amongst each other, whether anyone will have the resources to support Mom (or Dad, as the case may be) if he or she is left impovrished after years of supporting these groups.

If family members know they will be stretched to the limits, financially, they may then need to sit their parent down and tell her "We cannot take care of you if things do not pan out with that group."

It may be similar to the situation a family faces if a member becomes consumed by gambling or a drugs addiction.

The group studied by Festinger dated from much earlier than Bo and Peep who were Heaven's Gate leaders:

[en.wikipedia.org]



'A housewife from Chicago (changed to "Michigan" in the book), given the name "Marian Keech" (real name: Dorothy Martin, later known as Sister Thedra), had mysteriously been given messages in her house in the form of "automatic writing" from alien beings on the planet Clarion. These messages revealed that the world would end in a great flood before dawn on December 21, 1954. Mrs. Keech had previously been involved with L. Ron Hubbard's Dianetics movement, and her cult incorporated ideas from what was to become Scientology. The group of believers, headed by Keech, had taken strong behavioral steps to indicate their degree of commitment to the belief. They had left jobs, college, and spouses, and had given away money and possessions to prepare for their departure on the flying saucer, which was to rescue the group of true believers.'

After the non-appearance of the flying saucer, Sister Thedra lived on until 1992, still channeling UFO's:

[www.wolflodge.org]



Heaven's Gate, where Bonnie Nettles (Peep, later Ti) died of natural causes but Marshall Applewhite, (Bo, later Do)a small time conman before becoming a cult guru, committed suicide in 1997:

[en.wikipedia.org])

'Applewhite and Nettles used a variety of aliases over the years, notably "Bo and Peep" and "Do and Ti". The group also had a variety of names. Before the name Heaven’s Gate was used and stuck, it was known as Human Individual Metamorphosis. At the time Vallée studied the group, it was called HIM (Human Individual Metamorphosis). The group re-invented and re-named itself several times and had a variety of recruitment methods. Marshall himself believed he was directly related to Jesus, meaning he was an "Evolutionary Kingdom Level Above Human".'



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 02/23/2011 10:08PM by Stoic.

Thank you everyone for your concern & suggestions. At this point, there doesn't seem to be much we can do. We have tried begging & pleading, letting her know how incredibly sad we are, getting angry, reasoning...nothing works as she is convinced this is what she was meant to do & "someday we'll understand" & it's for the "greater good". I'm getting married on 11/11/11 & I'm still not sure if she'll even be at my wedding (although she says she will be, the jury is still out on that one) since there is some big gathering in AZ that day (11/11/11 is a BIG day for them). She has 3 small grandchildren too who she just up & left behind. "Quan Yin" has them on some kind of extreme diet to "rid themselves of toxins" & they're building a generator (or so she said) so they can get off the grid entirely. My sister & I think she is in the top ranks of this thing as she is at HQ with like 9 other people running it all. I'm less worried about her losing her money because up until she cashed out her 401K she didn't have any money anyway (as having a job & other earthly things don't matter). I'm more worried about if I'll ever see her again, if she'll ever come home or if they'll end up drinking some kind of kool-aid over there at some point. The fact of the matter is, she's already gone...MY mother, the woman who raised me, is already gone & there's nothing I can seem to do about it. I know it's not what you are supposed to do in these situations, but I'm very close to ending ALL communications whatsoever...I can't keep living my life this way, with her gone but not REALLY gone...it's VERY hard! I guess I just posted on here because I wanted more info from anyone who may have had a similar experience & to vent my frustration & upset to people who understand. Thanks for listening.

somewhatconcerned,

You might find this page helpful:

[www.culteducation.com]


The 'getting help' button in the header at the top of the page takes you to resources available on the site:

[www.culteducation.com]

Education on cults in general is your best bet until your mother begins to find herself disillusioned with this group.