All language subtitles for True.Believers.S01E05.The.Demon.Slayer.Academy.720p.HULU.WEB-DL.AAC2.0.H.264-WELP

So, they took us to a place
just opposite Mount Fuji.

They take you
to this open clearing

in the middle of the forest.

You see three freshly dug graves
in -- in the ground.

O.M.G.

Like -- Like, what is this?

They covered you--
your entire body

with this blue plastic bag,

and you then know.

Reality kicks in.

You go into
fight-or-flight mode.

Then you started feeling
the sand.

They shovel the sand
on top of your entire body.

Now you're thinking,
"Am I gonna die?"

All around the world,

people are being reborn
through ancient ritual

to activate
their optimum selves,

channel their spiritual light,
and defeat evil.

These are the warriors
of the Modern Mystery School,

true believers dedicated
to saving the planet

with their own secret methods
of martial arts, metaphysics,

and magic.

When I was on the mountain,

every cell in my body was
saying, "What are you doing?"

And then I started
thinking back --

"Do you know what?
You've come this far.

There has to be
something in this."

All of a sudden, there was
someone standing at the end,

and they asked you to sit up,

and they literally pulled you up
and pulled you out.

And that was your initiation.
It was almost like a rebirth.

This unassuming
Tokyo office block is home

to the global headquarters
of the Modern Mystery School.

With a presence
in as many as 10 countries,

finding the Mystery School
isn't hard.

But to unlock its secrets,

members must commit themselves
to a spiritual crusade...

...and be prepared
to go to war with demons.

And this was my sword,

which is a samurai sword.

As you can see,
it's absolutely beautiful.

And my god -- and you get given
a god name or a goddess name,

and mine was Quan Yin.

So, she's all about love
and compassion.

And I just happened to choose
this sword,

which is all about the story
of Quan Yin.

And she's the only one that's
allowed to ride the dragon.

Deep breath...

Got this. Let's do it!

Saving other people's lives.

So, my name is Bernice Van Eck,

and I'm a personal global coach,

and I go around the world

to help people
to empower themselves

and to help them to awaken
to who they are,

their divine inner essence.

When I was a little girl,
I always had

this psychic intuition
and psychic abilities.

I always saw massive, like,
tragic events happening,

and it kind of disturbed me,

so I blocked it out completely.

And then one day I decided,

"Well, I'm actually going
to see a psychic."

The psychic encourages Bernice

to attend a beginners course
at the Modern Mystery School.

Called a Life Activation session,

it comes with a herbal elixir
to detox your DNA

and uses a special crystal wand
to awaken your divine blueprint.

I went and did this
Life Activation with Julia,

and I thought,
"This is really strange."

She's poking this thing
into the back of my head.

And to be honest,

I didn't really feel anything
at the time.

The $150 entry-level class

also promises to unlock
the secrets of continued healing

for anyone willing
to take the next step.

So I thought, "I'm curious.

I'm just gonna carry on
going with this."

And then she just suggested,
"Do this healing modality,

do this next class,"
and there was always

a next class, and there was
always a next class.

You know, I just got deeper
and deeper into it.

From the mists of time...

come ancient methods
for modern living.

Welcome to the Mystery School.

I'm a third-step Ritual Master,

Um, I'm a guide, I'm a cabalist.

On top of that, I'm a temple
leader, I'm an Enochian warrior,

I am an Egyptian high priest,
I am a Celtic shaman.

Steve Arawn
is an apartment manager

and pool cleaner in California

when he joins the Mystery School
in 2005.

Yeah, it gets really bizarre

trying to even explain this
to somebody from the outside.

I felt like, wow,
this place has been around

for 3,000 years,
is what I'm being told,

and I'm meeting all these people
who seem to be akin in spirit

and wanting the same kind
of things out of life.

That's what excited me.

So, we're gonna make you
adept as a human being

to be the best that you can be,

so then you can become a teacher
and a healer,

so then you can
carry that forward.

So, it was that constant
going to the next level,

the next level, the next level

to try and try and pull
and find something

that was going to give me this
aha moment -- "this is it now."

On the healer path,
you start with learning

how to do
the Life Activation protocol.

That's a one-week process,
which costs a fortune.

Then you've got to do another
course called Sacred Geometry,

then another course
on astral travel.

Once you've done
Healers Academy I,

then you are encouraged to do
Healers Academy II.

The third-step initiation
is when you become

a fully qualified exorcist
at the highest level

to be able to travel the world,

close gates, take out demons,

do the really, really
hardcore stuff.

The Mystery School teaches
that bad things,

like natural disasters
or school shootings,

happen when demons cross from
the spirit world onto Earth.

You're going head-to-head
with the higher-level demon.

You're wearing all black.

You're --
You're setting yourself

in this mystic, black,
dark energy.

We were told that there used to
be portals that opened up

where these demons
were literally coming in

onto the planet.

We had to go in

and we were trained with
specific exorcism training

in the Warriors of Light programs

to go in and shut down
those gates

so that the demons
don't come in.

But you had to be super focused.

It was literally, "I'm going
to go up and fight a war."

That's -- That's how it was.

Leading this crusade is founder
and chief Gudni Gudnason,

an Icelandic healer who claims

he is a direct descendant
of the god Thor,

a man with extraordinary and
potentially dangerous powers.

He's lived a thousand different
lifetimes, you know,

and -- and has
all these stories.

And a lot of it, when you hear
it, is like, "Ah, is that real?"

But then you see everything else
that's going on,

and you're like,
"Well, it must be real.

You couldn't just get away with
saying that stuff."

When I came across
the Modern Mystery School,

I was in a very, um, precarious
place, I would imagine,

as most people
would find themselves

after a couple of, um, divorces

and your children are growing up
and moving out of the house,

and I was, um, very curious
about the occult.

Edie Koleszar is recruited
in 2005 by members of the school

at a talk near her home
in Ontario, Canada.

You're special,

you're above people,

so you're here
to save people's souls.

Every time I had
a negative feeling,

I felt like, "It's me.
I need to push it aside."

I thought, "This is my anxiety.

I am not going
to pay attention to it.

I am going to go out

and I'm going to become a better
person than what I am

and I'm gonna learn
some things."

Well, I learned some things.

Many things. Many things.

Mm-hmm.

First time I met him,
I was a little bit impressed,

to say the least.

We were told to meditate,
so I'm meditating,

and I had a vision
of this unicorn,

and it gently touched my face,
and I felt this energy.

So, he comes traipsing
in the room and he's like,

"So, who's seen my unicorn?"

And I was just like,
"Are you kidding me?

Who is this guy?"

One part shaman,
one part TV pitchman,

Gudni turns skeptics
into believers

with a potent blend
of marketing savvy

and mystical propaganda,

including his own origin story.

I was born under weird circumstances,

and I was born
an identical twin.

My brother, though, he died

about 30 minutes
after he was born.

Because of the connection
between twins,

you know, I was with him
more than here.

You know, I would wake up
in the morning,

but my -- I wasn't really there.

My mother put me on the floor

and I would just sit there
all day,

and my -- my soul
was not in my body.

I was raised with beings
that, you know,

we -- we normally call gods
or angels and these beings.

That was the first 10 years
of my life.

If you take everything he says
at face value,

his life is very interesting.

Ragnar Hansson is one
of the few outsiders

ever given access inside
the Modern Mystery School.

He has spent the last two years

filming a documentary
about Gudni.

Quartz crystal.

Yep.

Gudni is a boy from Iceland,
from Reykjavik, who grew up here

and obviously had high hopes
and dreams for himself

and managed to somehow
achieve it

through sheer willpower
and imagination, mostly.

This is the school that
he -- he went to, apparently.

He describes himself as
exceptionally intelligent and...

normal school
basically boring him.

In his early 20s,

Gudni latches onto local
martial arts experts

who were also twins.

They soon become his mentors,

and when they get roles
in an Icelandic cult film,

Gudni gets one, too.

He tastes the limelight
and is hooked.

He leaves behind
a wife and child

to follow the twins to Sweden,
performing with them,

living with them, and absorbing
their teaching style.

Gudni also experiments
with spiritualism,

focusing in particular
on secret societies

dedicated to the study
of paranormal and the occult.

Inspired, he leaves behind
a second wife in Sweden

and returns to Iceland,

where he quickly makes a splash
in the local press.

He triggers national outrage

running a fight club
for children.

Olympic boxing
and contact sports

was illegal in Iceland.

These were just kids,
untrained kids,

just beating each other up.

He is exposed for lying about
being a black belt in karate

and is found to be running
from mounting debts.

He had burned all his bridges
and had to flee Iceland in 1995.

Next stop -- Utah.

Before too long, he's starting
all manner of businesses

and claiming himself an expert
in all manner of things.

Running The Edge bodyguarding,
and offering seminars

in protecting yourself
from school shootings,

and shilling magic potions
on the internet.

Then two things happen.

One, Gudni starts working
with employees of Amway,

America's leading
multilevel marketing company.

We're earning extra income
as Amway distributors,

bringing others into it.

♪ We're the world of Amway ♪

Two, he finds a third wife,
Laurie Secrist,

a local psychic running
a successful healing business.

Gudni and his wife at the time

claimed that they were driving
one night

when they saw a plasma ship
crash-land into a lake.

They claimed that they were
taken on board this ship

and given access to incredible technologies.

And combined with the knowledge

that they had been passed down
through a 3,000-year lineage,

it allowed them
to fully activate human DNA

for the first time,

and that knowledge
formed the basis

of the Mystery School curriculum.

In Utah,

Gudni combines everything
he has learnt until now.

Performance, mysticism,

secret societies, manipulation,
and salesmanship

coalesce into a business idea

that will bring thousands
of followers under his spell.

With Laurie, he creates the
Rocky Mountain Mystery School,

an exclusive society of magic
and martial arts

open to anyone willing to pay.

Who am I? Why am I here?

What is the purpose of my life?

What should I be doing?

All of our tools are aimed
at answering these questions.

Gudni adds one final twist
straight from Amway's playbook,

placing a premium on recruitment

so students themselves
grow the school and his profits.

He told me when he --
when he first came to America

that he had $32 in his pocket,

and two years later,
he had a million dollars.

And I was curious,
and I asked him,

"How -- how did you make
that money?"

And he told me,
"Multilayer marketing,"

which is literally what

the Modern Mystery School
seems to have become.

From the early 2000s onwards,
the Mystery School grows

from a handful of meditation
and martial arts classes in Utah

to a million-dollar spiritual
empire with chapters in Canada,

South Africa, Britain,
and Brazil.

As Gudni's status grows,
so do his infidelities.

Laurie files for divorce

after exposing multiple affairs
with students.

They split the company,
and Gudni hits the road again.

In Tokyo, Gudni leads the life
of a spiritual guru

with the perks of a rock star.

He's married for a fourth time,
to Aiko,

who shares his love of fantasy

and joins Gudni
on his world-saving mission.

Whatever it is you want,
whatever dreams you have,

I can.

- I can!
- Yes!

You have to purchase this gi,

which cost at the time
probably about 4,500 rand.

And as you can see here,
I've gone and done all of these

at all the different countries
all over the world.

So, to actually get a badge
is -- is quite an honor,

and it's exciting
to -- to get that badge.

It's like doing karate
and you get a new belt.

After a while,
they really groom you

into taking responsibility
in the group itself,

and you begin to pay
for things more and more.

Literally, you have to keep
feeding the system

over and over and over again.

You've got to travel all over
the world at your own expense.

You've got to pay your own
hotel, pay for all your meals.

Once followers
of Modern Mystery School

reach a certain level,

they can earn money
by training new recruits,

but often not more
than they're paying out

to reach elite status themselves.

Even when you're
a qualified guard,

you still pay a portion
of that money to the school.

Doesn't go into your own pocket,
only a small amount of it.

That's how they kept constantly
making their money.

Students are told to charge
as much as possible for classes

in order to keep
the money flowing in and up.

Where's the money going to?

Gudni, Dave, Hideto.

Dave Lanyon and Hideto Nakagome
are Gudni's next-in-command.

Welcome to this broadcast.

We are sitting in my spacecraft
a few kilometers above Earth.

Hideto Nakagome helps
to spread the teachings

of the Modern Mystery School
in the East.

I'm gonna now flow...
light energy through the gate

and straight to you.

Dave Lanyon, who goes by
the title Ipsissimus Thor,

runs the school's
day-to-day business.

I will tell you that
at the highest end,

the School of the Mage program
is prob-- about four years long,

and it's about $100,000.

Dave offers these
extravagant healings

that cost, literally, I've got
to sell a kidney and a leg.

And Gudni does, as well,

and they're supposed to be
"saving you from demons"

and from, you know --
bringing in angels

and massive protection.

Private sessions,
you might say?

Private healing sessions.

Essential oils.

Mm.

Only pure medical grade.

Wow.

I must have spent
about 2 million rand,

and that's probably just --
that's just off the cuff.

I would say that
if you include travel,

I'm over $100,000 in my --

my metaphysical trainings
with the Mystery School.

I mean, there were classes
that I had to pay in cash

thousands of dollars,

just set it on an altar and walk
away from thousands of dollars.

And that happened
a lot of times.

That was not just
a one-time thing.

And I don't know how, miraculously,

I kept manifesting this money.

So, I went to different banks,
got different credit cards,

and I just got myself
deeper and deeper

and deeper and deeper into debt.

And I'm still in debt
to this day.

I'd say about a good $95,000
just on classes,

let alone expenses
and everything.

A lot of money.

A lot of money.

All money is,

in the perspective
of the Mystery School,

is an amplifier for your
internal belief system

to be expressed
in a physical way.

He kept telling me about this
stuff that he was buying online.

He was always tired.

He was usually tired
when I met him

because he stayed up
on online auctions,

buying all these
autographed posters,

a guitar
owned by Michael Jackson,

just all sorts of stuff.

They say that when you come
to the Mystery School,

you're gonna be
financially abundant,

and the more classes you take,
the more abundance.

And it doesn't matter if you
borrow money from the bank,

because that's, you know --

money is energy,
it's flowing,

so borrow all the money
that you can.

While Gudni and his inner
circle are living the high life,

Bernice and her fellow trainees
constantly struggle

to find the funds
to keep on paying.

One of them, Chrissy Venter,

confides in the others that
she desperately wants to quit.

Chrissy was one of the people

that was absolutely petrified
about leaving the school.

Money was a problem because
she was a single mum.

She was working,
she had a full-time job,

but there is that concern
of running out of money.

Leaving the Modern Mystery
School is something

Gudni and Dave strongly caution
members against.

The school makes you believe
that if you leave the school,

that you're gonna be possessed
by the devil.

If you leave the school,
you're gonna get cancer

and this disease
and that disease,

and it's all about fear.

The only way
to counter that fear,

in Gudni's world,
is to stay in the light,

which means paying for more

Modern Mystery School qualifications

and staying poised for the next
battle against evil

he instructs them to fight.

In 2011, an earthquake
and tsunami

set off a nuclear meltdown
at Fukushima,

just 150 miles north

of the Modern Mystery School's
headquarters in Tokyo.

When the Japan crisis happened,

Gudni sent a message
for me to come to Tokyo.

Those who join the school

swear not to share its secrets
with the outside world.

But a handful are speaking out
for the first time

on the condition of anonymity.

Gudni told us
there was a giant demon

who had shaken the ground
in Japan.

He said dark energy
was rising up from the ground,

and we had to stop
the demonic infestation.

One of the other students
called and said,

"Gudni wants you to come
to Japan."

I said, "I'm in school.
I can't."

He said, "school.
Come now. Here's a ticket."

We -- We drove up there
on the fourth day.

And of course, no idea
what was -- what we expected.

When we got up there, though,
it was obviously horrific.

And since then, we've been
up there almost every day,

and we're still going up there.

The Fukushima meltdown
is a disaster for Japan,

but an opportunity for Gudni.

While he publicly offers food

and free massages
to the victims,

behind closed doors,
he's using the event

as a way to recruit new students
into his fight against evil,

which includes cleansing
the city of the demon

that caused the earthquake.

We had these daggers
that were 18 inches long.

We went out at night around
Tokyo on gridding missions...

...secretly standing
on street corners,

creating invisible walls.

And you're believing things

that you didn't believe before, suddenly.

They groomed you,
groomed you, groomed you,

and where that point comes
where you are in it.

For me, when I met Dave, it was
like, "Wow, he's amazing."

I felt a huge energetic
connection with him, massive.

Not long after Fukushima,
Bernice is told

she's been singled out
for a special mission

with the school's top warrior,
Dave Lanyon.

He had told me that
I was the chosen one

to eventually have sex
with my teacher

to save millions of souls.

For Bernice, this means
traveling to Mount Fuji

to spend three days sitting
in an invisible magic circle

before being reborn
by getting buried alive.

He had told me that he had
feelings for me,

and I had to first climb up
to the different ranks

till I was a certain level
in his eyes, energetically,

to be able to have sex with him.

You're told that you should
have a lot of sex

with a lot of different people,
but it's up to you.

But if you're not doing it,
you're just uptight, you know?

You don't even
understand yourself.

All sorts of just tantra stuff
going on there, like sex magics,

and an exercise I was given
was to go into the bathroom

and masturbate,
but not allow myself to come,

because that energy being held

is what allows you to be
a stronger warrior.

Although not officially
on the curriculum,

some students say
there was another level

to sexual activity
within the school,

reserved for a select few
handpicked by Gudni.

I've chosen to remain anonymous

because I really just don't want
this to impact my family.

Okay, so, a typical
tantric session

would usually start, like,
with a group date.

You're out together,
flirting, touching,

you know, like a date --
wining and dining each other.

Oftentimes, Gudni would take us
to an erotic show,

a live show of naked women.

And then when it's time,
we go back to Gudni's place

and he assigns partners.

The beds are always
completely white,

white curtains, candles,

food, strawberries,
chocolates, things, sex toys.

And you're not only there with
your partner -- you, you know,

can do, quote-unquote,
"work" with anyone,

but it's all just, you know,

this act of sex from that point.

I was made to do things
I didn't want to do.

In Tokyo, I slept in a bed with
my male mentor in the school.

One night, he said to me,
"You need to drink this beer.

You need to suck my dick.

You need to me."

So... I did it.

Huh, what did I just do?

What was that about?

When the men climax --

not inside the woman, never.

It's always to be done on
the face, the breast, the belly.

No one ever orgasmed inside.

There was a cancer patient once,

and we knew we were healing her,
so the men would orgasm on her.

The whole time, the focus
was on that person healing,

so the men would ejaculate

on the area
that needed to be healed.

It's very dark.

And I don't think a sociopath
can see it that way.

After my third-step initiation,
Dave said to me, "You re ready."

Bernice is selected by

the head of the Modern Mystery
School's South African chapter,

Rita van den Berg,

for a sacred mission
with Dave Lanyon,

and now he's come to collect.

Rita said we have to make sure
that my nails were done

and that I was
completely prepared.

At about 11:30 that night,

I received the WhatsApp --
I must go to his hotel.

I went inside, we sat on
the couch, and he said to me,

"Take off your watch,
'cause here, there's no time."

We obviously had sex, and when
I looked at him, I-I was like,

"This is just a man."

Oh, my God, yeah.
You're embarrassing me.

Hold on, I've got to cool down.

He was not some "guru"
or some, you know, Ipsissimus

or some, you know, god.

He -- He was just a normal man.

- MMS porn.
- MMS porn.

MMS porn is the worst, though.

I felt used.

And that's when I started
to pull away.

Not long after,

Bernice informs Dave
she is leaving.

I blocked every single one
of them on Facebook

and I disappeared.

They went on a complete rampage
on social media.

They said the most horrific
things about me,

but I did expect that.

They took photographs of me,

they drew devil horns
on my head.

If you tell lies, you have to
continue telling the lies.

A few months later,

Bernice's training partner
Chrissy also leaves the group

and is stripped of her qualifications

after running out of money.

When Chrissy and I started
dating in July 2017,

she was not an active member
of this organization anymore.

She said the fees
just became ridiculous.

But when Chrissy and Peter
welcome a son, Layken,

later that year,

it reopens the door
to Modern Mystery School.

I thought the baby
would make a difference.

But Chrissy had
a-a tough pregnancy.

Chrissy is diagnosed
with breast cancer

not long after giving birth.

Rather than begin chemo,

she turns back
to Modern Mystery School,

banking on a miracle cure

and begging to be allowed
back into the group.

It got to a stage
where Chrissy believed

that if she reactivates
her qualifications

that she would actually heal.

14 years ago,
I had stage 4 lung cancer.

They gave me one year to live.
That's 14 years ago.

I went to an ozone clinic,
ozone clinic.

I got ozone in my vein twice
a day for about 30 minutes,

and in one week,

I was clean of --
the cancer was gone.

This is a 70-year-old method
from Germany.

They're still using that.

In November 2019,
the cancer grew even more,

and then she decided to take...

to take chemo.

Layken was 2 1/2
when she passed, which is young,

but he remembers.

He remembers.

He speaks about her,
and he asks,

and he tries to understand.

In the days after her death,

Peter discovers disturbing
messages between Chrissy

and Modern Mystery School leadership.

She was in constant contact
with them.

Most of this contact,
especially with Rita,

were paid-for sessions.

Some of the WhatsApps said,
you know, that Rita was waiting

for the bank confirmation,
and then they can talk.

While Chrissy is dying
of cancer,

she's receiving
short phone blessings,

some of which cost $200 each.

And that's just
the tip of the iceberg.

Here's an email received from,
it says Dr. Rita van den Berg.

It says, "Description:

spiritual drug detox
healing, Chrissy --

150,000 rand."

Ancestral therapy for Layken
is 150,000.

The healing treatments
for Chrissy and her son

cost the equivalent
of $50,000 --

money she does not have.

The evidence is clear that,

in the last days,
if she didn't have the money,

she wouldn't have had
their support.

People are managed by fear.

They -- They're driven...

by guilt.

And it's...

is it a cult?

I guess you could say
it's a cult.

Worried?

If you're worried,

it's because you are thinking of
something that already passed.

Very few lawyers
take on organized religion.

But Japan has a history of cults

and a number
of specialist lawyers

who make themselves available

to victims
who dare to come forward.

Leaders of the school
quickly settled out of court.

And to date, Modern Mystery
School have faced no charges

based on allegations of
financial or physical abuse.

Oh, yeah!

'Sup? Whassup?!

Okay, so I'm gonna give you
a gift today.

But to receive this gift, guys,
you need to be in the nude.

Hey, you sexually
exploited people.

Hey, that's not okay.

Hey, it's not okay
that you groomed people.

It's abuse.

Period.

Like, it's so disgusting...

I have no words.

What consequences are there
to this type of abuse?

They should be tried
for destroying people's lives.

For the women that
they did sexually exploit,

I feel there should be compensation.

It was intended to be magical.

I do believe, in his heart of
hearts, Gudni wanted it to be.

But I also think he wanted
to get his rocks off.

Of the former members with
testimony about alleged abuse

from their time in the school,
none will go public,

fearing for their safety
and that they won't be believed.

Since leaving the school,
I've deeply questioned myself.

Was I asking for it?

Was it something
I was suppressing?

It was none of that.
It was abuse.

I developed
a very deep depression,

alcohol, drugs,
after I left.

They will tell you that this is
because I left the school,

but them

and their hold
on people's reality.

I've seen a lot of people
in absolute fear

to say anything, to this day.

They believe everything
they were taught to the "T,"

and they are terrified
of demonic attack.

I do wish I could come out
on the record

and say all of this,

but I still half expect
to sit up in the night

and see Gudni
standing at my bed.

They condition you,
they -- they -- they --

you know, they tell you that
it's always your fault,

and you know, if you can't
come up with money,

it's because you aren't
manifesting enough.

The Modern Mystery School
is definitely a cult.

The whole scheme, the setup,
it's a pyramid scheme.

The people at the bottom
will never make money --

only the people at the top.

Yes, I guess
the bottom -- bottom line is,

I hate to say it, and it's weird
that I hate to say it,

but yes, it is, it is...

It -- It fits the definition
of a cult, from my experience

and the folks that I had gone
through this experience with.

Would I do it again?

In a heartbeat.

The teachings, I think,
are legit.

I-I really do.

I think he's been running
all his life, but...

I don't think he's ever really
faced any real consequences.

He's found a...

a good output for turning his
into gold, literally.