Trusting in God Not in Signs, Tea Leaves, Charms, or Elders

[Maria]

To be truly an Orthodox Christian, one cannot engage in cultism, superstitions like the evil eye, or New Age beliefs.

It is best to trust in God, not in charms, amulets, tea leaves, dreams, signs and wonders, Elders, etc.

[Maria]

Here is an article, Cults Within & Without, written by by Archpriest Alexey Young whose spiritual father was Father Seraphim Rose. Archpriest Alexey was tonsured as Hieromonk Ambrose after his wife's repose.

http://orthodoxinfo.com/praxis/cultswithinwithout.aspx

... In pluralistic, ecumenically-conditioned North America, the average citizen, does tend to think that all religions are basically good, if not basically the same. But as Joan Johnson writes in The Cult Movement (Franklin Watts, 1984):

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The past two and one-half decades have shown that all religions are not good. Certainly those groups that masquerade as religions merely to get around laws or avoid taxes are not good. Those groups that use their followers as pawns to attain wealth or power are not good. Groups led by individuals whose motives and judgment are specious are not good. Andreligions that, for whatever reason, condone mind manipulation are not good. ...

In Combatting Cult Mind Control by Steven Hassan, he presents four types of cults according to Hieromonk Ambrose:

1. Religious cults are the most common and familiar. They may be Christian-oriented (e.g., Mormons, Jehovahs Witnesses, or smaller, less well-known groups) or based on Eastern religions (such as the Hare Krishna movement, Rajneesh, etc.). They may be of an esoteric, illuminist orientation (e.g., Rosicrucians, the former Holy Order of MANS) or a bizarre combination (such as the Moonies). A great body of reliable literature is available on all of these groups—Hassans book contains an extensive and authoritative bibliography—and our clergy should familiarize themselves with this material.

1. Political cults: these include both left- and right-wing fringe elements—among the best known are the various neo-Nazi organizations and Communist groups.

2. Psychotherapy cults emphasize personal enlightenment through allegedly therapeutic techniques and may also contain aspects of both religious and political cults (e.g., Scientology, EST).

Sexual immorality and perversion may or may not be present in any of these first three categories, depending on the particular cult and its founders/leaders.

1. Commercial cults: these groups are less well-known but rapidly growing in our society. Appealing to greed, they recruit teenagers and young adults through newspaper ads. Usually their victims have to pay stiff fees for training, and end up selling merchandise door-to-door in another city, returning most of their income to the company.

Father Ambrose also addresses the cult of elder worship in Orthodoxy:

We rarely speak of it, perhaps do not even suspect it, and are certainly uncomfortable with the idea, but cultism has had its impact within Orthodoxy even today. Some of us know about those places, situations, and leaders (sometimes abbots or archimandrites, occasionally even married priests) who have exerted an unhealthy and puzzling influence over their followers—but we didnt necessarily associate this with cultism.

Those of us adhering to the old ways of our fathers in the Faith value obedience and humility, a careful preservation of monastic principles, and we look constantly to our elders (especially in the monastic ranks) for guidance and example. But these are all practical ideals that, in the hands of the inexperienced, the mentally ill, the amoral, or the power-hungry, can be abused.

One of the key signs of elder abuse is this critical test, especially points 4 and 5:

4. Have you ever been asked to do something you knew to be illegal, immoral, or degrading? This is a tricky one, for once the cult mind-set has been accepted by the follower, all kinds of things can be justified in the name of obedience, a sense of superiority, etc., indicating a psychopathic mentality on the part of the leader.

1. Are there doctrinal/historical deviations such as We dont need bishops (or priests, etc.); all of the bishops have gone bad? Beware: this usually indicates that the leader in question has gotten into some kind of trouble with his bishop (if he ever had one). Are attempts made to undermine or destroy the reputation and character of other accepted authority figures in the Church, or at least cast doubt on their competence?

2. While there may not be external signs of great wealth in a given group, are there attempts to persuade recruits to sign over money, property, or credit cards to the group? (Even in a monastic situation this should be watched very carefully. Normally, a novice would not make a financial transferral—either to his own family or the monastery—until he was ready for tonsure.) Are relatives and visitors flattered and specially honored in order to obtain large donations from them?

3. Are guilt and fear employed to, first, get someone into the group (If you dont become a monk I can guarantee that you will go to hell) or, second, to discourage them from leaving (If you leave, you will be lost, you will go back to your former immoral life-style)? Is there a lack of congruity concerning those that have left the group? For example, you know that a given recruit simply walked out, but the leaders invariably say that he was kicked out for (choose one) immorality, mental instability, disobedience, etc., rather than, simply, He wasnt suited for the monastic calling.

4. If you are a layman in a parish situation, are you expected to get permission (a blessing) from the priest before you change jobs, buy a new car, etc.? Under normal circumstances these are not the proper purview of a parish priest, however wise and pious he may otherwise be. One may—and should—ask for prayers and advice about these and other non-controversial aspects of practical life, but asking for permission is a quite different thing.

Holy Transfiguration Monastery (HTM) left ROCOR in 1986, shortly after the death of Metropolitan Philaret of New York when ROCOR wanted to bring their Elder Panteleimon to a spiritual trial for abuse. HTM then incorporated as HOCNA and exclaimed that all the ROCOR bishops were ecumenists and heretical.

HOCNA has since engaged in preaching heresies like Sleeper Awake and Name-Worshiping, which have been used to further separate HOCNA from Orthodoxy. In Name-Worshiping, the Jesus Prayer has been abused by them. This holy prayer should be prayed with repentance. It should never be used by the unrepentant as a mantra. The faithful nuns and laity of HOCNA were largely kept in the dark about these affairs at HTM. Most of the priests had no idea of what was truly happening.

Only in 2012 did HOCNA (Holy Transfiguration Monastery in Boston) defrock Elder Panteleimon for abusing his monks by asking them to engage in immoral and degrading activities. This occured when the Elder finally openly admitted his guilt and claimed that he had cancer and needed to repent for past actions before leaving this world.

Thus, one can see how an unrepentant Elder can and did abuse thousands of people by following steps 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8.

[Matthew]

Are you sure Elder Panteleimon was defrocked? I have not seen any proof of this, though it certainly may be the case. I simply have not heard of such a thing. Perhaps you mean he was "retired" from his functions as a priest or elder.

[Maria]

Are you sure Elder Panteleimon was defrocked? I have not seen any proof of this, though it certainly may be the case. I simply have not heard of such a thing. Perhaps you mean he was "retired" from his functions as a priest or elder.

Back in 2012, Elder Panteleimon was defrocked as HOCNA produced a protocol of its synod decision removing him from the ranks of the priesthood and relegating him to the status of a simple monk.

However, sometime in 2013 or 2014, HOCNA revised its websites and removed much of its online library including protocols apparently in an effort to improve its image. The defrocking of one of HOCNA's charismatic elder like Panteleimon does not appeal to new inquiring members.

Resolution: Father Panteleimon has resigned from the priesthood, is under a penance and living in solitude. He can no longer function as a priest within our Synod.

http://nftu.net/toronto-letter-fr-pante ... -updating/

[Matthew]

Wow! I am surprised that this has hardly been publicized. Actually, if HOCNA is trying to improve their image and look more legitimate, they should be the first to declare that these steps have been taken. This actually is something in their favour.

[Barbara]

Good observation Matthew. That approach would be logical.
But perhaps HOCNA's agenda is to alleviate the crisis surrounding that fake elder in an indirect, byzantine manner. They seem to be brushing the scandal under the carpet so that new arrivals will never hear of that black blot on the history of HOCNA.
Is that why the defrocking protocol was excised from the website ?
Maybe the HOCNA leadership figures that in a few years, few will even remember that dreadful personage and all the disaster swirling around him : for souls and for the entire jurisdiction.

[Matthew]

Elders can run cults. Not sure if it is always their fault though. I remember when I was still in the New Calendar Greek church and visiting Elder Ephrem in Florence AZ. In the trapeza after everyone had was about gone I lingered a bit to help clean up and one novice took the glass of water that had been where Ephrem was sitting, and put in on the trolley and I think poured the water into a vessel with other liquids, in any case, the monk he was with upbraided him for this saying, "Don't Do That! The Elder Drank from that Glass! It is now Holy Water!"

Lord have mercy!

Another good book to read is:
The Subtle Power of Spiritual Abuse, but Jeff Van Vonderan. It is for people in an Evangelical context, but what he says largely applies to anyone trapped into a cycle of abuse by someone else.