Aesthetic Realism
lexicon
An explanation of AR's "code
words"
posted April 2009
Completely Fair. Being "completely fair" to Eli
Siegel or Aesthetic Realism means expressing extreme
devotion to them. If any members fails to do this, they're
quickly criticized as "not being completely fair". AR leaders use
this phrase several times in the secret
inquest we posted.
Consultant. An AR leader who conducts
consultations.
Consultation. AR's special brand of therapy where
three consultants meet with one member. The purpose
is to get the member to affirm or re-affirm their devotion
to Eli Siegel and AR, and to discourage the member from
pursuing things in their life that keep them from promoting
or studying AR (such as relationships with friends or family
who aren't in AR). (more on
consultations)
Contempt. AR believes that the root of all
unhappiness is a person's believing they're better than
other people, which they refer to as contempt. This
concept is so important to them that their slogan is
"Contempt causes insanity". AR sees homosexuality as caused
by contempt. (And since "contempt causes insanity", we're
supposed to conclude that homosexuals are insane.)
Naturally, if anyone dares to question anything about AR or
its founder, Eli Siegel, that's considered contempt.
Criticism. The AR leaders love to dole out what is
supposedly constructive criticism to its members. But it's
verboten to criticize AR or its founder, Eli Siegel. That
would be considered contempt. In a nutshell, the AR
leaders' negative opinions about you? Criticism. Your
criticism of anything else? Contempt. Telling quote by an AR
member: "I am so grateful that my desire for contempt was
criticized by Aesthetic Realism." (from AR's
double-page
ad in the NY Times)
Eli Sigel. A poet and literary critic who founded
Aesthetic Realism in the 1940's. He took
his life in 1978.
Fair. See completely fair.
Grateful / Gratitude. AR members are expected to
continually express profound "gratitude" for having "met"
Aesthetic Realism, and for Eli Siegel himself. Failure to
express gratitude is considered contempt or not
being completely fair. Expressing gratitude to Eli
Siegel and AR was supposedly the key to AR's gay cure, as
shown in this AR
consultation. Telling quote by an AR member: "I am so
grateful that my desire for contempt was criticized by
Aesthetic Realism." (from AR's
double-page
ad in the NY Times)
Meanwhile. This one is like tremendous, in
that by itself there's nothing especially odd about it. What
makes it strange is the frequency that Aesthetic
Realists use it. It becomes part of the pattern of their
lexicon, which gives their speech a certain flavor. You can
see this one in an AR consultation,
on their Countering the Lies website, and on Wikipedia
discussion pages.
Met. AR people frequently talk about AR as though
it's a person, and this is perhaps the best example. AR
people refer to their first finding out about AR as having
met Aesthetic Realism.
Opposites. A fundamental teaching of AR is that
"beauty is the making one of opposites". This is an old
concept, dating back thousands of years to Chinese
yin/yang, but AR adherents think that Eli Siegel
invented it.
Persons. Aesthetic Realists usually say "persons"
when a normal person would say "people". It's not incorrect,
it's just idiosyncratic. For example:
"I am a rival to all the
persons you've known..."
(Eli Siegel,
The H Persuasion, p. 57)
"[We] wanted this lesson
with Eli Siegel to be heard by persons..."
(H
Persuasion, p. 60)
"Persons in the media have been
furious that they themselves have something enormous to
learn from Aesthetic Realism, and have tried to keep this
knowledge from reaching people."
(AR
website)
"Persons" is also used a
euphemism for AR's current leader, Ellen Reiss. If someone
says, "I have spoken to persons," they really mean, "I have
spoken to Class Chairman Ellen Reiss."
Terrain Gallery. AR's building at 141 Greene
Street include the group's offices, meeting rooms (where
consultations are held), and an art gallery, called
the Terrain Gallery, where they host art showings and
presentations.
TRO. Acronym of the first three words of the AR
newsletter "The Right Of Aesthetic Realism to be Known."
Notice, AR isn't just a philosophy, it has rights!
Tremendous. AR people believe that AR is the most
important thing in the world, ever, and they therefore
struggle with how to adequately communicate the extreme
importance they think AR holds. One result is that they use
the word tremendous quite frequently. The overuse is
kind of comical. A Google search on "aesthetic
realism" tremendous reveals nearly 1,000 hits! Just
a few examples:
- "The Terrain Gallery is proud to present an
exhibition featuring the work of three photographers who
have seen the tremendous value of Aesthetic
Realism for art and for life" --
Announcement
of an exhibit at
AR's headquarters
- "The effect of the Aesthetic Realism education on
people's lives is tremendously beneficial, and
thrilling." -- AR website's
welcome
page
- "[O]ne thing I feel very strongly about is
the fact that we have a tremendous opportunity to
be fair to the greatest knowledge and the greatest person
who ever lived." -- Leader of a
secret
AR inquest,
speaking about AR and its founder, Eli
Siegel
- "A few months later I began to study Aesthetic
Realism and to my tremendous relief I learned that
my deepest desire is to like the world..."
-- by Lynette Abel, on
an
Aesthetic Realism website
- "I think that at a very early age you felt you had a
willing slave in your mother. You got a tremendous
sense of power from that..." Then, three pages later,
"You'll have to see the tremendous sense of power
you get from your mother." --
Eli Siegel, The H Persuasion, pp. 36,
39
- "I am tremendously fortunate to be using the
Aesthetic Realism teaching method."
-- Opening of an
article
for an education journal
- "So do you think that you are tremendously,
tremendously grateful that you met the
Aesthetic Realism of Eli Siegel?"
-- Aesthetic Realism
consultation;
they actually use the word tremendous *nine times*
in that session
- "Using the Aesthetic Realism of Eli Siegel as a
teaching method, I have had tremendous success
teaching William Gibson's The Miracle Worker in high
school." -- by Ann M. Richards,
on AR's
website
- "This was a tremendous day for the Jewish
community." -- AR teacher
Devorah Tarrow, about AR's duping
local officials
to declare "Eli Siegel Day" in Baltimore
- "Aesthetic Realism makes for tremendous
respect for the world and people, and therefore someone
who feels entitled to have contempt for everything can
become angry with it." -- From
AR's "Countering
the Lies"
website
- "Using the Aesthetic Realism of Eli Siegel as a
teaching method, I have had tremendous success
teaching William Gibson's The Miracle Worker in high
school." -- Tagline of an
AR
teacher's blog
- "By now I had a pretty clear idea of the
tremendous range of Eli Siegel's knowledge."
-- Sheldon Kranz, "The H
Persuasion", p. 24
- "There is a tremendous feeling in a person
that by making less of something else you will be
more important." Then two sentences later, another
Aesthetic Realist says: "It has tremendous
subtlety to it." -- In the
Channel 13 tv interview on the gay
cure
- "I left my [Aesthetic Realism] lesson with a
tremendous amount to think about.... Although I
couldn't put it into words that day, logic, poetry, and a
tremendous amount of knowledge had all been
working together to explain me to myself."
-- Sheldon Kranz, The H
Persuasion, p. 42
- "You a tremendous gift of comforting
people--it's too good!" -- Eli
Siegel, The H Persuasion, p. 64
- "At the same time, I admired her
tremendously." -- In the
Channel 13 tv interview on the gay
cure
What's on this site
|
|
Cult Aspects
|
|
What is Aesthetic Realism?
An explanation about both the AR philosophy and the group that promotes it.
Cult aspects of Aesthetic Realism
Fanatical devotion to the leader, cutting off relations with families who aren't also believers -- it's all here.
AR and Homosexuality
The AR group used to try to "cure" people of being gay. They stopped that in 1990 because high-profile success cases kept deciding they were gay after all and leaving. AR has never said their gay-changing attempts were wrong.
AR's founder killed himself
AR's founder Eli Siegel killed himself, but the AR people have been trying to hide that fact. They can't hide any more, since enough former students have come forward to confirm the truth.
Attempts to recruit schoolchildren
Some AR members are public schoolteachers, and yep, they do try to recruit in the classroom.
Five reasons you can't trust an Aesthetic Realist
One reason is that most people who were in AR eventually woke up and got out. See more about this, plus four other reasons.
Lies Aesthetic Realists tell
They say they never saw homosexuality as something to cure. They say the leader didn't kill himself. They say my family left the group when I was an infant. These and more are debunked here.
Hypocrisy of the Aesthetic Realists
It takes some serious brainwashing for the members to not realize that they're guilty of what they accuse others of.
Aesthetic Realism glossary
We explain the real meanings behind the loaded language that AR people use.
|
|
Other goodies
|
|
Thinking of leaving AR?
If you're thinking of leaving the group, you're not alone. Let's face it: Most people who have ever studied AR have left -- and not come back. There's got to be a reason for that. Curious about what they figured out? Worried about the fallout if you do decide to leave? Here's everything you need to know.
Media Reports
NY Mag called AR "a cult of messianic nothingness" and Harper's referred to them as "the Moonies of poetry". We've got reprints of articles, plus some help for journalists researching AR. (And here are shortcuts to the landmark articles in the NY Post and Jewish Times.)
Site News / Blog
Here's some news and commentary that I add from time to time.
|
|
|
AR in their own words
|
|
Actual AR
advertisment
The AR people spent a third of a million dollars
for a double-page ad in the NY Times to tell the world that the
press' refusal to cover AR is just as wrong as letting hungry people
starve to death.
Ad for the gay
cure
AR bought huge ads in major newspapers to trumpet
their ability to "fix" gays.
Actual
letters from AR people
When a theater critic casually dissed Aesthetic
Realism in New York magazine, the AR people responded with hundreds
of angry letters, calling the article "a crime against humanity".
Actual internal
meeting
The AR people blunderingly made a tape recording
of a secret meeting they had, where they lambasted a member who had
supposedly been "cured" of his gayness, but then found to still be
cruising for gay sex. Their screeching hostility towards him is matched
only by their fear that the secret will get out.
Actual AR
consultation
For the first time the public can see what really
happens in an Aesthetic Realism "consultation" (thanks to a former
member sharing his tape with us). In the session the AR counselors
tried to help the member not be gay, explaining that the path to
ex-gayness was to express deep gratitude to AR and its founder.
Actual AR lesson
I had a lesson with the cult leader, Eli Siegel, when I was two years
old, which, like everything else, they made a tape of. The highlight is
Siegel taunting me with "Cry some more, Michael, cry some more!"
Ad in the Village Voice from 1962
The AR folks try to deny that they're a cult in this ancient ad -- showing that people were calling them a cult as far back as 1962!
AR
responds to this website
The AR people have tried to rebut this website
with their own site called Countering the Lies, whose title
ought to win some kind of award for irony. Here we explain the story
behind that site.
|
|
|
|
What former members say
|
|
Aesthetic Realism
exposed
The ultimate statement by a former member, who
was involved for well over a decade.
A tale
of getting sucked in.
This former member describes exactly how he
initially got drawn in, and how he then kept getting more and more
involved.
Aesthetic
Realism ruined his marriage. "I consider my 'study' of
Aesthetic Realism to be one of the factors that led to the eventual
breakup of my marriage, to my eternal sorrow."
On
having all the answers. A former member explains how AR
members think they have all the answers, and feel qualified to lecture
others about how they should view personal tragedy.
Kicked
out for remaining gay. A former student describes how he
was kicked out of AR because he couldn't change from homosexuality.
"If I
disappointed them, then I now consider that a badge of honor."
A former member tells how AR try to change him from being gay, and
convinced him not to spend Christmas with his family.
"...people
were controlled and humiliated if they stepped out of line...".
The experiences shared with us by a member from 1974-80, now a Fortune
100 executive.
|
"I want
Ellen Reiss questioned!" This former member wonders why there
hasn't been a class-action lawsuit against the foundation yet.
They
took his consultation tape. Describes how the AR people
kept his consultation tape with his most intimate thoughts on it, and
told him he couldn't study any more unless he incorporated AR more
radically into his life.
"There isn't any question: Eli Siegel killed himself."
A former member who had sought AR's "gay cure" explains how the group's leaders admitted that the founder took his own life.
Confirms
all the criticism. A former member from 1971-80,
confirms that AR students don't see their families, are discouraged
from attending college, and shun other members. He also offers that he
was mistaken when he was involved about thinking that AR had changed
him from homosexuality.
Michael Bluejay's
description. Your webmaster describes his own family's
involvement.
Members
interviewed in Jewish Times. This lengthy article in
Jewish Times quotes former students of Aesthetic Realism extensively.
NY Post article.
A series of articles in the NY Post quotes many former members who are
now critical of the group.
Aesthetic
Realism debunked. A former student explains the cult
aspects of AR. Posted on Steve Hassan's Freedom of Mind website.
|
|
This page last updated July
2009.
|
|
Aesthetic Realism at a Glance |
|
Name |
The
Aesthetic Realism Foundation |
|
Founded |
1941 |
|
Founder |
Eli Siegel, poet and art/literary critic.
Committed suicide in 1978 |
|
Purpose |
To get the world to realize that Eli Siegel was the greatest person who ever lived, and that Aesthetic Realism is the most important knowledge, ever. |
|
Philosophy
|
The key to all social ills is for people to learn to like the world. Having contempt for the world leads to unhappiness and even insanity. (Their slogan is "Contempt causes insanity".) For example, homosexuality is a form of insanity caused by not liking the world sufficiently.
Also teaches that "beauty is the making one of
opposites". |
|
Location |
New York City (SoHo) |
|
Membership
|
About 106 (33 teachers, 44 training to be teachers, and 29 regular students). Has failed to grow appreciably even after 70 years of existence, and is currently shrinking.
All members call themselves "students", even the leaders/teachers. Advanced members who teach others are called "consultants". |
|
Method of study |
Public seminars/lectures at their headquarters (in lower Manhattan), group classes, and
individual consultations (three consultants vs. one student). |
|
Cult aspects
|
- Fanatical devotion to their leader/founder
- Belief that they have the one true answer to universal happiness
- Ultimate purpose is to recruit new members
- Feeling that they are being persecuted
- Wild, paranoid reactions to criticism
- Non-communication (or at least very limited communication) with those who have left
the group
- Odd, specialized language.
More about cult aspects...
|
Google picks the ads, not me;
I don't endorse the advertisers.
Google picks the ads, not me;
I don't endorse the advertisers.
Google picks the ads, not me;
I don't endorse the advertisers.
|
