Robert Earl Burton and The Fellowship of Friends: September 1982

Introduction

Robert Earl Burton founded The Fellowship of Friends in the San Francisco Bay Area in 1970. Burton modeled his own group after that of Alex Horn, loosely borrowing from the Fourth Way teachings of Gurdjieff and Ouspensky. In recent years, the Fellowship has cast its net more broadly, embracing any spiritual tradition that includes (or can be interpreted to include) the notion of "presence."

The Fellowship of Friends exhibits the hallmarks of a "doomsday religious cult," wherein Burton exercises absolute authority, and demands loyalty and obedience. He warns that his is the only path to consciousness and eternal life. Invoking his gift of prophecy, he has over the years prepared his flock for great calamities (e.g. a depression in 1984, the fall of California in 1998, nuclear holocaust in 2006, and most recently the October 2018 "Fall of California Redux.")

According to Burton, Armageddon still looms in our future and when it finally arrives, non-believers shall perish while, through the direct intervention and guidance from 44 angels (recently expanded to 81 angels, including himself and his divine father, Leonardo da Vinci), Burton and his followers shall be spared, founding a new and more perfect civilization. Read more about the blog.

Presented in a reverse chronology, the Fellowship's history may be navigated via the "Blog Archive" located in the sidebar below.

Thursday, September 30, 1982

September 1982 Notes

Early harvest at Fellowship of Friends Renaissance Winery Oregon House, CA

An early Fellowship harvest. Dr. Karl Werner (right) points to the stems, while Diana Werner looks on. (Photo: T. Campion)

September 5:

Salon (at The Goethe Academy) is inaugurated

September 11:

Cabernet Sauvignon harvest begins

Winemaker Karl Werner said the acid-sugar balance could not be better. Over thirteen tons are brought in.

The vintage may turn out a lighter, more elegant wine than past vintages.

September 12:

Cabernet harvest continues

September 15:

Small lots of white varietals are harvested for champagne. Chenin Blanc, Gewurztrmainer.

Karl expects the first releases of our wine will be in 1988.

September 16:

16.44 tons of Petite Sirah harvested

September 17:

Rain. Reports of grape crops damaged in Napa and Sonoma (but Renaissance beat the rain.)

September 18:

Steady rain

September 23:

Zinfandel harvest