CultNEWS101 News: 9/18/2026

Culture & Media

New Docuseries

Medical Daily: Coercive Control Warning Signs: Mica Miller and the Netflix Series The deeply tragic and highly publicized criminal case of Mica Miller has thrust the incredibly insidious nature of coercive control into the national public spotlight, prompting urgent and renewed societal discussions about complex psychological abuse.

Unlike overt physical violence, coercive control operates quietly through a highly systematic, calculated pattern of emotional manipulation, forced social isolation, and relentless intimidation designed explicitly to strip a victim of their personal autonomy. Critical warning signs of this abuse often include extreme and irrational jealousy, strict financial restriction, constant monitoring of digital communications, and actively alienating the targeted victim from their protective support networks.

A recent, highly popular true-crime Netflix series has further amplified widespread awareness of this critical issue. The program provides global viewers with a chilling, accurately dramatized look at exactly how domestic abusers slowly and methodically dismantle their partners' independence over time.

Advocates and lawmakers are now actively using the intense public momentum generated from Miller’s heartbreaking case and the series to aggressively push for much stricter legal definitions and concrete protections against emotional abuse. Mental health professionals continually emphasize the absolute importance of early intervention and widespread public education to help vulnerable victims safely recognize and escape these dangerous dynamics.

Reviews

When Prophecy Fails Review – Gripping Dive Into a Doomsday Cult

Published by The Guardian on August 30, 2026, this article reviews a new physical theatre production by the Scottish company Groupwork that explores the true story of a 1950s Midwestern doomsday group. The play is based on the landmark sociological study of Marian Keech, an alias for a woman who believed she was channeling extraterrestrial messages and the voice of Jesus Christ. Keech successfully cultivated a following of seemingly ordinary citizens who became entirely convinced that the world was on the brink of an apocalyptic end, yet held out hope that they would be rescued by aliens from the planet Clarion.

The review highlights how the production effectively captures the eerie ordinariness of the group's followers, demonstrating that susceptibility to undue influence and extreme ideological shifts is not limited to societal outliers. By focusing on the psychological dynamics that allow a charismatic leader to exert coercive control over a dedicated sect, the play serves as a striking reflection of the exact mechanisms researchers and interventionists study in high-demand environments today. It underscores the profound cognitive dissonance that occurs when deeply held prophecies inevitably fail, and how members often double down on their beliefs rather than abandon the group. This theatrical adaptation offers a compelling, real-time exploration of human vulnerability, the mechanics of social fraud, and the enduring nature of radical group indoctrination.

DVD Review: How a Cult's Recruitment of Jeremy Spencer Shaped Fleetwood Mac's Future The sudden, highly unexpected, and deeply shocking departure of talented guitarist Jeremy Spencer in 1971 definitively remains one of the most pivotal, transformative, and utterly bizarre moments in the extensive history of the legendary rock band Fleetwood Mac.

While actively on a demanding concert tour in Los Angeles, Spencer uncharacteristically left the band's hotel simply to run a quick afternoon errand and mysteriously never returned to his bandmates. He had been randomly approached on the street and rapidly, intensely recruited by the Children of God, a highly notorious and manipulative religious cult. He entirely abandoned his rapidly rising music career and his closest friends without any prior warning or explanation.

His unprecedented disappearance instantly threw Fleetwood Mac into a state of severe, immediate operational crisis, desperately forcing them to scramble to fulfill their lucrative touring obligations. The highly traumatic emotional event deeply fractured the band's original, traditional blues-rock lineup.

Ultimately, this chaotic, deeply painful rupture inadvertently and permanently paved the way for the band's spectacular future commercial evolution. Spencer’s exit forcibly required Fleetwood Mac to continuously reinvent their core sound, eventually directly leading to the historic recruitment of Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks.

Updates

Legislative & Legal

Seoul Economic Daily: Unification Church Leader Faces Verdict in Political Funding Case 

A Seoul court is preparing to deliver its verdict on Han Hak-ja, the leader of the Unification Church, who faces serious charges of political-religious collusion with the Yoon Suk-yeol administration. Prosecutors are seeking a 13-year prison sentence for Han for violating the Political Funds Act and anti-graft laws.

The allegations center around church funds being illegally funneled to politicians. Working with top church officials, Han allegedly delivered 100 million won to a prominent People Power Party lawmaker in 2022 to secure the administration's support. Furthermore, they are accused of using "split donations" to distribute another 144 million won to various politicians, effectively bypassing legal disclosure requirements.

In a highly publicized detail, the church leadership is also accused of gifting an expensive Chanel handbag and necklace to First Lady Kim Keon-hee. These luxury items were reportedly passed through a known shaman to gain political favor.

The sweeping judicial proceedings also extend beyond the church. The article highlights the upcoming trials of former military leaders involved in a controversial martial law declaration, as well as a critical impending vote by creditors on the financial rehabilitation plan for Homeplus.

Ongoing Focus

Yahoo News: 42 Years Ago Today, A Cult Poisoned Oregon Salad Bars In America's First Major Bioterror Attack 

Forty-two years ago today, the United States experienced its first and largest major bioterrorist attack when a religious cult intentionally poisoned unsuspecting citizens in Oregon. Followers of the Rajneeshee movement deliberately contaminated the salad bars of multiple local restaurants in the small community of The Dalles with Salmonella typhimurium.

The massive biological attack successfully sickened more than 750 people, leading to numerous hospitalizations, though miraculously resulting in no fatalities. Investigations ultimately revealed that the poisoning was a calculated trial run for a much broader, sinister plot.

The cult's leadership orchestrated the contamination to incapacitate local voters and suppress turnout in an upcoming election. By making the voting population too ill to cast their ballots, the Rajneeshees hoped to win county elections and seize political control of Wasco County to prevent interference with their nearby commune.

Today, the 1984 Rajneeshee bioterror attack remains a chilling historical landmark. This anniversary serves as a stark reminder of the extreme lengths to which radical groups will go to manipulate democratic processes, cementing the event as a pivotal moment in the history of American domestic terrorism and cult violence.

AI Research Disclosure: To bring you the most relevant stories, parts of this newsletter use artificial intelligence (AI) tools to search the web, source articles, and help curate content. This content is for informational purposes only; we recommend verifying critical facts independently.

A Review of American Trickster: The Hidden Lives of Carlos Castaneda

A Review of American Trickster: The Hidden Lives of Carlos Castaneda

Ru Marshall’s *American Trickster: The Hidden Lives of Carlos Castaneda* (OR Books, 2026) is far more than a literary biography; it is a vital examination of the structural mechanics of undue influence. For decades, Castaneda was celebrated as a revolutionary voice in anthropology, peddling *The Teachings of Don Juan* as genuine Indigenous wisdom. But behind the facade of this twentieth-century hoax lies a chilling case study in how charismatic narcissists build and sustain high-demand movements.

Marshall meticulously unravels Castaneda's transition from a fraudulent academic to the architect of a secretive New Age sect. The book traces his deployment of classic coercive control tactics—isolating his followers, severing their ties to their pasts, and blurring the lines between fabricated mysticism and psychological reality. Most devastatingly, *American Trickster* does not shy away from the tragic terminus of this totalistic environment. When Castaneda died in 1998, five of his closest female followers vanished, widely believed to have taken their own lives to join him in a "next dimension".

What elevates this 670-page work is its sociological rigor. Marshall dissects the intersection of the 1970s cultural zeitgeist and Castaneda’s deeply manipulative interpersonal behavior, framing it as an allegory for modern spiritual abuse and the erasure of actual Indigenous practices. Crucially, the biography illuminates the vertical and horizontal contributions to the cult experience, exploring both the leader's top-down deception and the environmental vulnerabilities of those seeking enlightenment.

For those researching the historical precedents of high-demand groups or developing recovery frameworks, *American Trickster* is essential reading. It transforms Castaneda from a mere literary charlatan into a quintessential study of how pseudo-spirituality is weaponized to dismantle autonomy, making it an indispensable addition to the literature on psychological captivity and mediation.

CultNEWS101 Newsletter: 7/16/2026

Culture & Media

New PublicationsFox: 'Game of Thrones' star says she mistook psychiatric hospital for a palace after joining wellness cult

Hannah Murray writes in her new memoir, 'The Make-Believe,' out now, that she entered Gordon Hospital 'extremely psychotic'.

In her new memoir, The Make-Believe: A Memoir of Magic and Madness, Game of Thrones actress Hannah Murray opens up about her terrifying descent into a "wellness cult" that triggered a severe psychotic break. Struggling with the dark, violent themes of her 2017 film Detroit, Murray sought comfort from an on-set "energy healer" who ultimately introduced her to the group. She became so deeply indoctrinated by the cult's leader—whom she believed was God—that her mental health was shattered. This culminated in a 28-day stint at a London psychiatric facility, which her delusional state initially led her to mistake for a palace.

Updates

Legislative & Legal

Will New Child Protection Laws End Youth Worthiness Interviews in Australia

This video from Mormonish Podcast discusses new, comprehensive child protection laws enacted in Queensland, Australia, as of July 1, 2026, and the LDS Church's response to these legal changes.

Key takeaways from the discussion:

Compliance with Local Law: The LDS Church released a 42-page handbook for members in Queensland to ensure compliance with local safeguarding protocols. This includes mandatory government background checks for anyone interacting with youth.

Reporting Requirements: The Queensland laws require that abuse allegations be reported to authorities immediately, regardless of whether they occurred during church activities or were learned through confidential religious confession.

Conflict with Internal Policies: The participants analyze a church directive stating that leaders must contact the Priesthood Leaders Australia Child Protection helpline before other notifications, unless there is an urgent safety concern. Critics in the video argue this prioritizes institutional protection over child safety.

Ending One-on-One Interviews: The new guidelines explicitly prohibit one-on-one interactions, including teaching, transportation, and interviews. The hosts discuss whether this effectively signals the end of traditional "worthiness interviews" for youth, noting that the church's handbook may be attempting to "wiggle around" these requirements.

Broader Implications: The panel suggests that while these changes are forced by national law in Australia, the LDS Church may struggle to reconcile its standard operating procedures—specifically the nature of worthiness interviews—with modern legal standards regarding sexual innuendo and child safeguarding.

Research & Academic

Experiences of Recovery from Spiritual Abuse

Rayann Gordon is researching spiritual abuse and is conducting a study on how people reconstruct their spirituality after leaving an abusive situation. She is talking to people who were hurt in a variety of spiritual settings, including Buddhist, Christian, New Age, and others.

Looking for participants for: “Reconstructing the Sacred: A Mixed Methods Study of Recovery After Spiritual Abuse,” a research project exploring what recovery looks like after spiritual abuse, including the role of grief, ritual, finding new meaning, how your spirituality has changed, and what helped along the way.

You may be eligible if you:

• Are aged 18 or over and fluent in English

• Have experienced religious or spiritual abuse in the past

• Have been out of the abusive situation for at least three years

• Currently have a meaningful spiritual life

• Feel that participation would not be distressing for you

What's involved: Two brief online questionnaires and a 60–90 minute Zoom interview about your recovery journey and spiritual life now.

Participation is entirely voluntary and confidential.

To find out more or to take part, start here: https://app.onlinesurveys.jisc.ac.uk/s/salford/reconstructingthesacred061026

Or contact Rayann Gordon (Researcher): r.gordon5@edu.salford.ac.uk

This study has been approved by the University of Salford Ethics Committee. Academic supervisor: Dr Linda Dubrow-Marshall.

AI Research Disclosure: To bring you the most relevant stories, parts of this newsletter utilize artificial intelligence (AI) tools to search the web, source articles, and assist with content curation. This content is for informational purposes only; we recommend verifying critical facts independently.

News, Education, Intervention, Recovery

CultMediation.com   

Intervention101.com helps families and friends understand and effectively respond to the complexities of a loved one's involvement in a cult.

CultRecovery101.com assists group members and their families in making the sometimes difficult transition from coercion to renewed individual choice.

CultNEWS101.com news, links, resources about: cults, cultic groups, abusive relationships, movements, religions, political organizations, and related topics.

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The selection of articles for CultNEWS101 does not imply that Patrick Ryan, Joseph Kelly, or Ashlen Hilliard endorse the content. We provide information from multiple perspectives to foster dialogue.

Please forward articles you think we should add to cultintervention@gmail.com.

The guru who loved to lie: The wild celebrity and dark secrets of author Carlos Castaneda

Book jacket for "American Trickster: The Hidden Lives of Carlos Castaneda" by Ru Marshall

(Los Angeles Times illustration; images from OR Books and Adobe Stock)

Mark Athitakis

LA Times

June 23, 2026

A new biography, “American Trickster,” excavates the life of Carlos Castaneda, the UCLA grad student turned New Age cult leader whose Don Juan books captivated millions.

The biography traces Castaneda’s rise to a Time magazine cover subject.

By probing his triple role as author, anthropologist and cult leader, the book asks why Americans hunger for seductive spiritual hoaxes.

American Trickster: The Hidden Lives of Carlos Castaneda

By Ru Marshall

The 1970s were thick with New Age spiritual fads and movements, from the benign (crystals) to the unspeakably toxic and cultic (Jonestown). Somewhere in the middle of that woo-woo spectrum lies the work of Carlos Castaneda. A UCLA anthropology grad student turned self-appointed guru, Castaneda became a counterculture icon with the publication of his first book, “The Teachings of Don Juan: A Yaqui Way of Knowledge,” in 1968, purporting to find enlightenment via psychedelic mushrooms, peyote and the cryptic musings of Don Juan, an Indigenous spirit guide.

That book, and the stream of his that followed, seduced millions of readers, plenty of them no doubt hoping that with the proper dosage they, like Castaneda, might also transform into a crow and soar across the purple skies of the dusty Southwest. That Castaneda’s books were largely flimflam isn’t in dispute. But Ru Marshall’s hefty biography, “American Trickster,” reveals the depth of his deception — and, just as potently, how easily people can be taken in by it.

“He didn’t lie out of convenience or opportunism,” Marshall writes. “He lied because he loved to. Lying was, for him, an art, and he did it exceptionally well.” This is a 1970s story, but anybody in the present can relate.

Born in Peru (not Brazil, as he often claimed) in 1925 (not a decade later, as he often claimed), Castaneda demonstrated no particular intellectual promise. But in the mid-1950s, first at L.A. City College and later at UCLA, he developed an affection for writing, philosophy and history. While pursuing a graduate degree in anthropology in the ’60s, he grew enchanted with Buddhism, Theosophy, existentialism and Native American spirituality — all key elements of the spiritualist goulash he would eventually cook up for his books. His timing was impeccable: From Timothy Leary’s LSD experiments to transcendental meditation, non-Christian religion and drugs fueled the zeitgeist. And Castaneda’s manuscript of “The Teachings” spoke effervescently about both.

It hardly seemed to matter that the book also demonstrated his ignorance of both: He had little understanding of psychoactive drugs (you don’t smoke shrooms, dude), and there was nothing meaningfully Yaqui about Don Juan. Still, the book — and their follow-ups “A Separate Reality” and “Journey to Ixtlan” — were massive bestsellers. Castaneda made it to the cover of Time magazine. His work provided George Lucas with more than a little inspiration for his master-and-student space opera, “Star Wars.” And he became a target for parodists, the surest sign of fame. Donald Barthelme satirized him in his story “The Teachings of Don B.: A Yankee Way of Knowledge.”

That the ’70s American psyche, brutalized by Watergate and Vietnam, found solace in Castaneda’s sophistry isn’t surprising. More shocking is that the academic establishment tolerated it too: UCLA awarded him a PhD in anthropology with “Ixtlan” serving as his dissertation. Castaneda, Marshall writes, made an end run around the department’s Yaqui expert, with the other committee members overly impressed by his au courant melange of fieldwork and gauzy ruminations, despite the fact that his timelines and grasp of mycology didn’t make sense. “If we stop telling ourselves that the world is so-and-so, the world will stop being so-and-so,” Don Juan mused. Perversely, Castaneda’s success proved him right.

“American Trickster,” at more than 600 pages, is at once more information about Castaneda than any reader needs, and not nearly enough. Marshall (who in 2006 published a novel, “A Separate Reality,” inspired by Castaneda), has gone to ground on every element of his subject’s life, from his upbringing in Peru to his celebrity (he’d find his way into the orbits of former Gov. Jerry Brown, Federico Fellini and Oliver Stone at various points), to the years before his death of liver cancer in 1998. By that point he’d focused his attention on Tensegrity, a modified martial arts practice demonstrated at pricey workshops, and gathered a host of followers, mostly women, who he played against each other and psychologically abused in various ways.

But who did this guy think he was? How did he come to invent such a strange spiritual system, and develop the nerve to sell it both to mainstream publishers and the academic establishment? Why did he keep a box of knives under his bed? “Carlos acted in the zone where the trickery of the cult leader and that of the literary hoaxer (and the anthropological hoaxer) overlap,” Marshall writes. But all the biographical detail brings us no closer to what made him such a successful triple threat of eyewash.

Perhaps a book that couched Castaneda’s story more deeply in the context of the ’70s counterculture and the nature of cults past and present would make his story clearer. But perhaps not — his tale is inevitably something to wonder at, evidence of humans’ capacity to spin a yarn that flatters our egos and urge to understand our spiritual selves, and to buy into what’s spun.

Maybe it’s unsurprising that one of the first people to publicly sound the alarm about Castaneda was a novelist. In 1972, Joyce Carol Oates wrote a letter to the New York Times Book Review questioning a credulous review of Castaneda’s books. (The New York Times had spiked a more skeptical one, Marshall reports.) “It is quite possible that Don Juan represents a ‘non-ordinary’ reality so strange to me that I cannot accept it, and must try to reason my way out of believing,” she wrote. “But I don’t think so… I’d be very interested in whether other readers share my bewilderment.” No doubt others did. But what if bewilderment was exactly what they were seeking?

Athitakis is a writer in Phoenix and author of “The New Midwest.”

https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/books/story/2026-06-23/american-trickster-carlos-castaneda-biography-review

9 Takeaways From the Book 'Taken No More'

Robin Boyle-Laisure's book explores the social psychology of manipulation.

Lisa Aronson Fontes Ph.D.

Psychology Today

June 14, 2026

Reviewed by Jessica Schrader

Key points

Cult leaders and human traffickers use similar techniques to entrap new recruits.

Adults can help young people learn to protect themselves from recruitment into cults and trafficking.

"Taken No More" by Robin Boyle-Laisure provides suggestions for adults to help youth stay safe.

In Taken No More, law professor and cult expert Robin Boyle-Laisure, J.D., discusses commonalities between cults and human trafficking. In the mix, she also considers intimate partner violence and child sexual abuse. Coercive control unites these diverse situations.

The book is subtitled, “Protect Your Children Against Traffickers and Cults.” A good chunk of it is directed toward parents and educators. However, it also seems relevant to professionals who work in mental health, child protection, and the law, as well as casual readers with an interest in these topics.

9 of the book’s main points

1. Human trafficking and cults have a lot in common. Leaders in both kinds of enterprises manipulate young people and adults for their own gain.
2. Traffickers and cult leaders use deception to recruit their targets. They find out what potential recruits value and exploit it. Most commonly, they provide false offers of financial gain, romance, community, or fame—whatever it takes. Labor traffickers entice their targets by promising desirable working conditions and wages.
3. Cult leaders and traffickers groom their new recruits. They build and strengthen interpersonal bonds through gifts, affection, kind words, and welcoming acts. New recruits let down their guard. Then they become entrapped and find it impossible to leave.
4. Cult leaders and traffickers shape their targets to accept increasingly difficult conditions. They desensitize recruits to abuse. A sex trafficker posing as a boyfriend might ask his girlfriend to “prove her love” by having sex with his friend. Or a sex trafficker might promise a career in modeling. Cult leaders ask new members to prove their dedication by turning over money and cutting off previous relationships. Labor traffickers make “deals” where the targets end up feeling like they owe money and will risk legal trouble if they try to flee.
5. Trafficking is immensely profitable because humans can be sold and re-sold. Gangs that once dealt drugs have discovered that trafficking in (young) women and men can yield them a greater profit over a longer period. Many gangs engage in both drug and human trafficking. Each facilitates the other.
6. Cults don’t all look the same. When people think of cults, they often think of recruits with shaved heads and orange robes, chanting and begging on the streets. But, as Boyle-Laisure points out, cults are not all religious. They could be political, terrorist, commercial, or some combination of these.
7. Thought reform, brainwashing, and coercive control all refer to the same processes. Traffickers, cult and gang leaders, and domestic and sexual abusers all use similar social and psychological pressures to change the way targets think and act. Targets’ attitudes and self-images change. The unthinkable gradually seems acceptable, inevitable, or even welcome. For instance, a new cult member who was once close to his family might write them off as unacceptable. A newly recruited trafficking victim who was a virgin when she met her “boyfriend” might consent to sex with others, at his request, and convince herself that she is happy to have made him happy. Labor trafficking victims may believe that they “just have to get through” the next couple of months, and then they will receive the wages they are due.
8. Young people need developmentally appropriate instruction in how to stay safe. The author provides a chapter on “Raising a Savvy Child” and another on “Protecting Children from Online Predators." She offers advice to caretakers on how to speak with children and teens about social dangers without paralyzing them with fear. She describes planning for a range of family emergencies. She offers practical suggestions including at what age to get children a cell phone and how to instruct them in its safe use.
9. Clinicians working with survivors of cults and trafficking will need to adjust their usual trauma-focused practices. The book includes a full chapter dedicated to “mental health professionals, college administrators, and the community.” Boyle-Laisure draws on experienced psychotherapists for advice on working clinically with survivors of cults and trafficking.

The book is marred by small errors. For instance, Steve Hassan’s Influence Continuum is referred to several times as “the influence of continuum.” The Children of God practice of recruiting members through sexual seduction is referred to repeatedly as “flirty fishy” rather than “flirty fishing.” These are mere quibbles in this heavily researched and interesting book.

References

Boyle-Laisure, R. (2026). Taken no more: Protect your children against traffickers and cults. Bloomsbury Press.

https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/invisible-chains/202606/9-takeaways-from-the-book-taken-no-more

Traumatic Narcissism Theory: A Contemporary Introduction

By Daniel Shaw

In this illuminating and informative book, Daniel Shaw provides a succinct and highly accessible introduction to his concept of Traumatic Narcissism, describing the psychology of the traumatizing narcissist and the impact of their behavior on victims.

Distinguishing the Traumatic Narcissism Theory (TNT) from other dominant psychoanalytic theories of narcissism, Shaw begins by retelling the ancient myth of Narcissus with an emphasis on the character of Echo, the victim of Narcissus' cruelty. Acknowledging the seminal contributions of Sigmund Freud and highlighting the work of Otto Kernberg and Heinz Kohut, Shaw clarifies that, rather than treating narcissistic personality disorders, TNT is intended for the therapeutic healing and recovery of victims of narcissistic abuse. Shaw highlights the impact of a wide range of thinkers on the development of TNT, from Erich Fromm to the relational psychoanalysts and contemporary traumatologists. Emphasizing the clinical utility of the traumatic narcissism concepts, Shaw integrates both theoretical and clinical material to show how TNT enables victims to recover their wounded subjectivity and heal the self-alienation that results from the traumatizing narcissist's manipulation and abuse.

This book is a vital resource for clinicians working with victims of narcissistic abuse, for those conducting psychoanalytic and trauma training programs, and for the wider public interested in the impact of narcissistic abuse and exploitation.

https://www.routledge.com/Traumatic-Narcissism-Theory-A-Contemporary-Introduction/Shaw/p/book/9781032862675

Taken No More: Protect Your Children Against Traffickers and Cults

Robin Boyle Laisure​: Taken No More: Protect Your Children Against Traffickers and Cults (Bloomsbury 2025​)

In America, every 2.5 hours, a child is taken by human traffickers; 50% of trafficking victims are children (The Deliver Fund). Additionally, 2.5 million Americans have joined cultic groups in the past two decades (International Cultic Studies Association). Online predators pose a critical threat to today’s children. This new book, Taken No More: Protect Your Children Against Traffickers and Cults, provides tools to fight these critical problems. It serves as a guide for parents, teachers, mental health professionals, lawyers, and law enforcement.

Cults actively recruit on college campuses, online, and in so-called self-improvement and health space, such as yoga and meditation.

Taken No More devotes a full chapter to predators’ tactics in soliciting children online. The frequency in which this is happening is alarming and, often, with devasting consequences.

Robin Boyle Laisure is an author and law professor. Taken No More is a culmination of nearly thirty years of research into the labyrinth of pernicious enterprises and the law. As a guide for family and professionals, the book advises about the dangers of human trafficking and cults. It suggests dialogue when speaking with children, teens, and young adults. It is a must-read for anyone raising, teaching, or counseling children. The advice offered could help save lives.

CultNEWS101 Articles: 8/25/2025

Online Event, Colonia Dignidad, Chile, Siddha Yoga, Book Review, Jagadguru Shri Kripalu

Online Event: How to deal with shame in cult survivorsHow to deal with shame in cult survivors? Free

Join the Webinar on August 28 at. 12.00 Psyflix Scandinavia Host: Anne Hilde Vassbø Hagen

Shame can be crippling - especially for those who have lived under psychological control in sects, extreme groups or other unhealthy communities.

On August 28th, psychologist, author and cult-survivor, Cathrine Moestue, will hold a webinar on Psyflix Scandinavia where she shares her own experiences and valuable knowledge on what it takes to regain mental health and working power after a manipulative community.

In this webinar, you will gain insight into:

• The dynamics of sects and controlling relationships
• Moral injury and common challenges for survivors
• Therapeutic approaches that strengthen security and alliance
• Tools for psycho education and support for increased autonomy
• Sign up for free here: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_qdB0trP0TRG7ES9XmFggNQ#/registration

BBC: Once home to a cult, the Chilean tourist village haunted by torture and child abuse

"With sloping red-tiled roofs, trimmed lawns and a shop selling home-baked ginger biscuits, Villa Baviera looks like a quaint German-style village, nestled in the rolling hills of central Chile.

But it has a dark past.

Once known as Colonia Dignidad, it was home to a secretive religious sect founded by a manipulative and abusive leader who collaborated with the dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet.

Paul Schäfer, who established the colony in 1961, imposed a regime of harsh punishments and humiliation on the Germans living there.

They were separated from their parents and forced to work from a young age.

Schäfer also sexually abused many of the children.

After Gen Pinochet led a coup in 1973, opponents of his military regime were taken to Colonia Dignidad to be tortured in dark basements.

Many of these political prisoners were never seen again.

Schäfer died in prison in 2010, but some of the German residents remained and have turned the former colony into a tourist destination, with a restaurant, hotel, cabins to rent and even a boating pond.

Now, the Chilean government is going to expropriate some of its land to commemorate Pinochet's victims there. But the plans have divided opinions."

The New Leaving Siddha Yoga Site is Live

www.leavingsiddhayoga.net

• Easy to navigate and search
• Several new, compelling stories
• Info on the recent lawsuit against SYDA
• A new academic paper

Book Review: "Sex God: The Secret Life of a Dark, Dark Guru" by Karen Jonson

Karen Jonson's "Sex God: The Secret Life of a Dark, Dark Guru" is a powerful memoir and exposé that reveals the troubling truths about her former spiritual leader, Jagadguru Shri Kripalu Maharaj.

In this unflinching account, Jonson shares her experiences within a cult and details the harrowing realities faced by its victims. The book serves as a critical examination of the dangers of blind faith, the reality of cult abuse, and the resilience required to survive and speak out against such experiences.

Jonson's work is a vital resource for understanding how charisma and spiritual authority can be manipulated for harm. It is essential reading for anyone interested in cult psychology, survivor stories, and the ongoing fight for accountability within religious institutions.

This book is not for the faint of heart—it confronts the darkness that often lies beneath the surface of supposed spiritual enlightenment.

News, Education, Intervention, Recovery

CultMediation.com   

Intervention101.com to help families and friends understand and effectively respond to the complexity of a loved one's cult involvement.

CultRecovery101.com assists group members and their families make the sometimes difficult transition from coercion to renewed individual choice.

CultNEWS101 Articles: 8/18/2025

United Nation of Islam, Legal, Clergy Sexual Abuse, Book Review, QAnon, Research, Trauma 

Department of Justice: Six Former Cult Members Sentenced for Years-Long Forced Labor Conspiracy to Compel the Labor of Multiple Minor Victims

" ... As established at trial, all six defendants were former high-ranking members of the United Nation of Islam (UNOI) who assisted UNOI's late founder Royall Jenkins in managing UNOI operations. Defendant Peach was also one of Jenkins's wives. Jenkins represented himself as Allah, contrary to principles of the Islamic faith, and demanded compliance with strict UNOI rules. UNOI operated multiple businesses including restaurants, bakeries, gas stations, a laboratory, and a clothing factory.

For over 12 years from October 2000 through November 2012, the defendants conspired to enforce rules that required UNOI members to perform unpaid labor, using beatings, threats, punishments, isolation, and coercion to compel the unpaid labor of over a dozen victims, including multiple minors, some as young as eight years old. The defendants required the victims to work up to 16 hours a day performing unpaid labor in UNOI-owned and operated businesses in Kansas City, Kansas; New York, New York; Newark, New Jersey; Cincinnati, Ohio; Dayton, Ohio; Atlanta, Georgia, and elsewhere. The defendants also required the victims to perform unpaid childcare and domestic service in the defendants' homes. The evidence showed that the defendants lived comfortably while housing the victims in overcrowded, unsanitary conditions along with restricting their food and water.

As proven at trial, the defendants used false promises of education, life skills training, and job training to induce parents to send their children to Kansas. After isolating the victims from their families and making them wholly dependent on UNOI, the defendants required the victims to attend UNOI's unlicensed, unaccredited school and used strict rules, isolation, punishments, humiliation, threats, and coercion to compel the victims' unpaid labor. This included restricting and monitoring the victims' communications with others along with their whereabouts."

ICSA Reviews: The Quiet Damage: QAnon and the Destruction of the American Family. By Jesselyn Cook. Crown. 2019. 272 pages. Reviewed by Doug Duncan

" ... [T]hese stories were emotionally difficult [to read]. One of them involved a woman who had raised three children as a single mother after her husband, a physician, committed suicide. She was an admirable and courageous person, and after her husband killed himself, she went back to school and was able to get a law degree and become an attorney. She was a champion for people and tended toward liberal views to the extent that she was political, but after her children had embarked on adult lives of their own, she was drawn into QAnon. She ends up completely alienating her adult children and has no family to help her when she later encounters health issues.

Another story involves two Black sisters who are closely bonded to each other after growing up with a single mother in economically and socially challenging circumstances, struggling against poverty and racism, until one of them gets totally sucked into QAnon. After years of closeness, they drift apart, and the QAnon believer, Kendra, blames her sister, Tayshia, for the death of Tayshia's husband by heart attack due to them having obtained COVID-19 vaccinations.

Some of the recruits get out, and some of them do not, so each case does not have a happy ending. A couple of them manage to get out but are unable to repair the damage done to their relationships, so they are left with lasting consequences. All the stories are quite sad, but they are all interesting. Cook is an investigative reporter with a master's degree in journalism from New York University, and she was selected as a 2025 Nieman Fellow at Harvard University. She is a talented writer, and the book is beneficial in helping to humanize the people and families who are affected by this terrible cult.

As somebody who ascribes to the thought reform view of cults that is expounded by Robert Jay Lifton, Margaret Thaler Singer, and others, I find the whole topic of conspiracy theories to be fascinating. In some ways, the process by which somebody is indoctrinated into a set of dubious beliefs, such as those of QAnon, is the quintessence of thought reform. This is made even more effective because the recruits manage to use the techniques of thought reform on themselves. They are given information and told to conduct their own research. They are exhorted to be free-thinking skeptics and not to simply accept the establishment narrative. In the name of avoiding propaganda, they walk themselves, step by step, into groupthink. They are even more convinced because they think they have arrived at their conclusions on their own. All the hours spent watching the videos, discussing the clues on the forums, and searching for confirmations in the news become a sunk cost.

Having worked so diligently to arrive at their beliefs, they are reluctant to let go of them. Furthermore, spending so much time watching videos and looking for clues from "Q"—the government insider who is supposedly privy to the on-going behind-the-scenes war between the true patriots and the Deep State—parallels what happens in more traditionally organized cults, where members may spend most of their waking hours attending Bible studies or lectures, practicing meditation, or participating in struggle sessions of some kind. At the very least, one becomes consumed with whatever the cult is doing and disconnected from other people and one's previous daily activities.

In the afterword, Cook discusses what can be done about QAnon. The problem is enormous. By some estimates, "[b]y late 2023, as many as one in four Americans were in agreement that 'Satan-worshipping pedophiles' controlled the government and the media" (p. 232). Even if these estimates are high, it is nevertheless undeniable that we are talking about millions of people who have adopted at least some portion of the QAnon belief system. To some degree or another, they all hold beliefs that are substantially out of the mainstream, such as the notion that the COVID-19 vaccines were a ruse so that Bill Gates could implant microchips in everyone. There were real societal harms that resulted from this. The United States fared significantly worse during the pandemic than did other advanced countries, and the vaccine reluctance that grew out of QAnon contributed to that. Some people in this country died because of these strange beliefs."

Emerging From a Cult – Rorschach Indications of Traumatic Damage to the Self

"This case concerns a 22-year-old White nonbinary British person who sought a consultation following an abusive childhood. The family belonged to a religious cult that required strict conformity to traditional gender stereotypes. The patient's attempts at rebellion were met by the family's determination to cast their child as mentally ill, thereby invalidating their identity. Diagnosis was used as a weapon of control and humiliation to discredit the patient's own independent thinking. The patient had left the cult in which they were brought up. They wanted recommendations for how to adapt to adult life outside of the cult. The Group Psychological Abuse Scale, the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2 (MMPI–2), the Trauma Symptom Inventory-2 (TSI–2) and the Rorschach were administered. Judith Herman proposed the concept of complex posttraumatic stress disorder in 1992, which is applicable to this case. Some of the research literature with ex-cult members who grew up in a cult is reviewed to place the test data in context. Results from the three self-report measures are presented. The Rorschach results are then discussed in detail. The combination of morbid, reflection, and vista responses demonstrates the impact of the abusive system on the patient's sense of self and it provides some pointers for therapeutic intervention."

News, Education, Intervention, Recovery

Book Review: "Sex God: The Secret Life of a Dark, Dark Guru" by Karen Jonson

Karen Jonson's "Sex God: The Secret Life of a Dark, Dark Guru" is a powerful memoir and exposé that reveals the troubling truths about her former spiritual leader, Jagadguru Shri Kripalu Maharaj.

In this unflinching account, Jonson shares her experiences within a cult and details the harrowing realities faced by its victims. The book serves as a critical examination of the dangers of blind faith, the reality of cult abuse, and the resilience required to survive and speak out against such experiences.

Jonson's work is a vital resource for understanding how charisma and spiritual authority can be manipulated for harm. It is essential reading for anyone interested in cult psychology, survivor stories, and the ongoing fight for accountability within religious institutions.

This book is not for the faint of heart—it confronts the darkness that often lies beneath the surface of supposed spiritual enlightenment.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/0988175118

CultNEWS101 Articles: 6/10/2025 (Snap Evaluations, Book Review, Repressed Memory, Recovery Workshop)

Snap Evaluations, Book Review, Repressed Memory, Recovery Workshop

The Conversation: Stop the 'good' vs 'bad' snap judgments and watch your world become more interesting

'The Art of the Interesting' explores " ... the ways the evaluative perspective squashes your ability to experience psychological richness and other positive dimensions of life. The more you instinctively react with a "good" or a "bad," the less of the world you take in. You'll be less likely to engage your mind, exercise curiosity and have interesting experiences."

" ... Evaluation narrows your mind

When you instinctively label something as good or bad, you focus only on the features that make that thing good or bad."

" ... When snap evaluations reign, you effectively shut yourself off from a wide range of possible experiences. When everything around you is just good or bad, nothing can be perplexing, mysterious or intriguing. Nothing can be simply new, or simply challenging, or simply stimulating. Nothing is interesting, for your mind has filtered out these possible sources of cognitive engagement. It sees what it expects, and nothing else.

Open your mind for more psychological richness

Snap evaluations narrow your perspective and limit your mind's potential to connect and engage with other aspects of your experiences. But you can unlock this potential simply by resisting any instinct to judge and instead viewing the world without trying to evaluate what you see."

ICSA Reviews: "Memory Warp: How the Myth of Repressed Memory Arose and Refuses to Die", reviewed by Joe Szimhart

" ... Memory Warp is structured in a way that guides readers through the history, development, and impact of the recovered memory movement. Pendergrast begins by revisiting cases from the 1980s and 1990s, a period when the belief in repressed and recovered memories gained significant traction. He provides detailed accounts of individuals and families affected by these memories, highlighting the often-devastating consequences.

The book also explores the role of therapists and the methods they use to uncover supposedly repressed memories. Pendergrast critically examines techniques such as hypnosis, guided imagery, and other suggestive practices, questioning their validity and the scientific basis behind them. He presents compelling evidence that these methods can create false memories, leading to a phenomenon known as False Memory Syndrome (FMS)."

HEART (healing from emotional, anger, and relational trauma)

HEART (healing from emotional, anger, and relational trauma) is an educational support group that offers a safe place tpo focus on healing with positive strategies to deal more effectively with anger and other emotions, coercive control, traumatic narcissism & gaslighting as part of an ongoing discussion.  The next series continues Monday, July 14 at 12:30 pm and Wednesday, July 16 at 7:30 pm for 4 sessions each. For more information, schedule, and registration, call or text 516-547-4318 or email paul.engel@flushingjcc.net or email paul.engel@flushingjcc.net.

News, Education, Intervention, Recovery

CultMediation.com   

Intervention101.com to help families and friends understand and effectively respond to the complexity of a loved one's cult involvement.

CultRecovery101.com assists group members and their families make the sometimes difficult transition from coercion to renewed individual choice.

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The selection of articles for CultNEWS101 does not imply that Patrick Ryan or Joseph Kelly endorse the content. We provide information from multiple perspectives to foster dialogue.

Please forward articles that you think we should add to cultintervention@gmail.com.