Gary Douglas

We have received requests for more information about Access Consciousness, an alternative therapy that is rooted in the occult and Scientology but is being passed off as a new way to “become totally aware and to begin to function as the conscious being you truly are.” It promises to teach you how to “be present in your life in every moment without judgment of you or anyone else.”

In other words, anything goes with Access Consciousness, which is why it’s considered to be a cult, and a very immoral one at that.

Thanks to information provided by Steven Alan Hassan, a licensed mental health counselor and expert on cults, we have learned that Access Consciousness was founded by Gary Douglas in 1990 in Santa Barbara, California. At the time, Douglas, who was a close friend of a former Scientologist named Mary Wernicke, was practicing channeling and receiving “thoughts” from various spiritual entities. He began to channel Grigori Efimovich Rasputin, once known as the “Mad Monk of Moscow” – a licentious occultist and 19th century Russian mystic who was said to have had all kinds of extraordinary powers during his lifetime.

As bizarre as this sounds already, this story continues to go even further off the rails.

“Shortly after Gary’s first channeling encounter with Rasputin, he is said to have traveled to Colorado to attend a meditation camp. While at this meditation camp, Gary channeled a group of non-human beings he calls the Novian,” Hassan writes.

These Novian beings were reportedly so hard on his body that he demanded they transmit information to him through his friend, Rasputin. The very next day, Rasputin began speaking through Gary about what is now known as Access Consciousness.

Through Gary, Rasputin taught that there are 32 “bars” or points on the head which, when touched, “will clear all the limitations you have about that area of your life,” a pamphlet from the group says. (In case you were wondering, there’s no scientific proof of this.)

As Hassan explains, “the BARS are the foundation of Access Consciousness and will be the first class any participant in Access will take.”

In spite of its blatant occult origins, people are signing up to become Access Consciousness practitioners or “Accessories” as they are called, who will also engage in channeling during the sessions.

“Sometimes I downplay the channel part because it’s a little too woo-woo for some people, but the bottom line is that it works,” said Accessory MaryAnn Marron-Mullins in this interview with Yukon News.

“You don’t have to believe in psychics. You don’t have to believe in channeling. You don’t have to believe in any of that stuff. It just works. It’s very simple to learn and anybody can do it.”

She says she starts a session with an “energy pull” which entails “asking the universe to start energy flowing from your body.” She then places her fingertips on the different BARS in the head to activate different energies. A typical session can last for an hour or more and is said to help people with a variety of ills, from nerve damage to joint and spine problems.

But there are even more troubling aspects to Access Consciousness, such as the kind of behavior control it foists on its Accessories, such as exploiting and manipulating them financially, and instilling strict obedience and dependency upon those who follow this path.

According to Hassan, Access Consciousness instructors teach that a person should divorce themselves from their family if they fail to provide them with money. They’re also taught to view promiscuity as a way of expanding “one’s sense of self and gain experience”, which is why they encourage women to have three men in their lives.

The group also employs thought control tactics such as the use of chanting, thought-stopping meditation and hypnotic techniques to alter a person’s mental state. Classic symptoms of cult behavior include strictly prohibiting outside publication of their doctrines, and teaching recruits to forgo all critical thinking and questioning of leaders. Accessories are taught not to think at all – “thinking is stinking” they like to say. Instilling fear in recruits is another way of keeping control such as by threatening to alienate anyone who tries to think independently.

This is essential for a group as far out as Access Consciousness. After all, rational thinking people might react with great alarm when hearing their leaders encourage parents not to suppress their children’s sexuality or saying things like, “Children are incredibly sexy!” which Douglas has reportedly said.

But faithful Accessories like Marron-Mullins claim there is no reason to be alarmed – Access Consciousness is merely discouraging parents from raising children who think sex is wrong.

Which leads me to the scariest part of this strange story.  According to an article appearing in the Houston Press (which contains some profanities so beware before reading), Douglas is now trying to get this garbage into public schools which he’d like to do through a new organization created for this purpose known as the Access True Knowledge Foundation.

“Not many people knew about Access, and there was no real vehicle to get it into schools, until ex-NFL player Ricky Williams fell in love with Access and accepted a $50,000 donation from them for his Ricky Williams Foundation,” reports the Houston Press. “Some sports writers poked fun at Williams for aligning himself with a ‘cult,’ but at least Access got some attention.”

And this attention is luring even more dear souls into its grips. Needless to say, this is a very dangerous organization which should be strictly avoided!