Cult or Culture..?

Cult, which shares an origin with culture and cultivate, comes from the Latin cultus, a noun with meanings ranging from "tilling, cultivation" to "training or education" to "adoration (Merriam-Webster)

Recently an article was published about the school I train with and am a teacher at – The Modern Mystery School. The article contains a lot of made-up facts and half-truths that are incoherent and clearly built up for dramatic effect and yes obviously it uses the word “cult”.

This is not surprising given the online magazine in questions makes money from clicks on their articles. Their articles are interjected with online adverts so the more people click on a sensational statement the more money they make. Interestingly they accuse the school of offering its teachings in exchange for money.

Normally I would not be interested in writing a response to something of this sort. But I am doing so now because I feel that too many of us remain silent while good things are taken down by public opinion or slanderous online comments.

This article isn’t just about the school, it has attacked several of my teachers with unfounded claims. Several of these claims I know to be incorrect through my own direct experience.

So let me tell you about my experience with the Modern Mystery School.

For context, so you know where I come from when I share my experience, I will start at the beginning. I was born to a loving family, the oldest of 5. My childhood wasn’t perfect, my parents divorced. I learnt how to take responsibility early and while helping look after my siblings I completed a masters in engineering at a competitive Uni.

After starting my professional life I held different jobs, learnt quickly, progressed well and was outwardly successful. I was accepted for an MBA at INSEAD on a scholarship for social entrepreneurship and joined McKinsey & Company, a very competitive consulting firm shortly after.

While doing this I also trained on the side – in sabbaticals – as a somatic and inner child therapist.

This was prompted by my own search for meaning. While outwardly successful, my work didn’t feel meaningful enough for me. I have always been driven by impact and increasing shareholder value for companies just wasn’t enough of an impact for me – I wanted to help the world become a better place.

I had tried social entrepreneurship and it made me realise that my way of having an impact in the world would be by changing from the inside – both within myself and others. True change can only ever happen when the individual takes responsibility.

In my training to become a therapist I trained with several organisations. All of which had a proper certification process in place. I successfully completed my certifications and had already started practising as a therapist when I received a life activation session through the Modern Mystery School.

I immediately felt a difference in that I no longer feared other people’s judgement. I had for a long time after leaving the corporate world, felt a fear of being judged which had held me back in some ways from fully expressing myself. This shifted after my life activation. Given my therapy training, I was surprised to see this rapid impact and it made me curious. I subsequently took a class called “empower thyself” which comes with an initiation.

And again I felt a big difference in my life. It became much easier for me to set boundaries, say no and I felt less affected by other people’s emotional states.

Given that I was already a therapist and seeing the wonderful impact life activation had on me, I decided to train in how to give life activations and to offer that as a service for my clients. And this is where I got really drawn to this work - the results I saw in my clients were unprecedented. People who had previously been stuck in recurring unhealthy relationship patterns after years of therapy suddenly shifted and I saw several incredible transformations in people’s lives. Once a client who was told she would need surgery to fully use her leg again walked out completely healed after one session. I wasn’t expecting any of the things I saw but it gave me the determination to keep going and study in this ancient lineage.

I now teach “empower thyself” classes myself and some other classes in the lineage and I love to see the results they bring in my clients.

While completing my training I overcame very deep fears. I learnt to stand my ground in situations that previously scared me, healed emotional and mental thought patterns that had been affected me for years. I developed inner peace and a sense of calm that stays with me even in difficult moments.

I also run a business, look after my daughter and live in London with my husband. In non-covid times I travel to train with the school a couple of times a year.

I think that all sounds pretty normal. Yet, many people, have asked me whether I am in a cult. I am not quite sure what to answer. Are you in a cult when you go to uni—when you go to work or when you go for yoga? If you define a cult as a community of people who come together and have a distinct culture then wouldn’t we all be in a cult?

So if we are both in a cult, what then is the culture of your cult?

These statements accurately describe the culture I have experienced in the Modern Mystery School:

• You are responsible for your actions – the reality you create is your choice.

• Your free will and that of others is the primary good that you need to cultivate and safeguard at all times.

• All the keys are within you.

• Your inner wisdom is your compass.

• You are power and power is a good thing when used responsibly.

• We are all divine beings with a unique purpose to fulfil.

• Emotions are the flavour of life, emotional drama doesn’t serve anyone.

• Nobody is perfect, perfection is the constant evolution towards a better self.

• We grow by learning from mistakes there is no need for judgment.

I hope this helps to answer some of the questions you may have and I will leave you with one of my favourite quotes by a great man who once stood up against a powerful force.

“You have enemies? Good. It means you’ve stood up for something, sometime in your life.”

W. Churchill

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If you feel called to walk the path, you may start your first step with a simple Life Activation. Contact us at contact@incentrelondon.com to learn more.

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