International School of Temple Arts
The International School of Temple Arts is an organization which describes itself as promoting sexual healing and healthy attitudes towards sex. ISTA claims its workshops address the spiritual aspects of sex.
ISTA was founded in 2007 by Baba Dez Nichols in Arizona, as a non-profit organization.
Baba Dez Nichols has not been part of ISTA leadership since 2015. He ceased facilitating ISTA trainings in 2019, and he is no longer a member of the ISTA Lead Faculty, and he left completely in 2024.
ISTA teachings are influenced by Neotantra and western interpretations of shamanism.
Claims of misconduct and sexual abuse have caused controversy and opposition to establishment of ISTA seminars at some locations.
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Controversy
Journalist Anke Richter stated to the Byron Shire Echo that "There was a covert harem culture at ISTA. Male pioneers surrounded themselves with young female lovers, often from their trainings, who were then accelerated to apprentices and facilitators". Some senior members of the organisation have been accused of performing sex acts on meeting participants without consent or pressuring them to consent to sex acts.In 2021 the organisation said that they had temporary implemented a policy of not allowing Temple Training teachers to have sex with participants.
In a The Cut (New York) article several of ISTA's teachers were accused of sexual misconduct and other questionable practices. Pele Ohad Ezrahi was accused that during a 2021 party hosted by Ezrahi, a 20-year-old woman was given multiple doses of MDMA by Ezrahi and was sexually assaulted by him while drugged. There are multiple reports accusing Ezrahi of coercing sexual activities with students during ISTA events. Bruce Lyon was accused by Baba Dez in a letter dated September 2, 2024, that Lyon's Highden Temple was associated with incidents of rape, trauma, and suicide. Dez himself was accused of pressuring students into sexual activities during ISTA workshops. He allegedly also propagated the belief that sexual interactions with male leaders could be healing for women, a concept referred to by some former assistants as "the magical cock." Michal Maayan Don was accused that dismissing a claim that a female participant was raped during a ritual at a Level 2 training, suggesting that everyone has a "predator" inside them and implying that the participant's experience was due to her own inner imbalance.
Additionally, several former seminar participants reported they have suffered from psychosis due to their participation in ISTA seminars.