After a web search, this is the company I found: [www.figmediainc.com]
Fig Media seems to have close ties with the WI. This must be the fig they kept mentioning.

Couple of points:

I have attended more than my share of "graduation" ceremonies and have also been disturbed by the foreign exchange student(s) that are sometimes a part of the program. Also find it disturbing the level of hysteria, yes, hysteria, that some of the women had as they talked in the most vague terms about the experience. Hyperventaliating, crying (joyful/cathartic crying it appeared to be), etc. etc. Yes, the specific ceremony you are referincing was ridiculously long and was going to be longer but they cut the audiance "heart's desire" session back to the grads down from the original plan b/c I think they sensed they were losing their audiance. I dont know why they changed, but it was going to be longer originally.

As for the media company (that you later very correctly identified and is one of the companies alluded to elsewhere in other posts in this topic of discussion, including the post that started this thread) - think of the "take-over-the-world" talk in terms of a sports team getting hyped up before a game... nothing more. Trust me, whatever faults the company may have, taking over the world is not one of them. Perhaps a better first goal for them would be to take over the local wedding DJ and photography circuit....

Finally - in the Chicago rants and raves section of Craigslist a former I.T. employee of the WI posted some information from "the inside" the other week on CL.

The place would be such a laughable joke if it didnt affect people that we care about (which is why we are here).

Thanks for the reply, SeventhVeil.
Wow, I'm glad that the ceremony was cut short. They did mention that they weren't going to do as many "hearts desires" from the audience.

LOL about taking over the "wedding DJ circuit". Makes it sound much less ominous.

I looked for the Craig's list post, but it's probably too old - couldn't find it.

I do have one question for anyone who has dealt with members of organizations like the WI. Every holiday where gifts are given, she asks for money to "continue her work" with WI. Has anyone worked out a strategy to avoid giving money that goes directly into an organization I do not want to support? As you probably guessed, she has suggested that I do not support her personal growth when I say I'd prefer to give something else instead of money. And she hopes to go on a "spiritual trip" with Judith at the end of the year (to India, I think), so all she wants is money.

Up until this point, I have continued to give money, although less than I would give if I knew it went to a truly good cause. I do not want to drive her away completely, as I hold out hope that this is simply a phase.

Any suggestions are welcome!!

Yes - I made a joke about the "taking over the world" thing - lord knows they would try if they could find the time in between providing free labor to the WI and paying the WI for programs... but hey, life is about choices, and sometimes taking over the world (or running your own life/business/etc) just takes too much time away from hanging out at the WI, ya know? Ha ha. Actually it's sad, but you know... might as well laugh I guess.

As to your dilemma about gift giving knowing it will go to the WI... personally sometimes I give money to homeless people in some cases damn well knowing it is going to go right to a bottle of booze but I just figure "ah, so what, it'll make 'em happy for a night and i'm not going to change them"... but it's easy to do that with someone you couldnt care less about ultimately. With your family member obviously you are a bit more invested to say the least.

However, I think it sounds like you, along with most of us out here who are desperately looking for information on this sort of thing, have essentially been emotionally kidnapped or held hostage... the zero/sum game, the threat that lingers behind everything in dealing with a WI true believer is "either go along with the program or face a serious risk of losing me in your life". Now, it's more sophisticated to come across this directly but essentially that's the deal.

Most people, not willing to easily or quickly write off hope or write off someone they have invested a life in, slowly/reluctantly go along with things, question where they can, but just plain dont know what to do and buy time, investigate, hoping they can figure a way to snap their loved one out of it.

I cant speak to whether you are able to do that or what the success rate for that is. And I cant tell you what to do in your life - ie., to call the bluff and risk the pain of losing completely someone important to you or to just donate the money and bite your tongue. However, I will say that in some ways if you are being held hostage emotionally by someone who is preying on your love for them (essentially using it against you to force particular behavior out of you), well, you may have lost that person in any meaningful way already. You are being used I would say.

That's just my two cents and perhaps overly negative so would definitely welcome more upbeat stories from others. I mean, sure, you could donate money in his/her name to a "more worthy" charity, or give gift certificates that have to be used at Nordstrom or wherever... but ultimately it still leads back to you not being "supportive" of the "transformative" "work" that your loved one is involved with.

Seventhveil:

It makes we wonder if I know you. As I too was at the graduation cermony mentioned before. Are you still involved with WI in some way or do you just know alot of people there. I am still curious about the Paris apartment the BTW had mentioned. I read the Craigslist posting, before it was flagged. I am like you, I know a lot about WI and alot of people involved. I think some of it is good material, just not the way it is presented. I'm going to try to enable it so i can get emails, would love to chat more offline.

I can answer to the "Fig" reference. E-mail me, if you like!

I kind of doubt we know each other but find it odd that just based on this website alone three of us were at least one of the same graduations (and probably more). We should have some sort of identifier... we all where green shirts or something, ha.

I enabled email so feel free to contact me...

I know some things, yes, but not to the level of, for example, BTW and others that have posted on here.

Hi,
I apologize for the delay in responding with more details; real life got in the way, and also I wanted to wait until everyone involved with the Wrights left for the annual “spiritual pilgrimage” before responding so there would be a bit of time between when I posted and when someone from WI read the posts and started to play detective and figured out who I am. However, it appears that this year the sacred pilgrimage is going to be much later than normal, so I am going to begin to share what I know.

I know several people who have been involved with the Wrights for a very long time. I am amazed at how much they have changed throughout the years and how much their lives have become intermeshed with B&J. What I write is what I know, and what I would feel comfortable in sharing if I was dragged into court.

A few years ago B&J gave up their therapist licenses as part of a confidential agreement to forego an investigation and disciplinarily action on charges which stem from something that went on during one of the weekends. I was not privy to more information, all I do know is that during the time this happened, many followers/employees were involved in late night high-level secret meetings to discuss what happened and how to best avoid letting the scandal out into the public. I was not paying too close attention to the situation as it unfolded, as I was trying to keep my personal relationships as far removed from B&J as possible. I do strongly believe that someone might have been injured physically or suffered some great harm that lead to the initial investigation of the Wrights. Again, I don’t remember the exact details, only that there was great concern that the State was going to investigate and that B&J were scared to let this happen; this in turned cause great worry amongst their followers (who are employees). I do know that whatever happened caused B&J to be the most scared they have ever been to losing everything.

B&J do live the high life. Even as the company struggled on the brink of bankruptcy, many times, they continue to live like millionaires. Of course they can do this because their followers, many of whom own their own businesses, support B&J. Huge checks, in the low six figures, find their way to B&J when they need a little cash infusion, which is often. Several of the followers write these checks from their companies, not to mention personal funds. Bob certainly is tied into many businesses as well, often under the guise of “professional consultant”. Of course it is a joke, and anyone who has worked for these companies has been witness to Bob berating and yelling at the company owner about how much they suck (in front of said owner’s employees). Followers who have businesses that supply product/services that the Wright’s need also give this to them at no charge (I’m talking to you web designers—nice site Cathrien (?) and Colin, too bad you were never paid, but I hope you made it up by charging an excess amount to the other members who used your services for their web needs).

During the scared pilgrimage there is very little sleep. For some odd reason people are conditioned to believe and to see Judith as a goddess (and no, I could not make up something so utterly ridiculous). Her women followers worship the ground she walks on, and it is scary. Three is a reason that they take followers half way around the world and sleep deprive them on top of the time change. Long-time followers and employees have less than hour of sleep most nights, as they must work around the clock to prepare for the next day. As the years progress you see the newbies end up in that role, as they continually try to recruit new people to join them on this life changing event. I have seen the followers come home and are so exhausted and damaged that it takes months for them to regain a sense of nominally. I don’t know what else goes on, but I did come across some private writings of the followers and was appalled at the whole “Judith is goddess” crap.

B&J love fine things, houses, cars, furniture. Christie and Sotheby’s catalogues come to them regularly and they do buy things, along with art galleries. If they don’t want too or can’t shell the money out, a follower or two will “pitch” in and buy things as a “partnership” with them. Guess who holds unto the antiques?

Several members have “company” partnerships with Bob. Bob pays none of the carrying costs, while his members pay things like the tax bill, property tax bills, professional fees, etc. Many members have purchased land around their Wisconsin retreat and have “loan” (aka given) it to B&J for their express use. If you checked some of the property records on some townships in Wisconsin you would be surprised to see what is owned. Oh, and how many members have gun permits? To me that is an odd combination. Not sure what excessive gun ownership has with spiritual growth.

I promise I will write more later, and it will be before the end of the week as well. I have to finish gathering my thoughts for more insights. Does anyone have any questions I can try to answer for them? If I don’t know the answer, I will tell you so, but if I do have an answer I am happy to share.

And on a side note if you go to their employment page you will notice the job openings (gee, they aren’t posting listings on Craigslist anymore, I wonder why????). I laughed when I saw the accountant position, “….Seeking unique accountant for a fun, fast paced environment…Institute needs a gregarious, bright, quick study, accountant/bookkeeper to maintain and develop highly dynamic set of profit and cost centers and all areas of finance…”

I just started to re-read what I posted and I am very tired, which means I made a lot of typos and mis-spelled words. I hope you will forgive me. Sorry for the rough reading!

Wow... just wow.

You took it to a new level of scaryness with the talk of guns. I have seen some of the people involved with anger bordering on violence. Honestly so much about the Wisconsin retreat center is irresponsible and frankly negligent not in the least bit surprised that someone may have been severely damaged or injured leading to a crisis.

And I can vouch first-hand for the "Judith as goddess" vibe. I know, it does sound insane but it's a part of the program for some of those "lab lifers".

BTW you might want to post on FactNet as well if you feel strongly about this. I thank you for all the people out there that have yet to become involved that you may be able to help with your information.