A puny cult

William Dudley Pelley

"Psychic Dictatorship in America" by Gerald B. Bryan is a book published in 1940. It exposes the machinations and strange appetites of Guy Ballard, Edna Ballard and their bizarre religious movement, The Mighty I AM Activity. For a few years during the 1930's, this particular group had a mass following, or at least the capacity to stage mass meetings in many American cities. Its message was an eclectic melange of New Thought, Christian Science, Theosophy and American right-wing nationalism. Guy Ballard claimed to channel a host of "ascended masters", most prominently Saint Germain. The Mighty I AM Activity seems to have lost its mass appeal already during the 1940's. Decades later, its fallen mantle was taken up by a strikingly similar organization (presumably an off-shot), the Summit Lighthouse or CUT, led by Mark Prophet and Elizabeth Clare Prophet. Today, the Prophets are more well-known than the Ballards.

Judging by Bryan's account, The Mighty I AM Activity was a classical cult. Members were forbidden to socialize with outsiders (including family members). They were expected to live strictly celibate lifestyles, which destroyed many marriages. Even kissing, hugging and socializing with members of the opposite sex without a chaperon was prohibited. The cult had its own security guards known as "Minute Men" to silence critics at public meetings. Its worldview was completely paranoid, with "entities" and "black magicians" constantly threatening the faithful. Like other cults, The I AM Activity made promises it simply couldn't fulfil. It preached a kind of "prosperity gospel" and claimed that its members would soon "ascend" to Heaven in immortal bodies of Light. Naturally, the more rational supporters soon defected, when they realized that the Ballards and their closest associates were just as vulnerable and mortal as everyone else. The group was eventually forced to change its teachings, claiming that you could "ascend" even if you died physically on Earth! Despite this, Edna Ballard kept the death of Guy Ballard in 1939 a secret for three days, fearing that his death would precipitate a crisis within the group.

Failed prophecies are another cultic staple. The Mighty I AM Activity claimed to have destroyed a gigantic astral monster threatening Europe with war. This was accomplished in 1938. As we all know, World War II erupted about one year later. Undeterred, the group turned to keeping the United States out of the war, which they claimed had been successful. (Bryan's book was published before the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. It seems the ascended masters failed again!) Those who took the messages of the Ballards seriously frequently espoused pretty bizarre behaviour. Many travelled to a certain mountain in Wyoming, where the ascended masters were supposedly hiding, hoping that the mountain would open and let them inside! It didn't. Another member snapped when seeing a black and red gown in a shop window, black and red being evil colours in the cult's worldview. She started screaming: "BLAST, BLAST, BLAST", apparently some kind of protective curse. Some members of this absurd movement were subsequently institutionalized. Pets fared worse. Cult members killed their dogs and cats, supposedly to make them "ascend", on orders from the leadership.

In the insular atmosphere of a cult, the leadership can make their clods believe almost anything, and the Ballardite cult was certainly no exception to this rule. Thus, Guy Ballard claimed to be a reincarnation of George Washington, while Edna was Joan of Arc. Their son Donald had supposedly been Lafayette in a previous life. At one point, the Ballards claimed that New York City was on the verge of destruction by an earthquake. Supposedly, an enormous "Gas Belt" under the city threatened to erupt. The Ballards saved the day by instructing their followers to chant "decrees" which turned the gas into gold! Another bizarre claim dealt with the "Atomic Accelerator", a kind of high-tech chair which makes anyone sitting on it "ascend" to higher spheres. Unfortunately for inquisitive seekers, the accelerator is locked away in one of the mountain retreats of the ascended masters. Apart from Guy Ballard, nobody has actually seen it in action. Sometimes, the antics of the Ballards were downright comical, as when they had to change a picture of Saint Germain due to their idea that black was evil. Unfortunately, the master had a black moustache and beard, so an artist was swiftly commissioned to change the colour to blonde. The red stripes in the American flag also created problems for the "patriotic" Ballards, since they regarded the red color as evil, too. The solution was to prophesize that the color of the stripes will be changed to golden when the "masters" take power in the near future! Bryan also wonders why Saint Germain, who was both Shakespeare and Bacon in a previous life, speaks in modern colloquial American English, including slang expressions. Perhaps because his "channel" Guy didn't have the benefits of a classical education...?

Guy Ballard was originally a confidence trickster with an obsession with gold mines. When he failed to find one himself, he began selling shares in non-existent mines. In a classical move, he later found religion - and founded his own religion. Or perhaps not entirely his own... In his book "Unveiled Mysteries", Ballard claims to have met the ascended master Saint Germain at Mount Shasta in California. Bryan has little problem showing that Guy Ballard plagiarized his story from an earlier book, "A dweller on two planets" by Frederick S. Oliver. The Ballards also stole ideas from metaphysical writer Baird T. Spalding, whom they had invited for extended conversations at their home! Apparently, the mantra "I AM" is taken from Spalding (who was no stranger to hoaxes himself). Bryan further believes that it was Guy's wife Edna Ballard who was the real mover and shaker behind the group. She had a more genuine interest in alternative spirituality and more personal charisma, while sharing her husband's unhealthy ambitions and low morality. Judging by the author's account, the couple suffered from delusions of grandeur. As already mentioned, Guy claimed to be the reincarnation of George Washington, and at one point declared that Saint Germain had given him all effective power in the United States. In secret nightly conclaves, the inner circle of The I AM Activity gathered to chant "decrees" for the sudden death of president Roosevelt and his wife!

To top it off, the Ballard cult had Nazi connections. Edna Ballard was a student of William Dudley Pelley's message. Pelley was, of course, the founder of the Silver Legion of America, a Nazi organization subsequently investigated by the House Un-American Activities Committee. Pelley's movement had originally been "spiritual". When the budding Führer became more explicitly political, Edna broke with him. Many of the original supporters of The I AM Activity were recruited from the Silver Legion, including Pelley's former treasurer. Despite the Ballard-Pelley split, there are obvious similarities between the two groups: hero worship, "minute men" or storm troopers, hatred for Roosevelt and Communism, and delusional dreams about an imminent Machtübernahme. The main difference is that Pelley attempted to create an actual political organization, while the Ballards fought the New Deal with purely magical-occult means. This is what makes the Ballards sound so pathetic, as when Guy Ballard screamed to his supporters at a meeting in Dallas: "As George Washington, I was head of my army, and if necessary, I will again mount my white horse and lead the armies to victory!" At another meeting in New York, Guy was hailed as the "Commander in Chief of the United States of America" (i.e. president). When the chips were down, the Ballards had nothing, except a couple of ridiculous secret mantras such as "Franklin Delano Roosevelt and Eleanor Roosevelt: Blast, blast, blast their carcasses from the face of the Earth forever". The Mighty I AM Activity really was a puny cult.

"Psychic Dictatorship in America" is an easy read, but perhaps too rambling and badly edited. Yet, it's well worth looking into, at least if you're interested in new religious movements or organizations of the far right. Therefore I give it four stars.