Emin

Domain XIV · Western esoteric, divinatory & new spiritual movements · Raymond Armin · 1971 · London

What it is

The Emin is a small esoteric and personal-development movement that began in London in the early 1970s around Raymond Armin (1924–2002), known to members as "Leo". A circle of mostly young people who had travelled widely began meeting with him and his wife in 1971; the group took the name Emin…

Format

• History and spread. London flat meetings (1971); first small centre in Gospel Oak; a larger centre in Putney (1976); reported UK membership of about 700 by 1977; groups in Israel (from 1977, a Tel Aviv centre in 1980), the USA, Canada and Australia by 1978; a Leiden centre (1985) and, in the 1990s,…
• Leadership. The founder led the movement with his wife; the couple moved to the United States in the 1980s and lived in Florida; the founder died in August 2002 and his wife in 2008. No single successor leader is named in the sources here; after 2002 the movement is described as continuing as a…

Who practises it, and how they are trained or regulated

• Public controversy. In 1980 the satirical magazine Private Eye ran a series of lampoons, followed by a Daily Express article. Critics, including groups that campaign against new religious movements, have called the society secretive; the society answers that its writings are graduated and that excerpts quoted out of context mislead [same source]. An online encyclopedia reports that a 1970s internal document on…

Questions to explore with your client

• What drew you to it, and what are you hoping it will change?
• Does it involve any substance, plant preparation, remedy or supplement? Has your doctor or prescriber been told, especially about any medication you take?
• Does it involve intense or unusual breathing? Have you been told about the medical conditions for which that is not advised?
• Does it involve fasting, a special diet or 'detox'? Have you discussed this with your doctor?
• Is it a group, retreat or community? How do they respond if someone wants to leave or raises a concern?
• Who runs it, and what training or registration do they hold?
• What actually happens in a session or meeting, and how often?
• What does it cost, and is there pressure to commit to more?
• How do you feel afterwards, in the hours and days that follow?
• Does it fit with, or clash with, the work we do here?

What practitioners of it watch for

• contact maintained; the family's anxiety lowers.
• referrals completed; client's consent respected.
• the client experiences you as neutral and steady.
• decisions handed over to readings; compulsive consulting or reassurance-seeking.
• the client voices both sides without fear; not working if you are pushing an outcome.

When to involve someone else

• New or worsening physical symptoms, or advice to stop or change prescribed medication: involve the client's doctor or prescriber.
• Signs of coercion, isolation from family and friends, escalating costs or secrecy: discuss openly and consider safeguarding.
• A crisis or thoughts of suicide: follow your crisis protocol. In the US, call or text 988; in the UK and Ireland, Samaritans on 116 123.

Drawn automatically from the guide's own sections. Stay curious: neither endorse nor dismiss what the client values, and check anything that matters against the full guide and its sources. Not medical advice.