THE BALLARDS PLAGIARISM

 

 

 

 

By Gerald B. Bryan

 

Whence have come all of Guy Ballard’s fantastic voyages to foreign lands, his hobnobbing with mighty “Masters” in caves and retreats? Did he get them out of his own fertile imagination as legitimate story writers do, or did he, perforce, get them from the literary creations of others? Or did somebody else write them for him?

 

To begin with, it may be said there is always a certain amount of unconscious appropriating. Authors are amazed and chagrined sometimes to discover that they have unintentionally used words, expressions, and even incidents which they thought were original with them but which came from the works of other authors. If any author does that, the other may charitably forgive, for he knows not when he himself may fall into such a ditch.

 

Then there is the legitimate making use of another’s work, by giving due credit to the one from whom the author borrows. And here again most authors are usually generous, providing too much is not taken so as to devalue their own work.

 

Lastly, there is the direct steal from a book, putting it out as the author’s own. That is dyed-in-the-wool plagiarism, a literary crime of the first water.

 

In the first division Ballard or his collaborator may have unconsciously used some ideas from others, and for this they may be forgiven. In the second division, they are manifestly not the type of authors who would acknowledge using the works of another.

 

Are they then guilty of this last and most flagrant literary crime — the consciously planned, premeditated steal from somebody else? In other words, have they plagiarized?

 

We submit the following evidence to literary critics, to copyright attorneys, and to Ballard students who believe that Godfre Ray King’s experiences are really his own and his teachings from “Ascended Masters.”

 

In a book entitled A Dweller on Two Planets, published by the Poseid Publishing Co., Los Angeles, there is an account of an experience almost identical with that which has been later recorded by Godfre Ray King in his book Unveiled Mysteries.

 

Phylos, the hero of the first book, meets his “Master” on a mountain in California, just as Godfre does. And Phylos and his Master visit together a marvelous retreat, as do Godfre and his Master, Both retreats are hollowed out of the solid rock of a mountain, Quong is the name of Phylos’ teacher, and his retreat is at Mt. Shasta, California. Saint Germain’s retreat is at Grand Teton mountain in Wyoming.

 

Now, note the deadly parallelism in the two columns given below:

 

Compare the Two Accounts

 

Phylos, The Thibetan Time: 1894 Place: A cave in a mountain, Mt. Shasta, California.   Incident: Phylos, neophyte in the Mysteries, visits an occult retreat with his “Master.” . . . We halted in front of a HUGE ledge of basaltic rocks. (p. 270)   The ledge was broken and . . . twisted AS IF by some rending convulsion. (p. 270)   Against the cliff rested a GIANT block. (p. 270)   He [Quong] TOUCHED the enormous quadrangular block. (p. 271)   Immediately it TIPPED on edge. (p. 271)   He SWUNG back the door-stone . . . (p. 272)   He . . . STEPPED within the tunnel . . . I followed. (p. 272)   The passage . . . LED into the mountain. (p. 273)   After going about TWO HUNDRED FEET. (p. 273)   We came to a DOOR made apparently of BRONZE. (p. 273)   This door gave entrance to a large CIRCULAR CHAMBER. (p. 273)   With DOMELIKE CEILING ten or a dozen feet high at its junction with the wall. (p. 273)   All about me shone a marvelous WHITE LIGHT. The same wonderful illumination was omnipresent (p. 273)

Ballard, The Messenger Time: 1930 Place: A cave in a mountain, Grand Teton, Wyoming   Incident: Ballard, neophyte in the Mysteries, visits an occult retreat with his “Ascended Master.” Going to a point where HUGE masses of stone. (p. 76)   Masses of stone lay in confusion, AS IF giants had hurled them in a war upon each other. (p. 76)   As if GIANTS had hurled them. . . (p. 76)   Saint Germain TOUCHED a great boulder (p. 76)   Instantly, the enormous mass TIPPED OUT. (p.76)   The great mass of bronze... SWUNG slowly open. (p. 76)   He STEPPED forward . . . admitted us. (p. 76)   A stairway cut in the solid rock LED downward. (p. 76)   We descended some TWO HUNDRED FEET. (p. 76)   We . . . stood before a large BRONZE DOOR. (p. 76)   We . . . entered another SPACE CIRCULAR in shape. (p. 76)   The ARCHED CEILING rising some ten feet higher than the side-walls . . . (p. 82)   A soft WHITE LIGHT, which Saint Germain explained was an omnipresent force . . . flooded the entire place. (p.81)

 

 

Compare the italics, capitals, and bold-face type in one column with those in the other. Can anything be more revealing than the real source of Ballard’s alleged “true” experiences with Saint Germain at the retreat in the Grand Teton mountains?

 

Forty-six years apart in time, a thousand miles apart in space —  yet the same incident told virtually in the same words and phraseology, or with synonyms that mean practically the same thing!

 

Literary critics, copyright experts, and even their poor duped followers must agree that if this be coincidence, then Ballard is the most coincidental person on the face of the earth. The fact-finding Ripley ought to put it in his “Believe-It-or-Not” column.

 

What is one to think of a man who swears on the platform by all that is holy, that every word in “those blessed books” is true? A man who says over and over again that his books represent actually his own personal experiences?

 

The parallelism given here is no rare and isolated evidence of Ballard plagiarism. Such a thing occurs frequently in their first two books. We have space only for a few additional examples.

 

Does not the one given below show even the possible source of the Ballard “Saint Germain?”

 

Back in 1894 Will L. Garver’s book, entitled The Brother of the Third Degree, came forth as one of the popular occult novels of the day. In it the mysterious Comte de St. Germain was featured, just as he was later featured in the Ballard books.

 

In the Garver book the Comte de St. Germain is represented as having powerful political influence, secretly working with Napoleon I., Emperor of France, to bring about a United States of Europe. The hero of the story, Alphonso, is a “government agent.” In the Ballard book, of course, the Comte de St. Germain is likewise pictured as having powerful political influence, but is working mainly with the Unites States of America instead of Europe. The hero, Godfre Ray King (Guy Ballard), is represented as being on “government business.”

 

Compare now how the heroes of both stories describe their contacts with the same Comte de St. Germain. Note how both travel astrally with him:

 

The Garver Book   He [St. Germain] was tall . . . and sparely built, with long GOLDEN HAIR and a light curly, chestnut beard. (p. 290)   His eyes were BLUE and shone with a fiery luster . . . Face not marked by a single wrinkle. (p. 290)   Suddenly a VOICE commanded me to COME with him. (p. 353)   Without question or even surprise, I OBEYED, and felt myself going through SPACE with the rapidity of thought. (p. 353)

The Ballard Book   Saint Germain stood before us . . . His beautiful GOLDEN HAIR hung to his shoulders. (p. 151)     The piercing, sparkling VIOLET of his eyes . . . His features were very regular. (p. 151)   I heard his VOICE say . . . distinctly: “Come!” (p. 128)   I had learned to OBEY that call, and . . . passed quickly through SPACE. (p. 128)

 

 

In the Garver book there are many other parallels which could have been given, but we must pass on very briefly to quotations from other books.

 

The Prince of Atlantis by Lillian Elizabeth Roy, published by The Educational Press, New York, in 1929, contains many similar scenes and incidents which later were recorded in Ballard’s Unveiled Mysteries. In both books there is the same “Great Luminous Being,” who comes to warn the people of an impending cataclysm which would strike unless the people heeded the warning, obeyed the “Law of the One,” and recognized their “Source.” There is the same great conclave of people, a great “banquet,” the wise and good “Emperor” and his “golden-haired children,” the same division into two classes of people, and the “Voice” of the great “Cosmic Being” which sounds out a warning to the disobedient people telling them of the coming cataclysm.

 

In both books the people are given a certain time limit in which to heed the warning — ”Seven weeks” in one book, “Seven days” in the other. But all to no avail.

 

The cataclysm comes, and the “wicked” perish in the ensuing deluge. In both books the “Emperor’s children” and the “Children of Light” miraculously escape.

 

The three current Ballards, as might be expected, were the Emperor’s “golden-haired children” of that ancient civilization of seventy thousand years ago. A great “Cosmic Master” came, just in time, and withdrew them into the “Golden Etheric City of Light.” In the occult novel, Myriam and the Mystic Brotherhood, by Maude Lesseuer Howard, published nearly two decades ago, there are many incidents and characters which Ballard similarly tells about, including mystic caves which had been “hollowed out of solid rock” of the mountain. There are “Initiations,” golden-robed “Masters,” various “Ascensions,” and some very young “Children of the Light” who take part in all these mysteries.

 

In Baird T. Spalding’s series of books, Life and Teaching of the Masters of the Far East — we likewise find many similarities. There is much about the “I AM,” the “Ascension,” messages from great “Masters,” dazzling “Light Rays,” precipitated meals — and even gold coins snapped right out of the atmosphere!

 

Edna Ballard, at some of her very early private classes in Chicago —a few years before the publication of Unveiled Mysteries—  read frequently from Spalding books. Spalding himself spent some weeks as a guest at the Ballard home. She also read other occult literature to this class, including, as stated before, the Pelley magazines. Mr. Ballard who had secretly returned to Chicago after his alleged experience with “Saint Germain” on Mt. Shasta was only occasionally at these early classes and was spoken of very mysteriously. He kept himself very much in the background — for reasons which will in a couple of chapters be clear.

 

Then after some months of reading from Pelley, Spalding, and other literature, Edna Ballard began to read from a series of so-called “Discourses.” She was very mysterious about them, and said she could not tell where they came from, as she had no “permission.”

 

Later, however, she stated these discourses had come direct to her and Mr. Ballard over a “Light and Sound Ray” at their home on 84th Place. They were at that time written on thin paper and were full of corrections and interpolations, showing that whoever was responsible for them had changed his or her mind frequently. These “Discourses” were the originals which later formed the basis for the Ballard publication, The “I AM” Discourses. There is no doubt but that Edna Ballard took the utmost liberty in freely “editing” these discourses which were supposed to have been given by great “Perfect Beings” over the marvelous “Light and Sound Ray” — allegedly something new in the history of the world.

 

But, alas! this “Light and Sound Ray” is found in all its marvelousness in Marie Corelli’s occult novel, The Secret Power, published in 1921. Which proves again there is nothing new under the sun — not even the Ballard “Light and Sound Ray!”

 

It would perhaps be boring to some readers to quote in detail all the various selections from books which undoubtedly formed the basis for much of the Ballard work. Those who want to investigate further along this line are referred to the author’s series of five brochures, particularly numbers 4 and 5, entitled The Source of the Ballard Writings and The Ballard Saint Germain. (Truth Research Publications, Los Angeles.)

 

It is interesting and surprising to note one odd thing. The first Ballard book, Unveiled Mysteries, is supposed to be the first of a series of instructions on the “Mighty I AM.” Yet in this book — which tells all about Ballard’s contact with Saint Germain— there is no mention whatever of the “Mighty I AM.”

 

The “Magic Presence,” however, which was their second book, abounds in this expression of the “Mighty I AM.”

 

Now, why didn’t Saint Germain mention these “magic words” to Ballard on Mt. Shasta in 1930 instead of waiting two years to speak them over the marvelous “Light and Sound Ray” in his home in Chicago?

 

The evidence points to the fact that Edna Ballard had a good deal to do with injecting into the work the name of “Mighty I AM,” as well as being responsible for much else in “those blessed books.”

 

It is reliably stated by a party who was staying at the Ballard home that while Edna Ballard worked on the MSS. of those marvelous “Ascended Master” books, Guy Ballard washed and hung up clothes!

 

Their former Associate Director, who traveled with them during part of the time that the MS. for The Magic Presence was in preparation, writes:

 

“I think Mrs. Ballard did most of the work. In fact, so far as I could see while I was with them, she was the boss, and he did just what she told him to do. She also was in full charge of The Magic Presence, which was in preparation while I was with them . . . She spent much time working on this MS. the whole time I was with them.”

 

Indeed, in the early days in Chicago it is stated that Mrs. Ballard seemed sometimes to be more conversant with those marvelous experiences of Godfre Ray King than Guy Ballard himself! People who attended those early classes say that it was she who generally answered questions in regard to those experiences. Later, however, it seems, that he became more familiar with his own experiences and would swear to their truth with the greatest of intensity.

 

We are also told by those who were in close association with the Ballards that when they first came to Los Angeles in the Spring of 1935 — shortly after they had gotten off the MS. of The Magic Presence to the commercial printers in Chicago — Mrs. Ballard had something like a “trunk-load of books with her.”

 

Just why was the need for Mrs. Ballard to cart those old books around with her? Books that had been outdated and outmoded by the marvelous new teachings of the Ascended Masters! Books they later advised their people not to read!

 

We pass now to another little irregularity in literary acknowledgment. When the two Accredited Messengers of Saint Germain arrived in Los Angeles on their first sweep of the country — she with her books and he with his Arabian Nights’ tales — they told the story of how Godfre Ray King had visited the Ascended Masters in their secret retreats, had dined and talked with them, had slept in their households, had bathed in their “circular Roman baths,” all perfumed divinely with “scent of roses.” (p. 70, M.P.)

 

Then one happy day Mrs. Ballard announced to a thrilled and expectant Los Angeles audience that on a certain afternoon and evening they would show actual pictures of these magnificent Beings.

 

The day at last arrived, and the writer was on hand to see those marvelous pictures.

 

He had never seen a picture of an “Ascended” Master. He had, however, seen pictures of regular Masters — at least he was informed they were Masters through his reading of theosophical and other occult literature, and he was just a bit curious to see how an “Ascended” Master differed from those of the regular kind.

 

Well, imagine his surprise when he saw staring back at him from the stereopticon screen those same “un-Ascended” Masters he had seen years before in theosophical books — but now all tinted up with dashes of water color here and there!

 

He naturally listened for an acknowledgment of debt to the Theosophical Society for the privilege of showing these pictures; but, none came!

 

These great and magnificent “Ascended-Master” pictures were shown time and again as their own, with no acknowledgment whatsoever as to their real source; and balls of “Blue Lightning” were thrown at any “vicious” individual or organization that dared call attention to this and other little irregularities.

 

In that early day, the Mighty I AM movement sprouted so rapidly that its Accredited Messengers had to present much that was secondhand, and this included not only water-colored pictures of Theosophical Masters but even a couple of the Masters themselves! They reported that the two Theosophical Masters who has started that Society (the Master M. and K. H.) had come over to the Mighty I AM banner and were now “Ascended Masters!”

 

For the good Ballard student who might feel inclined to doubt that the Accredited Messengers of the Ascended Masters would pawn off on him, as it were, pictures of un-Ascended beings, when he has been trained for years to worship “Ascended” ones, we refer him to the Theosophical book, Through the Eyes of the Masters, by David Anrias, published in 1932 by George Routledge & Sons, Ltd. London, where he will see what undoubtedly are the selfsame “Ascended Masters” which were shown many times on the Ballard stereopticon screen.

 

Furthermore, Mrs. Ballard in giving her verbal descriptions of these Masters repeated almost verbatim what Anrias had said about them — and for variety added some of the descriptions of Annie Besant and Charles Leadbeater, well-known Theosophical writers on such subjects.

 

The “Ascended Masters” having come to life on the screen instead of in person as promised, the divinely-appointed Messengers proceeded to show weird-looking “Thought Forms” of persons in love, in hate, and afflicted with green-eyed jealousy.

 

These pictures bore every indication of having been taken from a Theosophical book by Besant and Leadbeater entitled Thought Forms, first published in 1905; but so far as the uninformed in the audience knew, they were fresh from the Ballard astral gallery! Then the Accredited Messengers of the Ascended Masters showed gorgeously-colored plates of great “Cosmic Forces and Beings.”

 

But once again the heavenly exhibit had its earthly counterpart. In a book, entitled Watchers of the Seven Spheres, by H. K. Challoner, published by E. P. Dutton & Co., Inc., New York, in 1935, we find these self-same gorgeously-colored plates of great Cosmic Forces and Beings. Furthermore, Mrs. Ballard utilized the descriptive material in this book in explaining the status and function of those Cosmic Beings — but of course without acknowledgment.

 

When the dust of illusion which has thrown itself over this movement has sufficiently settled, we wonder whether this cult of “Saint Germain” will not go down in metaphysical history as the greatest “occult steal” of many centuries — if not of all time.

 

 

 

(Psychic Dictatorship in America, chapter 14)