James Arthur Ray

We're both kind of looking at the impact of settler colonialism.

And so with Plastic Shaman, I was just thinking about, what am I gonna do for my next book? And all of a sudden, I just started thinking about the, the sweat lodge and James Arthur Ray.

And, and as you said, Tracy, the sweat, the actual sweat lodge ceremony, uh, which was a fake sweat lodge.

It was a horrible, like- Imitation Native American thing.

And, and that's when I kind of came in and started thinking, "I think there's a book here." Like, I, I got all the files from the Yavapai County Sheriff.

I started going through, like, thousands of files from the criminal investigation.

I connected with the families of the three victims and got to know their stories, like the stories of the three people that were drawn to James Arthur Ray and, and how that happened.

And, and also just as importantly in my book is the story of Native Americans and, and the cultural appropriation-

We discuss the Cornell 7 horrible case.

We also discuss the FBI getting hacked again, I think the third time, and a scam similar to James Arthur Ray that's perpetuated by an NFL, former NFL players.

So check that out over on True Crime Headlines.

It just came out.

The three tragic deaths that occurred there in 2009 as a result of a very untraditional, non-Native American take on sweat lodges hasn't changed that.

The man behind that particular sweat lodge, James Arthur Ray, was convicted on negligent homicide charges but was released from prison in 2013.

In her new book, Plastic Shaman, The True Story of a Deadly Self-Help Retreat and America's Misguided Quest for Wellness, author Annette McGivney explores that 2009 sweat lodge ceremony, what led to it, and aspects of cultural misappropriation.

And Annette is with us on the Arizona Highways podcast.

Right.

So I had never heard of it until I started doing research for this book.

And as I read social media posts about James Arthur Ray and people like him who are white people conducting Native American ceremonies for money without any permission from indigenous people, Native Americans call those hucksters, you know, they call them what they call them is plastic shamans.

The history of the American West is riddled with stories about charlatans and snake oil salesmen.

Glenn decided to reach out, not to James, but to Ginny Brown.

For Ginny Brown, the nearly 20 months that James Ray spent in prison had been a gift, a break from the nightmare of Kirby's death and everything that followed.

I felt safe.

I felt safe.

They're shamed.

They're embarrassed.

And it wasn't just James Ray.

They heard about plenty of other self-help gurus who'd been accused of financial misconduct, sexual harassment, and manipulation.

If I recall correctly, he ran these sweats as his only source of income, and his name was all over the community calendar for use of the sauna.

I hope all of your listeners have a good head on their shoulders and take your story about James Arthur Ray as a good warning about grifters, quote, spiritual leaders and personal safety.

Red flags are not to be ignored.

Trust your gut.

After promising health, wealth, and happiness to his followers, in the end, all this grifter gave them was a hard sales pitch, injury, and death.

This week's episode is Sweat Lodge Guru, James Arthur Ray, part two.

A bump in the night, your heart fills with dread.

Probably a murder of who wants you dead.

I'm Heather.

And let's get into it.

By early 2009, the same global financial crisis emptying 401ks and shuttering businesses across the country had started to bear down on James Arthur Ray's seminar empire.

The self-help industry as a whole was bracing for a slowdown after years of explosive growth.

The wellness industry is worth trillions of dollars, and that sometimes includes traditions that are said to be affiliated with Native American culture.

That all came to a head more than a decade ago when three people died in Sedona during a sweat lodge ceremony led by James Arthur Ray.

A jury convicted Ray on three counts of negligent homicide as a result, but acquitted him of the more serious manslaughter charges.

He served time in prison and was released in 2013.

She'll be talking about her book at Changing Hands bookstore in Tempe tomorrow.

She joins me to talk about this.

Annette, can you remind us about who James Arthur Ray was and what happened at this particular retreat he was leading in northern Arizona?

James Arthur Ray was a self-help superstar back in the early 2000s.

Please be advised.

Good morning, Mr. Ray.

Morning.

James Arthur Ray sat at a long oak table in a cold conference room.

It was November 2013, and he had been out of prison for just four months.

Is there any reason you can't testify truthfully

Magnanini, as in Bob Magnanini, Kirby Brown's cousin.

Bob and I, I remember we both wore suits and ties and, you know, we came looking like we were, you know, there for business.

Recently on Once Upon a Crime, I revisited a case I first covered back in 2019.

The 2009 Sedona sweat lodge tragedy involving self-help guru James Arthur Ray.

Ray had become one of the biggest names in the self-help world after appearing in the wildly successful film The Secret and on The Oprah Winfrey Show.

But in October 2009, his spiritual warrior retreat near Sedona, Arizona, ended in tragedy after an extreme sweat lodge ceremony.

It's called Plastic Shaman, The True Story of a Deadly Self-Help Retreat and America's Misguided Quest for Wellness.

Annette spent years researching what happened in Sedona, and her book goes well beyond the events inside that sweat lodge.

She examines the rise of James Arthur Ray, the culture of the self-help and wellness industry that helped make him so successful, and the psychological dynamics that can lead people to place enormous trust in charismatic leaders.

She also explores an aspect of this case that deserves much more attention, the commercialization and appropriation of indigenous spiritual traditions, including the sacred sweat lodge ceremony that Ray repackaged as the ultimate challenge and a very expensive self-help retreat.

And we see that exact same exploitation evolve when it moves from physical health to spiritual and mental empowerment.

Which brings us to the tragedy of James Arthur Ray.

Ray operated in the self-help and new age space.

And this is where the psychological manipulation turns physically lethal.