Breaking: James Arthur Ray, infamous "sweat lodge" guru, is dead

Notorious McSpirituality/selfish-help guru, star of the New-Wage moviemercial The Secret, and (in more recent times) devoted reich-wing conspiranoid Trumpster James Arthur Ray -- best known for his infamous deadly "sweat lodge" in Sedona, Arizona in 2009 -- passed away on the evening of January 3, 2025 [or more likely January 2; see January 7 update below]. Ray's brother John announced it on a pinned post on Ray's Xitter timeline. No cause of death was given; the brother only said that Ray passed away "suddenly and unexpectedly."

If I had to guess the cause offhand, I'd say that long term anabolic steroid use finally caught up with him. But that is pure speculation on my part, so don't quote me. I really do not know. I will update when/if I find out. I did notice that Ray's brother said that Ray's wish was to be cremated and that he didn't want people to make a big fuss about his death. I wonder if there is even going to be an autopsy, and if not... why? That might be something worth exploring, though at this point it's a little early.

So far, as I'm writing this at nearly 10:30 PM Central Standard Time, the news media do not seem to have gotten wind of the news; if you Google or Bing "James Arthur Ray death," you just get scads of results about the deaths he caused and for which he was convicted and imprisoned for a couple of years, not his own death. Nor is Ray's passing mentioned yet on his Wikipedia page.
[NOTE: SEE UPDATES AT THE END OF THIS POST. ~CC]

But some folks were paying attention, and that's how I learned about Ray's demise. Through their organization, Seek Safely, the family of Kirby Brown, one of Ray's Sedona death lodge victims, made a statement, which said in part:

While there could be some small measure of relief in knowing that Ray will no longer be able to harm anyone, it is, truly, very little comfort. It became clear to us early on after Kirby’s passing that Ray was just one operator in a multi-billion dollar per year industry built on the exploitation of those who would improve their lives and find fulfillment. The rot in this industry has always been much greater and more complex than the actions of a single so-called “guru.” James Ray was one among countless exploitative and dangerous self-help providers. SEEK Safely was founded in this reality—that an entire industry, not just one man, was responsible for Kirby’s death.

Greater than any sense of relief is a feeling of disappointment that Ray could have played a unique role in helping to define both the problems and the solutions for this industry. But rather than demonstrating true transformation, he remained stuck in the paradigm of an industry built on manipulation and mistruth.

We can only, at this juncture, remind seekers that no “guru,” or program, or mindset is larger than life or without fault. That a journey of self-improvement is noble and vulnerable. That we must always remain in charge of that process of growth and change, rooted in our values, our worth, and our right to seek free from harm.

That's exactly right. Ray's death won't clear an entire industry of its rot, any more than Trump's eventual demise will, after all the years of damage, clear America and the world of Trumpism/fascism. There are no neat and tidy endings.

While it would be inaccurate and certainly crass for me to say that I am giddy about James Arthur Ray's passing, it would also be inaccurate for me to say that I'm sad about it. Ray had many chances to try to redeem himself after causing the deaths of his followers; instead, he never stopped making their deaths all about him and the wrongs he had suffered because people were unfairly blaming him for "a tragic accident." Now, on the surface it may have seemed that he took responsibility, especially since the introduction to a book he penned a few years ago, The Business of Redemption, began with the sentence, "I am responsible for the deaths of three people." Then he goes on to write about how deeply this hurts him every single day.

But instead of actually taking responsibility, he found ways to crapitalize on his imagined status as a drawn-and-quartered martyr: a survivor of a trial by fire (literally and figuratively) who was abundantly qualified to guide others, for a hefty price of course, on their own journeys from darkness back to light. And he was still flogging that hero narrative to the end. In December 2024 he was featured on a conspiranoia/alt-health podcast called The Ripple Effect, hosted by a guy named Ricky Varandas; the blurb for the promo clip on Varandas' TwitterX page read, "From Prison to Purpose: My Hero's Journey to Redemption." Gimme a break.

I know that Ray had people who loved him. But again, I would be lying if I were to say that I'm sorry he's gone. 

UPDATE 5 January 2025:

• Some of the Arizona news media have picked up on the story since I published this post last night (January 4, 2025) at 10:43 PM Central Standard Time. NBC affiliate 12 News (KPNX, serving the greater Phoenix area) posted news about James Arthur Ray's death on Saturday night, January 4, at 10:25 PM Mountain Standard Time (11:25 PM my time), and updated it at 11:10 PM MST (12:10 AM January 5 my time). No cause of death has been mentioned as of this time. News 12 cited the same sources I did: the Xitter statement by Ray's brother John, and the Seek Safely statement.
• AZ Central (Arizona Republic) posted a brief story as well today, January 5, at about 3:30 PM my time (2:30 Mountain Standard Time). As was the case with the 12 News story, the only sources cited were the Xitter statement by Ray's brother, and the Seek Safely statement. No cause of death has been mentioned as of this time.
• The Wikipedia page for James Arthur Ray was updated on the morning of January 5, 2025, and now mentions his death, but only the date; the source cited is the Arizona News 12 story listed above. No cause of death has been mentioned as of this time.

UPDATE 6 January 2025:

Some former followers who knew James Ray personally have privately speculated to me that his death might have been due to drug overdose or interaction. And some folks, myself included, have not been above wondering, if only in passing, if perhaps Ray was in some deep trouble and, with the help of his family, faked his own death. That sort of scenario is normally a little bit conspiranoid for my taste, but sometimes you just wonder...

In any case, AP finally got hold of the story today, and mentioned only this regarding cause of death:

In a post on X, his family announced that Ray died “suddenly and unexpectedly” late last week but didn’t specify the cause...

...Stephanie Wheatley, a spokesperson for Clark County in Nevada where was Ray residing, said it had received a death report of a man matching Ray’s name and age.

I'm a little busy right now, but anyone who wants to pursue this further might try the Clark County NV coroner's page, which will direct you to a PDF that you can perhaps fill out online and ask for more detailed information. Good luck! Let me know if you find out anything.

UPDATE 7 January 2025:

I got a few free moments and decided to send an email to the Clark County NV coroner today, asking for confirmation of James Arthur Ray's death, and inquiring whether cause of death was known yet and if there would be an autopsy. Here's the reply I received:

Hi Connie,

The Clark County Office of the Coroner/Medical Examiner does not have jurisdiction over this case. I can only confirm the CCOCME did receive a report of a decedent with the name of James Ray, age 67. The date of death was 1/2/25.

Not all deaths in Clark County are CCOCME cases. Some examples of non-coroner cases include those where the decedent was in the long-term care of a doctor and/or had extensive medical history.

I'm guessing there won't be an autopsy, and if he's really deceased there won't be a body to poke, only embers.

I thought it was interesting that according to the email, the report the Clark County coroner's office received said the date of death was January 2, 2025. But brother John's tweet was dated the morning of January 4, and he clearly said that James had passed away suddenly and unexpectedly "last night' -- which would have been January 3, not January 2. It's possible that John was just copying and pasting an earlier message that had actually been written on January 3, and when he posted to James' Xitter feed on January 4 he neglected to edit it to reflect the actual date of death. In any case, Wikipedia has his date of death as January 3, 2025, but the source they cited was probably using the post on James' Xitter feed as a reference.

But to me the main issue is the cause of death, and the mystery continues... And I do need to state that in general I respect a family's right to privacy, especially regarding medical matters. However, when a public figure like Ray brands himself as an expert on physical as well as mental and emotional and spiritual health, and then dies "suddenly and unexpectedly," his public has a right to know what killed him.

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