This Woman Claims To Channel The Spirit Of An Ancient Warrior And Uses His Teachings To Lead A Cult

Jodi Smith
Updated March 28, 2019

Judith Zebra Knight, known as J.Z. Knight, claims a 35,000-year-old Lemurian soldier appeared to her in 1977. Calling himself Ramtha, the spirit allegedly chose to share his knowledge and experiences with the world by allowing Knight to channel him. What followed was decades of making millions from audiences ecstatic to hear from an ancient being, during a wave of weird cults that purported to teach people to shape their future through thoughts. Knight founded Ramtha's School of Enlightenment (RSE) in 1988, drawing thousands of believers to her 80-acre compound in Washington state to hear the words of the supposed guru. 

Knight and Ramtha continue to make money and pull in followers from their website with their promise to change lives through quantum physics, change reality through mindfulness, and convince people they are God. While Knight denies RSE is a cult, many former students disagree, detailing forced compliance from Knight and Ramtha. One of Knight's ex-husbands even claimed Ramtha forced him to take a woefully unfair divorce settlement and avoid using doctors to control his HIV-positive status.

Knight pulled herself out of a life selling cable television and into earning millions per year with books, videos, live teachings, and media appearances to spread the word of Ramtha. She says RSE is no cult, but litigation to silence former members and propaganda claiming alien technology is being hidden by the American government paint a different picture.

  • Ramtha Supposedly Appeared To Knight In 1977 When She Put A Paper Pyramid On Her Head
    Photo: Rex Rystedt/Contributor / The LIFE Images Collection/Getty Images

    Ramtha Supposedly Appeared To Knight In 1977 When She Put A Paper Pyramid On Her Head

    Based on the theory of "Pyramid Power," Knight and her first husband spent a night in 1977 crafting pyramids from paper, mimicking the proportions of the ancient Egyptian structures. The theory claimed that following the parameters could harness the power of the pyramids for a myriad of purposes, such as keeping food fresh or enhancing the growth of plants. 

    According to Knight's website - and book State of Mind - the day after creating multiple small pyramids, she put one over her head and proclaimed:

    Attention, attention please, you are now about to witness a miracle. We are about to place our new brain-machine upon the willing [person], upon whom nature did not smile with great intelligence. Carefully we place the pyramid in the aligned position, encompassing the entire head and face. In moments, gentlemen, you will witness a truly magnificent transformation.

    According to Knight, Ramtha appeared before her dressed in purple robes made of light and standing over seven feet tall. The entity allegedly introduced himself as Ramtha the Enlightened One and said he was there to "help [Knight] over the ditch." Knight started publicly channeling Ramtha and speaking to crowds of believers two years later.

  • Ramtha Allegedly Fought On The Fabled Continent Of Lemuria

     

    Ramtha supposedly introduced himself to Knight on February 20, 1977, appearing in her kitchen as the Enlightened One. According to an archived version of RES's website circa 2009, the entity lived as a person on a continent called Lemuria 35,000 years ago. During his time on Earth, Ramtha acted as a warrior and supposedly conquered various lands, including the fabled Atlantis.

    Ramtha claimed he was mortally harmed and spent seven years meditating to find the secret of body transcendence to live outside the boundaries of life. He called it his ascension. 

    Ramtha has also hinted at the ability to manifest in his own body but reportedly chooses to appear in Knight's body to prove a point about a person's gender being unimportant to their enlightenment. According to a 2013 article in The Olympian, Knight believes Ramtha chose her as a vessel because she was his adopted child in an earlier life.

  • Knight Founded Ramtha's School Of Enlightenment In 1988

    Beginning in 1979, Knight started charging audiences up to $1,000 to allegedly hear the 35,000-year-old deity speak about transforming their lives through "the power of consciousness." That same year, Knight acquired an 80-acre property in Yelm, WA, where she built a more than 12,000-square-foot home and bred Arabian horses. Nearly 10 years later, Knight opened Ramtha's School of Enlightenment (RSE) on the land.

    The campus in Yelm includes a Great Hall that accommodates 1,000 people, but those unable to trek to Washington can stream presentations online or read literature posted on RSE's website. The introductory online course consists of six modules priced at $120 each. The site claims over 100,000 followers have visited the campus for Ramtha's classes.

    Ramtha's alleged teachings cover topics ranging from genetics to the entity's past life to the quantum field. Each writing includes flowery prose with New Age mantras and speech peppered in with insistence that each follower is God, and their mind can reshape reality. 

  • Ramtha Teaches That Every Person Is A God That Can Heal Themselves Of Disease

     

    According to Ramtha's School of Enlightenment, there are four foundational tenets to the entity's teachings. The first one is that every person is God and can harness the power of their mind to shape their reality as they see fit. This includes overcoming diseases like cancer or HIV through the power of thought.

    Knight's ex-husband, Jeffrey Knight, claimed he deferred treatment for his HIV-positive status because Ramtha rejected the idea of using modern medical intervention and medication. Multitudes of testimonials featured on the official website for RES claim people have healed themselves through Ramtha's teachings. 

    Ana M. Mihalcea allegedly thought her cancer away through Ramtha's teachings, while Vladimir Shcherbinin provides a detailed account of how he supposedly abolished Hepatitis B from his blood through techniques he learned at the school.

  • Some Followers Believe They Saved Their Homes From Wildfires Through Focused Thinking

     

    The RES promises to help followers learn telepathy, the ability to change their future, and other techniques that supposedly either harness or rewire the power of the brain. As such, there are stories from followers claiming that their use of one of Ramtha's proprietary classes helped them in terrible situations.

    An August 27, 2018, article in the RSE newsletter written by students in Argentina recounts the story in which they used a product they received from RSE. They claimed they protected their homes and property from wildfire with Blue Grid, part of a system of techniques and knowledge called Blue Body, which supposedly lifts "the student's conscious awareness to the fourth plane and stimulate[s] the fourth seal for the purpose of healing or changing the physical body."

    The newsletter also included an article about Ramtha followers in California during the fires saving their homes with the same technique. 

  • Ramtha Supports Donald Trump, While Knight Is A Democratic Donor And Supporter

     

    Knight publicly donated large sums of money to the Washington Democratic Party and continued to do so after a controversial video of her using epithets, supposedly when channeling Ramtha, surfaced. Ramtha, meanwhile, proclaimed his trust in and support for Republican Donald Trump when presenting his prophecies on December 8, 2016. 

    In an email to The Seattle Times in 2017, a representative for Knight stated Knight did not vote for President Trump and remained a supporter of the Democratic party. Meanwhile, Ramtha's statements expressed it was a "misjudgment of character" to expect Hillary Clinton to win the 2016 presidential election.

    Ramtha allegedly went on to claim aliens supported President Trump, and when two UFOs appeared alongside Air Force One, Trump would "know it all."

  • Ramtha Prophesied That President Trump Would Erase All American Debt

     

    In a December 8, 2016, live teaching by Ramtha, the entity spoke at length in support of Donald Trump. Among the prophecies Ramtha gave to the audience, several focused on president-elect Trump and how his upcoming administration was going to free the American people from debt and reveal government secrets to the citizenry.  

    Ramtha predicted Trump declaring bankruptcy on behalf of the National Reserve, impacting all of the markets, and effectively wiping out all debt for the American people. Furthermore, the deity claimed a currency return to gold - gold that everyone made themselves using a hidden unlimited energy source the government holds. Ramtha also promised followers that Trump's actions would release the secret of "immediate health" to all people.

  • Knight Sued A Follower For Defecting And Speaking To Police

    In 2012, Dr. Brian Keay sent a letter to Thurston County law enforcement detailing several allegations about RSE made my students of the organization that had come to his practice. The message became public in 2014 and soon caught the attention of other former members and Knight herself.

    Based partially on information from Virginia Coverdale, a former RSE student, the letter asserted followers of RSE had orders to drink water derived from the Dead Sea mixed with Red Devil lye daily. Members had allegedly consumed so much of this concoction that they were losing their hair and were at risk of forming dangerous ulcers. The same year the letter was sent to the Thurston County Sheriff's department, Coverdale shared a video of Knight's discriminatory rants.

    In response, Knight engaged in a lengthy legal fight against Coverdale which ended in the former member's victory in 2017. A federal judge found Knight was attempting to intimidate Coverdale, and anyone else, from exposing her business to outside scrutiny. 

  • Knight Successfully Sued Two Women Claiming To Channel Or Teach About Ramtha

     

    According to the Southern Poverty Law Center's 2014 intelligence report on Ramtha and Knight, the latter twice filed suits against other women infringing the copyright on her 35,000-year-old mystic spirit. Judith Ravell of Berlin, Germany, claimed she too channeled the spirit of Ramtha for five years. Knight took her grievance to the Austrian Supreme Court, seeking damages for Ravell's connection with Ramtha. The courts decided that Knight owned the copyright for Ramtha and is the only one allowed to "channel" him.

    Whitewind Weaver took classes at RSE before teaching her own her five-day seminar in August 2006. Knight went after Weaver for breaking the student contract with RSE that states followers are only to use the knowledge gained for personal use. The court ruled in favor of Knight in 2008 and ordered Weaver to pay $10,000 in damages.

  • Videos Exist Of Knight Making Disparaging Remarks

    In 2012, former RSE student Virginia Coverdale released video recordings of Knight purportedly channeling Ramtha as the entity went on a discriminatory tirade. According to The Seattle Times, the speech included defaming statements about Mexicans, Jewish people, and gay people.

    In response, Knight unsuccessfully sued those that leaked the tapes and continued to receive support from RSE followers and students that contended the quotes were misinterpreted. Others distanced themselves from Knight and Ramtha, including Democratic party members who received contributions from Knight during their bids for election and re-election.

    The Washington Senate Democratic Party and Washington Democratic Party donated Knight's benefactions to various organizations, including the Anti-Defamation League and groups that champion same-sex marriage.

  • Knight's Ex-Husband Claimed Ramtha Cheated Him Out Of Settlement Money

    Knight married Jeffrey Knight in 1984 after seeing him in a magazine advertisement. The pair divorced in 1989, with each claiming the other's infidelity. In 1992, Jeffrey filed suit against Knight in search of a more substantial divorce settlement than the $120,000 he agreed to during their separation proceedings. His reason? Ramtha tricked Jeffrey into taking the small amount of money when he deserved a larger sum.

    According to an article in People, Jeffrey and Knight purchased a ranch in Yelm, WA, where Ramtha's School of Enlightenment eventually stood. Jeffrey joined his wife and her 35,000-year-old spiritual advisor as they toured their way to $4 million annual salaries. At the end of the marriage, Ramtha reportedly pressured Jeffrey pressured into taking the paltry settlement instead of attempting to take a piece of the millions Knight made during their union.

    Jeffrey eventually won a ruling in 1993 of $800,000, but it was reduced to $150,000 by an appeals judge to cover the costs of attorneys. Jeffrey passed in 1994 from an illness connected to his HIV status.

  • Shirley MacLaine Claimed To Be Ramtha's Brother Reincarnated
    Photo: Bantam

    Shirley MacLaine Claimed To Be Ramtha's Brother Reincarnated

    Actor Shirley MacLaine is well-known for her belief in reincarnation and various New Age notions. Her 1985 book Dancing in the Light helped propel Knight and Ramtha into the public eye through revelations about the entity and his teachings. According to a 1992 article about Knight, MacLaine's book attributed a breakthrough she had with some personal problems to the New Age guru and her channeled ancient warrior.

    The book also claimed MacLaine was the reincarnation of Ramtha's brother, who lived in the fictional Atlantis thousands of years ago. According to the Southern Poverty Law Center, MacLaine and Knight stopped speaking several decades ago. 

  • Salma Hayek Is Reportedly A Friend Of Knight And A School Of Enlightenment Student

    During an August 2, 2008, appearance on Larry King Live, Knight spoke with the host about using the power of the mind to manifest one's destiny. At one point, King mentioned actor Salma Hayek; Knight referred to her as "my best friend." Knight spoke about assisting Hayek in changing her life through Ramtha's teachings.

    Multiple articles about Knight and Ramtha mention Hayek, including a 2006 article in The Olympian that spoke with RES's students. A February 2016 piece in the Tacoma News Tribune about the slaying of one of Hayek's dogs on her Yelm, WA, property also points out her connection to RES. Yelm is the location of Knight's compound and Ramtha's School of Enlightenment.