Licht-Oase (Light Oasis) was a

New Age New Age is a range of Spirituality, spiritual or Religion, religious practices and beliefs that rapidly grew in Western world, Western society during the early 1970s. Its highly eclecticism, eclectic and unsystematic structure makes a precise d ...

cult Cults are social groups which have unusual, and often extreme, religious, spiritual, or philosophical beliefs and rituals. Extreme devotion to a particular person, object, or goal is another characteristic often ascribed to cults. The term ...

led by Arno Wollensak and Julie Ravell with around 40 members. It was also known as ''Ramtha''.

History

In the 1980s Arno Wollensak was a follower of

Rajneesh Rajneesh (born Chandra Mohan Jain; 11 December 193119 January 1990), also known as Acharya Rajneesh, Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh, and later as Osho (), was an Indian Godman (India), godman, philosopher, Mysticism, mystic and founder of the Rajnees ...

, eventually starting his own group. The group lived in Germany, Austria, France and Portugal before relocating to Belize. Reports of sexual abuse of minors within the cult lead to a police investigation. In 2007 Wollensak failed to appear in court. He and Ravell fled to Uruguay using forged Surinamese documents in 2008. The case was transferred to the German

Federal Criminal Police Federal or foederal (archaic) may refer to: Politics General *Federal monarchy, a federation of monarchies *Federation, or ''Federal state'' (federal system), a type of government characterized by both a central (federal) government and states or ...

in 2014. Wollensak and Ravell were arrested by police in Uruguay and brought to

Montevideo Montevideo (, ; ) is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Uruguay, largest city of Uruguay. According to the 2023 census, the city proper has a population of 1,302,954 (about 37.2% of the country's total population) in an area of . M ...

on 12 June 2015. A request for his extradition to Germany was made, but denied by an Uruguay court due to statute of limitations. Wollensak was then released. He was found murdered in

Uruguay Uruguay, officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay, is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast, while bordering the Río de la Plata to the south and the A ...

August 28, 2016.

Accounts from inside the cult

The practice in the group to separate children from their parents inspired the artwork "Disappearing Mother" by former member Katharina Meredith. Lea Saskia Laasner described her experiences in the cult in her book ''Allein gegen die Seelenfänger. Meine Kindheit in der Psycho-Sekte'' for which she won the Prix Courage in 2005.

References

{{Reflist New Age organizations Child abuse incidents and cases New religious movements established in the 1980s