imported>Aadirulez8: Filled in 0 bare reference(s) with reFill 2

2026-04-03T02:10:43Z

Filled in 0 bare reference(s) with reFill 2

New page

{{short description|Ascended master teachings religious movement}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=December 2013}}
[[Image:Guy Warren Ballard (1878-1939) and Edna Anne Wheeler (1886-1971) portrait.jpg|thumb|Guy and Edna Ballard]]
The '''I AM Activity''', also referred to as the '''I AM Temple''',<ref>{{Cite web |last=Pacheco |first=Ana |date=2022-02-18 |title=A New Religion Comes to Santa Fe |url=https://historyinsantafe.com/santa-fe-i-am-american-born-religion/ |access-date=2024-06-07 |website=History in Santa Fe}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2023-04-27 |title=Loop place of worship broken into, ransacked; suspect injured, CPD says |url=https://abc7chicago.com/i-am-temple-vandalized-washington-street-loop-chicago-police/13190203/ |access-date=2024-06-07 |website=ABC7 Chicago}}</ref> is a [[Neo-Theosophy|neo-Theosophical]] [[new religious movement|religious movement]] founded in the early 1930s by [[Guy Ballard]] (1878–1939) and his wife [[Edna Anne Wheeler Ballard]] (1886–1971) in Chicago, Illinois, based on the purported teachings of "[[ascended master]]s"<ref name="Melton 2005">{{cite book |author-last=Melton |author-first=J. Gordon |author-link=J. Gordon Melton |date=2005 |editor-last=Jones |editor-first=Lindsay |title=Encyclopedia of Religion |volume=6 |location=Detroit |publisher=Macmillan Reference USA |edition=2nd |pages=4245–4247 |section=I Am |url= https://archive.org/details/ed.-l.-jones-encyclopedia-of-religion-15-volume-set-2004 |isbn=0-02-865997-X |access-date=2025-03-29 |via=[[Internet Archive]]}}</ref><ref name="history">Saint Germain Foundation. ''The History of the "I AM" Activity and Saint Germain Foundation''. Saint Germain Press 2003 {{ISBN|1-878891-99-5}}</ref> It is an offshoot of [[Theosophy (Blavatskian)|theosophy]] and a major precursor of several [[New Age]] religions including the [[Church Universal and Triumphant]].<ref name="Partridge 2004">{{cite book |author-last=Partridge |author-first=Christopher |author-link=Christopher Partridge |editor-last=Partridge |editor-first=Christopher |section=The 'I AM' Religious Activity |title=New Religions: A Guide: New Religious Movements, Sects and Alternative Spiritualities |year=2004 |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |location=New York |pages=330,332 |url=https://archive.org/details/newreligionsguid0000unse |via=[[Internet Archive]] |url-access=registration |access-date=2025-03-29 |isbn=0-19-522042-0 }}</ref>{{rp|330}}

The movement had up to a million followers in 1938<ref name="Barrett 1996">{{cite book |section=The I AM Movement |title= Sects, 'Cults', and Alternative Religions: A World Survey and Sourcebook |last= Barrett |first= David V. |year= 1996 |publisher= Blandford |location= London |pages=191–192 |isbn= 0-7137-2567-2 |url-access= registration |url= https://archive.org/details/sectscultsaltern00barr |via=[[Internet Archive]] |access-date=2025-03-29 }}</ref>{{rp|191}} and is still active today on a smaller scale. Upon Ballard's death, several members founded their own splinter groups, adding their own beliefs and teachings to those of the original movement.<ref name=CCAA/>

The parent organization of the movement is the [[Saint Germain Foundation]], which maintains its worldwide headquarters in [[Schaumburg, Illinois]].<ref name="SGF-homepage 2007">{{cite web|url=http://www.saintgermainfoundation.org/ |title=The Original "I AM" Instruction: How It All Began |website=The Saint Germain Foundation |access-date=December 17, 2007 |publisher=Saint Germain Foundation |quote=The "I AM" Activity is spiritual, educational and practical. There are no financial schemes behind it; no admission is ever charged. It takes no political stance in any nation. The parent organization is Saint Germain Foundation, with worldwide headquarters located in [[Schaumburg, Illinois]], a suburb of [[Chicago]]. It is represented throughout the world by 300 local groups termed "I AM" Sanctuary, "I AM" Temple, "I AM" Study Groups, or "I AM" Reading Room. Saint Germain Foundation and its local activities are not affiliated with any other organization or persons. |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071213053152/http://www.saintgermainfoundation.org/ |archive-date=December 13, 2007 |url-status=dead |df=mdy }}</ref> In 2007, the Foundation's website said the movement was represented internationally by 300 groups, operating under names such as "'I AM' Sanctuary" and "'I AM' Temple."<ref name="SGF-homepage 2007"/> As of 2025, the website describes "hundreds" of Sanctuaries and Temples, in major cities throughout the United States, Canada, Western Europe, and Australia; additional groups are located in Latin America, India, and Africa.<ref name="SGF Our Activities 2025">{{cite web |url=https://www.saintgermainfoundation.org/our-activities |title=Our Activities |website=The Saint Germain Foundation |publisher=Saint Germain Foundation |access-date=2025-03-29 |quote=There are hundreds of "I AM" Temples and Sanctuaries located in most principal cities of the United States, Canada, Western Europe, Australia, and locations in India, Latin America and Africa... |url-status=live |archive-date=2025-02-02 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250202100814/https://www.saintgermainfoundation.org/our-activities}}</ref> The organization has stated that its purpose is "spiritual, educational and practical", and that no admission fee is charged for their activities.<ref name="SGF-homepage 2007"/>

The term "I AM" is a reference to the ancient [[Sanskrit]] [[mantra]] ''[[Soham (Sanskrit)|So Ham]]''{{Citation needed|date=March 2025}} and the divine biblical name "[[I Am that I Am]]".<ref name="Melton 1994" />{{rp|6}}

==Overview==
The "I AM" Activity was influenced by the teachings of [[Helena Blavatsky]] and [[William Quan Judge]], two of the founders of the original [[Theosophical Society]]. The movement also adopted elements of [[New Thought]]. To these spiritual movements, Ballard added a strong [[nationalist]]ic flavor, claiming a new [[golden age]] would emerge in the United States.<ref name=CCAA>{{Cite journal |last1=Celestini |first1=Carmen |last2=Amarasingam |first2=Amarnath |date=6 December 2023 |title=Reviving the Violet Flame: The New Age conspiratorial journey of Canada's Queen Romana Didulo |journal=Studies in Religion/Sciences Religieuses |volume=53 |issue=3 |pages=366–389 |doi=10.1177/00084298231209700 |doi-access=free }}</ref>

The Ballards also borrowed from [[William Dudley Pelley]]'s spiritual writings, with Edna allegedly attending several classes offered by Pelley. While there are no indications that Pelley was a member of I AM, Ballard early on recruited several members of his [[fascist]] organization, the [[Silver Legion of America]]. <ref name=CCAA/><ref>{{Cite web |last=Deveney |first=Pat |title=New Liberator |url=http://iapsop.com/archive/materials/new_liberator/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230601050750/http://iapsop.com/archive/materials/new_liberator/ |archive-date=1 June 2023 |access-date=16 December 2023 |website=The International Association for the Preservation of Spiritualist and Occult Periodicals}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Bryan |first=Gerald B. |url=http://www.orgonelab.org/PsychDict.pdf |title=Psychic Dictatorship in America |publisher=Truth Research Publications |year=1940 |location=Los Angeles, California |pages=24–25 }}</ref>

The movement believes in the existence of a group called the "ascended masters", a hierarchy of supernatural beings that includes the original theosophical masters such as [[Ascended master#Jesus|Jesus]], [[Morya (Theosophy)|El Morya Khan]], [[Maitreya (Theosophy)|Maitreya]], and in addition several dozen more beyond the original 20 [[Masters of the Ancient Wisdom]] of the original theosophists as described by [[Helena Petrovna Blavatsky]].

These ascended masters are believed to be humans who have lived in a succession of [[reincarnations]] in physical bodies or cosmic beings (beings originated from the great central sun of light in the beginning of all times). Over time, those who have passed through various "embodiments" became highly advanced souls, are able to move beyond the cycles of "re-embodiments" and [[karma]], and attained their "ascension", becoming immortal. Ascended masters are believed to communicate to humanity through certain [[Amanuenses|trained messengers]] per Blavatsky, including Guy and Edna Ballard.<ref name="history"/><ref name="Partridge 2004" />{{rp|330}} Because Jesus is believed to be one of the ascended masters, making the "Christ Light" available to seekers who wish to move out of darkness, many of the members of the "I AM" Activity consider it to be a Christian religion.<ref name="Melton 1992">{{cite book |author-last=Melton |author-first=J. Gordon |author-link=J. Gordon Melton |chapter=The "I AM" Religious Activity |title=Encyclopedic Handbook of Cults in America |date=1992 |orig-date=1986 |edition=revised and updated |publisher=Gardland |location=New York |pages=58–67 |isbn=978-0-8153-1140-9 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KRTGzgpDvL4C |via=[[Google Books]] |access-date=2025-03-29 }}</ref>{{rp|63}} According to the ''[[Los Angeles Magazine]]'', Ballard said he was the re-embodiment of [[George Washington]], an Egyptian priest, and a noted French musician.<ref name="Thompkins 1997">{{cite magazine |first= Joshua |last=Thompkins |title=The mighty I Am |magazine=[[Los Angeles Magazine]] |date=April 1997 |pages=22–23 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sl0EAAAAMBAJ |via=[[Google Books]] |access-date=2025-03-29 }}</ref>{{rp|23}}

Ballard died in 1939. In 1942, his wife and son were convicted of fraud,<ref name="scotus">{{Cite web |url=https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/322/78/ |title=United States v. Ballard, 322 U.S. 78 (1944) |website=Justia Law}}</ref><ref name="Thompkins 1997"/>{{rp|23}} a conviction which was overturned in a landmark [[United States Supreme Court|Supreme Court]] ruling (''[[United States v. Ballard]]'') which determined that the beliefs the Ballards espoused should not have been submitted to a jury regardless of their veracity.<ref name="scotus" />

== 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}}</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>

== Teachings ==
According to the group's teachings, ascended masters are believed to be individuals who have left the [[reincarnation]] cycle of re-embodiment.<ref name="Melton 1994">{{cite book |author-last=Melton |author-first=J. Gordon |author-link=J. Gordon Melton |editor1-last=Lewis |editor1-first=James R. |editor2-last=Gordon |editor2-first=J. Gordon |chapter=The Church Universal and Triumphant: Its Heritage and Thoughtworld |title=Church Universal and Triumphant In Scholarly Perspective |pages=1–20 |publisher=Center for Academic Publication |location=Standford, CA |date=1994 |url=https://archive.org/details/churchuniversalt0000unse |via=[[Internet Archive]] |url-access=registration |access-date=2025-03-29 }}</ref>{{rp|2}} The "I AM" Activity calls itself Christian;{{Citation needed|date=March 2025}} Jesus is considered one of the more important ascended masters.<ref name="Melton 2005" />{{rp|4246}}

Ballard's teachings included significant [[Nationalism|nationalistic]] and [[patriotic]] elements. According to Ballard's teachings, the faithful's rituals would allow the United States to lead the world into a new golden age of civilization, and St. Germain inspired the [[United States Declaration of Independence]]. In addition, through the use of prayers and rituals, the "lightbearers" in the US would reverse the bad karma that had accumulated and was holding humanity back from attaining its godly existence.<ref name=CCAA/>

<blockquote>
The movement teaches that the [[Omnipotence|omnipotent]], [[Omniscience|omniscient]] and [[Omnipresence|omnipresent]] [[Creator deity|creator God]] ('I AM' – [[I Am that I Am|Exodus 3:14]]) is in all of us as a spark from the Divine Flame, and that we can experience this presence, love, power and light – and its power of the Violet Consuming Flame of Divine Love – through quiet contemplation and by repeating 'affirmations' and 'decrees'. By affirming something one desires, one may cause it to happen.<ref name="Barrett 1996" />{{rp|192}}
</blockquote>

The group teaches that the "Mighty I AM Presence" is God existing in and as each person's [[Higher consciousness|higher self]], and that a light known as the "violet flame" is generated by the "I AM Presence". That "flame" may surround each person who calls forth the action of the [[Holy Spirit]] for expressions of mercy or forgiveness. The group believes that, by tapping into these internalized powers in accordance with the teachings of the ascended masters, one can use one's relationship to the "presence" to amplify the expressions of virtue such as justice, peace, harmony, and love; to displace or abate the expression of evil (i.e., the relative absence of good) in the world; and to minimize personal difficulties in one's life.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.saintgermainfoundation.org/SGF_01_MightyIAM.html |title=The "Beloved Mighty I am Presence" |access-date=January 6, 2014 |archive-date=March 13, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190313051934/http://www.saintgermainfoundation.org/SGF_01_MightyIAM.html |url-status=dead }}</ref>

The spiritual goal of the teachings is that, by a process of self-purification through the symbol of the "Violet Consuming Flame", the believer may attain the perfected condition of the [[Saint|saints]] or become an ascended master when leaving their body (in contrast to common concepts of ordinary death). The practice of "decrees" (repeated prayers given aloud with conviction), served at times as commands from the masters or as a request from the faithful, adds to practitioners' likelihood of reaching self-purification.<ref name="Melton 1992" />{{rp|64}}<ref name=CCAA/>

An example of a decree, recorded at I AM study groups in Alberta in the late 1930s:

<blockquote>
"In the Name, by the Power, through the Love, in the Authority and unto the Glory of the Mighty I Am Presence we now offer ourselves as a channel to YOU, Blessed Master Saint Germain, Jesus, Nada, Great Divine Director and Legions of Light! Blaze through us! Blaze through us! Blaze though us! The Mighty Golden Power of Divine Love and ''Charge'' the Energy in the Gas Belts below the Earth's Surface with that Mighty Power!"<ref name="auto">{{cite book |last1=Mann |first1=W. E. |title=Sect, Cult, and Church in Alberta |date=1955 |publisher=University of Toronto Press |page=61}}</ref>
</blockquote>

This decree was followed by a note giving additional instruction:

<blockquote>
On the word "Charge" bring the hands down to your sides with dynamic energy but be perfectly relaxed. Visualise and feel GREAT COSMIC STREAMS OF GOLDEN LIGHT SUBSTANCE blazing down through you from great BEAMS above you. ''This actually takes place'', streaming like an avalanche through your body, hands and feed, flooding into the gas belts below the earth's surface.<ref name="auto"/>
</blockquote>

The group also emphasizes personal freedom as essential to spiritual development.<ref name="Melton 1992" />{{rp|65}}

These "positive thinking" beliefs overlap with several movements, such as [[New Thought]],{{Failed verification|date=March 2025}} [[New Age movement]],{{Failed verification|date=March 2025}} and the [[Human Potential Movement]].<ref name="Barrett 1996" />{{rp|192}}

==See also==
* [[Exaltation (Mormonism)]]
* [[Robert LeFevre]]
* [[Mirra Alfassa]]
* [[Supermind (integral yoga)]]

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

==Bibliography==
* Saint Germain Foundation. ''The History of the "I AM" Activity and Saint Germain Foundation''. Saint Germain Press 2003 {{ISBN|1-878891-99-5}}
* King, Godfre Ray. ''Unveiled Mysteries''. Saint Germain Press. {{ISBN|1-878891-00-6}}
* King, Godfre Ray. ''The Magic Presence''. Saint Germain Press. {{ISBN|1-878891-06-5}}
* Saint Germain. ''I AM Discourses''. Saint Germain Press. {{ISBN|1-878891-48-0}}
* Peter Mt. Shasta. "Lady Master Pearl, My Teacher." Church of the Seven Rays. {{ISBN|978-0692356661}}

== External links ==
* [https://www.saintgermainfoundation.org/new-teachings Information on the website of the Saint Germain Foundation] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210126030136/https://www.saintgermainfoundation.org/new-teachings |date=January 26, 2021 }}, original publisher of Ascended Master Teachings beginning in 1934.
* [http://www.sacred-texts.com/eso/um/index.htm Unveiled Mysteries], full text of Guy Ballard's first book, available online at no cost
* [http://www.orgonelab.org/PsychDict.pdf Psychic Dictatorship in America], a collection of a series of monographs or chapters by a former member, Gerald Bryan.
* [https://documents2.theblackvault.com/documents/fbifiles/paranormal/ednaballard-fbi1.pdf Publications of the FBI Case BALLARD, EDNA ANNE processed and released pursuant to the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA)], a Document with all published pages of this case.
* [https://documents2.theblackvault.com/documents/fbifiles/paranormal/guyballard-fbi1.pdf Release 1 of the Publications of the FBI Case BALLARD, GUY WARREN processed and released pursuant to the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA)], a Document with all published pages of this case.
* [https://documents2.theblackvault.com/documents/fbifiles/paranormal/guyballard-fbi2.pdf Release 2 of the Publications of the FBI Case BALLARD, GUY WARREN processed and released pursuant to the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA)], a Document with all published pages of this case.

{{Ascended Master Teachings}}
{{authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:I Am Activity}}
[[Category:Ascended Master Teachings]]
[[Category:New Age]]
[[Category:Religious belief systems founded in the United States]]
[[Category:Articles with quotation marks in the title]]
[[Category:UFO religions]]
[[Category:Theosophist groups]]

"I AM" Activity - Revision history

imported>Aadirulez8: Filled in 0 bare reference(s) with reFill 2