Love Has Won

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Love Has Won was a New Age cult, based primarily in Crestone, Colorado. For 15 years, its central figure was Amy Carlson (1975[1]–2021[note 1]), purported to be the 534th incarnation of "Mother God," a divine being on a multibillion-year mission to save humanity.[3] The group has a substantial media presence with daily "Energy Update" live streams, a sketchy website,[note 2] and a lifestyle brand peddling various alternative medicines and objects of woo.

Their headquarters in Crestone was Amy Carlson's residence, shared with her core group of devotees, referred to as "the First Contact Ground Crew Team" internally. Vice describes the headquarters as "a chaotic house" where members "are required to leave their old lives behind and instead concentrate on bringing in money and pandering to Carlson’s every need."[3]

Beliefs and practices[edit]

Deities[edit]

Mother God is the supreme deity of Love Has Won, but not the only deity. Amy Carlson claimed to be her current avatar, sent to Earth to fight "the Cabal" and bring about spiritual ascension of its inhabitants. Other deities include:[4]

  • Father God, Mother God's consort. At least two of Carlson's lovers have been regarded as incarnations of Father God.[3]
  • Master Saint Germain, the "Master of the Violet Flame." Seemingly a god of justice and alchemy, but it's unclear what else he does besides wearing a snazzy purple uniform.[5]
  • Kryon/Kryola, a creation of Lee Carroll, the author who coined the term "Indigo child".[6]
  • Robin Williams,Wikipedia the late comedian. Carlson claimed to have seen him appear in her room soon after hearing the news of his death, and claimed he said he was murdered. He's regarded as an archangel who now lives on Ceres as a centaur.[7]

Mother God's woo sessions[edit]

The deities of Love Has Won constitute "the Galactic Federation of Light Team" and Mother God's "surgical team." The "etheric surgeries" they supposedly assisted Carlson with are essentially psychic surgeries performed via a phone/Skype call to treat spiritual ailments that most people supposedly have thanks to "the Cabal".[8]

Etheric surgeries are one of a few services one can get from Carlson by booking a phone/Skype session for upwards of $70 an hour, which range from "quantum numerology" to "overcoming addiction" (knockoff-psychotherapy) to "twin flame" (for finding one's soulmate).

Tenets[edit]

Love Has Won's basic beliefs are outlined by their Universal Laws and various Divine Decrees.[9] The Universal Laws aren't particularly original, with many recognizably similar to other New Age and spiritual movements. As these are extensive, here are the highlights that can be translated into plain language:

  • "Support honesty and Truth." Translation: be a sincere believer. "Truth" refers to Love Has Won's doctrine.
  • "Support Mother Earth and Heaven" and "Support Un-conditional[sic] Love and GOD." Translation: worship Carlson/Mother God and the rest of the mishmashed pantheon.
  • "Support who you truly are as Gods/Goddesses." Translation: be grateful you're one of us, the good guys.
  • "Support Beauty, Perfect health, and Healing." Translation: buy our supplements and book Etheric Surgeries to get rid of your/your kid's/your pet's Cabal Cooties.
  • "Support Vision, Faith, and Miracles." Translation: buy sessions with Carlson so she can play surgeon, therapist, and/or matchmaker.
  • "Support True Freedom and Live life Real." Translation: devote every aspect of your life to the cult, and regard others as brainwashed for not doing the same.
  • "Support Angels and all Who serve The Highest Good." Translation: take the word of Carlson and her inner circle to heart with no questions.
  • The "Universal Laws Governing Duality:" tl;dr everything is connected to everything else; all spiritual energy is cyclical; one's thoughts and words must match their actions; free will is a thing, but anything bad that happens to you is your fault for misusing it and breaking Universal Law; any doubt is a "test of initiation" to help you grow spiritually; everything is male or female. See also 12 Universal Laws.

There are two sets of Decrees. The New Earth Decrees call for the dissolution of ego to stop all conflict, and for all of humanity to be led and partnered up by Mother God. The Second Set of Divine Decrees call for a spontaneous end to war, religion, corporations, and greed, as well as demanding proof of the various conspiracy theories that Love Has Won claims are true (see below).

Alternative medicine[edit]

Love Has Won sold alternative medicines via their affiliated website Gaia's Whole Healing Essentials.[10] Products included:[10]

Conspiracy theories[edit]

Love Has Won is known to support many conspiracy theories, sometimes with their own caveats.

  • 9/11 trutherism — One of the group's decrees calls for "The Entire 9/11 Truth" to be revealed or else the US government will be abolished.[9]
  • UFOs — the aforementioned decree also demands the revealing of an alleged "UFO Conspiracy Cover~Up[sic]" or else the government will be abolished.[9]
  • The Illuminati put a "Dream Machine" in the Pyramids while Atlantis still existed — They seriously claim exactly this in Decree 7 of the Second Set of Decrees.[9] Supposedly this machine puts all of humanity in a stupor and joining Love Has Won is a sign that you've broken out of said stupor.
  • QAnon is legitimate and Donald Trump is one of the cosmic good guys — Despite the anarcho-communistic tone of some of the group's more overtly political decrees, Love Has Won is very much pro-Trump. Searching for references to Trump on their now-moribund website turned up 64 articles, several of which recycle QAnon talking points about Trump's "cosmic purpose".[12][13] The cult believes that one of Mother God's previous avatars was the queen of Lemuria and that Trump was the queen's father in a past life.[12][14][15]
  • Members of the cult have advocated other conspiracy theories, such as Holocaust denial and conspiring that the Sandy Hook massacre was a hoax.[16]

A (mother) god complex[edit]

"Anyone who tries to fuck with us? We’ll kill you... We will fucking kill you, because there’s no time left."
—Love Has Won cult member Adam Haller in a 2019 video, clearly demonstrating the cult's love and affection[17]
The arrestees

Love Has Won has gained considerable media attention from the reckless and abusive behavior of Amy Carlson, much in contrast with the cult's calls for world peace, spreading love, etc. Vice's documentary extensively documented her screaming abuse at her followers for disobedience. She's also seen referring to non-followers as "spiritual ego whores".[3] Despite other members claiming that Love Has Won is entirely drug-free, Carlson reportedly drank copious amounts of vodka every night,[3] enough to make her "lose her cognitive abilities" and coordination.[18] Her followers explained this away by claiming she consumed alcohol as a "natural painkiller."[3]

The Love Has Won cult can be seen as a solid example of conspirituality in action.[19] Reportedly, when Carlson started the cult in 2009, her beliefs were standard New Age and UFO woo. However, in the late 2010s, as Carlson's alcohol addiction became worse, her demeanor, described as "vital, charismatic, and sunny" at the time, increasingly began to be taken over by her "mean" demeanor while intoxicated. Other members of the cult increasingly became paranoid, uttering violent rhetoric tinged with racist, homophobic, and antisemitic rants, and became associated with darker conspiracy theories like QAnon.[17]

Carlson's body was found in April 2021; she died at the age of 45.[18] It's unknown what Love Has Won will do to replace her; they neglected to announce her death, and the news only broke when Carlson's body was found in her home by local law enforcement on April 29th. She had been "dead for weeks"[18] when found, and seven members were arrested for abuse of a corpse and child abuse that day:[20][21]

  1. Jason Castillo (a.k.a. Father of All Creation, a.k.a. Father God, a.k.a. Pops)
  2. Ma Obdulia Franco-Gonzalez
  3. Ryan Kramer (a.k.a. El Morya)
  4. Karin Raymond
  5. John Robertson (a.k.a. Hilarion, a.k.a. Father of the Multiverse)
  6. Christopher Royer
  7. Sarah Rudolph

Isn't it embarrassing when one of your cult's gods pickles herself on colloidal silver and vodka,[3][22] then dies and gets lit up like a Christmas tree…[2] and another one (or more) gets arrested for corpse and child abuse?[21]

Post-Carlson[edit]

After the death of Carlson, the cult splintered. One group, started in Florida by former members ​Lauryn Suarez and Ashley Peluso, renamed themselves as "5D Full Disclosure",[23][24] and continued to flog dangerous alternative medicine on the internet, earning a 2022 warning letter from the FDA for their sale of “Plasma Colloidal Silver Eyedrops,” “Gaia’s Organic Nasal Spray,” and “Copper Healing Roller”.[25] Colloidal silver was one of the three listed causes of death in Carlson's autopsy report, the other two being alcoholism and anorexia.[26]

A second splinter group, awkwardly named "Love Has 1 Joy Rains 2" (or "Joy Rains" for short), was started by former members Castillo and Robertson. Aside from posts dedicated to Carlson's memory, this group also offers $122.22 "Christic Awakening" sessions, continuing Carlson's tradition of hawking "etheric surgery" woo over the phone.[24][27][28]

External links[edit]

Notes[edit]

  1. Her corpse was reportedly mummified and adorned with Christmas lights, so the exact date of death is unknown.[2]
  2. Said site, lovehaswon.org, was a decent source of basic information on what the group believes, and much of the initial research in this article came from reading their site. Now that it's gone and archived, you can safely visit certain pages, but while the site was active, User:ZoeTheWobbly's antivirus was set off while trying to look at it.

References[edit]

  1. Police say Colorado-based group, Love Has Won, has departed Hawaii (Sept. 7, 2020) Honolulu Star-Advertiser.
  2. 2.0 2.1 'Love Has Won' Cult Members Arrested After Mummified Remains Found Inside Crestone Home: Witness Says Body Is That Of Leader Lia Carlson by Audra Streetman (May 4, 2021 at 10:49 am) CBS Denver.
  3. 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6 Watch Our New Documentary About 'Love Has Won', a Group Former Members Call a Cult: Amy Carlson leads the web-savvy New Age group, which former members have accused of abuse, fraud and brainwashing. by Simon Doherty (March 23, 2021, 5:52am) Vice.
  4. Our Team Love Has Won: Mother Of All Creation & those who have heard their calling to hold space for her during Mission (archived from September 21, 2020).
  5. Master of the Violet Flame, Chohan of the Seventh Ray Love Has Won (archived from October 30, 2020).
  6. Kryon ~ AKA Kryola! Love Has Won (archived from October 28, 2020).
  7. Robin Williams Love Has Won (archived from October 31, 2020).
  8. Etheric Surgery with Mother & Father of ALL Creation Love Has Won (archived from December 23, 2020).
  9. 9.0 9.1 9.2 9.3 Understanding Universal Laws Love Has Won (archived from January 20, 2021).
  10. 10.0 10.1 Gaia's Whole Healing Essentials (archived from November 14, 2020).
  11. Gaia's Whole Healing Supplements Gaia's Whole Healing Essentials (archived from October 1, 2020).
  12. 12.0 12.1 Crestone Cult Love Has Won Leaves Man to Die in Desert by Be Scofield (July 22, 2020) The Guru Magazine.
  13. Who, Really, IS Donald Trump? And Why Does it Matter? by Ann Kreilkamp (August 14, 2020) Love Has Won (archived from January 24, 2021). "Especially fascinating to me, his perspective on details of Trump’s world travels to various nations around the world to bring their leaders into alignment with The Plan to Save the World — or else!"
  14. Introduction to the Mother of All Creation (Jun 2, 2020) YouTube.
  15. An Introduction to Mother of All Creation with The First Contact Ground Crew
  16. "Love Has Lost" by Virginia Pelley, Marie Claire, 2021 September 7
  17. 17.0 17.1 "From ‘Mother God’ to Mummified Corpse: Inside the Fringe Spiritual Sect ‘Love Has Won’", Christopher Moyer, Rolling Stone, 2021 November 26
  18. 18.0 18.1 18.2 Daily Beast: "Decayed Corpse of 'Cult' Leader Found in Colorado HQ" by Carol McKinley (Updated May. 01, 2021 7:36PM ET; Published Apr. 30, 2021 7:08PM ET) THe Daily Beast.
  19. "HBO’s ‘Love Has Won’ shows how cult leader Amy Carlson went from McDonald’s manager to mummy" by Meredith Blake, Los Angeles Times, 2023 November 28
  20. Mummified corpse of cult leader found wrapped in Christmas lights in Colorado by Jackie Salo (May 4, 2021 | 12:36pm) New York Post.
  21. 21.0 21.1 Status of LHW members currently in custody Reddit. Mugshot identifications by Cletus Jorobado, May 3, 2021.
  22. "Love Has Won" Cult Leader Found Deceased Near Crestone, Members Arrested by Be Scofield (April 30, 2021) The Guru Magazine.
  23. My Friend Still Believes in ‘Mother God’ After Cult Leader’s Tragic Death: “I’ve struggled to reconcile the thoughtful, empathetic Gabriel I knew with the ‘Commander Buddha’ in ‘The Cult of Mother God,’” the author writes. by Sezín Devi Koehler (Dec. 21, 2023 4:49AM EST) Daily Beast.
  24. 24.0 24.1 "‘Love Has Won’ Cast: Where Are Former Members of Late ‘Mother God’ Amy Carlson’s New Age Cult Now?" by Hannah Loesch, In Touch Weekly, 2023 December 11
  25. New Earth Healing Essentials, LLC d/b/a 5D Full Disclosure (February 01, 2022) U. S. Food and Drug Administration.
  26. ‘Love Has Won’ Leader Amy Carlson’s Cause of Death Released: Woman called "Mother God" by her followers weighed just 75 pounds when her mummified corpse was discovered by authorities in April 2021 by Daniel Kreps (December 3, 2021) Rolling Stone.
  27. "Love Has Won documentary drew attention to Colorado cult. But does it make light of cult dangers?" by Noelle Phillips, Denver Post, 2023 December 7
  28. "Christic Awakening with Mother Father of all creation", Lovehas1joyrains2.com, archived on 2023 December 22