Credonia Mwerinde told her followers that the world would end in the year 2000. When it didn’t, the followers had questions. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
In 1981, 50-year-old Valentina De Andrade convinced her neighbors that God was non-existent. Then she told them that Jesus was an extraterrestrial who would be arriving soon in an alien craft to save them from the end of days. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
In 1989, Wayne Bent formed the Lord Our Righteousness Church. He convinced his followers that the end of the world was coming. And by 2007, the members of his church were prepared to die. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
They alleged that a close encounter with an undiscovered 10th planet would lead to catastrophic natural disasters and the destruction of humankind. Today’s episode features self-proclaimed prophet Yuko Chino and her Pana-Wave religious cult. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
In the fall of 2008, pastor Ronald Weinland announced that the final seventh seal referenced in the Book of Revelation had been opened, signaling the start of a countdown to end times. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
She founded the Church Universal and Triumphant and encouraged her followers to dig fallout shelters to prepare for nuclear war in the late-1980s. Discover the peculiar beliefs—and visions—of Elizabeth Clare Prophet. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
In 1984, Luc Jouret founded the Order of the Solar Temple with Joseph Di Mambro. A decade later, the two men would convince their followers that it was necessary to ascend to a higher spiritual plane to avoid the apocalypse. The plan...suicide by fire. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Also known as “Raël,” Claude Vorilhon created a movement in 1974 founded on his communication with a highly advanced race of aliens—an atheist religion known as Raëlism. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Founded by Jim Jones in 1955, The Peoples Temple culminated in the deaths of 913 people—one of the biggest mass murder-suicides in history. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
She says she developed a sixth sense after traumatic brain injury. This led Erika Bertschinger to change her name to Uriella and start Fiat Lux, a UFO cult that believed the end of the world was coming...in 1998. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
You might remember the 51-day standoff with authorities in 1993, but there’s plenty of details you might not remember about David Koresh and the Branch Davidians. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
He required his members to cut all ties with outside influences. And then in 1997, he convinced them to do the unthinkable in order to enter a higher existence. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Due to the unfortunate spread of COVID-19, Parcast has decided to halt recording for the time-being. This is a precautionary measure taken to ensure the safety of our hosts and staff. In the meantime, we're excited to share one of our classic episodes that we know you'll enjoy! Founded in 1967, thousands of followers of the Nuwaubian Nation believed themselves to be descendants of aliens, waiting to be beamed up before the apocalypse. Dwight York’s control was so strong, many people still suppor...
As a sophomore in high school, Rod Ferrell bonded with a group of goth outcasts through their shared love of a roleplaying game called Vampire: The Masquerade. But Rod’s vampiric obsessions were more than some teenage fantasy, and in November of 1996, he proved that there was more to his thirst for blood than just fun and games. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
She drew both criticism and adulation after announcing that she would be giving birth to the “child of god” in 1864. As it turned out, Joanna Southcott’s prophecies would become the stuff of legend, and outlive her by more than a century. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Self-proclaimed Christian prophet Joanna Southcott led an ordinary life in England as a domestic servant for years. But at the age of 42 in 1792, that all changed, when she heard the voice of God. What He told her would shock the world. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
In 1995, Hon-Ming Chen founded a UFO cult in Taiwan. His followers clung to him because they believed he could save them from an imminent nuclear apocalypse. Instead, he led them on a wild goose chase that involved searching for an Abraham Lincoln look-alike in Canada, interpreting clouds, and waiting for God to make his nationally televised debut. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
On the last Sunday of every month, Parcast Rewind replays a classic episode of Cults that you might have missed! Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh felt discomfort with his own mortality from a young age. Over time, his spiritual studies and beliefs about capitalism and sexuality led Rajneesh to become a charismatic cult leader. This charisma attracted Ma Anand Sheela, the woman who rose from a 20-year-old devotee to a powerful leader in the cult that launched a deadly bioterrorism attack on over 750 Americ...
He consolidated his power over an offshoot of the white supremacist group, Posse Comitatus. Rooted in an extremely racist theology called “Christian Identity,” Michael Wayne Ryan then used the organization to justify the torture and violence he inflicted on his followers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
In the early 1980s, Michael Wayne Ryan went from a frustrated, directionless slacker to the leader of a violent cult composed of down-on-their-luck farmers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Under the backdrop of the Great Depression, Guy and Edna Ballard successfully milked over a million people out of their valuables, life insurance, and savings. They would be taken to court for fraud—but their teachings and movement would live on. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
In 2011, Teal Swan began making YouTube videos claiming she was an extrasensory alien tasked with healing the world of its miseries. Her followers hoped that by taking her counsel, they could attract happiness into their lives. Instead, they were drawn into a belief system that preached that death was delicious, and suicide: the ultimate reset button. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
On the last Sunday of every month, Parcast Rewind replays a classic episode of Cults that you might have missed! Accused of imprisoning and brainwashing children, Anne Hamilton Byrne convinced her almost 500 followers that she was the female reincarnation of Jesus Christ. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
In the 1920s, the House of David baseball team was taking the nation by storm with their entertaining style of play. However, there was more to the group than just their athletic abilities. They were members of a cult led by a man named Benjamin Purnell, and he was harboring some very dark secrets. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Benjamin Purnell arrived in Benton Harbor, Michigan in 1913, claiming to be the seventh and final messenger of God. He planned to build a compound for his followers to wait for the end of the world, but he had an enigmatic past, where he learned to abuse the power he was given. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Sherry Shriner believed Satan disguised himself as Jesus and subsequently tricked the world into praising him. So she became the virtual leader of an online Reptilian ET Cult that believed demonic, alien reptiles were sent by Satan to take over the world. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Here’s one of our listeners’ most requested episodes of 2019: When the cult moved to Hawaii, James Baker never expected his penniless followers to find him. But once it became clear that they were willing to follow to the bitter end, he began planning a dramatic exit of epic proportions. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Here’s one of our listeners’ most requested episodes of 2019: When James Baker started his health food restaurant on the Sunset Strip in the 1970s, he had no intention of creating a spiritual commune. But opportunity knocked, and soon, he was the leader of a yoga-based cult in Hollywood Hills that launched Baker to wealth and fame. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
In the late 1940s, the eccentric Krishna Venta founded the Fountain of the World and claimed to be the embodiment of Christ. However, he had an apocalyptic warning. The world was going to end in 1965, and only his chosen followers would survive. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
As a wandering lecturer who opened up a religious compound in the San Fernando Valley in 1949, Krishna Venta claimed to be from a mythical valley in India. He preached about love and knowing oneself, but was hiding a secret past. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
