WHAT EXACTLY IS A CULT?

Imagine a ‘cult’ and you might think of sinister-looking acolytes in white robes performing rituals, or the tragedies of groups like The People’s Temple and Heaven’s Gate.

But the reality is that most cults don’t look like cults. If they did, few people would ever join. Exploitative cults need to conceal their real intentions and motivations in order to recruit and retain members. And they must continually adapt to figure out what is effective towards the aim of recruiting and retaining members in the day and age in which they are operating.

There are also countless healthy, non-exploitative groups around the world today who are sharing beneficial practices, spiritual or financial, and would not be classified as cults. To the untrained neophyte, harmful and exploitative cults can appear virtually identical to these healthy groups from the outside, and to an extent from the inside. Sometimes, it is not until one finds their way into ‘the inner circle’ of a cult that the real exploitation and danger begins.

Just as today’s cults are learning from the missteps of the cults of yesterday in order to upgrade their camouflage, we would do well to upgrade our detection.

What Defines A Cult?

The way I define cult is as follows:

‘Any group of people that uses undue influence to cultivate and maintain a codependent dynamic between its leader and its members.’

The primary intention of a cult is to render its members psychologically-dependant on the group, its leader and their teachings, so that they can be exploited in pursuit of the cult’s aims. This is performed under the guise of working to improve, save or empower its members somehow, spiritually or financially, and will often draw upon a grandiose vision about impacting the world in some uplifting or historic way.

Cults are always led by a narcissist cult leader who typically presents themselves as on a mission to help others and change the world. However their real mission is to foster a perpetual source of admiration and validation (i.e. ‘narcissistic supply’) as a means to regulate their own unresolved psychological trauma and uphold their grandiose delusions.

This is achieved by using various techniques of undue influence, which attempt to create the conditions for codependency and destabilise the cult member’s personal sovereignty, whilst facilitating the projection of personal, numinous, unconscious psychological content onto the leader, their doctrine and the group.

If you are concerned about whether a group that you or someone you know has joined might be a cult, and you would welcome a second opinion, you can book a free 30 minute Perspectives Call with me HERE.

What Are The Different Kinds of Cult?

Steven Hassan, one of the world’s foremost experts on cults, identifies four primary styles of cult that are most prevalent today: religious (or spiritual), political, commercial and self-help. Even a family or friendship group can be a kind of cult if there is codependency and undue influence.

Whilst we often associate cults with religion, the underlying principles are in fact psychological, and cults can form in any setting where the same underlying psychology is at work. A cult can be any group that is built on codependent dynamics.

Religion as a subject is highly conducive to the formation of codependent dynamics and the projection of internal, unconscious psychological content onto external world people and ideas. But is by no means the only subject around which they can form. The cults of today are wide and varied in the subject matters they form around, and in the outward-facing missions they purport to engage in.

How do Cults Avoid Detection?

Many of us would think we can spot a cult a mile off. But few people knowingly join a cult, and none of those who join do so knowing the true motivations or psychological state of its leader. This was the case in the days of The People’s Temple, and of Heaven’s Gate, and it is the case now. The majority of today’s cults are less extreme in their appearance and their methods, and can be especially insidious.

Whilst the specific methods cults use are constantly evolving, there are three main overarching strategies cults use to avoid detection:

1. By offering some genuine value as a cover for underlying exploitation
2. By leveraging aspects of the cult member’s unconscious mind through undue influence and mind control;
3. By attempting to contain the knowledge of exploitation by applying undue influence.

Providing Genuine Value

The first way in which cults actively avoid detection is simply by offering a degree of genuine value in what they teach, practice and provide for their members.

A spiritual cult might claim to be teaching ‘The Path to Enlightenment,’ a commercial cult might claim to be teaching the tools for ‘Financial Freedom,’ a political cult might claim to be set to change their country for the better, and so on.

Cult members will likely experience some benefits from putting the cult’s doctrine into practice. It  may be spuriously suggested that because they are experiencing benefits that what they are learning must therefore be “the truth.”

Useful teachings will be deeply interwoven with corrupt teachings and harmful practices. This can be very difficult to untangle for those who get out. Practices and rituals are introduced which, whilst they may have some inherent utility, are really performed with the intention to disarm members from setting healthy boundaries, shut down critical thought, test commitment to the leader and foster conformity and group-think. Elements of ancient or outside texts might be misconstrued in support of the leader’s delusion and the exploitative misapplication of the practices offered by them.

Of course, the use of otherwise valuable techniques as bait, and the fact they are tangled up with corrupt and misleading teachings designed to exploit the cult member, raises the question of to what extent they are really useful to the cult member at all. Nonetheless, there is always some perception of value being received.

Attachment to the community aspect of a cult also serves a major function in helping cults stay under the radar. Having formed many relationships in the cult, members find it harder to discern that they are in a cult and, ultimately, to speak out and leave, even if they have serious concerns about the leader and their “teachings.”

Leveraging Unconscious Needs

The second way in which cults avoid detection is by tapping into deep, unconscious fears and desires in the minds of cult members. Just as the cult leader is operating out of a conditioned defence mechanism with roots going back to their childhood, so is the cult member also operating out of a deep unconscious pattern. The two sides fit together like puzzle pieces.

In their attempts to meet unconscious needs, decisions are also being made unconsciously. Red flags go unnoticed as the mind filters them out, or are perceived in such a way that they actually appear to be an exaltation of the cult and its leader. Cult leaders encourage this process by attempting to ‘spin’ such concerns as positives, and have many stock statements and articles available to pre-emptively address the most common concerns.

A common tactic employed by cults in the early stages of predation is “love-bombing.” This is when the new recruit is literally bombarded with excessive amounts of attention, admiration and praise. The cult leader, or existing members acting on their behalf, might suggest that there is something special, talented or spiritually-evolved about the individual, and that they are situated in the perfect time and place to support the cult leader in their mission. Love-bombing is also used tactically at other moments when deemed necessary to influence behaviour or bolster the member’s commitment to the cult.

So cults avoid detection in this way because, on some unconscious level, people don’t want to detect them. These unconscious motivations operating behind the scenes are ultimately the cult’s most valuable source of camouflage. It is only because of having unconscious needs, that a person is unable to see the red flags which they would otherwise see. But, of course, when an individual is able to make those unconscious aspects conscious, they will be straightened out pretty quickly, and the individual will no longer need to look to the exploitative cult in their attempts to meet those needs.

A key takeaway here is that, as much as we can point out the harmful behaviour of a cult leader or any narcissist, it is necessary in the recovery of any person leaving an abusive relationship, such as with a cult, that they come to understand what the experience can tell them about their own mind, and how they were able to be led to it.

Containing Knowledge Through Undue Influence

Cults also use various forms of undue influence to try and prevent awareness of their exploitation from escaping and spreading. This may be done through fear and threats, overt and subtle, through coercion and even through force.

Cult members may be led to believe that people leaving the cult will experience terrible psychological or physical consequences – hell, rebirth as an animal, an incalculable number of rebirths, incurable disease, madness, abandonment by God, and so on. It may be stated or implied. The most terrible consequences are laid out for people who take action leading to the breakdown or split of the cult.

In any case, cult leaders will try their hardest to unnerve any major defectors so that they feel rattled, uncertain in their decision and lack confidence in speaking out against their abusers. In extreme cases, defectors and whistleblowers may be silenced, blackmailed, kidnapped or even murdered.

Undue influence refers to the cult’s overarching set of tools for control and are used not just to contain knowledge of the cult’s workings, but in all aspects of the operation to recruit, retain and exploit members towards the aims of the cult and its leader. We’ll examine range of techniques of undue influence in more depth in the next section using Steven Hassan’s BITE Model as a guide.

If you are concerned about whether a group you belong to might be exploitative and taking measures to avoid detection, you are welcome to book a free 30 minute Perspectives Call with me HERE to explore it further.

What is Undue Influence?

So what exactly should we regard as ‘undue influence’ when discerning whether a group is a cult?

Steven Hassan’s BITE Model

Again we can turn to Steven Hassan’s work for some guidance here. He developed the BITE Model as a way to describe the methods used by cults to recruit and maintain control over people. Or, in terms of my definition of a cult, the methods cults use to create and maintain codependency.

BITE stands for: Behaviour, Information, Thoughts, Emotions, and refers to the four broad areas of control techniques employed by cults. Or indeed by any narcissistic abuser.

The BITE Model is based on earlier research by Robert Jay Lifton and others who studied the brainwashing techniques used in Maoist China, as well as cognitive dissonance theory by Leon Festinger.

Steven notes that:

“Destructive mind control can be determined when the overall effect of these four components promotes dependency and obedience to some leader or cause; it is not necessary for every single item on the list to be present.”

So if a group uses deception, gaslighting, preaches ‘the absolute truth,’ and attempts to control members through fear, they can’t really claim to not be a cult on the basis that they don’t commit murder.

In this article I will provide a summary of the BITE model and discuss some of the main elements. But I highly recommend reading more about it at the Freedom of Mind Resource centre here: https://freedomofmind.com/cult-mind-control/bite-model/

Behaviour Control

Behaviour control is any attempt to regulate the cult member’s physical reality. This might include their physical location, the kind of work they do, who they associate with, the kind of food they eat and the kinds of clothes that they wear. It might involve excessive demands, requiring that the members spend inordinate amounts of time on indoctrination or supporting the cult somehow, or attempting to sabotage other plans they have which are not in support of the cult’s mission.

It is not uncommon for cults to try and put barriers between loved ones or otherwise encourage the separation of cult members from their friends and family. Whilst spiritual growth can often require great changes in our relationships with old friends and family, genuine spiritual growth allows us to relate to them in a new way that is neither dependant nor avoidant.

In extreme cases, cults may punish disobedience with physical violence, rape or imprisonment.

Some cults will claim that because they do not ‘force’ their members to adopt any form of behaviour, that they must therefore not be doing any harm. But the truth is there are many cults who do not use force but do nonetheless apply many other forms of undue influence. Whilst forceful control techniques are still very common, many cults today, in their attempts to maintain their facade, take very careful steps not to appear coarse and to remain on the right side of the law. Even if behaviours are not forced, they might be mandated, and if not mandated they might be expected, and if you don’t do what is expected there are consequences, which may be overt or subtly implied. All are forms of undue influence.

Behavioural control may include practices which, when used skilfully, can be highly beneficial, but which can also be used as tools to manipulate, disarm or test the cult member’s commitment. For example, ‘kind speech’ may be practiced to the extent that any attempt at setting healthy personal boundaries is punished or discouraged. Or the practice of ‘generosity’ might be employed as a way to garner financial donations or place unreasonable demands on member’s time and energy.

Cult leaders might use members to carry out dangerous tasks that the cult leader is unwilling to bear the risk of themselves. This can include any of the more legally-dubious forms of undue influence and their associated physical, social or financial repercussions. It can also include audacious online marketing and recruitment initiatives which could lead to the banning of cult members’ accounts on various platforms or other restrictions.

Information Control

Information Control is usually achieved by minimising or discouraging access to non-cult sources of information. Cult leaders may insist or suggest that members only read the teachings written or approved by them, or the cult leader’s own interpretations of them. They might be told to put aside whatever else they have learned with other teachers, or that learning from multiple sources will lead to confusion.

Ancient or outside texts, if they are used, are often misinterpreted by the cult leader who perceives them through the lens of their own grandiose delusions. They might, for example, spuriously link themselves to ancient texts, believing that they are a prophesied saviour or otherwise referenced in them. Or they might misconstrue methods and techniques offered by the texts as being supportive of their own exploitative methods of undue influence.

Deception is also used as a form of Information Control. This can include outright lying to the cult member, but also acts of misdirection, distortion, minimisation, triangulation, withholding information or cunningly managing its dissemination between members. Gaslighting is used to plant doubt in the cult member’s mind about their understanding, recollection of events or their level of attainment in the hope to throw them off their centre.

Spying might be encouraged on other members, or a buddy system or equivalent set up to monitor and control members. Cult leaders may triangulate or gaslight members by using other individuals to speak and act on their behalf but without the target cult member necessarily knowing.

The giving and withholding of forgiveness, absolution or spiritual attainments may be used as a punishment and reward system. These conditions are portrayed as intended to move the cult member in a beneficial direction, but really are intended to produce the desired behaviour in them in support of the cult’s mission.

Thought Control

The cult’s doctrine may be postulated as the ‘absolute truth.’ Members may be expected to accept the group’s ‘map of reality’ as reality itself. What is considered ‘good’ and ‘bad’, ‘wholesome’ and ‘unwholesome,’ is determined by the doctrine of the group.

Techniques like meditation and chanting which, whilst useful techniques for improving the state of one’s mind, can also be used to increase suggestibility, block critical thought, or to cultivate only certain kinds of thoughts which serve the cult’s mission.

Loaded and clichéd language often plays a large role in the group’s doctrine. These restrict complex subjects down into simple buzzwords which constrict critical thought and prevent further enquiry. Cult leaders may attempt to own and erroneously redefine certain words in support of their agenda.

Rational thought, constructive criticism, science and analysis may all be discouraged or dismissed as too intellectual. Open questions about the leader and the doctrine may be discouraged. Or they might be openly encouraged as a cover, but only for spurious, misleading or dishonest answers to be given. There is a generally a lack of nuance in the leader’s thinking, which tends to be quite ‘black or white.’

Attempts may be made to change the way the cult member relates to other close relationships outside of the cult. As well as attempts made to change or manipulate memories or create false memories.

Other belief systems are either considered illegitimate or transcended and included within the cult’s overarching, superior doctrine.

Emotional Control

Emotional control is any attempt to manipulate the range of feelings experienced by the cult members. It may begin with teaching cult members that all emotions they experienced are caused by themselves, which is an imprecise claim at best. But moreover, is said for purposes of rendering the cult member’s mind more susceptible to further manipulation through their unconscious mind and emotional responses.

Emotional repression techniques may be taught to block feelings of doubt, concern, sadness, anger, homesickness and so on. All forms of suffering or discontent may be portrayed as ‘bad,’ ‘unwholesome,’ or indicative of the cult member’s unenlightenment and to be eliminated.

Fears are instilled of hell, rebirth as an animal, suffering, an incalculable number of rebirths, abandonment by God and so on, if the cult member does not abide by the doctrine laid out by the cult leader. Fearful consequences are laid out for actions that have little to do with the cult member’s genuine moral stature and everything to do with their adherence to cult expectations.

Notions of spiritual attainments such as stages of enlightenment, non-self, nirvana, heaven, meditative states, forgiveness, grace and so on are instilled as incentives. The cult leader assumes the ability to deem whether a cult member has attained any certain level of attainment, and tactically uses said ‘ability’ to produce the desired behaviour. A cult member’s ‘attainment’ will have little to do with their genuine attainment and everything to do with how adherent they are to the cult leader’s expectations at that particular moment.

People who leave or seem to be losing interest are ‘hoovered’ by the cult leader or members acting on their behalf as they fear losing their narcissistic supply. They may reach out to them in ways designed to appear coincidental and harmless, but really are intended to drive commitment to the cult.

There is considered to be no legitimate reason to leave. Those who leave decisively are considered a threat and are shunned, with remaining cult members encouraged to block or not engage with them. People leaving the cult is rationalised as being due to their craving, ego, lack of discipline, unenlightenment, possession by demons, and such like.

If you have concerns about whether a group you know might be employing techniques of undue influence, you are welcome to discuss with me by booking a free 30 minute Perspectives Call HERE.

The Digital Cult

As we move deeper into the 2020s and the post-pandemic era, we should take note that many cults are now forming and moving online. There are many cults that require little or no associated physical presence of their members. I call these “Digital Cults.”

Digital Cults can now also be centred around any kind of esoteric topic in a way that was not feasible beyond a few years ago, and which then exploded to prevalence during the pandemic.

Of course, the exploitative cult leader would love to have unsuspecting neophytes believe that, because there is no physical involvement, there is no danger of undue influence or harm. But, by the same token, I would ask them to imagine a remote worker trying to argue with their manager 5000 miles away that they don’t need to show up to work, but expect to get paid anyway. Clearly physical presence is not a necessary condition for influence.

All four kinds of undue influence described by Steven Hassan’s BITE Model, as well as all three categories of detection avoidance I describe, can be exerted remotely. Behaviour, Information, Thoughts and Emotions can all be influenced over the internet. If one fears that leaving the cult will mean they go to hell, for example, it doesn’t matter where they are located. They will feel compelled to submit to the leader’s exploitation, and provide them with narcissistic supply regardless.

All of this does of course mean that physical threats and harm to cult members are harder or impossible to exert. However, many of the geographically-fixed cults of today (although certainly not all) have already moved away from physical forms of control in their attempts to avoid detection.

For the Digital Cult, a compelling Thought and Emotional Control narrative, as opposed to physical control, becomes of higher relative priority. Where there is a strong component of Emotional Control, the cult will find it easier to impose the other forms of control, regardless of distance or location. This was true in my own experience of a Digital Cult in the early 2020s – even though in my case there was also a physical component.

If my experience is anything to go by, we could see Digital Cults moving towards a greater covert use of dark psychology, gaslighting, misdirection, deception, Emotional Control and fear, as well the insidious use of such techniques, such that they are employed ever more discreetly, slowly and carefully, over long periods of time.

It would serve us all well to be extra vigilant against the use of such techniques and their slow-creep application. The ability of individuals to gain insight into their own minds and emotions is of particular importance in cultivating resilience to Emotional Control techniques and in not succumbing to exploitation by a Digital Cult.

It is important for anyone currently in a Digital Cult, or any discombobulated leavers of cults, to know that, just because you were not physically abused or physically forced, this does not mean that you were not in an exploitative cult and that there was not psychological abuse.

If you think you might have been affected by psychological abuse and would like some help in making sense of it, you are welcome to book a free 30 minute Perspectives Call with me HERE.

Am I in A Cult?

By now if you are still wondering whether a particular group that you belong to is an exploitative cult, do not worry. It can be very difficult for someone to discern whether the group they are part of is indeed a cult. You are likely obtaining a lot of value from this group. In fact, you might have never felt better. And it is likely that the group is fulfilling a lot of unconscious needs, whether or not it is a cult.

It is worth noting here however that, whilst many of the signs of a cult mentioned may sound quite coarse and easy to identify, the majority of cults work overtime to maintain an appearance that is precisely the opposite.

Bear in mind that a not-insignificant portion of those who read into the material on narcissism and cult dynamics are doing so not because they want to upgrade their detection, but because they want to upgrade their camouflage. There is little in this article that you have read that a cult leader somewhere has not also read or learned by some other means. And they have a complex repertoire of tools to try and make you think they are working in your best interests.

Based on my own personal experience of modern day cults, I would draw attention to the following: if they take extra special care to point out how they do not ‘force’ anyone; how everyone makes their own decisions; how you cause all your own feelings; how they ‘do not do’ this or that form of undue influence; or are ostentatious in their attempts to appear humble, charitable, polite or in any way virtuous, then these are all cause for concern. Healthy, functional groups spend zero energy on trying to convince you that they are not cults.

If you detect even the slightest bit of emotional manipulation or gaslighting, flag it. You might even raise it with the individual concerned (whilst practicing Skilful Communication, of course). If they are anything other than completely upfront with you, and you are confident it could not have been a misunderstanding, then this is a red flag. Honesty involves more than simply ‘not lying.’ A Sage has no reason to be dishonest.

Do some research into the group’s leader. What does their personal history suggest? Pay attention to any previous work engagements they have had. Any hint of con-artistry or shady business dealings is clearly a red flag. Do not buy into any uplifting story of redemption. There are Sages you can learn from who do not have the con-artist background.

If they are in any way hinting at or eluding to having some divine role, or having made some spiritual attainment such as enlightenment, beware. There are no special exceptions made for those who imply it instead of saying it outright. Not least if they plant little clues for you to find like pieces of a treasure map all the while allowing you to ‘discover for yourself.’ It is a red flag in any case.

See what people outside of the community are saying about them online and take on board their comments. If you find yourself trying to interpret their comments purely through the lens of the group’s doctrine, then this might be a cause to get some space and keep seeking opinions from well-informed people outside of the group. If the group is tangentially-related to other more traditional groups, try to find out what the leaders of those groups have to say. For example, if you are part of an independent Buddhist-inspired group, like I was, get the take of senior monks in the wider Buddhist community. If there has not been a migration of monastics from traditional lineages to join ranks with this independent maverick, that might be a clue. Do not accept any spin that attempts to position this as a somehow auspicious sign. A Sage does not need to spin.

In the end, by their fruits you will know them. A cult leader cannot hide their true intentions indefinitely. They will continue to leave a trail of destruction, as they have done in their past. If you are willing to accept the possibility that this group could be a cult, then you will be much better equipped to see the evidence as it appears.

If you have been a target of religious abuse and would like to enquire about Cult Recovery Coaching, you can book a free 30 minute Perspectives Call with me HERE.

Stay In Touch

I hope this article has been useful in helping you to understand the workings of cults and upgrade your tools for discerning healthy groups from exploitative cults. If it helps you to eliminate any conflict you might be experiencing, and move towards a decision in favour of your personal sovereignty, it will have served its purpose.

I am currently writing an ebook titled ‘Making Sense of The Cult’ which will continue on these topics and more in much greater detail. Complete the form below to be added to the mailing list and be sent a free copy when it is available.