Women with many sexual partners attract underground spirits that leave "imprints" on the inside of the vagina. With the help of Durek Verrett's exercises, they can be cleansed.
It's just one of many strange, pseudoscientific theories that the self-proclaimed shaman promotes in his book "Spirit Hacking" from 2019. He also claims that children get cancer because "they want to", that chemotherapy is pointless, that spirits cause venereal diseases, and that he can stop aging.
The book was released the same year that Verrett's relationship with Norway's Princess Märtha Louise became known. According to Verrett, they had met thousands of years earlier – among other places in ancient Egypt, where Verrett was a pharaoh and Märtha Louise his queen.
Accused of abuse
49-year-old Verrett has a history marked by lies, scandals, and conspiracy theories. According to his own account, he is a sixth-generation shaman – according to his mother, it's just a fabrication. In interviews with the Norwegian weekly magazine Se og Hør, the mother has described her son as dishonest, manipulative, and dangerous, and claimed that the princess "must have been brainwashed" by her son.
The mother is not invited to the wedding. Neither is Verrett's sister, who recently said on Instagram that she had been threatened by her brother and his fiancée. The mother also claims to have been threatened with millions in damages by the couple, as well as Verrett's former fiancée, who has accused her ex of brainwashing and abuse in Se og Hør.
Durek Verrett has also been criticized for selling expensive amulets that supposedly cure covid-19.
It's immoral and reprehensible to use one's celebrity status to make money from quackery, commented State Secretary and doctor Ole Henrik Krat Bjørkholt to Norwegian VG.
The King pays
Märtha Louise is no stranger to pseudoscience. Among other things, she has run an "angel school" where participants were supposed to learn to contact heavenly beings.
As a result, the royal family got her to promise to stop using her princess title in commercial contexts. She has done so anyway, including when she and Verrett launched a wedding gin last summer.
The groom seems to have charmed his in-laws, despite the controversies surrounding the couple. The royal couple is reportedly paying out of their own pocket for the four-day wedding celebration. In 2022, King Harald and Queen Sonja called Verrett a "nice guy" who is "very fun to be around", according to NRK.
The average Norwegian doesn't seem as impressed. In a recent survey, a majority think Märtha Louise should give up her princess title.
Around 350 guests attend when Norwegian Princess Märtha Louise marries American Durek Verrett in a private ceremony in Geiranger on August 31.
Among them are Sweden's Crown Princess Victoria, Prince Daniel, Prince Carl Philip, and Princess Sofia.
The Norwegian royal family is present, except for Crown Princess Mette-Marit's son Marius Borg Høiby, who is suspected of, among other things, abusing his girlfriend.
The British celebrity magazine Hello Magazine has acquired exclusive photo rights to the wedding and wedding celebration. The TV rights are tied to the streaming giant Netflix, which has also followed the preparations for the wedding.
The festivities have been going on since Thursday, when a welcome party with a dress code "sexy and cool" was held in Ålesund.
52-year-old Märtha Louise, who has three daughters from her previous marriage to the late author Ari Behn, has resigned from her royal duties but still has her princess title.