Gacy was also known for dressing up as "Pogo the Clown," leading to him being dubbed the "Killer Clown.". H alf a century ago, you could barely walk down the street in California without tripping over some kind of fringe spiritual sect or cult-like group. The target of the attack was the Kasumigaseki station, specifically because it was surrounded by many offices of Japanese government officials. However, two cult leaders should still be mentioned before concluding. Rev. 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. Since Southern California was the world center of both movements theosophy from 1900; New Thought from 1915 it not only attracted adherents of these creeds from all over the world, but it became a publishing center from which issued a steady flow of magazines, newspapers, and books devoted to mysticism, practical and esoteric. One acolyte said, I know this sounds insane, but I saw lightning bolts coming out of his ears.. The cult then bought the famous Ridgewood Ranch, home of renowned racehorse Seabiscuit, and remains there to this day. It was through Point Loma that the yogi influence reached Southern California. Others slowly faded away, pushed out by Californias rising cost of living, or made obsolete by the fact that many of the things that made them appealing were absorbed into the mainstream: Fortune 500 CEOs now regularly attend Burning Man and crystals and Himalayan salt lamps can be purchased at Target. LAPD SWAT teams killed DeFreeze and five of his followers at a safe house in Compton. There was a worldwide warrant for his arrest until it was overturned by Interpol. It is believed that at least 7000 people were living on the ranch in Oregon at some point. Still later an opera house was acquired in San Diego, where the Point Loma yogis, appearing in Grecian costumes, lectured the natives on the subtle dialectics of theosophy. From Boston it moved to Hartford, then to New York, and finally spread to Chieago, Kansas City, and St. Louis. Although mass suicide was practiced many times, there was no set date for it to be conducted. Therefore, he would spend his life in prison to eventually die of illness at the age of 83. Meet five 20th-century cult leaders whose influence led to deadly consequences around the globe. Aimee, who was not so much a woman as a scintillant assault, first appeared in California at San Diego in 1918. He taught that Christians could be demon-possessed. However, in 1972 capital punishment would be abolished by the state of California. A keyword in the affirmations, chants, and adorations is blasted by the dynamic energy of Saint Germains purple light and the, atomic accelerator. A talented appropriator, Ballard had lifted ideas at random from a dozen sources in putting this strange creed together. This property was home to many members of the church, although there were smaller centers across the US, Europe, and Latin America. 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. Cult leaders have psychosis or narcissistic personalities that drive them to preach a message and convince others to follow, according to therapist Rachel Bernstein. General Otis contended that Point Loma was a spookery; that Mrs. Tingley exercised a hypnotic influence on the colonists and fed the children so skimpily that they became ethereal; that the most incredible things happen in that lair; that purple robes were worn by the women and khaki uniforms by the men; and that, at midnight, the pilgrims in their nightrobes, each holding a torch, went to a sacred spot on the Point Loma peninsula where gross immoralities were practiced by the disciples of spookism. For once, however, General Otis had met his weight in wildcats. 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.. The Cult. It described the plan of the hidden rulers as 40,000 principalities, one billion slaves, and death for all of the worlds educated and religious peoples. Over time, they became more politically militant. The Diamond, in Chicago. Listen to the trailer for. As an eccentric, however, he was in advance of his time, an exceptional figure. As indicated, it is hard to cover the most famous leaders in just one article. He gained quite the following, including important people in the government and notable church members. Yet, the target wasnt picked beforehand. 3 Silvia Meraz Moreno Murdered Her 10-Year-Old Grandson As A Ritualistic Sacrifice Santa Muerte, a female deity from Mexican folklore, is the cult leader in this particular tale. Former members claim that Jones obliged any member to bring their whole family if they join the cult, hence the number of young children. Dr. Lee R. Steiner, in her study of quacks and fakirs, has pointed out that, when difficulty besets the quack, he usually flees to Los Angeles, not so much because it is a haven, but because it is the largest metropolitan center west of Chicago. Some countries have it listed as a legitimate religion while others recognize the group as one of the craziest cults around. Weve already discussed the sickness and tragedy of the Wesson family but havent covered the bizarre pseudo-religious beliefs that held it all together. I once attempted to examine these items, but abandoned the effort after a try at the first volume, indexed: Scientific Air Possibilities with the Human, by Zabelle Abdalian, Doctor of Airbodiedness.. . Originally the New Thought movement was centered in New England; in fact, it was called the Boston craze. It also encouraged the notorious flirty fishing and love bombing means of recruitment. Los Angeles Public Library Photo Collection, An Introduction to the Long History of Los Angeles Cults, The abandoned movie ranch where Manson launched Helter Skelter, This Is the Most Stereotypically Los Angeles Thing That Has Ever Happened, How to Start Your Own Los Angeles Cult in 14 Easy Steps, The Earliest and Weirdest LA Cult Stories: 1700s to 1940s, The Respectable LA Houses of 1970s Hippie Cult The Source, How Cultists, Quacks, and Naturemenschen Made Los Angeles Obsessed With Healthy Living. Dr. Calvin O. Butts, III - pastor of Abyssinian Baptist Church in Harlem, New York and president . The state of Texas has as well. Fifty years after a golden age for the spiritual groups, many have disbanded. The Manson Family can be seen as a communal religious cult dedicated to studying and implementing religious teachings drawn from science fiction. Her entrance into Los Angeles was a major triumph. Both cults reflect a psychoneurotic preoccupation with the symbols of material wealth, luxury, and ease of living. Source: HBO Max. 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. The Ojai Valley theosophists. While devotees worked at a local tomato-packing shed, their paychecks were collected by Blackburn and her husband. The station head Tom Wallace said: Basically, what Green was saying was that any particular problem was controlled by a demon. Karen Zerby, the current leader as of 2016, has been accused of sexually molesting children. The number of food and body cults in Southern California has never been reckoned. Their name was derived from the word symbiosis, which referred to a union of classes and races in this case. Crimes and sacrifices have been made in worship and honor of her, including those of serial killer Silvia Meraz, who murdered three people between 2009 and 2012. He moved in with an older woman in San Jose, had a child with her, and then married her 15-year-old daughter, Elizabeth. the Reverend Mr. Mills abandoned New Thought, left California, and died the next year in Grand Rapids, a sound Presbyterian. Charles Milles Manson's booking photo for San Quentin State Prison, California One of the most notorious cults sprouted in San Francisco. . He led the mass suicide of over 900 followers on November 18, 1978, before dying of a gunshot. Jeffery Dahmer committed the rape, murder, and dismemberment of 17 men and boys between 1978 and 1991. It was disbanded in 1870, and again in 1944. 26 of his victims were buried in the crawl space of his Cook County, Illinois home. One of the most high-profile former cult members is actor Joaquin Phoenix, whose family traveled with the cult around South America. The organization, which focuses on yoga and meditation, has several properties around the state. First appearing on the West Coast in San Francisco, it did not reach Los Angeles until after the Worlds Fair in 1915. While working as a prostitute between 1989 and 1990, Aileen Wuornos murdered seven men in Florida by shooting them at point-blank range. There might have been even more people since the cult often hid how many members there actually were. Ashara had long hair and a long beard, wore bright robes, and practiced meditation while sitting on satin pillows. Soon the Ballards were able to secure radio time. Born in 1931 in Indiana, he founded the People's Temple in the 1950s, proclaiming himself a messiah. When visitors approached the colony, a bugler hidden behind the Egyptian gales sounded the note of their arrival. The deity of the cult, it seems, is the Ascended Master Saint Germain. Some identify him with the rising number of tulkus (living Buddhas), who are granted certification for their enlightenment by bribing religious officials. Because Jones was afraid of the consequences, he activated the mass suicide plan for the members of the Peoples Temple. Good Old Salem. The cult even had its own psychedelic rock band, Ya Ho Wha 13, which released nine records. Mankind United reached its apogee with a few thousand members in 1939. Six middle-class men found the Ku Klux Klan in Pulaski, Tennessee. Southern California evidenced few manifestations of cultism between 1850 and 1900. Los Angeles is the home of the Philosophical Research Society, Incorporated, of Manly Palmer Hall, Americas Greatest Philosopher; the center of Zoroastrianism in America; the headquarters of the American Association for the Advancement of Atheism. 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/. But he is also distrusted because his teachings differ from those of other enlightened beings. Deconsecrated in 1992, the building was supposed to be turned into condos when it was purchased and remodeled by the United International World Buddhism Association. The group was welcomed with open arms, and some church members asked Ryan to get them out of Jonestown. Following the fair, the New Thought leaders began to arrive in Los Angeles: Annie Rix Militz, who established the University of Christ; Fenwicke Holmes, who founded the Southern California Metaphysical Institute; and Eleanor M. Reesberg, who organized the Metaphysical Library. Each article originally printed in this magazine is available here, complete and unedited from the historical print. Heres how to find out if your home or apartment is at risk. 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. 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. While Los Angeles went wild with excitement, thousands of her followers gathered on the beach to pray for her deliverance and return. CAREY MCWILLIAMS was educated in law at the University of Southern California, from which he graduated in 1927. There is also a story in which one of the members spread salmonella in bars in the area. One article described the hierarchy in the church as: God. The meetings of this cult were unlike anything of the sort I have witnessed in Los Angeles. 6 of the most infamous cults in history. I know I have to be destroyed. One of the reasons that the cult is so notorious is because of its sexual practices. Known to local residents as Professor Money, Doctor Money,and Bishop Money, he had been born, so he contended, with four teeth and the likeness of a rainbow in the eye.. Heaven's Gate: The Cult of Cults | Official Trailer | HBO Max. Although not responsible for every murder, Manson was sentenced to death because of his role. The unknown serial killer operated in Northern California from 1968 to the early 1970s. The Manson Family Charles Manson may be one of the most well-known cult leaders in American history. A couple of attacks were carried out, but not all of them ended up in murders. IN SUCH an environment it was, of course, foreordained that a messiah would some day emerge. Manson was an ex-convict who was unemployed and in 1967 started a commune called the Manson-family. He was the leader of The Manson Family cult in the late 1960s. she came to know the theosophist William Quan Judge, over whom she soon acquired an extraordinary influence. He went on to found a socialist utopia in Jonestown, Guyana in the '70s, where, on November 18, 1977, he became responsible for the mass suicide and mass murder of over 900 remaining members of his cult. 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. 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. Burton taught his followers that the community would serve as an ark protecting his flock from a cataclysm that would consume outsiders. But pockets remain throughout the state. Steve discovers the property has a connection with two cults, including one of the most famous cult leaders in American history. Experts believe that his actual victim count could be in the hundreds. Members of the group, which was founded in the mid-50s, believe in aliens and past lives, and used to make trippy films that were shown on local public access television. The group started as what appeared to be a progressive organization that advocated for civil rights. Bergs theology and style were largely derived from apocalyptic Adventist preaching tradition, influenced by his grandfathers involvement in the separatist Disciples of Christ church. . He would begin to sexually abuse them at age eight, claiming that Jesus was a womanizer and Gods people are becoming extinct. But they're even worse for women. Under such headlines as Outrages at Point Loma Exposed by an Escape and Startling Tales from Tingley, sensational stories began to appear in the Los Angeles Times. The Branch Davidian compound was raided by a small group of federal agents from the US Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms. His lawyer had successfully argued that the Chinese government was only motivated by political concerns. The appearance of this exotic colony in Southern California greatly disturbed the boosters of the period, who regarded it as bad advertising. General Harrison Gray Otis was convinced that weird orgies were being enacted at Point Loma. A framed map of the lost continent of Mu inside the headquarters of the Lemurian Fellowship in Ramona, California. We have all chosen to die for this cause.. Adjutants have been praying, night and day, for thirteen years in the Temple. Ashara was born into a poor family in 1955. It states: We have pledged our lives to this great cause. This magazine has been fully digitized as a part of The Atlantic's archive. Eventually, he had 17 children with Elizabeth and her sister. Watch on. The old enthusiasm was gone; the old fervor had vanished. From Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh and his 93 Rolls Royces to paedophile David Berg and his 10,000 followers, here are six weird sex cults from around the world. What is a cult? Just in time to schedule a spooky Halloween staycation, a guide to the paranormally-blessed hotels of Los Angeles. At one time, Warrington rented a hall on Hollywood Boulevard where courses were given in Esperanto, the Esoteric Interpretation of Music and Drama, and the Human Aura. 10. By 1929 she had a following of 12,000 devoted members in Los Angeles and 30,000 in the outlying communities. The temple members consisted of many female members, underage girls, or children of young age in general. The jubilation, however, did not last long. 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. Society's morbid curiosity with the crimes of charismatic leaders who take the vulnerable under the wing and men and women who have committed hideous crimes have caused these names to be etched into history. With already quite the following, Jim Jones and a thousand members of the Peoples Temple decided to flee the allegations and immigrated to Guyana. His group adopted bizarre, unorthodox beliefs. In 1969, he had a vision that California was going to be hit by an earthquake and sink into the sea. Jamie founded Listverse due to an insatiable desire to share fascinating, obscure, and bizarre facts. Marcus Wesson saw himself as the leader of a new religion combining Christianity with vampire lore. The leader of "Manson Family" created an entire cult in the late60s and early 70 in California. He taunted police and the press by sending cryptograms to the Bay Area press only one of which has been definitively solved. Her story was told in the 2003 film Monster, where Charlize Theron portrayed Wuornos. The reasons for this may include the lack of an obviously dominant Protestant establishment, an economy based on get-rich-quick schemes and frequently failing businesses, a diverse population of rootless people in a cultural blank slate, or even the heady effects of California weather. Wesson separated brothers from sisters, forcing the girls to wear head scarves and long skirts. Dogs. LA has been home to a number of awful cult-related events over the decades, but time constantly marches on. Earlier, they had joined a group called the Bear Tribe that sought to emulate the Native American lifestyle. Well before this time, the cult already committed three murders that are now known as the Sakamoto family murder. Joness intentions and his interpretation of a religious organization were questionable from the very beginning. In 1998, these albums were rereleased in a box set by a Japanese label. Jones was a churchgoer from an early age. Cult leaders' charisma also helps them set up a power imbalance between them and their followers. The creators of the cult, Guy W. Ballard and his wife Edna Ballard, came to Los Angeles from Chicago around 1932. Indeed, the power of cult leaders is a terrifying reality. By developing the nerve agent sarin, the cult believed that they could wear off the potential disastrous attacks. A small Christian group that believes its leader is the reincarnation of Jesus almost certainly would. Only Ryan and four others were killed in the attack, with nine others fleeing the scene. He gave each girl a marital necklace and gold band. After entering the residence, Tate and her guests were tied together by their necks and stabbed. They lived in four communal houses under the auspices of the church. Indeed, only his followers would be able to truly understand. Shoko continued preaching his worldviews and grew his cult significantly. Ti passed away a decade before . Krotona. The idea of free love was sold under the idea of saying yes to life, but it often resulted in unwanted actions. Robert Burton was an elementary school teacher who sought enlightenment through the Quakers and philosophy when he became enamored of the Fourth Way teachings of early 20th-century Russian mystics George Gurdjieff and Peter Ouspensky. Throughout a network of affiliated organizations the Universal Service Corporation, the International Institute of Universal Research, and the International Legion of Vigilantes the leaders of Mankind United received $97,500 in 1930 from the sale of Arthur Bells revelation. During these years, New Thought studio-lecture rooms sprang up throughout the city and the Metaphysicians May Day Festival became an annual civic event. A core membership of around 100 people survived and settled in Palomarin Ranch near Bolinas in Marin County. Because he had so much free time, he reckoned he could spread his thoughts through public speaking at the Sarva Dharma Sammelan conference. In 1977, Jones relocated the People's Temple from San Francisco, California, to Jonestown, Guyana. 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. It was not long before some three hundred bizarre devotees, representing twenty-five different nationalities, had taken up residence in the colony. The home belonged to a successful grocery company owner Leno LaBianca and his wife Rosemary. While he was on a hiking trip near Mount Shasta in Northern California, Ballard relates. Last seen in a bathing suit on the beach near Ocean Park, she had apparently drowned in the Pacific. 9 The Source Family But a cult goes to a whole other level when people are willing to commit mass suicide for their beliefs. It led to Rajneesh preaching that spiritual experience could not be just one system and that there has to be more. Unfortunately, Mrs. Tingley became involved in a serious scandal in 1923, as a result of which she abandoned Point Loma and went, to Europe. Buxom middle-aged usherettes, clad in flowing evening gowns, with handsome corsages of orchids and gardenias, bustled around at the morning services in a tabernacle that literally steamed with perfume. Charles Manson (The Manson Family) Deburke321/YouTube One of history's most notorious criminals, Charles Manson was the cult leader of the Manson Family. Cults are led by charismatic leaders whose personalities draw people to them. Sired by Buck Rogers and Superman, they are nevertheless profoundly symptomatic of the unrest, the suppressed fury, and the preoccupation with violence and power of certain classes in our society. The story of Krotona has been well told, in novel form, by Jane Levington Comfort (From These Beginnings, 1937). However, by the time the police arrived, Wesson was covered in blood. I have also heard the lectures of Dr. Horton Held, who believes that California is an unusually healthy place in which to live, since so many flowers find it possible to grow in this vicinity. Jones' teachings were similar to liberation theology and socialist beliefs. The first major prophetess of the region was unquestionably Katherine Tingley. Later the charges against her were dropped. In the early thirties, there were over a thousand practicing nudists in Los Angeles, and three large nudist camps: Fraternity Elysia; the Land of Moo, over the entrance to which appeared the saucy slogan, In All the World, No St rip LikeThis; and, in the hills of Calabasas, a mysterious retreat called Shangri-la. 2. They were once served to Ronald Reagan and at the Ritz-Carlton Hotels restaurant in San Francisco. This, too, is affirmed by a former member of the cult who left a letter on the day when the cult committed suicide. Sentient beings, non-sentient things, birds, aquatic animals, land animals, flowers, grass, trees, tiles, and stones have all expressed respect for His Holinesss dharma discourses either verbally or through physical actions. He was depicted in evangelical tracts as an anthropomorphic cartoon lion, with photos of him doctored to include lion features. Bell taught that only when 200 million people accepted the Mankind United plan would the sponsors emerge from hiding. 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. 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. After graduation, he entered the ministry. May Otis Blackburn, 60, and her daughter Ruth Wieland Rickenbaugh Rizzio claimed to be those witnesses. Berg died at the age of 75, but his legacy is still felt. Splendor and release, power and wealth, are to come, in both cases, through the intervention of a messiah who possesses the magic formula. Many cults involve drug use, but even the ones that don't, according to Deprogrammed use a type of psychological intoxication, born from a charismatic leader and a cult's developing hive mind . Burton replied, Thou sayest it, which is what Jesus told Pontius Pilate when asked if he was King of the Jews. On Blackburns orders, her body was placed in a bathtub with ice, salt, and spices with a promise that the girl would be resurrected in 1,260 days. 10 Most Terrifying Serial Killers and Cult Leaders of All Time, 'The View' Hosts Defend Marjorie Taylor Greene: 'I Have to Say, I'm on Marjorie's Side', Rapper Sentenced to Life in Prison After Stabbing Conviction, Prince Harry Set to Live Stream 'Intimate Conversation' With Trauma Doctor, Manson Family Member Linda Kasabian Dead at 73, Model Abby Choi Dead at 28 After Brutal Murder, Tom Sizemore's Family Told 'No Further Hope' for 'Saving Private Ryan' Star's Recovery, Netflix Confirms 'Pokemon' Series to Celebrate Pokemon Day. iPhone History: A Timeline of Every Model in Order . Half a century ago, you could barely walk down the street in California without tripping over some kind of fringe spiritual sect or cult-like group. One reporter from SFGate reported that he went to the Berkeley Psychic Institute for an aura healing and ended up with a male healing session in which he was asked nonchalantly if he wanted his balls drained. (The sources are documented in an interesting volume: Psychic Dictatorship in America by Gerald B. Bryan, published in Los Angeles in 1940. A few days later, a great memorial meeting was held for Sister at Angelus Temple, at which $35,000 was collected. His followers believe that he is the third incarnation of the original Buddha. Yet, violence was also a mechanism, meaning that people were not just sexually abused but physically as well. At first, the cult was in India. Manson's family committed a series of nine murders in July and August 1969, most notable were the murders that took place on the night of August 9, 1969, which included the murder of pregnant actress Sharon Tate. However, Jones wasnt satisfied and ordered the other Temple members to assassinate the group. The Sakamoto family was killed because the husband filed a lawsuit against Aum Shinrikyo. They. This focus on sexual pleasure brought extreme views on free love, including pedophilia. In 1973, Lewis Bostwick founded the Church of Divine Man and its subsidiary, the Berkeley Psychic Institute. Little did they know this would culminate in self-immolation and poisoning. The Los Angeles headquarters of the Aetherius Society. Another weird psychic cult in the area is the Spiritual Rights Foundation, founded by William Baldwin (aka Reverend Bill). Symbiosis, which focuses on yoga and meditation, has several properties around the globe date for to! Was on a hiking trip near Mount Shasta in Northern California, to Jonestown, Guyana ordered other. Manson family cult in the area is the spiritual rights Foundation, founded by Baldwin! Entrance into Los Angeles and 30,000 in the colony, a guide to paranormally-blessed... 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