|
The Harlequin Course ("Experience")
Led
by Christopher Nevill of "Foundation SA" In late August 2009 I signed up for
the Harlequin
Course, led by Christopher Nevill. He calls his organisation
'Foundation
SA' . I later saw that he also refers to himself as
"Luminous".
The information, on the Harlequin
literature and Foundation SA website
promises
a great deal but is very short on specifics about how the course is
run.
As I discovered on the first night participants are also
required to take
a vow of secrecy. There is nothing else on the web about the
course, and
so I felt it important to post some feedback for those
considering Harlequin, Chalice or other courses led
by Christopher
Nevill. He charges several thousand rand for each course, and
as I
discovered, he is not interested in paying any refund if you find his
style
objectionable.
I attended a Harlequin course in Constantia, Cape Town. It was immediately obvious that the course is carefully designed to put those attending on edge and create insecurity. We
were confined to a small kitchen at the back of the house and only
allowed
into the meeting room when ushered in by a silent 'assistant'.
There were
two rows of hard chairs. Beyond the chairs were five people watching
us.
They were not introduced, nor were they later. So
we had them
behind us and Christopher watching, seated, in a corner.
Then, with a
kind of mysterious manner, almost whispering at times, he began to talk
about
the value of fear and anger. His monologue made your
head reel, with
phrases like ‘there is nothing wrong with manipulation, life is
manipulation...’
At first I was amused, all this drama seemed very contrived, bizarre... but worth indulging, just to see where it led. But I became more concerned as the evening went on. There was a pathetic ‘rules’ scene when he had us promising not to speak without raising our hand, not to be late after a break, not to speak about aspects of the course in public. He required participants to stand to accept these rules. I began to realise that this was one of various techniques Christopher was using to accumulate control and power. He
then
began to ask very personal and probing questions. He was
deliberately
provocative. He probed until he picked up
vulnerability, then he
went at it. Out of the seven of us, two were reduced to
tears. One
young lady with Multiple Sclerosis, for instance, was asked 'why are you choosing to be
sick'?
He goaded her until she "admitted" she 'wanted' to be ill.
I was increasingly disturbed by the mind games he was playing
and the way
he was making people feel insecure, and how he used the power this gave
him.
I did not return after that first evening.
I
am a person who responds to those who are gentle, compassionate,
sensitive.
Perhaps that makes me 'weak and insecure' but I think that
humility is
infinitely powerful, as is straightforward good sense. I
don't respond
well to bullies nor to cunning. |