Imagine your life is in shambles. You can barely afford to eat, you don’t have anywhere to sleep, and you’re struggling. And then a man comes along, offers you food and somewhere to live, and he coerces you to believe that he’s your savior, or that he’s the Messiah. You are surviving because of them, they have manipulated you, and now you aren’t able to live without them. 

Cults have been prevalent since the third century BC. Beginning with the Cult of Dionysus to one of the most publicized cult court cases of Charles Manson and his family. From Heaven’s Gate to Charles Manson’s family.

Charles Manson, Marshall Applewhite, and his wife Bonnie Lu Nettles, were all master manipulators that talked their way into people’s minds by making them think that they were their saviors. To leave their lives behind, their families behind and sell all their stuff to support the “cause.”

According to Davenport Psychology a cult is defined as “a group or movement that uses manipulative tactics to control and exploit its members.”

One of the key tactics used by cult leaders is social conditioning, which is defined as “the sociological process of training individuals in a society to respond in a manner generally approved by the society in general and peer groups within society.”

By isolating members from their friends and family and limiting their exposure to outside views, cult leaders are able to control the story and prevent members from questioning their beliefs. 

Another very important tactic is “group dynamics” or “peer pressure.” Cults often use intense group activities and rituals to create a sense of unity and belonging among members. This can include chanting, singing, and other repetitive activities that create a trance-like state and make members more gullible, in order to coax their ideas.

To understand the art of manipulation, let’s look at a few examples.

Charles Manson was born Nov. 12, 1934. Starting at the age of nine, he spent much of his life in juvenile reformatories or in prison for crimes that included petty larceny, armed robbery, burglary, and auto theft. 

After he was released from prison in 1967, he moved to San Francisco where he attracted a small, but devoted group of followers from among the city’s bohemian youth culture. In a year he had become the leader of the “family,” a very community based religious cult dedicated to studying and implementing his strange religious teachings, which were based on science fiction as well as occult and fringe psychology.

He spoke of a coming apocalyptic race war that would destroy the United States and leave the “family” in a position of dominant power.

According to Britanica, Manson’s power over his followers was brought to light in 1969, when they carried out a series of murders, by his orders. The most famous of which was actress Sharon Tate, who was killed in her Los Angeles home along with Jay Sebring, Wojciech Frykowski, Abigail Folger, and Steve Parent. 

Marshall Applewhite and his wife Bonnie Lu Nettles who called themselves “Ti and Do” started Heaven’s Gate in 1974, based on the belief that they came from heaven and took human bodies. According to the Heaven’s Gate Recruitment Tapes, they believed that the planet was “about to be recycled.”

They warned people in the tape. “This is the last chance to evacuate planet earth before it is recycled,” said Do on Sep. 19, 1996. 

Strangely, the “students” all had names that end in -ody. Qstody, Srrody, Wknody, Yrsody, Lvvody, and Jnnody… to name a few.

They left two VHS tapes titled, “Do’s final exit” and  “Students before the exit,” in which the members as well as Do talk about how happy they are to be “graduating.”

On  March 26, 1997, a group of police officers got an anonymous tip, leading them to enter a mansion in Rancho Santa Fe, an exclusive suburb in San Diego, California. They found 21 women and 18 men dead, victims of a mass suicide. They were found lying peacefully in matching dark clothes and Nike sneakers and had no noticeable signs of blood or trauma.

After consuming a deadly concoction of vodka and phenobarbital, Applewhite and 38 of his supporters laid down to die in the hopes of escaping their body containers, boarding the alien spacecraft, and entering Heaven’s Gate to enter a higher plane of existence.

These are only a few of the many deadly cults that have existed throughout time.

This article on cults is part 1 of 3 where Beacon Behind Bars will be discussing and dissecting Jonestown and the Branch Davidians.