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(#1) Full Circle
In May 2014, 10 Things I Hate About You co-star, Andrew Keegan, began a new spiritual movement in Venice, CA called Full Circle. They've described their movement as "advanced spiritualism" or "the highest spiritualism founded on universal knowledge." They also enjoy ayahuasca, so you know they like to party.
Fun fact: in May 2015, undercover ABC agents confiscated "several containers" of kombucha (that gross fermented mushroom tea your hippie friend likes) and cited the group for selling alcohol without a license. Another fun fact: kombucha has like 1% alcohol in it.
Whether or not Full Circle is a harmless group of fame whoring new age dorks, or something more sinister is up for debate. For the time being they seem to be as harmless as a junior high youth group.
Read NYMag's March, 2015 interview with Andrew Keegan. Watch this ad for Full Circle and read Vice's Interview with Keegan here. -
(#2) Aetherius Society
"Co-operating with the Gods from Space" reads the header of the Aetherius Society's official website - an unambiguous UFO cult whose modest American headquarters is stationed in Hollywood (of course).
The Society was founded in the 1950s when Doctor George Kind received his first "cosmic transmission" from the Interplanetary Parliament that explained that Aetherius, a being from Venus, was our next messiah. Unlike most of the groups on this list, these guys even have a Facebook page! -
(#3) Church of Bible Understanding
The Church of Bible Understanding (formerly known as the Forever Family, which is about a million times better than their new name) is a destructive cult started in 1971 by former atheist and vacuum repairman Stewart Traill in Allentown, PA. Traill teaches that he is the reincarnation of Elijah and knows the date of Christ’s return. Members of the cult give up to 90% of their income to the church, which Traill has used to purchase a half million dollar mansion and four planes.
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(#4) The Unification Church (Mooneyism)
Mooneyism is a religious movement started by Sun Myung Moon in Korea in the 1940s, based upon the belief of a literal kingdom of heaven on earth and that the second coming of God must be a man born in Korea born in the early 20th century. In the '70s the Mooneys made their way to the US where they separated college students from their families through brainwashing. The Unification Church is still up and running today, if you're, you know, looking to piss off your parents. -
(#5) The Movement for the Restoration of the 10 Commandments
The followers of this Ugandan doomsday cult believed that the apocalypse would occur in the year 2000, and in the years leading up to armageddon they so feared the ninth commandment (to not bear false witness) that they spoke little and used only sign language on some days. When the millennium passed without incident, the cult leaders lured everyone to a church where they murdered the parishioners before setting fire to the church. -
(#6) Scientology
Started in 1952 by L. Ron Hubbard as way to save a little money on his taxes, Scientology seeks to help initiates clear the thetans that were stuck to them when Xenu blew up their bodies 75 million years ago. It's a hard job but somebody's got to do it. Though mostly accepted in modern culture (but heavily derided), it's also Hollywood's favorite cult, with Tom Cruise leading the way. -
(#7) Church of God with Signs Following
Jumping on the bandwagon of the Saw franchise, the COGWSF began updating its services to include speaking in tongues, screaming, spasming, spinning in circles, occasionally drinking poison, and just to up the danger level, snake handling. Their faithful defend their extreme beliefs by quoting Mark 16:17-18:
"And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues;
Whether or not the literal taking up of serpents is a good idea doesn't seem to matter to this group.
They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover."
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(#8) Cosmic People of Light Powers
Cosmic People of Light Powers (or Universe People) is a religious system based around the existence of extraterrestrial civilizations communicating telepathically with their leader, Benda, and other “contacters” since October 1997, and later even getting in touch by direct personal contact. Apparently, these chatty aliens operate a fleet of ships that orbit the planet earth and keep tabs on us. Dear alien overlords, what I do in the privacy of my living room is my own business - STAY OUT! -
(#9) Order of the Solar Temple
In 1984, OST was created by Joseph Di Mambro in Geneva on the grounds of the existence of the Knights Templar. 10 years later, a member's infant son was stabbed multiple times with a wooden stake on orders from Mambro who believed the child to be the anti-Christ. This murder set off a chain of mass suicides throughout OST members across the world.
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(#10) Heaven's Gate
The most totally radical pogarific cult of the '90s was founded by Marshall Applewhite, who claimed to have arrived on earth via a UFO from another dimension.
In 1997 the cult's end coincided with the Hale-Bopp comet when Applewhite convinced 38 followers to castrate themselves and commit suicide so that their souls could catch a ride on a space ship carrying Jesus. Right.
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(#11) The Brethren
Cult life may be treated like pure craziness by most outsiders, but they just haven't met The Brethren yet. The Brethren are a nomadic group founded by a former US Marine, and they have a history of raiding trash receptacles for expired produce. They've been spotted everywhere from Mexico to Canada, living in burned out cars and old barns as they try to figure out exactly what it is they do (other than eat trash). -
(#12) The Godfather of Matamoros
Not only did the Godfather of Matamoros have the most bitchin' '80s hair, but he was rumored to have sold his soul to the devil in exchange for Tarot card powers that allowed him to amass several high powered clients who helped him gain immeasurable fortune. That is, until he started dismembering people. -
(#13) Nuwaubianism
On the surface, Nuwaubianism is similar to The Church of Yahweh, but with a few subtle differences. For instance, they believe that Saturn is not actually planet, but a gaseous ball adjacent to the actual planet, Titan, which is erroneously considered to be a moon. They believe some aborted fetuses live in the sewers where they're slowly gathering to take over the world. Most importantly, each person on earth has seven clones. And your mom told you were one of a kind... -
(#14) The House of Yahweh
How can you tell if you're in one of the most awesome cults in the world? Is your leader named "Buffalo Bill"? Did Religioustolerance.org say that your cult met ten out of ten signs for being a "high risk group?" If so, you're in House of Yahweh. This cult is all about telling it like it is. For instance, did you know Satan is a woman who appoints all political and religious leaders, except of course ol' Buffalo Bill? Now you do!
If you've got some free time on your hands check out Buffalo Bill's YouTube page. It's quite a thing. -
(#15) Los Hermanos Hernandez
In 1962 the brothers Santos and Cayetano Hernández convinced 50 or so residents of the village of Yerba Buena, Mexico (pictured) that they were priests sent by ancient gods to ask for sexual and monetary sacrifices in exchange for a great treasure hidden in the nearby mountains. Tribute from the villagers in the form of money and sex was duly rendered, but some began to doubt. The brothers introduced prostitute Magdalena Solis and her pimp brother Eleazar as incarnated deities, with a ceremony in a mountain cave, completed with a theatrical puff of smoke for effect.
Over the next few weeks several villagers were beaten to death as a part of religious ceremonies, their blood was then offered to the faithful "el ritual de la sangre." Yikes. -
(#16) Raëlism
This cult was founded by Rael, a Frenchman who was both a cabaret singer and a race car driver before meeting an alien named Yaweh. The alien apparently came to Rael to tell him about the origin of mankind and offer him the service of several futuristic sex robots. So far, so good.
The church is famous for having two (TWO) different harems of women who do nothing but have sex with Rael all day. Learn how you can become a bald weirdo that keeps sex slaves! -
(#17) Family International
Family International was formed by long hairs that couldn't hit it off with the ladies duirng the hippie movement in Southern California. Family International theology is governed by the "law of love," which is basically an excuse to get down with all the groovy chicks in your new church, brother man. Also, they're way into child abuse. -
(#18) Ordo Templi Orientis (O.T.O)
When Aleister Crowley is listed amongst your key members, you know you've risen to the cream of the cult crop. Initially, the cult was a Freemason copycat, but under the tutelage of Crowley they took a bit of a left turn and decided to skip all of the secret world order stuff and just hang out and practice "sexual black magick" instead. -
(#19) Aghori
You wouldn't want to meet a member of the Aghori in a dark alley, mostly because they would eat your face. According to Hindu mythology and practiced beliefs, everything emanates from “Brahman." Therefore, there is no evil. The Aghori believe everything to be God itself and to abandon anything would be equivalent of abandoning God. It brings a new meaning to the phrase, "you gonna eat that?" -
(#20) The Russian Cult of Gadget Hackwrench
Yes, that Gadget Hackwrench. Members of this cult believe that a Disney character from Rescue Rangers, is a divine being. Not only is she considered to be the most untouched and perfect sibling of the great god on earth, but they also believe that, "her degree of technical knowledge is practically unachievable for any existing mortal being." You can't argue with that logic. -
(#21) The I AM Cult
If you haven't felt smarter just by reading this list, you're about to. The philosophy of this cult revolves around pretty much every religion on the planet, the possibility of becoming a millionaire over night (with only the power of your mind) and the fact that the cult's leader, Guy Ballard, was a descendant of Will "I Am" Shakespeare. If you think about it, that actually explains the continuing popularity of The Black Eyed Peas. -
(#22) The Body of Christ
The Body of Christ is a diminutive authoritarian group that focuses on “direct revelation” and not the Bible for its direction. In the '90s, this cult was in the news due to multiple deaths. The cult denounces the “seven systems” of a conventional society: education, government, banking, religion, medicine, science, and entertainment. -
(#23) Ho No Hana Sanpogyo
This Japanese cult was created by Hogen Fukunaga. It is often referred to as the “foot reading cult,” as the founder believed that he could make a diagnosis by examining peoples' feet. Everything was going well for Fukunaga, after he declared himself the reincarnation of Jesus and Buddha, but then he started charging $900 per foot reading and business dried up for some reason. -
(#24) Creativity Movement
The Creativity Movement was a xenophobic and white supremacist group that was less of a religion and more of a reason for white people to get together and talk about how great they are. The church had its ups and downs until the high priest, Matthew F. Hale, was incarcerated for plotting to murder a federal judge. -
(#25) The Church of Maradona
In what is essentially the fantasy football of religions, it's obvious that a passion for soccer (or futbol) is what keeps this group together. It is popular, among the followers of this religion (and also among other football fans), to use the neo-Tetragrammaton D10S as one of the names of Maradona: D10S is a portmanteau word which fuses 10 (diez in Spanish), Maradona's shirt number, and dios, the Spanish word for god. -
(#26) Cargo Cult
Want to get a free laptop? Join the Cargo Cult. Sure, you'd have to move to New Guinea, but by believing that every technological advancement man has made (and presumably will continue to make) is actually property left to you by you ancestors you could probably score five or six iPod nanos. -
(#27) Aum Shinrikyo (Supreme Truth)
Founded in a one bedroom apartment in Tokyo by Shoko Asahara, the group gained notoriety in 1995 by carrying out a sarin gas attack in the Tokyo subways. The cult started as a quiet group of young, upwardly mobile people interested in yogic meditation before quickly transforming into a dangerous and violent cult with members numbering in the tens of thousands. -
(#28) Paradise
Paradise cult leader Park Soon-ja, called "benevolent mother" by her followers, preached that the world was nearing total destruction - not too weird for a religious leader. What was weird was the mass grave that her husband discovered in the factory where her workers lived. In her defense, if you marry a cult leader you're going to find at least one mass grave, right? -
(#29) Mahikari
Formed in Japan by the "prophet" Yoshikazu Okada, followers of this religion believe that armageddon is quickly approaching. But this ain't your momma's armageddon, this armageddon involves the reincarnated spirits of alien warriors from Venus (because, duh, of course) who are still upset about an ancient nuclear war gone wrong between the mythical continents of Atlantis and Mu. Sounds legit! -
(#30) Freedomites
How does this sound to you? "Naked people and explosions."
If that pricked up your ears, then you may want to think about moving to Canada and joining Freedomites, a group that came to prominence in the early 20th century and abhors materialism, but looooooves whatever it is that blows stuff up. They're all about that stuff. -
(#31) Chen Tao
Chen Tao literally means "true way." What is the true way? Well, the truth is that the earth is trillions of years old and has gone through multiple birth and death cycles, with a few survivors being saved each time by a UFO manned by God. That sounds pretty cool, but when every prophecy that Chen Tao's leader made failed to pass, everyone left and went home. -
(#32) Nation of Yahweh
Nation of Yahweh is a predominately African American offshoot of the Black Hebrew Israelites, which was formed in Miami, FL. Their leader, Yahweh ben Yahweh, was the true son of God, and he was quoted as saying that blacks are "the true Jews" and that whites were "white devils." In addition to this, he claimed that the group had a Messianic mission to vanquish whites. After Yahweh ben Yahweh's death, the group relaxed a bit with the racism, although they did release a statement saying that 9/11 was a punishment from God. -
(#33) Thee Temple ov Psychick Youth
This ever evolving network of artists is a federated group of people operating as unique artists and practitioners of magic, but apparently they have zero respect for spelling. The group is dedicated to the manifestation of magical concepts lacking mysticism. If you think this sounds like a lot of Dungeons and Dragons hokum, you're right. -
(#34) Church of All Worlds
The Church of All Worlds is a neo-pagan religion founded in 1962 by Oberon Zell-Ravenheart. The religion evolved from a group of friends and lovers who were inspired by the fiction of Robert Heinlen and J.K. Rowling. They recognize Gaea, as well as the realm of Faeries. No word on whether or not they're expecting Tyrion Lannister to join them for midnight mass. -
(#35) Prince Philip Movement
If cargo cults aren't your favorite cults, you're doing something wrong. This one, made up of members of the Yaohnanen tribe in Vanuatu, believe that Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburg, is a divine being and the pale skinned son of a mountain spirit. Lucky for these folks, Prince Philip was made aware of the religion and has exchanged gifts with its leaders and even visited them. What a good sport. -
(#36) Kofuku-No-Kagaku (Institute for Research in Human Resources)
The Institute for Research in Human Resources was founded in 1986, after businessman Ryuho Okawa realized that being a guru could prove to be more lucrative than being an employee of a giant company. The cult (now going by the fun name Happy Science) has taken on aspects of science fiction and has something called "spirit whispering." Maybe they should change their name to Institute for Research in Human Confusion. -
(#37) PL Kyodan (Church of Perfect Liberty)
Do you have an artsy-fartsy sibling who seems to only wear paint splattered overalls and Buddy Holly glasses? Or are you that sibling? Maybe you should think about joining Church of Perfect Liberty. All they ask is that you commit your life to art (and also move into their church and never speak to your family again). No big deal!
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About This Tool
Cults are illegal organizations established by fraudulent use of religion, prophets, and the Bible to endanger society. Cults have always existed in the history of various countries. In times of social turmoil, various cults have taken the opportunity to grow. There are too many mysterious cult organizations in history. Cults do harm to society in many fields and aspects, which were overlooked by countless people.
People are more interested in the history of some famous cult organizations, and there are many strange cult organizations that have been ignored by people, and no one has even heard of them. The random tool lists 37 weird cults in the world that you did not know.
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