Depends on the sect. This is Soto Zen, not a very big sect but a normal one. Soka Gakkai is one that’s unusually popular with westerners which is kind of a cult. Aum Shinrikyo? Yeah, that’s dangerous woo.
Investigative journalist Be Scofield went to Crestone and dug up tons of very dirty dirt, enough to fill several exposés. The barking insane Love Has Won cult met its downfall there. The seamy criminal underbelly of Crestone involving drug dealing and murders has its corresponding woo-woo dimension: black magic,** pursued seriously by some very unsavory elements in the criminal underground.
Taos, NM was woo crazy when I lived there.
Secretive except for their Chicago skyscraper with an “IAM Temple” prominently on the first floor, which seems to be at least some effort at proselytizing. Link.
Really? I somehow missed that after having moved from Mt. Shasta to Chicago. Bummer! Would’ve been fascinating to check out.
(Link is broken, btw)
Oops on that link! Skyscraper may be a bit of an exaggeration nowadays, but it’s a 13+ story building at 176 W. Washington with the IAM Temple seemingly occupying the entire frontage; that is, no apparent separate entrance for office space.
Will have to add that to the list next time I visit!
Let me try the link again, as it works on my computer and includes an interesting discussion of both the building and IAM/St. Germain, including mentioning Mt. Shasta: Link.
Wait - so St. Germain isn’t a saint called Germain, he’s a guy called St. Germain?
Yeah, nobody knows what his real name was. International man of mystery. Some think his original name might have been Rakoczi, but history knows him as the Comte de St.-Germain (hyphenation is the French style and that makes it clearer that he’s no saint).
There’s a small investment firm in Shanghai that’s wondering why they keep getting Google alerts for a message board in the US.
There is an original Saint Germain aka Germanus of Paris, which is where all those little towns, villages and churches in France got the name. It’s just not who most people think of when the name comes up.
There’s also apparently a much more recent (relatively) female Saint Germain, Germaine Cousin, who I hadn’t heard of.