Ramtha Part 4: Ramtha, Lawsuits, and Lawfare
If you haven't read Part 1 through Part 3 of this series, you can find them here.
Ramtha Part 1: Who is JZ Knight?
Ramtha Part 2: Is Ramtha's School of Enlightenment the Next Bohemian Grove?
Ramtha Part 3: Or is Ramtha's School of Enlightenment a Death Cult?
Why the silence about Ramtha? Why haven't people heard about this before? You would think that something so controversial would have been bigger news than the few whispers that could be found here and there regarding JZ Knight and Ramtha's School of Enlightenment. After all, nothing says scandalous entertaining like having the word "cult" in the headlines. One would have thought news organizations around the world would have had some kind of blip about this... if only for the clickbait factor.
But instead, there has been an absolute void surrounding Ramtha's School of Enlightenment. This part should explain some of the reason as to why.
Going Public...
So what exactly does happen to people who try to go public?
"JZK intimidation is a factor in anyone going public criticizing RSE, particularly by former members," says McCarthy, 55, a member of LARSE. "Is this not a clue that you are dealing with a cult?"
McCarthy says that he was lured by promises that if he were obedient, he would become god-like. He said the school warned that if he didn't continue to practice the techniques and beliefs, he and his family would not be protected from pending natural catastrophies and destruction.
Knight disagreed.
Former students Karri Konga and Erika Winter-Cobbs said they still bear the scars of their experiences at the school, but they are grateful to have escaped.
Konga, 47, a former Ramtha school staff member for five years and a student there for 14 years before that, said she went into shock last March when she saw the LARSE Web site for the first time. Since then, she has been in treatment for anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder, because, she said, the Web site awakened her to the reality of what had occurred while she was at the school.
For 19 years, she had believed in Ramtha's pronouncements to build underground bunkers to prepare for catastrophes, to keep his teachings secret and to repress her feelings. Now she believes she was under a type of spell, she said.
"No one spoke out before this," Konga said in explaining her reaction. "People's minds get twisted and bent, and it's a really arduous journey back."
The school has denied Konga's assertions about past events. Officials say that many other students have improved their lives, healed themselves of disease and become happier and more productive after attending the school.
Cult Education Institute: Disillusioned Former Students Target Ramtha
Paid Propaganda
Intimidation plus a well planned marketing strategy equals a pretty powerful tool.
The school says it offers students tools to access their inner wisdom, focus their brains more effectively and create what they want in their lives.
In the past year, Knight's staff has purchased advertisements in The Olympian and other publications and issued news releases to raise public awareness of the economic effects of the school's thousands of students who attend regular workshops, stay in nearby hotels, shop in local stores and eat at area restaurants. The school attracts about 6,000 students throughout the year with classes at the Yelm site and at other locations around the world. School officials estimate that the local workshop participants contributed almost $2.5 million to the Thurston County economy in 2007.
Officials say that many other students have improved their lives, healed themselves of disease and become happier and more productive after attending the school.
News releases sent out by Steve Klein, a community liaison for the school, regularly detail individual success stories from people who take the classes. The school also runs regular newspaper advertisements touting the achievements of its students.
Cult Education Institute: Disillusioned Former Students Target Ramtha
Divorcing Ramtha
What did her ex-husband have to say? How did JZ Knight treat others? Is she a spiritual guru? Or just an old-fashioned bully?
Jeffrey Knight, who was the fifth husband of Ms. Knight, says in his lawsuit that his ex-wife used Ramtha to bully him into accepting a meager divorce settlement in 1989. He said he signed the settlement agreement under duress, and now wants a much larger share of the millions of dollars he says Ms. Knight made from Ramtha videos, books, lectures and personal sessions. In addition, he said he has long been infected with the virus that causes AIDS, and deprived himself of care because Ramtha scorned modern medicine.
Outside the courtroom, other critics have described rituals in which blindfolded followers wandered for hours through a maze, or were threatened by Ms. Knight if they disclosed the inner workings of the ranch.
"She raped my soul," said Carey Bowen. "I used to think she was a good fake, but now I think she has a split personality," she said.
Ms. Knight and her attorneys say the allegations are exaggerated or false. In any event, Ms. Knight says she has very little control over how Ramtha may influence people.
She was asked today, for example if Ramtha had the power to bring someone down. "I've heard him say that, yes," said Ms. Knight, who is 46 years old.
Internet Archive: The New York Times: Worldly and the Spiritual Clash in New Age Divorce
How much control did JZ Knight have in her relationships with others?
Jeffrey Knight, 36, who formed an Arabian horse business with his wife after their 1984 marriage, contended Ramtha controlled nearly every aspect of his life.
He said that included his decision in 1985 not to seek medical treatment after testing positive for HIV, the virus that causes AIDS.
'Ramtha told me that I could not die from the plague,' he testified in September.
Gaudio said that in pressing Knight to accept the earlier settlement, J.Z. Knight threatened to expose his infection, his homosexual behavior and to sever all contact with Ramtha.
Tampa Bay: Wonder What Would Ramtha Say About This Divorce Settlement
It is important to note that Jeffrey Knight ultimately died while awaiting trial.
The Rights of Ramtha
Ramtha is copyright material.
In 1995-1997, JZ Knight brought Julie Ravell to court and sued her for channeling Ramtha.
According to Wikipedia:
Knight has been involved in several court disputes, some personal and others business-related. She brought a suit against a woman from Berlin named Julie Ravell for disturbing Knight's psychic state and leaving her "hanging in spiritual limbo" during the five years Ravell claimed she was also channeling Ramtha. The case was brought to the supreme court in Vienna and lasted over five years, at the end of which Austria's supreme court awarded copyright to Knight as the sole channeler of Ramtha, and Ravell was made to pay $800 in psychic damages to Knight.
Further investigation showed that the ruling was documented in other sources, such as The Historical Dictionary of New Age Movements by Michael York:
Additionally, 1995 and 1997 Austrian court rulings against Julie Ravell decreed that Knight is the only person allowed to channel Ramtha.
Depending on what you believe, one could assume that JZ Knight's relationship with Ramtha is the ultimate abusive relationship. Not even Ramtha's death will free him from being JZ Knight's property. Do anti-slavery laws cover 35,000 warrior Lemurian spirits? Or maybe this is just JZ Knight's rights to her creative and intellectual property. If that was the case, then Ramtha is a product of her mind and imagination and doesn't really exist except there.
Ramtha Copyrighted
Julie Ravell wasn't the only person who was sued by JZ Knight for copyright infringement.
Yelm channeler JZ Knight testified Tuesday in court that she was so 'disturbed' and 'bothered' about reports that Rainier spiritual teacher Whitewind Weaver had 'moved next door, taken my school’s teachings, changed them around a little and then started teaching them' that she authorized a lawsuit against her.
If you are wondering how Whitewind Weaver knew about Ramtha and what Ramtha's School of Enlightenment taught, she was apparently a former student.
Whitewind Weaver took classes at RSE before teaching her own her five-day seminar in August 2006. Knight went after Weaver for breaking the student contract with RSE that states followers are only to use the knowledge gained for personal use. The court ruled in favor of Knight in 2008 and ordered Weaver to pay $10,000 in damages.
Slavery Through Debt
As a matter of fact, JZ Knight has a tendency to sue anyone who exposes JZ Knight. This is exactly the reason why I am putting in very little commentary and am mainly directly quoting established articles.
“The nastiest litigation saga by the most litigious cult leader – JZ Knight – finally came to an end last month. Knight lost her final legal effort in Federal Court to turn former cult member Virginia Coverdale into a perpetual indentured servant. Federal Judge Brian Lynch wrote in his findings of fact filed December 15th:
“’Overall, this Court’s conclusion is that JZK was intent on suppressing efforts by Coverdale to expose tenets and practices of RSE because it might cause serious damage to its reputation. JZK attempted to use its superior financial resources to intimidate its dissident ex-students by its lawsuit. Coverdale had the temerity to defend herself in a lawsuit pursued vigorously by J.Z. Knight and JZK.’
“The 31-page court findings of fact and conclusions of law document is a damning rebuke of JZ Knight’s abusive harassment of a former cult member.
“Virginia Coverdale was a former member who left the cult and attempted to warn local government officials and current cult followers about JZ Knight’s racist and bizarre behavior. JZ Knight initiated aggressive legal action against Coverdale in an attempt to silence her and intimidate other followers from exposing the truth about Knight.
“Coverdale had few resources and sparse legal representation during most of the five-year legal drama. JZ Knight spent nearly a million dollars to harass Coverdale over the past five years, and it is difficult to prevail in Washington State’s court system with such a disparity of resources. Eventually, Coverdale was forced into bankruptcy by Knight’s relentless legal harassment.”
This is what happens to people who try to expose JZ Knight. This next part shows a series of events that resulted in a political fallout.
Knight was first publicly exposed in 2012 when videos were posted on Youtube showing her racist and hateful speeches about Mexicans, Catholics, Jews, and others.
Internet Archive: Cult Leader JZ Knight Fails in Federal Court (Published January 15, 2018)
JZ Knight ended up suing Coverdale to silence the videos.
Knight spent an impressive fortune attempting to mitigate and reduce the public exposure of her racist tirades. Her threats of litigation against Youtube, Vimeo, and other video service providers ensured that the videos would be hard to find on the internet. Additionally, her threats against local governments also ensured they would not expose her weird, racist behavior.
Internet Archive: Cult Leader JZ Knight Fails in Federal Court (Published January 15, 2018)
Read that last sentence again. JZ Knight had influence over the local government in Washington.
Knight was first publicly exposed in 2012 when videos were posted on Youtube showing her racist and hateful speeches about Mexicans, Catholics, Jews, and others. Knight was one of the largest donors to the Washington State Democratic Party at the time, and was on President Obama’s state reelection committee. Shortly after these videos were released, the Washington State Democratic Party divested themselves from JZ Knight and her Ramtha cash stash. Coverdale released one of the original videos exposing Knight at the time. This author, receiving additional videos from former cult members also released additional videos. Litigation against everyone the spirit channeler didn’t like was JZ Knight’s reflexive response.
Internet Archive: Cult Leader JZ Knight Fails in Federal Court (Published January 15, 2018)
So when the videos came out, there was a reactive response from said government officials.
The Washington State Democratic Party was wise enough to avoid overtly tainting themselves by further association with the cult leader and the ancient warrior spirit named Ramtha. However, the Thurston County Democratic Party was less discriminating. From 2014 to 2016 the Thurston County Democrats and their local candidates continued to accept over $216,000 worth of donations and support from Knight. JZ Knight/Ramtha was the largest donor to the Thurston County Democratic Party in its entire history.
Internet Archive: Cult Leader JZ Knight Fails in Federal Court (Published January 15, 2018)
What happened to these donations?
The Washington State Democratic Party ended up donating what they received to various charities. The people who kept their money ended up being sued by the Washington State Attorney General for campaign finance violations.
The association with JZ Knight and her shady political cash also appeared to have legal repercussions for most of the candidates she supported. For example:
Jim Cooper and Kelsey Hulse – both Democrat candidates for Thurston County Commissioner seats in 2016. Both funded by JZ Knight, both lost their races, and both were sued by the Attorney General for campaign finance violations.
The Thurston County Democrats were sued by the Washington State Attorney General for campaign finance violations based on a series of complaints filed by this author. They remain in litigation. The previous chair, Katie Nelson resigned.
Olympia City Councilman Jim Cooper lost his 2016 campaign to become Thurston County Commissioner. He was also sued by the Washington State Attorney General for campaign finance violations based on complaints filed by this author. He remains in litigation today. He has also continued to violate the law during his recent re-election campaign to the Olympia City Council.
Kelsey Hulse failed in her campaign to become Thurston County Commissioner in 2016. She was also sued by the Attorney General based on a complaint filed by this author. She recently settled this lawsuit after paying a fine.
Jay Manning, in addition to being sued by the Attorney General for his own failure to follow Washington State’s campaign finance laws based on a complaint filed by this author, was also forced to settle an additional lawsuit for a wide variety of campaign finance violations he committed while directing Knight’s failed Cult PAC effort in Thurston County. Strangely, the Washington State Democratic Party financially bailed him out of the fines and penalties.
Representative Dolan is also a serious violator of the state’s campaign finance laws during her 2016 election campaign based on a complaint also filed by this author.
Knight’s efforts to control Thurston County after she had purchased the loyalty and support of the Thurston County Democrats appear to have failed for now.
Internet Archive: Cult Leader JZ Knight Fails in Federal Court (Published January 15, 2018)
I want you to remember this the next time you hear someone say they can't help who donates money to them.
To Be Continued...
Ramtha Part 5: Infiltration of MAGA
Further Reading
Internet Archive: Ancient Spirit Channeller Buys Thurston County Election – Controls Democratic Party With Big Cash Infusion (Published October 19, 2016)
Now I clearly understand why I’ve never heard of this cult. Evil comes in exceedingly beautiful forms at times, doesn’t it? Thank you!!
If you can “Brainwash” enough people to influence their behavior then you could certainly influence how they vote. (I had to lol tho over the fact that she was suing people for channeling her own made up Deity. 🤪)