The Michael Teachings

Lore & Background

The Michael Teachings began with a few friends gathered in Sarah Chambers' living room in Oakland, California, seeking answers to their own questions. Starting in August 1973, via a Ouija board, Sarah Chambers 'brought through' information about personality and how to get along better in the world. The group included Alice Hannah, their husbands (both named Richard), and other close friends interested in advanced spiritual study. Friends invited friends, and some stayed while others passed through. The teachings were first published in 1979 by novelist Chelsea Quinn Yarbro, who chronicled the Bay Area sessions in a series of four books.

Reader's Guide

The Michael Teachings have been included in academic research by scholars such as Jon Klimo, Olav Hammer, Michael F. Brown, and Mary Meeker Albert. Klimo noted that the Messages from Michael series helped make Michael-channeling one of the best-known examples of channeling in the 1970s and early 1980s, and reported that more than a dozen people in the San Francisco Bay Area claimed to channel the same 'Michael' using various methods. Hammer described the teachings as a 'fairly well-structured set of doctrines, expressed in a distinct vocabulary,' with Michael described as a 'group soul, a collective consciousness of 1050 essences.' Brown's research led to his book The Channeling Zone, which used the Seth Material and Michael Teachings as prime examples. Alber compared the Michael system to other essence and personality systems, noting similarities to the Fourth Way and Arica programs. The teachings have been criticized by some as Satanic and evil, but followers are described as among the best-educated people in the country, seeking spiritual guidance outside organized religion.

Did You Know?

• The Michael Teachings originated via a Ouija board in the early 1970s in the San Francisco Bay Area.
• More than 40 books have been published about the Michael Teachings, with translations into multiple languages.
• Academic scholars including Jon Klimo, Olav Hammer, and Michael F. Brown have researched the teachings.
• Sarah Chambers, who first channeled the entity, had previously studied the Fourth Way school of George Gurdjieff.