Love Has Won

LOVE HAS WON TIMELINE

1975 (November 30):  Amy Carlson was born outside Wichita, Kansas.

Mid-2000s:  Carlson began to frequent the forums of Lightworker.org, a website focused on New Age spiritual thought. There she met Amerith WhiteEagle, who would become the first “Father God,” and the first to call her “Mother God.”

2007 (September 1):  A post on the Lightworker.org forums was the first public evidence of Carlson’s claims to supernatural experiences. She wrote that, while doing housework, a disembodied voice told her she would become the President of the United States.

2007 (December):  Carlson left her children and third husband to move to Crestone, Colorado with Amerith WhiteEagle, after announcing her plans on a Lightworkers.org forum post.

2009 (January 14):  The first Love Has Won YouTube video, featuring Amerith WhiteEagle, was posted.

2009: Carlson and WhiteEagle began posting daily video content under the name “The Galactic Free Press.”

2011-2013:  Carlson referred to her growing group of followers as the Galactic Federation of Light.

2013:  Carlson began to appear on camera in her YouTube videos.

2014:  Carlson’s relationship with Amerith WhiteEagle ended.

2014:  Carlson began to live with Miguel Lamboy (then thirty-five), the first member of Love Has Won. Lamboy became the second “Father God.” She continued filming videos, now taken by Lamboy.

2014-2018: The numbers of Love Has Won followers began to grow, including both in-person and online adherents, recruited through YouTube videos and livestreams.

2018 (March): Love Has Won began livestreams of group members known as the First Contact Ground Crew. Carlson appeared less and less often in videos.

2018 (August):  Jason Castillo first appeared in a Love Has Won video, and soon became the next “Father God.”

2018 (August):  Love Has Won members announced on video that Carlson was attacked by dark witches. Later that month, member Archeia Faith announced another assassination attempt by the “Cabal” had failed.

2019:  Members continued to announce attempts by the “Cabal” to assassinate Carlson.

2019: Love Has Won became a 501(c)(3) non-profit charitable organization and an LLC when the group launched their first businesses.

2020 (August):  Amy Carlson, Julian Castillo, and twelve members moved to the Hawaiian island of Kauai, in the town of Wainiha.

2020 (September):  The group was escorted off the island by police after local groups protested their presence, then returned to Colorado after officials blocked their attempts to travel to Maui.

2020 (September):  Carlson, Love Has Won members Ashley Peluso and Lauren Suarez, and Carlson’s mother and two of her sisters appeared on the Dr. Phil television program.

2021 (April):  Concerned by Carlson’s deteriorating condition, members of anti-LHW group, Rising Above Love Has Won, called the police to perform a wellness check on Carlson at her group’s Mt. Shasta home.

2021 (April 28):  The police department in Crestone, Colorado conducted a search that led to the discovery of Carlson’s mummified body. Seven group members were arrested and charged with abuse of a corpse and child abuse.

2021 (September):  All criminal charges against Love Has Won members were dropped.

2021-2022:  Love Has Won split into several groups, including 5D Disclosure led by Lauryn Suarez and Ashley Peluso, and Joy Rains, led by Jason Castillo.

FOUNDER/GROUP HISTORY

Amy Carlson, the eldest of three sisters, was born November 30, 1075, outside of Wichita, Kansas. [Image at right] Her parents separated when she was a child, and both parents remarried. Her family relationships were somewhat tumultuous, but her younger sister, Chelsea Renninger, reports that she was a popular teen, earned good grades in school and participated in church choir and theater. There are competing accounts of the emergence of Carlson’s spiritual interests and capabilities. In oral tradition within LHW there are narratives indicating that Carlson had begun talking to angels and understood herself to be Jesus.

By the time she was in her early twenties, Carlson had already given birth to three children and had been married twice. She had little maternal interest and ultimately abandoned her three children. A decade later, she had become a district manager in Texas for a time, but she continued to move around the country, living in  Mt. Shasta (California), Clearwater (Florida), and Yankeetown (Florida) for varying periods.

Carlson began to develop an interest in New Age spiritual ideas in the mid-2000s when she regularly visited the Lightworkers.org online forums. She began an online conversations with a man who referred to himself as Amerith WhiteEagle. Although he did not respond to her messages at the time, he later  would become the first “Father God” to Carlson as “Mother God” (Pelley 2021).

Carlson’s first public claims of otherworldly connections began with an online post in which she revealed that a disembodied voice revealed to her that she would one day become President of the United States:

…And I am cleaning the kitchen, baby just down for a nap…and I feel a tap on my shoulder and a wisk [sic] of air in my left ear…and then I heard a lower toned voice not really even a voice it was like a message a violin would play in its music and it said President of the United States…. I thought what? What in the world does that mean… I dismiss it and then I hear… You are going to be President of the United States. (Moyer 2021)

Around this time she began referring to Amerith WhiteEagle as her “twin flame” (that they were two bodies sharing a single soul). WhiteEagle, in turn, informed Carlson that she was God. The pair moved to near the New Age spiritual enclave of Crestone, Colorado for a time. Together with WhiteEagle, she began to post YouTube video clips in 2009. The group published almost daily video clips for a time. Initially many were clips of clouds floating over the mountain peaks, which were presented as starships. They were published under the name “The Galactic Free Press.” Carlson herself appeared in the videos at one point but later left the public presentations to her inner circle (Moyer 2021).he clips personally. Included in some of her posts were references to Ashtar Command, a UFO group established in the early 1950s (Pelley 2021).

Beginning about 2013 Carlson began referring to what later became Love Has Won as the Galactic Federation of Light. She  ended her relationship with WhiteEagle, began referring to herself as the primary deity, and in 2014 formed a relationship with Miguel Lamboy (then 35), who eventually became known within the group as Archangel Michael Silver. Lamboy became here video production partner. Over the next several years the group added both online and in-person followers who accepted Carlson as “Mother God.” By 2018, online postings began to feature the First Contact Ground Crew; Carlson’s personal participation in online postings gradually diminished (Pelley 2021). [Image at right]

By 2020, Love Has Won had grown in size to about 200 followers, though the number of online followers has been estimated to be much larger. Fourteen members took up residence with Carlson and Jason Castillo, with whom Carlson had begun a relationship in 2018, on the Hawaiian island of Kauai in the community of Wainiha. That experiment lasted only a few months before the group was forced to leave Hawaii as a result of popular opposition, mostly due to Carlson’s controversial claim to be the goddess Pele (Arnold 2021). They returned to Colorado.

By this time, Carson’s visions had become darker and more radical. She reported herself to be in open battle with “the Cabal.” On August 1, 2018 she stated that dark witches had attacked her. Three weeks later,  member Archeia Faith reported in a video that another assassination attempt had taken place, during which a “sword sliced one of her hearts.” She went on to say that “The etheric have been doing surgery on it for many hours now and Mom is throwing up, diarrhea, she was shaking” (Pelley 2021). In 2019 reports, the group stated that Carlson had been struck with “etheric darts” and that her spleen and pancreas had been “infiltrated” by the Cabal (Moyer 2021).

Information on Carson’s health has remained fragmentary, but it is clear that her health was in steep decline by the time the group re-established itself in Colorado. [Image at right] Her skin had a bluish cast from argyria, which was caused by the over-consumption of colloidal silver. Carson herself reported that she had cancer. Although post mortem did not confirm her claim, it is clear that Carlson’s physical condition continued steep decline.

There is some evidence that group members restricted her access to conventional medical services in 2020 as he health was deteriorating. During a video filmed on September 15, 2020, one member stated that

There have been moments when Mom has asked us to take her to a 3D hospital and we’re like ‘Nope!’ Because there’s just, there’s no way, and we know exactly how hijacking works,”…“And, you can bet your fuckin’ ass that someone in that hospital, whoever it would be, would get hijacked and go straight for Mom, try to do who knows what. They would try to take her to surgery. They would try to do some crazy shit. So, absolutely not.” (Moyer 2021)

While the exact date of Carlson’s passing remain murky due to the group’s secretive nature, police discovered her mummified remains in Casada Park, near Crestone, on April 28, 2021. The autopsy report from the El Paso County Coroner’s Office concluded she “died due to decline brought on by alcohol abuse, anorexia, and dosing colloidal silver.”(Richards 2021)  In any event, members asserted that Carlson had not died in the conventional sense; she had just ascended to the 5D realm and was now “out of communication.” (Pelley 2021) From their perspective, she was just entering the next stage of her mission. Following Carlson’s death and absent her leadership the already small group experienced a schism (See, Issues/Challenges).

DOCTRINES/BELIEFS

The LHW belief system is a bricolage of primarily New Age precepts, but with clear elements from other religious and healing traditions. In the LHW world origination narrative, the universe was all love and light before an Archangel named Jehovah separated himself from all of creation. That is, “He wanted to be God without God.” He then began taking over planets and created “dark species and the darker realms.” Father God (Jason Castillo) was appointed to go down into all of the “lower planets” and “lower realms” to master them. “And his lower aspect is Lucifer,” Lauren Suarez states. “So surprise, Lucifer is Father God.” Meanwhile “Mother God” stayed in the light realm. And now for the first time in nineteen billion years, the two have reunited on planet earth (Scofield 2020). According to Suarez, Father God gathered all of the darkness onto this one planet (Earth). During this immense history, Mother God (Carlson) has reincarnated over 500 times. The mission of Mother God and Father God has been to save the planet Earth from destruction.

Several thousand years ago, Carlson was the Queen of the ancient civilization of Lemuria. Atlanteans stole a “crystal technology” from Lemuria; the result was a massive explosion on Earth. The planet was then taken over by “Anunnaki’s” and reptilians (Moyer 2021). Since that moment the world has been controlled by an evil one percent “Cabal” who serve as “minions” of these two groups. They maintain their power by keeping the planet in “low vibration.” (Scofield 2020) The Cabal is responsible for wars, mass shootings, and pandemics, which actually are illusory and simply engineered to keep humanity mired in a state of fear. Carlson has been in constant battle with the Cabal, which has attempted unsuccessfully to assassinate Carlson hundreds of times (Scofield 2020). Carlson is therefore central to human salvation as she is the only path to successful ascension.

The view of outsiders that Carlson had died was not shared by group members. In a May 2021 video a group member asserted that “Mom has ascended” and “completed her contract.”

He went on to urge followers to “have full trust in Momma’s divine plan”  because “she planned it all out, even this part.” “Mom has ascended, her mission is over,” the man said in the video. “Is the mission over? No” (Yuhas 2021).

Various conspiracy theories are a second component of LHW doctrine. Members speculate that the Sandy Hook school massacre, The 9/11/2001 attack in the U.S., and the Holocaust in Nazi Germany all were hoaxes. Recently, LHW narratives have begun to incorporate elements of QAnon conspiracy theories, including the central allegation that satanic elites are cannibalizing children. Donald Trump is credited with secretly working to defeat the Cabal. LHW maintains a Telegram Channel with roughly 35,000 followers who post both LHW and QAnon material (Moyer 2021).

A third element of third LHW worldview is mistrust of western medicine. Members believe that all illnesses are caused by energy imbalances and that “the medical system” is designed to create illness rather than health. In place of conventional medicine LHW promotes the use of colloidal silver and gold, even touting use of colloidal silver to cure, prevent, and treat COVID-19. These products were marketed through the group’s Gaia’s Whole Healing Essentials. In the case of the group’s COVID claims, the federal Food and Drug Administration issued a cease and desist order (Pelley 2021). Alternative healing is a major aspect of LHW’s philosophy and business model. Other health claims include lemon and baking soda consumption as a cure for cancer turmeric as a cure for diabetes, and frankincense as offering relief for depression. The group created an “Ascension Guide” that details its health advice.

RITUALS/PRACTICES

While LHW may have had several hundred participants in its various activities, the core group was never more than a few dozen. Ordinary members participated in a number of rituals. Upon joining the group, Carlson gave initiates new names, often angel names. Because rejection of individual ego was central to the group’s beliefs, new members participated in an “ego death ceremony.” Ego was understood to mean “edging out God.” (Scofield 2020) Manifestation of ego was met with public rebuke for expressing “egonic traits” or being in an “lower frequency.” Members were sometimes required to make public confession of such tendencies. Daily routines were regulated as Carlson believed that food and sleep were impediments to ascension.

One important ritual that demonstrated Carlson’s spiritual power was “spiritual surgeries.” She has claimed to have performed over 100,000 of these surgeries, each of which can take up to an hour to complete. Some of these are performed in person and some by remote means. They may involve brain surgery and organ repair (Doherty 2021).  These rituals take an enormous toll on Carlson’s health; she reported the combined impact had left her paralyzed (Dr. Phil 2021).

The key ritual in LHW was Carlson’s ongoing effort to process all of the negative energy in the world to create an opportunity for ascension to the 5D level of existence. She constantly urged followers to tune into “higher vibrational frequencies.” Members kept a log of her progress. On September 13, 2018 Carlson announced that she had “processed 99.3” of the planet’s negative energy (Moyer 2021). However, as she attempted to process that small remaining amount of negative energy her rate of progress slowed “exponentially.” There were reports within the group of increasingly fierce attacks by the Cabal on Carlson. On August 1, 2018, online viewers were informed that dark witches had attacked Amy. Three weeks later, the audience was told that another assassination attempt had taken place, during which a “sword sliced one of her hearts.” It was reported that  “The etheric have been doing surgery on it for many hours now and Mom is throwing up, diarrhea, she was shaking” (Pelley 2021). Stories of assassination attempts continued in videos into 2019, including supposed incidents in which Amy was struck with etheric darts, and another in which her spleen and pancreas were “infiltrated” by the Cabal (Moyer 2021). Carlson’s deteriorating health and experience of extreme pain was attributed these attacks.

ORGANIZATION/LEADERSHIP

Leadership of LHW was firmly in the hands of Amy Carlson, who was known within the group as “Mother God,” or the “Mother of All Creation,” through her lifetime.  Carlson’s spiritual standing was pivotal to LHW organization as she was the key to salvation through the ascension. Her quest had spanned hundreds of past lives; she recalled having been Jesus, Joan of Arc, Cleopatra, Queen Elizabeth, and Marilyn Monroe. She also claimed that Donald Trump was her father and that she had a special spiritual relationship with actor Robin Williams, who served as her spiritual counselor (Scofield 2021).

She appointed several men as a “Father God,” (twin flames) but made changes in that partnership at her own discretion. Over the course of the group’s brief history Amerith WhiteEagle, Miguel Lamboy, Justin Castillo and Andrew Profaci played that role for different periods of time. According to Carlson, her twin flames were vessels for God’s energy, but that energy was too great to be contained in a single human being (Pelley 2021). Surrounding Carlson was the First Contact Ground Crew Team, a dozen to two dozen core group members who resided commune-style on the group’s various properties. These individuals coordinated Carlson’s plan for ascension and appeared in the group’s online videos, Facebook postings and Skype chats. They also worked to protect Carlson against the ongoing attacks against her by the Cabal. There were also a few small auxiliary groups that met in person in Australia, South Africa, and Central America (Moyer 2021). The largest regular following probably was the 100-200 “ambassadors” who stayed connected with LHW online through Facebook and chat groups on Skype.

The group supported itself financially in a variety of  ways. One of its primary businesses was  Gaia’s Whole Healing Essentials. The company marketed essential oils, crystal pyramids, and, notably,  colloidal silver (silver particles suspended in a liquid) (Moyer 2021). Other companies also sold LHW products. For example, FreckleFarm Organics offered some products that were connected to LHW’s focal concern on combating harmful energy, such as “plasma coasters,” which the group asserted could transform a glasses of water into  “receivers and transmitters” capable of neutralizing  harmful energy (Pelley 2021). LWH also marketed its products directly through its own website. One of LWH’s most profitable enterprises was “etheric surgery.” LHW claimed that this form of remote energy healing was effective in treating virtually all disease. The group also sold its “Ascension Guide,” which promoted “sun gazing (literally staring at the Sun), smoking cigarettes (only organic, hand-rolled tobacco), eating red meat at least twice a week, and taking long, cold showers” (Moyer 2021). Miguel Lamboy led the effort to gain federal approval for LHW as a 501(c)(3) non-profit charitable organization in 2019 (Pelley 2021).

ISSUES/CHALLENGES

A surge of rumors and media stories surrounded LHW, particularly around the time of Amy Carson’s death. There were stories of  authoritarianism, sexual involvement with group members, potential suicide, exploitation of members, financial violations (Rolling Stone). However, there were four major sources of trouble that significantly impacted the group and its legacy: the events surrounding Carson’s death, organized opposition to the group, and the schism following Carlson’s death.

The circumstances surrounding Amy Carlson’s death generated a flurry of national media attention about the group. Police actually confirmed Carlson’s death when they finally discovered Carlson’s mummified body after exercising a search warrant on April 28,2021  (The Independent). Following the police investigation, seven LHW members were arrested and charged with “abuse of corpse,” although all criminal charges were subsequently dropped (Rolling Stone). Nonetheless, the combination of the group’s seclusiveness, its sometimes incendiary or combative web posts, the police raid, Carlson’s disappearance followed by the discovery of her mummified body, the controversy over Carlson’s cause of death, and the group’s assertion that she had not actually died but rather “ascended” to the 5D level combined to produced a stream of investigative reporting and sensationalistic coverage. Most of that coverage further undermined the group’s already negative public image. The group had attempted to reverse its image problems by agreeing to appear with group critics on the Dr. Phil television program shortly after returning from Hawaii to Colorado. However, that effort proved unsuccessful as issues such as Carlson’s abandonment of her children and precarious health became a focus, along with a statement by the Cult Education Institute’s Rick Alan Ross that compared Carlson’s leadership to classic personality traits of other cult leaders (Washington Post)

Throughout its brief history, LHW encountered organized and vocal opposition wherever it was located. In California, LHW drew opposition from the Saguache County Sheriff’s Office which reported that it had received “many complaints from families within the United States saying that the group is brainwashing people and stealing their money” (NYTIMES). The town clerk in Crestone, which is a spiritual enclave that includes a diverse array of religious and spiritual groups reported that “these people have no connection with the actual town.” She stated that “As clerk, I received at least five out-of-state calls over a period of four years from agitated family members,” …. [and that] “the callers ‘were searching for family members who had been persuaded to follow this group’s leader while giving over control of their personal finances, bank accounts, etc.’” She asserted that the group “was not connected to the greater Crestone-Baca area’s legitimate spiritual centers” (NYTIMES).

In 2020, fourteen members, along with Amy Carlson, took up  the island of Kuaui in Hawaii. Carlson publicly claimed to be Pele, the Hawaiian goddess of fire and volcanoes. The group also ignored local Covid regulations. As opposition mounted, the group became the object of organized protest and minor vandalism. [Image at right]  It was not long before the group was summarily escorted off the island (CUT). After trying unsuccessfully to relocate to the island of Maui, the group returned to Colorado (Rolling Stone). A few days later the group relocated to Colorado.

There was some more organized opposition to LHW. Initially, a small group of mothers and other relatives of LHW members organized to oppose the group and extricate their offspring, as has occurred with a number of new religious movements (Daily Beast, Guru Mag). They created a Facebook Page Love Has Won Exposed. Subsequently, two families joined forces to create what they described as a “support group” that hosted the Rising Above Love Has Won website (The Independent). The group monitored LHW activities, posted information critical of the group, offered assistance to members willing to leave the group, and alerted public officials concerning what it regarded as dangerous activities and circumstances. It was Rising Above that alerted local law enforcement about Carson’s declining health and requested a health intervention. LHW sought to defend itself and improve its negative public image, most notably by appearing, along with critics, on the Dr. Phil television program. This initative

The most significant challenge facing LHW is the schism that took place following Carlson’s death.  The LHW website has been taken offline, and two main schismatic groups have emerged (Marie Claire).  The smaller group that formed following Carlson’s death was Joy Rains. The group is led by Jason Castillo, who claims the status of “MotherFatherGod” as a result of having unified his physical vessel with Carlson’s energy (The Independent).  Castillo has vehemently rejected other contenders to Carlson’s legacy as “the false team.” The group offers “ticket to heaven” spiritual healing sessions (Marie Claire).

The larger schismatic group, 5D Full Disclosure, was formed by two close confidants of Carlson’s, Lauryn Suarez and Ashley Peluso, and has remained dedicated to “Mother God” alone (Marie Claire). The new group has continued to offer etheric surgeries, claiming that they now are being performed by Carlson from the fifth dimension. The group also has continued to develop the “Crystal Schools” charter school program that Carlson first envisioned (Rolling). 5D Full Disclosure is headquartered in Vermont and continues to livestream. In addition, the group maintains a Facebook presence and has two Telegram channels.

Love Has Won remained a relatively small group through its brief history. The group mobilized internal power with its claim of imminent world transformation (ascension) through its leader’s unique ability to assume personal responsibility for preparing the conditions for that transformation. She alone was engaged in the pivotal ritual of eliminating negative energy that prevented movement to the 5D dimension. Externally, the group was able to connect with a broader audience interested in alternative health and healing and with Endtime scenarios, primarily through its internet presence. This internet reach notwithstanding, the committed membership core remained small. With the death of Amy Carlson, who was indispensable to the group’s mission, the schism that divided an already small core group, and a largely uncommitted following, the future of Love Has Won remains precarious.

IMAGES

Image #1: Amy Carlson.
Image #2: Amy Carlson (center) appearing in a YouTube video in December 2019.
Image #3: Amy Carlson prior to her death.
Image #4: The Love Has Won ranch in Colorado.
Image #5: Protest against Love Has Won in Hawaii.

REFERENCES

Arnold, Amanda. 2021. “A cult leader known as ‘Mother God’ was found mummified.” The Cut, May 5. Accessed from https://www.thecut.com/2021/05/love-has-won-cult-leader-found-mummified-in-colorado.html on 16 August 2022.

Doherty, Simon. 2021. “Watch Our New Documentary About ‘Love Has Won’, a Group Former Members Call a Cult.” Vice, March 23. Accessed from https://www.vice.com/en/article/v7mwvb/love-has-won-vice-documentary on 2 September 2022.

Dr. Phil. 2020. “Two Followers Of Love Has Won Spiritual Group Say They Believe Their Leader Is ‘God’.” Dr. Phil, September 14. Accessed from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ze0c9Gm_vPY on 2 September 2022.

Graziosi, Graig. 2021. “Former ‘Father God’ speaks out about Love Has Won cult after leader’s mummified corpse found in Colorado home.” The Independent, May 13. Accessed from https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/love-has-won-father-god-corpse-b1847100.html on 3 September 2022.

Kinkade, Sky. 2021 “Spiritual group accused of cult-like activities may be planting roots in Mt. Shasta area.” Mount Shasta Herald, April 26. Accessed from ‘https://www.mtshastanews.com/story/news/2021/04/26/cult-like-group-love-has-won-planting-roots-mt-shasta-area-love-has-won/4844980001/ on 20 August 2022.

Love Has Won Exposed Facebook page. 2022. Accessed from https://www.facebook.com/lovehaswoncult/ on 9/20/2022.

Moyer, Christopher. 2021. “From ‘Mother God’ to Mummified Corpse: Inside the Fringe Spiritual Sect ‘Love Has Won’” Rolling Stone, November 26. Accessed from https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-features/love-has-won-amy-carlson-mother-god-1254916/ on 15 August 2022.

Pelley, Virginia. 2021. “Love Has Lost.” Marie Claire, September 7. Accessed from https://www.marieclaire.com/culture/a37417778/love-has-won-cult-amy-carlson-stroud-death/ on 15 August 2022.

Peiser, Jocelyn. 2021. “She told followers she was ‘Mother God.’ Her mummified body was found wrapped in Christmas lights.” The Washington Post, May 5. Accessed from https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2021/05/05/cult-love-has-won-carlson/ on 20 August 2022.

Richards, Zoe. 2021. “Cause of Death Revealed for Mummified Colorado ‘Cult’ Leader Found Without Eyes.” Daily Beast, December 2. Accessed from https://www.thedailybeast.com/amy-carlson-love-had-won-cult-leader-died-of-alcohol-anorexia-and-colloidal-silver-autopsy-shows on 20 August 2022.

Rising Above Love Has Won website. 2022. Accessed from https://www.risingabovelhw.com/ on 20 September 2022.

Scofield, Be. 2020. “Crestone Cult Love Has Won Leaves Man to Die in Desert.” The Guru Magazine, July 23. Accessed from https://gurumag.com/crestone-cult-love-has-won-leaves-man-to-die-in-desert/ on 14 August 2022.

Vallejo, Justin. 2021. “‘They become re-wired, a different person’: Inside the fight to deprogram Love Has Won cult members.” The Independent, June 10. Accessed from https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/love-has-won-mother-god-cult-b1858639.html on 21 August 2022.

Publication Date:
30 September 2022