"I AM" Activity

Ascended master teachings religious movement December 2013 New Religious Movement Neo-Theosophy Guy Ballard and Edna Ballard 1930s Chicago, Illinois, United States thumb|Guy and Edna Ballard The I AM Activity, also referred to as the I AM Temple,Pacheco Ana 2022-02-18 A New Religion Comes to Santa Fe https://historyinsantafe.com/santa-fe-i-am-american-born-religion/ 2024-06-07 History in Santa Fe2023-04-27 Loop place of worship broken into, ransacked; suspect injured, CPD says https://abc7chicago.com/i-am-temple-vandalized-washington-street-loop-chicago-police/13190203/ 2024-06-07 ABC7 Chicago is a neo-Theosophical religious movement founded in the early 1930s by Guy Ballard (1878–1939) and his wife Edna Anne Wheeler Ballard (1886–1971) in Chicago, Illinois, based on the purported teachings of "ascended masters."Melton J. Gordon J. Gordon Melton 2005 Jones Lindsay Encyclopedia of Religion 6 Detroit Macmillan Reference USA 2nd 4245–4247 I Am https://archive.org/details/ed.-l.-jones-encyclopedia-of-religion-15-volume-set-2004 0-02-865997-X 2025-03-29 Internet ArchiveSaint Germain Foundation. The History of the "I AM" Activity and Saint Germain Foundation. Saint Germain Press 2003 1-878891-99-5 It is an offshoot of theosophy and a major precursor of several New Age religions including the Church Universal and Triumphant.Partridge Christopher Christopher Partridge Partridge Christopher The 'I AM' Religious Activity New Religions: A Guide: New Religious Movements, Sects and Alternative Spiritualities 2004 Oxford University Press New York 330,332 https://archive.org/details/newreligionsguid0000unse Internet Archive registration 2025-03-29 0-19-522042-0 330 The movement had up to a million followers in 1938The I AM Movement Sects, 'Cults', and Alternative Religions: A World Survey and Sourcebook Barrett David V. 1996 Blandford London 191–192 0-7137-2567-2 registration https://archive.org/details/sectscultsaltern00barr Internet Archive 2025-03-29 191 and is still active today on a smaller scale. Upon Ballard's death, several members founded their own splinter groups, adding their own beliefs and teachings to those of the original movement. The parent organization of the movement is the Saint Germain Foundation, which maintains its worldwide headquarters in Schaumburg, Illinois.http://www.saintgermainfoundation.org/ The Original "I AM" Instruction: How It All Began The Saint Germain Foundation December 17, 2007 Saint Germain Foundation The "I AM" Activity is spiritual, educational and practical. There are no financial schemes behind it; no admission is ever charged. It takes no political stance in any nation. The parent organization is Saint Germain Foundation, with worldwide headquarters located in Schaumburg, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago. It is represented throughout the world by 300 local groups termed "I AM" Sanctuary, "I AM" Temple, "I AM" Study Groups, or "I AM" Reading Room. Saint Germain Foundation and its local activities are not affiliated with any other organization or persons. https://web.archive.org/web/20071213053152/http://www.saintgermainfoundation.org/ December 13, 2007 dead mdy In 2007, the Foundation's website said the movement was represented internationally by 300 groups, operating under names such as "'I AM' Sanctuary" and "'I AM' Temple." As of 2025, the website describes "hundreds" of Sanctuaries and Temples, in major cities throughout the United States, Canada, Western Europe, and Australia; additional groups are located in Latin America, India, and Africa.https://www.saintgermainfoundation.org/our-activities Our Activities The Saint Germain Foundation Saint Germain Foundation 2025-03-29 There are hundreds of "I AM" Temples and Sanctuaries located in most principal cities of the United States, Canada, Western Europe, Australia, and locations in India, Latin America and Africa... live 2025-02-02 https://web.archive.org/web/20250202100814/https://www.saintgermainfoundation.org/our-activities The organization has stated that its purpose is "spiritual, educational and practical", and that no admission fee is charged for their activities. The term "I AM" is a reference to the ancient Sanskrit mantra So HamMarch 2025 and the divine biblical name "I Am that I Am".6 Overview The "I AM" Activity was influenced by the teachings of Helena Blavatsky and William Quan Judge, two of the founders of the original Theosophical Society. The movement also adopted elements of New Thought. To these spiritual movements, Ballard added a strong nationalistic flavor, claiming a new golden age would emerge in the United States.Celestini Carmen Amarasingam Amarnath 6 December 2023 Reviving the Violet Flame: The New Age conspiratorial journey of Canada's Queen Romana Didulo Studies in Religion/Sciences Religieuses 53 3 366–389 10.1177/00084298231209700 free The Ballards also borrowed from William Dudley Pelley's spiritual writings, with Edna allegedly attending several classes offered by Pelley. While there are no indications that Pelley was a member of I AM, Ballard early on recruited several members of his fascist organization, the Silver Legion of America.Deveney Pat New Liberator http://iapsop.com/archive/materials/new_liberator/ live https://web.archive.org/web/20230601050750/http://iapsop.com/archive/materials/new_liberator/ 1 June 2023 16 December 2023 The International Association for the Preservation of Spiritualist and Occult PeriodicalsBryan Gerald B. http://www.orgonelab.org/PsychDict.pdf Psychic Dictatorship in America Truth Research Publications 1940 Los Angeles, California 24–25 The movement believes in the existence of a group called the "ascended masters", a hierarchy of supernatural beings that includes the original theosophical masters such as Jesus, El Morya Khan, Maitreya, and in addition several dozen more beyond the original 20 Masters of the Ancient Wisdom of the original theosophists as described by Helena Petrovna Blavatsky. These ascended masters are believed to be humans who have lived in a succession of reincarnations in physical bodies or cosmic beings (beings originated from the great central sun of light in the beginning of all times). Over time, those who have passed through various "embodiments" became highly advanced souls, are able to move beyond the cycles of "re-embodiments" and karma, and attained their "ascension", becoming immortal. Ascended masters are believed to communicate to humanity through certain trained messengers per Blavatsky, including Guy and Edna Ballard.330 Because Jesus is believed to be one of the ascended masters, making the "Christ Light" available to seekers who wish to move out of darkness, many of the members of the "I AM" Activity consider it to be a Christian religion.Melton J. Gordon J. Gordon Melton The "I AM" Religious Activity Encyclopedic Handbook of Cults in America 1992 1986 revised and updated Gardland New York 58–67 978-0-8153-1140-9 https://books.google.com/books?id=KRTGzgpDvL4C Google Books 2025-03-29 63 According to the Los Angeles Magazine, Ballard said he was the re-embodiment of George Washington, an Egyptian priest, and a noted French musician. Joshua Thompkins The mighty I Am Los Angeles Magazine April 1997 22–23 https://books.google.com/books?id=sl0EAAAAMBAJ Google Books 2025-03-29 23 Ballard died in 1939. In 1942, his wife and son were convicted of mail fraud,https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/322/78/ United States v. Ballard, 322 U.S. 78 (1944) Justia Law23 a conviction which was overturned in a landmark Supreme Court ruling (United States v. Ballard) which determined that the beliefs the Ballards espoused should not have been submitted to a jury regardless of their veracity. History Founding The "I AM" Activity was founded by Guy Ballard (pseudonym Godfré Ray King) in the early 1930s. Ballard was well-read in theosophy and its offshoots, and he claimed to have met and been instructed by a man who introduced himself as "Saint Germain" while hiking on Mount Shasta looking for a rumored branch of the Great White Brotherhood known as "The Brotherhood of Mount Shasta".King Godfré Ray 1935 1934 Unveiled Mysteries https://archive.org/stream/02TheMagicPresenceByGodfrRayKing1935FirstEdition/%2301%20-%20Unveiled%20Mysteries%2C%20by%20Godfr%C3%A9%20Ray%20King%20-%201935%20-Second%20Edition#page/n1 Saint Germain Press Chicago, Illinois Second 1: Meeting the Master 1–32 Internet Archive Saint Germain is regular component of theosophical religions as an ascended master, based on the historical Comte de Saint-Germain, an 18th-century adventurer.191 The Ballards said they began talking to the ascended masters regularly. They founded a publishing house, Saint Germain Press, to publish their books and began training people to spread their messages across the United States.330 These training sessions and "conclaves" were held throughout the United States, open to the general public and free of charge.The Voice of the "I AM" Number 1, March 1936. Chicago, Illinois: Saint Germain Press. page 27 A front-page story in a 1938 edition of the Chicago Herald and Examiner noted that the Ballards "do not take up collections or ask for funds".Chicago Herald and Examiner October 8, 1938 Meetings became limited to members only after hecklers began disrupting their open meetings.191 Over their lifetimes, the Ballards recorded nearly 4000 live dictations, which they said were from the ascended masters. Guy Ballard, his wife Edna, and later their son Donald, became the sole "accredited messengers" of the ascended masters.192 In 1942, they began the I AM Sanctuary at a former Presbyterian missionary school.https://books.google.com/books?id=SmxBCwAAQBAJ&q=%22guy%20ballard%22%20%22presbyterian%22 9781625856401 A History of Spirituality in Santa Fe: The City of Holy Faith February 22, 2016 Arcadia Popularity The Ballards' popularity spread, including up to a million followers in 1938.191 Donations were not formally required, but it was made clear that they were necessary in order to receive blessings from the masters. The first of many "conclaves" held in scores of cities in their national tours was Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, October 10–19, 1934. According to a Los Angeles Magazine article, in August 1935, the Ballards hosted a gathering at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles that drew a crowd of 6,000.22 Guy Ballard spoke under the pseudonym he used in authoring his books, Godfre Ray King, and his wife used the pseudonym Lotus. The meeting included teachings they described as being received directly from the ascended masters. They led the audience in prayers and affirmations that they called decrees, including adorations to God and invocations for abundance of every good thing, including love, money, peace, and happiness. The "I AM" Activity spread to parts of Canada, entering Alberta in 1937, with the first meetings held in Calgary, organized by a telegraph operator who had brought back a copy of Unveiled Mysteries from California.Mann W. E. Sect, Cult, and Church in Alberta 1955 University of Toronto Press 25 A second group was started in Edmonton, and the movement grew in Alberta until Ballard's death in 1939, then declined with the United States government's denial of mailing privileges in 1940.Mann W. E. Sect, Cult, and Church in Alberta 1955 University of Toronto Press 142 A slight revival of the group in Alberta came in 1945, with a new policy of lending literature, but by 1947, it was estimated there were less than 100 followers in the province.Mann W. E. Sect, Cult, and Church in Alberta 1955 University of Toronto Press 26 Guy Ballard's death and splintering At the height of his popularity, Guy Ballard died from arteriosclerosis at 5:00 A.M. on December 29, 1939, in Los Angeles, in the home of his son Donald. On December 31 his body was cremated. On New Year's Day during the annual Christmas Class, Edna Ballard stated that Guy had completed his Ascension at midnight December 31, 1939, from the "Royal Teton Retreat". Ballard's death deeply affected the movement, which saw several splinter groups emerge. I AM former member Geraldine Innocente (whom the Ascended Master El Morya, who wrote under the pseudonym of Thomas Printz, had asked to form a new activity for the dissemination of the spiritual teaching) quickly founded an offshoot of the movement, targeting the Spanish-speaking community. Francis Ekey, another member, founded Lighthouse of Freedom to offer classes allegedly disseminating the teachings of ancient masters. One of Ekey's collaborators, Mark Prophet, founded the Keepers of the Summit Lighthouse in 1958. To I AM's teachings, Prophet added a proclivity for conspiracy thinking, UFOs and a staunch opposition to communism. His wife Elizabeth Clare Wulf would eventually share leadership and succeed him, rebranding the organization as the Church Universal and Triumphant. Important elements of Ballard's theology, symbolism and nationalism can also be found in Romana Didulo's movement in the 2020s. These include the use of decrees, the purple flame and the mythological ascended masters. Copyright infringement civil action In 1941, the Ballards were sued for copyright infringement by the family and estate of Frederick Spencer Oliver (1866–1899), "amenuensis" of the novel A Dweller on Two Planets, first published in 1905. The suit was dismissed for failure to state cause of action. District Judge Dawkins quoted the original foreword to Oliver's book in its entirety, wherein Oliver emphasized that he was not the author but had channeled the book from the spirit of a previously deceased person with the intent of preserving and conveying the story and teachings of that person's world; and the book had been copyrighted with Oliver as a proprietor, not as the author. Judge Dawkins pointed out that the Ballards had stated they were using similar methods to write their books and that this in itself wasn't enough to uphold the action in court.Oliver v. Saint Germain Foundation, 41 F. Supp. 296 (S.D. Cal. 1941). Fraud trial of Edna and Donald Ballard Based on statements made in books sent via the mail, Edna Ballard and her son Donald were charged with eighteen counts of mail fraud in 1942. The presiding judge instructed the jury not to consider the truth or falsity of the religious beliefs, but only whether the Ballards sincerely believed the claims or did not, and the jury found them guilty.23 The Ninth Circuit overturned the conviction on the grounds that the judge improperly excluded the credibility of their religious beliefs from consideration, and the government appealed to the Supreme Court. In United States v. Ballard, the Supreme Court in a 5–4 landmark decision held that the question of whether Ballards believed their religious claims should not have been submitted to the jury, and remanded the case back to the Ninth Circuit, which affirmed the fraud conviction. Interpreting this decision, the Ninth Circuit later found that the Court did not go so far as to hold that "the validity or veracity of a religious doctrine cannot be inquired into by a Federal Court".Cohen v. United States, 297 F.2d 760 (1962) On a second appeal, the Supreme Court in 1946 vacated the fraud conviction, on the grounds that women were improperly excluded from the jury panel.https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/329/187/ Ballard v. United States, 329 U.S. 187 (1946) Justia Law Relocation to Santa Fe and Edna Ballard's death In March 1942, Edna Ballard moved the western branch of the Saint Germain Press and her residence to Santa Fe, where she recorded live before an audience thousands more dictations she said were from the Ascended Masters. Despite the ultimate dismissal of the court cases, it was not until 1954 that the organization's right to use the mail was restored. The Internal Revenue Service revoked their tax-exempt status in 1941, stating it did not recognize the movement as "a religion". A court ruling in 1957 overturned the ruling of the IRS and re-established the group's tax-exempt status.332Catherine L. Albanese A Republic of Mind and Spirit: A Cultural History of American Metaphysical Religion Yale University Press 2007 978-0-300-11089-0 470 Following a brief illness, Edna Ballard died in her Chicago home on February 10, 1971. A memorial was held several days later at the "I AM" Sanctuary in Mount Shasta, California."I AM" President Edna Ballard Dies In Chicago The Dunsmuir News February 17, 1971 11 https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-dunsmuir-news-i-am-president-edna/169154369/ Newspapers.com Her death was not widely publicized until June, reportedly because "the movement does not believe in death".'I Am' Rite Founder's Widow Dies San Francisco Examiner June 2, 1971 55 https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-san-francisco-examiner-obituary-for/169156941/ 2025-03-29 Newspapers.com https://www.newspapers.com/clip/64580694/june-1971-report-of-death-of-edna/ I Am Sect Leader Edna Ballard Is Dead The Sacramento Bee June 3, 1971 15 Newspapers.com 2025-03-29 Recent history and present day As of 2007, Saint Germain Foundation maintains a reading room in Mount Shasta, California, and its headquarters in Schaumburg, Illinois. Several annual conclaves are held at their 12-story "I AM Temple" at 176 West Washington Street in downtown Chicago.What’s That Building? The ‘I AM’ Temple in Chicago’s Loop https://www.wbez.org/morning-shift/2016/03/10/whats-that-building-the-i-am-temple-in-chicagos-loop 2025-11-10 WBEZ en-US The Saint Germain Press, a subsidiary of the Saint Germain Foundation, estimates they printed and put into circulation over one million books. The Saint Germain Foundation presents an annual pageant every August at Mount Shasta since 1950, a tradition only interrupted by the COVID pandemic. http://www.saintgermainfoundation.org/pageant.htm Saint Germain Foundation "I AM" COME! Pageant webpage December 17, 2007 Saint Germain Foundation https://web.archive.org/web/20071217190219/http://www.saintgermainfoundation.org/pageant.htm December 17, 2007Shelton Kelsey Kinkade Skye 13 August 2020 Mount Shasta's 'I AM' Come! pageant called off in 2020 https://www.mtshastanews.com/story/news/2020/08/13/mount-shastas-i-am-come-pageant-called-off-in-2020/113158248/ live https://web.archive.org/web/20211016031020/https://www.mtshastanews.com/story/news/2020/08/13/mount-shastas-i-am-come-pageant-called-off-in-2020/113158248/ 16 October 2021 16 December 2023 MtSashta News Teachings According to the group's teachings, ascended masters are believed to be individuals who have left the reincarnation cycle of re-embodiment.Melton J. Gordon J. Gordon Melton Lewis James R. Gordon J. Gordon The Church Universal and Triumphant: Its Heritage and Thoughtworld Church Universal and Triumphant In Scholarly Perspective 1–20 Center for Academic Publication Standford, CA 1994 https://archive.org/details/churchuniversalt0000unse Internet Archive registration 2025-03-29 2 The "I AM" Activity calls itself Christian;March 2025 Jesus is considered one of the more important ascended masters.4246 Ballard's teachings included significant nationalistic and patriotic elements. According to Ballard's teachings, the faithful's rituals would allow the United States to lead the world into a new golden age of civilization, and St. Germain inspired the United States Declaration of Independence. In addition, through the use of prayers and rituals, the "lightbearers" in the US would reverse the bad karma that had accumulated and was holding humanity back from attaining its godly existence. The movement teaches that the omnipotent, omniscient and omnipresent creator God ('I AM' – Exodus 3:14) is in all of us as a spark from the Divine Flame, and that we can experience this presence, love, power and light – and its power of the Violet Consuming Flame of Divine Love – through quiet contemplation and by repeating 'affirmations' and 'decrees'. By affirming something one desires, one may cause it to happen.192 The group teaches that the "Mighty I AM Presence" is God existing in and as each person's higher self, and that a light known as the "violet flame" is generated by the "I AM Presence". That "flame" may surround each person who calls forth the action of the Holy Spirit for expressions of mercy or forgiveness. The group believes that, by tapping into these internalized powers in accordance with the teachings of the ascended masters, one can use one's relationship to the "presence" to amplify the expressions of virtue such as justice, peace, harmony, and love; to displace or abate the expression of evil (i.e., the relative absence of good) in the world; and to minimize personal difficulties in one's life.http://www.saintgermainfoundation.org/SGF_01_MightyIAM.html The "Beloved Mighty I am Presence" January 6, 2014 March 13, 2019 https://web.archive.org/web/20190313051934/http://www.saintgermainfoundation.org/SGF_01_MightyIAM.html dead The spiritual goal of the teachings is that, by a process of self-purification through the symbol of the "Violet Consuming Flame", the believer may attain the perfected condition of the saints or become an ascended master when leaving their body (in contrast to common concepts of ordinary death). The practice of "decrees" (repeated prayers given aloud with conviction), served at times as commands from the masters or as a request from the faithful, adds to practitioners' likelihood of reaching self-purification.64 An example of a decree, recorded at I AM study groups in Alberta in the late 1930s: "In the Name, by the Power, through the Love, in the Authority and unto the Glory of the Mighty I Am Presence we now offer ourselves as a channel to YOU, Blessed Master Saint Germain, Jesus, Nada, Great Divine Director and Legions of Light! Blaze through us! Blaze through us! Blaze though us! The Mighty Golden Power of Divine Love and Charge the Energy in the Gas Belts below the Earth's Surface with that Mighty Power!"Mann W. E. Sect, Cult, and Church in Alberta 1955 University of Toronto Press 61 This decree was followed by a note giving additional instruction: On the word "Charge" bring the hands down to your sides with dynamic energy but be perfectly relaxed. Visualise and feel GREAT COSMIC STREAMS OF GOLDEN LIGHT SUBSTANCE blazing down through you from great BEAMS above you. This actually takes place, streaming like an avalanche through your body, hands and feed, flooding into the gas belts below the earth's surface. The group also emphasizes personal freedom as essential to spiritual development.65 These "positive thinking" beliefs overlap with several movements, such as New Thought,March 2025 New Age movement,March 2025 and the Human Potential Movement.192 See also Exaltation (Mormonism) Robert LeFevre Mirra Alfassa Supermind (integral yoga) References Bibliography Saint Germain Foundation. The History of the "I AM" Activity and Saint Germain Foundation. Saint Germain Press 2003 1-878891-99-5 King, Godfre Ray. Unveiled Mysteries. Saint Germain Press. 1-878891-00-6 King, Godfre Ray. The Magic Presence. Saint Germain Press. 1-878891-06-5 Saint Germain. I AM Discourses. Saint Germain Press. 1-878891-48-0 Peter Mt. Shasta. "Lady Master Pearl, My Teacher." Church of the Seven Rays. 978-0692356661 External links Information on the website of the Saint Germain Foundation https://web.archive.org/web/20210126030136/https://www.saintgermainfoundation.org/new-teachings January 26, 2021 , original publisher of Ascended Master Teachings beginning in 1934. Unveiled Mysteries, full text of Guy Ballard's first book, available online at no cost Psychic Dictatorship in America, a collection of a series of monographs or chapters by a former member, Gerald Bryan. Publications of the FBI Case BALLARD, EDNA ANNE processed and released pursuant to the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), a Document with all published pages of this case. Release 1 of the Publications of the FBI Case BALLARD, GUY WARREN processed and released pursuant to the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), a Document with all published pages of this case. Release 2 of the Publications of the FBI Case BALLARD, GUY WARREN processed and released pursuant to the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), a Document with all published pages of this case. Category:Ascended Master Teachings Category:New Age Category:Religious belief systems founded in the United States Category:Articles with quotation marks in the title Category:UFO religions Category:Theosophist groups