For my third time on the Natural Born Alchemist podcast, Alex and I discuss cults, both their leaders and followers. It is important to state here, right out the gate, that the vast majority of the most heinous western cults have always been in a Christian majority. While this is not meant to be a slight towards to the earnest Christians out there, it should serve as a bit of a wake-up call to the reality of the situation: if you're looking for Satanists, you're missing the elephant in the room. Your average Christian, whether they be a follower or a modest leader, cannot account for the bizarre sects and cults that offshoot from them... but the heavy cult usage of Christian themes is so blatant that it really has to be taken into further consideration before succumbing to the throes of Satanic Panic.
(Those of you familiar with Gnostic philosophy will easily note how the cult leader so perfectly embodies the Demi-urge, and it seems so much more on-the-nose when they use Christian ideas for it.)
Likewise, "New Age" as it is known today is responsible for far more cults than the theistic Satanism suggested in Satanic Panic.
But, for the people pissed and raging about the villainy of Satanic cults out there: don't worry. We hear you, and we talk about them too! Because they do still exist, and they're absolutely fucking terrifying.
Jump down the rabbit hole with us as we discuss Charles Manson, Jim Jones, David Koresh, NXIVM, Children of God, Aleister Crowley, Scientology, and a whole bunch more weird stories that you've likely never heard of, like the Process Church of the Final Judgment, the Order of the Solar Temple, and all murder, black magick, and human sacrifice you'd expect in such a grisly topic.
It is a trip, and I'm happy to have had the conversation. I hope you find the content useful.
You can find the link to the episode on spotify right here: https://open.spotify.com/episode/7CA6phzzQM3GCWJC4YBLjx?si=174f7b250bd843b4
And you can find the link to the first part of our conversation (this one being on serial killers) here: https://open.spotify.com/episode/649n0S9sD66fnfzN1WwBWS?si=fefff8045a7940ea
And you can find nearly all of my other interviews on one playlist right here: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/64kOstQIgTm69vSyOWZ4C7?si=a30cdd2e8d6f4b56
