Hi Readers,

I’m listening to a Slate podcast that I want everyone to hear. It is fascinating and important! So here’s a link: Why People Fall for Trump’s Political Cult.

The episode notes on Slate’s website — “Virginia Heffernan talks to Steven Hassan, author of The Cult of Trump, about why we fall for cults, Donald Trump’s brainwashing, and stories of his own deprogramming from a political cult in the 1970s. “

The content is more about how cultic dynamics relies on our social wiring, and how neuroscience now explains cultural influence through media and how it can be manipulated, then our current “president”. They give a nod to him, but mostly talk about the power and momentum behind him, which has been building for decades through various cults, some posing as “christians.” (Like the Moonies, but must notably, the group that initiated “national prayer breakfast “The Family, Mike Pence’s cult ).

I found it both insightful and (dare I say) hopeful, as Ms. Heffernan reminds her listeners that cultism is counter-adaptive. Those of us who got swept into hypnotic cult states leave when we recognize the point at which group requirements became destructive to us, as people. It is at that moment, that we realize, wow this group has been lying to me.

I had that wakeup moment and can attest to it! I hope America will start waking up – I mean do we want our Judicial system to became illegitimate?
I don’t think so.

Anyway, I learned quite a bit in this hour & it was time very well spent!

I left “school” in 2011. To this very day, I still laugh when something in the real world contradicts the cult’s claim of being “invisible”. Apparently, it is quite visible to several people who work at the Faulkner Mills Building, in Billerica, Mass; according to this reddit post, people have been wondering about this super-secret group for years, including a building owner: https://www.reddit.com/r/cults/

“School” made it into reddit. Who knew. Someone should let the blog monitor know. Now you’re gonna have to read reddit, too.

I admit, this post is a tease. It’s meant to point you to my new website, where I’ve posted a graphic identifying Cultic Red Flags. But I also want to talk about an 8-episode podcast called Escaping Nxvim — you know Nxvim, the sex-trafficking, women-branding, cult. I’ve listened twice. Both times the uncanny similarities between cult lite, “school”, with the worst of the worst, Nxvim, struck me. While the former is far more extreme, the recruitment & indoctrination are the same.

Every cult that I’ve heard about, read about, or studied, to date uses the same basic recruitment & indoctrination strategies. The outer marketing varies, but the inner manipulation is the same. Once you know those hallmarks, you quickly recognize cons . You can reverse engineer the damage, by using the group’s ammo against it. That’s what Sarah Edmondson did when she left Nxvim. It is also what my buddy, Sir Tubman, did when he left “school” AND he took half of his “class” with him. You can read about that HERE.

Now Keith Raniere, Nxvim‘s lead narcisisst, is in jail. Here’s a report from The Guardian: “Raniere… was found guilty of all counts against him, including racketeering, forced labour, sex trafficking and child abuse images charges. The jury reached their decision in less than five hours of deliberations.”

Thanks to Ms. Edmondson, and the other brave ex-members who spoke out, Raniere is in prison where he belongs. Unfortunately, there are always more scumbags and con artists lurking, I don’t know why that is. But YOU don’t have to be vulnerable. Educate yourself, protect your privacy. They will bug off.

And, oh, yea, I have a new website: here’s the How to spot a cult page