Former community member speaks out

After being dropped off in Silver City, Danny, an organic farm intern, felt they had just been kicked out of a cult. A quick Google search provided Danny with information that caused concern. Their farm host, The Retreat in Reserve, Catron County, turned out to be related to a decades-old community known as the Divine Madness Running, which was characterized as a cult in the 1990s.

Danny first learned about The Retreat through the Worldwide Opportunities for Organic Farms (WWOOF) website, which connects organic farms with interns worldwide. WWOOF is one of many platforms for people who travel from farm to farm to gain hands-on experience. The interns are often affectionately known as woofers.

Danny, who wishes to remain anonymous, was an experienced woofing volunteer and understood that things online weren’t always as they appeared. Once, they took a position at a cattle farm with no cows. However, Danny did not anticipate the unusual experience they would have at The Retreat, an off-the-grid community seeking an intern.

And now Danny is speaking out to warn others.

The Divine Madness Running Club initially gained attention in the 90s with stories of sexual abuse, sleep deprivation, food withholding and isolation. Many media outlets, including Sports Illustrated, New York Times, and Newsweek, ran detailed accounts about the charismatic leader of the Divine Madness, Marc “Yo” Tizer.

Tizer and several original members eventually left Boulder to reside on their rural property in Reserve. Danny reported that during their stay, 12 of the community members at the retreat had lived together for about 40 years.

Danny claims The Retreat’s online presence doesn’t accurately reflect their practices. Danny believes The Retreat recruits members through farm internships, coaching, energy healing and a wilderness camp for girls 12-15 years old.

“I was under the impression that it was kind of an interfaith community because they talk about having open time for your individual meditation practice or prayer,” Danny said.

Danny had been woofing on a farm outside of Pie Town and liked what was on the website so they decided to apply for the internship at The Retreat online.

“They actually picked me up in the Sawtooth Mountains. And it was on the two-hour drive from Sawtooth to the cult that I first heard that they had a teacher because they don’t say that on their website. They didn’t say that on the WWOOF. They didn’t say it anywhere,” Danny said “And I knew as soon as she said it, I was thinking this is bad, and it was because of the gleam in her eyes. She turned and looked back at me saying ‘We have a teacher’. And you could tell it was a teacher with a capital T when she said it.”

At that point, slightly concerned but with limited options, Danny decided they would feel it out. When they arrived, they were in awe of the property’s beauty.

“It’s in the Gila National Forest. It’s in the San Francisco River Valley, and it’s called the Frisco Box. There are these huge, 100-foot-tall cliffs. It’s like a river gorge just behind their property. So it’s one of the most stunningly gorgeous places I’ve ever been,” Danny said.

They said the farm was primarily self-sustaining, they grew their own food and produced their own energy, something Danny aspired to do.

“There was so much that I loved about being there,” Danny said, “I got really attached to a lot of the community members. They are genuinely wonderful people. And I got really attached to the land out there. It’s beautiful, and I really wanted to be there, like even with everything.”

Danny reported rarely interacting with Tizer except for a few passing conversations; he lived in a separate house. Female members of the group rotated caring for and staying in his home. Danny noticed the women carried walkie-talkies so he could contact them when he needed something.

Members would ask Danny questions about how they felt about Tizer, and Danny began to feel that they were trying to gauge their interest in him.

“It was within the first few days that I had the thought, I should Google “Yo” and see if he’s on the sex offender registry and I ignored that thought because I didn’t want to know,” Danny said, “I was having a mental split, where, pretty much day one, I knew it was a cult, and I was in denial about basically thinking that I could ignore the bad parts and enjoy the good parts and have my own individual experience and not be affected by the leader.”

Danny doesn’t remember exactly how long into their stay, but The Retreat members started playing old videos during breakfast. The videos featured a younger Tizer offering his “teachings.”

“They start you off with extremely palatable teachings that you can’t argue with. Eat healthy, exercise, go outside. So they start you off with stuff that it’s like, okay, I guess this is innocuous and fine,” Danny said, “It’s uncomfortable to kind of be having this mandatory sermon from this guy who also, in all of these videos is ableist, sexist, racist, he is clearly a narcissist.”

Just from watching the videos, Danny understood that Tizer possessed some charisma, but it didn’t land well and Danny had no respect for him.

Editor’s Note: The second part of the story will run in next week’s edition.