Many Birds Lodge, Michael Borg AKA "Walks the Wind," Joanne Proctor

[Piff]

I have read this post and found some interesting points, and have spent much time doing further research. I am no longer claiming in any way to be a Native American person, and have only ever done so as I had believed what I had been told and learned to believe was actually the truth. I'm now very clearly finding through my extensive research that this is not the case. Most people I've met would like to believe that what their parents teach and tell the is the truth, and it is not without a lot of heartache that I find that this isn't the case. The name 'Lightning Horse' is the name that my father gave me several years ago, and is a name I'm now working to disassociate myself with.

I can only speak for myself. What my father chooses to do is up to him, but I will no longer be party to what it is that he is doing. I've never intentionally wanted to disrespect Native American people in any way, and that has never been my intention. To think that I may have done so, even unknowningly, saddens me greatly.

I would like you to remove the name 'Rosser' from this, as it is not my fathers actual last name, and never has been. It is the last name of my step-father, that my mother was with for a number of years, and is no way associated with my father.

Ben, I appreciate your post. I hope that you continue to fully disassociate yourself from your father's false pretense.

You can be a positive role model to others who need to make the same changes you are.

 What is your father's correct surname? What is his actual ancestry? We need to know so that we can continue to correct all the misinformation he spreads. Thank you.

[debbieredbear]

Ben, if you tell me his actual last name, I will change this and remove your last name of Rosser from this post.

[BenRosser]

His actual last name is Borg.

[Piff]

SWEAT LODGE & CONSULTATIONS WITH WIND

Come and join Native American Navajo Shaman and Priest "Wind" for a Sweat Lodge or Consultation at Kupidabin Wilderness.

Wind has walked the roads and pathways in this country for many years now. He calls this land his mother and his eyes see no difference in all the races, colours and creeds of man and woman.

Wind is a Dineh man, an Elder of the fledgling Many Birds, but more so he is simply a man of total service to the Mystery and to our Mother the Earth.

Kupidabin Wilderness is a place of deep conviction when it comes to the Sacred, it is a place of gathering and sharing. In his way Wind has much to give and even more to share, and upon the land amongst the Ancestors, his only desire is to see your smiles, hear your songs and bear witness to your most beauteous prayers.

"I offer my humble gratitude for your time, your passion and truth. May we all hold each other in truth, deep love and all encompassing grace." - Wind

Sweat Lodge Ceremony:

Ceremony begins with 'Welcome to Country' on behalf of the custodians of the Land. A small discussion will follow among the group regarding our hopes and prayers within the ceremony, which includes the presentation of the Sacred Laws and trust that govern our time within Lodge.

A sacred pipe will be shared as family. This is a beautiful way to enrich yourself, your family and all of your relations. At the end of the ceremony we will share a meal together (bring a plate to share).

With our hearts still open there will be stories told, including the story of 'Jumping Mouse' the story of a great journey, and 'Journey of the Spider', a story of physical transformation.

When:

2pm to 6pm, Sunday 4th June, 2017

2pm to 6pm, Sunday 11th June, 2017

Cost:

$80 per person (bring a plate to share)

Places are limited so bookings are essential. Contact us for bookings or inquiries.

 
Consultations:

One-on-one appointments with Wind can be arranged regarding all facets of 'Life's Wheel'; Body, Mind, Heart & Spirit.

When:

Wind is available for consultations from Tuesday, 6th June to Friday 9th June.

Cost:

$50 per hour

Bookings are essential. Contact us for bookings or inquiries.

http://kupidabin.com/index.php/events/sweat-lodge-consultations-with-wind

Kupidabin Wilderness is a place of peace and harmony with the goal of helping to preserve the beliefs, traditions and ceremonies of indigenous cultures of Australia and world wide, aiming to share this knowledge and experience with all people to allow them to have happier and more fulfilling lives.

Kupidabin Wilderness Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/Kupidabin/?hc_ref=PAGES_TIMELINE&fref=nf
Email: info@kupidabin.org
http://kupidabin.com/index.php/contact-us

[Piff]

His actual last name is Borg.

Thank you Ben.

I can see strong family resemblance with some other Borgs on social media.

I see that your contact information has been taken down from the Kupadin Wilderness site. I wish you well as you continue to withdraw support for Michael Borg's misrepresentations.

[BenRosser]

The unfortunate thing I've learnt from this situation in the last week is that people he has 'helped' want to believe in him that badly that they'll fight to protect him regardless of how blatant the lies are, and how many of those lies are brought to light. In standing up for what is right, I'm the one that will be shunned by all of those people. My father believes his own lies to the extent that even when I call him out on them he is in no way willing to admit to it. I doubt that even the upcoming DNA test results will likely make a difference.

Even with Kupidabin, which I've spent a couple of months making my home. The owners are extremely genuine people and have helped me in a huge amount of ways since I've been here, and I have a lot of love and respect for them and what they are trying to achieve. Despite the evidence they are content to continue to allow him to do ceremony. I can't force people to see what they don't want to see.

Over the last few years, I've given up most of my 'modern' life and possessions to find and fulfill whatever purpose I have in this lifetime, as fulfilling my purpose is the only thing that is truly important to me. Just as I thought I'd found it, I realise it's all a lie and I basically have to rebuild my entire life from scratch. Not the birthday present I was hoping for.

[Piff]

The unfortunate thing I've learnt from this situation in the last week is that people he has 'helped' want to believe in him that badly that they'll fight to protect him regardless of how blatant the lies are, and how many of those lies are brought to light. In standing up for what is right, I'm the one that will be shunned by all of those people. My father believes his own lies to the extent that even when I call him out on them he is in no way willing to admit to it. I doubt that even the upcoming DNA test results will likely make a difference.

Even with Kupidabin, which I've spent a couple of months making my home. The owners are extremely genuine people and have helped me in a huge amount of ways since I've been here, and I have a lot of love and respect for them and what they are trying to achieve. Despite the evidence they are content to continue to allow him to do ceremony. I can't force people to see what they don't want to see.

Over the last few years, I've given up most of my 'modern' life and possessions to find and fulfill whatever purpose I have in this lifetime, as fulfilling my purpose is the only thing that is truly important to me. Just as I thought I'd found it, I realise it's all a lie and I basically have to rebuild my entire life from scratch. Not the birthday present I was hoping for.

Ben, I've been in a similar situation. Mine did not involve direct family, but it did involve my survival - my identity, community, where I lived, etc.

I am helped immensely by learning about sociology, group dynamics, skepticism, mental illness, abusive relationships, con artists, civil and human rights, and pretendianism.

Some things that helped me when I left a group:

Warning signs of a potentially unsafe leader: https://www.culteducation.com/warningsigns.html
Post cult adjustment: https://www.culteducation.com/group/17911-cults-in-our-midst-leaving-a-cult-and-recoverings.html
Reading other people's stories: https://forum.culteducation.com
All the fantastic resources here at NAFPS, learning that "playing Indian" is not a benign playful activity

The word "cult" bothers people a lot, but I encourage you to persist and look over educational materials about cults (destructive groups). Destructive groups can be warm and friendly. Lots of smiles and activities to keep people busy. Delusional and/or con artist people can be charming, charismatic, creative. A destructive group and leader may never fit a Hollywood horror movie type portrayal.

Many white, non-Indigenous people really really want to play New Age Indian. We want the supposed romance, earth centered, specialness. But really, we are being self centered narcissistic jerks.

Ben, you are leaving a toxic system. You may not be able to convince anyone else in the group to think clearly. The mental pull to stay in a system of lies is very strong, it can be hard to shake.

You can be a role model. Someone else may eventually be able to start entertaining doubts.

I hope you reach out for support. Books and related web sites can be very helpful. This chart https://www.culteducation.com/group/17911-cults-in-our-midst-leaving-a-cult-and-recoverings.html about life adjustments is worth bookmarking and referring to often.

[Piff]

Ben, here is some additional information. A DNA test is not the entire answer. What ultimately is important is what community claims us. Michael Borg is not claimed by the Navajo Nation. He is not enrolled. If he was a descendant, not enrolled but with strong community ties, he should not be doing what he is doing in Australia now. Even if he was enrolled, his teachings are false.

A person MUST be at least 1/4 (one quarter) Navajo to be enrolled as a member of the Navajo Nation.

Individual tribes determine tribal membership.

http://www.navajo-nsn.gov/contact.htm

Concerning his carved dolls, if he was in the United States he could not legally sell them with the claims he makes:

It is illegal to offer or display for sale, or sell any art or craft product in a manner that falsely suggests it is Indian produced, an Indian product, or the product of a particular Indian or Indian Tribe or Indian arts and crafts organization, resident within the United States.

https://www.doi.gov/iacb/act

If Michael Borg has any North American people, a genealogy work up could be helpful. I'd be willing to look for records. Ben, feel free to message me if you like, or post the information publicly. Several people here on the forum have experience doing records and family history checks.

[BenRosser]

I don't take any offense to the use of the word 'cult', it is a word I myself have been using for the last week, as by its very definition it clearly describes what he has created with the 'Many Birds tribe' around Sydney.

Is there any legal basis in Australia for shutting him down? I do not wish to see his lies perpetuated any further, and any more people impacted by what he is doing. Even though he and many others genuinely believe he is trying to help them, I believe that you cannot help someone if how you are helping them is based on lies and mistruth. The analogy that keeps coming to mind is that even the most beautiful house will begin to crumble and affect those within if it is built on shoddy foundations.

I have a lot of information about his 'story' that is not posted online on his Facebook page, and the many holes in it, from his supposed 'lineage' and how it came to be, to who his teachers apparently were as far as sweat lodge ceremony, the red-stone buffalo pipe he carries that is apparently 500 years old, and his connection and communication with 'Grandmother Spider' who he says lives on Third Mesa on the Hopi reservation. I've actually been creating a list of it all, just to be able to make sense of it for myself.

What is the best process for disseminating that information so that the truth can come to light? Even the owners of Kupidabin would likely not allow him to conduct ceremony here if they saw the truth clearly enough, they have turned away fake shamans previously when the right evidence has been presented in a way that is simply not an attack on them.

I know a little about psychology, and enough to know that the only way that the situation with my father can be resolved in all aspects, and with all of the people he has affected, is by calmly presenting the whole truth and allowing people to take it in. If people attack the situation, the only response will be other people getting defensive and completely disregarding what they are told.

[Piff]

Ben, even when calmly told the truth, some people will get defensive and disregard what they are told, so be prepared for that. We see this happen relatively often here on the forum.

We all get to have healthy boundaries. If we speak the truth, and someone claims we are attacking them, that is their issue.

Reading up about Scientology can be very useful. So many people, in so many ways, speak  the truth about Scientology. Yet cultic beliefs are stubborn.

Keep writing, keep noting things down on a list. You can write here, this forum is read quite actively, and there are many knowledgeable folks here. You can tell us what you know, ask questions, and learn from all sorts of discussions here.

This cult education forum can be helpful too https://forum.culteducation.com Read through this site https://www.culteducation.com regularly to get ideas on how information about cults can be communicated.

You could run your own blog. Some examples of education blogs: This about a cultic New Age group http://psychologyofvision.blogspot.com, and this on Scientology http://tonyortega.org  You could post flyers around town with your your blog url. You could run a related Facebook education page.

Here is Cult Consulting Australia http://www.cultconsulting.org/about-us (I don't know anything about them.)

What is the best process for disseminating that information so that the truth can come to light?

The best way is to keep at it. Keep writing, posting, talking, learning. You may have been taught to walk on eggshells, taught to believe that you have to behave and think a specific perfect pure way. But you don't have to walk on eggshells. You get to try things out, make mistakes and learn from them, adjust and refine as you go along.

The cult I was part of still exists. But there is now a lot of information about them online. They sued a cult expert for daring to call them a cult - and they lost in court. That process generated more public information about them.

Your information may save someone from falling for Michael's deceptions. Your information may help a current follower begin to think more clearly.

If you know of anything illegal, please do report it.

[BenRosser]

I would like to add that while I personally intent to continue to pursue spirituality in general, as it is something very important to me, I will be doing it in a way that doesn't disrespect any indigenous culture, as I completely agree that no one should steal or misappropriate the culture of a people/community that they do not belong to.

I would like to present my thoughts and findings about this to others from a scientific point of view for them to take or leave as they choose, as science, scientific method and research has always been important to me, and is what has enabled me to see the truth of my father. I do hope I'm not going to be attacked by people from this forum for choosing to present these things to other people. I have no intention or desire to create a cult of my own. I only wish to share with people some of my own understanding of the universe itself, in a way that is honourable and respectable.

I am more than happy to continue with trying to shut down what my father is doing, as I don't feel it is respectful to misappropriate another's culture through fraud, or to manipulate people with lies.

[Piff]

... doesn't disrespect any indigenous culture, as I completely agree that no one should steal or misappropriate the culture of a people/community that they do not belong to.

I am more than happy to continue with trying to shut down what my father is doing, as I don't feel it is respectful to misappropriate another's culture through fraud, or to manipulate people with lies.

This sounds good.

I can only speak for myself. I only help research pretendian frauds, cultural appropriators, and destructive leaders. Behavior is what matters. 

If you fear being attacked because of past connection to your father's behavior, the answer is to keep carving out your own way. Keep learning. Help educate others. Don't do what he is doing. 


Suggested reading: http://www.newagefraud.org

                                http://www.aics.org/war.html

[Piff]

Where was Michael Borg born? Where was he raised?

Where were his grandparents born and raised?

How long has he run the 'Many Birds tribe' cult? How many core followers does he have?

He says he served in Australian military, is this true?

What is Joanne's involvement?

Where does $ go?

I have a lot of information about his 'story' that is not posted online on his Facebook page, and the many holes in it, from his supposed 'lineage' and how it came to be, to who his teachers apparently were as far as sweat lodge ceremony, the red-stone buffalo pipe he carries that is apparently 500 years old, and his connection and communication with 'Grandmother Spider' who he says lives on Third Mesa on the Hopi reservation. I've actually been creating a list of it all, just to be able to make sense of it for myself.

What are Michael Borg's  lineage claims?
How have his claims evolved over time?

What does he say about the pipe and what is the truth?

What claims does he make about 'Grandmother Spider'?

[Piff]

Some changes on the Kupidabin site:

On March 16:

SWEAT LODGE & CONSULTATIONS WITH WIND

Come and join Native American Navajo Shaman and Priest "Wind" for a Sweat Lodge or Consultation at Kupidabin Wilderness.

Wind has walked the roads and pathways in this country for many years now. He calls this land his mother and his eyes see no difference in all the races, colours and creeds of man and woman.

Wind is a Dineh man, an Elder of the fledgling Many Birds, but more so he is simply a man of total service to the Mystery and to our Mother the Earth.

Now:

SWEAT LODGE & CONSULTATIONS WITH WIND
Come and join Shaman and Priest "Wind" for a Sweat Lodge or Consultation at Kupidabin Wilderness.

Wind has walked the roads and pathways in this country for many years now. He calls this land his mother and his eyes see no difference in all the races, colours and creeds of man and woman.

Wind is an Elder of the fledgling Many Birds, but more so he is simply a man of total service to the Mystery and to our Mother the Earth.

So the words "Native American Navajo" and "Dineh man" have been removed.

http://kupidabin.com/index.php/events/sweat-lodge-consultations-with-wind

[Piff]

Unfortunately Ben (Michael's son) after writing this in March 2017 :

I would like to add that while I personally intent to continue to pursue spirituality in general, as it is something very important to me, I will be doing it in a way that doesn't disrespect any indigenous culture, as I completely agree that no one should steal or misappropriate the culture of a people/community that they do not belong to.

http://www.newagefraud.org/smf/index.php?PHPSESSID=0ntkhukq87udkqqjf0kqv3fff5&topic=4535.msg43599#msg43599

.......... was doing this in November 2017:

Crystal Meditation Ceremony - Kyla & Ben

Join Kyla and Ben, and their Crystal Merkabah for a relaxing and profound meditation and journey ceremony.
The crystal meditation ceremony utilises a set of crystals that form a Merkabah, or ‘light-body’ that the ceremony is performed within. The Merkabah and ceremony is based on a combination Hopi medicine wheel teachings and Chakra teachings.

http://www.kupidabin.org/index.php/events/four-winds-gathering