The story of Krotona has been well told, in novel form, by Jane Levington Comfort (From These Beginnings, 1937). To cite this article in an academic-style article or paper, use: Maup van de Kerkhof, "Six of the Most (In)Famous Cult Leaders", History Cooperative, December 26, 2022, https://historycooperative.org/six-of-the-most-famous-cult-leaders/. His loss of vision and claim of being able to read minds gained him a lot of followers. Fantastic as this revelation may sound, Unveiled Mysteries began to sell like hot cakes at $2.50 a copy. This was likely to associate Berg with Jesus (aka the Lion of the Tribe of Judah) and possibly to obscure the fact that Berg was aging. This magazine has been fully digitized as a part of The Atlantic's archive. Sentient beings, non-sentient things, birds, aquatic animals, land animals, flowers, grass, trees, tiles, and stones have all expressed respect for His Holinesss dharma discourses either verbally or through physical actions. As indicated, it is hard to cover the most famous leaders in just one article. Wesson separated brothers from sisters, forcing the girls to wear head scarves and long skirts. We were concerned that many could be misled into thinking the only solution would be to go to Green and they would build up a Jim Jonestype emotional dependence on him. 7. Actress Sharon Tate was pregnant and enjoying the company of her friends. Manson was an ex-convict who was unemployed and in 1967 started a commune called the Manson-family. After living in Mexico, Puerto Rico and Venezuela, his family eventually left the cult and moved to Southern California. Self-professed guru and alleged bank robber Jim Baker (aka Father Yod and Ya Ho Wha) used his popular health food restaurant as a vector for spreading his cult. Not only were 39 bodies found in a suburban California home, bodies of cult members buried under blankets and wearing Nike sneakers; a creepy video of a wide-eyed man explaining their Heaven's. Although I heard her speak many times, I never heard her attack any individual or any group, and I am thoroughly convinced that her followers always felt that they had received full value in exchange for their liberal donations. It is hard to understand that a whole cult committed suicide because of just one guy. Steve and Amy travel to Chatsworth, California, to help a terrified woman who believes her house is trying to kill her. Earlier, he had founded an offshoot of the Teen Challenge youth ministry called Light Club, which sought to entice flower children to sermons with rock music and free peanut butter sandwiches. They. They believe that they alone have the answers to lifes problems or that they alone can save others from their struggles and misery. While devotees worked at a local tomato-packing shed, their paychecks were collected by Blackburn and her husband. Manson was born in 1934 to his 16-year-old mother. Ashara was formerly known as Chizuo Matsumoto but changed his name to be more in line with his self-image as Japans only fully enlightened master. Children. Once this revelation was made, writes the biographer of Annie Besant, theosophists all over the world turned their eyes toward California as the Atlantis of the western sea. The church of the Branch Davidians began in the city of Waco. On May 18, 1926, Sister Aimee disappeared. He would begin to sexually abuse them at age eight, claiming that Jesus was a womanizer and Gods people are becoming extinct. Heaven's Gate: The Cult of Cults | Official Trailer | HBO Max. Here are five of the most notorious cults in recent history and what made them so infamous: 1. The home on Cielo Drive stood for more than five decades, but is forever connected to the Manson familys 1969 killing spree. Founded by Marshall Applewhite and Bonnie Nettles in the 1970s, Heaven's Gate was an ascetic cult . He was depicted in evangelical tracts as an anthropomorphic cartoon lion, with photos of him doctored to include lion features. With such a wide rooting, Ashara claimed he could transfer spiritual power to his followers while taking away their sins and bad deeds. That is to say, the attack was in anticipation of Armageddon, which was believed to be a nuclear attack by the United States on Japan. The cult that Ashara was the leader of was named Aum Shinrikyo. The cult had a belief system that combined elements of Tibetan and Indian Buddhism, as well as Hinduism, Christianity, the practice of yoga, and the writings of Nostradamus. At age 21, Rajneesh claimed to be spiritually enlightened. Jack the Ripper, the name given to this unidentified killer, was active in the Whitechapel district in London in 1888. Steve discovers the property has a connection with two cults, including one of the most famous cult leaders in American history. she came to know the theosophist William Quan Judge, over whom she soon acquired an extraordinary influence. The former headquarters of Full Circle, a a guru-free, sacred space in Venice, Los Angeles, that was led by the actor Andrew Keegan of 10 Things I Hate About You fame. So its not a small group, with both male and female followers. However in 1915 and 1946 respectively, the . Pretty much every famous organization, guru . Following these disclosures, she was arrested, charged with having given false information designed to interfere with the orderly processes of the law, and placed on trial. A specially chartered airplane flew over the beach and dropped flowers on the waters. Former members of the cult claim that their leader enforced sexual participation, which would also result in sexual abuse. 1. In the name of Jesus Christ, Jones confiscated passports and millions of dollars from Temple members. He ordered his followers to drink a punch that was induced with cyanide. In November 1973, they murdered Oakland school superintendent Marcus Foster, who supported a controversial student identification system. Only through Christians joining the Mankind United vision could this be averted. Aimee, who was not so much a woman as a scintillant assault, first appeared in California at San Diego in 1918. Former members have claimed that Bostwick stole his ideas from the Dianetics of Scientology after a falling-out with L. Ron Hubbard. The museum mostly holds works of art created by Dorge Chang Buddha, complete with idolizing descriptions. Cult leaders are so charismatic, they have the ability to brainwash people into doing almost anything. Then DeFreeze and his followers formed the Symbionese Liberation Army (SLA), which focused on ending racism, monogamy, the prison system, and capitalist institutions. The group fell apart after a bank robbery in Carmichael, California. With already quite the following, Jim Jones and a thousand members of the Peoples Temple decided to flee the allegations and immigrated to Guyana. Source: HBO Max. They followed the urban propaganda theory of French Marxist writer Regis Debray and believed that selective violence would attract media attention and popular support. General Otis contended that Point Loma was a spookery; that Mrs. Tingley exercised a hypnotic influence on the colonists and fed the children so skimpily that they became ethereal; that the most incredible things happen in that lair; that purple robes were worn by the women and khaki uniforms by the men; and that, at midnight, the pilgrims in their nightrobes, each holding a torch, went to a sacred spot on the Point Loma peninsula where gross immoralities were practiced by the disciples of spookism. For once, however, General Otis had met his weight in wildcats. The Manson Family Charles Manson may be one of the most well-known cult leaders in American history. However, in 1972 capital punishment would be abolished by the state of California. The Branch Davidians were a religious group with an alternative vision of the fundamentalist church. The People's Temple was begun by charismatic leader Jim Jones in the 1950s in Indianapolis, USA. Female disciples said Castaneda subjected them to cult tactics; the movement outlives its founder, who died in 1998. . The vocation of shaman was open to women and men. Sarah Edmondson, an actor and ex-acolyte who also figures prominently in the doc, received extensive recruitment training and tapped into her Hollywood circles to find new members when she was. His followers believe that he is the third incarnation of the original Buddha. His group adopted bizarre, unorthodox beliefs. Indeed, only his followers would be able to truly understand. After a failed career as a musician, Manson began amassing disciples that followed him to a ranch in the San Fernando Valley. By Erik Hawkins Richard Vieira Told Police About Gerald Cruz's Wheel Of Punishment Now Playing Preview Richard Vieira Told Police About Gerald Cruz's Wheel Of Punishment 1:09 As long as the tide of migration was made up of such people, there was no opportunity for the visionary or the faith-healer or the mystic. The jubilation, however, did not last long. Updated: Jan 19, 2021 (1959-1993) Who. Her cause of death hasn't been revealed but TMZ reported the former Manson Family member passed away age 73. What was the lawsuit about? Bodies of the People's Temple cult followers after the mass suicide in Jonestown. One article described the hierarchy in the church as: God. One of the most high-profile former cult members is actor Joaquin Phoenix, whose family traveled with the cult around South America. Manson's family committed a series of nine murders in July and August 1969, most notable were the murders that took place on the night of August 9, 1969, which included the murder of pregnant actress Sharon Tate. The crimes inspired "Helter Skelter," a best-selling book released in 1974, and an Emmy-nominated TV miniseries by . Therefore, he would spend his life in prison to eventually die of illness at the age of 83. By 1978, the population of "Jonestown" had grown to nearly 1,000 people. Well, it revolved around the claim that members did not join the group voluntarily but were lured in by deception, probably being held against their will by threats and manipulations. Joness intentions and his interpretation of a religious organization were questionable from the very beginning. Most cities absorb the disparate elements that gravitate to them, but Los Angeles remains a city of migrants,a mixture, not a compound. 3 Silvia Meraz Moreno Murdered Her 10-Year-Old Grandson As A Ritualistic Sacrifice Santa Muerte, a female deity from Mexican folklore, is the cult leader in this particular tale. Michael Aquino, the founder of satanic cult the Temple of Set, has 'remanifested from his physical body' at the age of 73. While Manson was associated with some of the most gruesome murders in Hollywood in the. . Soon the Ballards were able to secure radio time. In Los Angeles, I have attended the services of the Agabeg Occult Church, where the woman pastor who presided had violet hair (to match her name) and green-painted eyelids (to emphasize their mystical insight); of the Great White Brotherhood, whose yellow-robed followers celebrate the full moon of May with a special ritual; of the Ancient Mystical Order of Melchizedek; of the Temple of the Jewelled Cross; of Sanford Church, food scientist, psychologist, and health lecturer; of the Bahai World Faith Center; of the Crusade of the New Civilization; of the Self-Realization Fellowship of America, which proposes to construct a Golden Lotus Yoga Dream Hermitage near Encinitas at a cost of $400,000. The Blackburn cult (aka the Divine Order of the Royal Arms of the Great Eleven) based its theology on a single line from Revelation: And I will grant my two witnesses power to prophesy for one thousand two hundred and sixty days.. Email him at [emailprotected]. One of the first known hate groups, this cult was (and still is) focused on the advancement of the white race as a whole. . Both humans and nonhumans have prostrated to H.H. No one bothered to inquire what crime, if any, she had committed. Berg died at the age of 75, but his legacy is still felt. One of the most notorious killers of all time, the Zodiac Killer is yet another serial criminal who has managed to elude police for decades. . Deconsecrated in 1992, the building was supposed to be turned into condos when it was purchased and remodeled by the United International World Buddhism Association. But he is also distrusted because his teachings differ from those of other enlightened beings. Presidents Ronald Reagan and Richard Nixon were both members. Women. The unknown serial killer operated in Northern California from 1968 to the early 1970s. He has claimed to be an angel in human form who communicates with 44 other angels, including Benjamin Franklin and Jesus Christ. The music betrays a self-aware, ironic humor that is rare in most other cults. The group adopted a seven-headed cobra as its symbol and vowed death to the fascist insect that preys on the life of the people. Soon, the group began military tactical training in the Berkeley Hills. One of t hese early colonists was Albert Powell Warrington, a retired lawyer from Norfolk, Virginia, who arrived in Los Angeles in 1911. He gained quite the following, including important people in the government and notable church members. However, the murders only came to light with the investigation surrounding the subway attacks. While Mrs. McPherson never contended that she could heal the sick, she was always willing to pray for them and she was widely known as a faith-healer. The old enthusiasm was gone; the old fervor had vanished. Only 14 years later, this sentence would become reality. Once 200,000,000 people have joined the organization, Mankind United will be in a position to ensure that no mortal will have to work more than four hours a day, four days a week, eight months a year, in order to earn a salary of not less than $3000 a year. Berg died in 1994, and his cult is now known as Family International. Yet, violence was also a mechanism, meaning that people were not just sexually abused but physically as well. It was located in the middle of the jungle of Guyana, and inhabitants were expected to work long days without a lot of pay. Known to local residents as Professor Money, Doctor Money,and Bishop Money, he had been born, so he contended, with four teeth and the likeness of a rainbow in the eye.. Podcast Listen Life Examined How '60s and '70s America gave rise to cult leaders Hosted by Jonathan Bastian Aug. 21, 2021 Health & Wellness In our previous episode, author Akash Kapur talked about his experience growing up in the utopian Indian community of Auroville. I have seen her drive an ugly Devil around the platform with a pitchfork, enact the drama of Valley Forge in George Washingtons uniform, and take the lead in a dramatized sermon called Sodom and Gomorrah.. Indicted in Illinois in 1929 for a gold-mine promotion, he had fled westward. A few days later, a great memorial meeting was held for Sister at Angelus Temple, at which $35,000 was collected. Here she built Angelus Temple at a reputed cost of $1,500,000. iPhone History: A Timeline of Every Model in Order While Los Angeles went wild with excitement, thousands of her followers gathered on the beach to pray for her deliverance and return. Purchasing a fifteen-acre tract in what is now the center of Hollywood, he established Krotona, the place of promise., At its heyday, Krotona boasted an Occult Temple, a psychic lotus pond, a vegetarian cafeteria, several smalt tabernacles, a large metaphysical library, and a Greek theater. 3. Her entrance into Los Angeles was a major triumph. At one time, Warrington rented a hall on Hollywood Boulevard where courses were given in Esperanto, the Esoteric Interpretation of Music and Drama, and the Human Aura. His devotees dressed in white robes and followed a spiritual regimen of breathing techniques, cold showers, gender role shifts, yoga, home birth, chanting of the tetragrammaton, ego suppression rituals, and tantric sex. Experts believe that his actual victim count could be in the hundreds. Yikes. Charles Manson is probably one of the most famous cult leaders and serial killers. She was no longer Sister McPherson in Los Angeles, but merely Aimee. In many respects, her career parallels that of Katherine Tingley: both were highly gifted women with a great talent for showmanship; both had lived in poverty and obscurity until middle age; both founded cults; and both were ruined by scandal. When Mrs. Ballard was later convicted of mail fraud in the Federal court in Los Angeles, an audit of the books revealed that over $3,000,000 had been collected in sales, contributions, and love offerings.. 10. . Also, he had a very liberating view on sexuality and multiple wives, which would become problematic about his cult. Charles Manson (November 12, 1934-November 19, 2017) was a mass murderer who founded a desert cult known as "The Family" in the 1960s and manipulated its members into brutally killing people on his behalf, including the pregnant actress Sharon Tate and other Hollywood residents. However, Baldwin referred to himself as a spiritual pimp and took sexual liberties with female members of his flock while denigrating the males. Under his leadership, the Los Angeles Fellowship was a flourishing institution from 1904 to 1911, with over a thousand members, a large organizational apparatus, and its own orchestra, schools, and magazine. THE outstanding cult movement in Southern California in the twenties, the Four Square Gospel was succeeded by still fancier cults in the thirties, By any standard the I AM cult is the weirdest mystical concoction that has ever issued from the region It is a witchs caldron of the inconceivable, the incredible, and the fantastic. Dogs. While traveling some years before the war in China and Japan, and certain countries in Europe, Bell had discovered 100,000,000 gardeners who wished to spend the rest of their lives gardening In America for Mankind United. This initiated the downfall of the cult with several people being convicted for crimes while their leader Rajneesh was deported. The Peoples Temple was founded by Jim Jones in Indiana in 1955. Other than that, Berg could do what he wanted. In 1692, over a period of only a few months, 200 people had been accused of witchcraft and jailed, and 20 had been killed. All rights reserved. THE first eccentric of Southern California was a Scotsman by the name of William Money, who arrived in Los Angeles around 1841. Niscience was founded in the 1950s and mixes aspects of Christianity with eastern religions. Born in Indiana, Jim Jones was a Christian minister who founded the Peoples Temple church. This focus on sexual pleasure brought extreme views on free love, including pedophilia. The love gifts poured in so rapidly that they took over a large, rambling tabernacle, from the top of which a blazing neon light flashed word to all Los Angeles of the Mighty I AM Presence. The Long Beach, California, headquarters of Morningland, an almost 50-year-old spiritual group with a focus on meditation. He earned himself the title "Jack the Ripper" after a letter was written by a person claiming to be the famed serial killer. Burton replied, Thou sayest it, which is what Jesus told Pontius Pilate when asked if he was King of the Jews. Bergs theology and style were largely derived from apocalyptic Adventist preaching tradition, influenced by his grandfathers involvement in the separatist Disciples of Christ church. (The more nefarious side of fringe spiritual belief is also becoming increasingly mainstream, as seen in the rise of QAnon.). Pensions of $250 a month will be paid all who have worked 11,000 hours or have reached the age of sixty. Enveloped in the flame, he and Saint Germain set forth on a trip around the world in the stratosphere, visiting the buried cities of the Amazon, France, Egypt, Karnak, Luxor, the fabled Inca cities of antiquity, the Royal Tetons, and Yellowstone National Park. 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