This post is part of a series refuting false allegations made as part of a dedicated smear campaign against The Gnostic Movement and its spiritual teacher, Mark H Pritchard. To go to the main page on rebuffing the false allegations click here, or read the background to the smear campaign see here.

Barbara has alleged that Mark asked her to be his partner in a Skype phone conversation in  October 2007, and that this contributed to the breakup of her marriage, but Mark neither wished nor asked Barbara to be his partner. There is written evidence from Barbara over a period of nearly a decade from 2001 to 2010 (until she started to make her allegations in May 2010), where she discusses the problems in her relationship with her now ex-husband and why she left him – which she even states in an email herself, had nothing to do with Mark. These emails are outlined below along with other emails she wrote which contradict her account on the smear campaign.

In the campaign, Barbara also states that Mark said things to her in this conversation which he never did. He actually talked to her about his own situation (see paragraph below) to make sure she knew it had nothing to do with her after Edith had mentioned it to Barbara (some other members had already been told about it). Mark felt he needed to put it clear to her that his situation didn’t concern her as he already knew from Barbara that she wanted to break up with her husband. But Barbara later tried to make it appear as though Mark asked her to be his partner to try and destroy his reputation and falsely blame her marriage break up on him. The only email from Mark (dated December 2008), which she presents as support for her claim is a frame up, she takes the first part of the email and tries to make it suit her agenda, but she leaves out the remainder which puts the first part in its context and totally refutes her claim. What she deliberately omits from Mark’s email states, “but as I clarified at the time, it’s not you, moreover, to re-confirm it again – it has nothing to do with you or your relationship with [name of Barbara’s ex-husband removed].[end of email]” Three days after the October 2007 conversation with Mark, Barbara wrote that the conversation had been left as resolved for her.

Barbara also makes absurd claims about Mark’s relationships. So what really happened? In 2006 Mark and Edith separated to later divorce, and Mark began years of celibacy as is required in Gnostic doctrine (he was living alone when the smear campaign started). After years of separation, Mark began a permanent relationship with Angela with no one else living with the two of them.

From the end of 2006 Mark and Angela knew they would be together, and waited for Mark’s period of celibacy to end. Some members were also told about this at the time. Barbara has speculated on and given a completely false view of this situation, along with Angela’s mother who also joined in the smear campaign. Following is a statement from Angela:

“I have in no way experienced the claims made on the hate site about my relationship—they are simply totally untrue. These have been made by people who know nothing about my own private life (which both Barbara and my mother have admitted on the hate site). I can only completely corroborate everything said here on this page, either from first hand involvement or from seeing the evidence.  I have been bizarrely portrayed as a hapless victim on the hate site, which has used ridiculous emotive pictures to give the impression that I am a 7-yr old girl (although I am 30 years old), which I am definitively not. This is a psychological tactic used to distort my life and Mark’s in the public to people who don’t know any better.”
Angela

Following is an account and outline with evidence which reveals what really happened with Barbara and we feel that the real reason she is making this allegation emerges from this. We have made this information available in defense of Barbara’s false claims which act to harm another’s character in the public, and because of the public’s right to truth when presented with falsity that is claimed as fact.

Very little was said about this for around a year, as discussing personal details of people’s lives is not something anyone here wishes to do, but by saying little, people actually believed the lies said about Mark, and this was stopping people from getting to the teaching. There was no choice therefore but to release the evidence, to clear his name and put the truth to the many false accusations he has had to bear. The many witness accounts support this evidence.

(Referring to image above: Relationships in Gnosticism are seen as sacred, and so are strictly monogamous, with certain guidelines so their sanctity is respected which are found in teachings dating from early Christianity)

The Other Side of the Story

Barbara has changed key dates and/or details of her account on each re-telling. She makes numerous claims, which Mark says are untrue, in some cases with written evidence to counter them. She is using multiple frame ups as evidence, specifically leaving out the details and parts of emails which would refute her claim (as she has done with other false allegations refuted on this website). She also alleged that Edith Pritchard asked on Mark’s behalf, however Edith says this is false.

Barbara was not privy to the details of Mark’s personal life. She only had a brief period of in-person contact (some three months in early 2006). During most of her time in The Gnostic Movement she lived in a different continent to Mark, and otherwise in a different city. In making her accusations about Mark’s personal life, she has either made vast suppositions or has deliberately attempted to spread false information. What Barbara has not mentioned in her public accounts, is that within days of her husband moving out, and just over 3 weeks after announcing the break-up of her marriage, Barbara was seen to be in a relationship with Vernon (her present husband). Evidence shows (much of which is presented below) that it looks likely that Barbara was having problems in her marriage and instead wished to be with Vernon.

Yet having entered her new relationship so quickly and so publicly in The Gnostic Movement, just before initiating the smear campaign Barbara complained in an email that she had felt that people in The Gnostic Movement had speculated on the reasons for her marriage break-up, and that they had even accused Vernon of being the cause of it, saying that she felt she had been deeply humiliated by it, and that gossip had even reached people outside of The Gnostic Movement. The last things she states after having been ousted from The Gnostic Movement for behavioral issues is that she only wished that she did not have to walk away in this way, with a stain to her name. Just one week later she sent out a mass email to people in The Gnostic Movement, falsely accusing Mark of breaking up her marriage using a false account of events and suppositions, which she later combined with chopped emails.

But Barbara is not someone who left the organization of her own choosing to publicly “tell all” – she was asked to leave due to behavioral issues, tried to return to the organization for around a year, and only began making her allegations once she had finally been denied contact and had already admitted in writing to numerous mistakes in her behavior, mistakes in her relationship with Vernon, and the reasons why she had left her husband (all of which we have documented).

Apart from changing the details of her allegation, misrepresenting evidence and information, and making claims based on speculations about Mark’s personal life, Barbara also appears to have blatantly contradicted herself in public. In 2009, AFTER the events she alleges broke up her marriage (but before the smear campaign), a user on an anti-cult website with details that match Barbara and can only be her, posted in defense of Mark stating, “From both of our experience [meaning her and her latest husband Vernon who is also a key figure in the smear campaign], we only found him [Mark] to be someone sincere, honest and caring and a teacher who from what I have seen, teaches from the heart and with a lot of experience behind him.”

Following is a timeline and a more detailed description of events compiled from written and witness evidence, most of which is taken from emails written by Barbara and Vernon themselves. It is a simple, factual account of events, which shows Mark to be innocent of her allegations. We believe Barbara has made a deliberate attempt to harm Mark and falsely blame her marriage break up on him, and cover up how she left her husband for another man.

OUTLINE OF EVENTS WITH EVIDENCE

Before Barbara married her ex-husband, she had sent an email stating that while she was very close to him, she couldn’t be sure that this is the man she wanted to marry. A friend she spoke to at the same time has also stated she said the same thing to them. However, a few years later Barbara and her now ex-husband got married.

Barbara Meets Vernon

In April 2006 Vernon became the supervisor of the London Center, which Barbara and her husband ran and administered. Barbara and Vernon would have begun contact at least as early as this time (which is also around the time Vernon separated from his then wife). In February of 2007, Vernon took a trip to the UK, where he met Barbara and personally bought her a laptop as a gift. A photo from this trip shows Barbara and Vernon standing close to one another (touching each other). Then, in March 2007, just one month later, Barbara sent an email requesting a discussion with Mark. Mark says that Barbara told him that her relationship with her husband at the time wasn’t working. He also says that Barbara had been seeking his advice about the problems she was having with her now ex-husband since as early as 2006 (a year before the conversation she falsely alleges contributed to the break up of her marriage).

Barbara’s False Allegations about Pictures and Meetings

In May 2007, Mark had been going through his photos of the many different people he’d worked with and sent them out individually to around 15 people at that time to show his appreciation – Barbara was one of the 15 to receive them. Mark sent Barbara some photos he had of her and her husband at the time. Barbara responded, thanking Mark and stating that her ex-husband, who she was still married to at that time, also enjoyed the pictures. A little over a month later, Mark followed up with a few other photos he had found of Barbara from the same time, attaching them and simply stating that he had found a few other photos of her. Barbara did not respond to this email, and on the smear campaign said she found it strange she had been sent these photos “out of the blue” to indicate it must have been some kind of advance from Mark to support her claims, which is completely false. Little did Barbara realize, she was just one of many people to receive photos.

She also stated that Mark had lots of Skype meetings with her to infer that it must have been another indicator of an advance. Email evidence actually shows that it was quite the opposite – that Barbara made the overwhelming majority of requests for Skype meetings with Mark (almost all). The meetings were mostly about administrative matters concerning The Gnostic Movement. Barbara was just one of the many administrative people in The Gnostic Movement that Mark had regular meetings with. Meetings over Skype and emails are the regular form of contact in The Gnostic Movement. Any emails about Barbara’s personal life were instigated by her. It was usual for Mark to receive the occasional email from members seeking his advice, however Mark says that Barbara had sent more than everyone else combined. Mark commented that he found this strange. Again, Barbara took a common activity that occurred with lots of other people to support her absurd accusations.

Barbara and Vernon’s Friendship Continues

In 2007 Barbara and Vernon began working closely together on numerous administrative matters of The Gnostic Movement, and Barbara later stated in an email that Vernon had, over the years, been a very good friend. In July 2007, Vernon traveled to attend a retreat which Barbara and her then husband at the time also attended. Witnesses state that they were shocked to see Vernon and Barbara sitting together at an outing one evening, whilst Barbara’s husband sat alone and at a distance.

In February 2008 Barbara sent an email stating that Vernon had been helping her work on something whilst he was on a visit to London.

In early May 2008 Barbara and her then husband joined Vernon for a holiday in Greece. A photograph from this trip shows Barbara and Vernon sitting together, whilst her then husband is sat at a distance. Another shows Barbara sitting between both of them closely, but with Vernon sat closer to her than her husband from the time. On return Barbara stated in an email that some of the people from the organization in Greece had offered to come to London to help renovate the study center there.

Barbara writes about Her Relationship With Her Ex-Husband and its Ending

Then only weeks later, towards the end of May 2008, Barbara wrote an email to Mark asking for advice stating that she had been stuck for a long time with her inner work and that the source of this was her marriage. She stated that to be clear about it, the problem in particular was a lack of love. She then went on to say that things had reached a crunch time for her now as she was desperate to move past this point but felt that she was completely shackled by the situation. She also states in the email that none of it had anything to do with the conversation that she had with Mark and Edith about Mark’s own situation – that it was completely apart from that and had no relation to it.

Then, just a week later, at the beginning of June 2008, Barbara sent out an email to all the members of The Gnostic Movement announcing that she was breaking up with her husband, stating, “We have made the decision for the sake of our inner work, which is all that we will say about it, and both of us have faith that things will go in the direction they should. In a few weeks [Barbara’s then husband] will be returning back to [country]…” and “I [Barbara] will stay here in the UK, and Vernon and a couple of other students from Greece will move to the UK to help with the London centre.”

Untrue Information by Barbara on the Start of Her Relationship With Vernon

Yet Barbara states on the smear campaign, “With my husband back in Australia, I was now the only teacher in London…So Mark asked one of the teachers in Greece to move to London to help to run the centre. A couple of months later he [Vernon] arrived and the UK activities carried on.” And also “By this time I had begun to form a relationship [with Vernon].” However, the decision for Vernon to move to Barbara’s city was already made before she announced her marriage breakup as stated in her own email. The idea of people from Greece going to the UK  to help with the London center was an idea that first appeared in an email Barbara sent on return from her holiday with Vernon and then husband. Once Barbara informed Mark that she and her husband were separating, Mark suggested that Vernon could move to London to help Barbara run the center, yet Barbara later claimed that Mark was trying to break her and Vernon up. Barbara writes that Vernon arrived to the UK months after her husband had left for Australia. But she and Vernon were seen publicly displaying their relationship at a retreat in the UK within days of her then husband moving out of the apartment they lived in together (and within weeks of the announcement of her breakup).

Vernon and Barbara were seen to be in a relationship just over 3 weeks after Barbara had announced her marriage breakup at a retreat in the UK held from the 29^th of June 2008 to the 4^th of July, where they were warned by a member of The Gnostic Movement that they were giving a bad image to Gnosis by acting as a couple so soon after Barbara had announced the breakup of her marriage.

Barbara’s Response to the General Clarification on Marriage Issued in The Gnostic Movement

But it wasn’t until December 2008 that Mark learned firsthand from Barbara, in an email she sent, that she was publicly in a relationship with Vernon (which was within a one year time frame that is meant to be a break between partners in Gnostic doctrine). Mark then issued a general clarification about marriage in Gnostic doctrine within the organization in order to clarify the misunderstandings that many people at the time had about the period before marriage, and to compensate for the lack of information about it in existing works. The situation with Barbara and Vernon highlighted the need for it – as they were acting publicly as a couple (breaking rules of Gnostic doctrine) and at the same time publicly teaching Gnosticism (both were active members and teachers of The Gnostic Movement). In response to the issue Barbara again wrote the reasons why she and her husband had broken up, stating that her marriage was a failure, and in the same email said that she had a love for Vernon that is not like something she has known before.

Due to the clarification on marriage, Barbara voluntarily stepped down from membership of the organization, however Mark let her know that as long as she respected the doctrine, and continued with her relationship in the appropriate way, there was no need. Yet Barbara later alleged that her relationship was the real reason behind her sanction in 2009, and that Mark had even asked for it and made the clarifications on marriage because he wanted her to split up with Vernon and be his partner instead, when Mark had suggested that she continue with her role in the organization (which she did whilst continuing in her relationship with Vernon) even after she had offered to step down, and had absolutely no wish for her to be his partner.

Barbara and Vernon Asked to Leave The Gnostic Movement

As mentioned above, both Barbara and Vernon were asked to leave The Gnostic Movement many months later in April 2009 for behavior that was contrary to the principles of the organization (again, nothing to do with their relationship and not requested by Mark but by the board of members responsible). During 2009, Barbara and Vernon both admitted to and apologized for this behavior (which Barbara described herself as trying to force other people, and acting in a controlling way, she stated that at the root of it was negativity, some [mistakes] which could be seen and therefore reflected badly on Gnosis and the Movement, and that she had fallen into fanaticism) in lengthy emails and asked to be allowed to return. However she and Vernon were not allowed re-admittance due to their continued behavioral issues.

Then in January 2010, still not being allowed to return after having apologized, Barbara wrote an email that she actually felt the real reason behind her and Vernon’s sanction was their relationship, and attempted to explain herself, stating again the reasons for ending her marriage by saying that she had come to the realization that she would not be able to continue in Gnosis or be able to have any chance to succeed in the Gnostic work with [name removed] as her husband, and that she still did not have any doubts about this. She also states that she felt their separation was the right thing and that her marriage had failed. She then continues to explain that she had confided in Vernon about the difficulties she faced in her marriage, stating that she was comforted by her friendship with Vernon who had, over the years, been a very good friend and was able to talk openly to him about the difficulties she was facing. She said that she did not feel that she could talk to anyone else in Gnosis about it. Also going on to state that both she and Vernon wished they could turn back the clocks and change the way they did things as they understand now that it was a serious mistake, but that it was too late for that now.

Barbara Writes About Gossip and Humiliation

However, still not able to return to The Gnostic Movement, and just under 5 months before starting the smear campaign, Barbara began writing about how she felt that people were gossiping about the reasons she separated with her husband and expressed her wish to “put things right.” She stated that due to the wrong actions that she and Vernon did, it was not a surprise that some people would think badly of them, and that they had made mistakes and have to face the repercussions of that. Neither Mark, Edith, nor The Gnostic Movement initiated, engaged in nor condoned any gossip. Barbara herself wrote at the time that she knew that Mark and the movement wouldn’t condone rumors and also that most people in gnosis wouldn’t be engaged in it.

In March 2010, over a year since they had first been asked to leave, Barbara and Vernon were still not allowed re-admittance to The Gnostic Movement, and at this time Barbara was also told she was no longer allowed participation on the Belzebuub.com forums, due to continued behavioral issues as there were with people who were with Vernon who were against, and negative towards, Mark Pritchard (Belzebuub).

Just over a month later, in April 2010, Barbara sent an email that she now finally no longer wanted to return to The Gnostic Movement stating that she did not want to return to face the humiliation and embarrassment she felt she had been put through. She stated that she believed people had been discussing her separation from her ex-husband and speculating on the reasons for it, including speculating that Vernon was the cause. Only in this email, in April 2010 – two and a half years after the conversation she states contributed to the breakup of her marriage, after being ousted from The Gnostic Movement for around a year, and just over a week before initiating the smear campaign – she alleged for the first time that “a substantial part of my decision to separate from [name of ex-husband removed] stemmed from the discussion” Edith had with her in 2007 about Mark’s own personal situation. This she said, was combined with the fact that [her ex-husband] wished to leave Gnosis, and that she came to understand, without any doubt, that she would not be able to succeed in the Gnostic work while she was married to him. She said this gossiping was poison that affects many more things other than gnosis including employment, family etc. And ended her email by saying that she only wished that she didn’t have to walk away in this way, with a stain to her name, but that is what she and Vernon had been left with. We believe she wrote this email in an attempt to be able to later back up her claims, but again on publishing it left out key parts that would put her story in doubt.

We state again that neither Mark, Edith, nor The Gnostic Movement initiated or took part in any gossip about them. Barbara and Vernon themselves have taken details of their personal lives and publicized them through mass unsolicited emails, the internet, and the media.

Barbara and Vernon Initiate the Smear Campaign

It was then only just over a week later that both Barbara and her now partner Vernon sent mass emails on the same day in May 2010 to people in The Gnostic Movement, initiating the smear campaign with this allegation against Mark Pritchard, giving reasons why they were making their allegations, which included addressing rumors about the real reason for their sanction and clarifying misinformation about both of them. They continued to write about how they had been humiliated and gossiped about, and how this had reached people in their lives outside The Gnostic Movement, and that they had to put a stop to it.

Conclusion

From the above evidence, our conclusion is that Barbara appears to have felt humiliated in front of her colleagues and other people in her life by the events surrounding the ending of her marriage and being seen in a relationship with someone who was a close friend just weeks later, along with being ousted from The Gnostic Movement for behavioral issues and not being allowed to return.

Only years later – after being asked to leave the organization, trying unsuccessfully to return for around a year, finally stating she no longer wanted to after being denied access to the Belzebuub.com forums, and stating that she wished only that she did not have to walk away with a “stain on her name” – Barbara began publicly blaming and accusing Mark for things she claims that had happened to her.

Barbara didn’t know what was going on in Mark’s personal life and has used speculation, misinformation, and deliberately incomplete emails to try and back up her claim despite the contradictory evidence that refutes it in her own hand from a period of nearly a decade.

Until now the public has not had access to the evidence, but without it Barbara’s rendition of events is all that is available, and that is why it has now been explained on this website.

Mark is innocent of these allegations, and this has been put clearly in the interests of the public who are currently exposed to these false allegations, because of the right all people have not to suffer untruths being published about them, and the rights all people have to access spiritual wisdom without untruthful prejudice.