Hermes Far Eastern Shining
MisconceptionsDebunking the “Cult” Myth
Hermes Far Eastern Shining are a business in Tyalgum, NSW, selling “Alchymeic Artifacts based on the Gnostic Science of Hermes Trismegistus”. Hermes describes these products as energy tools to help psychically and energetically support you. They have come under heavy criticism from the media for operating as a cult like culture and taking over the village. These misconceptions, among others, are wrong and couldn’t be further from the truth. The media’s movements in. Hermes Far Eastern Shining has been very open in giving us the real facts
The Facts
- Hermes Far Eastern Shining is a BUSINESS. Not a “Cult” or “Community”.
- Their number and address are locatable in any standard white pages phone book.
- They are not in the Tyalgum Main Street.
- Hermes Far Eastern Shining does not own or operate any businesses in the main street of Tyalgum.
- ‘They are open and available to answer questions by priorly arranged appointment about their products and business.
- Flutterbies Cottage Cafe is a BUSINESS.
- It is not owned by Hermes Far Eastern Shining and its not run by Hermes Far Eastern Shining.
- Flutterbies respects and adheres to peoples right to individual choices and beliefs.
- Flutterbies pays award wages in coherence with current Australian Law.
- Flutterbies hires workers based on their skills, and capacity to bring customers excellent service.
- Flutterbies Cottage Cafe is open and available to answer questions by priorly arranged appointment.
How does Hermes stack up against the tell-tale signs of a cult?
Do they separate themselves from the world, are they apocalyptic, do they indoctrinate children, does the ‘leader’ have 12 wives, do they sacrifice goats, are they in contact with aliens? You see how that word ‘cult’ works…. allows you to imagine anything! What do you expect people who get together once or twice a week to do at those meetings, or in their spare time?
A cult separates people from the wider world
There has never been a ‘central compound’ where everyone involved with Hermes lives.
People live in their own houses wherever they see fit, in all the range and diversity you’d find in normal society: paying off mortgages, living in rentals; as families, couples, young people in share houses, and so on. There are even people living with others who have no connection to the Hermes community, as you’d expect.
People also work all sorts of jobs and hold businesses, have their own investments, decide what to spend their own money on.
Cults often promote a supernatural apocalyptic vision of the future.
Hermes does not argue that God will descend and judge humanity, that the anti-Christ is coming, or that we are in the last stages of kali yuga.
However, there is a real and genuine environmental crisis. Hermes is not a ‘climate-change denial’ organisation and many Hermes activities are aimed at protecting the environment, encouraging sustainability, promoting organic and ethical interactions with the world. It would be foolish to assert there is not a crisis in the face of so much evidence. Nonetheless, Hermes is not apocalyptic about this, we are part of the wider movement to promote environmental causes, as well as ending war, poverty and inequality around the world. Additionally, Hermes does not lecture those involved with our spiritual activities on how to think in this regard, people can make up their own minds.
Cults indoctrinate children
Children with parents associated with Hermes spiritual activities have chosen to send their children to a range of different schools, both public and private. Some have been to the local Catholic private school, some to a Steiner school and some home-schooled.
Several Hermes parents did set up a home-school association, where children were taught at home. However, this association employed a co-ordinator, with no connection to Hermes activities, to ensure the children were educated in accordance with the NSW Board of Studies curriculum. Furthermore, tutors were hired in key areas like Maths, Science, HSIE and English that had professional qualifications and were not involved in Hermes spiritual activities. These children learnt about evolution, vaccination, gender equality, indigenous history and all the many issues that typically appear in a normal school without conspiracies, anti-science and other non-academic ideologies inconsistent with accepted teaching practise.
Cults abuse children
While Hermes believes parents should decide for themselves how to raise their children, our ethos is against smacking children. While we use the internet, we also recommend being careful around the internet for children and we don’t support the sexualisation of young people.
The cult leader has multiple sexual partners
While we reject the overall idea of a ‘leader’, we do revere the works of Jessa O’My Heart and Showme Showers. Jessa is no longer with us in physical form but we are deeply grateful for Showme Showers’ continuing presence in this world. In the context of this paragraph, Showme is the closest thing Hermes has to a ‘leader’, although she inspires and comforts far more than exercising any kind of authority.
Hermes under Showme’s guidance encourages loving and committed healthy monogamous relationships. People from a range of gender orientations have been involved with Hermes spiritual activities and there is no judgement in this regard. However, promiscuity and multiple partners is not conducive to the spiritual lifestyle that Hermes promotes.
Cults separate members from their families
People involved with Hermes have normal relationships with their families
Because there is no ‘central compound’ or any attempt to create a separatist community, people who become involved with Hermes spiritual activities continue to have the same relationships with their families as they always have had. While a small number of people have moved house, to take part in spiritual practise more regularly, they maintain their family relationships.
Furthermore, there is no pressure on people to keep relationships ‘within the faith’ as is common in all the major religions. There are several relationships where individuals who are deeply committed to Hermes spiritual practise have partners with no connection at all to Hermes.
Cults use mind-control and brain-washing
There are no set readings or compulsory texts in Hermes as it’s more of a practise than an ideology. Books and films are only ever recommended between the wider community. Jessa’s book “The will of God is the obligation to love”, and readings by Adi da Samraj remain popular among our community. However, new texts are often promoted by members in much the same way that friends recommend books to each other. There are no recommended readings or texts in the way that mainstream religions refer to ‘holy’ books.
Cults ex-communicate ex-members
Many people once involved with Hermes continue to maintain strong friendships
There are many cases where people have become closely involved with Hermes for months or even years and then have moved to another spiritual practise, ideology or just moved away. This is rarely confrontational; the overwhelming majority of these people keep their friendships and are not critical of Hermes.
WHY WE ARE NOT A SINISTER GROUP
Our spiritual community is an open community.
We discuss our faith with any who genuinely inquire, although we don’t proselytise.
There is no psychological coercion to join or to stay.
There are many people who no longer take part in our spiritual transformation work who maintain friendships with those who currently do.
We never ‘excommunicate’ or ‘shun’ anybody unless they are violent or criminal.
We regularly attend events such as the ‘Mind, Body, Spirit festival’ where we have a lot of friends.
We meditate, pray, do yoga, psychic clearing, astrology, numerology, tarot, wear lucky charms, create sacred spaces, do pujas, believe in karma, like eastern and mystic philosophy.
We celebrate Christmas, Easter, the solstices, spring and major astrological events.
Our ‘alchemy’ is easy to understand for people involved in alternative and new age culture.
We have no ‘doomsday’ philosophies, we don’t believe in hell or damnation and we are not waiting for a messiah or believe we have one among us.
We gather approximately twice a week and no-one is forced to attend.
We promote monogamous relationships and encourage parents not to smack their children.
Our children tend to do well at school and all go to university.
We watch TV, listen to popular music, use the internet and allow our children to do the same.
We regularly socialise with normal members of the public from all walks of life, most of us do this every day.
We have regular jobs, run small businesses, are self-employed and we are not all on centrelink.
We vote and are on business and progress associations and regularly take part in many aspects of civic life.
We are concerned about climate change and the environment and actively support human rights.
We promote a healthy lifestyle, we drink a little but we don’t do drugs, we buy ethical, we try and eat organic, and avoid red meat.
We live in ordinary houses, there is no central ‘compound’.
And…. We allow those who consider themselves part of our community to bend and break all of the above because we are not about rules at all. We are about spiritual transformation and we choose to love each other, irrespective of what life throws at us.