Trust Your Gut Feelings!

A couple of days ago I was cleaning out some old files and came upon 4 newsletters (35 to 40 pages each!) that were sent to me back in 1989. I have saved them all these years because they were promoting homeschooling and I was in agreement with much of what was written, although they definitely had more radical thoughts than I did about public education. But, there was something that just didn't seem right about them. They were from a place called the Gentle Wind School in Surry, Maine, with a PO Box listed as their address. They would only be printing 4 newsletters, and I do have all four. There are no names to be found on any of these articles. The special notice to readers says "We are a group of researchers who have been studying the human consciousness, particularly the mental and emotional systems, for the past seven years."

Back in 1989 I was knee deep in homeschooling and eager to read anything that promoted homeschooling, especially since I felt like I was breaking new ground in homeschooling high schoolers. HOWEVER, I found myself thinking "something just isn't quite right with these newsletters!" Little did I know! At the time I couldn't find any references on the computer to this "school" so had no way to find out why I was bothered. Yesterday I decided to see what I could dig up on the computer. I discovered, much to my shock, that these people were the founders of a mind controlling cult. They were shut down by the law in Maine and relocated to Reno, Nevada.

They operated under a variety of names: Gentle Wind Project, Gentle Wind Retreat, Gentle Wind/Turning Point, Gentle Wind, and their first 2 newsletters were titled REBOUD (Redeeming Education By Observing Universal Natural Development) and the last two were called "Great Education Moves."

So, my only point in writing this is to say, "I WAS RIGHT!!" When your gut tells you something is amiss with what you are reading or learning about....trust it! Run! I'm so glad that I never took their writings too seriously and that I saved them for all this time and was able to finally find out the truth about these people!

Be aware, people...and don't get sucked in to other people's schemes!!!!!