Berg died in 1994, and his cult is now known as Family International. Their unorthodox belief system is almost Gnostic, teaching that God and Satan battle by filling up the empty vessels of humanity with their respective wills. Here, he would attract a devoted group of followers. The group departed for Lake Tahoe and was never heard from again. For example, they would leave the wallets of the victims in areas that were highly populated by African-American residents. Founded by Arthur Bell during the Great Depression, Mankind United believed that the world was controlled and manipulated by a conspiracy of hidden rulers and money changers. Charles Manson The Family. Stepping from the train, she walked out of the station on a carpet of roses. This time, Charles Manson joined himself because the murders from the previous day werent frightening enough. It was the fabulous ability with which she carried off the kidnaping hoax that infuriated the respectable middle-class residents of Los Angeles. 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. 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. Artistic depiction of Hassan is-Sabbah, the founder of the Hashishin. Berg became known as Moses David, Mo, King David, Father David, Chairman Mo, David Fontaine, Dad, and Grandpa. Jamie founded Listverse due to an insatiable desire to share fascinating, obscure, and bizarre facts. They also teach that a group alternately called the Manifest Sons of God, Man-Child Company, or the Overcomers will leave the church, attain sinless perfection and divine powers through commitment to Christ, and eventually smite Satan and death. 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Here are the top 10 cults with massive followings. To link to this article in the text of an online publication, please use this URL: https://historycooperative.org/six-of-the-most-famous-cult-leaders/. The Long Beach, California, headquarters of Morningland, an almost 50-year-old spiritual group with a focus on meditation. Cults are led by charismatic leaders whose personalities draw people to them. A specially chartered airplane flew over the beach and dropped flowers on the waters. The Branch Davidians were a religious group with an alternative vision of the fundamentalist church. The first local messiah was a poor, uneducated, desperately ambitious widow by the name of Aimee Semple McPherson. They followed the urban propaganda theory of French Marxist writer Regis Debray and believed that selective violence would attract media attention and popular support. Jones himself died of a self-inflicted gunshot. At the time of his arrest, police discovered the preserved body parts of several of his victims within his home. The 3 main personality traits of cult leaders, according to a cult-recovery therapist. Famous practitioners from Tom Cruise to John Travolta to Beck to Laura Prepon appear to be staying loyal, but scores of followers are leaving the church, and for good reason. According to claims in a 1997 lawsuit: Burton spoke openly about his sexuality in the form of jokes at all-male dinners. His group adopted bizarre, unorthodox beliefs. Jim Jones, byname of James Warren Jones, (born May 13, 1931, Crete, near Lynn, Indiana, U.S.died November 18, 1978, Jonestown, Guyana), American cult leader who promised his followers a utopia in the jungles of South America after proclaiming himself messiah of the Peoples Temple, a San Francisco -based evangelist group. Cult leaders' charisma also helps them set up a power imbalance between them and their followers. If youve watched the documentary Wild Wild County, the name Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh shouldnt be new to you. On November 14, 1978, the group planned to leave through the airstrip. Much talk began to be heard in theosophical circles about the emergence of a mysterious disciple, referred to by Judge as the Promise, the Veiled Mahatma, the Light of the Lodge, and the Purple Mother.. Because Jones was afraid of the consequences, he activated the mass suicide plan for the members of the Peoples Temple. He earned himself the title "Jack the Ripper" after a letter was written by a person claiming to be the famed serial killer. Heaven's Gate: The Cult of Cults | Official Trailer | HBO Max. This list does not include the mass suicide cases of 1906 Bali, AD 73 Masada, 1963 Vietnam, 1803 Igbo slaves, Jauhar, etc, which were committed by people to escape slavery and/or being captured by the enemy in a war. He would begin to sexually abuse them at age eight, claiming that Jesus was a womanizer and Gods people are becoming extinct. It led to Rajneesh preaching that spiritual experience could not be just one system and that there has to be more. (One man had been tortured to death. In a lesser measure, the cultic aberrations of Southern California are an accidental by-product of its geographical location. The cult believed that a race war known as "Helter Skelter" was coming, and they needed to be prepared. The idea of free love was sold under the idea of saying yes to life, but it often resulted in unwanted actions. Flooded with requests from all over the world, the local newspapers and wire services filed 95,000 words of copy in a single day. They would facilitate the start of this war by killing whiteys and placing evidence that would lead back to the African-American community. 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. Active between 1972 and 1978, Gacy sexually assaulted, tortured, and murdered 33 teenage boys and young men. It was the morning rush hour in Tokyo, meaning that the attack had serious consequences. A window display at the Unarius Academy of Science in El Cajon, California. As the leader of the cult, he can be traced back to ample cases of child pornography, child abuse, and much more. [] We are proud to have something to die for. The Hashishin These characteristics are crucial. This is where the attacks from the Family come into play. Only through Christians joining the Mankind United vision could this be averted. 3. Mrs. Stevenson was also responsible for the production of the Pilgrimage Play in 1920long since institutionalized by the boosters as one of the major tourist attractions of Los Angeles. March 18, 2019. 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. It states: We have pledged our lives to this great cause. One of the most famous cult leaders of all time, Charles Manson was the leader of a group of young people in California during the late 1960s. Colds were caused by a cold demon. Not only that, he conducted widespread child abuse and even rehearsed a mass suicide with the whole group. Because the teachings were so extravagant, the dangerous message encapsulated in them might have been overlooked by many cult members and dedicated followers. Leaders From California. She claimed that all of her victims either raped her or attempted to rape her. One of t hese early colonists was Albert Powell Warrington, a retired lawyer from Norfolk, Virginia, who arrived in Los Angeles in 1911. Outside of a preference for San Francisco, it seems like leaders of a cult might also be identified by screening everyone named David. Heres how to find out if your home or apartment is at risk. The Manson Family: Followers George Brich/AP Manson's followers were mostly young women. Burton taught his followers that the community would serve as an ark protecting his flock from a cataclysm that would consume outsiders. Thought Experiment. The Krotona Institute of Theosophy, a residential community and spiritual center that has been in Ojai, California, since the 1920s. 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 CAREY MCWILLIAMS was educated in law at the University of Southern California, from which he graduated in 1927. Bell taught that only when 200 million people accepted the Mankind United plan would the sponsors emerge from hiding. 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. Jones wanted to create an egalitarian utopian community. Mar 11, 2018, 8:00 AM. May Otis Blackburn, 60, and her daughter Ruth Wieland Rickenbaugh Rizzio claimed to be those witnesses. I know I have to be destroyed. Mankind United reached its apogee with a few thousand members in 1939. 26 of his victims were buried in the crawl space of his Cook County, Illinois home. Source: Getty Images. Well, dont get it twisted. Photographs of Ballard, our beloved messenger,sold for $2.50; phonograph records, which recorded the music of the spheres and lectures of Ballard, sold for $3; a Chart of the Magic Presence brought $12; a steel engraving of the Cosmic Being, Orion, better known as the Old Man of the Hills, retailed for $2; the Special I AM Decree binder was listed at $1.25; I AM rings at $12; a special electrical device, equipped with colored lights, called Flame in Action, sold, in varying sizes, for $50 and $200; and, finally, a New Age Cold Cream preparation was available for the faithful. ), One of the sources that Ballard used was a series of articles which William Dudley Pelley had published in 1929, entitled Seven Minutes in Eternity, written while Pelley was a resident of Sierra Madre, near Pasadena. [Italics mine.] Their theology was highly militant, and their monthly publication Battle Cry: Aggressive Christianity was replete with images of warfare against demonic forces. We hope that the world will someday realize [] the ideals of brotherhood, justice and equality that Jim Jones has lived and died for. Accessed March 1, 2023. He called his cult "The Family." However, two cult leaders should still be mentioned before concluding. Leno was eventually killed with a total of 26 knife stabs. After entering the residence, Tate and her guests were tied together by their necks and stabbed. The vocation of shaman was open to women and men. 20. It seems like just a random house in a wealthy neighborhood was picked. Because he had so much free time, he reckoned he could spread his thoughts through public speaking at the Sarva Dharma Sammelan conference. With the right mix of flattery, otherworldly teachings, and control over finances, these leaders create an environment where followers feel they have no choice but to obey. After living in Mexico, Puerto Rico and Venezuela, his family eventually left the cult and moved to Southern California. Marcus Delon Wesson (born August 22, 1946) is an American criminal convicted of nine counts of first-degree murder and 14 sex crimes, including the rape and molestation of his underage daughters. He attracted the young with appealing teachings, such as the idea that marijuana-enhanced sex was the true route to enlightenment. While devotees worked at a local tomato-packing shed, their paychecks were collected by Blackburn and her husband. RELATED . document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); Gods of Death Ti passed away a decade before . Indeed, only his followers would be able to truly understand. From changing the milk-bottles of the newest baby to laying the last shingle on a bungalow, wrote one observer, her desire equals a Czars edict.. After settling down in a safe house in Concord, their culture was characterized by political indoctrination, military drills, and free sex. He has claimed to be an angel in human form who communicates with 44 other angels, including Benjamin Franklin and Jesus Christ. 1. There was a worldwide warrant for his arrest until it was overturned by Interpol. 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. Its leader goes by the name of Charles Manson. Fifty years after a golden age for the spiritual groups, many have disbanded. Children. Still another building, the Aryan Temple, had an amethyst Egyptian gateway. Father Yod: Sexytime! A church survey made in Los Angeles points up the real problem: For the most part, it states, the newly developing religious teachers are sincerely trying to serve their followers, and prove to be strong influences because traditional habits do not reach the people in this community. In the fire, no officers were hurt, but 80 members (including David Koresh) himself died. Bergs theology and style were largely derived from apocalyptic Adventist preaching tradition, influenced by his grandfathers involvement in the separatist Disciples of Christ church. It also encouraged the notorious flirty fishing and love bombing means of recruitment. Joness intentions and his interpretation of a religious organization were questionable from the very beginning. From San Diego Mrs. McPherson came to Los Angeles in 1922 with her Four Square Gospel: conversion, physical healing, the second coming, and redemption. Originating in Los Angeles, the cult spread across the nation, with centers in Chicago, New York, West Palm Beach, Washington, Philadelphia, Boston, Cleveland, Denver, Salt Lake City, Fort Worth, and Dallas; it enrolled 350,000 converts and deposited in the hands of its creators the tidy sum of $3,000,000. Eventually, the oil heir who lost his money had Mrs. Blackburn arrested on grand theft charges. Little did they know this would culminate in self-immolation and poisoning. Cult leaders are so charismatic, they have the ability to brainwash people into doing almost anything. Jones' teachings were similar to liberation theology and socialist beliefs. Mrs. Tingley promptly sued the limes for libel and, after years of litigation, eventually collected a handsome judgment. California Cult's Quadruple Murder Was A 'True Nightmare On Elm Street' Trailer park cult leader Gerald Cruz led his followers in a brutal rampage that killed four in Salida. In 2012, some cult locations were raided by the DEA on suspicions that cult members were selling marijuana and using the proceeds to help the church, which the Fellowship of Friends strongly denied. Money was the leading Los Angeles eccentric from 1841 until his death in 1880. Wherever they journeyed, they found rich treasures: jewels of all kinds, Spanish pirate gold, rubies, pearls, diamonds, emeralds, amethysts, gold bullion, casks of silver, the plunder of antiquity. One year after founding the group, the Family carried out several murders as ordered by Charles Manson himself. Among the pioneers of the movement was the Reverend Benjamin Fay Mills. 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/. The cult then bought the famous Ridgewood Ranch, home of renowned racehorse Seabiscuit, and remains there to this day. There might have been even more people since the cult often hid how many members there actually were. In 1894 a visitor reported that two thousand Easterners were spending their winters in Pasadena; that they were all regular church communicants; and that there was not a grog shop in town.. December 24th, 1865: The Ku Klux Klan. Here are five of the most notorious cults in recent history and what made them so infamous: 1. Although mass suicide was practiced many times, there was no set date for it to be conducted. However in 1915 and 1946 respectively, the . Yikes. He taught that Christians could be demon-possessed. .] The Fourth Way states that most human beings are spiritually asleep and can only regain true consciousness through a process of self-remembering and refraining from expressing negative emotions. His observation and experience during these years came to a foeus in these books: Factories in the Field, The week that followed Martin Luther King Jr.s assassination was revolutionaryso why was it nearly forgotten? The cult is supported by tithes from members as well as donations of fine artwork, which supposedly assist in the process of self-remembering. They. Married to a Mexican woman, Money was a quack doctor, an economic theorist, and the founder of the first cult in the region. 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. 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. A couple of attacks were carried out, but not all of them ended up in murders. One article described the hierarchy in the church as: God. She adopted fourteen children and raised them on. 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. The station head Tom Wallace said: Basically, what Green was saying was that any particular problem was controlled by a demon. They had good reasons since the Rajneeshees even attempted to take over the government of the nearby town of Antelope. Because of his emphasis on spiritual experience and moving away from any god, Rajneesh would deem himself a guru and practice meditation. After some time, the original residents of the place became frustrated with the cult members. Remembering the rare, magical times it snowed in LA, For Angelenos, the once-in-a-blue-moon snowstorms were a "beautiful sight. Cult movements have moved westward in America, and Los Angeles is the last stop. After abandoning the restaurant in 1974, Baker toured the world with a group of followers in an unsuccessful bid to find a new home for the group. Escaped convict Donald DeFreeze (aka General Field Marshall Cinque Mtume) led this political cult of Berkeley radicals that was inspired by communist and South American revolutionary theory. Shortly after Judges death, Katherine Tingley was revealed as the Purple Mother. Born in Indiana, Jim Jones was a Christian minister who founded the Peoples Temple church. After a failed career as a musician, Manson began amassing disciples that followed him to a ranch in the San Fernando Valley. So its not a small group, with both male and female followers. Below: statues of Buddha at Morningland monastery. People's Temple Jonestown Massacre, Guyana. Aimee, who was not so much a woman as a scintillant assault, first appeared in California at San Diego in 1918. The cult that Ashara was the leader of was named Aum Shinrikyo. Watch on. Ah, Salem. It was one of the largest mass suicides in the history of the United States. Between 1934 and 1941, more than 14,000 Californians joined the cult, most of whom were either elderly persons or individuals who had suffered severe economic losses.. 6 of the most infamous cults in history. Over time, they became more politically militant. Former members of the cult claim that their leader enforced sexual participation, which would also result in sexual abuse. Wikimedia. His followers believe that he is the third incarnation of the original Buddha. The number of food and body cults in Southern California has never been reckoned. In 1977, Jones relocated the People's Temple from San Francisco, California, to Jonestown, Guyana. Copyright 2023 PopCulture.com. Among those who came to California was Mrs. Besant, who, acting on orders of her Master, purchased 465 acres in t he Oja i Valley as a home for the new sixth sub-race. The Cult. Women's abilities to control their own reproductive choices are often determined by cult leaders. By 1984, their group had attracted around 50 members. Cult members have injected their own children with cyanide, engaged in gunfights against police, and released sarin gas on the public all in the wide-eyed servitude of a single man. Arthur Bell claimed to have possession of a ray machine so powerful that its beams, once released, would knock out the eye sockets of people thousands of miles distant (a notion based upon an article which Dr. R. M. Langer, of the California Institute of Technology had contributed to Colliers in 1940). Now, with the exception of some Scientology buildings and the occasional Hare Krishna devotee, you almost never encounter fringe spiritual groups from that California golden age. In 1997, 39 members of the Heaven's Gate cult killed themselves in San Diego, California, with the goal of catching up to a UFO following the comet Hale-Bopp. Bell claimed that he could be in multiple places at once and had access to ray guns that could knock out peoples eyeballs from miles away. Some were relatively harmless, such as the notion that there was no hell and all humans would eventually be saved by Jesus Christ. She made migrants feel at home in Los Angeles; she gave them a chance to meet other people; and she exorcised the nameless fears which so many of them had acquired from the fire-and-brimstone theology of the Middle West. Sitting under a tree in Jabalpur, he experienced a mystical experience that would change his life. 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. Bell promised each of his followers a $25,000 home, equipped with radio, television, unlimited motion pictures, and an automatic vocal-type correspondence machine. The homes were also to be equipped with automatic news and telephone recording apparatus; automatic air-conditioning; with fruit trees, vegetable gardens, hothouses, athletic courts, swimming pools, fountains, shrubbery, and miniature waterfalls. Eventually, Blackburn was convicted of eight counts of grand theft but later released on $10,000 bail. This focus on sexual pleasure brought extreme views on free love, including pedophilia. Migration is the basic explanation for the growth of cults in Southern California. On May 23, an overenthusiastic disciple drowned in the Pacific while attempting to find her body. The Ojai Valley theosophists. Foretelling futures, healing people, nothing was too ludicrous for Jones. . In addition to his satanist activities, Aquino was a military . What made the cult's beliefs deviate from mainstream religion was its fine blend of promiscuous sex and worship of Jesus Christ. He was the leader of The Manson Family cult in the late 1960s. The museum is run by members of the Rosicrucian order, a spiritual movement that dates back to 1600s Germany and thrived in the US in the early 20th century. According to her death certificate obtained by the tabloid, she died at a hospital in . When a person entered the colony it was customary to present Mrs. Tingley with a sizable love offering. The Purple Mother ruled the colony with the utmost despotism. Wesson was obsessed with vampirism, forcing his children to sleep in coffins he had collected. A lengthy standoff would follow, which resulted in the burning of the compound. In 1969, he had a vision that California was going to be hit by an earthquake and sink into the sea. A day at the San Francisco fair was given over to New Thought, and George Wharton James, the omnipresent, delivered a lecture on California - the Natural Home of New Thought.. Top 10 Most Historically Famous Shootouts. Female disciples said Castaneda subjected them to cult tactics; the movement outlives its founder, who died in 1998. . The abuses long. 4) Jim "Father Yod" Baker: The Source Family. His father would never be of any relevance in his life, and after his mother was imprisoned for a robbery he was responsible for himself. His victims were his children, fathered by incestuous relationships with his daughters and nieces, as well as his wife's children. The History of Guns, Greek Mythology: Stories, Characters, Gods, and Culture, Aztec Mythology: Important Stories and Characters, Greek Gods and Goddesses: Family Tree and Fun Facts, Roman Gods and Goddesses: The Names and Stories of 29 Ancient Roman Gods, Shoko Ashara: Cult Leader of Aum Shinrikyo, The Life of Shoko Ashara and Aum Shinrikyo, Tokyo Subway Attacks Carried Out by Cult Members, Charles Manson: Cult Leader of the Manson Family, Jim Jones and the Mass Suicide of Jonestown, The Davids: Branch Davidians and Children of God, David Berg and the Children of God (Family International), iPhone History: A Timeline of Every Model in Order, US History Timeline: The Dates of Americas Journey, Ancient Civilizations Timeline: 16 Oldest Known Cultures From Around The World, Why Are Hot Dogs Called Hot Dogs? The book Mankind United appeared between 1936 and 1938, becoming the holy text of the group. 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