News From the Daily Courier - Sweat Lodge Search Warrents Soon to Be Opened to the Public

http://www.dcourier.com/

Saturday, December 26, 2009



Yavapai Superior Court Judge Michael Bluff rescinded Wednesday his earlier order to seal search warrants and crime scene photos of the sweat lodge site at Angel Valley Retreat where three people died and 18 were injured on Oct. 8.



The sweat lodge ceremony led by author and motivational speaker James Arthur Ray culminated his five-day Spiritual Warrior Retreat that participants paid as much as $9,000 to attend at the resort south of Sedona.



On Oct. 15, Yavapai County Sheriff Steve Waugh said the deaths - of Lizbeth Neuman, 49, of Michigan, Kirby Brown, 38, of New York, and James Shore, 40, of Wisconsin - are homicides, and Ray remains the primary focus of their investigation.





Sunday, December 27, 2009

2009 IN REVIEW: #6 - Self-help guru's retreat culminates in grueling sweat lodge ritual - and 3 deaths

Yavapai Superior Court Judge Michael Bluff rescinded Wednesday his earlier order to seal search warrants and crime scene photos of the sweat lodge site at Angel Valley Retreat where three people died and 18 were injured on Oct. 8.

So what do folks think about this?  Why were the details of the search warrant sealed in the first place and what arguments did the Phoenix attorney make to get them unsealed. I personally feel that sunlight always makes the best disinfectant and as long as this won't traumatize the surviving family and loved ones, I think everything should be out in the open. What do other folks think?  Have we heard too much about this tragedy, or is this just the beginning?  Does the public have a right to know what goes on in these self-help seminars so they can protect themselves against injury and possibly even death?  What does James Ray and associates have to hide?

Howdy Folks!

I’m writing this blog so that folks in the Sedona area and keep themselves informed about the incident that happened out at Angel Valley last October. I’ve been noticing that we’re not getting much news on the incident anymore and most of the people speaking now are small business owners who want to put the tragedy behind them. It’s always important to get the perspectives of as many people as possible. The most active group of bloggers I’ve found are Cassandra Yorgey with the examiner, The Salty Droid http://saltydroid.info/category/james-arthur-ray/>Terry Hall with Biz Sayer Duff McDuffee’s blog, Beyond Growth and of course Cosmic Connie’s Whirled Musings. There’s also been a lot of discussion in a forum for Native Americans called New Age Frauds, Plastic Shamans newagefraud.org Go to their forum, click the fraud category and read about what real Native Americans think about Angel Valley.

Anti-cult activists have a lot to say about the techniques that were used on folks at Angel Valley. There’s an interesting thread here.

Rick Ross’s Anti-cult Forum

I personally am reserving judgment until all the facts are in, but I also feel it’s important to get all the news that’s available. Some folks are telling me that they can’t get the Daily Courier online or the Camp Verde Bugle. I’ve taken the liberty of putting up the latest articles. It seems that sometime tomorrow, the public is going to have access to the details of the search warrant that was issued for James Ray International headquarters and to the photos of the crime scene. Things should heat up around here on Monday, so stay tuned for my updates. Another way to keep up is to join twitter http://www.twitter.com/ and do a search in the box at the right with the little magnifying glass - just type in #jamesray or #deathlodge and you can find out new things everyday. We all know what the channelers and the New Age business owners are saying, but it’s an eye opening experience to see what other folks think of us. I welcome comments about this issue.

Happy hunting folks!