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Buyer Beware

Wed, 03/16/2011 - 10:48pm — Sarah

I respect the right for everyone to have their own beliefs. What I don't respect or support are con games.
I believe the PNW Medicine Wheel ceremonies are scams. Some of the organizers may mean well. My guess is that some of them know exactly what they are doing.

Bennie LeBeau leads the PNW Medicine Wheel ceremonies this upcoming weekend in Heritage Park. Here is a video about his supposed ability to heal drought:

 


Comments

Thu, 03/17/2011 - 2:44pm — ErinC

So what's their angle?

This is interesting. I'm open to the notion that this may be some sort of con game, but what I don't understand yet is what benefit the organizers may be hoping to gain from the con, if a con is what it is. I realize there's some controversy surrounding the fact that they are accepting monetary donations, but is there reason to think that they've pulled in enough money this way to make the con a financially lucrative one? Or is it "fame" that they're hoping to garner by fraudulent means?

I realize that even if the ceremony isn't a con, there are other reasons why one might decline to participate. However, my attention was caught by the line, "My guess is that some of [the organizers] know exactly what they are doing," and I'm left wondering what exactly it is they are suspected of doing. I would appreciate hearing from anyone who could elaborate on this point, as I'm still making up my mind whether or not to be involved in this ceremony at all. Thanks!

Thu, 03/17/2011 - 4:11pm — Sarah

Welcome!

You know the other reasons not to participate, I encourage everyone who hasn't already to read the statements from the Native Student Alliance.

Okay, for my thoughts on the con. Might help for me to put aside the word "con" for a moment and talk about psychological techniques of persuasion.

The Medicine Wheel ceremonies are a form of a large group training. This can be difficult to see beneath the overlay of spiritual talk and practices. Beneath all that is a group event. A group event of persuasion, of getting everyone on the same page so to speak.

Of course there is nothing automatically wrong with that, as long as we know what is going on. Giving and attending powerful inspiring speeches, cheering our team on in sports, rallying the troops......nothing necessarily wrong with that.

But then add in practices that soften people up. Fasting. Drumming and chanting for a long time. Sweat lodge. Do all this while using persuasive techniques and talk and you have a vulnerable group of people.

Does the group leading these ceremonies really care about their followers? Will there be after care in case someone needs it? Intense practices like these in an unsafe environment, which this is, can churn up a lot of stuff for people.

So this group has been told that they are being disrespectful. They have been asked to listen and participate in reconciliation with local people, and they have not. They have implied that they have local tribal support and they do not.

These are all red flags.

So why would a group of people come into town, set up a medicine show, use talk of recent disasters to rope people in further, and apply classic persuasion techniques in a guise of spirituality and helping the earth?

Plenty of people involved are well meaning. What about the organizers? They have been running these ceremonies and events for awhile. They have been critiqued before. People warn each other to stay clear.

The organizers can side step the $ question by claiming they are all about altruism and donations only. But the $ is coming from somewhere.

A good con job involves misdirection and a lot of "look over there!" as something goes on elsewhere. The misdirection in this case will be in the spiritual talk, the drumming, the flash and ceremony.

What can a maestro of all this get? $ - probably from an inner circle of followers. Power, adoration, and narcissistic ego boosts are  also examples of what they get from followers.