Kia Ora friends and whānua! Happy Thursday! AND Happy Thankful Thursday! Wahoo - I did something a bit different on the gram today - asked you guys what you are grateful for today and left it for today's blog for me to say what I'm thankful for today.
But first, the weather, it's lovely and sunny outside and I'm enjoying having the AC on inside while I stare out the window. My tummy hasn't been great today, so I haven't pushed myself too much today - and I'm starting to see a bit of a correlation between my tummy being sore and it impacting my mood (I think it's because I can't do as much as I want to do). I also survived the mall last night - but we didn't get anything I needed really, just the last Xmas presents Luke needed to get but yay! I wanted to look for a wetsuit and some other swimmers but Highpoint was really lacking in that department (so we might look more when we're in Torquay or maybe I'll go into the city tomorrow, will see how I feel). Anyway, so far today, I had a tiny sleep-in, went for a walk, and have been working on some social content. Later on, I think Luke and I are gonna do some cute cheesy-af Christmassy photos and silly videos (idk, I guess I've never been with anyone willing to do stuff like that with me so it's nice). I'm trying to think of how I'll do my makeup. Maybe some gold and red. We shall see. I'll post some photos once they're edited and whatnot!
Anywho, today, the things I am thankful for are the nice sunny weather outside so I don't feel too hot when going for walks, that I still have projects to work on like my blog, videos, social media and writing, etc., that our holiday to the Great Ocean Road is coming up, lots of houses around our neighbourhood have amazing Christmas Light displays, my coffee I am drinking right now to help me power through the day, delicious drinking water, that I haven't had to wash my hair since I got it cut (may be a tomorrow problem), my partner Luke, friends and family, laughter, my camera gear (it's so cool to have a proper professional set and actually not be pushing my limits with a beginner camera that I used for way too long) + being able to do video is cool too, my phone because it's lasted ages and I like all the things I can do on it, our Christmas decor, and that I have plenty of books to read. I'm also hoping things are going to start looking up for me health-wise, both physically and mentally and that I'm going to somehow be able to make revenue online in the non-traditional sense. I think I've noticed lately that having the ability to lay down if I need to, really helps. Not being able to do that was so stressful before. Anywho, that's getting off track. But those are the things I am thankful for today! Let me know what you're thankful/grateful for in the comments below.
Another thing I'd like to do for today's blog post is take a look at some of the cults that are still alive in 2023. Since I was a teenager, things like cults, religion, conspiracy theories, and the creepy side of the world have fascinated me and I just know so much about these things. I even wanted to do my masters thesis on cults (but that wasn't going to get me anywhere) BUT I could do my own research and share it with the world on here and on YouTube so I think that's what I am gonna do. So, what are some of the cults that still exist today?
But first, what are cults? I think I've discussed cults in my previous Gloriavale post but just in case you missed that, you can check it out "here" and we can head on over to the Wiki page and check out the definition of a cult, which is "Cult is a term, in most contexts pejorative, for a relatively small group which is typically led by a charismatic and self-appointed leader, who tightly controls its members, requiring unwavering devotion to a set of beliefs and practices which are considered deviant (outside the norms of society)".
Cults That Still Exist in 2023!
The Family International (and no, this is not to be confused with Charles Manson's Family Cult but once I had an amazing book on that that I lent to a friend and never got back) - This cult has also been known as "The Children of God," "Teens for Christ," and "The Family". The Family International (TFI) was founded as a New Religious Movement (NRM) in the late 1960s by previous leader David Berg who passed away in 1994 (now the leader is Karen Zerby). This group began as a group of hippies who all got together at Huntington Beach, Orange County, California. Berg believed that California was going to be hit by a major earthquake (sidenote - if there's anything I've learned about living in a place with earthquakes, is that, it's not very hard to predict them when there are literal fault lines underneath you). This group of people would give out pamphlets while on the road and eventually there were pockets of communes all around America. This cult still exists today and you can see their official website "here". Another sidenote quickly - these cult websites always remind me of the MySpace Era of the internet. TFI has over 1400 members globally - some in the actual communes and other just online (I believe), where they share the teachings of bettering the world through God (they are Christian). Most recently, their teachings are about new spiritual weapons where the members believe that they are fighting a spiritual war of good vs evil. They also have a policy/belief (honestly, don't know the right word here) of Loving Jesus - but it's a bit further than you might think. My blog won't let me post the information, so check out the Wiki page for further information. This cult has also had it's fair share of controversies in the past too! Because as we know, every time there's a cult, the media gotta label it somehow (although tbh, I'm sure at times it's true - but not for Waco though). We can talk about Waco another day. Anyway, former members of TFI have been accused of being in and part of an authoritarian (obedience to authority) cult that would abuse young people - as well as being accused of targeting vulnerable people (uhhh the latter is what cults do, relative deprivation is the prime time to target people when they're down for recruitment). Sorry, my sarcasm is strong today. If you want to learn more about these controversies, "here's" a really great article from a previous member.
Unification Church (Or Moonies) is another NRM (yeah, yeah we all know it's a cult), that still exists today. This NRM began following WWII by now passed Sun Myung Moon in 1954 in South Korea. This NRM is now found all over the world and I think it's been heavily popularised by pop culture too. If you wanna know more about them, you can check out their official website "here". Gah, it sounds like I'm selling you something, I'm not, don't join a cult. Or do, I'm not the boss of you. Just saying though that it's probably not the best idea. I find it so interesting how some of these cults live on after their leaders have passed and I feel like you've gotta have a leader even more charismatic to be able to do so. Luckily, for these guys, they have Hak Ja Han (the wife of Sun). I'm guessing whoever is next to be a leader here is one of their 14 children! The scripture that this NRM follows is that of Christianity and The Bible. However, Moon in his own book, The Divine Principle, believes that he was in fact the second coming of Christ because he completed the mission that Jesus was unable to, the ideal family, with lots of children, all born without sin (I am trying so hard not to be bias or judgemental but when this shit is so repetitive gah). The Unification Church is also known for mass weddings, where a lot of strangers get married (okay now that's weird). You can read more about that "here." This cult is even linked to politics (which tbh, is probably a clever factor because even if you're anti-government, having governments support you helps you stay alive as a cult). They hosted Donald Trump in 2021 - although all the journalists clapped back saying Trump would take any opportunity to stand and talk on a podium. And I kinda agree, he's Trump. Anyway, the controversies that this group have faced/been accused of have been financial exploitation of their members, anti-communism, and other weird political things that I don't quite understand but it's not good. I don't see this cult going away any time soon.
Raëlism - another NRM that still exists today. Raëlism is a UFO religion that was founded in the 1970s in France by Claude Vorilhon (now known as Rael) and their beliefs are pretty similar to Scientology - although I'm too scared to talk about that religion because I don't want anyone to come for me. Anyway, this group's beliefs or teachings are that there is an alien species out there known as Elohim who created humanity using their advancements in technology. It is an atheistic religion - so Elohim are not God-like, but who created us (apparently people have made this mistake in the past and tbh I don't blame them). This is one very strange group and I highly suggest checking out their beliefs "here." Fun fact though, Raëlists believe that we are in the age of the apocalypse and this began following the bombings on Hiroshima. Again, here's a quote taken directly from Wikipedia because it makes my brain hurt to paraphrase it: "Raëlism holds that humanity must find a way to harness new scientific and technological development for peaceful purposes, and that when this has been achieved the Elohim will return to Earth to share their technology with humanity and establish a utopia. To this end, Raëlians have sought to build an embassy for the Elohim that incorporates a landing pad for their spaceship. Raëlians engage in daily meditation, hope for physical immortality through human cloning, and promote a liberal ethical system with a strong emphasis on sexual experimentation." Interestingly, this NRM is the opposite when it comes to "traditional" types of marriage and whatnot. Raëlists are discouraged from marrying and they want woman to have sexual freedom and liberation. However, couples can only have a max of two children. But ideally, they don't want them to have children at all. This is one confusing cult.
There are a lot more cults that still exist today but I'm a bit cult-ed out today! A lot of the other ones I could find have recently become defunct or don't really exist anymore. Like, Heaven's Gate - although apparently there's still 2 people today who believe in these teachings, NXIVM - this one was honestly a clusterf*ck and I bloody hate the word cluster but it was that bad and the controversy and media attention this one got probably deserves it's own blog post and even a video too because it would be the biggest deep dive ever, and The Branch Davidians - this is the Waco Siege I referred to early but apparently following that, they split off into new groups (which again, deserves it's own post + video).
Thank you so much for reading today's blog post! I am trying to make the last few days of daily blogs a bit longer when I can and I think I'm going to limit my posts to 2-4 x a week following the 100 daily blog posts in a row. I absolutely love writing my blogs but the pressure of doing it every day has been a bit much, especially when I am feeling down AND I think on our Great Ocean Road Roadie, I want to vlog and enjoy my time so having to write a blog post every day probably won't be good for me mentally but when I can, I will write! And it'll still be relatively regularly. Hope ya'll understand.
Anyway, for today's question, I want to know, if you could either go visit a cult or infiltrate a cult for a day, which one would you choose and why? It can be either an active or defunct cult too! Let me know in the comments below. For me, I've been to Gloriavale so it's not something I'd really want to do again, but I'd be interested in looking at Scientology (it would just have to be super safe though).
See you tomorrow!
Ka kite,
Much love,
Ash xx
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