The mysterious Oculus Anubis stands just 16 miles from Portland, and dark rumors about this place still fascinate curious minds throughout Oregon. The Damascus property’s enigmatic exterior hides a shocking financial scandal with an alleged $2.5 million embezzlement scheme. Anthony Neal reportedly carried out this plan under his father Dr. Dean Elton Neal’s direction.
This unusual Egyptian-inspired structure in Damascus, Oregon has become famous for its striking architecture and strange stories. The massive 35,000-square-foot unfinished house features $2 million worth of heated underground tunnels. People often share supernatural tales about the property. The Oculus Anubis group now runs as a legitimate 501(c)(3) nonprofit that focuses on Egyptian spiritual practices.
The sort of thing I love about this piece is the stark contrast between spine-chilling myths and financial realities surrounding this controversial Oregon estate. The Neal family’s complex past and the temple’s Egyptian symbolism tell an intriguing story. Let’s separate truth from legend about this Oculus Anubis temple that has grabbed the attention of locals and internet detectives alike.
Table of Contents
The Mysterious Appearance of Oculus Anubis
A massive black gate stands at the end of a quiet cul-de-sac in Damascus, Oregon. This gate marks the entrance to one of the region’s most mysterious properties – the Temple of Oculus Anubis. The striking property has captured local imagination and sparked online discussions. Its unique Egyptian-inspired features create an atmosphere that people find both captivating and eerie.
The iconic gate and statues
The property’s first impression comes from a towering 30-foot black gate set within a stone portal. Gold symbols decorate this commanding entrance, with stone lions standing guard on each side. The design stands out starkly against typical Oregon architecture. The patterned iron gate lets curious onlookers peek through to a winding road beyond.
The real showstopper is the massive statue visible past the entrance. Though many think it’s Anubis because of the property’s name, the statue actually represents Sekhmet, an Egyptian goddess with a woman’s body and lioness head. Stories say this statue reaches about 40 feet high and features a sun disk above its head – a nod to Sekhmet’s birth from the sun god Ra’s fire.
Egyptian motifs and architectural oddities
The grounds showcase strange architectural elements that add to its mysterious appeal. Two similar stone pyramids dot the landscape, and various paths meander through the estate.
The buildings seem designed to echo ancient Egyptian themes, though not every structure stays true to Egyptian style. Some buildings blend into natural rock formations, while others serve purposes that leave visitors guessing.
Building permits tell an interesting story about one of the property’s most talked-about features. Plans showed roughly $2 million allocated for “heated underground tunnels,” officially listed as “attached additional living space through heated underground tunnel”. These underground passages have led to endless speculation about the property’s real purpose.
Original public reactions and curiosity
The unusual structures caught public attention right away. An Oregon news outlet called it the “creepiest place in Oregon” – a label that stuck in people’s minds.
The secluded location and unsettling design elements sparked wild theories among locals and internet detectives. People speculated about everything from cult activities to secret societies and occult practices. One visitor described their experience near what looked like a rock doorway: “The vibe changed completely and this place got really creepy”.
The public’s response to Egyptian imagery shows something interesting. One observer pointed out: “I guess I missed the memo of when Egypt became like evil and satanic”. This misunderstanding of cultural symbols has substantially shaped the property’s mysterious reputation. What might be seen as unique architectural choices has turned into something many notice as sinister.
Rumors, Reddit, and Urban Legends
The public’s discovery of the Temple of Oculus Anubis turned this architectural curiosity into a hotbed of conspiracy theories. Online images of the property spread like wildfire, and the internet’s imagination ran wild with stories that were nowhere near the truth.
Claims of cult activity and satanic rituals
The Oculus Anubis property faced persistent rumors about cult activities and satanic practices. Websites like Disinfo and Esotericana called it a possible cult hideout. Some internet detectives tried to link the optometry company Oculus to the Heaven’s Gate cult’s mass suicide in 1997.
These connections lacked solid evidence. A Reddit user put it simply: “There is no reputable hard evidence a cult practices there”. Another post that debunked these claims stated, “Despite the rumors, there is no concrete evidence to suggest that a cult lives on the property”.
People misunderstood the Egyptian symbolism and saw it as evil. One commenter made a valid point: “I guess I missed the memo of like when Egypt became like evil and satanic”. This cultural confusion turned Egyptian-inspired architecture into something people saw as sinister.
The underground tunnel theories
The property’s most talked-about feature was its supposed underground network. Several sources claimed the property had about $2 million worth of heated tunnels. Building permits confirmed “heated underground tunnels” described as “attached additional living space through heated underground tunnel”.
The truth was much simpler. These tunnels connected the homes of Dr. Dean Neal and his son Anthony instead of housing cult activities or secret societies. The Oregon Live article cited by many sources confirmed that the tunnels just linked two family homes.
The popular images of these underground passages were fake. Many websites shared an image they claimed showed “a gate to hell in Damascus” or an “Illuminati Underground Satanic Fortress.” This picture actually showed catacombs at an archaeological site 7,200 miles from Oregon.
Reddit stories and eyewitness accounts
Reddit users loved discussing the Oculus Anubis property, especially in forums like r/nosleep. One dedicated user claimed to have visited “20+ times since 2016” and noticed strange patterns nearby. They said “~60% of the homes leading up to the gates have windowless/blacked out white vans parked outside their homes during the night”.
This user also shared a strange experience: “I visited the property ~5 months ago and got a picture of myself sitting on one of the lion statues. Two weeks later I came back and the lion statue I sat on before was gone”.
People with connections to the property offered simpler explanations. One Reddit commenter said, “This is my buddy’s family’s place, not actually anything weird going on. He just liked Egyptian stuff”. Another user knew a contractor who worked there and had “to sign a contract to not disclose any information” but assured that “nothing weird is going on, just a really rich dude living out a childhood fantasy”.
The Oculus Anubis shows how unique, mysterious-looking properties can become urban legend magnets. Limited facts left room for speculation, which created stories far more interesting than the property’s real history.
The Real Story: The Neal Family and the Fraud Case
The Temple of Oculus Anubis’s exotic façade hides a complex web of financial crimes that ended up leading to its creation. Court records reveal how an ophthalmology practice funded this enigmatic property through a fraud scheme that lasted nearly a decade, dispelling any supernatural theories.
Dr. Dean Neal’s optometry empire
Dr. Dean Elton Neal’s operation of Eye Care Services Inc. (ECS), also known as 20/20 Eye Care in Gresham, Oregon, became the foundations of a multimillion-dollar fraud operation. This seemingly legitimate ophthalmology clinic systematically exploited patients and insurance providers from 2007 through 2013. The scheme used a three-pronged approach: patients had to undergo medically unnecessary tests, claims were submitted for more expensive procedures than performed, and tests that should have been charged once were double-billed.
The practice’s questionable activities surfaced after Dr. Neal fired Dr. Jay Futterman, the primary ophthalmologist and only surgeon, on January 9, 2012. Dr. Futterman’s termination happened soon after he refused to participate in fraudulent billing of health insurance programs for unnecessary patient tests.
Anthony Neal’s conviction and sentencing
Anthony Curtis Neal managed the insurance billing services at 20/20 Eye Care among other responsibilities as practice manager. The investigation shifted its focus to Anthony after his father died from a stroke in 2015. He pleaded guilty to healthcare fraud and conspiracy to defraud the IRS in July 2016.
United States District Court Judge Robert E. Jones sentenced Anthony Neal to one year and one day in federal prison on April 4, 2017. The sentence included three years of supervised release. Anthony had to pay $1,702,567 in restitution to Medicare, Care Oregon, and several private health insurance companies, plus $817,378 to the IRS.
Anthony’s defense team portrayed him as his father’s victim during sentencing. They cited his autism spectrum disorder and years of abuse. Judge Jones acknowledged Dr. Neal was “about as evil a person as you can imagine.” The judge still managed to keep his position that Anthony “knew right from wrong” and was responsible for his actions.
How the fraud funded the Oculus Anubis estate
The Neals created a shell company named Oculus Inc. in August 2004 to handle the Temple’s finances. They channeled their practice’s revenue through this entity to evade taxes and hide income. The revenue exclusively paid for personal expenses from 2009 through 2013, including the Damascus property’s construction.
Legal documents show they spent about $3 million of the embezzled funds to build the 35,000-square-foot unfinished estate. The property boasted luxurious features like a helipad, tennis pavilion, and heated tunnels. These tunnels connected Dr. Neal’s residence to the main house where Anthony and his wife would live.
The Temple of Oculus Anubis stands today as proof of financial wrongdoing rather than occult activity. The scheme fell apart after Dr. Neal’s death. The partially completed estate continues to draw curious onlookers in Damascus, Oregon.
Dark Allegations and Family Secrets
The Temple of Oculus Anubis financial crimes revealed a darker truth about the Neal family’s disturbing dynamics. Court testimony exposed shocking personal details that painted a clear picture of the dysfunction behind the mysterious Damascus property.
Abuse claims against Dr. Neal
Dr. Dean Neal’s public image as a respected ophthalmologist masked a horrific reality at home. Defense attorney Thomas Price presented evidence that showed Dr. Neal “wreaked havoc on his family, abused his wife and his disabled son, was ‘obsessed by his image’ and driven by enormous ego and greed”.
The most troubling revelation came to light about Anthony Neal’s childhood sexual assault by an acquaintance. His father refused to alert police about the incident, worried it would be “bad for his image”. Dr. Neal simply told his young son to “toughen up”.
Mental health and manipulation of Anthony Neal
Anthony’s defense team highlighted his autism spectrum disorder diagnosis during legal proceedings. They portrayed him as a “servant” manipulated by his “monstrous” father. Price showed the court Anthony’s self-harming behavior through photographs of teeth marks on his hands – a coping mechanism he developed from abuse.
Judge Jones recognized this manipulation, noting Anthony was “definitely under the thumb of your father.” The judge still believed Anthony “knew right from wrong”. Anthony received a prison sentence despite being seen as a victim of long-term psychological control.
Restraining orders and domestic terror
Sharon Neal, Dr. Neal’s wife, filed a restraining order against her husband in 1997 as the abuse reached extreme levels. Her petition stated Dr. Neal “would force her to have sex, was unstable and abused alcohol”. They stayed married despite her filing for divorce that year.
More disturbing incidents emerged in court testimony. At age 13, Anthony would face his intoxicated father who would “stumble drunk into his son’s bedroom and just need that the boy go to the master bedroom to tell his mother to have sex with her husband”.
A stroke claimed Dr. Neal’s life in 2015, leaving “no resolution to his domestic terrorism or financial crimes”. Judge Jones’s final assessment was clear – Dr. Neal was “about as evil a person you can imagine, especially with his disabled son”.
Symbolism and Misinterpretation of Egyptian Imagery
The Temple of Oculus Anubis mystique comes from deep misunderstandings of Egyptian symbols. Modern cultural biases, not actual Egyptian religious practices, shaped people’s assumptions about this property’s mysterious appearance.
Who is Anubis and what does he represent?
The Damascus estate’s main statue doesn’t actually show Anubis, despite the property bearing his name. Egyptian mythology presents Anubis as the god of funerary rites who guides souls to the underworld. He appears with a man’s body and a canine or jackal head. This deity was nowhere near evil – we viewed him as a protector of graves who safely guided souls into the afterlife.
Black, the color seen all over the Oculus Anubis property, carries positive meaning in Egyptian culture. The color represents regeneration, life, and the rich soil left after the Nile floods. Ancient Egyptians chose Anubis as their protector because jackals scavenged in cemeteries. They believed in the principle of “fighting like with like”.
The role of Sekhmet and the lion statue
Sekhmet, not Anubis, stands as the main statue at the Temple of Oculus Anubis. She appears as an Egyptian goddess with a woman’s body and lioness head. The sun god Ra’s fire created this goddess, who wears a distinctive sun disk. The sort of thing I love about Sekhmet is her fascinating duality – she was both “the mistress of dread” and looked after physicians and healers.
People called her “the Eye of Ra” because she embodied both destruction and protection. Her fierce lioness form balanced with her role as a healer makes her connection to the Neal family’s optometry practice quite fitting.
Why Egyptian symbols are often misunderstood
Cultural confusion leads to misreading Egyptian imagery at Oculus Anubis. One person put it well: “I guess I missed the memo of when Egypt became like evil and satanic”. The Satanic Panic of the 1980s-90s ended up wrongly labeling these ancient symbols as occult.
People question why pyramids seem threatening, yet they appear on U.S. currency. Death-related deities like Anubis face misunderstanding because “anything to do with death people want to label evil.” These gods didn’t cause death – they respectfully cared for those who had passed.
Black stones throughout the property sparked more misconceptions. Yet Egyptian tradition saw black as a symbol of fertility and resurrection – completely opposite to modern interpretations.
Summing all up
The Temple of Oculus Anubis is proof of how looks can be deceiving. This enigmatic Egyptian-style building isn’t some occult meeting place – it’s a monument built from healthcare fraud and family troubles. Let’s take a closer look at the truth behind one of Oregon’s most misunderstood properties.
The mysterious estate came from healthcare fraud, not supernatural activities. Dr. Neal and his son Anthony siphoned about $3 million from their eye care practice. They used this money to build an architectural oddity with heated tunnels. These passages simply linked family homes instead of hosting dark rituals.
People’s misunderstandings helped create the property’s dark reputation. The Egyptian symbols were wrongly labeled as evil. The main statue shows Sekhmet, who represents healing – a perfect symbol for an eye doctor’s estate. Black stones and unusual architecture sparked wild theories because people didn’t understand the cultural background.
The Neal family’s real story is more disturbing than any made-up cult activities. Dr. Neal allegedly abused his family while keeping up a respectable public image. His son Anthony ended up in prison for his part in the fraud, though his defense painted him as both victim and accomplice.
Today, the property sits between two worlds. It runs as a nonprofit focused on Egyptian spiritual practices, but its controversial history leaves a permanent mark. The Oculus Anubis case shows us that human crimes are often more troubling than supernatural rumors. The darkest truths don’t hide in underground tunnels – they lurk in seemingly respectable businesses and families. Yes, it is true that reality can be stranger than fiction.
Here are some FAQs about the Temple of Oculus Anubis:
Where is Oculus Anubis located?
Oculus Anubis is located in Damascus, Oregon, making it a notable landmark in the Pacific Northwest. The structure, often referred to as the temple of oculus anubis, sits on private property near the Clackamas River. Visitors frequently search for oculus anubis oregon to find this unique architectural feature in the wooded area.
Where was the Temple of Anubis?
The original Temple of Anubis from ancient Egyptian religion was located in various necropolises throughout Egypt. However, the modern temple of oculus anubis in Oregon is a contemporary interpretation rather than a historical site. This distinction is important when researching the temple of oculus anubis versus ancient Egyptian structures.
Where is the Oculus Store located?
The Oculus Store is a digital marketplace for VR content, not to be confused with oculus anubis damascus oregon. This online platform serves Meta’s VR devices and has no physical location, unlike the physical the temple of oculus anubis structure in Oregon. They represent completely different concepts despite the similar naming.
Where is Oculus based out of?
Oculus VR, the virtual reality company, is headquartered in Irvine, California, unrelated to oculus anubis oregon. The tech company operates separately from the artistic oculus anubis installation in Damascus. This distinction matters when searching for information about either entity.
Where is the house of Anubis in real life?
The House of Anubis from the popular TV series was filmed in Liverpool, England, not connected to oculus anubis damascus oregon. This fictional location differs significantly from the real-world the temple of oculus anubis art installation. Fans should note these are entirely separate subjects despite sharing the Anubis name.
Where is the location of Anubis?
In Egyptian mythology, Anubis was associated with burial sites and necropolises throughout ancient Egypt. The modern oculus anubis in Oregon is an artistic representation rather than an authentic mythological location. When people search for oculus anubis oregon, they’re finding a contemporary structure inspired by these ancient beliefs.
What is the real body of Anubis?
In Egyptian mythology, Anubis was depicted with a jackal’s head and human body, not to be confused with the oculus anubis structure. The temple of oculus anubis in Oregon takes artistic inspiration from these ancient representations. The mythological Anubis had no physical remains, being a deity rather than a historical figure.