A brand new day for James Arthur Ray?

File this in the "no neat and tidy endings in Scamworld" category. Convicted killer and star of The Secret James Arthur Ray is on the comeback trail, and he is ever so grateful to be healthy. Look, it says so right here, on James' brand new blog. In that post, Ray also talks about "The Law of Polarity," which appears to be a convenient, phony quantum-physics inflected adjunct to the Law of Attraction crap he preached for so many years, and which he seems to be implying is the Law that actually landed him in prison despite his being such a stellar LOA practitioner.

Be sure to read the comments to that post. You will see how quick New-Wage ninnies are to forget and move on, particularly, one suspects, when there might be a new scam op in it for them somewhere. For instance, someone using the obviously fake name Shakti writes:

I’ve been waiting 4 long years for this moment.
Thank you, Universe!
Welcome back, James!!!

Given all of this, it appears that even if he has to stay in a cage for a few years himself, serial scammer Kevin Trudeau (who publicly defended Ray a couple of years ago, and Ray returned the favor by shilling for GIN from prison) has little to worry about, career-wise. He can leverage his time in the clink the way Ray has. In fact Katie, or rather some of his minions, already got a head start on that very task.

And depending upon how successful he is with his own comeback experiment, maybe Death Ray can give Katie a few comeback pointers when the time comes. On November 23, the day after his birthday, Ray sent this message out to followers.

I know it's been quite a while since you heard from me, and I just want to begin by expressing my sincere thanks for staying with me over the last 4 years. For the last 4 months since my re-emergence I've been catching my breath and doing my best to rest, spend time with my family, and integrate the experiences of the last 4 years. Frankly understanding and integration will probably take the rest of my days.

After my birthday yesterday, it seemed the perfect time to begin a new chapter in my life; and continue to find ways in which I can be of service, given all that I've learned and experienced.

I've posted my first blog today and I plan on many more to come. If you'll take a moment and read it when you have a chance, my sincere hope and prayer is that it will be of value to you and your current situation in life.

Again thank you from the bottom of my heart for your continued love and support, and I look forward to connecting again soon.
Much love and gratitude,
James

"Re-emergence," eh? So that's what the kids are calling "release from prison" these days.

Ray's web site is also up and running again, replete with music and videos from The Secret's heyday, and images of a smiling, triumphant JAR.

And his Facebook page sports his beaming mug, and bears a steaming pile of gushy remarks from fans.


This post is from November 24 (click on pic to enlarge):

It seems that all is well again in Death Ray Valley. So party on, Ray fans, just like you did after Colleen Conaway died, even though some of you knew about her death (and tried to cover it up). Party on, the way your fearless leader was trying to make some of you do to the tune of "I Got a Feeling (That Tonight's Gonna Be A Good Night)" a mere nine days after Death Lodge, while Liz Neuman's family was making the wrenching decision to pull her off of life support.

Fans are one thing. But perhaps the true litmus test for Ray's Scamworld comeback will lie in whether or not the active selfish-help players -- those who have in the past proudly claimed Ray as a "good friend" -- accept him back into the magickal circle jerk. Joe Vitale is one obvious example, since he and Ray were both in The Secret (here's a Joe post from the days just before The Secret was launched). In fact, their "starring" together in the world's most suck-cessful New-Wage moviemercial seemed to be the basis of their "friendship." The two also appeared on the Larry King show together in happier days, babbling about The Secret and the Law of Attraction. Here is the transcript of that November 2006 show. (A few years later, ABC featured Joe as a sideshow to the death lodge story. (This was the main story.) Those weren't such happy days for Joe.) And in the past, Joe described Ray as a friend a few times on his own blog, though most of those references seem to now be wiped clean. Joe even sort-of defended Ray immediately after the death lodge happened.

But will Joe reach his hand out to Ray and welcome him back onto the active Scamworld roster? Time will tell. (In the meantime, don't forget that Joe is making a celebrity guest appearance on the telephone on Tuesday, November 26, 2013, courtesy of Peter Wink and the IMBS-ing U Master Baiter's Society.)

Will other scammers let Ray back into the pack? Will he even be welcomed back into the Trained Liars Cartel... I mean, the Transformational Leadership Council? Again, time will tell.

UPDATE... 3 DEC 2013: I don't know how I missed this post from this past August, but... jeez. Didn't I say something about IBMS and Ray on this post from this past February?

While Ray natters on (or his social media handlers natter on his behalf) about being grateful for being healthy and having learned life's toughest lessons and whatnot -- and as his joyful followers take up the torch for him again -- the three people he killed through his recklessness in his phony Sedona sweat lodge (though he was only convicted of and sentenced for negligence) are...yep...still dead. Those three are Kirby Brown, James Shore, and Liz Neuman. Ray served less than two years in prison for their deaths. And he has not even answered for Colleen Conaway, another person who died at one of his previous events.

In the blog post pictured and linked to above, Ray waxes rhapsodic about the things he missed so much while locked away: the sight and smell of the ocean, the opportunity to spend time with family and loved ones. He basks in the joy of a second chance. Kirby Brown loved the ocean too, and she enjoyed spending time with loved ones. James Shore and Liz Neuman loved their lives too, and they loved their families and friends. James Shore had a wife and young children; Liz had her grown kids, and now there's an adorable grandchild she never got to hold. Colleen Conaway had her life and she had people who loved her.

Where's their second chance, Ray?

As mentioned in the PS to this Whirled blog post the other day, Death Ray will be appearing on CNN tonight (Monday 25 November) at 9:00 PM EST, 8:00 CST, 6:00 PST, in an interview with Piers Morgan. One can only hope that Piers will nail him to the wall. Or as Liz Neuman's son Bryan wrote on former James Ray follower Connie Joy's Tragedy In Sedona Facebook page...

If you haven't done so already, check out the organization started by sweat lodge victim Kirby Brown's family, SEEKsafely, Inc. Kirby's mother Ginny sees a lot of value in the self-help industry but she is trying, in her gentle way, to persuade the industry to reform itself. I admire her resolve but fear she may be fighting a losing battle. Be sure to take a look at the list of New-Wage/McSpirituality gurus who have been contacted by the organization but have not yet signed the safety pledge (and probably never will). Also see the screen shot of SeekSafely's press release -- it's at the end of this post.

By the way, according to information on the Tragedy In Sedona Facebook page, SEEKsafely asked to be on the Piers Morgan show along with James Ray, but was told no because Ray would not appear if he weren't the only guest during the hour. His handlers -- yes, apparently he can afford handlers -- negotiated those conditions.

And for more information about James Ray from a former insider's point of view, read Connie Joy's book, Tragedy in Sedona. If you want a preview and some Cosmic commentary, I wrote a lengthy piece about that book here.
 
It seems clear that Ray is going to get a lot of mileage out of his suffering in prison. It was inevitable. Many of us predicted this very thing. I don't doubt that his time in a cage was a jarring experience for Ray, but I have to wonder if that suffering really washed him clean and gave him the terrible but beautiful gift of a conscience. 


I feel that the best we can do, as outside observers, is to never forget. Unless we lost a loved one through Ray's negligence or were personally harmed in some way by him, I don't think it is our place to "forgive" him -- but we can do our part to make sure no one ever forgets what James Arthur Ray has done, and who he really is.*

• Related on this Whirled: James Arthur Ray: Deadly Devotion
• Also see Salty Droid's excellent coverage: http://saltydroid.info/category/james-arthur-ray/

* Connie Joy suggests that during the Piers Morgan interview, people use the power of Twitter by tweeting with #Seeksafely, #Piersmorgan and #tragedyinsedona. Direct viewers to SEEKsafely.org and tragedyinsedona.com.

The SeekSafely press release regarding James A. Ray
11-25-13. Click to enlarge.

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