[I added the most important parts of that article below. Much of it is the author's defense of similar Nuage practitioners, only wishing Wheeler is a less abusive fraud. Bolding is mine. - Al]
So this article came out 4 days ago
I’ll share Liv Wheelers response in separate
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https://link.medium.com/E39kaNZsI8....In speaking with other people who have worked with or have sat with Liv in ritual spaces, a clear pattern has emerged:
Instillation of fear before gathering which sets a tone of hypervigilance in the group and doesn’t allow room for other viewpoints when participating in in-person gatherings.
A dramatic first channeling that causes emotional and spiritual outbursts before everyone settles in. This creates a
trauma bond between group participants and an “us against them” mentality (“them” being anyone not in on this channeled information), which sets the stage for the charismatic leader to provide all the answers.
Isolation in the form of not having contact with the outside world or ways to reach anyone outside of the group (no cell reception or WiFi; a remote location). Without the ability to talk to loved ones, group members cannot be reminded of who they are outside of the group or cautioned against group goings-on.
No time alone away from the group, which achieves the same effect as above with the additional disadvantage of not being able to connect with yourself and your root.
Very little sleep, which puts group members in a vulnerable emotional, mental, and physical state.
Constant top-down changes in schedule reminding group members that their time here is not their own and they have
no autonomy.
Personal wisdom or spiritual
belief systems other than the leader’s being vilified as entity energy — this positions
Liv as the godhead and signals to the group that her way is the only Truth and you can only access that Truth through her. Other members in subsequent retreats have been told that they are not allowed to use their skills unless explicitly asked to do so (this includes casual tarot readings). Some people have been accused of their work echoing Liv’s and
shunned due to Liv — her words — “hearing herself” in their offerings. They are then outcast by the group because they have ostensibly taken something of Liv’s, and that is deemed entity energy. This creates a closed loop in which
Liv appears to be infallible. This also signals to the group that it is unacceptable and dangerous to have sovereignty and/or personal power.
Breaking up alliances with anyone bonded prior to the gathering, or group members who begin to bond while on the retreat. This typically happens when someone who is working underneath Liv has a closeness with someone who isn’t. The threat of allegiance to Liv being broken is immediately dealt with by humiliation and/or ostracization.
Having a gatekeeper who participants need to go through if they want to have any contact with Liv. No one can talk to or email Liv without going through her gatekeeper. This person is being used as a shield and a scapegoat and is being taught to use devotion as weapon (if you are not devoted enough you are not good enough). This is internalized by the gatekeeper, and a culture of unwavering devotion is made clear towards any group members.
Questions of safety are considered dissent and have been discouraged by Liv getting so upset that she leaves the group and doesn’t come back because “they are no longer deserving” of her time; leaving those that work underneath her to tend to her emotional outburst and take over leading any group activities that Liv was supposed to be a part of. In other instances,
ostracization, public humiliation, and/or accusation of entity energy is used.
Ostracization which draws on our deep primal fears of being abandoned by a group and not being able to access resources necessary for survival (food, shelter, warmth, love).
Public humiliation which
fills the victim with such deep shame that they become pliable or silent. If they don’t, they run the risk of being labeled as unstable, or face accusations of being further possessed — putting their bodies and psyches back in harm’s way. In this way the abuser effectively silences the victim, appears as a savior in the eyes of the group (or victimizes themselves to distract from the harm being done), and makes the victim an example of what happens if you step out of line .
There are a few things here we need to be mindful of — this is likely the way that Liv was initiated into her spiritual tradition and she is behaving according to how she was treated and taught. We also need to acknowledge that there are different ways to elicit a spiritual experience. Some people believe deprivation takes you out of your body and brings you to a spiritual experience. Others believe that embodiment connects you to God (Spirit, The Universe, Christ Consciousness, however you decide to name it). This group uses the first method and pushes it to an extreme that is harmful if we aren’t in a place with a safe foundation. The way Liv uses this modality is not trauma-informed and is therefore dangerous.
....In the next section of this piece I would like to address the
questionable ethics in this organization including cultural appropriation, spiritual bypassing, tokenization of BIPOC, financial abuse, a general culture of white supremacy, and
anti-mask rhetoric in the age of COVID-19. Many of these examples are things I have recently become aware of through listening to others’ stories about gatherings they have attended with Liv.
There is rampant cultural appropriation happening in this group. Liv positions herself as the godhead for Kontomble divination. Kontomble is the West African term for elemental earth beings (there are many names for this stemming from different lineages and traditions — they are often referred to as the little people or the fae). Liv does name her teacher and the lineage she learned from and refers to her time with the Dagara people in Burkina Faso studying under Malidoma Somé. But Liv makes a lot of money on these retreats where she
teaches the rituals of these people to, mainly, white women, and there is seemingly no reciprocity between Liv and the lineage she learned her practice from. When asked about how to properly pay respects to the people of the land where ritual is being done, she responds that “the land is always happy for ritual”. To be clear: if you are a group of white women doing ritual on land that white people stole from Indigenous people and you do not address that bloody history, you are not truly engaging with the land around you; you are using it for personal benefit and profit. If a statement like this is made to Liv, it is met with accusations of “divisiveness”.
When the notion of cultural appropriation comes up, the response is a literal scoff and a quick eye roll explanation that we are all one and even if we don’t come from a particular lineage in this lifetime we may have come from it in another lifetime with an implication that if you don’t already get that then you aren’t on a high enough spiritual plane. This is a textbook definition of spiritual bypassing.
Liv collects BIWOC as contributors to Ancestor Bridge and uses their image as a shield against accusations of racism. She asks these people to work for her for trade — their service in exchange for space at a retreat and promotion on her website and social media pages. They are
talented artists and healers and are being exploited under the guise of mentorship. They are not paid for their time, expertise or the immense amount of artistic, physical and emotional labor they perform. When there are accusations of cultural appropriation or racism, Liv points to the diversity in the faces of the people on her website. This is
optical allyship and tokenization.More recently,
Liv has held online circles in which she has supported anti-mask rhetoric. COVID-19 disproportionately affects BIPOC in this country and refusing to wear a mask/signaling to followers that they shouldn’t wear a mask is violence against the BIPOC community.
There is also talk of how the uprising we are experiencing after the death of George Floyd is “demonic energy”.
Engaging in dissent, conflict, or violence (frankly any associations with political revolution) is considered to be “divisive” demonic interference because “we are all one race”. References to lizard people and wendigo have been used in lieu of discussing systemic racism in Liv’s circles.Upon news that COVID-19 would prevent a few of the retreats planned for 2020, Liv did not give back the money that participants paid (including the deposit money) and instead offered a credit for future events. It is my understanding that a refund was out of the question and that the language around this was that participants needed to have faith in the future and be devoted to Spirit. There is a heavy implication that if you are not devoted in the particular ways outlined by Liv, then you will not be able to progress spiritually.
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[Al again. This is clearly an abusive cult. Moved to Frauds.]
