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Secret Grasp is a podcast all about the mysterious and difficult to explain aspects of life. We cover topics relating to the paranormal, occult, psychic, spirituality, conspiracy theories, urban legends, cryptids, UFOs, aliens, ghosts, demons, and other strange occurrences. Visit us at www.secretgrasp.com
This episode is all about cults.
In the next episode we’re going to talk all about voodoo.
Intro music:
50 by tobylane
Link: https://pixabay.com/music/beats-50-1280/
License: https://pixabay.com/service/license/
Outro music:
Half Mystery by Kevin MacLeod
Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/5026-half-mystery
License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license
Show Notes:
Hello and welcome to Episode 17 of Secret Grasp.
Secret Grasp is a podcast all about the mysterious and difficult to explain aspects of life.
We cover topics relating to the paranormal, occult, conspiracy theories, urban legends, cryptids, UFOs, aliens, ghosts, demons, and other strange occurrences.
You can find us on all of the major podcasting apps.
It’s also worth noting that Big Tech Companies like Youtube and Spotify have been deplatforming some shows like ours for misinformation. So if you want to be sure we can stay in touch, it’s best to go to our website at secretgrasp.com and sign up for the email list. I promise I won’t spam you, and I’ll only contact you via email regarding major updates to the show.
In modern English, a cult is a social group that is defined by its unusual religious, spiritual, or philosophical beliefs, or its common interest in a particular personality, object, or goal. This sense of the term is controversial, having divergent definitions both in popular culture and academia, and has also been an ongoing source of contention among scholars across several fields of study.[1][2]: 348–56 The word “cult” is usually considered pejorative.
Types of cults:
Destructive
Destructive cult generally refers to groups whose members have, through deliberate action, physically injured or killed other members of their own group or other people.
Totalitarian systems of governance and an emphasis on money making as characteristics of a destructive cult
destructive cults are at high risk of becoming abusive to members, stating that such is in part due to members’ adulation of charismatic leaders contributing to the leaders becoming corrupted by power.[44] According to Barrett, the most common accusation made against destructive cults is sexual abuse. According to Kranenborg, some groups are risky when they advise their members not to use regular medical care.[45] This may extend to physical and psychological harm.[46]
Doomsday
Doomsday cult is an expression which is used to describe groups that believe in Apocalypticism and Millenarianism, and it can also be used to refer both to groups that predict disaster, and groups that attempt to bring it about.
Milleniarianism: is the belief by a religious, social, or political group or movement in a coming fundamental transformation of society, after which “all things will be changed”
Political
A political cult is a cult with a primary interest in political action and ideology.[60][61] Groups that some have described as “political cults”, mostly advocating far-left or far-right agendas
Polygamist
Cults that teach and practice polygamy, marriage between more than two people, most often polygyny, one man having multiple wives, have long been noted, although they are a minority. It has been estimated that there are around 50,000 members of polygamist cults in North America.[131] Often, polygamist cults are viewed negatively by both legal authorities and mainstream society, and this view sometimes includes negative perceptions of related mainstream denominations, because of their perceived links to possible domestic violence and child abuse.[132]
Racist
Sociologist and historian Orlando Patterson has described the Ku Klux Klan, which arose in the American South after the Civil War, as a heretical Christian cult, and he has also described its persecution of African Americans and others as a form of human sacrifice.[136] During the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, the existence of secret Aryan cults in Germany and Austria strongly influenced the rise of Nazism.[137] Modern-day white power skinhead groups in the United States tend to use the same recruitment techniques as groups which are characterized as destructive cults.[138]
Terrorist
In the book Jihad and Sacred Vengeance: Psychological Undercurrents of History, psychiatrist Peter A. Olsson compares Osama bin Laden to certain cult leaders including Jim Jones, David Koresh, Shoko Asahara, Marshall Applewhite, Luc Jouret and Joseph Di Mambro, and he also says that each of these individuals fit at least eight of the nine criteria for people with narcissistic personality disorders.[139] In the book Seeking the Compassionate Life: The Moral Crisis for Psychotherapy and Society authors Goldberg and Crespo also refer to Osama bin Laden as a “destructive cult leader.”[140]
Some of the biggest cults:
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (Mormonism)
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, often informally known as the LDS Church or Mormon Church, is a nontrinitarian, Christian restorationist church that considers itself to be the restoration of the original church founded by Jesus Christ. The church is headquartered in the United States in Salt Lake City, Utah, and has established congregations and built temples worldwide. According to the church, it has over 16.6 million members and 51,000 full-time volunteer missionaries.[4] The church is the fourth-largest Christian denomination in the United States,[9] with over 6.7 million members as of 2021 (self reported).[10] It is the largest denomination in the Latter Day Saint movement founded by Joseph Smith during the early 19th-century period of religious revival known as the Second Great Awakening.
If you’ve seen South Park then you probably know all the big memes about LDS.
Book of Mormon, a self-described chronicle of indigenous American prophets that Smith said he had translated from golden plates.[20]
Polygamy
Magic underwear
All members of the LDS church should store months or years worth of food for times of adversity.
Missionaries
Mormons are some of the nicest people I’ve met
Have some of the most impressive looking churches
Jehovah’s Witnesses
Famous or infamous for their door to door preaching.
They believe that the destruction of the present world system at Armageddon is imminent, and that the establishment of God’s kingdom over the earth is the only solution for all problems faced by humanity.[9]
Refuse blood transfusions
Also refuse military service. In nazi concentration camps, Jws were identified with purple triangle badges.
Don’t celebrate Christmas, Easter, any other holidays with pagan origins, or even birthdays.
If you break their rules you’ll be disfellowshiped or shunned
Believe only 144,000 humans will go to heaven. Which should be a bit worrying to their members, of which there are almost 9 million. There are about 120,000 JW congregations worldwide. So statistically only 1 or 2 people from each church will go to heaven under their model.
Scientology
Started by science fiction author L Ron Hubbard.
Set of ideas called Dianetics, a form of therapy.
Famous for being followed by a number of high-profile celebrities like Tom Cruise.
Scientologiests believe every human is an immortal spiritual being called a Thetan that resides in a physical body. These thetans have had past lives, including as extraterrestrials before coming to earth.
Xenu ruler of a confederation of planets 70 million years ago who brought a bunch of aliens to Earth and killed them with thermonuclear weapons on a volcano.
Have to pay huge sums of money to advance up through the teachings of the church.
Mentioned in my real conspiracies episode that members of the Scientology church previously infiltrated various US government positions to destroy evidence.
Also notoriously litigeous so I won’t say much more about them.
The Twelve Tribes
The Twelve Tribes’ beliefs resemble those of Christian fundamentalism, the Hebrew Roots movement, Messianic Judaism and the Sacred Name Movement; however, the group believes that all other denominations are fallen, and it therefore refuses to align itself with any denomination or movement.[1]
I don’t know why they wouldn’t just become Orthodox then?
The Twelve Tribes, formerly known as the Vine Christian Community Church,[6] the Northeast Kingdom Community Church,[2] the Messianic Communities,[2] and the Community Apostolic Order[7] is a new religious movement founded by Gene Spriggs (now known as Yoneq) that sprang out of the Jesus movement in 1972 in Chattanooga, Tennessee.[3] The group calls itself an attempt to recreate the 1st-century church as it is described in the Book of Acts;[3] the name “Twelve Tribes” is also derived from a quote of the Apostle Paul in Acts 26:7.[8] The group has ignited controversy[9] and garnered unfavorable attention from the media,[10] the anti-cult movement[11] and governments.[12]
The origins of the Twelve Tribes movement can be traced back to a ministry for teenagers which was called the “Light Brigade”[13] in 1972.[3] The ministry operated out of a small coffee shop called “The Lighthouse”[1] in the home of Gene Spriggs and his wife Marsha. The Light Brigade began living communally[14] and opened a restaurant called “The Yellow Deli” while its members were attending several churches, before they decided to join the First Presbyterian Church.[15] Members of the Light Brigade, while affiliated with First Presbyterian, caused friction within its establishment by bringing in anyone who was willing to come with them, including members of different social classes and racial groups, a practice which was not engaged in at that time.[1] On January 12, 1975, the group arrived at First Presbyterian only to find out that the service had been cancelled for the Super Bowl,[1] this led the group to form The Vine Christian Community Church.[14] During this time, the church “planted” churches, each with its own Yellow Deli, in Dalton and Trenton, Georgia; Mentone, Alabama; and Dayton, Tennessee.[6]
One noted aspect of the group is its insistence on using the name “Yahshua”,[2] as opposed to Jesus.[1] Because the name “Yahshua” represents the nature of Jesus, the group similarly bestows upon each member a Hebrew name that is meant to reflect the personality of the individual.[31]
Businesses
The Twelve Tribes attempts to support itself through means that allow its members to work together, without the need to seek outside employment. Businesses the group owns and operates include:
Parchment Press – A printing company offering printing services, and also printing and selling the group’s literature.[40]
BOJ Construction – a general contractor based in Plymouth, Massachusetts and operating nationally[41]
Commonwealth Construction – construction contracting, primarily in the Southeastern US[42][43]
Greener Formulas – A soap and bodycare research and development firm with ties to its other business, Common Sense Farm[44]
Common Sense Farm – A soap and bodycare products manufacturing and distribution facility located on the group’s farm in Cambridge, New York[45]
Simon the Tanner – a chain of shoe stores/outdoor outfitters, currently with locations in New Hampshire and Vermont[46]
Maté Factor – a yerba mate import company that also runs two cafes in Manitou Springs, Colorado and Savannah, Georgia[47]
Tribal Trading – an organic foods distribution company based in Irún, Spain[48]
The group also runs restaurant chains:
Yellow Deli Restaurants
Common Ground Cafe Restaurants
Unification Church (Moonies)
The Family Federation for World Peace and Unification
It was officially founded on 1 May 1954 under the name Holy Spirit Association for the Unification of World Christianity (HSA-UWC) in Seoul, South Korea by Sun Myung Moon (1920–2012), a Korean Messiah claimant also known for his business ventures and engagement in social and political causes.[3][4][5][6]
The beliefs of the Unification Church are based on Moon’s book Divine Principle, which differs from the teachings of Nicene Christianity in its view of Jesus[7] and in its introduction of the concept of “indemnity”.[8] The movement is well known for its unique “Blessing” or mass wedding ceremonies.[9] It also has unique funeral ceremonies for its members.[10]
I thought I saw a documentary that said the church split off in two. One of the sons started a new version of the church where he wears a crown made of bullets and the entire thing seems to worship guns and American-style freedom.
Heavens Gate
In March 1997, 39 members of Heaven’s Gate, a cult started in the early ’70s, put on matching dark clothes, swallowed barbiturates, and placed plastic bags around their heads. It was one of the largest mass suicides in the history of the United States.
Believed that God was an alien
He encouraged them to give away all their money and cut off contact with their families. Cult members were also put on a Master Cleanse diet of lemonade, cayenne pepper, and maple syrup, in order to get rid of sexual thoughts. Eight men volunteered to be surgically castrated.
In March 1997, 39 members of Heaven’s Gate donned dark outfits and matching Nike shoes. They drank vodka and ate applesauce and pudding that contained barbiturates and put plastic bags over their heads to suffocate themselves. When police officers entered the home, they found a line of bodies, each covered with purple fabric. It was one of the largest mass suicides in the history of the United States.
Branch Dividians
David Koresh believed that he could talk to God. He also thought that the world was ending. The cult leader managed to convince more than 100 people to move to a compound outside of Waco, Texas, and follow his teachings (which included his belief that men could have multiple wives, including girls as young as 10).
On February 28, 1993, the FBI arrived on the scene to arrest Koresh and ended up in a 51-day standoff. “Never before have so many heavily armed and totally committed individuals barricaded themselves in a fortified compound in a direct challenge to lawful federal warrants,” a report from the Justice Department said.
In the end, the standoff came to a close when the compound combusted into flames. 75 people died, and Koresh was found with a gunshot wound to the head.
If you haven’t seen it, I’d highly recommend watching Waco on Netflix.
Jonestown
In 1955, Jim Jones founded The People’s Temple in Indianapolis. He grew concerned that a nuclear attack would fall on the area, so he moved his congregation to Eureka, California, which he thought would be safer. Paranoia struck again in 1977 (this time born out of media attention), and Jones moved The People’s Temple to a settlement in Guyana dubbed Jonestown.
US Congressman Leo Ryan decided to visit The People’s Temple’s new location in Guyana in 1978 in order to investigate reports of abuse of members. He was shot and killed by four members of The People’s Temple. Jones then instructed all of his followers to drink Flavor Aid laced with cyanide. Over 900 dead bodies were discovered at the settlement, including Jones, who had a bullet wound to the head.
In an unsigned suicide note, one member of the cult wrote: “If nobody understands, it matters not. I am ready to die now. Darkness settles over Jonestown on its last day on earth.”
https://drsteveeichel.com/about-cults
Signs you’re in a cult:
The group is focused on a living leader to whom members seem to display excessively zealous, unquestioning commitment.
The group is preoccupied with bringing in new members.
The group is preoccupied with making money.
Questioning, doubt, and dissent are discouraged or even punished.
Mind-numbing techniques (such as meditation, chanting, speaking in tongues, denunciation sessions, debilitating work routines) are used to suppress doubts about the group and its leader(s).
The leadership dictates sometimes in great detail how members should think, act, and feel (for example: members must get permission from leaders to date, change jobs, get married; leaders may prescribe what types of clothes to wear, where to live, how to discipline children, and so forth).
The group is elitist, claiming a special, exalted status for itself, its leader(s), and members (for example: the leader is considered the Messiah or an avatar; the group and/or the leader has a special mission to save humanity).
The group has a polarized us- versus-them mentality, which causes conflict with the wider society.
The group’s leader is not accountable to any authorities (as are, for example, military commanders and ministers, priests, monks, and rabbis of mainstream denominations).
The group teaches or implies that its supposedly exalted ends justify means that members would have considered unethical before joining the group (for example: collecting money for bogus charities).
The leadership induces guilt feelings in members in order to control them.
Members’ subservience to the group causes them to cut ties with family and friends, and to give up personal goals and activities that were of interest before joining the group.
Members are expected to devote inordinate amounts of time to the group.
Members are encouraged or required to live and/or socialize only with other group members.
If a group that you belong to has many of the following criteria to a significant degree, you have cause for concern:
The group is led by a one or a few individuals, charismatic, determined, domineering.
The leader(s) are self-appointed and claim to have a special mission in life. Frequently, that mission is messianic or apocalyptic. Leaders answer to no higher authority, such as an oversight board. They are sole interpreters of doctrine and policy — which may change frequently and whimsically.
The group centers its veneration on the leader(s) directly, rather than on God, a higher political power, science, or whatever.
The group structure is hierarchical and authoritarian. Rarely will you find an open election in a cult.
The group tends to be totalitarian, with elaborate rules and rituals that occupy large parts of every day. To break a rule or ignore a ritual carries the danger of expulsion from the group.
The group usually has two or more sets of ethics: one for the leadership, another for the membership; one for outsiders, another for insiders; a relaxed set for recruiting purposes, a much more demanding set for the committed member.
The group usually presents itself as innovative and exclusive, even elitist.
The group has two main purposes: recruiting new members and fund-raising. It’s unlikely to support or even encourage legitimate charity work, except as a front for recruitment.
1. Opposing critical thinking
2. Isolating members and penalizing them for leaving
3. Emphasizing special doctrines outside scripture
4. Seeking inappropriate loyalty to their leaders
5. Dishonoring the family unit
6. Crossing Biblical boundaries of behavior (versus sexual purity and personal ownership)
7. Separation from the Church
Thanks for listening
Show notes on the website, and links to all the places where you can find the show
In the next episode… Voodoo
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