Since I first took note of the \u201cWiccan coven\u201d sex scandal that has engulfed John Friend<\/a>, head\u00a0of\u00a0the popular Anusara hatha yoga\u00a0school<\/a> in America, the story has left the confines of the American Yoga community and been picked up by larger media outlets. William J. Broad, author of\u00a0\u201cThe Science of Yoga: The Risks and the Rewards\u201d<\/a>, informs readers of the New York Times that no one should be surprised<\/a> that this has happened.<\/p>\n \u201cYoga teachers and how-to books seldom mention that the discipline began as a sex cult<\/strong> \u2014 an omission that leaves many practitioners open to libidinal surprise.\u00a0Hatha yoga \u2014 the parent of the styles now practiced around the globe \u2014 began as a branch of Tantra. In medieval India, Tantra devotees sought to fuse the male and female aspects of the cosmos into a blissful state of consciousness [\u2026]\u00a0if students and teachers knew more about what Hatha can do, and what it was designed to do \u2014 they would find themselves less prone to surprise and unyogalike distress.\u201d<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n Broad\u2019s somewhat controversial notion that the many\u00a0recipients\u00a0of Friend\u2019s affections should have seen this coming, because yoga is a sex cult at its roots, isn\u2019t sitting well with Indian-American commentator Sandip Roy, who blasts Broad\u2019s correlation with yoga\u2019s founding and the bad behavior of some teachers<\/a>.<\/p>\n The bafflement with the\u00a0Times article is the ridiculous equation that Mr. Broad has seen fit to draw between Friend\u2019s personal fall from grace and the roots of yoga. His argument suggests philanderers and yoga are a natural fit. (I wonder if Bill Clinton knew about this.) Also a yoga class is just an affair waiting to happen given all that \u201carousal, sweating, heavy breathing and states of undress.\u201d Houston, we have a sticky mat problem.\u00a0As proof, alongside Friend and other fallen yoga gurus like Swami Muktananda and Swami Satchidananda, Broad cites the fact that the student-teacher sex problem was so prevalent the California Yoga Teachers Association had to deplore it as \u201cimmoral.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n Yes, yoga does draw a lot of starry-eyed groupies and yogis have become rock stars. Yes, after Mahesh Yogi\u2019s Beatles adventure many so-called gurus set up ashrams in the West and dispensed the spiritual East in five easy poses and nirvana in five easy doses. But that\u2019s really a gullibility problem, a megalomania problem, an abuse of power problem, not a yoga problem.<\/strong> A lot of cult leaders (even non yogic ones) have that very same problem. Remember David Koresh of the Branch Davidians in Waco, Texas? Or Jim Jones? Or even\u00a0Thomas Peli<\/a> in Papua New Guinea who told his followers that the banana harvest would increase every time they fornicated in public? The problem really is, as Lauren Jacobs points out in her\u00a0Huffington Post blog<\/a> the \u201cguruization of religious leaders, spiritual teachers, politicians, and even therapists who seem to be permitted to act above the rules that govern the rest of us.\u201d<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n SF Gate Columnist Mark Morford also skewers Broad\u2019s piece, noting that it explains \u201chow yoga can make you into an orgasmic pervert sex monkey love guru.\u201d<\/a> <\/em><\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m happy to report the NYT and Broad are mostly full of crap on this. Yoga is a physical, spiritual, energetic, wildly interconnected practice that can transform every aspect of your world. It\u2019s based on some powerfully sacred, ancient philosophy and scriptural teachings that only want you to become a fully realized, divinely illuminated being, right now, this very second, on your very next breath \u2014 no gods, guilt, cultish sex rites or blind faith required. What\u2019s not to like?\u201d<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n While this back-and-forth over the place of sex and sexuality within yoga is interesting, there\u2019s still almost no talk about how Friend\u2019s Wiccan coven enters into this scandal, including the fact that Friend said Anusara yoga is\u00a0\u201ca philosophy and practice that is totally aligned with Wicca on every level.\u201d<\/a> <\/em>What does that mean to him in light of these scandals? In a leaked letter, Friend seemed to hint that sacred sex was a common denominator.<\/p>\n Tiffany joined us in this auspicious and sacred endeavor. As part of our rituals you and I both agreed that we would use sexual\/sensual energy in a positive and sacred way to help build the efficacy of our practices, which is\u00a0a common element of most Wiccan circles<\/strong>, as you know.\u201d<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n Yet there\u2019s been almost no talk about how Wiccans see this scandal, no interviews with Pagans or Wiccans who are also yoga practitioners, no mentions at all, except for fleeting ones. Only the Jezebel <\/em>blog even attempts to grapple with how these two traditions\u00a0intersected\u00a0within the scandal.<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cBoth personally and as a means of seduction, Friend appears to have embraced Wicca, which he seems to feel aligns quite closely with the foundations of Anusara.<\/strong> He even causally mentions Wicca in his\u00a0official bio<\/a>, but it looks like he was pretty deep into it. In a letter that seems to be addressed to one of his lovers, he details how Wicca intersects with their sexytime \u2026 <\/em>[excerpt of the letter I quote above ] Oh, the old Wiccan coven trick.<\/strong> But seriously, since this man is essentially a quasi-religious leader to his many devoted students and employees, his willingness to exploit his teachings and beliefs for sexual purposes seems particularly gross.\u201d<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n Lauren Jacobs at HuffPo also briefly mentions the \u201cold Wiccan coven trick.\u201d<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n \u201cAlleged special (supposedly \u2018Wiccan\u2019) sexual circles with teachers and students, including married individuals whose partners were not aware or had not approved?\u201d<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n Beyond that? Nothing, and that\u2019s a problem. No doubt that many will think this will all soon fade from memory now that Friend is stepping down from Anusara, taking a \u201cleave of\u00a0absence,\u201d and reorganizing the tradition<\/a>. That controversial Wiccan coven will get lost in a cloud of allegations that need \u201cverification.\u201d<\/a> However, I think this scandal should be a wake-up call for national Wiccan\u00a0organizations, and an opportunity to engage with myths versus the reality of how our traditions work. If we allow this aspect to simply get lost in the larger narrative about Friend\u2019s downfall, it only allows misconceptions to grow. To cultivate the idea that maybe we are OK with non-transparent sex covens centered around a powerful leader.<\/p>\n