Gentle Wind Project (GWP) was a

new age New Age is a range of spiritual or religious practices and beliefs which rapidly grew in Western society during the early 1970s. Its highly eclectic and unsystematic structure makes a precise definition difficult. Although many scholars consi ...

group based in

New England New England is a region comprising six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York to the west and by the Canadian province ...

. Founded circa 1980 by John "Tubby" Miller and Claudia Panuthos (now Mary "Moe" Miller) in

Arlington, Massachusetts Arlington is a town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts. The town is six miles (10 km) northwest of Boston, and its population was 46,308 at the 2020 census. History European colonists settled the Town of Arlington in 1635 as a village ...

, GWP members moved to

Kittery, Maine Kittery is a town in York County, Maine, United States. Home to the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard on Seavey's Island, Kittery includes Badger's Island, the seaside district of Kittery Point, and part of the Isles of Shoals. The southernmost tow ...

in 1984. The organization was dissolved, as part of a consent decree following a

fraud In law, fraud is intentional deception to secure unfair or unlawful gain, or to deprive a victim of a legal right. Fraud can violate civil law (e.g., a fraud victim may sue the fraud perpetrator to avoid the fraud or recover monetary compen ...

lawsuit - A lawsuit is a proceeding by a party or parties against another in the civil court of law. The archaic term "suit in law" is found in only a small number of laws still in effect today. The term "lawsuit" is used in reference to a civil actio ...

brought against the group.

Activities

GWP described itself as "a not-for profit world healing organization...

ith The Ith () is a ridge in Germany's Central Uplands which is up to 439 m high. It lies about 40 km southwest of Hanover and, at 22 kilometres, is the longest line of crags in North Germany. Geography Location The Ith is immediate ...

a healing technology... along with

telepathic Telepathy () is the purported vicarious transmission of information from one person's mind to another's without using any known human sensory channels or physical interaction. The term was first coined in 1882 by the classical scholar Frederic ...

abilities... designed to restore and regenerate a person's energetic structure when used one time in a person's life." John Miller claimed to receive telepathic impressions from the

spirit world Spirit world may refer to: In religion *Spirit world (Spiritualism) * Spirit world (Latter Day Saints) *Goloka, or Vaikuntha, often referred to as the "spiritual sky" or "spiritual world" in Hare Krishna contexts *Guinee, a spirit world in Vodou * ...

. Miller claimed that he used these impressions to create "healing instruments". These instruments were made available to the public in exchange for set donation prices, ranging from hundreds to thousands of dollars.

Legal issues

Litigation initiated by GWP

International anti-cult educator Ian ManderGentle Wind Project Closeup
at the New Zealand Cult List published a collection of information about GWP on the internet, as did two former followers, Judy Garvey and Jim Bergin, who wrote about their personal experiences with GWP during seventeen years as followers and board members.Wind of Changes
published by Judy Garvey and Jim Bergin, former followers of GWP In response, in May 2004, GWP leaders filed a lawsuit in Maine

U.S. District Court The United States district courts are the trial courts of the U.S. federal judiciary. There is one district court for each federal judicial district, which each cover one U.S. state or, in some cases, a portion of a state. Each district cou ...

, consisting of federal

racketeering Racketeering is a type of organized crime in which the perpetrators set up a coercive, fraudulent, extortionary, or otherwise illegal coordinated scheme or operation (a "racket") to repeatedly or consistently collect a profit. Originally and ...

(

Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act The Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act is a United States federal law that provides for extended criminal penalties and a civil cause of action for acts performed as part of an ongoing criminal organization. RICO was e ...

) and Lanham claims, plus state claims, including

defamation Defamation is the act of communicating to a third party false statements about a person, place or thing that results in damage to its reputation. It can be spoken (slander) or written (libel). It constitutes a tort or a crime. The legal defi ...

. In January 2006, Garvey and Bergin won their Motion for Summary Judgment in January 2006, resulting in dismissal of GWP's federal claims on the merits, and dismissal of the remaining state claims without prejudice for lack of jurisdiction, by Senior District Judge Gene Carter. In January 2006, after the dismissal of the federal litigation, GWP leaders refiled their lawsuit in Maine State Court ( York County,

Alfred, Maine Alfred is a town in York County, Maine, United States. As of the 2020 census, the town population was 3,073. Alfred is the seat of York County and home to part of the Massabesic Experimental Forest. National Register of Historic Places has two l ...

). They brought the remaining state claims against Garvey, Bergin, and Mander.

Charges filed by Maine Attorney General against GWP

The

Attorney General of Maine The Maine Attorney General is the chief legal advisor and prosecutor of the State of Maine. The constitutional basis of the office is Article IX, Section 11 of the Maine Constitution, and the holder of the position is chosen biennially by the Main ...

filed charges against GWP and its officers and directors, citing

false claims A false accusation is a claim or allegation of wrongdoing that is untrue and/or otherwise unsupported by facts. False accusations are also known as groundless accusations or unfounded accusations or false allegations or false claims. They can occur ...

and

. The complaint charged that the defendants falsely claimed that the instruments can improve mental, emotional, and physical well-being. The officers and directors were further charged for improperly disbursing hundreds of thousands of dollars to themselves. The Attorney General asked the court to end sales of the "healing instruments", dissolve the corporation, ban the parties from serving as officers and directors of

nonprofit corporation A nonprofit corporation is any legal entity which has been incorporated under the law of its jurisdiction for purposes other than making profits for its owners or shareholders. Depending on the laws of the jurisdiction, a nonprofit corporation may ...

s, order the return of all funds, and provide for

restitution The law of restitution is the law of gains-based recovery, in which a court orders the defendant to ''give up'' their gains to the claimant. It should be contrasted with the law of compensation, the law of loss-based recovery, in which a court ...

.National Council Against Health Fraud
Consumer Health Digest #06-32, August 08, 2007

GWP dissolved

On August 14, 2006, the case was resolved by a consent decree in which the defendants "agreed to pay

civil penalties A civil penalty or civil fine is a financial penalty imposed by a government agency as restitution for wrongdoing. The wrongdoing is typically defined by a codification of legislation, regulations, and decrees. The civil fine is not considered ...

and costs and to an injunction that prohibits them from making certain health and research claims about the "healing instruments" or from serving as

fiduciaries A fiduciary is a person who holds a legal or ethical relationship of trust with one or more other parties (person or group of persons). Typically, a fiduciary prudently takes care of money or other assets for another person. One party, for exampl ...

or advisors for any other Maine nonprofit. The parties have also agreed that GWP will be dissolved, and its remaining

asset In financial accounting, an asset is any resource owned or controlled by a business or an economic entity. It is anything (tangible or intangible) that can be used to produce positive economic value. Assets represent value of ownership that ca ...

s distributed by the Attorney General as restitution to consumers who purchased a "healing instrument" since 2003 and to a Maine

charity Charity may refer to: Giving * Charitable organization or charity, a non-profit organization whose primary objectives are philanthropy and social well-being of persons * Charity (practice), the practice of being benevolent, giving and sharing * Ch ...

whose charitable

mission Mission (from Latin ''missio'' "the act of sending out") may refer to: Organised activities Religion *Christian mission, an organized effort to spread Christianity *Mission (LDS Church), an administrative area of The Church of Jesus Christ of ...

is to provide services to those with

mental health Mental health encompasses emotional, psychological, and social well-being, influencing cognition, perception, and behavior. It likewise determines how an individual handles stress, interpersonal relationships, and decision-making. Mental hea ...

disabilities, according to a

press release A press release is an official statement delivered to members of the news media for the purpose of providing information, creating an official statement, or making an announcement directed for public release. Press releases are also consider ...

from the Attorney General's office. Garvey and Bergin described the proceedings on their website.Settlement
by Wind of Changes

Family Systems Research Group

The Millers have formed the Family Systems Research Group to continue much of what the Gentle Wind Project had been doing. The new organization is apparently in New Hampshire and sells its products, rather than seeking "donations".Randi, James. 5 October 2007.

. Accessed 19 November 2009.

References

{{Reflist, 2

Sources

Motion for Summary Judgment
against GWP's Federal claims, provided pro bono by Berkman Center at Harvard Law School
A summary of GWP's lawsuits
Cults New religious movements