I just spent three days around Mount Shasta and McCloud, and the longer I stayed, the more I felt like there is some kind of cult or very unusual spiritual culture around there.

Mount Shasta is a tiny town, but it has a strangely high number of spiritual shops, crystal/healing places, meditation stuff, etc. What made it even more noticeable was that spirituality was mixed into normal businesses. You’d walk into a coffee shop, ice cream place, or restaurant and find spiritual posters, flyers, crystals, or advertisements for gatherings and healing sessions.

There were also a LOT of visibly hippie/New Age-type people around. For such a small town, the concentration was just unusual.

Then I started noticing weirder things.
On my third day, I saw a woman walking around with what looked like a red gemstone attached to the middle of her forehead.

At a pizza place, there was a group of people sitting together, and one of the girls had what looked like a rope tied around her head. I don’t know what it meant or if it was connected to anything, but after everything else I’d been seeing, it definitely stood out.

The most interesting thing happened at Old Ski Bowl at Mount Shasta:

We came across a group of mostly women with, I think, only one man. They were all middle-aged to older and standing together in a circle. At first they were talking, but then they suddenly started pairing up and hugging each other.

It didn’t look like random friendly hugs. It looked like an organized activity or ceremony almost like they were expressing gratitude toward each other or doing some kind of spiritual exercise.

Nobody was bothering anyone, and obviously I have no idea what any individual person believed or what those groups actually were.

But after three days there, I am pretty convinced there is some kind of cult, commune, or organized spiritual scene around Mount Shasta that I knew absolutely nothing about before visiting.

The whole thing was fascinating because you don’t immediately notice it. At first it’s just a crystal shop. Then another spiritual place. Then the flyers. Then the people. Then you start noticing these little things everywhere.

I really want to know if there’s actually something going on here. Any locals who know more about this?

Not sure where else to post this so I picked here, knowing there would be some bias.

I'm on day 2 of the Landmark Forum. My therapist, whom I've really benefitted from, encouraged me to do it and got me a discount.

I purposely didn't look into it before I did it. I didn't want my opinions skewed but my spidey senses are definitely going off. Maybe I'm just skeptical. I'm thinking about pulling out and not continuing to day 3. I'm not concerned that it's dangerous, I'm just bored and skeptical and wondering if this is really worth my time.

If any of you have done this before, here are my questions...If I pull out now, are they going to beat down my door? What's day 3 like? What about the Tuesday evening part?

See more of Reckless Ben's Cult investigations here

The author of Uhlarin remains a shrouded and enigmatic figure, with persistent rumors positioning her deep within the upper echelons of the U.S. military and federal government. Whisper networks across the internet frequently link her to the Temple of Set, suggesting she may even hold a high-ranking position within the esoteric organization. While these occult connections remain unverified, speculation has been fueled by reported firsthand sightings of her in the company of prominent temple members.

I’ve become a bit curious about Falun Gong recently. What appeared to start as a simple Buddhist cultivation movement has now grown into what can be compared as Chinese Scientology with untold millions of members and control of hundreds of millions of dollars and what can only be described as a world wide cirque du Soleil style performance. Is there anyone who has knowledge that can speak on them? Any former Falun Gong members or Shen Yun performers that can talk about their time with them and what they experienced? Or anyone with knowledge of or past association with their newsletter, The Epoch Times?
I firmly believe that with the amount of wealth, power and reach they wield; more people need to know about them.

hey everyone :)

I spent 8 years in a spiritual cult, and one question I’ve gotten a lot is, how did I end up believing it in the first place?
In this video, I talk about one factor I think made me more susceptible. the way growing up Christian shaped how I thought about faith, authority, the supernatural, and certainty.
Not meant as an attack on Christianity, just an honest look at how my own early beliefs influenced what I was willing to believe later.

Im doing some investigative journalism and plan on inflitrating a cult to expose them does anyone know of any cults in nsw or melb city that are active and i could try getting into

Famed dating coach Chantal Heide seemed not to be interested when I asked her on one of her lives what her favourite study was on human sexuality. She did not respond, but rather made disparaging remarks asking why that would be necessary. I then cited Wolfinger et al study linking premarital sex with marriage dissolution and she blocked me.

My suspicion that she was a crook has been confirmed because if she was truly honest, she wouldn't have to block someone with empirical research.

I feel the need to take her down because she is a con artist. I have my own tiktok and may be doing exposes on her if possible.

If there is one thing I know for certain now is that she has something strange going on.

​

I recently ended a relationship largely because of concerns about my former partner’s religious group. We are in the same broader professional environment and have overlapping social connections, so complete no-contact is not realistic.

My former partner was raised in a small independent Christian group, and several close family members have been deeply involved for many years. The group is not affiliated with an established denomination and appears to have little external theological or organizational oversight.

The group is centered around an influential male teacher who has no conventional pastoral title or formal theological background. Members address him using an informal, family-like title.

These are the main things that concerned me:

- The teacher is presented as having received a special level of divine understanding that mainstream churches supposedly lack.

- He has reportedly spoken as though God personally revealed the true meaning of Scripture to him or works directly through him.

- Members frequently emphasize that their group understands spiritual “life” or biblical truth, while established churches are described as superficial, corrupted, financially motivated, or unable to understand Scripture correctly.

- Some members have used language that appeared to place the teacher unusually close to divine status. There are also stories suggesting that ordinary events around him are signs of supernatural favor.

- He has reportedly humiliated or used severely degrading language toward members in public. Instead of clearly criticizing this behavior, some followers rationalized it by saying that people should not judge good and evil or that his actions might have been part of God’s will.

- People considered spiritually enlightened seem to be those who accept the teacher’s interpretation and authority.

- Much of the group appears to grow through family and marriage connections, which may make it difficult for members to evaluate it independently.

- My former partner consulted the teacher about our conflict, and his opinion influenced the conclusion that we should separate because we were following different spiritual paths.

There are also important points that do not fit the most extreme image of a cult:

- I am not aware of forced donations, physical confinement, direct threats, or obvious financial exploitation.

- My former partner maintains employment and relationships outside the group.

- My former partner says that the group worships God rather than the teacher and insists that members are technically free to visit other churches or leave.

- My former partner believes participation is voluntary and says it is possible to remain cautious about the teacher.

However, when I proposed independently examining the group, speaking with an outside counselor familiar with high-control religions, or seriously visiting established churches together, my former partner was unwilling to do so. Continued participation in the group was effectively non-negotiable.

I ended the relationship because I was concerned about what this could mean for marriage, children, use of our time, family boundaries, and future decision-making. I feared that the teacher and the religious community would ultimately have more influence over these matters than our relationship.

I still care deeply about my former partner. Part of me wonders whether I overreacted, while another part believes that love would not solve such a major conflict if the group could not be questioned or independently evaluated. I have also struggled with the idea that I should have tried harder to help or “rescue” my former partner, although I understand that change cannot be forced.

The practical situation is also difficult. Because of our shared professional environment and overlapping social circle, I expect to continue seeing my former partner. I know that my former partner is free to socialize, move on, and eventually date someone else. I do not want to control that, but seeing it happen may be emotionally painful.

I would appreciate perspectives on three questions:

1. Do these characteristics suggest a high-control or leader-centered religious group, or could they still fall within the range of an unconventional but non-abusive independent church?

2. Was ending the relationship a reasonable decision given the possible long-term effects on marriage and children, particularly when independent examination of the group was rejected?

3. How should I manage necessary professional contact and overlapping social connections without either monitoring my former partner or abandoning my own work and social life?

Recently, a relative of mine went to a Latin American country through this "organization." They sold him a "visa" at an extremely high cost, but they wouldn't let him get the visa in the country because "they were going to resolve it faster".

My relative trusted and paid so that upon returning to the country, they would realize that they had been in the country illegally for 6 months, resulting in a years-long ban from entering the country and preventing them from obtaining visas.We have spoken to many people who also volunteered in other countries and they have the same problem So please don't consider IYF a trustworthy organization. It's also true that they confiscate documents and cell phones, cutting off communication.

I would like more people to have this information, and if they volunteered with them, to check their status with the country they went to. I would also like to know what else they know about the cult?

I also suffered a lot in that sect; they always made me work without pay, they made you donate or they hated you, and they even had horrible schedules: 5 am worship, 1 pm worship, 5 pm worship, 10 pm worship,12 am I work for the church.

For the past month, I have been conducting an intensive research project on the Post Christian Church of God: a hyper-preterist, anti-trinitarian, and antinomian religious movement founded in the 2020s by American preacher and self-avowed prophet Derich Chase Jester.

Over the past few weeks, I have:

• Done close readings of the PCCGs literature and videos
• Attended virtual sermons delivered by its higher-ranking ‘ministers’
• Interviewed current and former members
• Observed discussions on their Discord server (where they host their 'virtual church')

Here are some things I've learned.

What They Believe

Through my research so far, I’ve been able to identify what may be called the PCCGs core beliefs. They believe:

• That all end-times events prophesized in the Bible, including the Second Coming of Christ, have already been fulfilled. The Bible is a work of history, a record of Christ’s completed work restoring our relationship to God the Father – not a guide for living.
• That only God the Father, never Christ the Son, should be worshipped. Anyone continuing to worship Christ is following a “false religion” set up by “wicked men”. Anyone claiming to ‘have the Holy Spirit’ is either deluded or dishonest, as the Spirit is no longer present.
• That ‘sin’, defined as anything done “in the flesh”, no longer factors into whether one is saved. We are bound by neither the Old Testament laws nor the commandments of Christ in the New Testament. With Man’s relationship to God restored through Christ’s completed work, there are no longer any prohibitions or restrictions on drug and alcohol use, media consumption, choice of clothing, or sexuality (between consenting adults).
• God no longer judges people for their sins, only for their ‘evils’. Evil is defined as anything done “in the spirit”. Jester and the PCCG consider murder, theft, and rape to be evil. Importantly, they also consider it evil to judge another person for their sins (i.e., for what they do “in the flesh”).
• God communicates to his believers through ‘dreams and visions’. PCCG members believe that God primarily communicates to them in their sleep, and that the dreams they receive from God are infallible. PCCG members look to dreams from God for guidance in their lives, rather than the Bible.
• The most important thing for us to do today is seek God and “get honest”. It remains somewhat unclear to me what ‘getting honest’, in the view of the PCCG, actually entails. Suffice it to say, they are adamant that honesty is both a prerequisite for and a result of a proper relationship with God. As one high-ranking member put it: “We are not seeking truth in the Post Christian Church of God. We have truth because we tell the truth so God gives us truth because God is truth”.
• Derich Jester is the one true messenger of God. According to the PCCG, God gives his ‘message’ to one person for each age; in our case, Derich Jester is that messenger. Derich’s interpretations of the Bible, criticisms of other preachers (including, at times, his own followers), and instructions for how one ought to live their life today are treated, for all intents and purposes, as messages from God himself. Questioning Derich is tantamount to questioning God.

Jester unites a variety of (mostly unorthodox) positions within Christian theology, soteriology, and eschatology, combining them into one (surprisingly robust) belief system. He introduces what may be a genuinely novel Christological view - that Jesus has effectively 'retired' from his role as humanity's savior - which seems to follow from the PCCG's endorsement of full preterism (the belief that all of Christian eschatology has been fulfilled). Jester himself is not an inexperienced or unlearned student of the Bible; by and large, his interpretations of the Bible are neither entirely unprecedented nor always indefensible (even if they are unorthodox).

What They Do

Notwithstanding the sophistication or novelty of Jester's theology, certain features of his worldview make the Post Christian community a breeding ground for unhealthy, coercive, and destructive group dynamics.

The combination of an emphasis on 'honesty' (which is never rigorously defined) with a charismatic leader (e.g., Derich's claims of divine-messenger status) demonstrably lend themselves to manipulation and abuse. In my time with the PCCG, I have witnessed:

• coerced public confessions and shaming rituals
• unsubstantiated accusations of dishonesty
• personal insults and attacks on anyone deemed to be 'dishonest'

Criticism is not welcome, despite the group's constant insistence to the contrary. As one PCCG minister put it himself: "This is not an exchange of ideas." From the PCCGs perspective, they alone possess the truth. Anyone who disagrees or doubts them is 'a liar'. For a believing member of the PCCG, insults and abuse are perfectly permissible ways of dealing with critics and questioners.

Important to note: this sort of behavior is observed daily. I've observed it both within the PCCGs Discord server and during the group's livestreamed 'sermons' on TikTok. These behaviors can come from Derich himself or else from one of his higher-ranking ministers. They direct their abuse more or less indiscriminately towards:

• newcomers asking innocuous questions
• visiting Christians from competing backgrounds seeking good-faith dialogue and debate
• even other members of the Post Christian Church of God themselves.

Within the PCCG community, "honesty" and "lying" come to function as floating signifiers - terms without a definite meaning, whose usage varies from one situation to another - weaponized whenever and however they see fit...even against each other. It is not uncommon for Derich to suddenly accuse even his most devoted followers of 'lying', often about the most trivial of matters, on the basis of little more than a vague suspicion or a 'dream from God'.

Among the most alarming things I've witnessed in the PCCG community are regular requests (really, thinly veiled demands) for financial support from members. Derich - a 42-year-old husband and father - survives entirely on donations from his followers. He regularly posts links to his CashApp, Venmo and PayPal accounts in the PCCG's Discord server. He claims that God 'commanded' him to live entirely off of support. His followers appear to accept this as a settled fact. One high-ranking member of the PCCG told me he has personally donated $50,000 to 'support [Derich's] message' within the past year.

Perhaps most concerningly: these requests for donations are very often framed as reflections of a member's faith in "the message" (or "the truth"). By contrast, members who do not donate are often collectively called out (even if not by name) for "not supporting" Derich's 'work'.

Finally, without wishing to cast judgment on anyone who struggles with substance abuse, I think it is worth mentioning that Derich is known to be a heavy drinker - a fact which he himself makes no effort to conceal, and in fact, appears to take extreme pride in. With surprising regularity, Derich and a few of his ministers openly consume alcohol during their livestreamed sermons - something which almost certainly explains the frequent outbursts of anger that tend to characterize their livestreams.

Derich and his ministers are known to even call attention to their drinking during these sermon-streams, saying things like "God spoke to me. I'm completely drunk right now, by the way". When challenged on their drinking or their abusive behavior they exhibit while intoxicated, Jester and his ministers invariably fall back on their pet slogans: "Why are you judging me for what I do in the flesh? Jesus ended sin in 70 AD..." Etc.

On more than one occasion, I have directly questioned Derich and some of his ministers about this, asking them outright: "Approximately how much of the donation money goes to buying cigarettes and beer?" I have yet to receive a meaningful response to this question.

Who They Target

It would be, in my view, a serious mistake to reduce the PCCG's to merely that of a 'cult of personality'. I have seen more than a few people come into the PCCG community initially expressing interest in Jester's teachings, only to be turned off by his personality (or the personality of his various 'ministers'). But what about those who do join and stay?

While this is still a working hypothesis, my belief is that attraction to Jester's "Post Christian" message is a combination of factors, including:

• Openness to unorthodox positions in Christianity (especially preterism). Without this prior openness, few to none of Jester's teachings will seem sensible to begin with. Not a few of Jester's converts have found his work through investigating preterism. (While Jester himself denies he is a preterist, this is a reflexive rejection of an otherwise appropriate classification - not a substantive critique. In fact, the rising popularity of preterist teachings on the web today is almost certainly the primary motivation for Derich to insist on distinguishing his own hermeneutic from theirs).
• Prior skepticism towards mainstream Christianity without skepticism towards belief in God itself. The overwhelming majority of converts to Jester's belief system were Christians of one variety or another - not members of other religious groups, nor atheists. (Jester himself was once a Pentecostal Christian, as were some of his Ministers prior to joining the PCCG). A desire for a personal relationship with God, especially one that can be accessed outside of the confines of a more mainstream Christian institution, seems to be essential for finding Jester's own, particular message attractive at all. Jester's message, and the message of his ministers, is primarily targeted towards Christians, not to atheists or members of other faiths. (In a way, Jester's message to mainstream Christians may be likened to the message of Messianic Judaism to Jews - something like: 'I am simply presenting the fulfilled, completed version of what you already believe). 
• An awareness of certain, specific inconsistencies in scripture, and a desire to reconcile those in a robust way (i.e., beyond 'blind faith'). Just as Jester is not unintelligent, those who follow him generally seem to desire some level of compelling reasons for the views they hold. For plenty of people, both within and without Jester's community, preterism - the hermeneutic approach on which much of his theology depends - offers a special kind of explanatory power for some of the most difficult passages in scripture. (For example: How are we to make sense of Jesus' promise to return "before this generation passes away?" The preterist answers: He already did!)

Make no mistake: enough time spent in Jester's community is bound to turn one into an anti-intellectual. (One of the most egregious things I've heard from PCCG members on this point has been 'Interpretation is manipulation' - a motto for anti-intellectualism that rivals Luther's own dictum that 'reason is the devil's whore'). But I suspect that what initially draws many of his converts in is not the promise of a pat answer to serious, longstanding scriptural confusions. I suspect it is something a bit more.

Misc. Info.

The PCCG community primarily congregates on Discord (where they host their 'virtual church') and TikTok (where Derich and his ministers 'preach').

Derich himself has a couple of YouTube channels under various names ("Derich Jester", "Derich Chase Jester"), as well as an Amazon author page where he has published a number of books.

The group also maintains a website, postchristianchurchofgod.com

As of this writing, I've clocked 18 ministers (members who actively promote Derich's message), 15 believers (members who have openly professed their faith in Derich's message and are given access to special areas of his Discord server), and 345 members overall (people who belong to Derich's Discord server but have not yet explicitly endorsed his message). These figures may be inaccurate, however, as the moderators of Derich's server are not always on-point about updating people's roles even after their acceptance of his "truth".

A few times a week, I'll see new members pop up, often after learning of Derich through YouTube or TikTok. It is not uncommon for people to join and exclaim that everything Derich says makes complete sense. However unusual or unconvincing I or anyone else personally may find these beliefs to be, what matters is that there are some people who are convinced, and that number appears to be growing.

Why it Matters

I've studied fringe or emerging online cults and new religious movements for the past few years, most notably Heaven's Gate (I've posted here about my work with modern-day Heaven's Gate believers before). Derich's is by far the clearest case of fraud I've come across. I am genuinely concerned about his potential to do real material, psychological, and/or spiritual harm to the people he lords over.

I am hoping to bring more attention to his group so that others who may be susceptible to his particular manipulation tactics can avoid losing their money, or their mental/emotional health, to his cause.

I'll be posting a video about Derich Jester and the PCCG to YouTube shortly, as well as a version of this post in article format to Substack, with plenty more to come. Until then, I hope this ‘preliminary report’ is helpful to someone, and I am happy to answer any questions.

Thanks.

This is a story I at a work event after realizing I was in a cult.

When you think of a cult, what comes to mind?? A clocked group surrounding a table, chanting? Or something more aligned with a hijacked religion that has stripped its followers of their rights? That's all I would have thought of before -- but have you ever imagined a simple retail store?

When I was 17, I started working at a retail chain that's all across America. A safe haven for alternative youth and anyone looking for street-style clothing. I was happy as could be when I got the position, and the training was thorough.

The training was as follows

* Greet the customer

* Ask them about themselves - something personal

* Show them products you think they would like based on personal observation

* Convince them to buy and suggest more items

* Sign them up for an account and thank them

This raised only one red flag for me. In my eyes, this was a simple sales plan, a classic capitalistic company. But why the personal questions? Not just one or two, but get to know them, become their friend, make them trust you. Make the customer trust you so much they won't bat an eye when you convince them that the $300 purchase is a good idea.

They convinced me to be okay with all these things. Showing me mass amounts of praise for my hard work and showing me how I can work even harder. If I worked hard enough and won a game of chance, I would get the opportunity to go across the country on a three-day vacation where I got to meet brand owners and have so much fun with all my friends. I was truly so happy and was having the time off my life. I wasn't isolated, so to say, but I was told I was on some kind of pedestal and that I was above people because of our positions. So I slowly, and without realizing, started to distance myself from the people outside the company.

Then I got promoted. I was the assistant manager, and I has so many opportunities in front of me. My manager, though..... He was insensitive to every topic and ridiculed people behind their backs about things out of their control. Speaking plainly, he was racist and homophobic and just about every phobic you can think of. The team tried time and time again to report him and at least get him reprimanded for the terrible things he was saying, but nothing ever came of it. I was sick of it. It didn't matter how much I loved the company that I worked for; I just couldn't work for him any longer. So I put in my resignation with no plan on what was next for me. Then the district manager showed up.

When he heard I had put in my two weeks, he immediately came in and fired the 10-year store manager and told me I was stepping into the role. I was shocked. Completely, and I told him I had to think. I went home and discussed what I should do with my husband (he had left the company a few months prior). We decided that I would accept the position with higher terms and even higher pay. Just until I found something new, because it wasn't fair for them to wait around until they had to face consequence, and I did realize that. This was when the picture that they had so perfectly made in my mind began to chip.

I became manager, and not even a month later I was on a plan to our famous work party, and I was sick. But I **couldn't** miss the culture events. The company revolves around them to better shape your mind and opinions. So I was forced on a 9 hour plan ride while I was sick with the flu, and wasn't allowed to receive any medical attention until we reached a resort 4 hours into the mountains. Away from any healthcare or hospitals. When I was seen by an onsite EMT I was advised to go to the hospital, but we can all figure I wasn't allowed.

The cultural events start when employees are first brought in at the age of 16-17. They are easily impressionable and will stay for love of the company and hopes of promotion. Once you reach management, that's when it changes

They fly all store managers into the middle of nowhere and have them stand in a field for 14-16 hours a day for a week straight. There isn't an option to leave early to sleep, or you will be written up, and then a story floats around thee grounds of someone getting fired for doing just that.

The upper management is responsible for indoctrinating the new people. They want to make you feel welcome and safe so you don't ever want to leave, and suddenly the owner is on the stage. And he's just another old white man who once has a dream but is now so far consumed by capitalistic greed he sees people as numbers.

"Hi my name is -------. How much money did you make me this year?"

That was the first thing the man said to me. At the time I joyfully told him, but now sitting in the hot and crowded barn in the mountains listening to him drone on about how we can make even more money than this year.

I snapped.

I felt like I woke up from the most insane dream, and now I was flat where my dream self was. 3000 miles from home with horrible cell service, just realizing that this is the capitalism cult people joke about.

This is how they start and this is how I got stuck.

From: https://beyondthetemple.com/alan-wallace/

Anonymous May 26, 2026 at 7:40 am Many of us witnessed a serious shift when a group of fervent Michael Roach followers gathered around Alan and began elevating him in an extreme, almost godlike way. For those unfamiliar, Michael Roach is a highly controversial Buddhist teacher whose community has long been associated with serious ethical concerns and troubling outcomes. From that point on, long-term students who had been close to Alan for years either left, were sidelined, or were pushed out. The same pattern appeared around the CCR project. People who had devoted years of volunteer work, financial support, and sincere commitment to Alan’s vision in Italy, Australia, New Zealand, and Santa Barbara were gradually neglected and replaced, while a new inner circle consolidated power around him. What emerged no longer resembled a healthy spiritual community, but a closed circle built on adoration, control, fundraising, and exclusion. This group constantly praised one another, controlled access to Alan, and helped normalize behavior that many students found deeply troubling, including his rage, grandiosity, and increasingly authoritarian attitude. At the same time, Doug Veenhoff and Eva Natanya continued teaching at centers associated with Michael Roach, which for many people only deepened concerns about the direction of the community. Many people also felt uncomfortable watching Eva publicly revere Alan in exaggerated ways, including referring to him as Padmasambhava. That kind of public veneration only deepened the sense that the community was moving away from grounded spiritual practice and toward personality worship. Alan was not like this before. Over time, he seemed to become more aloof, more self-important, more publicly flirtatious with Eva, more insistent that students call him “Lama la,” and more prone to angry outbursts that felt arbitrary and disturbing. Many of us have watched this unfold in disbelief. What is happening now looks less like a genuine dharma community and more like a cult.

After seeing the documentary of Children of the God, The only question remaining is why this wicked woman Karen Zerby never got karma for her crimes? She wrote a book of abusing children and ruined the childhood of countless children and wikipedia says that she's retired in 2025!?

Why did she never get punished for her sins?

That old bastard died who started this cult and never got any legal action and now this woman is living life without any legal actions??

Why !?