Rocky Mountain high

I received an email the other day from a person who was trying to clear up some mysteries about a so-called Mystery School.

While doing a search regarding scams with the Rocky Mountain Mystery School, your blog came up. I can't seem to find where you wrote about the "Mystery School"; [but] what do you know about it? I know a woman who just went through her first level adept class and I can't help feeling that she has been scammed.

You seem well versed in all this new age stuff. Keep in mind the same person who "initiated" my friend has been telling me for months that I have been "accepted" by this school and need to enroll in the Rocky Mountain Mystery School Adept Program as soon as possible for "my protection" and that I have been "called" to work with the Hierarchy of Angels. I have to say my "scam alert" buttons are on high alert with this one!

I would really love to hear what you have to say.

"Pay attention to those scam alert buttons," I replied. "They are serving you well."

My correspondent was apparently referring to a passing mention I made of the Rocky Mountain Mystery School on my August 2, 2007 blog post (fourth item down: "Utah: It’s not just for Mormons anymore"). That little snippet back in August was inspired by an email I'd received from some people who run a metaphysical center in Brigham Center, Utah. They were hosting a class on becoming a "Person Of Power," taught by the ex-wife of Rocky Mountain Mystery School founder Gudni Gudnason, RM. ("RM" stands for "Ritual Master." In some circles, having an RM after your name is even more prestigious than having a phony doctorate or two.)

A special message from Gudni Gudnason – of whom we’ll have more in a moment – appears on the Welcome page of the RMMS International site. Upon first landing on that page, my eye was drawn to this blurb that appeared at the bottom in smaller type:

NOTE: Because of the high demand on teachings and services the RMMS Events Worlwide [sic] Schedule is subject to change without notice. RMMS is not responsible for financial loss because of these changes and will not cover such losses. Please arrange your travels and time accordingly! We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause you. We ask that you remember that we are a Mystery School and not a Seminar Company and therefore we operate a little bit different.

"I’ll just bet they do ‘operate a little different’," I wrote in my reply to my correspondent. "They take your money and have no accountability for it."
I mean, c'mon, if their schedule is changed without notice, how can you "arrange your travels and time accordingly?" Isn't that kind of like having to have pre-approval from your boss for an unexpected illness or a death in the family so you can get paid time off from work?

Well...yawn. What else is new, in the New-Wage world? I only address this because (1) I’m tired of writing about Mr. Fire and his cronies for now; (2) my correspondent asked about it; and (3) it does seem that the RMMS is expanding its "recruiting" efforts as well as its reach. Just read RMMS founder Gudni’s blog and you’ll see.

Speaking of Gudni’s blog, I looked at his Blogger profile and saw that his "random question" was the same one that currently appears on my Blogger profile. Coincidence? Maybe. But perhaps there is some deep mystical significance. Anyway, I think a look at our respective answers is in order.

Q: What spells can you cast with magic markers?
A (from Gudni): Magickal marks of meaningful magick in markful magick of monstrous meaning.
A (from Cosmic Connie): Magic Marker® is a trade name and should be capitalized. Now, what was the question?

I am not trying to be competitive with a great Ritual Master such as Gudni (who seems to have a poetic soul like Dreaming-Bear), but I think my answer was far more useful. At the very least it could help you avoid getting a nasty letter from the Magic Marker® people's legal department.

Anyhow, on numerous sites offering Rocky Mountain Mystery School training you’ll find some form of a message stating that "healers and lightworkers are desperately needed." We know, of course, what that means: cash is desperately needed by the New-Wage dilettantes who are scrabbling to make a living as "lightworkers" and "healers." On the page I just linked to above there’s a tantalizing come-on: "SPECIAL DEAL!! Refer 5 people to the Teachers Program and receive both the Year Long Basic Metaphysics Written Study Program and the Elemental Alchemy Written Program."
But just who is this Gudni Gudnason, founder of the RMMS? Here’s some scoop from the bio page I linked to above:

Gudni, as he likes to be called, is a native from Iceland but has lived all over the world. He has sought knowledge from the masters in many countries and has been initiated by some of the Highest Initiates in the world:

• He studied the Magickal Arts from the ISIS / OSIRIS Mystery School in Egypt and was Initiated in the Great Pyramid of Giza,
• He studied with the Shamans of Northern Africa from various tribes and was Initiated in the deepest Sahara Desert,
• The Masters of the Congo taught him the powers of Passion and Tantra,
• He learned the Mysteries of the Earth from the Masters of Romania,
• He studied the Alchemical Arts from the Masters of Germany, France, Spain, Italy and England,
• He was (is?) a proud member of the most powerful and secret Hermetic Order in the world today; the original Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn,
• He studied from the Masters of Tibet in a secret location high in the Himalayas, so high that only the Eagle knows this air.

Uh-huh. Secret locations in remote parts of the world. A mysterious past. Yep, all the signs are there.

And…um…wait a minute. Masters of the Congo teaching Tantra? Do I have my geography and history mixed up, or does Gudni?

In all fairness, and as I explained to my correspondent who’d inquired about RMMS, I have not done any firsthand research on, nor any in-depth investigation of, the RMMS or Gudni. "That," I explained, "is beyond the scope of my blog." (Translation: I’m not a real journalist and I’m too lazy to do any actual research.) "However," I added, "just from my experiences with and observations of similar things over the years, I’d say, ‘Stay away.’"
In any case, as luck would have it, a real journalist has written a piece on the RMMS and "Gudni." While Googling – which, of course, is not the same thing as researching – I stumbled upon a piece from the New York Press, the Big Apple’s "alternative weekly." The writer, Audrey Slivka, spoke with Sondra Shaye, founder of the Archangel Healing Light Center in Park Slope (Brooklyn):

A former corporate lawyer and actress, Shaye is an Initiated Adept and Teacher in the Rocky Mountain Mystery School, which is based in an unspecified sacred location in the Utah portion of its namesake mountains, and is led by a gentleman named Gudni Gudnason, a Utah resident of Icelandic birth, about whom more in a bit. Our planet, Shaye explains, hosts seven mystery schools. But the RMMS, which Shaye discovered when she attended the New Life Expo at the New Yorker Hotel somewhat more than a year ago, is the only one that doesn’t cultivate secrecy–that labors to disseminate its teachings to the masses in generous fashion.

"The other six schools are closed to the public," she says. "They’re secret. You can hardly even find them. I mean, you could die getting to them. They’re in the middle of a rainforest, or you have to pass over a huge abyss..."

More secret locations. Yummy!

Some of the article is a bit outdated, since Gudni apparently no longer lives in Utah (his blog currently lists his home as being in Japan). But he travels all around the world in service to his Mystery School.

The important point is that Sondra Shaye, the interviewee in the NY Press article, seems more than willing to keep the Gudni myth alive. She explains that in his time, Solomon traveled all over the world in his time to gather up ancient mysteries, which were somehow passed on from generation to generation. Eventually Sol's mysteries reached an (unnamed) American Indian chief, who – you guessed it – gave ’em to Gudni. As Sondra explains, "He and the Native American met one time, either in a park or a graveyard – I don’t remember which. They hugged, and that was it. That was the transfer."
Gudni has been deeply spiritual all of his life, long before he met that mysterious Indian chief.

Gudnason, who is in his 40s, possesses intimidating spiritual energies. "He was born without any veils, which means he can see all the dimensions. He was born with a twin brother who died 30 minutes after birth–because the brother was so advanced that he only needed 30 minutes on the planet." But Gudnason stayed in contact with his dead sibling. "He grew up with his brother. And his brother brought him all of these ascending masters to teach him, his whole life." Gudnason also used to "sit with Merlin, in physical form, and Merlin would teach him all of these amazing metaphysical things."

He's quite an accomplished martial artist and has other impressive credentials as well, according to his bio page on the European site of the RMMS:

He is also the former 4 time full contact Karate Champion of Europe and holds numerous instructorships in martial arts including Arnis and a tenth degree black belt in Karate, 10th degree black belt in Kimewaza, a Japanese Martial Art that evolved from White Dragon Gung Fu and 5th degree in Shaolin Gung Fu. He has taught the Body Guards of His Holiness The Dali [sic] Lama. He is an ordained Minister, High Priest of Isis and Druid Priest.

And naturally, he has a growing number of worshipful followers. He has, however, had his share of detractors too, as he explained in a blog post he wrote about a year ago:

Some of these people have proclaimed that I am a fake! That I do not have the credentials that I say I have and that I am making things up to make myself look better. Like when we dress up to impress a boss or that important business contact. Do I wrap myself in a flowery blanket to look better? I have only one thing to say to that: YES I DO. It is a fact that I do make myself look the best I can and I have created an image that is good looking. Is that a crime to your heart? Do you not do the same every day in your life? Do you go out in the world with your hair a mess and your clothes disheveled? Or do you make yourself the most presentable that you can.

Hey, at least he addressed the issue of phony credentials. Unlike some...

Oh, but I digress. RMMS adepts are, as you might imagine, also in tune with numerous angelic beings, such as the archangel Metatron, whom I’ve blogged about before. It seems clear that virtually everyone associated with the RMMS, including and especially Gudni himself, seems convinced that he or she is on, as Jake and Elwood Blues might have put it, A Mission From God. Back to Sondra Shaye and the NY Press piece:

Shaye says that Ritual Masters are "God’s SWAT team"–quick-strike forces against the interdimensional demons that generate bad energy. She points out that "New York is built on limestone, which amplifies everything. That’s why New York is what it is. All of the positive and all of the negative of everything that occurs in New York is amplified many times. That’s why it’s such an incredible vortex of power."

"I tried to leave New York," she says, "but apparently higher forces, higher beings, want me to work here. It’s funny, because I was about to move to Northern California after the attack." But she was compelled to stay. "Because this is the place where I can do the most good right now. This is where I’m needed."

All righty, then!

I wrapped up my reply to my correspondent with a piece of advice I’ve often shared: "Keep those scam alert buttons with you always."

And that’s good advice for anyone – whether you’re trekking in the sacred secret mountain regions of Utah, or knocking about in the rain forest or the deserts of Africa, or tooling around a big city that was built on limestone...or (especially) if you're talking with "friends" who tell you that you have been called to work with the Hierarchy of Angels.

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