A must-read.--Publishers Weekly

From weird history expert J. W. Ocker, an eye-popping compendium of the 30 most infamous, audacious, and dangerous cults in history.

Everything you've ever wanted to know about history's most notorious cults--and the psychology of the people who join them--is packed into this accessible, engaging volume. Walk in the footsteps of those who were lured into sinister groups from Heaven's Gate to NXIVM. Contents also include:

• Los Narcosatánicos: This group of drug traffickers in 1980s Mexico committed human sacrifice and believed their leader had magic powers.
• Breatharianism: Breatharians believe that humans can live on air alone, and their founder claimed to have gone without food for seventeen years.
• Ordo Templi Orientis: Members of this mystical cult attempted to conceive and give birth to the Antichrist through sexual rituals.
• Rajneesh Movement: This spiritual commune committed the largest bioterrorism attack in American history when they contaminated local salad bars with salmonella.

Ocker brings his trademark curiosity and wonder to the subject of cults and the terrifying way they attract followers, demonstrating the elasticity of belief, the desperateness of belonging, and the tragedy of trust.

An investigation of the New Age movement in America that aims to understand its appeal to women and the self-proclaimed prophetesses, like Love Has Won's Amy Carlson, who've created kingdoms for themselves within it.

Known for deep dives into true crime, extremist ideologies and fringe subcultures, journalist Leah Sottile turns her investigative eye toward American New Age culture. Today, tarot cards, astrology and crystals are everywhere -- from Instagram and TikTok, to upscale boutiques and pricey wellness retreats. Sottile investigates how the recent surge of interest in New Age ideas speaks to a culture that is woven into the very fabric of America, and how self-professed gurus like Love Has Won's Mother God and the mysterious channeler Ramtha have built devout followings because of it. For more than a century, this pastel-colored world of love, light and enlightenment has been built upon a foundation of conspiracies, antisemitism, nationalism and a rejection of science.

In BLAZING EYE SEES ALL, Sottile seeks to understand the quest for New Age spirituality in an era of fear that has made us open to anything that claims to bring relief -- from war, the climate crisis, COVID 19, or the myriad of other issues we face. At the same time, she attempts to draw a line between truly helpful, healing ideas and snake oil. The new New Age is everywhere, and Sottile helps us sort through the crystals to find true clarity.

For seventeen years, Elaine served her master, Satan, with total commitment. Then she met Dr. Rebecca Brown, who served her master, Jesus Christ, with equal commitment. Elaine, one of the top witches in the U.S., clashed with Dr. Brown, who stood against her alone. In the titanic life-and-death struggle that followed, Dr. Brown nearly lost her life. Elaine, finding a power and love greater than anything Satan could give her, left Satan and totally committed her life to Jesus Christ.
This is an honest, in-depth account of Satan's activities today.
You'll see how to:

• Recognize and combat the many satanists who regularly infiltrate and destroy Christian churches.
• Recognize and combat satanic attacks.
• Recognize those serving Satan, and bring them to Jesus Christ.

One of the great books of our time, Principia Discordia is the official bible of the most relevant religion ever conceived, Discordianism. This legendary underground classic contains absolutely everything worth knowing about absolutely anything, including The Law of Fives, The Gospel According to Fred, The Five Apostles of Eris and The Book of Uterus. Discordianism is the religion for these screwed-up times, and Principia Discordia reveals it here for your enlightenment, confusion and entertainment.

Durante 17 años, Elaine sirvió a su maestro, Satanás, con una total dedicación. Un día se encontró con la Dra. Rebecca Brown, quien servía a su maestro, Jesucristo, con igual dedicación. Elaine, una de las brujas más prominentes en los Estados Unidos y muchos otros satanistas que le obedecían, lucharon contra la Dra. Brown, quien los enfrentó completamente sola. En la titánica contienda de vida y muerte que siguió, la Dra. Brown estuvo a punto de morir. Elaine, al encontrar un poder y un amor mucho más grande que todo lo que Satanás había podido darle, lo dejó y dedicó completamente se vida a Jesucristo.

Este libro presenta un relato honesto y profundo de las actividades de Satanás en el mundo de hoy, a la vez que ofrece herramientas escriturales sanas para:

• Reconocer y combatir a los satanistas que se infiltran y destruyen las congregaciones cristianas.
• Reconocer y combatir a Satanás en las diferentes formas en que nos ataca.
• Reconocer a los servidores de Satanás y traerlos a Jesucristo.

For seventeen years, Elaine served her master, Satan, with total commitment. Then she met Dr. Rebecca Brown, who served her master, Jesus Christ, with equal commitment. Elaine, one of the top witches in the U.S., clashed with Dr. Brown, who stood against her alone. In the titanic life-and-death struggle that followed, Dr. Brown nearly lost her life. Elaine, finding a power and love greater than anything Satan could give her, left Satan and totally committed her life to Jesus Christ.
This is an honest, in-depth account of Satan's activities today.
You'll see how to:

• Recognize and combat the many satanists who regularly infiltrate and destroy Christian churches.
• Recognize and combat satanic attacks.
• Recognize those serving Satan, and bring them to Jesus Christ.

Lilith is the mythological seductress that has been repressed since Biblical times. She is the representative of the essentially motherless form of the feminine Self that arose as an embodiment of the neglected and rejected aspects of the Great Goddess. Written by a Jungian analyst, this material can help modern men and women come to terms with this aspect of the feminine within.

Written from multiple perspectives, The Possessed enters the world of Zion, a religious cult, during the turbulent days of the early 70's. Trouble starts when Julian, a Lakota Sioux, recently returned from Vietnam joins an army buddy in a visit to Zion.

His presence creates a shift in many but especially in Lily. It is her struggle to keep the faith when faith fails, her effort to move more and more deeply into the belief, into the fold, into the irreversible that drives the heart of the story: Her strategy to throw the anchor in so as to not be able to turn back. Only then is one committed. Committed. And Lily tries too, too hard because she no longer believes.

Since her first encounter with Julian she probes the answer to his odd question, but what does your soul want? Then with his guidance she experiences the Breathing Earth and the sweat lodge, she makes relations with the Stone People, and can't unmake these relations and experiences that have changed her.

Zion's power to mold and heal those within its boundaries is unmistakable. The street people, the freaks and the lost find a way out of drugs,

HUXLEY'S MASTERPIECE AND PERHAPS THE MOST ENJOYABLE BOOK ABOUT SPIRITUALITY EVER WRITTEN. . -- Washington Post Book World

Aldous Huxley's brilliant (Los Angeles Times) and gripping account of one of the strangest occurrences in history, hailed as the peak achievement of Huxley's career by the New York Times

In 1632 an entire convent in the small French village of Loudun was apparently possessed by the devil. After a sensational and celebrated trial, the convent's charismatic priest Urban Grandier--accused of spiritually and sexually seducing the nuns in his charge--was convicted of being in league with Satan. Then he was burned at the stake for witchcraft.

A remarkable true story of religious and sexual obsession, The Devils of Loudon is considered by many to be Brave New World author Aldous Huxley's nonfiction masterpiece.

Texe Marrs' best-selling books have sold over two million copies. Now he does it again with this shocking expose' of the men of the Secret Brotherhood. Imagine a secret society of grotesque rituals, with candidates lying naked in a coffin as hooded figures, carrying candles, chanting strange epithets and magical formulae... A secret society whose symbol is the death's head-the skull and bones... A secret society that includes in its ranks three U.S. Senators, the overseer of one of the world's greatest banking fortunes, and the president of the United States of America. The men of the Secret Brotherhood are super-rich and greedy, and they're deadly. Do these men control the CIA? Did they mastermind both the JFK assassination and the Persian Gulf crisis? Are they responsible for some of America's most notorious financial scandals? The calculating men of the Secret Brotherhood have a hidden plan, but you won't like what it involves. So far, their plot has succeeded beyond their wildest dreams. Now they want more. To get their way what on earth will these powerful but corrupt men do next?

Come for a day or to stay! beckons the maroon double-decker bus called The Peacemaker. One couple, searching for peace and a better life, did just that. In August of 2000, Tamara Mathieu and her husband gave up everything they had and joined the Twelve Tribes, a worldwide religious organization, with their 17-month-old son. They were just 23 years old. Fourteen years and three more children later, they fled back to the real world. This is the story of Tamara's journey to freedom.

All Who Believed gives an honest look behind the scenes of the day-to-day life of a wife and mother in the Twelve Tribes, exposing the abuse and mind control that is a normal part of that life, as well as the controversial beliefs of this cult next door.

Cult victims and those who have experienced abusive relationships often suffer from fear, confusion, low self-esteem, and post-traumatic stress. Take Back Your Life explains the seductive draw that leads people into such situations, provides insightful information for assessing what happened, and hands-on tools for getting back on track.

The Encyclopedia of Demons and Demonology explores this dark aspect of folklore and religion and the role that demons play in the modern world. This comprehensive resource presents more than 400 entries and more than 80 black-and-white photographs documenting beliefs about demons and demonology from ancient history to the present.

In Seven Crossroads of Night Nicholaj de Mattos Frisvold sets forth the foundation for Quimbanda in theory and practice, presenting a blueprint for the themes that generate the variety of ways Quimbanda can be approached.

Quimbanda is a Brazilian cult of sorcery that has been preserved in different modalities - either as a secret cult, a necromantic cult, or as an open, religious tradition. Formed of indigenous, African, and European streams of wisdom and sorcery, this unique cult of Exu and Pomba Gira is safeguarded by these amazing entities in diverse ways across Brazil. Remaining strong in their own power, these unique entities represent the mystery of the crossroad, the voice of the graveyard, and the force of life that generates endurance, direction, and honour through the lessons given from life itself and the ancestors.



Though Quimbanda has flourished in the world during the last decade, with the flow and spread of the cult of Exu and Pomba Gira comes questions, misinformation, and confusion along with the fertile ground for its growth. In such a landscape it is good to have waymarks to follow and a map which reveals the lay of the land in the world of these powerful spirits. Frisvold, a resident of Brazil since 2003 who has dedicated the last three decades in study and initiation of cults of sorcery, wisdom, and cunning craft guides us though the intricacies of Quimbanda, offering a simple and effective guide to approaching Exu and Pomba Gira.

This exhaustive volume catalogs nearly three thousand demons in the mythologies and lore of virtually every ancient society and most religions. From Aamon, the demon of life and reproduction with the head of a serpent and the body of a wolf in Christian demonology, to Zu, the half-man, half-bird personification of the southern wind and thunder clouds in Sumero-Akkadian mythology, entries offer descriptions of each demon's origins, appearance and cultural significance. Also included are descriptions of the demonic and diabolical members making up the hierarchy of Hell and the numerous species of demons that, according to various folklores, mythologies, and religions, populate the earth and plague mankind. Very thoroughly indexed.

2022 Hardcover Reprint of 1961 Edition. Full facsimile of the original edition, not reproduced with Optical Recognition Software. Lifton's research for the book began in 1953 with a series of interviews with American servicemen who had been held captive during the Korean War. In addition to interviews with 25 Americans, Lifton also interviewed 15 Chinese who had fled their homeland after having been subjected to indoctrination in Chinese universities. From these interviews, which in some cases occurred regularly for over a year, Lifton identified the tactics used by Chinese communists to cause drastic shifts in one's opinions and personality and brainwash American soldiers into making demonstrably false assertions. This work has become a classic text in the field and continues to serve as a fundamental guide in the debriefing of former cult members. Lifton's famous eight criteria for thought control are: Milieu Control. This involves the control of information and communication both within the environment and, ultimately, within the individual, resulting in a significant degree of isolation from society at large. Mystical Manipulation. There is manipulation of experiences that appear spontaneous but in fact were planned and orchestrated by the group or its leaders in order to demonstrate divine authority or spiritual advancement or some special gift or talent that will then allow the leader to reinterpret events, scripture, and experiences as he or she wishes. Demand for Purity. The world is viewed as black and white and the members are constantly exhorted to conform to the ideology of the group and strive for perfection. The induction of guilt and/or shame is a powerful control device used here. Confession. Sins, as defined by the group, are to be confessed either to a personal monitor or publicly to the group. There is no confidentiality; members' sins, attitudes, and faults are discussed and exploited by the leaders. Sacred Science. The group's doctrine or ideology is considered to be the ultimate Truth, beyond all questioning or dispute. Truth is not to be found outside the group. The leader, as the spokesperson for God or for all humanity, is likewise above criticism. Loading the Language. The group interprets or uses words and phrases in new ways so that often the outside world does not understand. This jargon consists of thought-terminating clichés, which serve to alter members' thought processes to conform to the group's way of thinking. Doctrine over person. Member's personal experiences are subordinated to the sacred science and any contrary experiences must be denied or reinterpreted to fit the ideology of the group. Dispensing of existence. The group has the prerogative to decide who has the right to exist and who does not. This is usually not literal but means that those in the outside world are not saved, unenlightened, unconscious and they must be converted to the group's ideology. If they do not join the group or are critical of the group, then they must be rejected by the members. Thus, the outside world loses all credibility. In conjunction, should any member leave the group, he or she must be rejected also.

In 1978, nine-year-old Sarito Carroll's life took an unexpected turn when her mother brought her to India to visit the ashram of guru Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh (later known as Osho). What was intended to be a brief trip over her summer vacation quickly became permanent when her mother decided they would stay and join the ashram. Three years later, when Rajneesh relocated to the United States, twelve-year-old Sarito arrived alone to Oregon, becoming one of the first thirty-five settlers at what would become Rajneeshpuram-a bold and controversial city built on the Big Muddy Ranch. The commune soon attracted thousands of devotees, lured by the guru's promises of love, spiritual enlightenment, and a utopian society free from conventional constraints.

In the Shadow of Enlightenment is the gripping story of Carroll's childhood inside the Osho Rajneesh cult-one of the most controversial spiritual movements of the 20th century. While in the commune, Sarito was submerged in a world where devotion and freedom clashed with manipulation, sexual misconduct, and neglect. This was the life she knew until the movement collapsed amid scandal and criminal charges in 1985, when sixteen-year-old Sarito was thrust into a society she knew little about.

Decades later, after battling shame, fear, and self-doubt, Sarito breaks her silence to expose the abuse, exploitation, and disillusionment she endured in the Rajneesh community. She stands up against this formidable spiritual institution that promised liberation while concealing dark secrets behind its facade of love and joy. With raw honesty and heart-wrenching clarity, she recounts her fight to reclaim her identity, confront the community's betrayal, and heal on her own terms. It is a powerful story of survival, resilience, courage, and hard-won freedom.

In the Shadow of Enlightenment is a profoundly moving exposé about the hidden dangers lurking behind charismatic leaders and spiritual movements. It will inspire and challenge you to question where you place your trust.

Named one of The New Yorker's Best Books of 2023

A news-making account of the war between David Koresh's Branch Davidians and the FBI, and how their standoff launched today's militias

In 1993, David Koresh and a band of heavily armed evangelical Christians took on the might of the US government. A two-month siege of their compound in Waco, Texas, ended in a firefight that killed seventy-six, including twenty-five children. America is still picking up the pieces, and we still haven't heard the full story.

Kevin Cook, who revealed the truth behind a mythic, misunderstood murder in his 2014 Kitty Genovese, finally provides the full story of what happened at Waco. He gives readers a taste of Koresh's deadly charisma and takes us behind the scenes at the Branch Davidians' compound, where the new Christ turned his followers into servants and sired seventeen children by a dozen wives. In vivid accounts packed with human drama, Cook harnesses never-reported material to reconstruct the FBI's fifty-one-day siege of the Waco compound in minute-to-minute detail. He sheds new light on the Clinton administration's approval of a lethal governmental assault in a new, definitive account of the firefight that ended so many lives and triggered the rise of today's militia movement. Waco drew the battle lines for American extremists--in Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh's words, Waco started this war. With help from sources as diverse as Branch Davidian survivors and the FBI's lead negotiator during the siege, Cook draws a straight line from Waco's ashes to the January 6, 2021, riot at the US Capitol and insurrections yet to come.

Unmissable reading for anyone interested in the truth of what happened in Texas three decades ago, Waco Rising is chillingly relevant today. Here is the spark that ignited today's antigovernment militias.

2014 Reprint of 1961 Edition. Full facsimile of the original edition, not reproduced with Optical Recognition Software. Lifton's research for the book began in 1953 with a series of interviews with American servicemen who had been held captive during the Korean War. In addition to interviews with 25 Americans, Lifton also interviewed 15 Chinese who had fled their homeland after having been subjected to indoctrination in Chinese universities. From these interviews, which in some cases occurred regularly for over a year, Lifton identified the tactics used by Chinese communists to cause drastic shifts in one's opinions and personality and brainwash American soldiers into making demonstrably false assertions. This work has become a classic text in the field and continues to serve as a fundamental guide in the debriefing of former cult members. Lifton's famous eight criteria for thought control are: Milieu Control. This involves the control of information and communication both within the environment and, ultimately, within the individual, resulting in a significant degree of isolation from society at large. Mystical Manipulation. There is manipulation of experiences that appear spontaneous but in fact were planned and orchestrated by the group or its leaders in order to demonstrate divine authority or spiritual advancement or some special gift or talent that will then allow the leader to reinterpret events, scripture, and experiences as he or she wishes. Demand for Purity. The world is viewed as black and white and the members are constantly exhorted to conform to the ideology of the group and strive for perfection. The induction of guilt and/or shame is a powerful control device used here. Confession. Sins, as defined by the group, are to be confessed either to a personal monitor or publicly to the group. There is no confidentiality; members' sins, attitudes, and faults are discussed and exploited by the leaders. Sacred Science. The group's doctrine or ideology is considered to be the ultimate Truth, beyond all questioning or dispute. Truth is not to be found outside the group. The leader, as the spokesperson for God or for all humanity, is likewise above criticism. Loading the Language. The group interprets or uses words and phrases in new ways so that often the outside world does not understand. This jargon consists of thought-terminating clich s, which serve to alter members' thought processes to conform to the group's way of thinking. Doctrine over person. Member's personal experiences are subordinated to the sacred science and any contrary experiences must be denied or reinterpreted to fit the ideology of the group. Dispensing of existence. The group has the prerogative to decide who has the right to exist and who does not. This is usually not literal but means that those in the outside world are not saved, unenlightened, unconscious and they must be converted to the group's ideology. If they do not join the group or are critical of the group, then they must be rejected by the members. Thus, the outside world loses all credibility. In conjunction, should any member leave the group, he or she must be rejected also.

One On One With Satan

A chilling and highly convincing account of possession and exorcism in modern America, hailed by NBC Radio as one of the most stirring books on the contemporary scene.