Thane Walker (sometimes “Thane of Hawaii”) was a spiritual/mystical teacher most known for founding The Prosperos, an organization active from the mid-20th century that combined occult, psychological, and spiritual themes. The Prosperos+2Bathtub Bulletin+2
Here are key details about him:
Who he claimed to be / his background
- He was born (around 1890) in Nodaway County, Missouri. Bathtub Bulletin+2Bathtub Bulletin+2
- He styled himself as one of America’s first psychologists. Bathtub Bulletin+1
- Claimed he was imprisoned in a Nazi concentration camp, in connection with an article he allegedly wrote titled “I Saw Hitler Make Black Magic.” Bathtub Bulletin+1
- Served as a Marine Corps officer and entertained American troops in Japan during the post-WWII occupation. Bathtub Bulletin+1
His teachings / The Prosperos
- He founded The Prosperos in 1956 along with Phez Kahlil. The Prosperos+2Bathtub Bulletin+2
- The group’s aim was to offer spiritual education focused on expanding consciousness, awakening from what he saw as misleading everyday sensory experience and constrained personality. Bathtub Bulletin+1
- Influences in his teachings included: G. I. Gurdjieff, Freudian and Jungian psychology, occult and astrological traditions. Bathtub Bulletin+2The Prosperos+2
- His methods involved stories, rituals, disorienting experiences, a practice called the “Oral Tradition” or “Fire in the Mouth,” and other seminars and study lessons. The Prosperos+1
Other facts / uncertainties
- His approximate death date is 1989. Bathtub Bulletin+1
- Membership for The Prosperos was reported to be about 3,000 by the end of the 1980s. Bathtub Bulletin+1
- Some of his claimed experiences (e.g. being in a Nazi camp) are disputed or come from his own narrative; external corroboration seems limited. Bathtub Bulletin
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