What Happens In The Vortex

by MOLLY LAMBERT

James Ray is a great name for a murderer, isn't it? James Arthur Ray. J.A.R. It's so hardboiled sounding, like a James M. Cain or Mickey Spillane character.

"I fully know, for me, that there is no blame. Every single thing is your responsibility and nothing is your fault." - James Ray, before he supervised three deaths in Sedona

Man it has been a bad season for poseur prophets. Andrew Young wishes he'd worked for this guy instead. Was this a hippie flavored Milgram experiment? How do you think James Ray's dick size compares to John Edwards and Greg Oden? 

James Ray should hook up with Rielle Hunter and go on the lam like a crystal-powered Bonnie and Clyde. I'm sure The Secret and their natural cocktail of adrenaline and DMT will prevent them from being arrested. 

There are so many grisly factors involved in this tragedy; cultiness, malignant narcissism, magical thinking, new age bullshit, raping cultural practices.

I can't do better than these quotes from his wikipedia:

James Ray is an advocate of the Law of Attraction; his teachings have been described as "including a mix of spirituality, motivational speaking, and quantum physics". In response to critics who asked if Holocaust victims were, in Ray's view, thinking incorrectly, Ray stated in a 2007 interview: "I know people of the Jewish faith and heritage who don't necessarily believe the Holocaust was bad. Now that might be shocking to you but I have people on record who have said, hey there's a lot of good things that came out of that, a lot of lessons, a lot of opportunities for the world."

If you don't break your hand, you can't break on through (to the other side)Former attendees of Ray's seminars have reported unsafe practices and lack of properly trained medical staff in 2005. A New Jersey woman shattered her hand after she was pressured by Ray to participate in a quasi-martial arts board-breaking exercise. After several unsuccessful untrained attempts, the woman sustained multiple fractures during the seminar that was held at Disney World.  

Oh weird none of that sounds sketchy at allIn July 2009, Colleen Conaway attended a seminar hosted by James Ray International in which the attendees were directed to dress as homeless people. She fell to her death at the Horton Plaza Mall in San Diego. She died as a result of injuries, and according to police, she had no identification on her person. 

The attendees, who had paid up to $10,000 to participate in the retreat, had fasted for 36 hours during a vision quest exercise before the next day's sweat lodge. During this vision quest, participants were left alone in the Arizona desert with a sleeping bag, although Ray offered them Peruvian ponchos for an additional $250. 

Native American experts on sweat lodges have criticized the reported construction and conduct of the lodge as not meeting traditional ways ("bastardized", "mocked" and "desecrated"). Indian leaders expressed concerns and prayers for the dead and injured. They say the ceremony is their way of life and not a religion, as white men see it.

The ceremony should only be in sanctioned lodge carriers hands from legitimate nations. Traditionally, a typical leader has 4 to 8 years of apprenticeship before being allowed to care for people in a lodge. Participants are instructed to call out whenever they feel uncomfortable, and the ceremony is usually stopped to help them.

why must you bring the Na'vi race into your fucked up bullshit, mestizo?The lodge was said to be unusually built from non-breathable materials. Charging for the ceremony was said to be inappropriate. The number of participants was criticized as too high and the ceremony length was said to be too long. Respect to elders' oversight was said to be important for avoiding unfortunate events. The tragedy was characterized as "plain carelessness", with a disregard for the participants safety and outright negligence. 

TEAM BUILDING = DEATH!!!

Lessons learned: be careful what you twitter. All this shit about conquering death and having an out of body experience, well, it sounds like Jonestown talk.

L. Ron Hubbard, evil ginger of note

P.T. Anderson's new movie is reportedly focused on a spiritual swindler, to be played by Philip Seymour Hoffman, and speculatively modeled after L. Ron Hubbard. I'm sure he is monitoring this story with interest. Some of the photos of James Ray's live lectures reminded me a lot of Frank T.J. Mackey, one of a handful of great performances by (princess dianetica) Tom Cruise.

Why are so many people so hungry to be led? Why aren't people who believe that they are channeling god considered mentally ill? Why does fucked up shit always have to happen in the desert? Isn't the east coast bias bad enough as it is? 

Molly Lambert is the managing editor of This Recording. She tumbls here, and twitters here.

"A Woman Alone With The Blues" - Peggy Lee (mp3)

"Love Me Or Leave Me" - Peggy Lee (mp3)

"I Didn't Know What Time It Was" - Peggy Lee (mp3)