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	==External links==		==External links==
	~~{{Portal\|Books\|Law}}~~
	{{wikisource\|Catherine Jane Stubbs Pleads Guilty to Conspiring to Kill U.S. Attorney in Oregon in 1985}}		{{wikisource\|Catherine Jane Stubbs Pleads Guilty to Conspiring to Kill U.S. Attorney in Oregon in 1985}}
	*[https://web.archive.org/web/20110308135908/http://www.panmacmillan.com.au/display_title.asp?ISBN=9781405039055&Author=Stork,%20Jane Breaking the Spell], description at official website of publisher		*[https://web.archive.org/web/20110308135908/http://www.panmacmillan.com.au/display_title.asp?ISBN=9781405039055&Author=Stork,%20Jane Breaking the Spell], description at official website of publisher

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{{Infobox book
| name = Breaking the Spell
| title_orig =
| translator =
| image =Breaking the Spell by Jane Stork.jpg
| caption =Book cover
| author = [[Jane Stork|Catherine Jane Stork]]
| illustrator =
| cover_artist =
| country = Australia
| language = English
| subject = [[Rajneesh movement]]
| genre = [[Non-fiction]]
| publisher = [[Macmillan Publishers|Pan Macmillan]]
| pub_date = April 2009
| english_pub_date =
| pages = 342
| isbn = 978-1-4050-3905-5
| congress= BP605.R344 S86 2009
| oclc= 300429046
}}'''''Breaking the Spell: My Life as a Rajneeshee and the Long Journey Back to Freedom''''' is a non-fiction book by [[Jane Stork|Catherine Jane Stork]] about her experiences as a [[Rajneesh movement|Rajneeshee]], a follower of Indian guru [[Rajneesh|Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh]] (now known as Osho). It was published in April 2009 by [[Macmillan Publishers|Pan Macmillan]]. Stork was raised in [[Western Australia]] in a [[Catholic]] upbringing, and met her first husband while at university in [[Perth, Western Australia|Perth, Australia]]. After a psychotherapist introduced Stork to teachings of Rajneesh, she became involved in the movement and moved with her husband to an [[ashram]] in [[Pune, India|Poona, India]]. Stork later moved to the Rajneesh commune in [[Rajneeshpuram]], [[Oregon]]. She became involved in criminal activities while at Rajneeshpuram, and participated in an attempted murder against Rajneesh's doctor, and [[1985 Rajneeshee assassination plot|an assassination plot]] against the U.S. Attorney for Oregon, [[Charles H. Turner (attorney)|Charles H. Turner]]. Stork served time in jail but later lived in exile in Germany for 16 years, after a German court had denied extradition to the United States. She returned to the U.S. to face criminal charges after learning of her son's terminal cancer condition. Stork discusses her process of reevaluating the effects her actions within the Rajneesh organization had on other people and on her family.

The book received generally positive reception in the press and media. The [[Australian Associated Press]] commented that Stork "provides an insight into the mind of the Bhagwan and his mouthpiece [[Ma Anand Sheela|Ma Sheela]]",<ref name="escaping" /> and ''[[The Sunday Mail (Brisbane)|The Sunday Mail]]'' called the book "An amazing story of self-delusion, followed by self-determination and redemption."<ref name="clark" /> ''[[The Daily Telegraph (Sydney)|The Sunday Telegraph]]'' highlighted the book in the newspaper's "Must Read" section,<ref name="telegraph" /> and ''[[The Gold Coast Bulletin]]'' called it "Shattering".<ref name="goldcoast" /> A review in ''[[The Age]]'' commented that the book exposes "the ultimately selfish nature of apparently selfless fanaticism".<ref name="capp" />

==Background==
Born in 1945,<ref name="escaping" /> Catherine Jane Stork was raised in [[Western Australia]], in a family of five children.<ref name="metcalf" /> She is the daughter of a math teacher from [[Albany, Western Australia]].<ref name="cacetta">{{cite news | last =Cacetta | first =Wendy | title =Bitter taste of Orange | work =[[The Mercury (Hobart)]] | page =B12 | date =May 9, 2009 }}</ref> Her family maintained a strict [[Catholic]] household.<ref name="capp" /> Stork met her first husband Roger while attending university in [[Perth, Western Australia|Perth, Australia]].<ref name="metcalf" /> Catherine and Roger married and had children Kylie and Peter.<ref name="metcalf" /> After suffering from bouts of anger which Stork directed at her husband, a psychotherapist recommended she attend meetings at a centre in Perth, where addresses by [[Rajneesh|Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh]] were shown.<ref name="metcalf" /> By 1977, Stork and her husband had become devoted followers of Rajneesh, and they moved to the Rajneesh ashram in [[Pune|Poona, India]] in 1978.<ref name="metcalf" /> Stork moved to the Rajneesh commune in [[Rajneeshpuram]], [[Oregon]] in 1984, where she observed Rajneesh's lavish lifestyle which included [[Rolls-Royce (car)|Rolls Royce]]s and million-dollar diamond watches.<ref name="metcalf" />

While at Rajneeshpuram, Stork became involved in [[1985 Rajneeshee assassination plot|an assassination plot]] against then-United States Attorney for Oregon [[Charles H. Turner (attorney)|Charles Turner]].<ref name="mckenna">{{cite news | last =McKenna | first =Michael | title =Mercy for expat in US kill plot | work =The Australian | date =February 2, 2006 }}</ref> Stork was convicted of the attempted murder of Rajneesh's physician in 1986, and served almost three years in jail.<ref name="mckenna" /> After her release, agents from the [[Federal Bureau of Investigation]] (FBI) uncovered the plot to assassinate Turner, but Stork had already fled to Germany.<ref name="mckenna" /> She was indicted by a federal grand jury in 1990.<ref>{{cite news | last =Staff | title =Cult member admits murder plot | work =SBS Australia | date =September 27, 2005 }}</ref> In 1991, the German government refused to extradite Stork back to the United States.<ref name="mckenna" /><ref name="parker" /> In June 1991, U.S. prosecutors filed affidavits in the murder conspiracy case with the Higher Regional Court in [[Karlsruhe, Germany|Karlsruhe]], as part of an attempt to extradite Stork from Germany to the U.S.<ref name="ap19910630">{{cite news | last = Associated Press | author-link = Associated Press | title =Guru Followers' Plot To Kill Is Detailed - Documents Say U.S. Attorney Was The Target | work =[[The Seattle Times]] | page =B3 | date =June 30, 1991 }}</ref> In February 2006, Stork became the last perpetrator sentenced in the political assassination plot against Turner, after ten months of negotiations with Oregon prosecutors.<ref name="mckenna" /> Stork offered to turn herself in and return to the United States after learning of her son's terminal [[brain tumor]].<ref name="mckenna" /> Prior to sentencing, the court allowed her to travel to Australia to visit her son.<ref>{{cite news | last =Callimachi | first =Rukmini | title =Last of the Rajneeshees pleads guilty | work =[[Associated Press]] | date =September 27, 2005 | url =http://www.newsreview.info/article/20050927/NEWS/50927003 | accessdate = 2008-01-07}}</ref> In addition to charges of conspiracy to commit murder, Stork also pleaded guilty to the purchase of weapons in violation of federal firearms law.<ref name="parker" /> An Oregon judge sentenced her to five years probation, and three months time already served in a German jail during the extradition dispute with the United States.<ref name="mckenna" /><ref name="parker">{{cite news | last =Parker | first =Jim |author2=Pat Dooris |agency=[[Associated Press]] | title =Final Rajneeshee sentenced in murder plot | work =Northwest NewsChannel 8 | publisher =[[KGW]] | date =January 30, 2006 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news | last =Staff | title =Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh disciple gets probation in murder plot | work =The Seattle Times | date =January 31, 2006 | url =http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2002773871_webbhagwan31.html | accessdate =2008-01-07 | url-status =dead | archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20090726083836/http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2002773871_webbhagwan31.html | archive-date =July 26, 2009 }}</ref> Though Stork could have faced life in prison, U.S. District Judge Judge [[Malcolm F. Marsh]] thought she had "seen the error of her ways."<ref name="parker" /> A federal prosecutor in the case described Stork as the "MVP"{{Clarify|date=May 2013}} of the conspiracy, and said she was the designated assassin that was set to murder Turner.<ref name="parker" /> After her sentencing, Stork stated: "I actually conspired to kill Mr. Turner, it is up to me alone to face this terrible truth ... No person has the right to do what I did. I'm truly sorry."<ref name="parker" /> Stork returned to Germany after her sentencing.<ref name="parker" /> She met her second husband, a mathematics professor named George, while she was working in Germany.<ref name="cacetta" /> In 2009, Stork resided near the [[Black Forest]] in Germany,<ref name="cacetta" /> with her second husband.<ref name="metcalf" />

==Contents==
Stork became exposed to the teachings of Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh as a young wife.<ref name="capp" /> She decided to accept this as her new faith, and moved with her two children and her husband to live on an [[ashram]] of the Rajneesh movement, in India.<ref name="capp" /> She and her family would later move to live with the Rajneesh movement in the United States.<ref name="capp" /> Stork describes the impact that her time in the Rajneesh organization had on her children and her marriage,<ref name="goldcoast" /> including an account of walking in on her husband kissing their neighbor, and her own sexual experiences with a stranger.<ref name="metcalf" /> While in the Rajneesh organization she took a new name of "Ma Shanti Bhadra".<ref name="escaping">{{cite news | last = Australian Associated Press | author-link = Australian Associated Press | title = Escaping the Bhagwan | work = [[The Age]] | publisher = [[Fairfax Media]] | date = April 11, 2009 | url = http://www.theage.com.au/world/escaping-the-bhagwan-20090410-a2vp.html | accessdate = 2009-04-26 }}</ref>

Stork left her husband and children and broke off contact with her parents and siblings.<ref name="metcalf" /> She gained an influential position within the Rajneesh organization, and worked closely with Rajneesh's secretary,<ref name="sussex" /> [[Ma Anand Sheela]] (Sheela Silverman).<ref name="escaping" /> Stork believed she had to defend Rajneesh, and was part of an attempted murder plot which at the time she felt would protect him.<ref name="capp" /> She discusses how she attempted to kill Rajneesh's doctor with a syringe filled with [[adrenaline]], and also plotted to kill U.S. attorney Charles H. Turner.<ref name="escaping"/> Stork discovered that while in the organization, her children were sexually abused.<ref name="capp" /><ref name="sussex"/> "It still makes me want to cry. It is the most painful thing to realise what I did to them. They are incredible people and I am so proud of them, but they really suffered," said Stork of her children's abuse while in the Rajneesh organization.<ref name="cacetta" /> She spent a period of 16 years in Germany while the U.S. government attempted to extradite her to face charges,<ref name="metcalf" /> and later served jail time in Germany while awaiting possible extradition to the United States for her role in the attempted murder plot.<ref name="parker" /><ref name="sussex" /> In addition to her prison sentence, her son Peter's condition of a brain tumour affected her,<ref name="cacetta" /> and she reevaluated her experiences in the Rajneesh organization and the effects her actions had caused.<ref name="metcalf" /> She was given leave by a United States federal court to visit her son, on condition she return to the U.S. to face charges.<ref name="cacetta" /> "It was a rough ride, but I made it. It does feel as though I spent a very long time asleep in a dream," said Stork.<ref name="cacetta" />

==Reception==
''[[The Daily Telegraph (Sydney)|The Sunday Telegraph]]'' highlighted the book in the newspaper's "Must Read" section.<ref name="telegraph">{{cite news | last =Clark | first =Lucy | title =BOOKS - MUST READ - Breaking the Spell | work =[[The Daily Telegraph (Sydney)|The Sunday Telegraph]] | publisher =[[News Corporation (1980–2013)|News Corporation]] | date =April 26, 2009 }}</ref> Lucy Clark of ''[[The Sunday Mail (Brisbane)|The Sunday Mail]]'' described the book as "one woman's extraordinary story of becoming a devotee of the Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh ... sacrificing self, family and freedom to carry out the bizarre -- not to mention criminal -- wishes of her guru".<ref name="clark" /> Clark concluded that ''Breaking the Spell'' is "An amazing story of self-delusion, followed by self-determination and redemption."<ref name="clark">{{cite news | last = Clark | first = Lucy | title = Reading Room Reviews | work = [[The Sunday Mail (Brisbane)|The Sunday Mail]] | page = 18 | publisher =[[News Corporation (1980–2013)|News Corporation]] | date = April 26, 2009}}</ref> A review in ''[[The Gold Coast Bulletin]]'' commented "A prime example of religion gone bonkers, Stork's journey goes from adoration to betrayal, madness to redemption," concluding: "In a word: Shattering".<ref name="goldcoast">{{cite news |last=The Gold Coast Bulletin staff | title = Paradise | work = [[The Gold Coast Bulletin]] | page = 017 | publisher = [[News Corporation (1980–2013)|News Group]] | date = April 11, 2009 }}</ref>

{{quote box |width=25em | bgcolor=#c6dbf7 |align=right |salign=right|quote="In her new book, ''Breaking the Spell: My Life as a Rajneeshee and the Long Journey Back to Freedom'', Stork ... provides an insight into the mind of the Bhagwan and his mouthpiece Ma Sheela"|source= —''[[Australian Associated Press]]''<ref name="escaping" />}}
Writing for ''[[The Age]]'', Fiona Capp noted: "Interestingly, what this memoir unconsciously exposes is the ultimately selfish nature of apparently selfless fanaticism. For all Stork's contrition, ''Breaking the Spell'' left me angry and saddened."<ref name="capp">{{cite news | last =Capp | first =Fiona | title =Breaking the Spell - NON-FICTION | work =[[The Age]] | page = 26 (Section: A2) | publisher =[[Fairfax Media]] | date =April 4, 2009 }}</ref> In a separate review for ''[[The Age|The Sunday Age]]'', Lucy Sussex commented on the history of the Rajneesh movement: "The Rajneeshees have become an almost forgotten cult. They lacked the notoriety of the [[Jonestown]] bloodbath, or the political meddling of the [[Exclusive Brethren]]. Nobody got killed, a minor miracle, as this book shows."<ref name="sussex">{{cite news | last = Sussex | first = Lucy | title = Breaking The Spell : My Life As A Rajneeshee, And The Long Journey Back To Freedom - BOOKS | work = [[The Age|The Sunday Age]] | page = 21 (Section: M) | publisher = [[Fairfax Media]] | date = April 19, 2009 }}</ref> Fran Metcalf of ''[[The Courier-Mail]]'' described the book as a chronicle of Stork's "turbulent and bizarre life".<ref name="metcalf">{{cite news | last =Metcalf | first =Fran | title =Out of an orange fog | work =[[The Courier-Mail]] | page =M21 | publisher = Queensland Newspapers | date =April 25, 2009}}</ref> A review by the [[Australian Associated Press]] wrote that Stork "provides an insight into the mind of the Bhagwan and his mouthpiece Ma Sheela", noting "Charismatic and feisty, Sheela was hugely influential in the organisation, Stork says. But she was also the Bhagwan's puppet and scapegoat, and ultimately his fall-woman."<ref name="escaping" />

Sunanda Mehta of ''[[Indian Express]]'' wrote that "the book paints a sordid picture of the guru and his ways" and noted it was "already creating ripples amongst readers and Osho followers the world over."<ref name="mehta">{{cite news | last = Mehta | first = Sunanda | title = Bizarre lifestyles, murder plots: former sanyasin recounts her Osho days | work = [[Indian Express]] | date = April 11, 2009 | url = http://www.indianexpress.com/news/bizarre-lifestyles-murder-plots-former-sanyasin-recounts-her-osho-days/445674/2 | accessdate = 2004-04-27 }}</ref> A spokeswoman for the Osho Meditation Resort in [[Pune]] stated "Whatever [Stork] may have written has no relevance to us. She is writing about Rajneesh and the commune, that part is over and gone."<ref name="mehta" /> Swami Chaitanya Keerti, editor of the ''Osho World'' magazine, said that Stork "did not have any power or individuality of her own. She did whatever Ma Anand Sheela asked her to do. She may be repenting now what she had done then and blaming everything on Osho. She may be bitter about being jailed for her misdeeds."<ref name="mehta" />

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Further reading==
*{{cite news | last = Australian Associated Press | author-link = Australian Associated Press | title = Escaping the Bhagwan | work = [[The Age]] | publisher = [[Fairfax Media]] | date = April 11, 2009 | url = http://www.theage.com.au/world/escaping-the-bhagwan-20090410-a2vp.html}}

==External links==
{{Portal|Books|Law}}
{{wikisource|Catherine Jane Stubbs Pleads Guilty to Conspiring to Kill U.S. Attorney in Oregon in 1985}}
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20110308135908/http://www.panmacmillan.com.au/display_title.asp?ISBN=9781405039055&Author=Stork,%20Jane Breaking the Spell], description at official website of publisher
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vaSwM5bQ3xY Interview with Jane Stork], Very personal and revealing interview with Jane Stork.
{{Osho movement}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Breaking The Spell: My Life As A Rajneeshee And The Long Journey Back To Freedom}}
[[Category:2009 non-fiction books]]
[[Category:Books about religion]]
[[Category:Rajneesh movement]]
[[Category:Biological weapons in popular culture]]

Breaking the Spell (Stork book) - Revision history

CleanupBot II: Removed empty portal template using script

>SpinnerLaserzthe2nd: /* External links */