Hi
I am hoping that someone here can give me more information than what I have been able to find on the "Sons of Maine group.

They link to

The Sterling Institute
MDI
NEATCOMM
The Family of Women
New Frontier
East and South Bay Nation of Men ('eyes of men' now I guess)
HAI
Landmark Education
MKP

and a group called Circles of Men but I think it may be a misspelling. I came up with Circles of Women and followed that to Woman Within. Now I have to look at Landmark...I had only looked at the top links there at Sons of Maine and Landmark is near the bottom.

Here is the link to Sons of Maine

Sons of Maine

I did find on FACTnet an old forum posting concerning Young Men's Ultimate Weekend Program through the World Institute of Human Development and it included a little info on the Sons of Maine. The poster is someone called hot_wired (Ken)

FACTnet posting



hot_wired (Ken someone) said he had attended the Sterling Weekend for men and MDIs weekend and had begun the' Sons of Maine' website. I am not even sure why he posted there as he didn't seem to have anything to say about YMUW but he did the "Hey its done me a world of good " routine and even offered one woman his email so he could answer her questions! I thought if she believes anything out of his mouth she is a fool. Maybe he was trying to advertise his group?

I am having a difficult time saying why I need to know. FACTnet's post was 2005 I think and "Ken" said Sons of Maine were about 30 members strong at the time. So if any of them troll here it wouldn't take much to figure out maybe who was asking and for whom. I am sure it is more than that now but hopefully men in Maine are more intelligent then to be taken in by what sounds to me like a grown men's boot camp. I sound so paranoid!

Right now I know more than I ever thought I would want to know about these groups.

Has anyone any knowledge of this group? Any ex-members?
Thanks for any help you can give me.

Just a light read of the "Sons of Maine" site makes me smile. 'The Sword in the Stone' graphic, the young greek 'god' graphic and the gorilla (cave man?) graphic along with the word 'Warrior' tells me all I personally need to know...this is a standard sit around a fire in circles, beat a drum and curse your mother sort of self-awareness crap very popular about 15 years ago and lampooned on 'King of the Hill' animated comedy series.

I don't know of how much overall control these idiots have over the minds of the lost souls who attend, but I do know the best weapon to repell them: laughter.

I was working out at my gym and a nice friendly trainer whom I had seen many times before approached me and asked if I would be interested in attending a weekend seminar where we sit around a fire and beat drums to realize our manliness. I told him I am happy with my manliness and would rather sit at a bar of the local Hilton drinking scotch.

He then told me I would learn on this weekend how to control the universe and 'fire walk'. I explained the scientific explaination behind firewalking and he vigorously disagreed with me (Hint; perspiration on the souls of your feet shield you, but the ashes must be thick on the coals and you must walk quickly...if you stand still you will be in the hospital for serious burns).

He continued to tell me that only those who took the idiotic seminar and cursed their mothers and beat drums (shirts off, mind you) could muster the energy to walk on 'fire'. I laughed in his face and told him to stand still to show his 'energy' and to 'master the universe'. He stormed off in an angry funk. I never saw him again.

I hope he didn't need the burn unit at the hospital :)

Hi Sparky :)

LOL to the caveman picture and the sword in the stone. They have a 'cave' page on the site that only "Men" can view. Probably complete with clubs for the wimmen folk.

I wish I felt not so uneasy about this. Their connection to Sterling and MDI not to mention some of the other links make me nervous. I also feel that a person with any level of intelligence would stay away from these people. I don't think their as dangerous as the Moonies were or some of these other groups but I do think that given the right personality a person could become obsessed with his "manliness" and make someone elses life miserable.

I know this person has completed "THE WEEKEND" (doesn't it deserve caps though?) and seems to say all the right things is very, very secretive about what the meetings entail. Honestly if what I read here is true I guess I wouldn't be spreading it around either.

My concern is that the other people involved will follow suit that makes this up close and personal to myself. I have given them some information and they accordingly went into meltdown but then decided that they would have been better off 'not knowing'. I don't get that. Forewarned is forearmed. I guess it is just wait and see...something I am not very good at doing.

How far can you go with what you know without driving someone closer to the edge?
That's what I need to know I guess.

Maybe this one guy will have too much on his plate to get really involved. If that happens it may turn out to be a flash in the pan. But until that time I am watching closely for signs of my people stepping over the line in his direction. I am really at wits end right now.

Thanks so much for your input I really appreciate it.

hattah, you know what your grandma said? "You can judge a person by the company they keep". That being said Sons of Maine are apparently associated with Sterling Institute...see:

[www.culteducation.com]

And Landmark of all god-awful things:

[www.culteducation.com]

And MKP:

[www.culteducation.com]

Yep. All the above stink worse than 3 day old fish in the garbage. Therefore, by association, the Sons of Maine are useless dangerous stinkers as well

Hello Hattah. I am a "graduate" of the sterling men's weekend, and I can tell you with absolute certainty that the sons of Maine are a subsidiary group to the sterling institute of relationships. While the sons of maine may be in sympathy with other LGATs such as Landmark Education, they are basically owned and operated by the sterling institute of relationships. Understanding what that means requires a bit of an explanation of how the sterling institute operates.

The sterling institute of relationships conduct what they call "the sterling men's weekend," a couple of times a year. These weekends are basically drawn out cult initiation rituals involving a variety of brain washing tactics which defy credulity. they include, but are not limited to, sleep deprivation, verbal abuse, and dancing around naked with other men.

Upon completing "the weekend," as they call it, a graduate is eligible to begin the point program. The point program consists of meeting in smaller groups for 7 to 8 weeks. during this time, Justin Sterling's illiterate and misogynistic is reiterated ad nauseum, and graduates are subjected to further shame and degradation.

Finally, after completing "the weekend" and 8 weeks of "the point program," a graduate is eligible to join a "men's circle," such as the sons of maine. If you read their website, they state this very fact, "To become a member of Sons of Maine, a man must complete the Sterling Men's Weekend as well as an 8 week process called the "point team."

There is a lot of information on the sterling institute on this website. I suggest you browse through it if you would like more information.

SeanK, thank you so much for your great insight into this arm of Sterling. You are a great assest here. Please continue your great postings. My questions are, did you beat on drums and sit around camp fires like the people I knew in similar "cults"?

Hi sparky. I regretfully must confess that I fully participated in every ritual I was asked to perform. At the very end of the weekend, when I was delirious with sleep deprivation, I was told to strip naked, cover myself with war paint, beat drums, and dance about like some wild heathen...I complied.

As far as camp fires are concerned, these usually take place during the mens circles, which, as I noted above, are only open to men who have completed both the weekend and the point program (or guests contemplating the weekend). Witnessing the campfire ritual was actually the reason why I decided to do the weekend in the first place, as it seemed not only benevolent to me but cathartic as well. During these circles, men basically discuss the trials and tribulations they are experiencing, with an emphasis on how to be a man of honor and integrity. It is my sincere belief that the men's circles are in many ways therapeutic. However, the hazing ritual you have to go through in order to be eligible to participate in a mens circle is degenerate and depraved, and is not worth it.

It is hard to summarize sterlings illiterate and misogynistic philosophy in a short note such as this, but I will tell you one thing he says that really speaks to his ignorance; according to Justin Sterling, "Women do not enjoy sex." So, whatever value a man might find in participating in a mens circle such as the son's of Maine, I personally will not take counsel with men who believe women do not enjoy sex.

unfortunately i can't give you any info as i am looking myself.
my boyfriend has just completed the sterling mens weekend, is on a point team and i am completely freaked out about it.
he knows exactly how i feel, i've already read the book, cults and consequences, and question everything he says and does, but he did agree to see a psychologist, and i'm going to make sure he does.
his brother got him into this, introducing him to his "therapist" i asked my boyfriend if he showed him any credentials and he was silent. anyone have any advice?????????

tiggerwil, do you know the name of this doctor? Run a google-search on him/her. Go to his/her office and look for credentials. There are things you can do to verify if the therapist is a real one.

all i know is that the circle of men is a sterling institute group.

after you complete the weekend and finish the point team which runs wkly meetings for approximately 1 month,

you then go on to the circle of men.
i know this because my boyfriend recently completed the weekend in NY, and is now on a point team . i wish he

never went, i can go on and on. after the circle of men i'm not sure what happens.
hope this helps, as i am also searching for info, if anyone reads this and has any more information,
please email back
Thanks