Teal Swan (aka Teal Scott) is a new-age spiritualist, author, blogger and social media celebrity based in the United States. Swan claims that she has psychic powers and extrasensory abilities and attracts fans and followers from all over the world. Swan has been equally controversial for claiming that she is half human and half alien and that she is a reincarnation of Indian spiritual master Sai Baba of Shirdi. In addition, Swan has been accused of trivialising suicide and is famous also for her multiple romantic affairs and failed marriages.
As of 2022, Swan has achieved the status of a spiritual teacher and travels globally, delivering speeches and running spiritual and self-help workshops. She also writes books, runs a clothing line, paints, writes blogs, gives video lectures on YouTube and runs a charity organization.
Early life & childhood
Teal Swan was born on 16 June 1984 in Santa Fe, New Mexico, as Mary Teal Bosworth. According to the official biography published on her website, though her parents were living a hippie lifestyle at the time of her birth, they nonetheless badly wanted a child.
However, Swan claims that since she was born with spiritual “gifts” and extrasensory abilities, she grew up as an awkward, silent child, which frustrated her parents. Her extrasensory abilities were diagnosed as a form of mental illness by the medical community at that time.
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| Personal details: | |
| Born | Mary Teal Bosworth (Teal Swan) 16 June 1984 |
| Education | High School |
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| Residence (s) | Philia Centre, Costa Rica |
| Nationality | American |
| Ethnicity | Caucasian |
| Religion | Own spiritual way |
| Website & Social Media links | |
(The 2019 BBC documentary about Teal Swan:Â The woman encouraging her followers to visualise death) | |
When Swan was still very young, her parents moved from New Mexico to Utah. In Utah, they were offered jobs as forest rangers. They soon had a son, who, unlike Swan, was born normal. On the other hand, Utah, unlike New Mexico, was a very religious state and the pervasive influence of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints made Swan’s life very difficult. The community where Swan’s family was living believed that God gave special spiritual gifts only to men, and when a girl was born with spiritual talents, that had to be a  devil. Because of that perception in the community, Swan says, she was bullied and harassed as a child.
Torture, sexual abuse and exploitation
When Swan was just 5, she was invited to a friend’s house and Swan claims that she was raped by her friend’s father for the first time. Reportedly, he pulled her off the bicycle she was riding and one of the motivations behind the rape was to ‘possess’ her spiritually. The man, a locally respected veterinary physician, was, as Swan describes, “a sadistic, psychopath” and often attended “cult rituals in his spare time”. Already considered an awkward, difficult and mentally ill child, Swan remained silent and didn’t reveal the abuse to her parents.
Following that incident, as Swan describes in her biography, she was subjected to torture, exploitation, and multiple rapes and was forced to participate in mentally and physically exhausting cult rituals. In addition, the abuser told her that he was her real father and that her parents were, in fact, her foster parents. She believed his version of the story and formed a strange bond with him, which is often described by psychologists as Stockholm Syndrome. Her abuser managed to convince her parents that she was possessed by demons and he knew how to solve her problem.
Swan claims that she was subjected to extreme physical, mental and sexual exploitation for nearly 13 years. The abuser, reportedly, forced her to sleep with other men for money, often in gas station bathrooms and basements. At times, she was deprived of food and was forced to undergo three abortions during the course of 13 years. She lived in a hole in the ground of the abuser’s backyard and often the abuser used anaesthesia to sedate her. Despite these instances, Swan kept hiding the truth from everyone and in her biography describes in detail how her parents had failed to recognise the suffering she was going through. She writes:
When she wrote dark, disturbed poetry or drew disturbing pictures, they assumed she was overly sensitive and had been affected by someone else who was being abused at her school. When she kept getting bacterial infections and urinary tract infections or stomach pain so bad she was hospitalized and migraines, they attributed it to a weak immune system or hormonal imbalance.
When Swan entered adulthood, her abuser was unable to find clients as she was no longer a child. Then he persuaded her to do modelling, which she did for some time. She has said in interviews that she had attempted to commit suicide and felt suicidal during those years.
Ultimately when she was 19, she escaped from the abuser’s trap. A case against the abuser was opened after Swan’s escape but was dropped by the district attorney because of a lack of concrete evidence. In media interviews, the abuser has denied the claims that he was abusing her. He has often said that Swan completely made up those stories to gain sympathy and attention from others.
Swan has said in interviews that she took up skiing as a regular hobby to cope with the suffering she was going through.
Escape & New Life
When she was 19, Swan escaped from the virtual captivity of the abuser and went to an acquaintance called Blake Dyer. Swan and Dyer have, reportedly, stayed together as friends since then, supporting each other at times of crisis. As of 2016, Dyer is Swan’s business partner and when other people have questioned Swan’s spiritual prowesses, Blake has spoken and written defending her.
Before the escape, Swan’s mother took her on a trip to China where she was investigated by traditional Chinese medics. In her biographical article, Swan mentions that in China, for the first time in her life, she felt she was understood and totally accepted. Â Contrary to doctors in the West, Chinese doctors argued that Swan’s extrasensory abilities were in fact gifts and not signs of any mental illness. The doctors in China, reportedly, trained her on how to use her extrasensory abilities to help and heal others. Â Â
After returning from China, Swan tried to build a new life in Utah, United States, mainly neglecting her spiritual abilities. She reportedly started modelling again and attempted to pursue a career as a skier with the US Telemark Ski Team. In 2006, when Swan was 22, she married Mark Scott and gave birth to a son, who was named Winter. Swan soon discovered that her son, like herself, was born with extrasensory qualities. After that discovery, Swan decided to commit to the spiritual journey that she was slowly abandoning.Â
Teaching & Spiritual Activism
In March 2011, Swan published her first book The Sculptor in the Sky and started a YouTube channel to spread her ideas and spiritual message. Within a year, she managed to grow her fanbase to a significant extent, but with the deterioration of her marriage, she faced some setbacks.
In 2015, her second book, Shadows Before Dawn: Finding the Light of Self-Love Through Your Darkest Times, was published and after a year in 2016, she went on to publish another book titled The Completion Process: The Practice of Putting Yourself Back Together Again. In her books and workshops, Swan talks about a myriad of issues, including spirituality, relationships, the law of attraction, and the meaning of life. Her ideas are influenced heavily by Eastern religious traditions, including Hinduism and Zen Buddhism. In her talks, she often borrows from other spiritual masters, such as the Dalai Lama and Thich Nach Tah.
Over the years, her presence has, nonetheless, spread rapidly and her movement has received a cult status. She actively organises and attends workshops and talks in various parts of the world and is very active on social media. In her workshops, she uses a method called Synchronisation and emphasises a technique called “collective healing”.
Swan has also advocated for total transparency of spiritual masters and started a live stream called “Shadow House”. In the live-stream channel, she would share her everyday life with an online audience. In addition, through her blog posts, she has shared intimate details of her personal life as well.
Personal Life
In 2006, at 22, Swan married Mark Scott and gave birth to a son, Winter. The marriage collapsed after nearly 7 years. Then she was romantically linked to Fallon Dobson (aka Jared Dobson), whom she ultimately declared a sociopath in October 2013. Dobson was subsequently sent for therapy.
On 4 January 2014, Teal married Sarbdeep Swan, a British citizen of Indian origin. However, the marriage failed after a short period of time. In July 2016, Teal married Ale Gicqueau, an engineer from Paris, France, who also ran a medical software company in California, USA. Swan and Gicqueau divorced in 2018.
Gicqueau’s and Swan’s marriage lasted less than two years as the couple got separated in May 2018. The couple were in a relationship for altogether thirty-three months. In a blog post published on 23 May 2018 and titled One thousand and one nights with Teal, Gicqueau detailed his romantic relationship with Swan. He accompanied the blog post with numerous photos and Instagram posts where they appeared together.
In the blog post, Gicqueau wrote:
“A couple of years ago, when I fell in love with Teal, I would have given up everything to spend one day with her. My deepest wish was fulfilled and I was not granted one day but one thousand and one. However, unlike Schahriar and Sheherazade who sealed their union for eternity after one thousand and one nights, Teal and I are now separating and taking a different path. Destiny feels cruel when you are asked to leave the woman you love.”
Multiple Controversies
Teal Swan’s second husband, Sarbedeep, has accused her of cheating and not being committed in marriage. He ran an entire website (named Sarbswan, which has now been inactive) where he nicknamed Teal as Black Swan and mainly wrote about his tumultuous relationship with her. He also provided other insights into Swan’s personal life and spiritual ideas. In a blog post, talking about the reason behind their collapsed marriage, he wrote:
Our marriage did not ‘unravel’ after 2 weeks due to incompatibility or my ‘emotional unavailability’, but because I saw an email Black Swan had sent to her ex just 2 weeks into our marriage talking about the sex she had with him and flirting with him. An ex she also vilified as a ‘sociopath’, months before on her blog.
In one of his blog posts, Sarbadeep also accuses Teal Swan of trying to establish a romantic relationship with a married Hollywood star.
Teal Swan has also been a subject of controversy for claiming that she is a (partial) reincarnation of Sai Baba Shirdi, an Indian spiritual master who had died in 1918. In addition, online commenters have also criticised her for claiming that she is  ‘half human and half alien’. One of her YouTube videos, where she portrays suicide as a reset button by the supreme source, has also drawn considerable criticism.
In many online forums, people have raised questions about whether Teal Swan is fake or a fraud. There are many blogs written against her, often by other competitors practising psychic techniques. While there is no measurement to prove Swan’s enlightenment, her teachings do not significantly differ from the teachings of many other enlightened masters of the East.
The Deep End TV series (2022)
In 2022, a documentary TV series called “The Deep End” was released, which explores the controversies surrounding Teal Swan and her followers. The film features interviews with former followers, experts in the field, and Teal herself. It examines the practices and methods that Teal promotes, as well as the accusations of exploitation and cult-like behaviour that have been levelled against her. The documentary also delves into the personal stories of some of Teal’s followers, including accounts of emotional and psychological harm. The filmmakers have stated that their intent was to shed light on the darker side of the self-help industry and to provide a cautionary tale.
Notable Teal Swan books
Teal Swan has written several books on topics such as self-help, personal development, and spirituality. Some of her most popular books include “The Completion Process: The Practice of Coming Home to Yourself,” “The Anatomy of Loneliness,” and “The Sculptor in the Sky.”
In her books, Swan often writes about her personal experiences and the techniques she has developed to help others improve their lives. She emphasizes the importance of self-acceptance, emotional healing, and mindfulness in her work. Some of her books also touch on subjects like past lives, energy healing and manifestation.
The Completion Process: The Practice of Coming Home to Yourself: The book is focused on helping readers identify and heal their emotional wounds in order to live a more fulfilling life. The Completion Process is a specific method developed by Teal Swan to help people resolve their emotional issues. It is a 12-step process that involves identifying and feeling repressed emotions, understanding the source of these emotions, and then releasing them. The process also includes visualization and affirmation techniques. The book provides a detailed explanation of the steps of the Completion Process and provides guidance on how to work through the process effectively. It also includes exercises, meditations, and personal anecdotes to help readers understand and apply the concepts presented in the book.
The Anatomy of Loneliness: The book aims to provide readers with a deeper understanding of loneliness and its causes, as well as practical tools to help overcome it. In the book, Swan writes about her own experiences with loneliness, and how she was able to overcome it. She explains how loneliness can be a result of emotional trauma, and how it can manifest as feelings of emptiness, disconnection, and isolation. The book also provides guidance on how to identify and heal the underlying emotional wounds that contribute to loneliness. This includes techniques such as emotional self-regulation, self-compassion, and mindfulness. The book also addresses the social and cultural factors that can contribute to loneliness, such as societal pressure to conform, lack of meaningful connections, and the impact of social media. As well as providing practical tools and techniques, the book also encourages readers to adopt a more holistic approach to addressing loneliness, which includes self-discovery and self-acceptance.
The Sculptor in the Sky: The book focuses on the concept of manifestation and how to use it to create the life one wants. In the book, Teal Swan explains that manifestation is the process of bringing your thoughts and desires into reality. She states that the universe is like a “sculptor in the sky,” constantly shaping and moulding the reality we experience based on our thoughts and beliefs. The book provides guidance on how to align your thoughts and beliefs with your desired outcomes, using techniques such as visualization, affirmations, and emotional self-regulation. It also provides advice on how to overcome limiting beliefs and negative thought patterns that can prevent manifestation from happening.
Social Media Presence
Swan’s online presence has been consistent and robust since she started her spiritual work. She regularly interacts with her followers online and posts video talks on a weekly basis. As of 2022, her social media pages have been (re)branded as Teal Swan official, and she has ditched the former Spiritual Catalyst nomenclature. Hundreds of thousands of followers follow her on social media. On Facebook, she has more than 1.5 million followers, and nearly seven hundred people follow her on Instagram.
Notable Teal Swan Quotes
Teal Swan is known for her spiritual teachings and personal development advice, and she has many quotes that reflect her philosophy and approach. Her quotes reflect her emphasis on self-discovery, self-acceptance, emotional healing, and personal power. They also reflect her belief in the power of manifestation and the importance of understanding and working with our thoughts and beliefs. Some of her most popular quotes include:
- Â “The only things you can lose are things that you have to lose in order to find something infinitely more valuable.”
- “I was unfixable, I saw that my innocence didn’t go anywhere. Like the tiny flame on the end of a matchstick, it may have flickered, but it didn’t die. I found my inherent goodness again. I found the part of me that couldn’t be harmed by the people who found a way to harm everything else about me. Gradually, I began to reparent myself. By loving and caring for my inner child.” – in Shadows Before Dawn: Finding the Light of Self-Love Through Your Darkest Times
- “The truth is, unless you let go, unless you forgive yourself, unless you forgive the situation, unless you realize that the situation is over, you cannot move forward.”
- “The only true source of power and change is within you.”
- “You are not a product of your circumstances, you are a product of your decisions.”
- “Self-acceptance is the first step towards inner transformation.”
- “The only limit to the power of manifestation is the power of your own belief.”
- “The only way to heal is to feel.”
- “The only thing that can truly change the world is changing yourself.”
- “Healing is about becoming more of who you already are.”
- “The only way to get what you want is to know what you want.”
- “Your emotional pain is your inner wisdom trying to tell you something.”
