Human Beings are social animals that have been banding together for hundreds of thousands of years.

Archeological evidence shows that when a group got too large, a smaller group would break off and establish a new social hierarchy with a new set of rules and perhaps even a new language. In time, the original bond between the two would be diminished and their differences might lead to hostility and violence. So how does all this relate to cults? A cult may be seen as a smaller group breaking off from a larger group to form anything from a free love commune to a terrorist jihad. Such choosing up of sides is natural and one of the first steps towards socialization that a child learns. Kids regularly form gangs and cliques that become problematic only when the rules of the smaller group conflict in some significant way with those of the larger group. Consider the cult near San Diego that committed mass suicide. They were convinced there was a space ship coming to pick up true believers and ferry them off to a better place. So one night they all took sleeping pills, packed their heads in plastic bags and drifted off to sleep. They never woke up. Only because this resulted in 37 bodies did the larger group take notice of the smaller group and label it a cult. By comparison, there were only 13 bodies in the wake of Tokyo's subway sarin incident, but because they were innocent bystanders, the Aum Shinrikyo Doomsday cult was seen as being far worse than Heaven's Gate. But what is generally missed in such good/bad body counts is that one never knows where a nonsensical belief will lead. Illogical beliefs beget illogical behaviors. To say Christianity and singing Kumbaya around the campfire is just fine completely ignores the Thirty Years War and such affiliated fracases as the Crusades. What's the difference between cults and religions? Mostly it's a matter of time and size. The longer a cult exists and the more followers it attracts the more legitimate it becomes despite its beginnings. The basic tenets of Scientology could only have been written by a science fiction writer... and indeed they were. Joseph

Smith's golden tablets take a willing suspension of disbelief, yet a Mormon almost became POTUS. The Jesus story is a simple retelling of the Hours myth along with bits and pieces from a dozen other pagan persuasions. So why do people flock to follow? Keep in mind that, as social animals, isolation is a form of punishment. A lonely individual soon loses any sense of purpose, any notion of meaning, any feeling of belonging. In such a state, a cult is seen as a cure. The warm fuzzy feeling that comes with being part of something bigger is certainly a draw. If it promises an after life, that's a definite plus. And because emotion precedes reason -- the latter used mostly to justify the former -- cults will continue to form, grow and flourish. In fact, it's remarkably easy to start one. How do you do that? Starting with The Age of Propaganda by Anthony Pratkanis I've made a list of seven easy steps. To start your very own cult: 1) Begin by creating your own reality. You do this by keeping your members away from outsiders. An isolated farm in the middle of Idaho is good but if such a retreat isn't available, impose a form of self-censorship. If it's not of the cult, it's of the devil. 2) Next set the leader and his/her inner circle up as the only link to paradise... only they hold the keys to the kingdom. 3) Remember to make increasing demands. Start small but keep it going and eventually you'll have your followers standing in line to turn over all their worldly possessions. 4) Keep turning out stories about the greatness of the leader. The more unbelievable the more they will be believed. Your members have already been conditioned from the time they were children to accept things like coming back from the dead and walking on water. 5) Remember to use your converts to bring in still more converts. This has the double advantage of picking up new disciples and (even if that doesn't always work) the

mere act of proselytizing will further cement the commitment of those already in the fold. 6) Keep everybody busy. This doesn't allow time for potentially critical thought. Let the minds of the masses wander and who knows, they might put two and two together. For this reason, long sermons -- the longer the better -- and interminable work shifts are essential. And when you aren't haranguing them and they aren't being kept busy... make sure they're at least singing. 7) And finally, keep your flock fixated on the carrot. The payoff is just around the corner and only they will be the ones paid off. The clouds will part and they will be raptured up and then, boy-oh-boy, won't all those nonbelievers be sorry. Ideas are not set in stone. When exposed to thoughtful people, they morph and adapt into their most potent form. TEDWeekends will highlight some of today's most intriguing ideas and allow them to develop in real time through your voice! Tweet #TEDWeekends to share your perspective or emailtedweekends@hufngtonpost.com to learn about future weekend's ideas to contribute as a writer.

JOGAR NA NECESSIDADE DO POVO ACREDITAR PARA CRIAR UM CULT como seguir ACRDO As pessoas tm um desejo enorme de acreditar em alguma coisa. Torne-se o ponto focal de tal desejo, oferecendo-lhes uma causa, uma nova f para seguir. Mantenha suas palavras vago, mas cheia de promessas; enfatizar entusiasmo com racionalidade e lucidez. D aos seus novos discpulos rit-duos para executar, pedir-lhes para fazer sacrifcios em seu nome. Na ausncia de religio organizada e grandes causas, o seu novo sistema de crena lhe trar poder incalculvel:

A CINCIA DA charlatanismo, OU COMO CRIAR UMA CULT em cinco, PASSOS

Na pesquisa, como voc deve, para os mtodos que voc vai ganhar mais poder para o mnimo de esforo, voc vai encontrar a criao de um cultlike seguinte um dos mais eficazes. Ter um grande nmero de seguidores abre todos os tipos de possibilidades de fraude, no s os seus seguidores adoram voc, eles vo te defender de seus inimigos e levar voluntariamente no trabalho de seduzir os outros a participar do seu culto nascente. Este tipo de energia vai levant-lo para outro reino: Voc j no tem que lutar ou usar de subterfgios para impor sua vontade. Voc so adorados e no pode errar.

Voc pode pensar que uma tarefa gigantesca para criar tal seguinte, mas na verdade bastante simples. Como seres humanos, temos uma necessidade desesperada de acreditar em alguma coisa, qualquer coisa. Isso nos faz eminentemente crdulos: Ns simplesmente no podemos suportar longos perodos de dvida, ou do vazio que vem de uma falta de algo para se acreditar oscila diante de ns uma nova causa, elixir, esquema getrich-rpida, ou a mais recente tecnologia tendncia ou movimento de arte e pular da gua como um para morder a isca. Olhe para a histria: As crnicas de as novas tendncias e cultos que fizeram uma massa seguinte para si poderia encher uma biblioteca. Depois de alguns sculos. algumas dcadas. alguns anos.

alguns meses, eles geralmente ridculo, mas no momento em que parece to atraente, to transcendental, to divino. Sempre com pressa para acreditar em algo, vamos fabricar santos e religies a partir do nada. No deixe que esta ingenuidade ir para o lixo: Faa-se o objeto de adorao. Fazer as pessoas formam um culto sua volta.

Os grandes charlates europeus dos sculos XVI e XVII domina a arte de cultmaking. Viviam, como fazemos agora, em um momento de transformao: A religio organizada estava em declnio, a cincia em ascenso. As pessoas estavam desesperadas para reunir em torno de uma nova causa ou f. Os charlates tinha comeado por trfico de elixires de sade e atalhos alqumicos para a riqueza.

Movendo-se rapidamente de cidade em cidade, eles originalmente focada em pequenas grupos, at que, por acaso, que tropeou em uma verdade da natureza humana: Quanto maior o grupo que reuniu em torno de si, mais fcil era deceive.The charlato faria estao se em uma plataforma elevada de madeira (da o termo "charlato") e multides se aglomeram ao seu redor. Em um ambiente de grupo, as pessoas eram mais emocional, menos capaz de raciocinar. Tivesse o charlato falado com eles individualmente, eles poderiam t-lo encontrado ridculo, mas perdeu no meio da multido que foi pego em um estado de esprito comum de muita ateno. Tornou-se impossvel para eles para saber a distncia a ser cticos.

Quaisquer deficincias em idias do charlato foram escondidos pelo zelo da massa. A paixo eo entusiasmo tomou conta da multido como um contgio, e eles reagiram violentamente a qualquer um que se atreveu a espalhar a semente da dvida. Ambos estudar conscientemente essa dinmica ao longo de dcadas de experincia e adaptando-se espontaneamente a estas situaes como aconteceram, os charlates aperfeioaram a cincia de atrair e segurar uma multido, moldando a multido em seguidores e os seguidores em um culto.

Os truques dos charlates pode parecer estranho hoje, mas existem milhares de charlates entre ns, ainda assim, usando os mesmos mtodos tentou-e-verdadeiro sculos seus antecessores refinados atrs, mudando apenas os nomes de seus elixires e modernizar o visual de seus cultos. Encontramos esses charlates latterday em todas as arenas de negcios de vida, moda, poltica, arte. Muitos deles, talvez, esto seguindo a tradio charlato sem ter qualquer conhecimento da sua histria, mas voc pode ser mais sistemtica e deliberada.

Basta seguir os cinco passos de cultmaking que os nossos antepassados charlates aperfeioada ao longo dos anos.

Etapa I: Keep It Vague; Keep It Simple. Para criar um culto voc deve primeiro chamar a ateno. Isso voc deve fazer no por meio de aes, que so muito clara e legvel, mas atravs de palavras, que so nebulosas e enganoso. Seus discursos iniciais, conversas e entrevistas devem incluir dois elementos: por um lado, a promessa de algo grande e transformador, e por outro uma impreciso total. Esta combinao vai estimular todos os tipos de sonhos nebulosos em seus ouvintes, que vai fazer suas prprias conexes e ver o que eles querem ver.

Para tornar a sua impreciso atraente, use palavras de grande ressonncia mas significado nublado, palavras cheias de calor e entusiasmo. Ttulos de fantasia para as coisas simples so teis, assim como a utilizao de nmeros ea criao de novas palavras para conceitos vagos. Tudo isso cria a impresso de conhecimento especializado, o que lhe d uma aparncia de profundidade. Da mesma forma, tentar fazer o assunto do seu culto novo e fresco, de modo que poucos vo entender. Feito para a direita, a combinao de promessas vagas, conceitos nebulosos mas atraentes e entusiasmo ardente vai agitar as almas das pessoas e um grupo formar ao seu redor.

Converse muito vagamente e voc no tem credibilidade. Mas mais perigoso para ser especfico. Se voc explicar em detalhes os benefcios que as pessoas vo ganhar por seguir o seu culto, voc vai ser esperado para satisfaz-los.

Como corolrio da sua impreciso seu apelo tambm deve ser simples. Problemas da maioria das pessoas tm causas complexas: neurose profundamente enraizada, fatores sociais interligados, razes que vo muito para trs no tempo e so excedem vez mais difcil de desvendar. Poucos, no entanto, ter a pacincia para lidar com isso: a maioria das pessoas querem ouvir que uma soluo simples ir curar os seus problemas.

A capacidade de oferecer este tipo de soluo lhe dar grande poder e construir-lhe uma sequncia. Em vez de as explicaes complicadas da vida real, o retorno s solues primitivas de nossos antepassados, de bons remdios antigos do pas, a panacias misteriosas.

Passo 2: Enfatizar a Visual ea sensual sobre o intelectual. Uma vez que as pessoas comearam a se reunir em torno de voc, dois perigos se apresentaro: o tdio eo ceticismo. Tdio vai fazer as pessoas ir para outro lugar; ceticismo ir permitir-lhes a distncia de pensar racionalmente sobre o que que voc est oferecendo, explodindo a nvoa que voc criou artisticamente e revelando suas idias para o que so. Voc precisa divertir o entediado, ento, e afastar os cnicos. A melhor maneira de fazer isso atravs do teatro, ou outros dispositivos de seu tipo.

Cerque-se de luxo, deslumbrar os seus seguidores com esplendor visual, encher os olhos com o espetculo. No s este vai impedi-los de ver o ridculo de suas idias, os buracos em seu sistema de crenas, mas tambm ir atrair mais ateno, mais seguidores.

Apelo a todos os sentidos: Use incenso de cheiro, msica suave para deficientes, grficos coloridos e grficos para o olho. Voc pode at agradar a mente, talvez usando novos gadgets tecnolgicos para dar o seu culto um pseudo-cientfica verniz, contanto que voc no faz algum realmente pensa. Use as culturas exticas distante, costumes estranhos a criar efeitos teatrais, e para fazer os assuntos comuns mais banais parecem sinais de algo extraordinrio.

Passo 3: Emprestar as formas de religio organizada estrutura do Grupo. Seu seguinte cultlike est crescendo, hora de organiz-la. Encontre uma maneira tanto de elevao e reconfortante. As religies organizadas tm prendido por muito tempo autoridade inquestionvel para um grande nmero de pessoas, e continuam a faz-lo em nossa era supostamente secular. E mesmo se a prpria religio se desvaneceu um pouco, suas formas ainda ressoam com o poder. As associaes nobres e santos da religio organizada pode ser endlesslv explorado. (No se aplica a um determinado grupo online) Criar rituais para seus seguidores: organize-os em uma hierarquia, ficando ento em graus de santidade, e dandolhes nomes e mars que ressoam com conotaes religiosas, para pedir-lhes sacrifcios que vai encher o seu cofres e aumentar seu poder. Para enfatizar o seu recolhimento natureza quase

religiosa, falar e agir como um profeta. Voc no um ditador, depois de tudo, voc um sacerdote, um guru, um sbio, um xam, ou qualquer outra palavra que esconde o seu verdadeiro poder na nvoa da religio.

Passo 4: disfarar sua fonte de renda. Seu grupo tem crescido, e voc tem estruturado lo em uma forma churchlike. Seus cofres esto comeando a encher-se com o dinheiro dos seus seguidores. No entanto, voc nunca deve ser visto como fome de dinheiro e do poder que ela traz. neste momento que voc deve disfarar a fonte de sua renda.

Seus seguidores querem acreditar que se eles seguirem-lhe todos os tipos de coisas boas vo cair em seu colo. Cercando-se com o luxo de se tornar uma prova da solidez de seu sistema de crena viva. Nunca revele que a sua riqueza na verdade vem dos bolsos dos seus seguidores, em vez disso, torn-lo parecem vir da verdade de seus mtodos. Seguidores vai copiar o seu cada movimento na crena de que isso lhes trar os mesmos resultados, e seu entusiasmo imitativa vai ceg-los natureza charlato de sua riqueza.

Passo 5: Configurar uma dinmica ns-contra-eles. O grupo agora grande e prspera, um m atraindo mais e mais partculas. Se voc no for cuidadoso, porm, inrcia, em conjunto, eo tempo eo tdio vai desmagnetizar o grupo. Para manter seus seguidores unidos, voc deve agora fazer o que todas as religies e sistemas de crenas fizeram: criar uma dinmica nscontra-eles.

Primeiro, certifique-se de que seus seguidores acreditam que eles so parte de um clube exclusivo unificada por um vnculo de objetivos comuns. Ento, para stregthen este vnculo, manufactre a noo de um inimigo diablico para arruin-lo. H uma fora de descrentes que far de tudo para par-lo. Qualquer pessoa de fora que tenta revelar a natureza charlato de seu sistema de crena pode agora ser descrito como membro desta fora desonesto.

Se voc no tem inimigos, inventar um. Dado um homem de palha para reagir contra a sua, os seus seguidores vo apertar e coerentes. Eles tm a sua causa para acreditar e para destruir os infiis.

REVERSO

Uma das razes para criar uma sequncia que um grupo mais fcil de enganar do que um indivduo, e se vira para voc que muito mais poder. Isto vem, no entanto, com um perigo: se a

qualquer momento o grupo v atravs de voc, voc vai encontrar-se diante no uma alma enganada, mas uma multido enfurecida que vai rasgar voc em pedaos como avidamente, como j te seguimos. Os charlates constantemente confrontados este perigo, e estavam sempre prontos para sair da cidade, j que, inevitavelmente, tornou-se claro que os seus elixires no funcionou e as suas ideias foram farsa. Muito lento e pagaram com suas vidas. Em jogar com a multido, voc est brincando com fogo, e deve sempre manter-se atento para qualquer fasca de dvida, todos os inimigos que iro transformar a multido contra voc.

Quando voc joga com as emoes de uma multido, voc tem que saber como se adaptar, sintonizando-se instantaneamente a todos os humores e os desejos que um grupo ir produzir. Use espies, estar no topo de tudo, e manter suas malas prontas.

Por esta razo, muitas vezes voc pode preferir lidar com as pessoas, uma a uma. Isolando-los de seu ambiente normal pode ter o mesmo efeito que coloc-los em um grupo que os torna mais propensos a sugesto e intimidao o. Escolha o otrio direito e se, eventualmente, v atravs de voc, ele pode ser mais fcil de escapar de uma multido.

END

Steps

1.

1
Choose what it is you're worshipping. If it's a Pagan religion, maybe you're worshiping Demeter. If it's a random religion, maybe you worship corn. Who knows, be creative and stand up for what you believe in.
Ad

2.

2
Make your own decisions. Establish a religion that suits your requirements... You can chose who's in, who's out, what goes on within the religion and who does what.

3. 3

Get a group together. Preferably a group of friends or people that live in your area.

4.

4
Have regular meetings, so you can be sure nobody forgets.

5.

5
Establish a set of rules. A bible, if you will, or a pledge, or a rede. Whatever you want to call it, it's your religion.
HOW TO MAKE YOUR OWN CULT 101

INTRODUCTION

WANT unlimited wealth - no taxes to pay - little or no government supervision? Simple! Proclaim yourself God and start your own cult. It is easier than you may think. No Spiritual training or knowledge is required. Just follow these easy to understand step by step instructions and you will be on your way to becoming a tax free multi-millionaire with private jets, yachts and secret getaways all over the world.

GETTING STARTED

Your first step is to proclaim yourself God. Or, if that is too ambitious, try something like "Supreme Spiritual Master" or "Reincarnation of a Past Prophet" or whatever. Just make it sound super great and powerful. You might want to make up a previously unknown title for yourself so you can get a copyright on it and sue anyone who talks bad about you.

You are going to need some church literature - propaganda - that will give arguments to support your super powers. Most people just copy stuff from someone else. Paul Twitchell just went to the local library, checked out almost anything, and then copied a paragraph from each separate book word for word and made a new book claiming it was his own work. He explained lack of continuity by saying that you could not understand his great wisdom because you were not spiritually advanced enough. Since plagiarism is common, the people you copy from are not likely to complain because they most likely copied their stuff from someone else also.

Next, you need to start a small following which you will gradually grow into a worldwide cult. In practice, this process usually takes longer than a single lifetime. So, your best formula is to use your cult as a family business like the Singh family does. One member of the family plays the part of "god" and all of the other family members support him and benefit financially.

You are going to need to do a little leg work to attract and hold a small core following. You will need to hold small meetings and keep spouting trash until you find a few suckers that will follow you around and believe you are some super master. It may take a while to get started but things will exponentially pick up as time goes on.

UNDERSTANDING THE CON

You need to understand and master the basic con game practiced by essentially all cults. Some key points to remember are:

1. I am a master and you are not. You can never equal my super powers. You are inferior, a sinner, loaded with karma, a worthless person, etc. NEVER ADMIT MISTAKES. It is a sign of weakness.

2. Have an explanation for everything - even if it is illogical. People in cults gradually lose the capacity to do critical thinking and will accept most anything as true.

3. If you need to change a policy, say that the "new policy" has "always existed" and there never was an "old policy". People will believe a lie if it is repeated often enough. It is a basic principle of brainwashing.

4. "Treat a whore like a lady and a lady like a whore". Your followers are "ladies". They are honest but naive. You are going to rape them and not only steal their money but also ruin any chance they may have for legitimate Spiritual development. For some reason, if you treat them like trash, they will be more likely to remain as your followers. It works for Gurinder.

FIND AND EXPLOIT A RESPECTED PERSON

It would be a great help if you could find someone with an established reputation and then use that person's good reputation to further your scam. Paul Twitchell used the respected writer Brad Steiger and Charan Singh used David Lane. In both cases, people with respected and legitimate credentials were successfully used to promote the scams.

UNDERSTAND AND EXPLOIT THE PSYCHOLOGICAL WEAKNESSES OF PEOPLE UNDER THE INFLUENCE OF A FAKE MASTER

From Faqir Chand, a legitimate master [David Lane's book on Chand is on the internet but the URL occasionally changes so just search for Faqir Chand and the book "Truth Always Wins"], we know he reports that his followers tell him, from time to time, that he "appears" to them and helps them. However, Chand, an honest man, states he has no knowledge of any of this and does not know why it happens. However, we do know that these things happen. So, you, as a fake master, can look for this phenomenon and take advantage of it to make people really believe that you are some kind of god. These affected people will be loyal to you for life and can be used as an unshakable core of your evil empire because they have totally convinced themselves that you are for real.

SECURITY AND SECRECY

In order to design a cult that will withstand the test of time, you must have an effective secrecy and security plan in effect. Otherwise, people who have figured out you are a fake will expose you. You will lose your following and your cult will go out of existence.

The main secret you need to keep secret is money. You don't ever want your followers to find out all the stuff and assets you have or where they are hidden. The main purpose of setting up your cult was to get rich. But, you never talk about this. You talk about the quest for enlightenment. You never say anything about how "enlightened" your bank account has become.

To ensure control you need a standard "need to know" hierarchy. Your family knows you are a scam artist and they are in on the scam. Some trusted friends may be too. But, your followers must never know the truth or they will leave you in a heartbeat.

You need an information control system where all information passes thru you so you can control knowledge. Knowledge is power. The cult members must only be allowed the bare minimum of knowledge about your cult. Make it hard for them to learn the identity of other members so they do not start "comparing notes" which could allow them to uncover the real truth. All orders come from you. You appoint all in positions of authority. Everyone "serves" at your pleasure.

Eventually, you may need to set up some kind of damage control system. For example, if someone catches you in a hot tub with naked girls doing cocaine it could ruin your reputation as a "holy" person. You may need hired thugs and assassins to make sure that anyone who learns the truth about you never lives to talk. After all, there is a multi-million dollar business at stake here. Who cares about a few lives.

MAINTENANCE

Having taken all the necessary steps to set up a viable cult, you and your relatives can now relax and just watch the tax free money roll in. Delegate any remaining jobs and just let the system run on "automatic pilot". Tell followers you are "off talking with god" or any story you want to make up. Representatives can do all the leg work now. You don't even have to be seen any more. Just say you are "watching everything from an invisible plane" or some such crap. The fools that follow you will recruit more fools and your cult and bank account will continue to grow.

Cult Leader Characteristics 101:

Mind Control: Manipulate subject by the use of coercive persuasion or behavior modification techniques advanced in hypnotic language patterns without subjects informed consent.

Charismatic Leadership: Claim special knowledge and or skills, demand unquestioning obedience with power and privilege, excessive discipline and expectations. Demand perfection at all times. Leadership may consist of one individual or a small group of core leaders or collection of friends and or lovers. Demonstrate integrity and charm with precision and congruency.

Deception: Learn the value of Recruiting and Fundraising with hidden objectives and without full disclosure of the use of mind controlling techniques; use "front groups, or business opportunities". Display behaviors reflecting integrity and honesty in regards to honor and commitment. Give your best speech on your philosophy. Promise money or favors, but never in writing. Change the rules when it comes time to deliver your end of the deal. Always make use of the " Hand Shake Contract". Learn the art of lying congruently at will.

Exclusivity: Secretiveness or vagueness by followers regarding activities and beliefs. Intimacy and boundary issues with followers. Call one of your followers into the office and make sure to say "You are the best one of the team and are next to be promoted". Make sure to tell everyone the same thing.

Alienation: All followers will naturally feel the need to separate from family, friends and society, a change in values and substitute the cult as the new "family" or "new criteria" evidence of subtle or abrupt personality changes occur. The best test of your success is when they leave their life behind with no understanding why or ability to explain why.

Exploitation: Can be financial, physical or psychological; pressure to give money, to spend a great deal on courses or give excessively to special projects. Expect to them to work excessive hours without pay and to engage in inappropriate sexual activities.

Totalitarian World view (we/they syndrome): Effecting dependence, promoting goals of the group over the individual and approving unethical behavior while claiming goodness.

Important Techniques Of Mind Control:

* Group pressure: Discourages doubts and reinforces the need to belong through the use of child-like games, singing, hugging, touching or flattery. Enhance their need for recognition by telling them "You just never tried hard enough", or if they threaten to quit, "You were never truly committed enough anyway", works very well.

* Isolation/Separation: Creates inability or lack of desire to verify information provided by the group with reality. Get them to live in your philosophy with few people supporting that reality. Never let them get close enough to others to really be known intimately. Works best if they create posters of their new philosophy and post them in every open space of their environment.

* Thought Controlling and Feeling Stopping Techniques: Introduce recruit to meditating, chanting, and repetitious activities which, when used excessively, induce a perfect state of high suggestibility. Teaching time control maintenance techniques should be intertwined with cults

mindset for full effective results. When they are scheduling every minute of they're life with you in mind, they are on they're way. When certain emotions come up, have subject keep those feelings locked out with the use of "state control techniques" until they are ready to explode at the appropriate time for breakdown and surrender themselves completely to you.

* Fear and Guilt: Induced by eliciting confessions to produce intimacy and to reveal fears and secrets, to create emotional vulnerability by overt and covert suggestion or threats, as well as alternation of punishment and reward. Subject should easily "Fall In Love" with 1 or more fellow cult participants to ensure commitment to the group and each other. This makes it easy to get them to leave their old lives behind and follow you. Exercises requiring facing extreme fear or death defiling "Metaphorical Breakthrough Experiences" helps in faster and easier conversions.

* Sleep Deprivation: Encourage under the guise of spiritual exercises, necessary training, or " To stretch your personal boundaries" or in urgent projects. Works best when dance music is playing really loud. When they can't stop dancing and are in complete physical exhaustion, they're yours.

* Inadequate Nutrition: Sometimes disguised as special diet to improve health or advance spirituality, or as rituals requiring fasting. Require extreme changes in eating, such as "Vegan" or as part of the group or cult regime. Control subjects feeding times at unpredictable and unexpected times throughout the day and night, if at all. Result: They will not be able to eat eventually until you tell them to, and only if it is what you tell them they can eat. The ultimate result is when you teach them how to breath, and they think of you whenever they do.

* Sensory Overload: Forces acceptance of complex new doctrine, goals and definitions to replace old values by expecting recruit to assimilate masses of information quickly with little or no opportunity for critical examination. The perfect recruit will let go of all their past beliefs overnight to follow you.

How To Know Your Successful The truly converted will show signs of:

* The exact same goals and values as the cult leader

* Loss of free will and control over one's life.

* Noticeably more visits to the dentist.

* Excess amounts of organic broccoli in refrigerator

* Loss of family and home.

* Development of dependency and return to child-like or teen-age behaviors.

* Inability to work or be responsible.

* Posting, and of cults philosophy all over environment.

* Noticeably ugly ties or snappy dresses.

* Loss of spontaneity.

* Compulsive audio tape listening.

* Loss of sense of humor.

* Ingestion of growth hormones and speed inducing pharmaceuticals.

* Inability to form intimate relationships or friendships.

* Physical deterioration and abuse.

* Psychological deterioration (including hallucinations, anxiety, paranoia, disorientation, and dissociation).

It Takes a Good Follower To Make A Good Cult Leader

Have you ever noticed the boss telling you an inspiring and motivational story about the future of the company, then write you bad pay checks and some how you feel sorry for him?

Ever find your friend chanting Amway affirmations while jogging with you, and he hasn't been in Amway for years?

Ever have fellow employees avoid asking for their paychecks because it would impose on the company?

Have you ever let your boss have the use of your own personal credit cards to bail his company out of trouble?

"When you meet the friendliest people you have ever known, who introduce you to the most loving group of people you've ever encountered, and you find the leader to be the most inspired, caring, compassionate and understanding person you've ever met, and then you learn that that cause of the group is something you never dared hope could be accomplished, and all of this sounds too good to be true, it probably is too good to be true!"

"Don't give up your education, your hopes and ambitions, to follow a rainbow." - Jenne Mills, former member of the People's Temple and subsequent victim of assassination a year following the November 18, 1978 Jonestown suicide/murders of 911 adults and children.

Learn From The Cult Leader Experts

Sales people have been among the first to be successful at using psychological cult leader techniques to manipulate people. ... Usually you know if someone is selling a product, so you are prepared and therefore cautious. Increasingly stupid people are being maneuvered into joining very large group gatherings where they are processed through powerful psychological techniques to sell them when they thought they were just attending an "information evening."

One cult marketing group used group hypnosis to make people fire-walk and then immediately afterwards, while they were still in a highly aroused state, got them to sign expensive business contracts to learn to become teachers of fire-walking themselves! One of the best known multi-level marketing organizations is Amway. This hugely successful company started selling soap powder and now in some countries even sells cars. In order to make the most money in Amway, or to be truly "successful," it is necessary to move "up line" by recruiting more and more distributors like yourself, who themselves recruit distributors and so on. You make money not just from the goods you sell but by getting a percentage of what the distributors, and by planning to pay or not pay your employees or down-line. You have recruited sell as well and convert well.

As with all cult sales and marketing jobs, this requires extremely hard work and high motivation and easy brain washing for the cult leader on the go. Increasingly, Amway is adopting similar techniques to many cults in order to attract recruits, then to keep them involved and committed to the cause. For instance Amway distributors are instructed not to tell you they are selling Amway up front. Usually you are asked to attend a meeting about an "exciting new business opportunity." In fact Amway's name may not be mentioned until after a good hour of sales pitch. The approach of the marketing organization is usually quite evangelical. It asks if there is something missing your life, and offers all sorts of emotional inducements:

"Reach your full potential", "Find the real you", "Gain greater meaning and more meaningful relationships in your life", "Come over to my house to a religious dinner party tonight, Elvis is going to be there, bring your mom".

In many ways Amway is more like a fundamentalist religion than a direct marketing business, with money, and freedom as the God. Joining Amway is often described, by its distributors, as like a religious or spiritual and life changing experience. Distributors and covert cult leaders are encouraged to recruit first among their family and friends, an action that can very quickly put open, trusting relationships on very shaky footing as friendship is exploited for the cults perfect financial gain.

Amway distributors become aware of where a potential recruit is emotionally most vulnerable by asking questions like "What is missing from your life?" "How did you get to be such a loser?" " How specifically?" Friendships and relationships are further abused when the target tries to say no. The skilled Amway distributor may turn this into a personal rejection of himself, and the recruit can be made to feel guilty that he or she is turning down a friend. This is an excellent strategy for conversion.

Many people have told me about relationships they valued highly that were never quite the same after they tried to recruit a friend or family member to Amway as well as other cult marketing associations. A side effect of this is that a new Amway distributor very quickly becomes dependent on other distributors "who think the same," for friendship as well as business relationships. Amway encourages more and more dependence on the Amway family and its values.

For instance, a distributor told me about Amway's recommendations to deal with problems in marriage (because of the demands Amway places on a partner's time and priorities!). He said Amway suggested it was not a good idea to consult a professional marriage counselor, who would probably not understand how Amway worked. "Instead marriage and personal problems should be dealt with in-house by going "upline" to an Amway distributor at a higher level. The fully trained and skilled cult leader can be the most successful marriage and family councilor.

This intelligently restricts a distributor's emotional resources to Amway and its particular value system--one which sees wives, only as their husband's assistants, and regards men as being the sole decision-makers in marriage, or until she has learned the power of being a cult leader herself. Books and tapes are produced targeted directly at Amway wives and the role they are

expected to play. To keep distributors involved and active, followers should be required to join the tape of the week club and listen every free moment of the day.

They should also attend weekly meetings that are held where people are encouraged to talk about personal as well as business difficulties with they're personal experiences. Good cult leaders use this time wisely. The "upline" distributor--the one who has recruited others and therefore takes a percentage of their sales functions as a priest, to whom failures to fulfill Amway commitments and expectations can be confessed and absolved, and further commitments made as a way of paying penance.

Extremely large gatherings are held regularly (sometimes as often as hourly) and at these many of the techniques used by the most advanced cult leaders are employed to reinforce values and enhance commitment, for instance, confessions, crying, recording really bad public speakers, sharing possible future success stories, and singing, yodeling, playing the accordion, soap bubble contests, fondling fish, writing "I love Amway" ten times with your tongue on a dirty chalkboard, smiling and bouncing around the room, anchoring, practicing a foreign languages, and many other techniques.

Participants are expected to conform to a strict dress code jacket and very ugly ties for men, smart snappy dresses and jackets for women--no pants and no underwear allowed at evening events. Many good cult candidates hearing about the deliberately manipulative techniques used by multi-level marketing groups shrug their shoulders and say "So what?" I own some ugly ties, I like hamburger helper, what's wrong with that?

Unfortunately dropping out of Amway and similar groups may not be simple or totally harmless. In the present economic climate people who have been retrenched are turning desperately to Amway to find some kind of income and purpose in life. And also learned the importance of cleaning products and what can be done intimately with soap in the bedroom.

Because of their situation they are often extremely vulnerable emotionally and Amway uses this mercilessly. A typical recruitment pitch would include the phrases "Do you have the courage to make significant changes in your life?", Do this for your children's sake," "Our only failures are quitters," and "Doesn't your family deserve what Amway can give them [materially]? "Do you and your family like cherry or lime KOOL-AID?"

"Such highly charged language, when aimed at vulnerable people in large groups and backed up with a constant stream of audio tapes which those who are truly committed to success will

use conscientiously and diligently," and as every successful cult leader knows can be extremely effective. But if you are not a whiz bang seller, or are a rookie cult leader, consider everybody you know that once was signed up for Amway long ago, it is very easy to "fail" at Amway.

Coming on top of retrenchment, the resultant self doubt and the guilt that Amway plays on can cause great distress and real depression. Even if you are an inexperienced cult leader, most shame based people are easy to win over. One ex-Amway wife told me:

"My marriage, which was struggling along on a minimal income due to Joe's [husband] retrenchment, couldn't survive a dose of Amway as well."...If you are introduced into a cult direct marketing scheme that does not demand control of your lifestyle, relationships and values, your garage space, having to eat cases of peanut butter, having to hang out at malls, having to form an intimate relationship with the UPS, FEDEX man, dubbing and redubbing old Amway tapes for motivation, and insisting on people owning kitchen tables if they are going to be your friend, then maybe it can be a satisfying job. But beware those that offer "Not just a career but a way of life, and we will give you the best orgasm you ever had." They could be even more skilled then you. Practice on your friends until you get it right!

The former university chaplain who now runs a counseling and therapy service for those affected by cults, listened carefully as the man explained:

It was two days after he had been seen on national television, helping a young man break away from an "Empowering" group he had joined a year earlier was taking over his life. There were the huge meetings at venues like the Hyatt Regency and Conference Center where he and thousands of other followers were worked into a passionate frenzy and then told to go out and find as many people they could to recruit who needed to find the inner "Personal Power" as well.

The powerful doctrine that frowned on "lower personal standards" or "negative emotional" influences; there was the strict code and the advice on how to bring up children and relate to loved ones as well as how and what to eat and breath when; there was the fear that to quit would mean giving up all hope of a happy and successful future.

However, having seen the television infomercial featuring the cult leader, the man now alleged that he was being subjected to mind control techniques and being manipulated by those "Personal Coaches" in the organization. He wanted advice on making a possible break. He asked which cult the man was in. "It's not a cult. It's not a religion. It's something called owning

your personal power." Support groups headed by senior cult leaders within the personal power organization are adopting cult-style tactics to recruit and motivate those below them.

Help groups, Cult Information Centers are receiving calls from worried seminar participants and their families, concerned about the techniques being used to keep them in the organization.

Beware of thinking that you are immune from cult involvement, the cults have millions of members around the world who once thought they were immune, and still dont know they are in a cult! To spot a cult you need to know how they work and you need to understand the techniques they use. Teaching you these things is what this article is all about.This article exposes the secret techniques cults will use to try and trick and control you. Cult leaders will not want you to read this, but read it anyway. Once you understandHow Cults Work you will be better able to spot and avoid cult recruiters, and protect your family and friends.First lets eliminate some misconceptions about cults.

Cults are easy to spot, they wear strange clothes and live in communes. Well some do. But most are everyday people like you and me. They live in houses. They wear the same clothes. They eat the same food. Cult leaders dont want you to know that you are being recruited into a cult and so they order their recruiters to dress, talk and act in a way that will put you at ease. One cult has even invented a phrase to describe this, they call it being relatable.Cults are full of the weak, weird and emotionally unstable. Not true. Many cult members are very intelligent, attractive and skilled. The reality is that all sorts of people are involved in cults. One of the few common denominators is that they were often recruited at a low point in their life more about that later.Cults are just a bunch of religious nut cases. This is a common mistake people make thinking that cults are purely religious groups. The modern definition of a mind control cult refers to all groups that use mind control and the devious recruiting techniques that this article exposes. The belief system of a religion is often warped to become a container for these techniques, but it is the techniques themselves that make it a cult. In a free society people can believe what they want, but most people would agree that it is wrong for any one to try to trick and control people. In the section Types of Cults we will examine the various types of cults you may come across.Christians call all other groups cults. Basically Christians have said that if a group claims to be Christian and yet teaches something fundamentally different from what the Bible teaches then they are a cult. ie. a Buddhist group that claims to be Buddhist is not a cult, but a Buddhist group that pretends to be Christian is. This definition is not used in this article.So what is a cult anyway?

The modern definition of a mind control cult is any group which employs mind control and deceptive recruiting techniques. In other words cults trick people into joining and coerce them into staying. This is the definition that most people would agree with. Except the cults themselves of course!

Religious Cults that use a belief system as their base are very common. Their belief system could be standard Christianity, Hinduism, Islam or any other of the world religions, or they may have invented their own belief system. What makes them a cult is the fact that they use mind control, not what they believe. Commercial Cults that use commercial gain as their base are called cults of greed. They will promise you that if you join them and follow their special programme for success then you will become very rich. Often they will hold up their leader as an example and explain that if you do what he or she says then you will be successful too. Commercial cults use mind control to get you working for them for free, and to make you pay for an endless stream of motivational tapes, videos, books and seminars all of which are supposedly designed to help you succeed, but in reality are designed to enhance the cults mind control environment and keep you believing in their almost impossible dream of success. Of course they never mention that the primary way the leaders make money are by selling these motivation materials to their group! For more information see below under the section, Pressure Selling. Self Help & Counselling Cults that use self help or counselling or self improvement as their base often target business people and corporations. By doing their courses and seminars they claim you and your staff will become more successful. Business people locked away in hotel rooms are subjected to quasireligious indoctrination as they play strange games, join in group activities, and share their innermost thoughts with the group. Once you have completed one course you are told you need to do the more advanced course, which naturally costs more than the last. These cults will sometimes request that you do volunteer work and that you help recruit your friends, family and work mates. These groups specialize in creating powerful emotional experiences which are then used to validate your involvement in the cult. The religious overtones are couched in terms which dont sound religious. They usually come to the surface as you near the end of a seminar. Many people have been bankrupted by involvement with these cults. Political Cults that use political ideals as their base are well known throughout history. Hitlers Nazi Germany and Stalins Communist USSR were classic examples of mind control on a very large scale. On smaller scales white and black supremacists, terrorists, and rebel groups commonly use forms of mind control to recruit and dominate their members.

Mind Control is a suite of psychological techniques that cult leaders attempt to control their

members with. Cultwatch does not consider Mind Control to be some magical device which can take away peoples free will. In other words it does not turn people into some sort of remote control robot. Rather we see Mind Control as a dishonest influence placed covertly on cult members by the cult. So instead of Mind Control being some sort of irresistible force like the aliens in the movies that take over peoples minds, rather it is more like a gun. The cult leader points the Mind Control gun at a member and says, if you leave us then you will lose all of your friends and family, if you dont conform then you will go to Hell, if you dont give us money then you will fail in business. We have broken Mind Control up into a series of techniques that the cults use. Together these techniques make up Mind Control.

A cult needs to recruit and operate using deception. Why? Because if people knew their true practices and beliefs beforehand then they would not join. A cult needs to hide the truth from you until they think you are ready to accept it. For example, imagine if the leader of Heavens Gate cult was open and honest about the group and had said to new recruits, Join us, wear strange clothes, get castrated and then drink poison! he would not have had many takers.

A cult will have a slick well-rehearsed Public Relations front which hides what the group is really like. You will hear how they help the poor, or support research, or peace, or the environment. They will tell you how happy you will be in their group (and everyone in the cult will always seem very happy and enthusiastic, mainly because they have been told to act happy and will get in trouble if they dont). But you will not be told what life is really like in the group, nor what they really believe. These things will be introduced to you slowly, one at a time, so you will not notice the gradual change, until eventually you are practicing and believing things which at the start would have caused you to run a mile.

A normal religious organization would not have any trouble with you moving to another similar organization as long as you stayed in that same religion. Because it is the belief system that matters, not membership in an organization. For example if you were a Christian then you could move from one church to another and still be a Christian. However cult leaders will tell you can only be saved (or can only be successful) in their organization alone. No other organization has the truth, all others miss the mark. So it is not the belief system that decides your future, but it the belief system AND your membership with that

particular group.

The cult leaders need to make you believe that there is no where else you can go and still be saved, and if you ever leave the one true church then you are going to hell. This is a fear based control mechanism designed to keep you in the cult. It also gives the cult leaders tremendous power over you. If you really believe that leaving the group equals leaving God (or means you are leaving your only chance to succeed in life), then you will obey the cult leaders even when you disagree with them instead of risking being kicked out of the group. Exclusivism is used as a threat, it controls your behavior through fear. Be very suspicious of any group that claims to be better than all the others. A religious group may say that other groups following the same religion are OK, but they are the ones who have a better grasp of the truth and they are superior to the rest. This is often just a subtle version of exclusivism.

This is one of the practices that cults are often very deceptive about. For example, first off they may give you the impression that they think you are a true Christian, Buddhist or Muslim and its not until later that their true position is revealed.

Cult leadership is feared. To disagree with leadership is the same as disagreeing with God. The cult leaders will claim to have direct authority from God to control almost all aspects of your life. If the cult is not a religious group then questioning the leaders or program will still be seen as a sign of rebellion and stupidity. Guilt, Character Assassination and Breaking Sessions. Guilt will be used to control you. Maybe the reason youre not making money is because youre not with the programme. Maybe the reason youre not able to convert new recruits is because your heart is prideful and full of sin. It could never be that the programme isnt working, or those new recruits have valid reasons for not joining. Its always your fault, you are always wrong, and so you must try harder! You will also be made to feel very guilty for disobeying any of the cults written or unwritten rules. Character Assassination is used to help create the guilt in you. Character Assassination is a type of false reasoning used by people and groups who have no real arguments. The technical name for Character Assassination is The Ad hominem Fallacy. This is how it works. Imagine if you will a conversation between two men, Ford and Arthur One plus one equals three, says Ford. No I dont think so. You see when I have one thing, and I have another thing, then I have two things not three, replies Arthur. I see your point, but what you must realize is that one plus one when calculated in relation to this

complex number domain, which I just invented, and then squared by the sum of the ninth tangent in the sequence of the Fibonacci series results in three!, stated Ford triumphantly. Ok, Ford is wrong, but that is not the point. The point is that Ford tried to answer Arthurs reasoning with more reasoning of his own. This is the healthy way people and groups debate subjects. Now lets see what would have happened if Ford had used Character Assassination Arthur I have been a mathematician longer than you. How dare you disagree with me! You are obviously a very smug and prideful person. I think you are disagreeing with me because you are jealous of me, and to be honest with you Arthur your rebellion has really hurt me and a lot of other people too, stated Ford his face intimidatingly close to Arthurs. You see Ford didnt answer Arthurs argument, instead he attacked his character. If you are not aware of how Character Assassination works then it is a powerful way to exert control over you.

Breaking sessions are when one, two or more cult members and leaders attack the character of another person, sometimes for hours on end. Some cults will not stop these sessions until their victim is crying uncontrollably.

Cults know that if they can control your relationships then they can control you. Whether we like it or not we are all profoundly affected by those around us. When you first go to a cult they will practice love bombing, where they arrange instant friends for you. It will seem wonderful, how could such a loving group be wrong! But you soon learn that if you ever disagree with them, or ever leave the cult then you will lose all your new friends. This unspoken threat influences your actions in the cult. Things that normally would have made you complain will pass by silently because you dont want to be ostracized. Like in an unhealthy relationship love is turned on and off to control. Cults also try to cut you off from your friends and family because they hate others being able to influence you. A mind control cult will seek to manoeuvre your life so as to maximize your contact with cult members and minimize your contact with people outside the group, especially those who oppose your involvement.

Those who control the information control the person. In a mind control cult any information from outside the cult is considered evil, especially if it is opposing the cult. Members are told not to read it or believe it. Only information supplied by the cult is true. One cult labels any information against it as persecution or spiritual pornography, another cult calls it apostate literature and will expel you from the group if you are caught with it. Cults train their members to instantly destroy any critical information given to them, and to not even entertain the thought that the information could be true.

Common sense tells us that a person who does not consider all information may make an unbalanced decision. Filtering the information available or trying to discredit it not on the basis of how true it is, but rather on the basis of how it supports the party line, is a common control method used throughout history.

In a mind control cult like in Nazi Germany or Communist Russia you must be careful of what you say and do; The walls have ears. Everyone is encouraged to watch out for struggling brothers and sisters and report what they see to leadership. Often information given in deepest confidence is automatically reported to leadership. Cult leaders will then use this information to convince their members that they have a supernatural link, the trusting member does not suspect the very natural mechanism behind the supernatural revelations they are given. People in a mind control cult will also hide their true thoughts and feelings, and instead wear a mask which presents them as a perfect cult member. This mask is a defense against being reported to leadership and being punished for not measuring up (cult members never feel like they measure up to the cults ideals, and yet often believe the other members around them do, when in reality the

others feel the same as them). Hence cult members are trained not only to deceive outsiders, but also to deceive their fellow cult members. Rarely can close friendships form in cults, and if they do the cults leaders may see them as a threat and move those people away from each other. Nothing is allowed that can be more powerful than the cult members allegiance to the group and its leaders.

Mind control cults keep their members so busy with meetings and activities that they become too busy and too tired to think about their involvement. Time control also helps the cult keep their members immersed in the manufactured cult environment. And time control helps keep cult members away from friends and family.

Together they make Mind Control. Remember, people are not perfect, but if they employ them constantly you are most likely dealing with a cult.

One of the most common forms of commercial cults is the pressure selling organization. These groups ostensibly make money by selling goods via their sales organization, but in reality they make their money by selling goods and motivational materials to their sales organization. Using mind control they seek to enlarge and maintain their sales force, and hence their profits. Some names along with the bad reputations of these groups are well known to the general public, so their recruiters need to be very deceptive. They will call and ask to come and meet you to discuss a business opportunity or new eCommerce venture, not once mentioning the organization behind it. In fact if asked they might mention a completely different name. Meeting with them will involve a long intense presentation carefully designed to convince you that you could make a lot of money by following their plan. Only near the end will they briefly mention the real organization behind it.

Here are some key warning signs to watch out for

Deception. No valid business needs to use deception. Super hyped meetings, books, tapes, videos, leaflets, products. Use of Mind control, refer to the earlier Mind Control section. Here are some key questions to ask the recruiter Is it XZY group? Ask them if they are, or are involved with any of the well known commercial cults. Often the recruiter will admit to some connection, and in fact the clever recruiter will plainly state their involvement rather than having their deception uncovered later on. Could I see some properly certified audited accounts which demonstrate this business model working? Like any business they should be able to provide the hard numbers. Not stories of other people making it big, or generalizations about six figure incomes, or more enthusiastic claims that you can make it if you work hard enough. If this is a new business then you want a business plan, profit and loss projections for the next year, two years and five years. If they claim it is a successful established business then demand to see the books. These are not unreasonable demands, no successful business person would ever touch a venture without this basic information. Tell the recruiter that you want to run them past your own accountant, and perhaps your lawyer too. If its for real then they will be more than happy to comply, otherwise watch them squirm and dodge with all manner of well rehearsed excuses. Of course if they do produce the information then go to your accountant, youre a fool if you dont.

Here are some key warning signs that may indicate a cult is trying to recruit you. Hyped Meetings Rather than explain to you what the group believes or what their programme is up front, they will instead insist that you can only understand it if you come to a group meeting. There everyone around you will seem so enthusiastic that you will start to think there is something wrong with you. They create an environment where you will feel uncomfortable and the only way to become comfortable is to join them. This is an application of controlled peer pressure. Intense Unrelenting Pressure They call repeatedly. Meet you on campus or outside your work. Trick you into coming for only an hour and then lead you into a long study, meeting or talk. They have to keep the pressure on, otherwise you might snap out of the mind control environment they are trying to immerse you in. They tell you that they are not a cult. This is a preemptive strike against the warnings from friends and family members which they know will come. In fact some cults go as far to tell you that Satan will try and dissuade you by sending family members and friends to tell you it is a cult. When this tactic is used then often a warped form of logic occurs in the recruits mind, the agents of Satan do come and tell them that it is a cult. So since the group predicted that would happen, the group therefore must true! Basically if any group tells you that they are not a cult, or that some people call them a cult, then for goodness sake find out why!

Times you are vulnerable. Experiential rather than logical. Fake friendship. End of world pressure. Pressure to do crazy things. Secret knowledge.

Single charismatic leader. People always seeming constantly happy and enthusiastic. Especially if you discover that they have been told to act that way for the potential new recruits. Instant friends. If you are told who you can or cannot talk to or associate with. They hide what they teach. Say they are the only true group, or the best so why go anywhere else. Hyped meetings, get you to meetings rather than share with you. Experiential rather than logical. Asking for money for the next level. Some cults travel door to door during times when women are home alone. They, and this is rather sexist, think that women are easier to recruit and once they have the woman then it will be easier to snare the husband or partner. Saying that they have to make people pay for it because otherwise they will not appreciate it. This is of course a very silly reason, plenty of people are able to appreciate things which they did not pay for.

The Internet should be your first stop if the group you are interested in or involved with has an international scope. Most of the larger cults will be mentioned by counter-cult organizations like Cultwatch, and commonly many ex-members will have posted their cult involvement stories on the net.

Many of the larger cults hate the net since it allows their members access to information they deem subversive or evil. A good place to start is www.CULTWATCH.com, there we have cult information and links to other counter-cult groups. Also go to the search engines and type in keywords associated with the group, like the name of the group, the leaders or founders name, the titles of books they use and any peculiar words that the group uses. If the group is new or too small to have been exposed on the net then read stories of other people who were in mind control cults. The patterns may seem familiar to you. If you are still unsure then email us your story at cultwatch@cultwatch.com, we will let you know of any thoughts we have. Other ways Old publications by the group. Often the older cults have predicted the end of the world or changed their beliefs significantly, hence their older publications become a danger to them. For some of the older cults people have produced books of photo copies of these changes.

Recently I was contacted by a very successful Internet marketer who asked me what I would suggest to someone who wanted to create a cult-like following. This is right down my ally so I gave him some very good advice that he couldn't wait to put into action but the question got me thinking. What steps are there for anyone who wants people to want his/her attention and wisdom? The result are 10 ways to build a cult-like following. Of course each one of them could be a book in itself but here goes.

1. Initiation vs. Instruction

There is a marked difference between learning by instruction and learning by initiation. Most people give instruction. This is nothing more than stating facts and teach processes. Any good teacher does that as well as most bad ones. Learning by initiation is about creating an experience that makes the learning personal and visceral to the student. A good example of that is the 1984 movie The Karate Kid . On the one hand you have the macho western karate instructor who taught his students by instruction in a skill 'n' drill process. On the other hand you have the character played by Pat Marito who says that he will teach Ralph Macchios' character karate in exchange for doing chores. But the chores must be done in a certain way This way wax on. This way wax off. Only later does the young hero find out that there was a method to his instructors madness and when he figured it out it made complete sense to him as if struck by a lightening bolt. There are many things that you could simply tell someone and they would intellectually understand but they wouldn't get it as an insight. They would only see it as information. The result is that they may use it or they may not. Teaching by initiation means holding back on simply telling what the student wants to know and instead provide an experience where the stud ent gets it on their own. The subjective experience of the student is that the lesson is much more valuable because 1) they had to work for it and 2) it is felt more personally.

2. Being Accessible
Someone once told me that There are no long lines for t he guru at the bottom of the hill. Making yourself scarce adds perceived value but it also distances you from the masses. If you want a cult-like following you need access to the masses otherwise you're just an ivory tower wannabe. There is an ingenious compromise. Be accessible as a person but present your knowledge and wisdom as being rare, expensive, mysterious, and only for those who are truly ready for it.

This compromise allows you to build deep personal bonds with people yet have them want more or your presence... as well as be willing to pay for it. Keep in mind that one cult leader, 2000 years ago, would speak to anyone who would listen but he granted his most sacred attention to his 12 closest disciples. You can add to this compromise by having special times when you are not accessible to anyone. You can tell people that you are meditating, or doing your spiritual practice but you don't have to say anything. It's the mystery of why you are absent that you want to cultivate.

3. Imply Secret Knowledge

The role of simply remaining calm and silent will recur again in this essay so I can't understate it. Here is where silence is worth a 1000 words. Saying things like Hmmm... There are 100 possible solutions to that within your own mind. and nothing else implies things that you know and that they should know.

4. Remaining calm as if all-knowing

Any sharp change in your emotional state, with the exception of joy and laughter, should be minimized. Any leader/teacher who goes on an angry rant is demonstrating their own lack of control. If you truly have control it should be demonstrated by an unshakable calm as if everything is happening just as you knew it would. I've always remembered that the scariest martial artist are the ones that don't talk or threaten... they calmly do what they have to do and walk away.

5. Create a detached involvement as if you are in a higher place

In doing this people will look to you as if there is something more to you than your mere physical presence.

6. Connect deeply with the individual

Here rapport is vital. When you are with people you need to put aside all of your distractions, obligations and problems to focus completely on the person or people you to whom you are speaking.

7. Chunk Up whenever possible

This may be a bit abstract to grasp but it's important to creating an appeal because it forces people to think in bigger terms. When you do consistently if gives the impression that you are always thinking bigger than them. Chunking Up is an NLP term that means referring to something that contains what is spoken about as a subset . It can also refer to something that controls or has a larger reach than the topic at hand. As an example when a person asks Do you enjoy adult beverages? a chunked up response would be There are many adult pleasures I enjoy. Here, beverages is a subset of pleasures.

Another example : Statement: I'll go with you if you promise to control yourself. Response I have no intention of controlling how much I enjoy myself. Here control is a subset of Enjoyment.

8. Always allude to the mysterious

This can be done by doing the opposite of name dropping. Refer to a very skilled person you learned from who doesn't normally take students. Mention an arcane text that describes a mysterious process you went through. Mention it took you ten years of study to read between the lines and find the real meaning to the work.

9. God-Like Confidence
Here is where the work of Blair Warren in The Worlds Greatest Cult really comes in handy. He describes what's called The God Complex which encompasses many of the concepts discussed here. The God Complex is a great example of chunking up because it's abo ut seeing EVERYTHING that can possibly happen as if it's all part of the plan and being okay with it. The God Complex is about having such a larger view of the world and your place in it so that what you are doing, this very moment , regardless of what transpires will be as if it was meant to you be. The bottom line is that people are going to judge and criticize you; you'll have deal with money and security issues; relationships will change... no matter what. The God Complex includes all of that in a philosophy that allows you to deal with it in a healthy perspective.

10. Appeal to peoples needs and wants

A deep understanding about what people truly respond to is vital if you want to influence anyone. Each individual has their own wants and needs that you have keep in the forefront of your mind. Good NLP training will help you with that. People will also respond to the same basic needs being fulfilled; the need to be needed, the need for hope in a tough time, the need to feel in control, the need blame something else for their troubles, the need to learn about something they don't know or not supposed to know.

Conclusion
The desire for a cult-like following has many benefits and many responsibilities. The hardest of the responsibilities is simply living up to what you are presenting to people. For that reason I always recommend that you live what you teach.

To Create Your Very Own Cult 1) Begin by creating your own reality. You do this by keeping your members away from outsiders. An isolated farm in the middle of Idaho is good but if such a retreat isn't available, impose a form of self-censorship. If it's not of the cult, it's of the devil.

2) Next set the leader and his/her inner circle up as the only link to paradise...only they hold the keys to the kingdom. 3) Remember to make increasing demands. Start small but keep it going and eventually you'll have your followers standing in line to turn over all their worldly possessions. 4) Keep turning out stories about the greatness of the leader. The more unbelievable the more they will be believed. Your members have already been conditioned from the time they were children to accept things like coming back from the dead and walking on water. 5) Remember to use your converts to bring in still more converts. This has the double advantage of picking up new disciples and (even if that doesn't always work) the mere act of proselytizing will further cement the commitment of those already in the fold. 6) Keep everybody busy. This doesn't allow time for potentially critical thought. Let the minds of the masses wander and who knows, they might put two and two together. For this reason, long sermons - the longer the better - and interminable work shifts are essential. And when you aren't haranguing them and they aren't being kept busy...make sure they're at least singing. 7) And finally, keep your flock fixated on the carrot. The payoff is just around the corner and only they will be the ones paid off. The clouds will part and they will be raptured up and then, boy-oh-boy, won't all those non-believers be sorry. And now for the best part! There are whole bunches of people out there - a truly surprising portion of the population - who will be eager to join your cult. They have, as I said, been conditioned since childhood to be believers. At this very moment, polls show that almost 50% of Americans believe a Second Coming is on the horizon while something like 20% (that's one out of five) are convinced it will happen in their lifetime. So be assured, there is no shortage of potential cult members...and they're not all in Hollywood.