[8][9] These classes were attended by people from many backgrounds and included GPC (God-Patient-Chiropractor) chiropractors, led by a former Major League Baseball pitcher, George Shears, and others.
[10] On August 4, 1954, while flying to Reno, Nevada, Meeker crashed his Cessna 180 plane into San Francisco Bay shortly after taking off from Oakland, California.
[11] Shortly after, the Civil Aeronautics Administration found Meeker guilty of two flight violations that both could have resulted him being fined or grounded, though there was no finding or attribution of responsibility as to the cause of the crash.
Lord Martin Cecil (1909-1988), who had worked closely with Meeker after being introduced to him by Conrad O'Brien-ffrench, assumed the responsibility for leading Emissaries of Divine Light from 1954 until he died in 1988.
Twelve centers developed around the world, and numerous other nonprofit organizations were birthed by participants in Emissaries of Divine Light.
[19][20][21] Bill Bahan became an important leader and teacher for Emissaries of Divine Light in the ’60s, ’70s, and early ’80s, offering classes at Sunrise Ranch; Epping, New Hampshire;[18] and Livingston Manor, New York.
One anonymous former Emissary using the pseudonym of "John" told Westword that “It's like being a rape victim,” referring to his time in and subsequently leaving the group.
You're ashamed for having been fooled, and thinking about it, going over it in your head, is very unpleasant.” John also detailed how the Emissaries believe that spiritual resonation through Attunement may be used to cure diseases, which they say are caused by negative emotions.
John claimed that, after one Emissary contracted pneumonia, the Attunement he was treated with did not make him better and that his condition significantly worsened until EDL authorities were convinced by someone to take him to a doctor.
You work all day for nothing, because you're made to feel like you're sacrificing for God," said Renee, another interviewed ex-Emissary who left the group eight years after joining.
According to Renee, "As long as a man is in a higher spiritual position than a woman, regardless of whether he is married, he can have sex with her.” Renee further explained that "It's set up to promote spirituality, but ends up justifying for men their desire to have sex with whomever they want to.” To this, Hammond responded “We believe in doing the noble and honorable in all things, and particularly in sex, which is such a core area of living.”[31] Another former member, David, described the leadership of the Emissaries of Divine Light as "an autocracy", explaining how, after the death of former leader Martin Exeter, there was no discussion from the followers about who should lead the Emissaries before Exeter's son Michael became the new leader.
However, David claimed that he wasn't made aware of the belief system of the Emissaries at first, and that it took years of classes that got progressively longer and more intensive before he fully understood.
"[31] Referring to Michael Exeter, “The man running the show now is more concerned about the effects of people's actions on each other than his father,” said Renee.
[32] In that eight-year period, much of the leadership left the organization, including most of the children of both Lloyd Arthur Meeker and Martin Cecil, 7th Marquess of Exeter, who had been prominent in the network.
In 2008, David Karchere and Jane Anetrini developed and taught a year-long leadership program based on the teachings of Emissaries of Divine Light.
[36] In 2012 they initiated a new series of seminars under the title Practical Spirituality: An Operator's Guide to Being Human, led by David Karchere.
[37] The headquarters of Emissaries of Divine Light was established in 1945 at Sunrise Ranch in Loveland, Colorado, now a conference and retreat center staffed by a community of eighty-five people.
[38][39] Sunrise Ranch hosts workshops, seminars and retreats intended to offer the participants fresh thinking and understanding, leading to a direct experience of spiritual renewal.
[47] Meeker saw the work of the Emissaries as an approach to spirituality that transcends physical and mental disciplines, and offers human beings the opportunity to experience their true identity by giving expression to the qualities of spirit that align with their divine nature.
They teach that through deliberate conscious thought a person can let their own emotional current purify, so that they open themselves to the flow of the universal power and intelligence within them.
[52] They see the causative factor in spiritual regeneration as the universal power and intelligence within all people, and the effect in human experience as dependent on the response to that internal reality.
[56] They use the story of the Seven Days of Creation in Genesis as a symbolic template for the process of spiritual renewal in the life of the individual, and for humankind as a whole.
[58] Attunement practitioners believe that positive shifts in consciousness release a healing energy through a person's body, mind and emotions.
Attunement practitioners teach that the endocrine glands are portals for universal life energy that operates through the physical body, and through the mental and emotional function of the individual.
[64] Karchere lives, writes and teaches at Sunrise Ranch, and travels in North America, Europe, Africa and Australia, offering programs on practical spirituality and Attunement.
Currently, the trustees are Jane Anetrini, Ruth Buckingham, Hugh Duff, David Karchere, Marilyn Manderson, Phil Richardson and Maureen Waller.
Since 2005, the organization has circulated a weekly e-mail message, The Pulse of Spirit, authored by David Karchere and other current leaders of the network.