Corboy - pretty prophetic words you once wrote:
Posted: 10-29-2004 09:15 PM Post subject: Complex question
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It does not appear that Castaneda got his material from any known LGAT. But someone may come up with a way to use Castaneda type material in an LGAT format.
C created what some commentators call 'New Age Shamanism'.
Castaneda did create a group and the dynamics are described by Amy Wallace in her memoir The Sorcerer's Apprentice: My Life with Carlos Castaneda.
There's a lot of material on thread
[
board.culteducation.com]
Scroll through the threads and read the stuff on Castaneda.
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Someone has now come up with a way to use Castaneda material in a LGAT format. His name is Louis Smit and he operates in South Africa, although I know he has also presented courses in London, Zanzibar and Hong Kong.
I know that in those courses in London, Zanzibar and Hong Kong he used, as he did in South Africa, all eight mind control techniques as defined by Lifton. Then, he moved in for the kill with his Castaneda-speak.
While those people under his influence don't live in a commune or cult-type set up of that sort, they view him as some type of guru or teacher, and he doesn't discourage the use of either term.
Some people who have done his courses live far away from his base in Johannesburg, but many, not all, have become dependent on him to tell them how to live their lives, what to read, and, of course, what courses to do with him.
All inappropriate behaviour, which we would under normal circumstances find repugnant, is easily explained away by him saying he is a sorcerer and he is being a sorcerer - Castaneda said that, as a sorcerer, it is okay to lie and it seems he encouraged it too.
Convenient and so devious.
Of course, Castaneda's stories were fiction, but why deal with the truth? It's scorcery isn't it?
His claims:
Louis Smit, a native South African, has lived and traveled in many parts of the world for more than 33 years. (I can't comment on that).
In his pursuit of conventional knowledge, Louis has obtained various business degrees from the University of the Witwatersrand. (True)
Louis has an ongoing interest in martial art, with Black belt qualifications in Aikido and Karate. (The Aikido bit is true. I can't comment on the Karate).
His training in Aikido led him to the study of metaphysics, the healing arts and a ‘somersault into the unknown’. (So vague. What the hell is 'a somersault into the unknown'? Is that where he found special powers and hidden knowledge?)
Louis has studied with various esoteric systems, including Hermetics and the Rosicrucian Order. (I can't comment on Hermetics and the Rosicrucian Order won't say who their members are. Again, very convenient.)
He graduated with a Bachelor Of Esoteric Sciences - Honours (B.E.Sc.-Hon.) with the Australian School Of Esoteric Studies in 1995 and completed a Diploma Of Esoteric Education (Dip.E.Ed). (Lies. No such school exists or has ever existed. His so-called guru - one Patrick Desplace claims to have founded the school, but a study of the Australian Business Register shows it has never existed. Desplace also claimed to me in an e-mail that he founded The Australian Institute of Human Resources. Again, there is nothing under that name, although there is the Australian Human Resources Institute who have never heard of him, their supposed founder).
He attained a Healing Diploma and a Masters of Esoteric Sciences in 1997 within the auspices of The World Development of Human Resources. (The WDHR is a company formed by Desplace which, can you believe it has the web address of [
www.descendedmaster.com] It claims to be affiliated to the Australian School of Esoteric Studies. In December 2005, in an e-mail to me, Desplace claimed the school was moving from Darwin to Adelaide. No record of that, even to this day because it doesn't exist. Who gave Desplace the right to hand out diplomas and degrees? With which bodies is WDHR registered?)
Louis invites You to join him on a special journey, filled with an abundance of life, laughter, happiness, joy and fun. (Since my girlfriend first did a course with this con man, she hasn't experienced any of this so-called abundance. She has experienced serious depression, suicidal thoughts, a business going in reverse, and has become very serious, isolated, evasive, and fears she will not make it i.e achieve her potential - ah the instilled phobia. And she believes in stories made up by Castaneda, Florinda Donner and Merilyn Tunnenshende, all of which Smit has prescribed to her to read).