-Caveat Lector- <A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/"> </A> -Cui Bono?- Hi ! Below please find an article I wrote last year. Sincerely, Neil Brick Cult Information Article Please use caution while reading this article. It may be triggering. Survivors of abuse may want to read this with their therapist. In any healthy situation, problems are discussed as openly and honestly as possible. If a climate of fear exists or is created by one person or group which curtails this discussion, this makes things less healthy. Survivors may leave cults due to geographic changes in their lives. "...it is most often some of the alter personalities in survivors with...MPD that get reinvolved with the cult or a cult in another city, without the "birth person's" conscious knowledge." Sometimes survivors are programmed to return to the cult or another one later in life. ("Breaking the Circle" - pg 31) "...ritual abuse groups may share the following characteristics with coercive cults: ...dogma is more important than people, ...a radical separation of good and evil,...a demand for purity," members are watched all the time and their loyalty is tested "...the dogma is enacted through rituals,... regularly observe(d) rituals, rituals frequently invoke supernatural intervention,... staged events such as planned spontaneity... mystical manipulations, cults capitalize on members' fear and ignorance,...a sense of separateness (is promoted) through an "us" and "them" mentality, ... siege mentality with a paranoid view of the outside world, humor is forbidden, resistance of members is worn down through physical and emotional manipulations, a person's identity is destroyed... to create a new one," members give up their autonomy to be approved," mind control is used to indoctrinate the victim into the group's belief system, individuality is uniformly suppressed,... a well-defined hierarchy," members are used to benefit leader(s), "mind control is used ...to convert the victim to the group's belief system,... to insure secrecy... and to carry out cult instructions."("Safe Passage to Healing" - p 47 - 48) Survivors in cults may be taught to feel superior to others. This creates feelings of alienation. They may be programmed how to behave outside the cult and who to have as friends. Can people "unknowingly" reporting back to the original cult or other cults (online or offline)? "Safe Passage to Healing" states that protector or maintainer alters, may sound like they are still cult active. Occasionally, this may be the case. Usually they are not. Some alters could continue rituals on their own. Caryn StarDancer (p 157-158) explains that when repressed alters begin to become conscious in recovery, survivors may experience "an increased drive to become cult-active..." The outside person might not know this. A survivor could receive "a phone call with a message which contains a programmed cue," this triggers "an alter who... goes to a cult meeting." Hours or days may be lost, and when the "host" is back, "it may only feel vaguely confusing." Something may be wrong but the survivor "doesn't know what... and that is a chronic feeling for many survivors. There is usually a story in the mind that "explains" what happened, and it doesn't seem quite right..." Journalling can help alters become more aware of each other. I believe it is very important to cut all contact with possible cult members and/or unhealthy groups that may have handlers (people that know the triggers and use them for their own or someone else's benefit.) My thoughts after reading "Traumatic Abuse in Cults": A malevolent group may insist on following rules without a discussion of the rules. The strong need for some survivors to be a part of something, anything, even if it may be harmful to the person. Ends justify the means. Doing immoral things to help "protect" the group. A malevolent group may phrase their letters or end their letters with certain greetings meant to trigger people or remind members of their group affiliation. A survivor's alter may be in the group and not the host. This could be done via triggers. This explains how a someone could be spying for the group, and not know it. This may be done with aliases. Someone could join the group to heal, but the malevolent groups hidden goal could be to keep them from healing by "messing them up." This group may be controlled or may have been formed by an outside group, cult or organization. It is difficult to know when one is brainwashed, esp. if this is occurring in an alter. Many survivors of MC are very suggestible and may be easily mind controlled through triggers or fear. Survivors are sometimes attracted to what is familiar from their past. Unfortunately, that may not always be a good thing. Love bombing (being extra or overly nice to survivors) may set survivors up for being mind controlled. After survivors feel "welcomed" they could discuss their triggers which could later be used against them. It is very important to be sure that a group is safe before joining or discussing important secrets with them. Many dangerous groups have bad records that many other people may know about, so check a group out throughly before joining. And even then be very careful and watch for the possible signs of a dysfunctional group or a cult like group. There are no easy answers to healing. If someone is extremely open or overly friendly, there may be a hidden agenda. Codependency characteristics can be used by some groups to revictimize people, making them emotionally dependent on the group. "Codependency can be defined as a condition marked by an inordinate reliance on person(s), thing(s), or activities, for personal well-being and self-esteem." ("Breaking the Circle..." - preface section.) This could include the use of guilt or strong emotions to bond a person to the group. >From Hassan's ("Combatting Cult Mind Control") criteria for mind control in a group. Here is my interpretation of how these could be misused in a malevolent organization. The leader is always right and dissent is frowned upon or squelched. The organization considers themselves a team and not allow others in, or other survivor orgs. are considered bad. They are the best org. - their team is the best. The leader or leadership group makes all the important decisions, all must follow, public dissent is squelched. Some people may take the name of the leader or imitate the leader. In a malevolent org. those that follow the leader's rules are complimented, those that dissent are told they are difficult or impolite. Other orgs. or people are out to get the group, their opinions are dismissed as an attack, not acknowledged that they might have some validity. People in the group are "buddies," but way too much so. (See love bombing and codependency above.) Now one can recover in the group, but before they couldn't or not nearly as well without the group. People and their groups may not even know that what they are doing is cultlike. A few groups and some people I know of are members of these groups. They seem to fit many or most of the criteria above. One of my hopes in writing this is that people will read this and leave those groups. Sources: "Breaking the Circle of Satanic Ritual Abuse - Recognizing and Recovering from the Hidden Trauma" Daniel Ryder CCDC, LSW, CompCare Publishers, 2415 Annapolis Lane, Minn., MN 55441 1-800-328-3330 c 1992 "Safe Passage to Healing - A Guide for Survivors of Ritual Abuse" Chrystine Oksana, HarperCollins, c 1994 "Traumatic Abuse in Cults: An Exploration of an Unfamiliar Social Problem" by Daniel Shaw, C.S.W. at http://www.cyberpass.net/truth/essay.htm <A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/">www.ctrl.org</A> DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic screeds are not allowed. Substance—not soap-boxing! 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