Blimps and spindles

The Royal Teton Ranch?

So I decided to read the supposed revelations of Saint Germain... 

"Unveiled Mysteries" is the first book in the "Saint Germain Series". It was originally published in 1934. Its author, US national Guy Ballard, used the pseudonym Godfré Ray King. Guy and his wife Edna had founded a sect or cult known as The Mighty I AM Activity. It was surprisingly popular during the 1930´s, but gradually faded into obscurity already during the 1940´s, perhaps because Guy Ballard died in 1939. Strictly speaking, the group still exists, now under the name Saint Germain Foundation. A similar message is preached by "the Church Universal and Triumphant", founded by Mark L Prophet and Elizabeth Clare Prophet. 

Ballard claimed to have recieved his teachings from an ascended master, Saint Germain, suggesting that he had studied Theosophy, where Saint Germain has exactly this status. But while the Theosophists emphasize other masters, Ballard turned Saint Germain into a virtual god, making him the chief conduit of supernatural revelations in the present dispensation. The *real* count of Saint Germain was a 18th century alchemist and adventurer active in France, and would probably have been very pleased by his posthumous status as a de facto divinity within a weird American religious cult! 

"Unveiled Mysteries" tells the story of Ballard´s encounters with Saint Germain, said to have taken place in 1930 at Mount Shasta in California. He was also taken to see mysterious underground facilities in the Tetons and Yellowstone. The "plot" is very thin, and most of the book contains Saint Germain´s revelations, which are just as tedious and boring as any other channeled message. OK, maybe they are a *bit* better written, but still mostly boring. The book feels in-house, probably because it really was so: Ballard was addressing an audience relatively knowledgable about early 20th century occultism and alternative spirituality, meaning New Thought and various forms of Theosophy. The reader is supposed to know what an "affirmation" or a "ray" is, and presumably also to recognize references to the chakras or the sunken continent of Mu. Some knew too much - critics of Ballard pointed out that he had plagiarized a number of earlier books, most notably "Dweller on Two Planets" by Phylos the Thibetan!

Like many other "messages" of this kind, Saint Germain´s discourses turn out to be surprisingly contemporary, in this case 1930-ish. The hidden advanced civilizations described in the book have a distinct science fiction flavor, yet their main mode of transportation are "airships" (presumably blimps). They put their precious documents on spindles! Ballard was a former treasure hunter and confidence trickster obsessed with finding gold mines. He may also have been a mining engineer. Naturally, then, Saint Germain and the masters live inside mountains, have advanced mining technology, and constantly lecture Ballard on the spiritual and economic qualities of gold. At one point, Ballard converts a gold-obsessed confidence trickster to the religion of Saint Germain! In real life, *he* may have been the "converted" trickster. Overall, the author seems more interested in gold, yellow diamonds, marble, jade and raw supernatural power than in uniting with the mystical body of the Christ...

The factual errors (or very garbled factoids) are also funny. Saint Germain takes Ballard back in time to the Mexican rain forest, where they encounter an expat colony of Incas. Even more curiously, the Inca ruler has a throne adorned with ostrich feathers. Ostriches, of course, live in Africa, not Mexico. Another classic is the lethal fight between a panther and a mountain lion (which is said to be much larger). Ballard seems to have been unaware of the fact that "panther" and "mountain lion" refers to the same animal species! 

But what about Saint Germain´s message? I was somewhat surprised by the fact that it was almost 100% New Thought. All the sunken continents, unknown civilizations and aliens from Venus (twelve of them) are really vehicles for promoting a kind of metaphysical prosperity gospel. God is said to be pure Love and Life, and these forces permeat the entire universe, indeed the universe is literally alive and loving. However, humans have forgotten this fact, and all limitations and strife arise from this negativity. Ballard believed in reincarnation and karma. If humans could only readjust their spiritual attitudes, so Love and Life can flow through them freely, they would be able to "manifest" anything and everything, and the world would turn into a virtual paradise. The I AM Presence is what Hindus would refer to as Atman, and this Atman is one with God (Brahman). Of course, in the Ballardite perspectiv, this is given a positive and active spin, whereby divine power is called down through the Atman and commanded by the believer. Although Saint Germain emphasizes such qualities as forgiveness, compassion and self-control, I think it´s obvious that Ballard is more interested in the sheer force he rightly or wrongly believed could be "manifested" in this way. Apart from his constant description of golden domes and jewelled lamps, he seems fascinated by the autocratic power of ancient monarchs. None of the fictitious empires described in the book are democratic or even vaguely republican. There is also a prophecy about a utopian age soon coming to the United States, during which a select elite of truly capable people will step forward and take command. (Many of Ballard´s followers, including his wife, were former supporters of the fascist Silver Shirts.) 

And yes, I´m partial to Gerald B Bryan´s classical polemic against the I AM movement, "Psychic Dictatorship in America", reviewed by me elsewhere on this blog. 

Next, I´m going to read Ballard´s "The Magical Presence". Wish me luck...