THE BALLARDS BECOME PARANOIC

 

THE “BLUE LIGHTNING” FLASHES AT CLEVELAND

 

By Gerald B. Bryan

 

We shall now recount stirring events which led up to the inauguration of a new system of attendance at the Ballard classes.

 

For five years the “Accredited Messengers of Saint Germain” had openly preached their political and religious doctrines to the American people.

 

Suddenly, however, following a hectic 10-day class at Cleveland in October, 1939, all this was changed.

 

Then began their new system of holding all meetings “closed,” open only to those who would sign pledges of allegiance to the “Ascended Masters” and their three-and-only Accredited Messengers.

 

One of the reasons for this change from open to closed meetings was due, no doubt, to the fact that their meetings were getting a bit too fanatical and funny for the general public to tolerate. The furious decreeing and condemnation of “spies” and other “enemies” from the platform, the lack of tolerance and true devotion, did not make the average unhexed newcomer feel that these people were altogether sane or inspired by a preponderance of Christian love and charity. They would perhaps notice the ungrammatical language used by “Perfect Beings from the Seventh Octave of Light,” or they might even notice Guy Ballard taking his watch out to see how much time an all-knowing “Master” or “Goddess” had for the dictation — all of which would give rise to the unkind thought that it was only Guy Ballard himself dictating his own messages.

 

Such “vicious” individuals from the unregenerate public had to be dealt with in some way. They usually had watchful Minute Men eject them from the auditorium, but, as we shall see, some of these “storm troopers” of the Ballards took their jobs a little bit too seriously.

 

Occasionally, too, some woman would object to the removing of her hat — a little observance absolutely necessary to enable the great Saint Germain to send “Light Rays” into her brain. Whether she gave the great “Master” permission to do this or not, it was to be done unto her. She, and everyone else, was drafted for complete “Light Ray” service during the entire meeting. Baldheaded men, it would appear, would have no protection at all from Saint Germain’s Light Ray.

 

Conscientious objectors to this rigid, hat-removing requirement of the Ascended Masters would be unceremoniously and, if necessary, forcefully ejected — the most conscientious of them, all the while, voicing down the aisle an audible protest.

 

A woman who had this experience happen to her in Detroit, wrote to the writer as follows:

 

“I went to hear them yesterday and simply refused to remove my hat or applaud them because I did not know anything about their doctrines. I was ushered out because of it . . . stopped the show for a while. If that ‘Tube of Light’ of Saint Germain’s could not penetrate a little bit of cloth on my head, the ‘God’ they worship must be a weak God.”

 

 

Such happenings, of course, worked against the peace and harmony of each miracle-working class; and, as we shall see, sometimes brought about legal actions which the bolt-throwing Thors of this cult could not handle with their death-dealing “Blue Lightning.”

 

Occasional disturbances of this kind were bad enough, but when the Accredited Messengers reached Cleveland in October, 1939, for the usual 10-day open meeting, it seemed as if all the “sinister forces” of the universe had arrayed themselves against their “Powers of Light.”

 

Part of the trouble that ensued was brought about by the Minute Men at the door being caught a little off guard, in that they permitted a bad-acting newspaper man by name of Westbrook Pegler, who possesses a particularly trenchant pen, to get into their meeting.

 

It further appears that neither G-man “Saint Germain” nor the great “Inner Secret Service” Chief himself, “K-17,” knew that this nationally-known columnist was in the audience, or they would surely have sent their annihilating “Blue Lightning” at him, and that would have been the end of the matter!

 

Perhaps, too intent on directing their “Blue Lightning” at the enemy abroad, they neglected the nearer menace at their own door. At any rate, there he was — a sort of literary bull in an “Ascended-Master” china shop!

 

Now, as the trenchant-pen Pegler sat in meeting, pretty soon he was rubbing his eyes and doubting his ears. So many things were happening... foreign submarines being destroyed by Swords of Blue Flame . . . Japanese bombers being routed by Ascended Masters . . . William Shakespeare shaking his spear. . . . etc. . . . etc. . . . that upon leaving, he said, he had to buy a “sheaf of books to confirm in print what he had heard in bewilderment from the platform.”

 

So armed with the booklets, which doubtlessly assured him of his own sanity, and that what he had heard he had really heard and not imagined, he sat down and wrote the first of two articles on the strange cult, beginning in this wise:

 

“It seems impossible that in all history the human race has produced any more humiliating rebuke to its claims of reason and dignity that a certain congregation of about 1,000 Americans who have been gathering afternoons and evenings lately in Cleveland to take part in a religious cult known as the Great I AM.”

 

He went on to say among other scathing denunciations in this first article, that it was “the most revolting travesty in the entire record of religious eccentricity in the United States.” (United Feature Syndicate, Oct. 24, 1939.)

 

This and his other article on the cult, appearing as they did in so many newspapers of a syndicated chain, brought much unfavorable publicity to the “Accredited Messengers” and their strange cult.

 

The “Blue Lightning” began to flash at this Cleveland class as never before, but too late now to stop the “sinister forces,” other adverse things began to happen.

 

A Cleveland candid camera fan, while at the meeting attempted to photograph the camera-shy Accredited Messengers through a hole in his hat; but, as cameras are not permitted, he didn’t quite get away with it.

 

One of the white-uniformed storm-troopers spied him in the act, and, according to the account in the Cleveland Press of October 25, “not only ripped the film from his camera but also knelt on his Adam’s apple, bloodied his nose and removed small portions of epidermis from various parts of his face.”

 

The result was a suit against the Accredited Messengers for $5,000, court attachments on 4 canary-yellow Chryslers, 1 “Ascended Master” Harp, 1 earth-plane Novachord, and various and sundry stage props.

 

Following closely upon this was another suit for $5,000 made by a woman who refused to obey Saint Germain’s mandate concerning the removal of hats. We quote an article in the Cleveland Press of October 25, 1939:

 

-      “Mrs. _____ asserts that she was forcibly ejected from the auditorium, suffering injuries to her spine, on Friday last, when she refused to remove her hat out of respect to the Great I AM. White clad ushers, or Minute Men, as they are known, flung her to the sidewalk, she asserts.”

 

 

From these harrowing experiences at Cleveland and with their “Blue Lightning” in full retreat, the Ballards moved on to the Eastern coast, temporarily minus their four canary-yellow cars, the “Ascended-Master” harp, and other necessities of their trade, which had been pasted all over with legal attachments at Cleveland — mere pieces of paper which Saint Germain’s “Blue Lightning” could not dissolve quite so easily as it dissolved three considerably more weighty submarines just in time to save the Panama Canal.

 

Under such un-Ascended Master circumstances, the scheduled open meetings at Philadelphia and Washington were forthwith canceled on order of “Saint Germain,” and in those cities the new system of “closed” classes started.

 

Only the faithful and obedient students were gathered together at those classes; and the guards at the door, not depending so much on the stopping power of the “Blue Lightning,” became physically more vigilant in their efforts to keep out process servers and bad-acting newspaper people.

 

On the afternoon of November 12, 1939, at Washington —city of Guy Ballard’s former victories as Commander-in-Chief of the Continental Army!— the lovely “Goddess of Light” came forth to make a few pertinent remarks concerning recent happenings.

 

“These beloved Messengers,” she said, “who have never harmed a fly have been set upon by such depraved creatures as put forth these articles. Those individuals will yet understand, they are dealing with a Power of Light with which they cannot cope.” (p. 10, Feb., 1940, V.)

 

“Do not talk about these classes outside,” continued the Goddess. “Spies are everywhere and in the future there will be no outer notice of when or where the classes are to be held . . . If spies and people come to you for information . . . tell them it is none of their business.” (pp. 17-18.)

 

That same evening, “Saint Germain,” more threatening in his remarks than the Goddess, told the class-leaders:

 

-      “You must take a more positive stand, release a force in those places and throw out people who get nosey. There is no law in this land that allows anybody to come into your place and snoop around.” (p. 21, Feb., 1940, V.)

 

-      “You just wait, beloved ones, until these classes have been closed for six months or a year. If you do not see a scrambling in the outer world, then I will miss My guess.” (p. 22.)

 

-      “We have a means recently established by which We can reach people, certain people at any time... This will help tremendously in the regulation of things and in the raising up of Ascended Master Friends . . .” (p. 25.)

 

-      “. . . The government has watched this Activity from the beginning and knows that there is not one harmful thing in it.” (p. 25.)

 

-      “It is Our Intent and has been from the beginning that when We do begin to appear tangibly to you . . . to become a Law for the student body—and when We do that, I assure you there will be no Peglers or Millers. (applause)” [Miller is a newspaper man who exposed the cult in Cleveland.] (p. 31.)

Then dispatching a 400-word telegram to a Los Angeles class leader, firing him on the spot for disobedience, this now thoroughly-aroused “Ascended Master” said:

 

-      “In the future all classes and groups will be closed to the outside world... Then the howling pack of wolves on the outside can howl to their hearts’ content.”

(Cid's observation: anyone with a little discernment immediately realizes that the supposed messages of the ascended masters transmitted through Guy and Edna Ballard were in reality invented by those two liars.)

 

 

Having with proper threats inaugurated their “closed” classes in Washington and Philadelphia, the Ballards returned in the fall of 1939 to their great Mecca in Los Angeles.

 

At all former “Shrine” classes the “blessed people of Los Angeles” had always been lovingly invited — even through on their printed “invitation,” they stated:

 

-      “We always reserve the right to refuse admittance or have anyone removed from the audience at our discretion.”

 

At this new “closed” class, however, only those of the “blessed Public” who would sign a pledge of allegiance to the Ballards and their “Ascended Masters” could get in.

 

In addition, evidently afraid of further legal suits and acutely conscious of the failure of their “Blue Lightning” to handle such matters, they at this first “closed” Shrine class made the “blessed public” agree not to hold the Ballards responsible for anything that might happen at the classes.

 

 

So on both Eastern and Western Coasts there was started, at these closed classes, a new dispensation over the lives and liberties of their followers. No notes of any kind were permitted to be taken, and no information was to be given on the outside concerning this secret cult which today uses some of the methods of the German Gestapo. The statement was made that if anything leaks out, God help the one through whom it comes!

 

And as might be expected, these secret classes made the credulous members of the same blessed public even more anxious to be partakers in the “blessings” that were to be distributed in greater abundance than before, now that the “spies” and heretics were to be kept out.

 

There was a rush just before the start of the Shrine class on December 22, to fulfill “Ascended-Master” requirements of admission and to be the proud possessor of an “admission card” which would entitle the fortunate student to unobstructed entrance into these secret meetings.

 

And at this Shrine class, Edna Ballard, who already many times before had demonstrated her ability to surmount crisis in the movement, was destined to rise to new heights and powers of her feminine dictatorship over her followers.

 

Six months before, in this city, when a minor crisis had arisen and certain staff members had been dismissed for disobedience, she had appeared as a Dictator before a “Daughters of Light” group, and, according to a stenographic report, said:

 

-      “Don’t any of you ever dare try to separate any of the staff from us again . . . I will drive every bit of viciousness right back into your bodies, and I have the power to do it. If you doubt my ability, just look at those who have just been dismissed. They are living in want, in dire need, and the same thing will happen to any others who cross us and this Work.”

 

But soon a real crisis was to confront this feminine Dictator, who by such threats holds her people in abject fear of her alleged powers.

 

For during this Shrine class there was to occur an event which would test all the resourcefulness of this woman who had in a few years risen from mediocre harpist and bookstore saleswoman in Chicago to a position of psychic Dictator over the lives of thousands of her followers throughout the United States of America.

 

What this event was, and the effect of it, will be described in a later chapter.

 

 

 

(Psychic Dictatorship in America, chapter 32)