Editing "I AM" Activity (section)

== History ==
=== Founding ===
The "I AM" Activity was founded by [[Guy Ballard]] (pseudonym Godfré Ray King) in the early 1930s. Ballard was well-read in theosophy and its offshoots, and he claimed to have met and been instructed by a man who introduced himself as "Saint Germain" while hiking on [[Mount Shasta]] looking for a rumored branch of the [[Great White Brotherhood]] known as "The Brotherhood of Mount Shasta".<ref>{{cite book |last=King |first=Godfré Ray |year=1935 |orig-year=1934 |title=Unveiled Mysteries |chapter-url=https://archive.org/stream/02TheMagicPresenceByGodfrRayKing1935FirstEdition/%2301%20-%20Unveiled%20Mysteries%2C%20by%20Godfr%C3%A9%20Ray%20King%20-%201935%20-Second%20Edition#page/n1 |publisher=Saint Germain Press |location=Chicago, Illinois |edition=Second |chapter=1: Meeting the Master |pages=1–32 |via=[[Internet Archive]]}}</ref> Saint Germain is regular component of theosophical religions as an ascended master, based on the historical [[Comte de Saint-Germain]], an 18th-century adventurer.<ref name="Barrett 1996" />{{rp|191}}

The Ballards said they began talking to the ascended masters regularly. They founded a publishing house, ''Saint Germain Press'', to publish their books and began training people to spread their messages across the United States.<ref name="Partridge 2004" />{{rp|330}} These training sessions and "conclaves" were held throughout the United States, open to the general public and free of charge.<ref>''The Voice of the "I AM"'' Number 1, March 1936. Chicago, Illinois: Saint Germain Press. page 27</ref> A front-page story in a 1938 edition of the ''Chicago Herald and Examiner'' noted that the Ballards "do not take up collections or ask for funds".<ref name="Herald">''Chicago Herald and Examiner'' October 8, 1938</ref> Meetings became limited to members only after hecklers began disrupting their open meetings.<ref name="Barrett 1996" />{{rp|191}} Over their lifetimes, the Ballards recorded nearly 4000 live dictations, which they said were from the ascended masters.<ref name="history" /> Guy Ballard, his wife Edna, and later their son Donald, became the sole "accredited messengers" of the ascended masters.<ref name="Barrett 1996"/>{{rp|192}} In 1942, they began the I AM Sanctuary at a former Presbyterian missionary school.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SmxBCwAAQBAJ&q=%22guy%20ballard%22%20%22presbyterian%22|isbn = 9781625856401|title = A History of Spirituality in Santa Fe: The City of Holy Faith|date = February 22, 2016|publisher = Arcadia}}</ref>

=== Popularity ===
The Ballards' popularity spread, including up to a million followers in 1938.<ref name="Barrett 1996" />{{rp|191}} Donations were not formally required, but it was made clear that they were necessary in order to receive blessings from the masters.<ref name="Herald" /><ref name=CCAA/> 

The first of many "conclaves" held in scores of cities in their national tours was Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, October 10–19, 1934.<ref name="history"/> According to a ''Los Angeles Magazine'' article, in August 1935, the Ballards hosted a gathering at the [[Shrine Auditorium]] in Los Angeles that drew a crowd of 6,000.<ref name="Thompkins 1997"/>{{rp|22}} Guy Ballard spoke under the pseudonym he used in authoring his books, Godfre Ray King, and his wife used the pseudonym Lotus. The meeting included teachings they described as being received directly from the ascended masters. They led the audience in prayers and affirmations that they called decrees, including adorations to God and invocations for abundance of every good thing, including love, money, peace, and happiness.<ref name="history" />

The "I AM" Activity spread to parts of Canada, entering [[Alberta]] in 1937, with the first meetings held in [[Calgary]], organized by a [[telegraph]] operator who had brought back a copy of ''Unveiled Mysteries'' from California.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Mann |first1=W. E. |title=Sect, Cult, and Church in Alberta |date=1955 |publisher=University of Toronto Press |page=25}}</ref> A second group was started in [[Edmonton]], and the movement grew in Alberta until Ballard's death in 1939, then declined with the United States government's denial of mailing privileges in 1940.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Mann |first1=W. E. |title=Sect, Cult, and Church in Alberta |date=1955 |publisher=University of Toronto Press |page=142}}</ref> A slight revival of the group in Alberta came in 1945, with a new policy of lending literature, but by 1947, it was estimated there were less than 100 followers in the province.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Mann |first1=W. E. |title=Sect, Cult, and Church in Alberta |date=1955 |publisher=University of Toronto Press |page=26}}</ref>

=== Guy Ballard's death and splintering ===
At the height of his popularity, Guy Ballard died from [[arteriosclerosis]] at 5:00 A.M. on December 29, 1939, in Los Angeles, in the home of his son Donald. On December 31 his body was cremated. On New Year's Day during the annual ''Christmas Class'', Edna Ballard stated that Guy had completed his Ascension at midnight December 31, 1939, from the "Royal Teton Retreat".<ref name="history" />

Ballard's death deeply affected the movement, which saw several splinter groups emerge.
*I AM former member [[Geraldine Innocente]] (whom the Ascended Master El Morya, who wrote under the pseudonym of Thomas Printz, had asked to form a new activity for the dissemination of the spiritual teaching) quickly founded an offshoot of the movement, targeting the Spanish-speaking community.
*Francis Ekey, another member, founded Lighthouse of Freedom to offer classes allegedly disseminating the teachings of ancient masters.<ref name=CCAA/>
*One of Ekey's collaborators, Mark Prophet, founded the Keepers of the Summit Lighthouse in 1958. To I AM's teachings, Prophet added a proclivity for conspiracy thinking, [[Unidentified flying object|UFOs]] and a staunch opposition to [[communism]]. His wife [[Elizabeth Clare Prophet|Elizabeth Clare Wulf]] would eventually share leadership and succeed him, rebranding the organization as the [[Church Universal and Triumphant]].<ref name=CCAA/>
*Important elements of Ballard's theology, symbolism and nationalism can also be found in [[Romana Didulo]]'s movement in the 2020s. These include the use of decrees, the purple flame and the mythological ascended masters.<ref name=CCAA/>

=== Copyright infringement civil action ===
In 1941, the Ballards were sued for copyright infringement by the family and estate of Frederick Spencer Oliver (1866–1899), "amenuensis" of the novel ''[[A Dweller on Two Planets]]'', first published in 1905. The suit was dismissed for failure to state cause of action. District Judge Dawkins quoted the original foreword to Oliver's book in its entirety, wherein Oliver emphasized that he was not the author but had [[Mediumship#Channeling|channeled]] the book from the spirit of a previously deceased person with the intent of preserving and conveying the story and teachings of that person's world; and the book had been copyrighted with Oliver as a proprietor, not as the author. Judge Dawkins pointed out that the Ballards had stated they were using similar methods to write their books and that this in itself wasn't enough to uphold the action in court.<ref>''[https://law.justia.com/cases/federal/district-courts/FSupp/41/296/2374357/ Oliver v. Saint Germain Foundation, 41 F. Supp. 296 (S.D. Cal. 1941)]''.</ref>

=== Fraud trial of Edna and Donald Ballard ===
Based on statements made in books sent via the mail, Edna Ballard and her son Donald were charged with eighteen counts of mail fraud in 1942. The presiding judge instructed the jury not to consider the truth or falsity of the religious beliefs, but only whether the Ballards sincerely believed the claims or did not, and the jury found them guilty.<ref name="scotus"/><ref name="Thompkins 1997"/>{{rp|23}} The [[United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit|Ninth Circuit]] overturned the conviction on the grounds that the judge improperly excluded the credibility of their religious beliefs from consideration, and the government appealed to the [[Supreme Court of the United States|Supreme Court]]. In ''[[United States v. Ballard]]'', the Supreme Court in a 5–4 landmark decision held that the question of whether Ballards believed their religious claims should not have been submitted to the jury, and remanded the case back to the Ninth Circuit, which affirmed the fraud conviction. Interpreting this decision, the Ninth Circuit later found that the Court did not go so far as to hold that "the validity or veracity of a religious doctrine cannot be inquired into by a Federal Court".<ref>''Cohen v. United States'', 297 F.2d 760 (1962)</ref>

On a second appeal, the Supreme Court in 1946 vacated the fraud conviction, on the grounds that women were improperly excluded from the jury panel.<ref name="supreme.justia.com">{{Cite web|url=https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/329/187/|title=Ballard v. United States, 329 U.S. 187 (1946)|website=Justia Law}}</ref>

=== Relocation to Santa Fe and Edna Ballard's death ===
In March 1942, Edna Ballard moved the western branch of the ''Saint Germain Press'' and her residence to [[Santa Fe, New Mexico|Santa Fe]], where she recorded live before an audience thousands more dictations she said were from the Ascended Masters.<ref name="history" />

Despite the ultimate dismissal of the court cases, it was not until 1954 that the organization's right to use the mail was restored. The [[Internal Revenue Service]] revoked their tax-exempt status in 1941, stating it did not recognize the movement as "a religion". A court ruling in 1957 overturned the ruling of the IRS and re-established the group's tax-exempt status.<ref name="Partridge 2004" />{{rp|332}}<ref name="Albanese">{{cite book |author=Catherine L. Albanese |title=[[A Republic of Mind and Spirit: A Cultural History of American Metaphysical Religion]] |publisher=Yale University Press |year=2007 |isbn=978-0-300-11089-0 |page=470}}</ref>

Following a brief illness, Edna Ballard died in her Chicago home on February 10, 1971.  A memorial was held several days later at the "I AM" Sanctuary in [[Mount Shasta, California]].<ref name="Dunsmuir News 1971">{{cite news |title="I AM" President Edna Ballard Dies In Chicago |newspaper=The Dunsmuir News |date=February 17, 1971 |page=11 |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-dunsmuir-news-i-am-president-edna/169154369/ |via=[[Newspapers.com]]}}</ref>  Her death was not widely publicized until June, reportedly because "the movement does not believe in death".<ref name="San Francisco Examiner 1971">{{cite news |title='I Am' Rite Founder's Widow Dies |newspaper=San Francisco Examiner |date=June 2, 1971 |page=55 |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-san-francisco-examiner-obituary-for/169156941/ |access-date=2025-03-29 |via=[[Newspapers.com]] }}</ref><ref name="Sacramento Bee 1971">{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/64580694/june-1971-report-of-death-of-edna/|title=I Am Sect Leader Edna Ballard Is Dead |newspaper=The Sacramento Bee |date=June 3, 1971 |page=15 |via=[[Newspapers.com]] |access-date=2025-03-29 }}</ref>

=== Recent history and present day ===
As of 2007, Saint Germain Foundation maintains a reading room in [[Mount_Shasta,_California|Mount Shasta]], California, and its headquarters in Schaumburg, Illinois. Several annual conclaves are held at their 12-story "I AM Temple" at 176 West Washington Street in downtown Chicago.<ref name="history" /><ref>{{Cite web |title=What’s That Building? The ‘I AM’ Temple in Chicago’s Loop |url=https://www.wbez.org/morning-shift/2016/03/10/whats-that-building-the-i-am-temple-in-chicagos-loop |access-date=2025-11-10 |website=WBEZ |language=en-US}}</ref> The Saint Germain Press, a subsidiary of the Saint Germain Foundation, estimates they printed and put into circulation over one million books.<ref name="history" />

The Saint Germain Foundation presents an annual pageant every August at Mount Shasta since 1950, a tradition only interrupted by the [[COVID-19 pandemic|COVID pandemic]].<ref name="SGF-Pageant">{{cite web |url= http://www.saintgermainfoundation.org/pageant.htm |title=Saint Germain Foundation ''"I AM" COME!'' Pageant webpage|access-date=December 17, 2007 |publisher=Saint Germain Foundation |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20071217190219/http://www.saintgermainfoundation.org/pageant.htm |archive-date= December 17, 2007<!--Added by DASHBot-->}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last1=Shelton |first1=Kelsey |last2=Kinkade |first2=Skye |date=13 August 2020 |title=Mount Shasta's 'I AM' Come! pageant called off in 2020 |url=https://www.mtshastanews.com/story/news/2020/08/13/mount-shastas-i-am-come-pageant-called-off-in-2020/113158248/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211016031020/https://www.mtshastanews.com/story/news/2020/08/13/mount-shastas-i-am-come-pageant-called-off-in-2020/113158248/ |archive-date=16 October 2021 |access-date=16 December 2023 |website=MtSashta News}}</ref>