Cults

Doomsday predictions. Religious doctrines. Extraterrestrial orders. What really goes on inside a cult? Step into the minds of those who led and joined the most controversial organizations in history. Cults is a Spotify Original from Parcast. 

True Crime
History
Society & Culture
76
Alistah Laishkochav’s Seaside Sect
Alistah Laishkochav was a New Zealand man who thought he was a messiah. To the world, the former police officer maintained a big happy family with his nine wives.
33 min
77
The Ramtha School of Enlightenment Pt. 2
Judy Z built a business empire by channeling Ramtha and his Atlantean wisdom. She converted her home into a headquarters and held gatherings for thousands of followers from all over the world. By the 2000s, she began using her influence and cash flow to step into politics — gaining favor until 2016, when she started catering to QAnon believers.
38 min
78
The Ramtha School of Enlightenment Pt. 1
Judy Z spent her early life in poverty before making a living as a cable salesperson in the early 1980s.
37 min
79
Queen Antoinette’s Corrupt House of the Lord
In the mid-2000s, Toni Ellsberry claimed to hear the voice of God, and ruled over her followers in a small Baltimore apartment. But when a toddler there died of starvation, One Mind Ministries began to crumble from within.
33 min
80
Buddhafield Pt. 2: A Hawaiian Escape
Fleeing to Austin, Texas in the early ‘90s was supposed to be a clean break for “The Teacher” and his followers. For a while, it was.
31 min
81
Buddhafield Pt. 1: A Poisoned Oasis
Jaime Gomez came to the U.S. from Venezuela in the 1960s looking for stardom, but when careers in dance and film didn’t materialize, he shifted focus.
32 min
82
Miracle of Love Pt. 2
After Gourasana passed away, his wife Kalindi took over Miracle of Love and propelled the group to new heights. She held increasingly demanding seminars that broke down attendees until they joined the fold. As time wore on, Kalindi’s enthusiasm and exploits brought many of her followers to the brink, and she showed no signs of slowing down.
34 min
83
Miracle of Love Pt. 1
By 1987, David Swanson and his wife Carol Seidman had been on a decades-long journey to find enlightenment.
34 min
84
The Church of Wells Pt. 2
The Church of Wells cemented its place in the small Texas town by being uncompromising and radical.
33 min
85
The Church of Wells Pt. 1
When Baylor University students Sean Morris and Ryan Ringnald met in the mid 2000s, they both felt the world around them was spiritually empty.
32 min
86
Brother Julius and The Work Pt. 2
By the 1980s, The Work was a real estate empire worth millions. But Julius didn’t concern himself much with the business. Instead, he focused on preaching armageddon and engaging in “special work” with his young female followers.
38 min
87
Brother Julius and The Work Pt. 1
While stationed in the South Pacific with the Navy during World War II, Julius Schacknow had a divine vision. Armed with the knowledge of his supposed destiny, he established a devoted following in New England in the 1970s.
41 min
88
William Miller Pt. 2: The Great Disappointment
As the Adventist movement spread across the United States, and as the date of Miller’s predicted apocalypse approached, his followers prepared to leave the world behind.
39 min
89
William Miller Pt. 1: Grandfather of the Advent...
The origins of the 19th-century preacher who founded Millerism, revived belief in Jesus’ imminent return, and landed himself at the center of a historic religious crisis in America.
37 min
90
Jeong Myeong-seok: The Bride Collecting Messiah...
By the late 1990s, the Providence movement had expanded its reach internationally. But when word got out about Jeong Myeong-seok abusing his “spiritual brides,” he fled.
36 min
91
Jeong Myeong-seok: The Bride Collecting Messiah...
After cutting his teeth in the rapidly growing unification movement in South Korea in the 1970s, Jung Myung-seok began having grander ambitions — as the new messiah of a religious movement.
36 min
92
Faizrakhman Sattarov and the Underground Russia...
In the 1960s, Faizrakhman Sattarov experienced a holy vision when sparks shot down from a trolley car in Russia.
37 min
93
“Jesus Army” Noel Stanton Pt. 2
By the late ‘80s, Stanton had fully embraced military metaphors in the Bible, mobilizing his Jesus Army to wage war against sin and save British souls.
36 min
94
“Jesus Army” Noel Stanton Pt. 1
During WWII, while serving in the British Royal Navy, Noel Stanton had an encounter with an evangelist that changed his life.
38 min
95
Serial Killers Crossover: “The Narcosatanist” A...
After amassing wealth and influence as a spiritual advisor in the 1980s, Adolfo Constanzo set his sights on the lucrative drug trade in Matamoros.
55 min
96
Serial Killers Crossover: “The Narcosatanist” A...
Schooled in the darkest corners of his family’s Afro-Carribean religion, Adolfo Constanzo decided to make his fortune using magic granted through animal sacrifices.
48 min
97
“Be’er Miriam Seminary” Aharon Ramati
For over a decade, a self-described rabbi ran a seminary in an orthodox neighborhood of Jerusalem.
38 min
98
“Hermes Far Eastern Shining” Gerald Hart Attril...
Increased government scrutiny in the early 2000s didn’t stop Hermes Far Eastern Shining from growing into a small business empire.
31 min
99
“Hermes Far Eastern Shining” Gerald Hart Attril...
A fast-growing cult in Australia absorbed hundreds of people into its fold in the late 1990s.
36 min
100
“Fiat Lux” Uriella
Deep in the heart of the Black Woods on the border between Switzerland and Germany, an eccentric spiritual medium named Uriella set up a commune for her growing community of fanatical followers.
38 min