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.

Tuesday, February 28, 1984

February 1984 Notes

Robert Earl Burton's Fellowship of Friends cult Renaissance Winery barrel room construction
Pouring a concrete column on the bottle storage level of the winery (Photo: James Kline)

"Renaissance Vine" newsletter [Summarized]
Photos: Pouring a concrete column on the bottle storage level of the winery, and German white oak barrels in which the red wine vintages prior to 1983 are maturing.

Members who wish to dance at Fellowship social events are encouraged to learn how to waltz in the Viennese style.

February 1:
Renaissance Meeting
February 18:
California Meeting
February 25:
Istvan Nadas, piano
The Fellowship has opened town new centres: Dublin, Ireland, and Edinburgh, Scotland. The Santa Barbara Centre has reopened.