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The Dark Side of Eckankar

by Ruth and Noah Samuelson

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Introduction
Eckankar, and similar New Age movements, are successful in attracting new members
because they cleverly disguise their real intentions. In our previous article, Evidence
that Eckankar is a covert occult organization and a front for the Illuminati (October
2008), we showed how this New Age movement, founded by Paul Twitchell in 1965,
is really a covert form of Luciferian Freemasonry and that members are unwittingly
worshipping Egyptian deities.

These ‘deities’ are actually demons or powerful psychic entities.

In every period of history, there have existed groups and organizations which
worshipped these demons. In order to recruit and subvert new members, they often
had to present these demons as ‘deities’ or ‘gods,’ otherwise any sensible person would
keep well away. Then, once they join and submit to a series of initiations designed to
‘open’ them to ‘spirit,’ they are gradually brought under the control of these malign
entities. This process can take years, but demons are patient.

The prophets of Israel warned again and again about the dangers of Baal worship. As
messengers of the One True God, they were trying to alert people to the dangers of
magic and the real risk of possession. Jesus spent much of his ministry casting out
demons. Why? Because so many people had fallen under their control.

That was a long time ago, you may say. But demons are as active today as they were
in Biblical times. The spiritual leader of Eckankar, Harold Klemp, confirmed this in
his autobiography, Child in the Wilderness (which we will discuss at greater length
below).

Demons take care never to reveal their true identity until long after their intended
victim has fallen under their spell. Their many seductive guises include ‘masters,’
‘angels,’ ‘totem animals,’ ‘inner lights’ and extra-terrestrials.

In this article we will present compelling evidence, based largely on the written works
of the ‘Eck Masters’ themselves, which show that they are actually operating under a
controlling force and that the ‘illumination’ they promise is Luciferian.

Please be patient with us as we present the evidence. We know this is bound to be a

shocking discovery for sincere members of Eckankar. If you have not already done so,
please read our previous article before proceeding any further. It will help you
recognize that Eckankar is definitely not what it seems.

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Among the members and former members of Eckankar whom we contacted in the
course of our research was Robert Marsh, the author of two books on Eckankar (We
Are Not Alone and Unfold Your Golden Wings). He was deeply shocked by the
evidence set out in our (then) draft article and took several days to recover, at which
stage, he said, “the spell was broken.” He realized that the charges made in the article
were substantially correct, particularly in light of a “ghastly” experience he himself
had just had while on an Eckankar mission to Africa (He later sent us a letter
describing this and other events which, with his permission, we reproduce below).
Other former members of Eckankar supplied additional relevant information and
confirmed certain matters of fact.

We’ll begin by taking a closer look at Paul Twitchell and then see how this cunning
individual deceived a shy and lonely young man, a former student in training for the
Christian ministry, Harold Klemp.

Darwin Gross
However, before embarking on our analysis of Twitchell and Klemp, we’d like first to
say a few words about Darwin Gross, the ‘Eck Master’ who succeeded Twitchell as
leader of Eckankar. Despite the many disturbing facts about him, most new members
know little or nothing about his role in Eckankar. This New Age ‘religion’ is being
presented to the public as though he had never existed, even though he led the
organization for ten years. His bullying, womanizing and arrogant behavior, not to
mention his attempted theft of Eckankar funds – seemingly over $1m – was hardly
consistent with his role as God’s representative on earth. His conduct alone would
convince any objective person that Eckankar is a fraud on every level.

He and Klemp fought a nasty battle for control of the organization, which Klemp
won. In the course of their confrontation, Klemp wrote an article which he circulated
to all members, entitled ‘Methods of the Black Magician’ (The Mystic World, Winter
1983). This was clearly aimed at Gross. Klemp described the methods of the black
magician as follows: “The black magician creeps into his prey’s life, step-by-step.
Every emotional trick is used to bind the two ever more closely together.” Please bear
this statement in mind as we proceed as you may wish to consider whether, and to
what extent, it applies to both Twitchell and Klemp.

Twitchell, Hubbard, Crowley and Parsons

In our previous article we showed the close association between Paul Twitchell and
Ron Hubbard, the founder of Scientology. We mentioned the Satanic rites which
Hubbard conducted with the famous Satanist, Jack Parsons. Parsons studied magic
under the most notorious black magician of the 20th century, Aleister Crowley. During
a magical rite, Crowley became possessed by the demon of Horus while on a trip to
Egypt in 1904. This demon called itself Aiwaz (For some reason, many demons like
names with the letter ‘Z’ in them). Over a period of several years the demon
strengthened its grip until it had Crowley under his complete control. Working
through Crowley via the occult technique known as channeling, the demon produced
a number of major works on black magic, including The Book of the Law and The
Book of Lies. These Satanic books have been consulted avidly ever since by students
of the occult, most of whom try to raise demons through the rites of ceremonial
magic.

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Given Crowley’s status among the world of black magicians and his association with
Parsons, one can be sure that Hubbard was himself possessed. Many attest to his
powerful hypnotic powers and the remarkable psychic control he exercised over his
associates. Demons who have secured possession of a person continually strive to
recruit new victims. Since Twitchell worked closely with Hubbard in the early 1950s,
as both Klemp and Marman have confirmed, and had a number of friends in the inner
circles of scientology (again confirmed by Klemp and Marman), it is very likely that
he came under pressure from Hubbard and others to participate in these or similar
rites. Whether or not he did is unproven.

The Tiger’s Fang

In any event, according to Klemp, Twitchell had the ‘experience’ recorded in The
Tiger’s Fang in late 1956 or early 1957. This book gives a detailed and graphic
account of a journey Twitchell took out of his body while (he claims) visiting the
occult city of Srinigar in Kashmir, northern India. He was led by a ‘master’ named
Rebazar Tarzs who had “shining, coal black eyes.” During this ‘journey’ he met
numerous deities on the ‘inner planes’ and experienced colossal demonstrations of
power, blinding surges of white light, and disabling waves of celestial energy.

Experts in the esoteric and the dangers posed by prolonged fascination with the occult
will recognize Twitchell’s experience as one of severe demonic possession. Twitchell
himself described it as ‘God Realization.’ He thought he was becoming the Godman,
the supreme occult goal sought by all magicians.

Klemp himself confirmed that this experience really shook Twitchell and that it took
him almost ten years to regain some kind of balance in his life. Klemp interpreted
these difficult years in Twitchell’s life as one of major change, in preparation for
mastership. In reality, they were typical of the dreadful inner struggles that many
victims of possession go through before they finally succumb completely to the will
of the demon controlling them. Crowley himself is said to have struggled with his
demon, Aiwaz, for several years before he finally succumbed.

By 1965, the demon had established complete control over Twitchell. He was then
sent on his mission to recruit more victims for his ‘master.’ For this purpose he
established a new occult teaching, dressed up in seductive New Age clothing, which
he called Eckankar. He plagiarized other authors shamelessly – even Marman
concedes this – and used his talent for journalism to promote himself in the public eye
and to package Eckankar in an innocent, eye-catching way.

Twitchell tries to break free

The years between the experience in Srinigar and 1965, where he declared to the
world that he was the ‘Godman,’ the true incarnation of God on earth, Twitchell
appears to have made at least one attempt to escape the power of the demon that was
possessing him. This was around 1961 when, according to Klemp, Twitchell tried to
get baptized into the Catholic Church (The Secret Teachings, p.146-147). For
someone who was only a few years away from declaring to the whole world that he
was the Godman, this was certainly a reckless act, a sign that something was terribly
wrong.

It is unclear why he didn’t persist since the power of Jesus would have set him free.

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Demons attack Twitchell as a boy
In order to promote his movement, Twitchell managed to get Brad Steiger, a popular
author on space aliens and the occult, to write a ‘biography.’ This may have been
arranged by the Illuminati, who were busy funding the creation of New Age cults at
that time (as they still are today). This so-called biography, In My Soul I Am Free, was
little more than a mishmash of pseudo facts about his past and a collection of occult
essays by Twitchell himself. One of these dealt with his animal familiar, Jadoo, a cat
which came in its astral body to protect him in times of danger. As we noted in our
previous article, Twitchell revealed that the name Jadoo meant ‘black magic.’

The book also contains a revealing anecdote. When he was a boy, he went alone to
explore a hill in the countryside about five miles from his home. Returning on foot at
twilight, he had a frightening encounter:

Then something came out of the woods. Its shape was unassuming
enough; it appeared to be a small white lamb. It began to trot behind Paul,
and that was when he noticed its wild reddish eyes and heard the vicious
snarl that it was making deep within its throat. The boy sped in terror
through the lengthening shadows of twilight.

When the two reached the summit of the hill, the creature let out a strange
call. Instantly there seemed to be hundreds of the small, white entities
snarling and snapping at Paul...
“The shape which these entities assumed is certainly unique in the annals
of haunting,” Twitchell said recently. “I don’t think I have ever heard of
any other case wherein ghostly, snarling lambs haunted an area.”

It is well known among practitioners of the occult that manifestations of this kind
during childhood, where demons are drawn to a particular youth for some reason, is
grounds for believing that the same occult attraction will carry into adult life.
Members of the Freemasons advance more quickly into the higher degrees of
initiation if they are known to have had such experiences in childhood.

Twitchell’s paranoia
His insecurities and strange personality led to considerable restlessness in his
professional life. He could never hold a job for more than a year or two, had no steady
friendships, and wandered back and forth across the country. It is not surprising,
therefore, that, footloose and lonely, he entertained fantasies of becoming someone
really special.

Klemp points out that for several decades Twitchell would send material to his
hometown library in Paducah, Kentucky, lauding his achievements, however trivial,
and even managed to promote so much fabricated material about himself that he got
an entry in the Kentucky edition of Who’s Who.

After he appointed himself the Godman – God’s representative on earth – he worked

tirelessly to promote Eckankar and win new adherents. At the same time, he began to
feel his position was under threat and a distinct paranoia became evident in his later
talks and writings, where he imagined that his leading followers were trying to
dethrone him.

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His grandiose plans were such that he envisaged 50 million people around the world
giving over their inner lives to him, the Godman. His craving for recognition was
insatiable. In the following extract, which is full of New Age propaganda, he calls for
the creation of ‘Satsangs’ in every village and hamlet around the world. These are
groups of Eckankar members devoted to the study and dissemination of their Master’s
message (It should be noted that ‘Satsang,’ an important word in Eckankar, contains
the word ‘Satan’):

Therefore the only way the impending world disaster is going to be

averted is to build more Satsangs and to increase the number of chelas
[members] in ECK. This is for the purpose of having more individual
channels for ECK and a greater collective channel for the ECK to have an
opportunity to make this world a better place to live and to bring peace to
all. There is no other way of doing this. This is also your contribution for
helping the MAHANTA to spread truth and its message to all concerned. It
is also your contribution to mankind. This is the reason that we want ECK
Satsangs in every hamlet, village and city throughout the world. Your
contribution, being a vehicle for the ECK Itself, makes you important in
the works of ECK. It needs you as you need It. By the year 1985 we
should have several million ECKists around the world. I do believe that a
figure of 50 million is not impossible.
- Illuminated Way Letter, April 1971

These ‘Illuminated Way Letters’, written by Twitchell between 1966 and 1971, were
published by Eckankar in 1975 but withdrawn by Klemp when he came to power.
Again Twitchell’s messianic approach was too strong for the more subtle brand of
marketing that Klemp had in mind.

Deceit, manipulation and the cult of personality

Twitchell continued to promote his mystical, all-powerful persona right up the time of
his death. The first chapter of a his so-called official biography was published in
segments in several issues of his quarterly magazine, The Mystic World, in the period
1970-1971. It was to be called ‘The Wind from Heaven’ and was allegedly written by
a completely unknown individual, James Walker. The writing style of this
‘biographer’ was suspiciously like that of Twitchell himself, bad grammar and all. Not
surprisingly, this ‘biography’ never appeared since Twitchell died before he could
complete it.

In it he praised himself to the skies. Here are just a few choice excerpts, which crackle
with the egotism of a self-publicist in full flight: “Close to fifty million people in
practically every country in the world seek spiritual succor for some complaint,
regardless of what it may be, from this shy American-born guru. From the looks of
things, their petitions are not in vain, for his spiritual help brings a minimum of some
twelve to fifteen thousand letters a week...” Incredible stuff, all lies.

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“Articles both pro and con have brought about a raging controversy as to whether or
not he has replaced the eminent figures of religion, Buddha, Christ, Moses, St Paul of
Christian fame and Mohammed.” What articles? What controversy? Hardly anyone in
the media had ever heard of Twitchell. “He walks the streets of the world capitals with
large crowds in his wake...” More lies. If he was virtually unknown in the US, he was
totally unknown abroad. “Scientists, doctors, clergymen, psychologists...seek out this
extraordinary man hoping he will unravel for them the secrets of the supernatural...”
More nonsense.

“The charismaism of Paul Twitchell cannot be described in words.” Yes, he did use
the word charismaism. “He always travels incognito for whenever the word is spread
that he is visiting a city – whether it is Rome, London, Paris, New York, Istanbul or
Tokyo, a vast crowd gathers around the airport or hotel hoping to see him or receive a
word from him.” This is all chicanery, without any basis in fact. “Because of his
supernatural ability to be in many places simultaneously, he has become one of the
most influential spiritual leaders in the history of man.” Nothing less for Twitchell. He
consistently observed the dictum that, if you are going to lie, then tell really big lies –
there will always be someone foolish and trusting enough to believe them.

All of these excerpts came from just one article (January-March, 1971). There were
four others, all deceitful and manipulative in one degree or another. For example, in
the issue of The Mystic World for July-September 1971, he says a viceroy of Sat Nam
(God) convened with other “ECK Masters” in the early 17th century “to discuss the
birth of the coming avatar of the twentieth century, Peddar Zaskq.” This, of course,
was Twitchell himself. He then says he was born during the great earthquake that
shook the Mississippi valley. For those who know a little history, this event occurred
in 1812. Being the Godman, he had a “miraculous birth.” He then says he met the Eck
Master, Sudar Singh in Paris while still in his teens and followed him to India. All of
which is completely untrue. Sudar Singh was just a cover name for one of the Radha
Soami teachers that Twitchell met in later life.

None of these five articles from The Mystic World, 1970-1971, have been made
available to today’s members of Eckankar. They reveal too starkly how deceitful and
deluded Twitchell was and how little regard he had for the intelligence of his
audience. They show the extent he was prepared to go to promote his cult of
personality and to lend credence to the fraud he was perpetrating on naive and trusting
individuals.

Twitchell’s attacks on Christianity

Twitchell knew that his main enemy was Christianity and, like so many New Age
groups, he tried every way he could to belittle the divinity of Jesus and reduce his
spiritual stature. His favorite trick, which he repeated many times, was to assert that
Jesus was no more than a wise healer who was initiated into Eckankar in Tibet by the
so-called Eck Master, Fubbi Quantz (another ‘Z’). He even said that this was only the
initiation of the Second level, which anyone could receive after a mere two years in
Eckankar.

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In writings restricted to circulation among members, he was even more disparaging
about Jesus and used every opportunity to portray him as a well-meaning but
misguided person with a few psychic gifts. For example, in one set of discourses,
called Letters to a Chela, he makes the following caustic remarks:

Jesus is dead whether anyone believes this or not. He died some 2000
years ago and has not been with this world since. This is the saddest aspect
of Christian religious history...Christianity as a historic religion was not
founded by Jesus, but by an educated Jew named Paul...Those priests and
clergy who preach the word of Jesus and the God of Christianity [are]
thereby only speaking in the terms of institutional religion, that of the
educated. They preach from the Christian Bible, as the authority for their
case, based upon the words of their God. Therefore we find that this is a
false teaching... [p.25-26]

He rants on in this vein for page after page, describing Jesus and Christianity in
offensive terms. Thus it is hardly surprising that this alarming tirade has long been
withdrawn by Eckankar, even from Eckankar members – it reveals too much about
the organization’s real intentions.

Twitchell also liked to undermine the Bible while disparaging Jesus. Patti Simpson, a
close disciple of Twitchell, reports the following comments by him in her book,
Paulji: A Memoir:

Anyone who is a student of the Bible or any of the sacred writings, but
particularly the Bible which we are more familiar with in this country,
knows that all the statements attributed to Jesus were not actually
statements that Jesus made, but they were made later by good writers in
their translations...So you have people rewriting the King James version,
rewriting it until they have perfected it to reach all mankind, all states of
consciousness. [p.213-214]

This malicious claim is a central element in the New Age agenda, to attack the word
of God as it is recorded in the King James Bible – the authorized version in the
English language – and make it more and more difficult for people to practice
Christianity as God intended. The countless versions or ‘translations’ of the Bible in
the bookstores today are testimony to this. The New Age movement keeps pushing for
more ‘versions,’ striving all the time to dilute its spiritual force and sow confusion
among Christians. Clearly, Twitchell endorsed this subversive strategy. Notice too that
he mentions the King James version by name – that’s the one the Luciferians really
hate.

Twitchell also had contempt for the prophets of Israel. Here is what he says in The
ECK-Vidya: Ancient Science of Prophecy:

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 Prophets as a distinct class within the Israelite society first appeared in the
days of Samuel and Saul, about the tenth century B.C. The tradition of these
uncontrollable spokesmen for the God of Israel occupied an important
position within the community, as much as the ECK-Vidya prophet does
today within the world community...Yet none of these [ECK-Vidya
prophets] were, as the members of Israelite cultic prophets, uncontrolled in
their inspired utterance, visionary experiences and predictions of the future.
They were in full control of their senses and spoke with clarity to all
concerned. [from Chapter Two]

He describes the prophets of Israel as “uncontrolled” and “uncontrollable.” Since they

were speaking the word of God, who exactly was not able to control them? The
answer – Lucifer.

It should be noted also that there are no prophets in Eckankar. Twitchell is the only
one who ever tried to prophesy and his record was abysmal, a painful embarrassment
that the organization never mentions.

Also, in 27 years, Harold Klemp, the self-styled ‘Modern Prophet,’ has never dared to
prophesy!

He also continues the Twitchell tradition of disparaging Jesus and Christianity, but in
a much more subtle way. His 16-volume Mahanta Transcripts are peppered with
comments and observations that belittle the Christian faith, the mission of Jesus
Christ, the Holy Trinity, the return of the Redeemer, our personal relationship with
God through Jesus, the veracity of the Holy Bible, the death and resurrection of
Christ, the power of repentance, the cleansing power of Baptism, the miracles of
Jesus, the spiritual power and authority of the Apostles, the divinely inspired life of
Abraham, and so forth. He rarely misses a chance to trivialize or dismiss Christianity.
One of his favorite tricks is to separate Jesus from what he calls the ‘Christ
consciousness.’ In this way, he tries to contend that Jesus was simply one of many
holymen who possessed the ‘Christ consciousness.’ The clever way he does this
throughout his writings is quite relentless.

As we said before, the whole purpose of the New Age campaign, whether through
Eckankar or any number of other movements, is to draw Christians away from Christ.
The object they hate the most is the Authorized King James Bible. Their ultimate goal
is to lure people so far from orthodox Christianity, as stated in the Kings James Bible,
that they will accept the New Age initiation which many cults and neo-pagan groups
are expecting to accompany the so-called Harmonic Convergence which they believe
is scheduled for sometime around 2012. In their foolishness, these followers believe a
new era of peace and higher consciousness is about to be inaugurated, when in reality
a plague of Satanic forces, with widespread fascist oppression, is set to be unleashed.

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Twitchell describes the ‘Mahanta’
Twitchell made some taped interviews which were published in the Eckankar book,
Difficulties of Becoming the Living ECK Master, which has since been withdrawn.
The aim of the taped interviews was to capture the way the ‘Mahanta’ worked through
Twitchell. Our previous article showed how he tricked followers of Eckankar into
chanting the name of three Egyptian deities by combining them into one word,
Mahanta, his esoteric term for the all-powerful Godman. These deities were Maa (or
Maat), On (the Sun God) and Ptah (the Sun God in his rising aspect). When
combined, they become maa-on-ptah or Mahanta.

The Eckankar philosophy has many other cleverly concealed links to the dark magic
of Egyptian religion. Key terms – Eck (Spirit), Eckankar, (co-worker with God),
Sugmad (Supreme God), and Hu (the word of God) – actually incorporate names of
Sun Barque deities from the Old Kingdom of ancient Egypt. The Eckankar two-
volume scripture, The Shariyat-Ki-Sugmad, was channeled through Twitchell by two
ascended ‘Masters’ in much the same way that Aleister Crowley was used to channel
The Book of the Law. Twitchell even admitted that the second volume was based in
part on the Egyptian Book of the Dead, a deeply occult tome also known as ‘The
Book of Coming Forth by Day’ (See The Illuminated Way Letters, p.182).

He was intrigued by the way his controlling entity, the ‘Mahanta,’ used him and
sometimes referred to it as “this thing.” Here is a revealing excerpt from the Eckankar
book, Paulji: A Memoir, by one of his leading disciples, Patti Simpson, who
conducted the taped interviews:

He realized that he never knew what he was going to say, or when he

would suddenly lapse into this greater consciousness and put into motion
or record something that was a direct manifestation of the Mahanta
Consciousness in operation. He once said, “It will help us to see how this
thing works.”... Except in his writings and lectures, in which he used the
proper terminology, he referred to the Mahanta Consciousness as “this
thing”... [p.280-281]

Simpson also describes a disturbing dream where Twitchell, during a period of illness,
drained away her life force without her permission and used it to rejuvenate himself:

The shadowy figure put the syringe into the area of my solar plexus. I
didn’t feel it go in, but then he began to withdraw something from me,
which I did feel. It felt as if some of my energy, or life force, was sucked
out into the syringe; I could feel it clear down to the physical body, which
immediately felt a surge of nausea. [p.101-102]

Simpson also noted that Twitchell was greatly interested in the Civil War and would
return to it time and again during conversation. Doug Marman, who has researched
Twitchell’s life for many years, confirmed this in his book, The Whole Truth. This
preoccupation with violent death and bloodshed on an epic scale is never found
among spiritual individuals but is often observed in people with disturbed
personalities.

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The Twitchell personality
For many years Professor David Lane carried out extensive research into Paul
Twitchell and bravely weathered repeated rebukes from Eckankar and its members.
According to Professor Lane, Twitchell “was a notorious plagiarist and a first rate
liar.” Initially we thought this assessment may have been too harsh. Now we have no
doubt that it is absolutely correct, and very probably does not go far enough. It is clear
from the books by Marman, Steiger and Simpson, and the many stories told by
Klemp, that Twitchell was also a social misfit, a fantasist with extravagant delusions
about his spiritual stature and an insatiable craving for adulation and attention.

He struggled continuously to retain a hold on his followers and issued many subtle,
and some not so subtle, threats to prevent them leaving. He once wrote, “No one can
leave the ECK Master and go scot-free. They must pay the penalty.” (Illuminated
Ways Letters, p.158)

In the early 1980s, Klemp promised to publish both an authorized biography of

Twitchell and an official history of Eckankar. Not surprisingly, after 25 years, neither
has appeared. Any historian worth his salt would soon discover the truth.

Child in the Wilderness

We shall now examine the ‘illumination’ of Harold Klemp. This experience in ‘God-
Realization,’ as he put it, took place on a bridge somewhere in Wisconsin in 1970. He
describes the lead up, the experience itself, and the aftermath in his autobio-graphical
book, Child in the Wilderness.

This book must have been very perplexing for Eckankar members when it first
appeared in 1989. In it, Klemp frankly admits that he was so disturbed by the
experience of ‘God-Realization’ that he jumped into a freezing river in the middle of
the night, nearly died and had to be hospitalized. Then, releasing himself from
hospital, he went to an airport to take a flight to be with his ‘master,’ Paul Twitchell.
While in the waiting area, he stood up and began taking off his clothes. At this point
the authorities intervened and took him to a secure mental institution for treatment
and observation. He was there for several weeks before finally being released.

Demons attack Klemp

While inside the mental institution, Klemp had a frightening encounter with three
discarnate entities – low-level demons – which fought viciously to possess him. A
demented man in the neighboring room had just died and the three entities that had
been living inside him were on the prowl for another victim. Klemp was asleep but
says he awoke in his astral body when “three men of ghoulish appearance kicked open
the door of my room and burst in. Then I knew: They had plans to possess me before
the night was over...then began a vicious thumb-jamming, eye-gouging, hair-pulling
fight for my life that I could never have imagined in my wildest dreams. Again and
again, they attacked.” Klemp says he called on the Mahanta but no help arrived. He
tries to rationalize this in his book by claiming that he had to “surmount the trials of
life and evolve into a greater spiritual being.” However, the reality is that no help was
forthcoming. He was on his own.

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Did no one think to ask why Klemp was attacked by demons and yet had to defend
himself, without any assistance whatever from his ‘master’? Where was the so-called
Mahanta who was meant to provide complete protection against attacks of this kind?
Even though he had been in Eckankar for three years or so and had received the
Second Initiation in person from Paul Twitchell, Klemp was completely alone and
defenseless.

It’s as if the entire membership of Eckankar has gone to sleep. No one seems to see
the alarming contradiction in what Klemp describes as his most important book. Why
was a loyal disciple subjected to such an ordeal, with no help or protection whatever?

Experience on the Bridge

The experience on the bridge was preceded by an encounter earlier in the evening
with two men who, judging by Klemp’s description of their conduct and demeanor,
were very nasty individuals indeed. One of them, “the stranger,” had given peculiar
esoteric instructions to Klemp in the days leading up to the incident on the bridge and
actually guided him into the experience itself.

Here is how Klemp described his ‘God-Realization’ experience in Child in the

Wilderness (p.129-131):

The stranger broke in on my thoughts. “Look there!” he said. “The Light

of God!” From out of the night, as if from a distant lighthouse, came a
searing bolt of blue-white light that pierced my heart...the Light of God
poured endlessly into my heart as It swept down from the God
planes...Then it came, barely a breath of sound gliding over the water...
“O God, no!” I cried. With each tidefall, I reeled. The full Ocean of
Love and Mercy was crushing me, cleansing, scouring, blessing. A great
pain burst through me: a white-hot fire. I screamed in agony, “O God, let
this stop!”...Long cries of anguish rose from my depths, deep and full.
My body was ripped, slashed by a thousand claws, and as many
hammers pounded from all sides. I then became aware of standing bent
over double on the bridge. Ghastly screams rent the night. Was this
me?...Slowly I straightened up. My sides burned with a stabbing pain,
from the screams that came with Soul’s cleansing.

Now let’s look at the description that Twitchell gave of his own experience of ‘God-
Realization’ in The Tiger’s Fang:

A giant shapeless thing seemed to appear from somewhere out of the

light and hovered over us, watching, waiting and staring as if ready to
pounce upon us at the very moment it decided. There was an awfulness
about it, whatever it was, and about the only impression I had of this
shapeless being was that it was like an eagle with outstretched claws. A
strange power flowed from it, downward into us...A bellowing laughter
roared through the light, yet it was not a sound but an electric
movement, a power that ripped and tore into me, a motivating motion of
light sensation. It thrust into me, with a clash, collision, shock and an
impact that was astounding...Something came out of the light, a
shapeless thing like a cloud, smothering me with its flowing motion. It
attacked me with an impelling force of dynamic onset. It slashed, slit,

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 split, ripped, cleaved, wrenched and dismembered me with its terrible
forces.
“Power! Power!” It shot atoms of sound toward me. “Power! That is
God! Understand that you fool! Nothing is greater than power. With
power you can do anything. Defeat any enemy, construct the good, and
be the greatest of all things...Look for yourself. Is not hatred more
powerful than love? Can’t you do more for yourself if you have revenge
in doing it?...You too can be the Master and have followers who will
come and worship at your feet...”
...The Lord Agam Purusha came in, suddenly seized me with sharp
talons and pushed, pulled and worked in a massaging manner that was
astounding but painful. The sound whistled through me and the hideous
laughter rung around me and was like a nauseating pulse of
electricity...The light became very strong around me...I was a part of that
cloud of light, a flaming robe around me, in the center of this blinding
light. Something entered into my heart...Then I was God!
Who can follow a path whose deity proclaims, “Is not hatred more powerful than
love? Can’t you do more for yourself if you have revenge in doing it?” It shows the
strength of the mind control exercised by Eckankar that otherwise good people can be
taken in by all of this.

Now let’s compare the Klemp and Twitchell accounts with the following description
of a similar experience by another author:

Before I could move or speak, a pillar of light roared down out of the
unseen caverns of the ceiling...Out of the light appeared a huge being,
difficult to describe. He, too, was robed in white, and had white hair
flowing down to his shoulders. Mighty wings swept out from his
shoulders...
The brilliance of the light and the quicksilver changes taking place in the
giant being before me made my eyes burn and water...
“You have tasted of the illumination of our Master, the Light-Bearer, and
have been found worthy to receive the Light,” my guide told me...
I had to shut my eyes for the light which glared forth. It seemed my
eyeballs were turning to molten steel. My forehead was about to
explode. I felt a claw tear into my brow, right between but slightly above
my eyebrows and insert itself into my brain like a white-hot poker. I
tried to scream but could not. My entire body felt like it was going to
burst from being filled with roaring, flaming hot light...
I finally managed a scream. But before the scream was finished, I was
through the wall and traveling on what seemed to be a lightning bolt
crashing through clouds and hurtling toward the earth.

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There are unmistakable similarities between these three experiences. A notable feature
of the last one, however, is that the man who went through it – Bill Schnoebelen –
said it took place in a ghoulish temple where strange voices chanted, “Ave Satanas,
Rege Satanas” – Hail Satan, Satan rules:

My life was profoundly changed from that time on. If that being was
indeed Satan, he had given me a Mark I was to carry with me for many
years to come. That Mark was a sign that I was his property, and I could
never forget it. It was a nightmare, but one from which I could not
awaken. – from Lucifer Dethroned, 1993

Schnoebelen is a self-confessed ex-Satanist, ex-member of the Illuminati, a former

32nd degree Mason, and a former practitioner of demonic black magic. For sixteen
years he immersed himself totally in the dark arts, during which time he had the
experience described above. He has since turned to Our Lord Jesus Christ and
renounced his Luciferian past.

Jesus warned of this false light when he said: “But if thine eye be evil, thy whole body
shall be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is
that darkness!” (Matthew 6:23)

Note that term, if the light that is in thee be darkness. Followers of New Age groups
are actually turning to this dark light, the false light of Lucifer. As a result naive and
gullible Christians are being drawn cunningly into a deadly trap.

It says something about the spell cast by Eckankar that few of its members appear to
have expressed concern over Klemp’s disturbing book, Child in the Wilderness.
Klemp cleverly put the most unsettling parts in the middle chapters and used the rest
of the book to rationalize his extraordinary conduct. In this way he managed to
convince his followers that his behavior was heroic rather than bizarre.

Craving attention
Satan craves attention. He longs to usurp God and rule both heaven and earth. He
wants everyone to worship him and bow to his will. Since the beginning of time he
and his cohort of demons have ensnared those foolish enough to dabble in magic of
any kind. As channels for his power, his principal followers on earth have the same
craving for attention. Just about all New Age gurus and self-proclaimed masters want
to be the center of attention. Eckankar is no different. While he protests that he does
not want to be worshipped, Harold Klemp has ensured that his photo appears in
virtually all books, newsletters and other publications produced by Eckankar.
Members are encouraged to keep at least one photo of him in their homes and on their
person and to use it for their half-hour daily meditations. This strange practice is even
given a special name – Tiwaja. They are told to look into his eyes and to invite him to
enter into their minds and hearts. They are even instructed to speak to him silently in
the course of the day, to share their innermost thoughts with him and to ask him – and
only him – for spiritual guidance and protection. If this isn’t worship, what is?

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In addition, members are asked to place their attention on him as fully as possible
every Friday. This exercise is to be practiced all day long, regardless. Members who
have difficulty doing this are told to persist since, as Klemp alleges, it is vital for their
‘spiritual growth.’ They are also exhorted, where possible, to continue this exercise, or
a milder form of it, on other days of the week.

On top of this, members of two-years standing and above are told to write a report to
him every month, which may involve divulging private details about their lives and
their innermost thoughts, including any doubts they may have about him and his
divine powers.

It is interesting that the three obligatory practices for all Eckankar members – the half
hour daily meditation, the Friday ‘mental fast,’ and the monthly report – all have one
thing in common – Harold Klemp. Short of living with him in an ashram, it is hard to
imagine a more complete form of self-abasement before another human being.

Klemp’s ‘spiritual’ name

According to the Eckankar writings, every Eck Master has a ‘spiritual’ name.
Apparently no reason is given for this, but it is a common practice in the occult.
Members are taught to call on the Mahanta and other Eck Masters by using their
‘spiritual’ name and to repeat these names, which are regarded as ‘charged words,’
during the day and in their daily meditations. (Twitchell’s ‘spiritual’ name was Peddar
Zaskq – yet another Z.)

In his book, Soul Travelers of the Far Country, Klemp describes how he got his
spiritual name. He was cossetted at the time in a photographic dark room with the
Living ECK Master who preceded him, Darwin Gross. According to Klemp, the
conversation went as follows:

Later that afternoon, the Living ECK Master dropped by again. In the
darkroom he asked, “Do you know your spiritual name?”
“Yes,” I said. “Z!”
“What?”
A noisy ceiling fan was on for circulation, and he did not hear me. So I
repeated, “Z!” That is my true identity for all time. Paul [Twitchell] had
given it to me in the early 1970s.
“How about Wah Z?” he asked.
The added syllable meant the Inner Master working with initiates in a
particular way on the spiritual planes. Z, or Wah Z, means the Secret
Doctrine.

We have already seen how Aleister Crowley was possessed by a powerful demon
called Aiwaz. Applying the standard occult practice of reversal to achieve a magical
outcome, we can reverse the syllables of the demon’s name, so Aiwaz becomes
Wazai. Do you see any similarity between this and Klemp’s spiritual name, given to
him in a small, dark room?

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A former high initiate in Eckankar describes a demonic attack
As we mentioned earlier, we made contact with Robert Marsh during our research. He
was a high initiate in Eckankar for many years and author of two Eckankar
publications. He was greatly taken aback by what he learned about its hidden occult
agenda. A few weeks later he sent us a short account of a dreadful Satanic attack he
endured while fulfilling an engagement for Eckankar in Africa:

Your article came as a bolt from the blue, but it fell on fertile ground
(Pardon my metaphors!) As I said, I had already had a ghastly encounter
with Satan during my recent trip to an Eckankar seminar in Africa. A
coven of witches, masquerading as ‘friends,’ opened the door to the dark
force and directed it at me. The attack came during sleep. The demon itself
was so evil, so incredibly vicious and wicked, that I cannot even begin to
describe it. His hatred of me, and all humans, was astounding. And his
power, wow! He raged viciously around me, trying to lure me out of my
‘safe place’. He even sent in two lesser demons, who had no power in my
safe place, to deceive me and lure me out. The raging provocation went on
for some time. Not once did an ECK Master of any kind appear to protect
me. I was on my own. And yet someone did protect me, because I
survived.
Afterwards I began to wake up to the full horror of what had happened. I
began to realize who had protected me and put me in a safe place. It was
Jesus. I know this for certain because my safe place was in the shape of
the communion host. Even though I had abandoned Christianity 33 years
before, he stepped in to protect a lost Soul. I had been lured into a Satanic
ambush.
The coven of witches were amazed that I survived. As far as they were
concerned, I should have been either demonically possessed or stone dead.
This awful experience totally broke the spell cast by Eckankar. It is hard to
believe I spent years preaching the merits of this deceitful path! I too was
deceived. I hope the many people who have read my books will forgive
me.
Later, I phoned Eckankar in Minneapolis to tell them what had happened.
They phoned back with three prepared questions: (1) how on earth did I
survive? (2) what day did the attack take place? and (3) what do you think
this all means? I was amazed. Their questions were so cunning.
Afterwards, I wondered why they asked about the date of the attack (I was
in Africa for 12 days). It actually took place on 1 August – which (as you
guys probably know) is a famous date in the occult calendar! The witches
call it Lughnasa, a major sabbath when the Devil demands human
sacrifice.
Now let me tell you how I came to write my first book, We Are Not Alone.
Harold Klemp asked to see me while I was attending the European
Seminar in the Hague in August 1988. He said he wanted me to write a
book about my experiences in Eckankar. Naturally I was delighted to
provide this ‘spiritual’ service. Little did I know that my ‘experiences’
were generated by the Great Deceiver and had no spiritual value whatever.

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Anyway, as I sat there, Klemp’s eyes went completely black. Not just the
iris and pupil, but the entire surface of both eyes. Totally black. This was
so eerie, but being a ‘good chela’ I thought it was a positive sign(!) Then
they filled with a strange diamond-like, sparkling light. This happened
twice – black, sparkles, black, sparkles. Not in perfect succession, but with
interruptions as my attention was distracted elsewhere.
This should have been a warning, but I was very naive (like so many
ECKists). When I was at the Springtime Seminar in Minneapolis in 2008 a
longtime ECKist I knew came up to me and joyfully told me how she had
met the Master [Klemp] just a few weeks before. She asked if I had ever
met him face to face. I said I had. Then she said something really strange,
in a hushed tone: “Did he do that black eye thing with you?”
Another strange encounter took place in 1993, this time in Paris. As a
RESA (a big cheese in ECK) I was entitled to attend a special RESA
meeting with the Master. There were about nine or ten RESAs in the
room, waiting for him to arrive. When he did, I got such a shock. He was
not his normal self but a strangely withered spectacle. Just skin and bone.
He face was drawn with pain. I remembered his words from the RESA
meeting in Paris the previous year – “I don’t much care for this position
anymore.” I could see why. I knew he was under severe demonic attack.
But in my foolishness I thought he was the great Master fighting off the
demons, not a victim struggling to survive. It was a very troubling
experience for me. And yet even that didn’t wake me up (Some people
never learn).
One last story. I was in Minneapolis in 2002 as guest speaker at their
regional seminar. While I was there I happened to meet a guy who worked
as night-watchman at the Temple of ECK while it was being built. He said
he did this for about a year or so, maybe less. It was the most eerie
experience he ever had. Every night the place would crawl with strange
entities and beings. He was very frightened but he figured he had been
given the great privilege and so made himself stay. You know, not many
can claim to have been on site while a ‘Wisdom Temple’ was being built.
But he was in bad shape. Even after ten years, he still carried the psycho-
logical scars. He said he had to go away and heal for about 4-5 years. He
couldn’t work. He could hardly function normally as a human being.
Even this story, a glorious gift from God, didn’t wake me up! I guess I
thought I knew it all.
As Jesus warned us, “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in
sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.”
I think of all the good people who listened to my talks at ECK seminars
and believed the whole thing to be so spiritual. And yet we were all being
led like lambs to the slaughter.

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Conclusion
Well, that’s it. We probably won’t research this bizarre path any further. If people
don’t see its dark Luciferian core at this stage, it’s possible they never will.

If you are a member of Eckankar and you are troubled by this article, please consider
counselling from a trained professional, preferably someone who has experience
dealing with mind-control cults and a rock-solid foundation in Christianity. As we
said in our previous article, we regret having to make this information available, but
the subject matter is simply too serious to ignore.

[December 1, 2008]

Select Bibliography
Gross, D From Heaven to the Prairie, IWP Publishing, 1980
Klemp, H Child in the Wilderness, Eckankar, 1989
The Living Word, Eckankar, 1989
The Secret Teachings, Eckankar, 1989
Soul Travelers of the Far Country, Eckankar, 1987
Lane, D The Making of a Spiritual Movement: The Untold Story of Paul
Twitchell and Eckankar, Del Mar Press, 1993
Marman, D The Whole Truth: The Legacy of Paul Twitchell, Spiritual
Dialogues Project, 2007
Schnoebelen, B Lucifer Dethroned, Chick Publications, 1993
Simpson, P Paulji: A Memoir, Illuminated Way Publishing, 1985
Steiger, B In My Soul I Am Free, Lancer, 1968 (co-written by P Twitchell)
Twitchell, P The Illuminated Way Letters 1966-1971, IWP Publishing, 1975
Letters to a Chela, Eckankar, 1980
The Tiger’s Fang, Lancer, 1967

Copyright 2008. This paper, or appropriate parts thereof, may be reproduced or circulated in
any format without permission provided the authors are acknowledged and no changes of any
kind are made to the text.

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