Showing titles in Cults

A chilling documentary history of the most notorious cults of the past two thousand years, from the Celtic druids whose ritual sacrifices inspired the folk horror film The Wicker Man all the way up to the Peoples Temple and Heaven’s Gate A Penguin Classic The word “cult” conjures images of...

In this engrossing, provocative, and intimate memoir, a young journalist reflects on her childhood in the heartland, growing up in an increasingly isolated meditation community in the 1980s and ’90s—a fascinating, disturbing look at a fringe culture and its true believers. When Claire...

Grounded in investigative research and real survivor stories, Surviving Modern Yoga uncovers the physical and sexual abuse perpetrated by Ashtanga yoga leader Pattabhi Jois—and reckons with the culture, structures, and mythos that enabled it. Yoga culture sells well-meaning westerners the full...

In this haunting work of journalistic investigation, Haruki Murakami tells the story of the horrific terrorist attack on Japanese soil that shook the entire world. On a clear spring day in 1995, five members of a religious cult unleashed poison gas on the Tokyo subway system. In attempt to...

In this searing memoir of survival in the spirit of Stolen Innocence, the daughter of Warren Jeffs, the self-proclaimed Prophet of the FLDS Church, takes you deep inside the secretive polygamist Mormon fundamentalist cult run by her family and how she escaped it. Born into the Fundamentalist...

Jordan Maxwell, who is featured with Hilder on Ancient Mysteries of the World (CBS), strips away together with Bill Cooper and a plethora of guests, the "Masonic Mask" that hides the Satanic Symbols that cryptically cover America capital -- from the Washington Monument to the fasci that border the American flag in the House of Representatives. Together they pinpoint the political pimps and prostitutes along the Potomac who have raped, robbed and ravaged this republic since its inception. Considering this book was written in 1993 , it seems they foretold the future and got everything right ...

In the middle of the Ozzie and Harriet 1950s, the birth control pill became available and a maverick psychoanalytic institute, the Sullivan Institute for Research in Psychoanalysis, opened its doors in New York City. Its founders wanted to start a revolution, one grounded in ideals of creative expression, sexual liberation, and freedom from societal norms, and the revolution needed to begin at home.

Nesta Helen Webster (24 August 1876 – 16 May 1960) was a controversial historian, occultist, and author who revived conspiracy theories about the Illuminati. She argued that the secret society s members were occultists, plotting communist world domination, using the idea of a Jewish cabal, the Masons and Jesuits as a smokescreen. Webster argued in many books that it had been impossible for the masses to create such an all-encompassing revolution by themselves, and the ‘dark design’ of secret forces had been behind the events of 1789. In particular, the Lodges of German Freemasons and ...

In 1981, ambitious young Ma Anand Sheela transported the Indian guru Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh to the United States to fulfill his dream of creating a utopia for his thousands of disciples. Four years later, the incendiary Rajneeshpuram commune in Oregon collapsed under the weight of audacious criminal conspiracies hatched in its inner sanctum, including the largest bioterrorism attack in US history, an unprecedented election fraud scheme, and multiple attempted murders. Rajneeshpuram explores how this extraordinary spiritual community went so wrong.

The world is ruled by very different forces than what is commonly imagined. Political leaders who parade themselves in front of us each have their own position in the public political hierarchy. Business leaders have a similar public corporate hierarchy. However, behind the curtains, there is an international and highly organized network to which many of these leaders belong.

What do we really know about modern practicing polygamists - not fictional ones like the Henrickson family on HBO’s Big Love? We’ve seen the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints in the news, the underage brides in pioneer dresses on a Texas ranch. But the FLDS is just one of many groups that have broken with mainstream Mormonism to follow those parts of Joseph Smith’s doctrine disavowed by the LDS Church. Gaining unprecedented access to these communities, journalist Sanjiv Bhattacharya reveals a shadow country....

We know that Urban isn't just a place but a culture now. Followers of Jesus face many challenges to their faith, among them the rising influence of contemporary cults, alternative theologies, and ethical issues that challenge traditionally held beliefs and practices. Urban Apologetics: Cults and...

For fans of Educated and The Sound of Gravel, The Dirt Beneath Our Door tells the remarkable and inspirational story of how a mother escaped a fundamentalist Mormon cult with her eight youngest children, only to struggle with newfound freedom in an America she barely knew.

Similar to other Bible-based religious cults, the Watchtower Bible and Tracy Society had prophesied the end of the world for the year 1975. During that time, the Jehovah's Witnesses were actually encouraged to sell their homes and property in preparation for "the end." While many Witnesses were busy selling their homes and property, the Watchtower Society was purchasing property in Brooklyn, New York the same year the world was supposed to end. This book details the stories of fictitious characters set in a historic setting documented by the Watchtower Society's own literature. When the end...

Waco: Booktrack Edition adds an immersive musical soundtrack to your audiobook listening experience! * The basis of the celebrated Paramount Network miniseries starring Michael Shannon and Taylor Kitsch--Waco is the critically-acclaimed, first person account of the siege by Branch Davidian...

In the autumn of 1834, New York City was awash with rumors of a strange religious cult operating nearby, centered around a mysterious, self-styled prophet named Matthias. It was said that Matthias the Prophet was stealing money from one of his followers; then came reports of lascivious sexual relations, based on odd teachings of matched spirits, apostolic priesthoods, and the inferiority of women. At its climax, the rumors transformed into legal charges, as the Prophet was arrested for the murder of a once highly regarded Christian gentleman who had fallen under his sway.

Tom Cruise and John Travolta say the Church of Scientology is a force for good. Others disagree. Award-winning journalist John Sweeney investigated the Church for more than half a decade. During that time he was intimidated, spied on, and followed, and the results were spectacular: Sweeney lost his temper with the Church's spokesman on camera, and his infamous 'exploding tomato' clip was seen by millions around the world.

A rigorously researched biography of the founder of modern magick, as well as a study of the occult, sexuality, Eastern religion, and more The name “Aleister Crowley” instantly conjures visions of diabolic ceremonies and orgiastic indulgences—and while the sardonic Crowley would perhaps be...

The basis of the celebrated Paramount Network miniseries starring Michael Shannon and Taylor Kitsch -- Waco is the critically-acclaimed, first person account of the siege by Branch Davidian survivor, David Thibodeau. Twenty-five years ago, the FBI staged a deadly raid on the Branch Davidian...

In A Thousand Lives, the New York Times best-selling memoirist Julia Scheeres traces the fates of five individuals who followed Jim Jones to South America as they struggled to first build their paradise, and then survive it. Each went for different reasons - some were drawn to Jones for his progressive attitudes towards racial equality, others were dazzled by his claims to be a faith healer. But once in Guyana, Jones' drug addiction, mental decay, and sexual depredations quickly eroded the idealistic community.