Testimony of Antonia. Spain

(She was in the New Acropolis Internal Circle for more than 20 years. Specifically, she was part of the Women's Brigades, the female section of the internal group)

First reflections

It is incredible how many groups that call themselves mystical, religious or philosophical proliferate in the shadow of the law—groups that to everyone's eyes we call sects, but which legally we cannot denounce because we would be attacking the constitution, against the human right to free thought and expression.

And it's true, we cannot attack the human right to think and live as we believe best, because it is part of our freedom as individuals; but it is also happening that many people discover after some time, even many years, that they have been deceived, scammed and mistreated, that they believed they were living a truth by giving their lives to a good cause, the construction of a new and better world for everyone, and that they cannot report it because there is no legal space to do so, since apparently there is no crime that can be proven.

That is to say, it is not the typical small-time scam, the kind that wanted to exchange ten euros for a euro, when a person trying to take advantage of the situation is deceived by a selfish person; rather, one is manipulated, directed and coerced with disciplinary codes to benefit an organization economically and in other so-called earthly pleasures, while believing one was working for humanity and at the same time developing as a complete human being.

What happens is that they come to take advantage of an innate human need, because we are social beings and that is why we naturally move to be empathetic and altruistic.

Many of these groups start from the beginning with deception: they say they are one thing, then you discover they are another, and finally you end up entangled in a twisted thread of ceremonial "voluntary" obligations acquired to bind you even more as responsible for your volunteering in the organization. That is where all kinds of abuse fit in, from physical to psychological and mental.

My first encounter with New Acropolis

Like almost everyone who enters New Acropolis, my first encounter was through what they call the "Third Circle," that is, through the activities they run for the public. One day you discover that a free activity is advertised, a talk about human values and psychology, for example, that seems interesting and you feel like attending; the activity is also held in a cultural space and when you look it up on the internet it looks very appealing, as you see young people smiling and many examples of other activities already carried out. Nothing seems out of the ordinary or strange; you see it as cultural entertainment, like when you go to the movies.

On the day of the event you attend and find that they welcome you intending to inform you about the cultural space where you are, about the activities carried out by the different groups that make it up, including a "school of philosophy," and they take special interest in you attending a presentation of this course.

It is already time for the event, you sit in the room and a presenter appears who again informs the attendees about the cultural space in which they are and says that this activity is carried out by New Acropolis (when they say it, at best) within this cultural space, and they again present the "Philosophy for Living" course and that furthermore the person giving the talk is someone trained in this school, that is, not even a psychologist.

For lack of time I could not search the "web" to see what New Acropolis was, but it did not occur to me to be suspicious; in fact I thought it would be another association that runs activities, and the talk is interesting, it has a lot of information, the speaker is prepared, correct, gives interesting examples and I become enthusiastic because I like it. Then they mention the importance of philosophy and the search for truth for human beings and, astonishingly, I agree—I feel it is something important to know!

Finally a Q&A takes place and people ask about concrete things that happen to them or that have happened to them and the subject of the "Philosophy for Living" course comes up again and the speaker recommends it as something necessary in our lives. As I am in a state of enthusiasm it seems very interesting, when I had only attended a talk on human values and psychology in a cultural space which, until you enter it, you do not know the activity is carried out by New Acropolis.

The activity ends and before leaving another person approaches me who again mentions the philosophy course and the presentation of this course that will be held next and that lasts only half an hour, in case I want to attend. If that day I cannot because it has gotten late, I leave my mobile number to be notified of the next presentation of the "Philosophy for Living" course.

A few days later (two or three days so the excitement does not cool too much) they call me; it is a very kind person who reminds me of the interest I showed in the philosophy course and gives me two dates with different times to see which suits me best so I can attend. I choose a date, I go and I am again excited about philosophy, I fill in the registration, pay the enrollment fee and the first monthly payment and the following week I start the course.

What happened? Now I am going to take a philosophy course at New Acropolis without knowing what New Acropolis is, but I only went to a cultural activity that I found interesting and that was a cultural space with a name that said nothing about New Acropolis! (for more information about fake associations see the end of the article)

I begin the comparative philosophy course

I began the philosophy course and a new world opened up for my mind: Karma, Dharma, Reincarnation, the Bhagavad Gita, Buddha, Tibet… Also Plato, Aristotle, the importance of training as a true citizen (as an acropolitan), being a conscious agent of history (by volunteering in New Acropolis) and the importance of being responsible for creating a new and better world by training myself as a new and better human being… Also historical cycles and their course, Yugas, the new world order when the old world (the civilization in which we live) falls…

For months I began to feel a great responsibility to collaborate as a volunteer in the creation of a new and better world and that I cannot remain inactive or on the sidelines; I must give my energy to the world, in a way simulating what Plato shows in "the myth of the cave," because thanks to New Acropolis I have been able to leave the cave of the old world and I must return to help my fellow human beings to know the truth of this false and materialistic world in which they live.

For that reason I begin to do work shifts, in a secretariat, then in two, and to collaborate in other activities of the branch itself or in the different national structures where courses are run under the national and international command. Soon I begin to distinguish that there is a more internal core, the "Living Forces," who work as the most active volunteers in the construction of the new and better world, the "spiritual survival module" the founder spoke of, in which, moreover, they train you as a disciple to enter the small mysteries…

Probationism of the Living Forces

I undergo a "probationism of the Living Forces," that is, they instruct me on how a Living Force should be and act within the core of New Acropolis. I carry out a series of brutal tests on the mountain in the middle of a winter night and later, under ceremony in the temple (which is hidden in the branch) of the Living Force I have entered as a woman or as a man (always adhering to the body with which I was born), I commit to serve with loyalty and effectiveness as a member of the Living Forces (which ends with the phrase I belong, I obey), that is, to work with greater surrender and to continue training to commit even more to the idea that I must be an oath-bound leader (hachado), that I must pay a higher fee, a tithe, and hand over all goods to the acropolitan cause, even those I may inherit.

I am no longer a member who studies philosophy in New Acropolis, nor a volunteer; now I am a committed or sworn disciple/a of the organization and I belong to the disciplic chain of which New Acropolis is the sole heir in the world.

I am trapped and I have not realized it!

Obey without asking myself (for in principle I was a philosopher) whether that is really freedom.
To attend national courses I must lie and deceive at work to have that time, but I let it pass, because as a philosopher I am a seeker of truth.
I consent that my branch and Living Forces leaders (directors and heads) have serious faults, but because they are teachers dedicated to the cause I must not point them out.
If the branch does not grow it is the disciples' fault, because they do not do the basic work well.
They humiliate me in private and in public, they coerce me, they demand what I do not have, yet I still feel I must keep trying because I do not give enough and I am the problem.
I have been physically assaulted, but I endure it because they are shaping me as a disciple/a and I cannot be weak as an acropolitan/a.
I work fourteen to sixteen hours a day, I suffer stress, anxiety and high blood pressure, because I feel that I will not be able to deliver my secretariat, discipleship and other responsibilities to which I must give myself completely.
I have an illness, but it afflicts my body and not my soul, which is no reason to reduce my pace of work.
I must help, as a good disciple/a, with cleaning service in the private home of the branch heads, even as a chamber assistant.
I must share a flat with other acropolitanos, because the disciplic environment will accelerate my inner transformation as a disciple/a and therefore I must allow the branch head or acropolitan master to supervise all personal aspects of my life, because even in privacy I remain a disciple/a.
I have been raped, but I must only focus on the fact that it was of the physical, the perishable, the mortal, and that my soul, the immortal, cannot be violated.
As a leader I must train other acropolitanos with the same methods, even if that means forcing them "morally" to leave their family or work responsibilities.

There are so many states of abuse and we also consent to them without knowing they are such due to strong coercive indoctrination!

But one day, after several years, I begin to sense that I am a slave; I live exclusively for the acropolitan ideal, I cannot choose my vacation days, I do not have a job that ensures my own future, I do not have a partner outside New Acropolis (and if I have had one they have broken it up), I do not have weekends off, I do not attend family events (not even Christmas), or I have not even been present beside my sisters when they have had their children, when before we were inseparable…

What has happened? After years of membership and total dedication, suffering stress, insomnia, guilt for being a bad disciple/a because I never give what is expected of me and because I do not bring in new disciples, because I do not obey blindly what I am ordered, I begin to feel as if I am being set aside with the excuse that I have had more than enough time and training to have become a good disciple and that I must be humble in my small inner stature and make it easier for new generations to have their opportunity to advance…

If you reach that moment when you feel you have been squeezed and discarded like an orange peel, do not worry—you are in luck, it is the moment of your liberation.

You will have a hard time, you will ask yourself why fate punishes you, but it is normal; remember that you have done a lot of indoctrination work, with commitment ceremonies that made you get even deeper into a lie you are starting to discover, or perhaps you have lived unforgivable experiences.

Soon you will have an irrational fear of the gods, of karma, and you will worryingly ask yourself, "What will happen to me if I betray (actually if I leave) New Acropolis?" You will feel alone, without friends, with no one to support you, but you must know that you are not alone; your family loves you and loves you truly, and if you do not have family write to the blog, or you can request psychological support, although the latter will be difficult, because New Acropolis insisted a lot that the psychology of the old world is defective, but that is not true.

Soon you begin to discover that you are now becoming you and only you, making your own decisions, following your own paths, and this is wonderful. Trust life—now it is yours.

Then, knowing as you do the Living Forces, the "security body" above all, or if you have an acropolitan partner who has preferred to remain faithful to what is called the "disciplic chain," you will begin to fear their reprisals, but you will already have begun to breathe cleaner, healthier air and that will give you the strength to face the situation; although it is true, it will not remove the suffering, because you must face the harsh reality that you have been deceived by a sect. And all because at first you believed you were going to a cultural activity.

Soon after you will look back and review your life; you will be very, very angry, because you will not be able to report it legally, but do not remain in that state and above all do not punish yourself by saying ugly words to yourself, because you have done nothing wrong—you have been a victim.

You will also begin to think about the companions who stayed there and you will feel you want to do something for them; again you will be invaded by the feeling you had within New Acropolis, thinking you had come out of the cave that Plato tells of, and you will laugh ironically, because you will realize that New Acropolis was the true "Cave."

I advise you to always keep in mind a motto that prevents you from collapsing: "They will not be able to do it to me." Think about it, they have already taken a part of your life; do not allow them to keep taking it. Take control and be the true owner of your body, your life, your psyche and your mind. Although it is hard to turn the page, it is necessary to be yourself again and once you do you will see that you can, if you want, without rage and without a thirst for revenge, denounce together with other people who have suffered the same abuse by New Acropolis, so that there are no groups that take advantage of people's goodwill and run wild.

My best wishes in your new life, which is now yours again!

Antonia V, November 2024

ANNEX: On the false institutions of New Acropolis

In the first decade of the 21st century, New Acropolis decided to put into practice a new strategy to attract people, since the name "New Acropolis" had a very bad reputation as a sect. The strategy to follow was to hide New Acropolis within another cultural association that would host several groups and that thus would also carry out activities under these new associations, which was a complete deception for the public, since it was no longer New Acropolis but another cultural association that put on a face.

Why is it a deception? Because all the groups belonging to this cultural organization created to not show New Acropolis directly are from New Acropolis; even those who appear as directors, secretary, treasurer and board members are members of the Living Forces (people committed or sworn to New Acropolis—the most internal circle where the chain of command and the pyramidal hierarchy are revealed) of New Acropolis.

Thus were born "Centro Idealia" in Almería, "Centro Imaginalia" in Alicante, "Espacio Luzarra" in Bilbao, "Centro Hispalia" in Seville, "Es Racó de ses Idees" in Palma de Mallorca, "Itaca Espacio Cultural" in Valencia, "Espacio Alejandría Cultural" in Elche, "Centro Cultural Castalia" in Castellón, "Espacio Da Vinci" in Zaragoza, "La Escuela, Iniciativas Culturales" in La Coruña, "Espacio Gran Vía, Ideas en Acción" in Vigo, "Centro Naos" in Málaga, "Centro Habis" in Huelva, "Espacio Victoria" in Madrid, etc.

Within these associations there are also other groups, which they use both to attract people and to show that, in addition to New Acropolis, there are also other associations. Some examples are the following:

"Esfinge Digital Magazine"

"Esfinge is a magazine published by EDITORIAL NA, promoted by the School of Philosophy of the New Acropolis International Organization in Spain" (extracted from its website).

Until very recently they said they had nothing to do with New Acropolis; in fact, the name New Acropolis was changed to Revista Esfinge with editorial NA, as can be seen in the lower right corner of the second image, and later it became Revista Esfinge Digital and only a few issues were printed for New Acropolis members nostalgic for paper, but the magazine omitted that it was from New Acropolis.

"GEA," active ecology group

They do not mention on their website that they are part of New Acropolis, but it is directed by sworn people (called hachados) of New Acropolis; in fact, at a national Living Forces course, in which the newly appointed director of GEA (hachada), microphone in hand, revealed to all the members of the Living Forces that GEA could not be related to New Acropolis so that it could operate with public institutions, such as firefighters or civil protection, but with the order not to deny it openly if it was not necessary and always with the consent of the national command.

"School of Sport with Heart"

It was initiated by the branch head (director) of New Acropolis Zaragoza and is only developed in all the cultural spaces where New Acropolis is present. Like "GEA," it is run by members committed to this organization.

"Library…" (name according to city)

It is the New Acropolis library which, to the public eye, appears independent (like the "School of Sport with Heart"), but it is managed by committed members of New Acropolis with collaborators who are students of the "Philosophy for Living" course (called "probationists") and new members.

Other names or institutes also appear to the public as independent of New Acropolis, but they are the different institutes that belong to New Acropolis and are run by professionals, such as "Hígia" or "Seraphis" (medicine), "Fidias" (architecture), "Tristán" (music), "Bodhidharma" (martial arts), "Hermes" (anthropology), or "Maat" (legal). Beware of the latter! It has extensive experience (more than forty years) in filing defamation and honor lawsuits against New Acropolis; never reveal your true identity publicly when you say something real that goes against them.

All these organizations, which try NOT to put New Acropolis in front, openly show the "Philosophy for Living" course of New Acropolis as their main activity; they even have the motto "Philosophy, Culture and Volunteering" on their homepage, which is the same that appears under the New Acropolis logo.