Culty cults

“Church of the Flying Saucer” (May 2024)

The Church of the Flying Saucer follows Carol Klodie, a former film school student who has hit a slump in her life. By happenstance, she finds a pamphlet under the windshield of her car advertising what seems to be a support group for UFO abductees and alien conspiracy theorists. She finds the pamphlet ridiculous and … Read more“Church of the Flying Saucer” (May 2024)

“UFO Belief is a Modern Outlet for Ancient Spiritual Yearnings”

Francesco Dimitri writes for Psyche: The Raëlians are not the only UFO religion born in the 20th century. They are the most laid-back, with their dancing nights and their ‘sensual meditation’, a far cry from the nihilism of another, Heaven’s Gate, whose members died in a mass suicide in 1997. The Aetherius Society is an … Read more“UFO Belief is a Modern Outlet for Ancient Spiritual Yearnings”

“We need a better class of cult”

Blogger Felonious Monk writes on the potentials of ethical cults: When you look at the downfall of most cults, it almost always relates to the very thing that cults ask their members to give up: ego. And specifically, the ego of a leader who has become drunk on his (usually) power, treating members as his … Read more“We need a better class of cult”

“Inside the Spirituality ‘Cult’ Whose Members Allege Sexual and Financial Exploitation”

Mark Wilding writes for VICE on Gudni Gudnason’s Modern Mystery School: The school describes this network as an “international community of lightworkers, initiated in an ancient tradition of service, compassion and empowerment”. Its critics, including numerous former students, describe it as a cult and a spiritual pyramid scheme, whose members face psychological trauma, spiralling debts … Read more“Inside the Spirituality ‘Cult’ Whose Members Allege Sexual and Financial Exploitation”

“Kumaré: the True Story of a False Prophet” (2011)

Kumaré documents American filmmaker Vikram Ghandi’s self-reinvention as the guru Kumaré, in an attempt to explore and expose the guru/disciple dynamic in the cultic milieu. Growing out his hair and beard, dressing like a holy man and imitating his grandmother’s voice, Gandhi invented his own yoga and other rituals on the fly, gathering a devoted … Read more“Kumaré: the True Story of a False Prophet” (2011)