Church Universal and Triumphant

The Church Universal and Triumphant is a New Age religious organization established chiefly by Elizabeth Clare Prophet.

Regarded by some as a cult, the CUT traces its lineage through Rosicrucianism to Theosophy to the I AM movement. Prophet, who grew up under influences including New Thought, Asian thought, Christian Science, Swedenborgianism, and Roman Catholicism continued the work of her husband Mark Prophet and became the church's leader. Known informally as Guru Ma, she reportedly dictated the minutest elements of members lives and did not consistently practice the vegetarianism, macrobiotic diet, rejection of abortion, and chastity she enforced at various times on the lives of her followers. As of this writing, Prophet today is in hospice care in Bozeman, Montana suffering from Alzheimer's disease, though some members hope for her spontaneous recovery.

The church became best known when during the 1980's it foretold nuclear apocalypse and retreated from California to land it acquired just north of Yellowstone National Park. Members were urged to liquidate their wealth for the final days, purchasing and borrowing to prepare for the end in underground bunkers with caches of weapons at the ready. When the civilized world did not end on the date Prophet foretold, she explained that the community had averted war through their prayers. Adherents however were left both humiliated and frequently bankrupt; bad debts by members led to the closure of one hardware store in nearby Livingston, Montana. Following this episode the church peaked rapidly and remains a significant presence in its area with some international following but nowhere near its heyday, in which it nearly doubled the population of Park County, Montana. With its falloff in membership, the church was forced to downsize its land holdings with sales back to the federal government.

CUT theology is a syncretistic mix of beliefs not always to others' eyes harmoniously consistent, including Buddhism, Christianity, mysticism, and belief in elves, fairies, and other entities it calls elementals. It revolves chiefly around communications channeled from Ascended Masters, many such as El Morya, Kuthumi, and St. Germain, with their roots in the theosophy of Madame Blavatsky, though its pantheon of spiritual agents number from dozens to hundreds. It practices prayers of affirmation at high speed known as decrees and is wary of malevolent influences and energies, which may be reflected in phenomena regarded as harmless by others such as chocolate, dark or reddish colors, and the full moon.

400 Years of Imaginary Friends is an excellent and balanced insight into the organization, its history, and its founder, written not unsympathetically by two former members, one of whom was an elite personal bodyguard and assistant for many years to Prophet. A privately produced work, its print status may be irregular.

External links

• CUT website
• Kenneth and Talita Paolini, 400 Years of Imaginary Friends, ISBN 0-9666213-0-1