I AM Movement
A mash-up of philosophies.
Origin
I AM movement, theosophical movement founded in Chicago in the early 1930s by Guy W. Ballard (1878–1939), a mining engineer, and his wife, Edna W. Ballard (1886–1971). The name of the movement is a reference to the Bible verse in which God replies to Moses, “I am who I am” (Exodus 3:14).
By 1932 they had incorporated the I AM movement in Chicago…
Arrest Warrant Issued
Over the years he either sold stock in mines or borrowed money to invest in his mining projects, which later he did not repay. By 1929 Guy was indicted in Chicago by the Cook County Grand Jury on charges of "Obtaining Money and Goods by Means of the Confidence Game. While warrants were issued for his arrest, he was never apprehended as he left Chicago and was away from his family for two years, supposedly staying in California under an assumed name.
The Mount Shasta Story
Before Guy W. Ballard, a paperhanger, stock salesman, mining engineer and promoter, arrived in Los Angeles from Chicago with his wife, Edna, a part-time medium, he took a short journey to Mt. Shasta. Since his childhood in Kansas, Ballard had been obsessed with visions of buried gold and jewels and claimed to have “felt the energy” of this great mountain pulling him.
During his climb he claimed to have encountered a “majestic figure, God-like in appearance, clad in jeweled robes, eyes sparkling with light and love.” His new master, whom he later identified--inexplicably--as St. Germain, tapped him on the shoulder and offered him a cup filled with “pure electronic essence,” he said.
After Ballard imbibed it, the apparition proffered a tiny wafer of “concentrated energy” that Ballard said he also consumed. Soon he and St. Germain were surrounded by a “white flame which formed a circle about 50 feet in diameter,” Ballard said, and together they whizzed through time and space, visiting fabled cities and discovering a cache of gold and jewels.
Empowered by the divine messenger, Ballard raced to Los Angeles--where else?--to form a religion based on God’s identification of himself as “I AM”--a sort of Reader’s Digest condensed version of the Hebrew deity’s proclamation: “I am who I am.”
They Call it a Philosophy
This new religion is only new in spots. They call it a philosophy. It is a very strange mixture. It is a concoction of Unity, New Thought, Christian Science, Theosophy, and some other things with here and there a touch of Spiritism. Many of the adherents have forsaken Mrs. Eddy, Mr. Fillmore, Madam Blavatsky and Anna Besant, saying these religions were simply the steps to the high and perfect truth. The “I am” philosophy is the ultimate, the final and the perfect cosmic law that will bring all humanity through re-embodiments to perfection and ascension.
The Great White Brotherhood: Connection to Theosophy
Ballard met St. Germain, an Ascended Master, and part of Blavatsky’s Great White Brotherhood, on the side of Mt. Shasta in 1930. According to Ballard, St. Germain had purified himself and became a member of the Divine Spiritual Hierarchy, which controls the lives of individuals and the universe. St. Germain sought Ballard and others to bring messages of the Masters to people because a new age was about to begin (Ballard 1934). St. Germain showed Ballard the secret headquarters of the Great White Brotherhood and his past life as George Washington. Afterward, Ballard claimed he was in direct communication with the other Ascended Masters, which included Jesus, Moses, St. Francis, and Buddha.
Vegetarians
The “I am” people claim that “the mighty I am presence” cannot do his perfect work in anyone who eats meat. Mr. Ballard in his address at the Shrine auditorium said that the followers of Saint Germain should never eat anything that had a face. One claim is that the animals are filled with fear, and that fear is transmuted to the person who eats the animal. One work of “the mighty I am presence” is to rid the individual of fear, and, therefore, the eating of meat hinders his work. Another explanation is that the meat forms a film that interferes with the working of light.
Rapid Growth
For a short time, the inner circle found a home in a large rambling tabernacle from the top of which a blazing neon light flashed “Mighty I AM.” Buxom beauties, clad in evening gowns with orchid and gardenia corsages, ushered in the faithful.
The cult spread across the nation, enrolling converts through letters stating that the end of the world was coming and that the faithful should withdraw their funds from banks and life insurance policies and turn the funds over to their immortal leaders.
The high cost of spiritual enlightenment left many deeply in debt to family, friends and banks.
The Ballards' popularity spread, including up to a million followers in 1938.
Founded the
Death of Guy Ballard
A crisis and decline of the organization happened after 1939. The belief in a bodily ascension was the primary goal of the I AM students. The followers were frequently told they would ascend physically into heaven like Jesus, and even that Guy, Edna, and their son Donald were all to ascend simultaneously in a triple ascension.
Guy Ballard had preached that his physical body was indestructible. He told his followers that his body was so charged with light that nothing could harm him physically, although as stated earlier he was hurt in the car accident. He also said he was given the opportunity to ascend but chose not to.
During one of the Ballard's classes Guy Ballard became sick. For three days he suffered and an emergency operation was performed at home, but to no avail, he died on 29 December 1939 from heart disease and cirrhosis of the liver.
Three days later, on 1 January 1940, local and national newspapers announced his death stating that Mrs. Ballard officiated at his funeral and Ballard's body was cremated.
Offshoots of the I Am Movement
The most prominent group inspired by the I AM movement was the Church Universal and Triumphant. Others, such as the Aetherius Society, pictured the Masters as officials of an extraterrestrial government who offer guidance from unidentified flying objects (UFOs).
Symbolism
Closing
Nothing screams Cult like money hungry grifters, and this appears to be a classic tale of those who fabricated a religion to enrich themselves.