NAFPS Selections: Michael North Connection pt. 2

[From the New Age Frauds and Plastic Shamans forum, by "Sandy S," January 03, 2015]:

 Pt. 2

The Center for Aboriginal Healing and Vision was registered as a Domestic Nonprofit Corporation in Hawaii on January 17, 2003, the same year as the creation of Gaia Mind, evidently. The three officers were the Spezzanos and Michael North. The purpose of this nonprofit was presented as "MEETINGS, NETWORKING, HEALING WORKSHOPS." The nonprofit filed annual reports for 2004, 2005, and 2006, but then, like Gaia Mind, sort of evaporated by 2007, the same year as the Spezzano embrace of Oneness University and open devotion to Amma and Bhagavan. Interesting, isn't it?

https://hbe.ehawaii.gov/documents/business.html?fileNumber=202846D2&view=info

Anyway, it appears the CAHV was involuntarily dissolved by the government due to lack of activity.

The nonprofit is still listed in the Charity Vault website, which contains a few other details. Love the "governmental unit" reference:

Quote

    Contact: CHARLES L SPEZZANO
    Employee Identification Number: 481306756
    Ruling Date: August 2003
    Deductions: Contributions are deductible
    Foundation Type: Organization which receives a substantial part of its support from a governmental unit or the general public.
    Organization Type: Corporation
    Filing Requirement: 990 - Not required to file Form 990 (income less than $25,000). No 990PF return.
    Fiscal Year End Date: December
    Asset Amount: $0
    Income Amount: $0
    Form 990 Revenue Amount: $0
    Organization Type: Cultural, Ethnic Awareness
    Tax Period Begin Date: , 0000
    Tax Period End Date: , 0000

http://www.charity-charities.org/charityinfoNF.php?ID=1104503&page=3
[Update Sept. 3, 2019: Dead link]

This nonprofit didn't exactly set the world on fire. North's website, Mediasense, hosted a document: Declaration of Purpose, public draft for comment, November 2003, offered by Chuck Spezzano, Lency Spezzano, Catherine Richards and Michael North (Catherine Richards appears to be an investment capitalist based in Honolulu. Her connection to this seems peripheral):

http://www.mediasense.com/Center/index.htm

Quote

    The purpose of the Center is to provide a home in the heart of the Pacific, in which the traditional wisdom of First Nations People can be shared with all the people of the world.

    The Center will help the world remember the true relationship between humankind and the Earth, and our authentic relationships with each other.

    Principles

    Heritage of Wisdom

    First Nations People live closest to the source of traditional cultures. They pass on the precious accumulated legacy of human experience, established over thousands of generations of learning and sacrifice. First Nations People endure on all the continents of the world, sometimes in their indigenous villages, sometimes interleaved with the non-traditional world.

    The First Nations are guardians of a rich depth of wisdom that has been challenged in the past five centuries by industrial culture. Affirming this common birthright is vital to the survival of the First Nations. It is also vital to those who struggle for human dignity within industrial culture, which has lost touch with its roots, with the earth, and with its vision.

    The elders, wise men and women, artists, healers, shamans, poets, teachers, visionaries, musicians and dancers of the First Nations keep this flame alive. They hold an essential key to the future of humanity, and to life on our planet.

    Hawaii as a Center of Healing
    The traditional Hawaiian people were the first to arrive in the center of the Pacific; they maintain the tradition of aloha (welcome and healing) in trust for America, and for all nations.

    Their unique position as stewards of the most isolated and environmentally vibrant place on earth, in the epicenter of the world ocean, gives the Hawaiian people the opportunity to provide rejuvenation, learning and sanctuary for First Nations Peoples from all the continents.

    In the Center, all First Nations people will gather their inner strength once more, share their knowledge among themselves, and then express it for the benefit of all people.

    The Center will be a place of renewal for the 21st Century -- where small groups representing all the people of the earth can gather in respect, to thoughtfully consider the next steps in the human adventure.

    Shared Roots

    The wisdom held in trust for the world by the First Nations includes:

    an awareness of the importance of the patterns of the past, the accumulated stories and legends that encapsulate a path of meaning for people in all times;

    a respect for the balance of the earth, and for all the elements surrounding her, as the source of challenge and nurturing to human beings;

    the importance of honor for the elders of a community, as links to the collective memory, and for the young people of a community, as links to the future;

    the need for a spirit of interaction that transcends words and language, that connects people across the barriers of history, geography and culture to find common bonds and the foundations for peace;

    the central importance of the family and the village as the social body to which each individual contributes, from which we draw strength and understanding;

    the knowledge that all people come from a common root, a common family; that we share common needs and hopes, a unified vision of purpose expressed in a myriad forms, each one precious as part of our common cultural ecology;

    that the focus of life is transcendent, intuitive experience, in which inner vision lights the way to the future.

    Personal Transformation

    The Center will create an atmosphere of careful listening, trust, learning and respect between traditional cultures and the industrial world. We will set our feet on a fresh path together, free from the exploitation of the past.

    Everyone begins this journey begin with an inner, personal transformation.

    Actions

    To express its principles, the Center will engage in the following actions:

    1. Securing a section of land in the Hawaiian Island chain that allows for quiet connection with nature. The energy of this land will be the guiding force for all people who visit the Center.

    2. Building a center on this land, in the style of a small traditional village, designed with sensitivity to ecological principles, using traditional knowledge from the Hawaiian culture and from other globaltraditions.

    3. Fashioning spaces for universal assembly, for ritual and healing, for individual and group study, interaction, discussion, and providing simple living quarters for up to 100 people.

    4. Careful use of selected appropriate technologies, such as solar power, wind power, micro-hydro, local wireless communications, satellite communications, water purification, traditional agriculture and more to connect the Center to the world in a non-intrusive way, to make it self-sustaining as far as practical, and to provide the base for a series of media and Internet enterprises that provide income for First Nations People.

    5. The Center will extend its message to the world through research, publication, media production, Internet sites, the celebration of important seasonal cycles and festivals, the sponsorship of peace-building exchanges, the leadership of international conferences, and the provision of sanctuary, healing and retreat to the injured, sick and challenged.

    The Center will also host gatherings in which the methods of both ancient and modern traditions are taught, to reach deep into the hearts and souls of the people and provide an opening for deep transformation.

    6. Leadership of the Center will be provided by dedicated people from the traditional Hawaiian community, who by blood and personal commitment hold the primary responsibility for stewardship of the land.

    Other leaders will be drawn from among First Nations Peoples from all other traditional cultures in the world, wherever they may be found. People from the industrialized nations will provide advice, assistance and support to the Center, and may serve in roles the First Nations leaders determine are best.

    Essence

    Through the Center, the deep divide between First Nations Peoples and industrial culture can be healed, and each will be empowered in interdependent ways.

    Traditional peoples will enjoy true partnership with others, without losing or compromising their highly-valued traditions; they will be respected for their contribution to the survival of humanity, and to the protection of the earth and all its creatures.

    The citizens of the industrial world will re-discover a connection to the past, to the power of myth and legend. They will understand our responsibility to care for the earth and each other -- and will see many ways to build a possible future of respect, forgiveness and peace.

    And according to their own tradition, the first people of Hawaii will deeply experience their purpose among the community of peoples, a purpose centered on the universal values of aloha -- welcome and healing -- and ohana -- family.

    The Islands themselves speak this purpose to all who listen.

OK, maybe I'm wrong but doesn't this seem a bit paternalistic? Ya think?

Wait, it gets better.

One would imagine that in creating such an enterprise, the very people they are attempting to help would be invited to serve as corporate officers and be involved in decision-making. No, guess not. The Spezzanos are going to tell you how to do this. I believe Manifest Destiny once again can be invoked here. I also like the new term I learned in 2013: psychocolonization.

In January, 2004, the Spezzanos used the Center as a springboard to introduce SALPOV to the unsuspecting. With the Spezzanos, it is always all about them. Mediasense also hosted this document:

http://www.mediasense.com/Aloha/Aloha-Seminar.pdf

Quote

    O Hawai’i...

    Born of fire, the youngest land on earth holds high promise
    for the future of humanity, if we can listen to your voice:

    O Hawai’i...

    The First People of these islands
    have the ears to hear that voice,
    and in this time all people of the
    earth need your help, to help us to
    listen more carefully:

    O Kanaka Maoli

    Enter a sacred space together:
    First Peoples and others who
    have felt the blessed breath of
    this place and call it home to
    our soul:

    O Kama'aina

    Our personal challenges, our
    family heritage, our village
    traditions, our island history,
    our national treasure, our
    global identity --

    all follow the same spiral
    pattern; to heal one body is to
    begin healing them all:

    O Pele

    Help us to burn away the fires
    that bind us, to walk into the
    healing and purifying flames
    that free us, to offer ourselves
    to you

    so we can return Home,
    together...

    O Hawai’i

    The Spirit of Aloha
    A Weekend of Vision and Healing
    January 23 – January 25, 2004

    A weekend seminar is humbly offered to the First People (Kanaka Maoli) of Hawaii, and to First Nations and traditional peoples from all the continents, to come together in a space of gentle listening, of vision quest, and fearlessness.

    The sessions will be personally led by Chuck and Lency Spezzano, longtime Kaneohe residents who have made Hawaii the international headquarters of their successful healing practice, Psychology of Vision.

    First Nations and traditional people around the world respect Chuck and Lency’s techniques, which are drawn from many sources of vision and the
    shamanist quest. They work as a team to bring forth the clear essence within us, the essence that ultimately solves all problems and heals all wounds.

    In Canada, the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Switzerland, Japan, Taiwan, Arizona, Kenya, India, Malaysia, the Netherlands, Norway, Zambia, Hong Kong, Thailand and with many First Nations groups, Chuck and Lency have helped open people to healing. Psychology of Vision is a
    non-religious approach (yet deeply spiritual, and respecting all religions), full of humor and motivated by a graceful sincerity.

    As a gesture of gratitude to the land of Aloha and its people who have given so much, and who have so much more to share with the world, Chuck and Lency offer this weekend at no cost to Kanaka Maoli. Building on the foundation laid one year ago in a similar workshop, they hope that seeds will be sown now for deeper explorations, in the conviction that the First People of Hawaii have a special message for the world, and that this message is eager to reveal itself.

    Together with other First Nations people, the people of Hawaii can provide critical leadership to the other people of America, and to the world. The way they do this is critical to everyone on the planet.

    This workshop will be dedicated to a new international non-profit organization, the Center for Aboriginal Vision and Healing, to be built on these islands in the center of the world ocean.

    The Center will host First Peoples from around the world – from Africa, Asia, Central and South America, the Middle East, North America – as a place where traditional wisdom of all kinds can live and be shared in a respectful, sacred and healing way, for the benefit of all humanity. The people who join together on this weekend will be among those who help make that vision real.

    You can read more about the Center and its vision, and join in the process of realizing it, by visiting this page on the Web:
    http://www.mediasense.com/Center/
    You can read more about Chuck and Lency’s work at the Psychology of Vision website:
    http://www.psychologyofvision.com

    And you can experience some of their techniques directly, at the special website for Gaia, the spirit of earth, forgiveness, and compassion:
    http://www.gaia-mind.com

    Cost of the Aloha Seminar

    Chuck and Lency Spezzano make their home in Kaneohe, Hawai'i and travel around the world constantly. When they give a seminar of this type and duration, the fee is generally $250 - $350 per person.

    Since they make their home here in Hawai’i, and owe so much of their healing and family life to this land and its people, they are offering this seminar at no cost to all participants.

    Especially for those of Hawaiian ancestry, we want full participation without regard to money. For others, and for those who can afford it, we ask that you consider a donation in an amount that is most appropriate for you, after you have attended the program.

    All donations will go to the Center for Aboriginal Healing and Vision, a newly-registered 501(c)3 organization, and are tax-deductible in the USA.

    Mahalo

    This seminar description is available online, at
    http://www.mediasense.com/Aloha/

    Psychology of Vision, The Spirit of Aloha
    A weekend of Vision and Healing

    DATE:
    January 23 – January 25, 2003
    Friday evening, and all day Saturday and Sunday

    PLACE:
    47-416 Waihee Place
    Kaneohe, HI 96744
    Tel: 239-4502 (Office)

    TO REGISTER:
    Tel: 239-4502 or
    Email:
    vision@aloha.net
    Attn: Peggy Chang

    START TIME:
    6:00 pm on Friday, January 23, 2004 to sign in. Please be on time.
    10:00 a.m. through 7:00 pm. on Saturday and Sunday

    LUNCH:
    Breaks and a time for lunch are available.
    A bag lunch is suggested.

    Please - no late arrivals or early departures from sessions, as it is distracting to the process of the group as a whole. Exceptions will be considered and are to be approved by facilitators prior to the start of sessions.

    The seminar is intensive, and the length of sessions will depend on the needs and experience of the people attending. Friday’s session will run from 6:30 – 9:30 pm. Saturday & Sunday sessions will run from 10:00 am. to approximately 7:00 pm. Please make your plans accordingly.


I don't really have to comment, do I? The above text speaks for itself.

Meanwhile, in British Columbia, another dot to connect--

We note that at the same time Gaia Mind and the CAHV were created, SALPOV trainers Babs Stevens and Charles Campbell set up the International Foundation for Vision and Healing, another nonprofit that turned out to be a dead end. Was this part The Plan as well?:

http://www.newagefraud.org/smf/index.php?topic=4179.msg38709#msg38709
[Update: Yet another corporation can be added to the list in the same era, the International Association for Vision and Healing, also in British Columbia by POV people]:
http://psychologyofvision.blogspot.com/2015/09/international-association-for-vision.html

Given Mr. North's intelligent comments regarding cultural sensitivity on other platforms, I find it difficult to understand why he would allow himself to be associated with an ethnocentric, scammy, and blatantly out for money corporation like SALPOV. From what I can gather, it is true that both of the Norths appear to be somewhat susceptible like many other people to a bit of New Age blather. But they also don't come across as total tools and fools, which, quite frankly, is how all SALPOV cult followers look to the rest of us. I find it hard to believe that Michael North would actually believe Lenora's powertripping "Downloading/Joining" is what she claims it is. I truly hope I have not overestimated North's critical thinking skills, since I admire his financial international outreach efforts in terms of creating stronger ties with China. But, as Donald "Birther" Trump has demonstrated, any idiot can make money, having a successful capitalist career does not really mean you possess a critical mind--

https://www.youtube.com/user/LencySpezzano/videos

Would North really buy into Lenora's somewhat condescending footnote in her confabulating "Truth" screed--

Quote

    Just to be clear, when I refer to the “natural world” in which we all live, or to some Indigenous peoples’ "relationships to their traditional lands, waterways and resources - I'm not talking about “Indian” stereotypes, such as the "Indian as Nature or as natural"; nor am I saying, “All Native people are so spiritual.” What I am talking about are the many Indigenous peoples who have already led the way in this regard, and those who are continuing to lead the way - the most recent being, for example, the Idle No More movement, which began in Canada and quickly caught fire across the globe. That said, as much I don’t want to sound like a corny wannabe, I do believe that many Indigenous groups and individuals have a very valuable sense of relationship with the - brace yourself! - "Great Spirit" who occupies the planet as a body.


She sounds like a narc in an episode of the 1960s Dragnet. Here's a link to whole jive--

http://the-truth-about-chuck-and-lency-spezzano.com/are-the-spezzanos-targeting-first-nations-or-other-indigenous-peoples-metis-inuit-or-native-americans-for-financial-gain/
[Update Oct. 12, 2019: "This site is currently undergoing maintenance." -- This has happened just in the last week.]

Section K of the German version of the SALPOV Trainers Manual (First Nations Fund) is basically a manual for affinity fraud. Ingeborg made short work of that here on NAFPS--

http://www.newagefraud.org/smf/index.php?topic=4179.msg36673#msg36673

http://www.newagefraud.org/smf/index.php?topic=4179.msg36674#msg36674

The amazing Piff, who was a valuable help in this research, has noted North appears to be the only person who operated within the SALPOV universe for any length of time who was treated as an equal by Charles and Lenora. As Tom Cruise is in Scientology, North was to SALPOV. That all others in this steep hierarchy personality cult are clearly subservient is beyond debate (as clearly documented in the SALPOV English language Trainers Manual, no longer available online, but I have a copy attached for those who are signed on). And I'll add this: North's expertise is in making money and networking, not in providing healing therapy. So what was going on there? In Spezzanoland everything boils down to the cashola, so what was the deal? Obviously their partnership had little to do with "healing."



http://psychologyofvision.blogspot.com/2015/09/psychology-of-vision-trainers-manual.html
[Substitute link]

These two failed enterprises bring up lots of questions as we survey the history of SALPOV. Who approached who, and who cooked up the initial plan, why did these two efforts die in 2006, and who decided to cut the losses and end them? 

So, what was going on with SALPOV in early 2003? What was the endgame supposed to be? Why did all these big visions fail? Why were they all dropped and SALPOV energy shifted to Oneness University in 2007? What was Mr. North's role in this? It appeared there was some grand networking scheme that apparently fell through. Why?

SALPOV representatives who want to step in and answer these questions are most welcome to do so. I'm also waiting to read answers to my earlier list of queries from last October--

http://www.newagefraud.org/smf/index.php?topic=4179.msg38683#msg38683

And a happy 2015 to all!