Ramtha (a.k.a. J.Z. Knight)
Ramtha is a 35,000 year-old spirit-warrior who appeared in J.Z. Knight’s kitchen in Tacoma, Washington in 1977. Knight claims that she is Ramtha’s channel. She also owns the copyright to Ramtha and conducts sessions in which she pretends to go into a trance and speaks Hollywood’s version of Elizabethan English in a guttural, husky voice. She has thousands of followers and has made millions of dollars performing as Ramtha at seminars ($1,000 a crack) and at her Ramtha School of Enlightenment, and from the sales of tapes, books, and accessories (Clark and Gallo 1993). She must have hypnotic powers. Searching for self-fulfillment, otherwise normal people obey her command to spend hours blindfolded in a cold, muddy, doorless maze. In the dark, they seek what Ramtha calls the ‘void at the center.’
Knight says she used to be “spiritually restless,” but not any more. Ramtha from Atlantis via Lemuria has enlightened her. He first appeared to her, she says, while she was in business school having extraordinary experiences with UFOs. She must have a great rapport with her spirit companion, since he shows up whenever she needs him to put on a performance. It is not clear why Ramtha would choose Knight, but it is very clear why Knight would choose Ramtha: fame and fortune, or simple delusion.
Knight claims to believe that she's lived many lives. If so, one wonders what she needs Ramtha for: she's been there, done that, herself, in past lives. She ought to be able to speak for herself after so many reincarnations.
Knight claims that spirit or consciousness can "design thoughts" which can be "absorbed" by the brain and constructed "holographically". These thoughts can affect your life. If this means what I think it means, then Knight has taken the notion of proving the obvious to new heights: she has discovered that one's thoughts can affect one's life.
Knight not only has rewritten the book on neurology, she has also rewritten the book on archaeology and history. The world was not at all like the scholars of the world say it was 35,000 years ago. We were not primitive hunters and gatherers who liked to paint in caves. No, there were very advanced civilizations around then. It doesn't matter that there is no evidence for this, because Knight has rewritten the book of evidence as well. Evidence is what appears to you, even in visions and hallucinations and delusions. Evidence is anything you feel like making up. So, when you are told that Ramtha came first from Lemuria in the Pacific Ocean, do not seek out scholars to help you understand that ancient civilization because the scholars of the world do not believe Lemuria existed except as a fantasy. When you are told that the Lemurians were a great civilization from the time of the dinosaurs, do not expect to be burdened with evidence. There isn't any evidence. The only mammals around at the time of the dinosaurs were primitive and non-hominid, very much like lemurs. Maybe the Lemurians were really lemurs. No, the Lemurians came from "beyond the North star," according to Knight, which may explain why all humans ever since have looked to the sky with longing.
But as cool as Lemuria was, it could not compare with its counterpart in the Atlantic Ocean. Knight's story of Ramtha in Atlantis is too bizarre to retell. Let's just say that Ramtha was a warrior who appeared to Edgar Cayce and leave it at that. Her story is appealing to those who are not comfortable in today's world. The past must have been better. It must have been safer then, and people must have been nobler. This message is especially appealing to people who feel like misfits.
Ramtha, like Christ, ascended into heaven, after his many conquests, including the conquest of himself. He said he'd be back and he kept his promise by coming to Knight in 1977 while she was in her pyramidiot phase. She put a toy pyramid on her head and lo and behold if that wasn't a signal for Ramtha to return to the land of the living dead:
And he looked at me and he said: "Beloved woman, I am Ramtha the Enlightened One, and I have come to help you over the ditch" And, well, what would you do? I didn't understand because I am a simple person so I looked to see if the floor was still underneath the chair. And he said: "It is called the ditch of limitation", and he said: "And I am here, and we are going to do a grand work together."*
Apparently, the first rule of the wise is: beware the ditch of limitation. Knight's husband-to-be must have fallen into the ditch. He was there at the time Ramtha first invaded his girlfriend's body, but he was so busy lining up pyramids with a compass that he didn't see Ramtha. He did feel The Enlightened One's magnetic charm, however; for, according to Knight (and who wouldn't believe her?), the compass needle was spinning around madly and they saw "ionization" in the kitchen air.
Ramtha then became Knight's personal tutor for two years, teaching her everything from theology to quantum mechanics. He taught her how to have out-of-body experiences. The experience was so extraordinary she had to dig very deep for a metaphor to try to convey the bliss she felt: "I felt like....like a fish in the ocean."
Her big break came when her son, Brandy, developed "an allergic reaction to life." He had to have a few shots but he was allergic to the allergy shots. Fortunately, "the Ram" (as Knight calls her spirit invader) came to the rescue and taught her therapeutic touch. She healed Brandy with prayer and her touch "in less than a minute," greatly reducing her medical bills. She had performed a miracle and now nothing would stop her from entering the public arena.
Ramtha the feminist
Perhaps the reason J.Z. Knight is so successful in getting followers and students is that Ramtha is a feminist. (Although, the fact that Knight is quite attractive herself might have something to do with her success.) He recognized that if he appeared in his own masculine body, he would perpetuate the myth that God is male and further contribute to the eternal abuse of women.
That's what he said. So women have been abused by men, and herded by men through religion to perform according to those religious doctrines, and in fact, women were despised by Jehovah. So, he said: "It is important that when the teachings come through, they come through the body of a woman."*
This feminization of God must be pleasing to people who are tired of masculine divinities. According to Knight, Ramtha will help people master their humanity and “open our minds to new frontiers of potential.”