Training centre for release of the Atma-energy explained

Training centre for release of the Atma-energy, also known as Atman Foundation, was a new religious movement active mainly on the island of Tenerife in the Canary Islands and in Germany and is best known for a police and media scare in which an alleged attempt to commit ritual suicide took place in Teide National Park in Tenerife in 1998. It was reported that the 32 members of the sect believed that they would be collected by a spacecraft and taken to an unspecified destination. Failing that, they were believed to be going to commit suicide. However, later articles disputed this, claiming there was no intention to commit suicide by the group.

History

It was founded by a German psychologist, Heide Fittkau-Garthe, who, on August 15, 1994, sold all her assets and moved to Tenerife. She founded Training centre for release of the Atma-energy,[1] active mainly on the island of Tenerife in the Canary Islands and in Germany[2] The Spanish media referred to the group as "", after its founder.

On January 8, 1998, Fittkau-Garthe was alleged to have attempted suicide with her followers in Teide National Park, resulting in a police raid on the premises that the sect had in Santa Cruz de Tenerife.[3] [4]

According to Spanish and German police, the group was going to perform a sacrifice similar to that performed by the Order of the Solar Temple on October 4, 1994, in Cheiry and Salvan, two villages in Switzerland.[5] It was later clarified that the Atman Foundation had nothing to do with the Solar Temple. Just three years later in 1997, the Heaven's Gate sect also committed a ritual suicide in San Diego, California. These events may have alerted the police about the Heide sect. Apparently, the 32 members of the sect believed that they would be collected by a spacecraft and taken to an unspecified destination. Failing that, they were believed to be going to commit suicide.[6]

The group was thought to be planning to drink fruit juice laced with poison, which was confiscated during the raid. On analysis, the fruit juice was found not to contain any poison. In Germany all charges were eventually dropped in against members of the group due to lack of evidence, although the accusation still remained in Spain as of 2004 with no trial scheduled.[7] [8] The acquittal of Fittkau-Garthe in Spain received almost no attention in the news.[9]

Later articles in Tenerife News and Diario de Avisos disputed the earlier story, saying there was no intention to commit suicide by the group. When interviewed by a local daily newspaper, Fittkau-Garthe claimed that the group was not a cult, and that a daughter of a member of the group had contacted Interpol and accused them of plotting a mass suicide after a family row.

Beliefs

According to Angela Gabriela a former member of the sect, the highlight of the ritual was the "love ring". This practice consisted of huge orgies, even between members of the same family.[10]

See also

Notes and References

  1. Book: Schmid . Georg . Kirchen, Sekten, Religionen: religiöse Gemeinschaften, weltanschauliche Gruppierungen und Psycho-Organisationen im deutschen Sprachraum: ein Handbuch . Eggenberger . Oswald . Theologischer Verlag Zürich . 2003 . 3-290-17215-5 . Zürich . 269–271 . de . Churches, sects, religions: religious communities, ideological groups and psycho-organizations in the German-speaking world: a handbook.
  2. Book: Regulating Religion: Case Studies from Around the Globe . . 2004 . 978-0-306-47887-1 . Richardson . James T. . James T. Richardson . Critical Issues in Social Justice . New York . 157 . en . The case refers to the Atman Foundation (originally a splinter group from the Brahma Kumaris) and made international headlines on January 8, 1998, when it was announced that the Canary Islands police had prevented a mass suicide of “a branch of the Solar Temple” by arresting its leader. German motivational speaker Heide Fittkau—Garthe. and a number of followers During subsequent months‘ the case disappeared from the international media. At the local level, it was clarified that the Atman Foundation has nothing to do with the Solar Temple but, according to a family of disgruntled German ex-members, may be “just as bad". Police investigations in Germany failed to detect any evidence that the Foundation was preparing a mass suicide. However, the accusation is maintained in Spain at the time of this writing, together with some others, although no trial has been scheduled..
  3. News: 1998-01-09 . La policía frustra el suicidio colectivo de los 33 miembros de una secta en Tenerife . Police foil mass suicide of 33 cult members in Tenerife . 2013-10-31 . . 21 . es-ES . 41719.
  4. News: Beam them up, Heidi - Remembering the Las Cañadas suicide sect scare . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20070928021134/http://www.tenerifenews.com/cms/front_content.php?client=1&lang=1&idcat=70&idart=5389 . 2007-09-28 . 2007-10-13 . . en.
  5. News: Orbaz . Pablo . 1998-01-18 . La líder de la secta de Tenerife recaudó 300 millones entre sus fieles . Tenerife cult leader raised 300 million from her followers . registration . 2013-10-31 . . es-ES.
  6. Usher . Rod . 1998-01-19 . Near-Death Experience . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20110522162815/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/1998/int/980119/europe.neardeath_experie15.html . 2011-05-22 . 2016-03-19 . . 151 . 3.
  7. News: Lutzardo . Maile . 2004-04-21 . Suicidio colectivo con zumo de frutas . Mass suicide with fruit juice . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20160303201816/http://archivo.diariodeavisos.com/epoca1/2004/04/21/hoy/noticias/tenerife/P40252A.html . 2016-03-03 . 2014-10-20 . Diario de Avisos . es-IC.
  8. News: 1998-01-14 . Judge frees spaceship cult . 2015-06-23 . . en-IE.
  9. Book: Palmer, Susan J. . Susan J. Palmer . The New Heretics of France: Minority Religions, la Republique, and the Government-Sponsored "War on Sects" . . 2011 . 978-0-19-973521-1 . Oxford, New York . 54 . en.
  10. News: Herrero . A. . 2009-11-12 . Heide Fittkau y el "anillo del amor" . Heide Fittkau and the "ring of love" . https://web.archive.org/web/20110613143130/http://www.laopinion.es/afondo/2009/11/12/heide-fittkau-anillo-amor/254082.html . 2011-06-13 . 2013-10-31 . . es-IC.

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Training centre for release of the Atma-energy".

Except where otherwise indicated, Everything.Explained.Today is © Copyright 2009-2024, A B Cryer, All Rights Reserved. Cookie policy.