Saint Germain Foundation
Encyclopedia
The Saint Germain Foundation is a religious organization, headquartered in Schaumburg, Illinois
, a suburb of Chicago, with a major facility just north of Dunsmuir, California
, in the buildings and property of the Shasta Springs
retreat. There is also a facility in the Capitol Hill neighborhood in downtown Denver, Colorado
.
The doctrines of the organization are based on teachings and wisdom received by Guy Ballard
in 1930. Ballard was hiking on the slopes of Mount Shasta
in California
, and claimed Saint Germain appeared to him and began training him to be a "Messenger". Ballard published his experiences in a series of books. The organization's philosophies are known as the "I AM" Activity, and its members popularly known as "I AM" Students..
J. Gordon Melton
studied the group and ranked it in the category "established cult". Also present in New Zealand, the St. Germain Foundation is considered by writer Robert S. Ellwood as a religious group with theosophical and esoteric roots. The group is recognized by the Theosophical Society
and the Great White Brotherhood
.
The group was labelled as cult
in the 1995 report established by Parliamentary Commission on Cults in France. The group founded a community in France in 1956 and is now located in the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence
. It counts less 50 members. In 1997, the Belgian parliamentary commission established a list of 189 movements containing I AM.
Worldwide, the religious group had over one million members in 1940, but it began to decline after Ballard's death. Among the splinter groups of the Saint Germain Foundation, there have been the Bridge to Freedom, The Summit Lighthouse
and the Church Universal and Triumphant
.
Schaumburg, Illinois
Schaumburg is a city located in Cook County in northeastern Illinois. A common misspelling of the city name is Schaumberg, a spelling which persists on some modern maps. Schaumburg is located just under northwest of downtown Chicago and approximately northwest of O'Hare International Airport. As...
, a suburb of Chicago, with a major facility just north of Dunsmuir, California
Dunsmuir, California
Dunsmuir is a city in Siskiyou County, California, United States. The population was 1,650 at the 2010 census, down from 1,923 at the 2000 census. It is currently a hub of tourism in Northern California as visitors enjoy fishing, skiing, climbing, or sight-seeing...
, in the buildings and property of the Shasta Springs
Shasta Springs
Shasta Springs was the name of a popular summer resort on the Upper Sacramento River, during the late Nineteenth Century and early Twentieth Century...
retreat. There is also a facility in the Capitol Hill neighborhood in downtown Denver, Colorado
Denver, Colorado
The City and County of Denver is the capital and the most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Denver is a consolidated city-county, located in the South Platte River Valley on the western edge of the High Plains just east of the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains...
.
The doctrines of the organization are based on teachings and wisdom received by Guy Ballard
Guy Ballard
Guy Warren Ballard was an American mining engineer who became, with his wife, Edna Anne Wheeler Ballard, the founder of the "I AM" Activity....
in 1930. Ballard was hiking on the slopes of Mount Shasta
Mount Shasta
Mount Shasta is located at the southern end of the Cascade Range in Siskiyou County, California and at is the second highest peak in the Cascades and the fifth highest in California...
in California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
, and claimed Saint Germain appeared to him and began training him to be a "Messenger". Ballard published his experiences in a series of books. The organization's philosophies are known as the "I AM" Activity, and its members popularly known as "I AM" Students..
J. Gordon Melton
J. Gordon Melton
John Gordon Melton is an American religious scholar who was the founding director of the Institute for the Study of American Religion and is currently a research specialist in religion and New Religious Movements with the Department of Religious Studies at the University of California, Santa Barbara...
studied the group and ranked it in the category "established cult". Also present in New Zealand, the St. Germain Foundation is considered by writer Robert S. Ellwood as a religious group with theosophical and esoteric roots. The group is recognized by the Theosophical Society
Theosophical Society
The Theosophical Society is an organization formed in 1875 to advance the spiritual principles and search for Truth known as Theosophy. The original organization, after splits and realignments has several successors...
and the Great White Brotherhood
Great White Brotherhood
The Great White Brotherhood, in belief systems akin to Theosophical and New Age, are said to be supernatural beings of great power who spread spiritual teachings through selected humans. The members of the Brotherhood may be known as the Masters of the Ancient Wisdom or the Ascended Masters...
.
The group was labelled as cult
Cult
The word cult in current popular usage usually refers to a group whose beliefs or practices are considered abnormal or bizarre. The word originally denoted a system of ritual practices...
in the 1995 report established by Parliamentary Commission on Cults in France. The group founded a community in France in 1956 and is now located in the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence
Alpes-de-Haute-Provence
Alpes-de-Haute-Provence is a French department in the south of France, it was formerly part of the province of Provence.- History :Nord-de-Provence was one of the 83 original departments created during the French Revolution on 4 March 1790...
. It counts less 50 members. In 1997, the Belgian parliamentary commission established a list of 189 movements containing I AM.
Worldwide, the religious group had over one million members in 1940, but it began to decline after Ballard's death. Among the splinter groups of the Saint Germain Foundation, there have been the Bridge to Freedom, The Summit Lighthouse
The Summit Lighthouse
The Summit Lighthouse is an international New Age spiritual organization founded in 1958 by Mark L. Prophet. Today it is the outreach arm of Church Universal and Triumphant, founded in 1975 by Prophet's wife, Elizabeth Clare Prophet...
and the Church Universal and Triumphant
Church Universal and Triumphant
Church Universal and Triumphant is an international New Age religious organization founded in 1975 by Elizabeth Clare Prophet. It is an outgrowth of The Summit Lighthouse, founded in 1958 by Prophet's husband, Mark L. Prophet...
.