Echoes of Tuella: an Interview With the Ashtar Command Ground Crew
Mike Giegerich speaks with founder Cassy Cohen about her work to revive the Ashtar Command, her lineage to Tuella, and a vision for the future
In the 1970s, Reverend Thelma B. Terrell was in the midst of her lifelong pursuit for a singular spiritual truth. Ordained into five different religions and now dedicated to Christianity by this time, she still hadn’t found an answer that satisfied her yearning for an understanding of the great beyond. But on a fateful day that would ignite a quintessential movement in the New Age, she looked up toward the sky and asked to know of what was out there. A voice succinctly replied: “Your wish will be done.”
Decades earlier, ufologist George Van Tassel (best known for the creation of the Landers Integratron) claimed to have received contact from an extra-physical entity named Ashtar. While he asserted his messages from Ashtar as the only authentic communication, new channelers emerged and followers of Ashtar’s messages splintered off into competing factions. In subsequent years, spread thin and saddled with failed predictions, the Ashtar fervor slowly faded into the unconscious — until Rev. Terrell entered the picture.
Now going by her adopted name of Tuella, she began to pen books like Ashtar - A Tribute and Project World Evacuation. While obtaining information from Ashtar, she also purportedly opened channels with a list of beings ranging from fellow intergalactic officers to Jesus Christ himself (known to the Ashtar Command movement as Sananda). While UFOs and post-astral beings drove her writing, there’s no question Tuella’s background in Christianity continued to shape her perspective and contributions to the Ashtar canon.
“The Christ teacher of this galaxy is my beloved commander, and His word is my law” - Ashtar
Beyond messages from the Ashtar Command itself, Tuella’s work was wide-reaching — taking detours into her life story and treatises on telepathy — but in 1993 it would come to a close. After a bout of illness, the figurehead of the Ashtar revival passed away at 78-years-old. Left without a central leader, the Ashtar movement seemingly died with her.
As the COVID pandemic began to sweep the globe in early 2020, humans were collectively forced indoors and left with little choice but to learn a new practice, refine their craft, or concede to the isolation’s madness. For Cassy Cohen, a senior psychology and criminal justice major, she started a crystal jewelry business that slowly unfurled into an interest in meditation and spirituality.
During this period, Cohen’s aunt asked if she wanted to sift through her great-grandmother’s possessions. As she dug through a box, a piece of paper had an unfamiliar name on it: Ashtar. Further examination of the documents and keepsakes inside led her further and further down the rabbit hole. It became apparent that her great-grandmother was not just a devotee of Ashtar and the New Age milieu. She was a reverend named Thelma Terrell — known to many as Tuella.
While Tuella’s work didn’t immediately resonate with Cohen, she continued to examine the material until a night-long binge reading of Project World Evacuation made everything click. With a newfound belief system that altered the core of her worldview, she picked up where Tuella left off and began to spread the storied channeler’s messages on social media. As her content resonated with a increasingly intrigued audience, Cohen picked up her familial mantle and founded the Ashtar Command Ground Crew. Driven by the purpose of combining her own life story with Tuella’s influential teachings, Cohen now offers her viewers guides through Ashtar literature, personal anecdotes, and an overall mission of collective enlightenment.
With Cohen at the forefront of a 21st-century Ashtar revival, I spoke with the her about the resurrection of a storied movement, her connection to Tuella, and a vision for the future of the Ashtar Command Ground Crew.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Transcendent Times: Can you tell me about your formative metaphysical and spiritual experiences?
Cassy Cohen: My story begins in 2020 when everybody was going through their awakening around around that time period. I was studying psychology and criminal justice in [my] senior college. I was actually set to graduate. And then I started a crystal jewelry business to wrap crystals … that started that summer. And then I was starting to learn about the properties. So I started to learn about meditation. And then my aunt went through a box in the basement and said she found some stuff that belonged to my grandmother if I would be interested in it. Of course, I was super interested. And I went and I got everything. It took me a couple of days and I went through it. But on this one piece of paper, it [said] “Ashtar’s rainbow water crystal.” And for some reason, that name sparked an interest in my brain the second I heard it. So I googled Ashtar and I see “extraterrestrial being.”
If you Google Ashtar, you're gonna see the craziest thing[s]. And so there I was … on the bottom of this page, there was a page [that] was dated to 2005. So I was like, the shots at this site still existed was slim. But it still exists on this whole website dedicated to my great-grandmother and the book she had written. And so I immediately started calling my grandma and my family. I'm like, “What's all this?” I find out, my mom had a dog named Ashtar. They all knew about this, but yet, they didn't talk about it. When I first asked, my grandma, she was like, “I have no idea what you're talking about.” And this is the woman who dedicated years of her life to traveling with Tuella.
And so at first I thought maybe maybe my great-grandmother was crazy, ‘cause why does nobody talk about this? But that night, I had somehow found a PDF file online of the whole Project World Evacuation for free. And I stayed up all night for seven hours and read the whole book. And I was like, “Yeah, this, this makes sense.” Since then, I tracked the rest of her books down online. And I started to have my own experiences once I read the book, because I found this woman named Debbie who used to work with my great-grandmother for two years before she retired. And she lived out here in Arizona, which is actually why I ended up moving out here to Sedona in the first place. She was how I got all the books and filled me in on everything. And then since then, it's kind of been a whirlwind. I read the books, and then I just started my TikTok posting about, “What's your family's biggest secret?” Now I'm here, and I made the website to kind of share those messages. And I've made it my goal to not only share the message she left behind, but to share my story as well, because I feel like they go hand in hand.
TT: That was one of the questions I was going to ask; if Tuella was commonly discussed within your family or if she was kept secret.
CC: They all believe in UFOs, they all believe in fairies, but when you talked about the Ashtar Command, they just wanted nothing to do with it. And I think that it just stemmed from things that was happening in the family at the time; they kind of held resentment towards her … Her actual name was Thelma, the being’s name was Thelma Terrell, and it wasn't until her later 50s [and] 60s that she found out about this stuff. So you gotta think she had this whole family, and then all of a sudden, she's like, “I'm talking to these higher dimensional beings. I'm gonna go write these books and go travel to do conventions and stuff. So they thought that she was going a little crazy and said what people wanted her to say you. So they never fully grasped it. And when she passed away in 1993, my grandma kind of fell under because everybody in the family didn't fully believe her. My grandfather at the time thought she was a little crazy. And so when she passed away, everything [was] kind of swept under and she transitioned everything over to Debbie for a little bit. Because of health issues and things like that, it just never surfaced again; until I went through the box [and] I got a little curious on the internet.
TT: I was interested to see if you’ve found further photos, letters, and mementos of her work?
CC: I have. I can show you some of that if you’d like.
TT: Is there one piece you’ve found within the collection that stands out to you most?
CC: I think my favorite part would probably be … she left behind these series of tapes; a whole bunch of tapes. What I was going to start doing as my next series on YouTube was replay all the channelings she had, because I have about 30 of her channelings that have never gotten shared. So that would be my favorite thing I have.
TT: How’s living in Sedona been for you so far while running the Ground Crew? You mentioned Debbie who took things over from Tuella lives there as well.
CC: She never really had the rights the books, but taking over as far as like Ashtar channeling is what she did. She had her own website — Ashtar’s Trinity — and she channeled these ascension lessons. She would have channeled from [Archangel] Michael, Ashtar, Metatron, Mary Magdalene …
I had always wanted to move out here, but I got an apartment up in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, and I stayed out there. And then it was March [and] I got a random message that they're tearing my building down, renovating my place. And I was like, “Okay, so I guess the universe is having me move.” And at the time, I had three cats — I even named one after Commander Monka — [so it was] a sticky situation. I packed up and went to Indiana and me and my friend did the nomad lives; we popped around Airbnbs and house-sat for her aunt who was always gone a lot. I just found a place here in Sedona a couple months ago. And so I've just been here since and it’s been really fun. I love Sedona, the vortex this year, [but] the energy can be a little much sometimes. And I didn't realize how much it could be until I did road trip to Chicago two weeks ago … But it's an adventure here.
TT: I’ve heard of the Sedona vortex. That seems like a fitting place for the Ashtar Command to reside.
CC: It's kind of funny. I can walk around to any cafe or any shop here and be like, “Ashtar Command!” and 95% of the people are gonna know what I'm talking about.
TT: Shifting gears to Tuella a bit, she was initially ordained as a reverend. Was she preaching within the church up until her transition to channeling?
CC: For a good majority of her life, she was ordained into five different religions. She couldn't find one she fit into for the first half of her life. She grew up very Baptist or [a] very strict religion. And she always questioned it from day one. It's why she always tried to explore these different routes. She led children's minister camp, she led her own ministry, it was the Church of the Nazarene. I remember in her book On Earth Assignment, she was like, “I don't know where I'll have to place you,” and she was like, “You won't have to place me — the Lord will do it.” She was a whole girl boss. She would drive an hour every weekend to go lead and fill the seats up full of people just coming to hear her. And so she did that for a long time. And then she had found out about George Van Tassel.
She went to a book club and the first book they were doing was an Edgar Casey book; I forget the name of it. But she sat down for that book lesson and it started turn the gears. And then one day — this is all in her book On Earth Assignment — she was outside and she looked up to the sky and she was like, “I wish I could do more. I know there's more out there.” And she said that she heard a voice: “Your wish will be done.” And then since then, she started having contact [with] Ashtar and all these different other ascended beings. And then she started going into more New Age churches and started writing her books and then she transitioned over. That's why I think my family, again, was a little taken aback about happened, because she was a Christian minister, and then “UFOs.”
TT: I know George Van Tassel was the original Ashtar contactee. Can you speak to his background and how Tuella took the torch from him?
CC: He was first contacted by Ashtar in the ‘50s and and from then he was the first person to release the contact. He was instructed to build like the Integratron … It's all a dedication of Ashtar. If you go there, there’s Ashtar stuff everywhere. I haven't been there yet, but I hope to go soon. But he was instructed to build the Integratron and kind of lay the foundations for that. And he did do channeling and she eventually did incorporate some of those channeling into her writings. But [when] she went to the Edgar Casey thing her mind started to get out there. And I think she stumbled upon Georgia Van Tassel’s work and had reached out to him. And it was just so happened, she had met up with him. And he basically filled her in — “This is real” — and they did do a little bit of work together, but not so much.
I think she kind of went off to do her own thing. Because Ashtar came to her one day and was like, “I have this task for you to write these books for humanity.” And it just started off as one book at a time. She did not know she was going through writing this many books or having to do this much work when it first started. They'll give you little breadcrumbs … So her first book she wrote was World Messages for the Coming Decade. And this was issued by World Master Kuthumi and then that's what super propelled her research into Ashtar, which is why her second book was [an] Ashtar tribute. And that includes works of George Van Tassel and other people who have also had channeling.
TT: Tuella covered a vast amount of topic throughout her literature. Which text resonates with you most?
CC: I really like The Master Symbol of the Solar Cross. I really resonate with this one. But my favorite book, I would have to say is — I even have it sitting here — On Earth Assignment. And it’s basically her life story — “on Earth assignment” — if you break it down, literally. And I think it's really helpful to have people [start] here because she even says in the beginning of the book, “My story is no different than yours. There's 1000s of people out there, just like me, your story is just like mine, the only difference is I'm choosing to write my down.” And I think that's a really good message that I like because it does show none of us are different at the end of the day. Some of us are just choosing to share what comes to us and I really like that. And it even goes on further to say that you might have a message that you're dying to share with the world and you're like, “I want to share this, I want to share that.” But sometimes you might be ready to share but the world's not ready to hear what you have to share. And it's just really reaffirming; you're not alone in all of the humaneness of it all. And so I really like that book.
TT: That feels similar to how you’re spreading your story along with the Ashtar texts. What inspired you to specifically start the Ashtar Command Ground Crew?
CC: I started out with Gemstone Hippie Co — that was my jewelry business. That's what I had going. And when I first found out about everything [with Tuella], I was on this one radio interview with this man who sells some of her books on Amazon. But that's a whole thing. I needed a website for everybody to go see since I was doing that. So I quickly made a website — Gemstone Hippie Co you can get the books on there. And then a couple months later, I come out to live with Debbie and she had an Ashtar shirt sitting in a box. Of course, I wanted the Ashtar shirt and on the shirt it said Ashtar Command Ground Crew. I was like, “Ground crew, that's got a ring to it.” And Tuella never used the “ground crew” reference, she went by Guardian Action International. So then I made the website Ashtar Command Ground Crew. And we’re kind of like the ground crew.
TT: You’re arguably the only person currently walking old and new followers of Ashtar through Tuella’s material. Do you feel a duty to carry on her work?
I jokingly say this a lot: “I didn't choose the Ashtar life, the Ashtar life chose me.” I found out about everything in November 2020. It was the end of that semester and finals. The second I found out, I lost my job, I had to drop out, I had to move. It was almost like, when I was going [for] criminal justice and photography, it was like, “No, that is not happening.” So the criminal justice fell through. And then for a year I had done photography, and I was working to do model photography, my friends [were] modeling and I had a job at Streamline Model in Philadelphia, [but] doing that ended.
Every other route I tried to take … I always talked about the Ashtar stuff in the background. Any route that I tried to take that was had took my focus somewhere else it was like, “No.” And so then it came to a point where I put all my focus into it. And that's where it started working out. As much as I say and joke that I would love to go live in a little cottage off grid in the middle of nowhere, I feel like a part of me would still want to tell everybody about the Ashtar stuff. Because at the end of the day, it just makes my heart feels so good to talk about it and like spread those messages. I thought I was passionate about photography, but now my true passion lies in sharing the messages.
TT: What’s been the most rewarding aspect of your work with the Ground Crew?
CC: The people I get to meet. Because of doing this, I get to do interviews with people, I got to meet you, and I get to meet all these other different people. I did an interview with the Psychic Babes podcast, who's this little girl Sevyn, she's this little blue avian hybrid, and I got to do an interview with her mom. And because of that interview, this other person saw me and I got to have the best day in Chicago because I met up with an internet friend who just saw me through that … I used to be a server, so I’ve always loved talking to people. And so having this outlet and this opportunity to share … when I went to the Conscious Life Expo and I got to meet Elizabeth April … it's just nice to be able to meet all the people and the connections because I love feeling everybody's energy and everybody has different perspectives that they have to offer.
TT: After meeting people like Elizabeth April, how do you see the Ground Crew fitting into the wider spiritual community?
CC: I would say some of the work Tuella did is a little bit outdated. In some of the Ashtar tribute books, she'll say like, “Ashtar, a beloved Christian commander” and things like ‘cause that she still had that programming from all those things she had done. But at the end of the day, things like the Project Evacuation, I still believe that that holds relevancy for this time and this era. And things like Cosmic Telepathy, I think that one really still holds true to this time. And so I think it does tie hand in hand with everything that people are talking about with the ascension and the changes the planets are going through. Because when you do go into read the world messages for the coming decade, it does talk about the changes that we're experiencing, and it talks about the ice caps melting and the floods that we're experiencing.
TT: Would you like to keep attending conferences like Conscious Life Expo to spread the Ground Crew’s message?
CC: Going into the Conscious Life Expo was my first little taste. We were just invited to work the booth with the Galactic Federation of Light clothing brand. And so they got us exhibitor badges. And so they got us passes into its we went to that. I don’t know if you know about Disclosure Fest that's happening this November. I tried to apply for that. And I would love to speak at an event and I'm waiting to hear back from them. But I definitely think that not speaking at those events was for the right timing, because I still had a lot to learn. Because I kind of did just find out about everything. I wasn't getting asked 1000 questions, I probably would have croaked up there. So I needed a couple years and the time to learn and see what everybody else talks about.
At the Conscious life Expo, I got to meet Elizabeth April and she invited me to her starseed panel. And so it was super cool. I don't know if you know Deja Blu, she has the Deja Blu podcast. It was a panel of all of them answering questions about being starseeds. And the whole time, I was like, “Oh, I'd love to answer this question. I'd love to answer that one.” It was kind of like you a prep period for what I hope to come. But in the meantime, I'll just keep going with my little videos on YouTube and spreading my messages that way.
TT: Are there any aspects of your personal story that you want to share in the same way as Tuella?
CC: I talk about An Earth Assignment a lot, but I really like that book. And I've started kind of writing my own. Since finding everything out, it has been a whirlwind of trying to journal everything that happened, from losing my job, having to move, having to drop out and having to do all these different things. And so I feel like there's a message there. But like I said, at the end of the day, I don't think my story is really any different than anybody else's. I'm just choosing to share how I think… Yes, the messages in the books are important.
But I also think that what could be more important is to show how those messages changed my life. Because I mean, I read this one part of Project Evac that was like, “Ask the command and anything you need, you'll always be provided for.” And so I did that … I feel like it's put me on the right place at the right time. And the people I've met and the experiences I've had, I feel like if they resonate with people, great, and if they don't, at least I shared my story and I felt fulfilled at the end of the day.
TT: Do you foresee more authentic messages from Ashtar and other beings? Or do you think that ended with Tuella?
CC: There’s other people channeling members of the command and the Galactic Federation. And I think at the time years ago, when Tuella was doing it, it was very important to show people … okay, that's how I see it. There's not a lot of people channeling, there's not a lot of people in tune, so you have these couple people that come forward and so they need to bring through such divine wisdom, the channelings, for people to be like, “Oh, that makes sense. There is something to this.” To open people's awareness to it [and become] more accepting.
And I think now that we're all starting to tap into our own guidance and our own things that yes, the channels are important. And I think they still come through. I still listen to Elizabeth April. But I think it's not as urgent [or] as necessary as it was the time. We already have a book on cosmic telepathy … It's more like personal guidance, because at the end of the day, yes, we have this conscious global collective consciousness that we're trying to ascend, but the best way we can ascend that is ascending our own and ascending your own, it's going to be best off of your own information, because you know yourself best.
TT: What's your ultimate goal for the Ground Crew moving forward?
CC: My ultimate goal at the end of the day would definitely be to tell people about the Ashtar Command and things like that, obviously. But overall, my main message would be to help people remember who you are, why you're here, why you chose to be here. I feel like sometimes we do get so caught up in the spirituality and things like that, which, at the end of the day, we love that, we love all that. But remember, you also came here to be a human and to have these experiences, and to walk this life and experience all these beautiful things we can experience. And so I think we forget that when we forget a little bit about who we are, because we chose to come here and have all this.
And so my main message is to help people remember who they are and why they are here. And I hope that the content and things that I'm making helps people remember that and that we can do it together, because I'm still remembering things about myself as well. And we're all here learning together. I don't think I could ever be that person that’s like, “This is the way it is. This is what this means.” Because nobody's right or wrong. At the end of the day, it's all of our own perceptions. And so I just want everybody to be happy and love each other.