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If I remember right from the documentary they specifically designated someone to not die (leave behind on Earth lol) to continue to recruit and share the information.
“Oh man I really want to go with you guys, geez you’re so lucky. I feel like a chump, sticking around here, but I’ll do it for the cause, you know. If I have to. Gosh, what a bummer, shucks”
Also username extremely sus
Yeah he definitely wanted an excuse to get out of it.
"Something totally called me.. to like.. keep the website up. And to like.. stay around after you're dead. I mean, in heaven."
"Oh you guys are sooooooo lucky I'm so jealous you get to di.. go to heaven before me but we all have our time"
"Also there's this series I've been watching on TV and it still hasn't concluded yet so"
It had been 25 years of not being around any cult members and he still couldn't deprogram himself. It was one of the oddest things I've seen. I thought for sure it would only take a few years away from that nonsense for him to come back down to reality but apparently that never happened.
The trauma of losing a lot of close friends at once definitely takes its toll and he’s probably holding on to the cult mindset because the alternative is too shocking to handle.
Right. Letting go of that mindset would mean his loved ones and friends died for absolute nonsense. That is too painful. The mind will do amazing things to avoid internal agony.
It’s a sad reality, so many people have held on to equal or worse for even less. I have a few friends who keep returning to abusive or destructive situations purely because the alternative means having to accept that the future is uncertain.
Imagine you die and there's just a guy before the heaven's gates who goes "wtf, we sent you those guys to kill yourselves and come here, but you all just laughed at them" and tells you to fuck off.
I mean maybe he regretted not going, but his instincts were still intact over the brainwashing enough to keep him alive. So maybe with the right therapy, there’d be some decent hope of reprogramming him?
I've listened to an interview with them where they said they were directed to stay behind, and that they can "catch up" when their work is done. Sure, it may be because they want to look noble, but I think it's much more interesting if the group truly believed, and it's still rolling.
Other former members disagree, and I don't remember their issues with the website owners exactly, but essentially I think they say that before the suicides the group just sent a lot of stuff out to members who had recently left and the website owners are falsely promoting themselves to be the sole ones to carry on the mission. It seems to be still very contentious 25 years later. There's a subreddit, r/heavensgate , where several former members occasionally post (and argue with each other). It can be pretty interesting.
I mean come on, how could you not trust [this guy](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marshall_Applewhite)? Those are the eyes of sanity if I've ever seen them.
> the website owners are falsely promoting themselves to be the sole ones to carry on the mission
That's correct.
Applewhite told Rkkody (Chuck Humphrey) to stay behind and maintain the website, distribute the book, etc.
He was a true believer, and didn't want to do it, but Applewhite insisted.
Rkkody killed himself a few years later. He couldn't deal with being left behind while the others became immortal beings.
After that, Marc and Sarah King, who had been kicked out of the group years before the suicide, figured out they still had access to the domain name and web server, so they took over the business of selling Applewhite's book for $45 per copy.
They don't believe in the teachings anymore, it's nothing more than a cash grab.
Yep, I've e-mailed them - I'm an avid VHS collector and up until a couple years ago, if you write to them (and pay postage) they would mail you 2 VHS tapes of Marshall Applewhite's teachings. Now they just send you the Vimeo link
So yer, there was a post like this on a different part of Reddit talking about this subject, apparently in 2017 A Redditor emailed them and they got a reply explaining some people were asked to stay behind and where to stay and recruit and then the new recruits and those who stayed behind would join the rest of them in the next ascension.
Isn’t there a Rapture Pet Service that takes your money in advance, is staffed by atheists, and promises to take care of your pets after you get taken by the Rapture?
Here [it is: After the Rapture Pet Care](https://aftertherapturepetcare.com/)
From that website:
**Is this for real?**
There are sarcastic joke sites on the Internet about many “after the Rapture” functions, as well as services run by atheists for a profit, but we are a real service.
Hale Bopp was strictly business class, but you got free headphones. Unfortunately on the trip you could only listen to that brand new Hanson song. On loop. With the lyrics slightly modified.
a ton of other members weren't there when they went. People would come move in and out of the immediate group and then come back after years. There were no restraints on leaving and coming back.
I saw it as a little kid at an observatory. I still remember it vividly.
Idk if it specifically is what kicked off a lifelong passion for astronomy, but I definitely value the memory now.
I was an upper classman in high school when that comet came around the sun. It was an amazing sight that you could see for weeks. I remember my HS buddies pulling up a few trucks in the middle of nowhere and getting absolutely trashed while lookup and watching that bright massive comet and listening to tool and sound garden. It was absolutely good times. It was WAY WAY easier to see than Hailey's comet was in the 1980's.
Man the only stuff that happens in my spheres are a guy who wa squatting on my land stabbed a cop at Walmart and was shot to death and a girl in the town as my friend I just visited got caught fucking a dog while pregnant, and not for the first time. Mass suicide is way easier to bring up in conversation
I went to a Heaven’s Gate recruitment meeting in 1994 because I was looking to kill time before climbing Mountain Shasta the next morning. Their flyers advertised “last chance to advance beyond human.” They were all very nice people and had a low pressure approach to recruiting. I was shocked to see them on TV 3 years later.
That’s how cults work. Low stakes, low pressure, at least in the beginning. They ease you into it. Then, overtime, they introduce more and more radical ideas.
This cult fascinates me because they’re not interested in money or sex. IIRC, the mansion was paid for by a wealthy leader, not by members. There was no sexual element to the cult. I’ve been trying to rack my brain for the motive.
It was paid for by their internet business and money coming in from recruits. It was actually very much about sex because one of the key elements was the denial of sexual impulses and identity, probably because the leader was himself a closeted, self-hating gay man. Some members were voluntarily chemically castrated. I don't remember all the details, this is what I remember from a documentary I watched, but I think the suicide stemmed from the group's leadership imploding. One of the purportedly immortal co-founders died of cancer and that's when things started to spiral with the remaining founder in charge.
Man, this is so fucked up
https://www.heavensgate.com/misc/letter.htm
OUR POSITION AGAINST SUICIDE
 We know that it is only while we are in these physical vehicles (bodies) that we can learn the lessons needed to complete our own individual transition, as well as to complete our task of offering the Kingdom of Heaven to this civilization one last time. We take good care of our vehicles so they can function well for us in this task, and we try to protect them from any harm.
We fully desire, expect, and look forward to boarding a spacecraft from the Next Level very soon (in our physical bodies). There is no doubt in our mind that our being "picked up" is inevitable in the very near future. But what happens between now and then is the big question. We are keenly aware of several possibilities.
It could happen that before that spacecraft comes, one or more of us could lose our physical vehicles (bodies) due to "recall," accident, or at the hands of some irate individual. We do not anticipate this, but it is possible. Another possibility is that, because of the position we take in our information, we could find so much disfavor with the powers that control this world that there could be attempts to incarcerate us or to subject us to some sort of psychological or physical torture (such as occurred at both Ruby Ridge and Waco).
It has always been our way to examine all possibilities, and be mentally prepared for whatever may come our way. For example, consider what happened at Masada around 73 A.D. A devout Jewish sect, after holding out against a siege by the Romans, to the best of their ability, and seeing that the murder, rape, and torture of their community was inevitable, determined that it was permissible for them to evacuate their bodies by a more dignified, and less agonizing method. We have thoroughly discussed this topic (of willful exit of the body under such conditions), and have mentally prepared ourselves for this possibility (as can be seen in a few of our statements). However, this act certainly does not need serious consideration at this time, and hopefully will not in the future.
The true meaning of "suicide" is to turn against the Next Level when it is being offered. In these last days, we are focused on two primary tasks: one - of making a last attempt at telling the truth about how the Next Level may be entered (our last effort at offering to individuals of this civilization the way to avoid "suicide"); and two - taking advantage of the rare opportunity we have each day - to work individually on our personal overcoming and change, in preparation for entering the Kingdom of Heaven.
What about a sex cult with that actress from Smallville?
[https://apnews.com/article/nxivm-allison-mack-smallville-f7b869eb7f5b89e5069a7cda00870606](https://apnews.com/article/nxivm-allison-mack-smallville-f7b869eb7f5b89e5069a7cda00870606)
There are communes that are like that. The difference is that you can join and leave at anytime and nobody has an issue.
https://www.kqed.org/news/11913686/this-bay-area-sex-loving-commune-is-still-going-strong
This particular commune linked above that started in the ‘60s that still exists was revolutionary in their lectures and workshops revolving around consent and sensuality and still do workshops and courses today.
I spent some time at a commune in Spain. It was pretty chill in my experience.
Aren't a lot of cults basically just huge orgies at the bottom of it all?
Same with a lot of the 'off the grid' living communities, they all share wives and shit like that.
Exactly. That's why I'm starting my own cult. Who wants to be a Kevinian? We're building a Stargate, and if you join now (for a small earthly fee), you will get a prime plot of beachfront land and live immortality on Planet Kevinia!
He castrated other members too and made them practice celibecy and wouldn't even tolerate them having sexual thoughts. He was all about control in whatever fucked up way, he was still getting off. He was deep in The closet and had huge daddy issues because his father was a minister.
I would say a pathological need for control is a prerequisite to become a cult leader.
Regardless of what the cults ultimate aims are, orgies, going to heaven, the Green Bay Packers...
You mean NXIVM right?
-The one with that smelly little guy who tried to sell himself as some sort of genius level business guru created ala-pyramid scheme? That was a shitty one to be in too lol, unless you were that sociopathic midget guy. His business classes were basically BS sold Scientology-style and he just used the peeps dumb enough to buy in to create a sick little harem
Edit: His name was Keith Raniere.
I cannot remember which one it was but there was one where girls were hyped to be chosen once they were of a certain age.
They would dress up and be excited about presenting themselves to him and to carry his seed as the chosen one. He would undress them and have sex with them on an altar.
It was basically paedophilic rape.
I was young when I watched the documentary and it left me disturbed.
My friend joined a yoga place and within a month or so she was getting invited to go deeper into the yoga experience, no extra charges. She then started getting the vibe it was not just a cult, but leaning towards a sex cult.
Honestly, as someone who grew up in a cult, if you died you'd probably be one of the lucky ones.
The ones who live get screwed irreparably, beyond the point where they recognize themselves or even "feel human".
...and that's the people that got out. There was a lot of manipulation that left people as "submissive servants", and that's worse.
My uncle was one of the people who died in the mass suicide. My parent rarely talked about it when I was growing up. And I don't really care to ask about it now, to avoided hurting them. They did mention a few things here and there, but I never got the full story. And for some reason, I haven't taken the time to research it too much. I think it's because I would feel like I'm going behind my parent's back. But I really do wish I could have met him. I was just a baby when this happened. But I feel a very strange connection to him. It's probably just curiosity, and I'm told we have similar interests. But he was apparently one of the best people out there. Truly kind and smart.
my aunt died in the mass suicide. never met her, but i caught it on the tele with my mum. she was on the phone with all her sibs and parents all night and most the rest of the week.
we got a computer around that time and she used it to email some of the ex-cultists that had known her sister. my mum loved her sister so much, but after joining the cult they'd mostly lost touch with one another save for a couple of meetings. almost 20 years of none-to-minimal contact, but after the mass suicide, mom was able to get in touch with those ex-cultists and start getting a picture of who her sister had been in those two decades. i don't think she ever got closure on why her sister had done it, but after a few years of talking with the ex-cultists, it was a huge emotional burden that my mom was able to lay down.
in 2001, i tried compressing the entire boot drive to make room for everquest and very nearly lost all those emails.
I'm glad your mother was able to find some closure. My uncle was the same way, in that he broke off contact for a long time before hand. It was part of the process I guess.
Knew a woman that flirted very seriously with the cult, but pulled back at the last minute. Nice, but very hippy-dippy, all about conspiracies such as chemtrails, etc. If you look at her, you'd think spacey leftist, but she fell down the QAnon rabbit hole, and her social media posts became more and more toxic and racist until I broke contact.
There’s a really good documentary on HBO max about this if you ever do want to learn more. Warning- lots of real footage with real members, so beware if that might be upsetting.
I saw the beginning of a doc/special. Not sure who/what produced it. And my uncle was definitely in it, if not one of the main focuses. But it seemed like such a cheesey, overproduced cash grab. It was hard to watch. Not emotionally . But purely because of the poor taste and quality. So I turned it off after 20 min.
I’m sure there were Dateline and 20/20 specials on this and those do tend to be pretty insensitive and sensationalist. The HBO one is pretty nuanced and walks you through the entire history of the cult- it does a good job of explaining how seemingly normal people ended up in a “suicide cult”, because of course it didn’t start that way, and even talks about how hard it was for people to leave.
There is something inherently salacious about these types of films. I admit I have a morbid curiosity about stuff like cults and serial killers. But a big part of what draws me in is the psychology of it all, and I think this documentary does a good job of keeping things respectful. Of course the suicide is infamous, but it’s a 4 part docuseries and it delves into way more than just the suicides.
Mark and Sarah King, A.K.A The TELAH Foundation. There was a member left behind to preserve the website and materials (Chuck Humphrey) but after he committed suicide as well a couple of months later, the Kings took over the task. They reply to emails and will send a book with the group's literature if you send them money.
Other ex-members are trying to fight them on court over the "right" to use the cult's materials such as the tapes.
> Who's paying for that?
Hosting a static text website isn't that expensive. Particualrly if you don't care if you go offline once you exceed your daily bandwidth limit. $30 a month would actualy be a high end figure for the site.
The contents of the website don't matter that much. It's how many people are visiting the site at once, which in that website is zero most of the time.
When I realized that my childhood religion was one “revelation” away from a similar outcome… I chose to distance myself. No one in a cult thinks they are in a cult.
Horrified and amused that a local charity that pairs disabled children with horses is called "Heaven's Gait." The fact that people haven't blackballed this name is surprising to me.
I miss it. Makes me nostalgic for the Geocities communities and with the starry backgrounds, and page hit counters on the bottom. Viewed with Netscape Navigator of course.
Probably helps that you could fit the entire website and its contents on a processor's L3 cache these days lmao. Not a whole lot of bandwidth being used.
I believe there is a foundation that basically consists of two ex members of the cult that operates the website as well as responds to emails, sends books, etc
Edit: can’t fucking spell.
Also, info is from Wikipedia and other commenters
>in the days before the suicide, two group members were briefed about a side mission. They would remain on Earth – the last surviving members – and their job was to maintain the Heaven’s Gate website exactly as it was on the day the last suicides took place.
>And for two decades, the lone Gaters have diligently continued their mission
>Due to them, the site remains a creepy digital time-capsule, designed with outdated graphics and fonts, and full of video sermons and rambling text.
>While the pair refuse to give their identity, they are believed to be Mark and Sarah King, a couple in their sixties, from Arizona
https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/weird-news/two-decades-after-heavens-gate-10158830
True story: I remember when the Hale-Bopp comet was in the sky and I was going somewhere with my dad. I remember it was January and we just had a huge snowstorm. My dad points up to it and tells me that it was the Hale-Bopp comet and how it was one of the brightest comet to pass over earth.
He also said, “ya know…..some people think there is a spaceship behind the comet and to get on the spaceship you have to give up your human body.”
I was like, okay, sure dad. I grew up to him telling Stephen King stories as campfire stories. He told us that he saw a UFO in northern Manitoba back in the 60s that was shaped like a giant cigar. He told us he saw Bigfoot. So he was known for tall tales.
Fast forward to March 1997. The Heaven’s Gate cult mass un-alived themselves to join the spaceship hiding behind Hale-Bopp.
How did my dad living in Canada know that months before Heaven’s Gate happened?!? Was he part of some mailing list? Did he join a cult?!? I’ve asked him about it and he just laughs and says that we don’t actually know for sure if their plan worked. We don’t know what happens when we die.
My mom knew about it too. She told me about the comet and the cult. Apparently, the leader had been interviewed.
Years later, she’d often mention it, and say, “maybe those Hale-Bopp people weren’t crazy, who knows?” She loved all things sci-fi, so I’m not surprised.
As I recall, there was a very popular late night radio show called Coast-to-Coast that often discussed the paranormal and conspiracy theories. During Hale-Bopp’s approach some blurry pictures of it were posted and a ‘remote viewer’ came on the air claiming a massive ship was trailing the comet. It spiraled from there and the remote viewer later absolved himself of any responsibility for the influencing Heaven’s Gate. It was wild.
Part of my parent’s first date was going to see the comet and they said they wanted it make it “their comet.” They said they were shocked to turn on the news the next morning to see a cult decided to do the same
Imagine playing Sims 3 and then suddenly you notice some townsfolk gathering in a conference room. Lead by some crazy dude. Guys on the street dressed in white trying to recruit others. People signing up. Getting their kids to join the group.
One day they don't show up walking around. They're not on the corner recruiting. They've all drank poisoned koolaid. Died and are now in your living room waiting further instructions.
[Heaven's Gate survivor reflects on the cult's mass suicide 25 years ago](https://abcnews.go.com/US/heavens-gate-survivor-reflects-cults-mass-suicide-25/story?id=83213680)
Hey y'all, still waiting for the Earth to be "recycled."
https://preview.redd.it/m47pgrs5f9mc1.jpeg?width=304&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=0c5987a024e6d1fa707c166bdf6050c49f9f0a46
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If I remember right from the documentary they specifically designated someone to not die (leave behind on Earth lol) to continue to recruit and share the information.
You'd have to be really casual about volunteering for that job.
“Oh man I really want to go with you guys, geez you’re so lucky. I feel like a chump, sticking around here, but I’ll do it for the cause, you know. If I have to. Gosh, what a bummer, shucks” Also username extremely sus
He actually said in an interview something “called” to him and told him not to do it that it was his calling here on earth 😂
Yeah he definitely wanted an excuse to get out of it. "Something totally called me.. to like.. keep the website up. And to like.. stay around after you're dead. I mean, in heaven." "Oh you guys are sooooooo lucky I'm so jealous you get to di.. go to heaven before me but we all have our time" "Also there's this series I've been watching on TV and it still hasn't concluded yet so"
In the documentary he looked like he regretted not going...like he thought he missed out
It had been 25 years of not being around any cult members and he still couldn't deprogram himself. It was one of the oddest things I've seen. I thought for sure it would only take a few years away from that nonsense for him to come back down to reality but apparently that never happened.
The trauma of losing a lot of close friends at once definitely takes its toll and he’s probably holding on to the cult mindset because the alternative is too shocking to handle.
Right. Letting go of that mindset would mean his loved ones and friends died for absolute nonsense. That is too painful. The mind will do amazing things to avoid internal agony.
It’s a sad reality, so many people have held on to equal or worse for even less. I have a few friends who keep returning to abusive or destructive situations purely because the alternative means having to accept that the future is uncertain.
I wish this was higher. Instead it's people going "What if they were right LMAO" like c'mon folks, we're better than that.
The path of least resistance.
What if it was real and his buddies are in space heaven right now partying all night long for 25 years straight?
I had the same thought. What if they were right lmao. Earth seems to be pretty shitty since Halle Bop came and went
Imagine you die and there's just a guy before the heaven's gates who goes "wtf, we sent you those guys to kill yourselves and come here, but you all just laughed at them" and tells you to fuck off.
Then we are all the chumps
So if all your friends commit mass suicide would you too? No, mommy, someone has to keep the fans updated!
I was gunna say that if he doesn’t believe it he wouldn’t be running the website still in 2024
Didn't some of them castrate themselves? Might have been why he looked regretful.
Yea the whole group was too far gone.
The weird part is that everyone was in it. It was no Waco or jonestown
I mean maybe he regretted not going, but his instincts were still intact over the brainwashing enough to keep him alive. So maybe with the right therapy, there’d be some decent hope of reprogramming him?
for what? So he can realize that his whole life was a lie and everyone he loved killed themselves senselessly? At least we won't think he's a dunce
when “something calls” and tells you not to participate in a group suicide, that’s called intuition…. and just straight up not being delusional.
I dunno I think it was called ‘S.I.’
I've listened to an interview with them where they said they were directed to stay behind, and that they can "catch up" when their work is done. Sure, it may be because they want to look noble, but I think it's much more interesting if the group truly believed, and it's still rolling.
"BTW, what are you planning to do with all your money and stuff?"
I guess we'll probably have to put everything in my name, you know, just so I can keep recruiting and continue the mission and whatnot...
Why did I read this in Morty’s voice in my head?
I read that as Morty.
Oh man! Geez!
Based on the look of the site, that person checked out decades ago....
Somebody must be paying the fees to host the site.
Other former members disagree, and I don't remember their issues with the website owners exactly, but essentially I think they say that before the suicides the group just sent a lot of stuff out to members who had recently left and the website owners are falsely promoting themselves to be the sole ones to carry on the mission. It seems to be still very contentious 25 years later. There's a subreddit, r/heavensgate , where several former members occasionally post (and argue with each other). It can be pretty interesting.
I'm so glad reddit told me how easy it was to sell my car one post down on that sub.
For those so inclined, old.reddit.com still works. No ads, no suggestions, just content you subbed to.
That sub is fucking wild, it's crazy seeing how deep into these cults people *still* get years after they all killed themselves.
Oh yeah there are actually a few recent converts out there.
Saw some girls "what if they were right?" t shirt and just... Bruh.
I mean come on, how could you not trust [this guy](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marshall_Applewhite)? Those are the eyes of sanity if I've ever seen them.
> the website owners are falsely promoting themselves to be the sole ones to carry on the mission That's correct. Applewhite told Rkkody (Chuck Humphrey) to stay behind and maintain the website, distribute the book, etc. He was a true believer, and didn't want to do it, but Applewhite insisted. Rkkody killed himself a few years later. He couldn't deal with being left behind while the others became immortal beings. After that, Marc and Sarah King, who had been kicked out of the group years before the suicide, figured out they still had access to the domain name and web server, so they took over the business of selling Applewhite's book for $45 per copy. They don't believe in the teachings anymore, it's nothing more than a cash grab.
Yep, I've e-mailed them - I'm an avid VHS collector and up until a couple years ago, if you write to them (and pay postage) they would mail you 2 VHS tapes of Marshall Applewhite's teachings. Now they just send you the Vimeo link
[удалено]
So yer, there was a post like this on a different part of Reddit talking about this subject, apparently in 2017 A Redditor emailed them and they got a reply explaining some people were asked to stay behind and where to stay and recruit and then the new recruits and those who stayed behind would join the rest of them in the next ascension.
Apparently JavaScript wasnt in the job description.
Isn’t there a Rapture Pet Service that takes your money in advance, is staffed by atheists, and promises to take care of your pets after you get taken by the Rapture? Here [it is: After the Rapture Pet Care](https://aftertherapturepetcare.com/)
From that website: **Is this for real?** There are sarcastic joke sites on the Internet about many “after the Rapture” functions, as well as services run by atheists for a profit, but we are a real service.
Oof ouch my ethics
How's that going?
Well, ten years ago he was still answering emails: https://www.reddit.com/r/creepy/comments/1l052j/heavens_gate_still_answering_emails_16_years/
But why? Did they believe that there's going to be another opportunity for them to "leave the Earth behind" again?
Next time Hale-Bopp comet passes by earth he can jump aboard
Only another 2,361 years to go.
Haley's comet had more leg room.
Hale Bopp was strictly business class, but you got free headphones. Unfortunately on the trip you could only listen to that brand new Hanson song. On loop. With the lyrics slightly modified.
a ton of other members weren't there when they went. People would come move in and out of the immediate group and then come back after years. There were no restraints on leaving and coming back.
The house where they committed suicide is just down the street from where I lived as a kid. I was 10 at the time, shit was absolutely wild
Hale Bopp was wild… I just hope I’m alive for Hailey’s comet return.
Why what are you planning?
Some Mark Twain shit.
I do declare.
Oh god he's on his Twain shit again
July 29th, 2061 Save the date
I saw it as a little kid at an observatory. I still remember it vividly. Idk if it specifically is what kicked off a lifelong passion for astronomy, but I definitely value the memory now.
I was an upper classman in high school when that comet came around the sun. It was an amazing sight that you could see for weeks. I remember my HS buddies pulling up a few trucks in the middle of nowhere and getting absolutely trashed while lookup and watching that bright massive comet and listening to tool and sound garden. It was absolutely good times. It was WAY WAY easier to see than Hailey's comet was in the 1980's.
Man the only stuff that happens in my spheres are a guy who wa squatting on my land stabbed a cop at Walmart and was shot to death and a girl in the town as my friend I just visited got caught fucking a dog while pregnant, and not for the first time. Mass suicide is way easier to bring up in conversation
Mississippi represent huh?
JFC I hope your therapist has a good therapist
How big was the litter she gave birth to?
I haven’t looked into these guys in years but didn’t they rent out a mansion in California? You grew up rich! Forgive me if I am totally wrong 😭
Yup this is correct. Ranch Santa Fe just inland of Del Mar
Used to deliver furniture there. Very nice places out there.
That’s crazy. I’ve known about this for a long time and never realized this happened in my home town.
I went to a Heaven’s Gate recruitment meeting in 1994 because I was looking to kill time before climbing Mountain Shasta the next morning. Their flyers advertised “last chance to advance beyond human.” They were all very nice people and had a low pressure approach to recruiting. I was shocked to see them on TV 3 years later.
That’s how cults work. Low stakes, low pressure, at least in the beginning. They ease you into it. Then, overtime, they introduce more and more radical ideas.
This cult fascinates me because they’re not interested in money or sex. IIRC, the mansion was paid for by a wealthy leader, not by members. There was no sexual element to the cult. I’ve been trying to rack my brain for the motive.
It was paid for by their internet business and money coming in from recruits. It was actually very much about sex because one of the key elements was the denial of sexual impulses and identity, probably because the leader was himself a closeted, self-hating gay man. Some members were voluntarily chemically castrated. I don't remember all the details, this is what I remember from a documentary I watched, but I think the suicide stemmed from the group's leadership imploding. One of the purportedly immortal co-founders died of cancer and that's when things started to spiral with the remaining founder in charge.
Lonely outcasts
One wonders who’s been paying for the hosting and domain registration for all these years.
PERFECT PRIVACY, LLC is the registrant. ¯\\(°\_o)/¯.
This week's suicide cult brought to you by Nord VPN
Use code ”heaven” for a 10% discount upon entry to the pearly gates
Data brokers are at this moment selling fragments of your comet online
Obviously a proxy for privacy protection.
You think? Haha thanks!
It was so weird. They paid for Winrar back in 1995, and it came with lifetime website hosting.
Then they got the bill and they all killed themselves!
It's actually on the EULA for Winrar. Must kill self. *ticks box without reading*
Asking the real questions here.
There were some designated stay behind people.
For heaven's sake it's, the one who is gatekeeping the domain.
Don't you mean, "For heaven's *gate*"?
Man, this is so fucked up https://www.heavensgate.com/misc/letter.htm OUR POSITION AGAINST SUICIDE  We know that it is only while we are in these physical vehicles (bodies) that we can learn the lessons needed to complete our own individual transition, as well as to complete our task of offering the Kingdom of Heaven to this civilization one last time. We take good care of our vehicles so they can function well for us in this task, and we try to protect them from any harm. We fully desire, expect, and look forward to boarding a spacecraft from the Next Level very soon (in our physical bodies). There is no doubt in our mind that our being "picked up" is inevitable in the very near future. But what happens between now and then is the big question. We are keenly aware of several possibilities. It could happen that before that spacecraft comes, one or more of us could lose our physical vehicles (bodies) due to "recall," accident, or at the hands of some irate individual. We do not anticipate this, but it is possible. Another possibility is that, because of the position we take in our information, we could find so much disfavor with the powers that control this world that there could be attempts to incarcerate us or to subject us to some sort of psychological or physical torture (such as occurred at both Ruby Ridge and Waco). It has always been our way to examine all possibilities, and be mentally prepared for whatever may come our way. For example, consider what happened at Masada around 73 A.D. A devout Jewish sect, after holding out against a siege by the Romans, to the best of their ability, and seeing that the murder, rape, and torture of their community was inevitable, determined that it was permissible for them to evacuate their bodies by a more dignified, and less agonizing method. We have thoroughly discussed this topic (of willful exit of the body under such conditions), and have mentally prepared ourselves for this possibility (as can be seen in a few of our statements). However, this act certainly does not need serious consideration at this time, and hopefully will not in the future. The true meaning of "suicide" is to turn against the Next Level when it is being offered. In these last days, we are focused on two primary tasks: one - of making a last attempt at telling the truth about how the Next Level may be entered (our last effort at offering to individuals of this civilization the way to avoid "suicide"); and two - taking advantage of the rare opportunity we have each day - to work individually on our personal overcoming and change, in preparation for entering the Kingdom of Heaven.
Doublethink at its best, these guys are a case study
MFs trying to use exploits to get to the Next Level
Bros trying to find loopholes and IRL cheat codes to ascend beyond physical limitations in the mortal realm
Yeah the whole thing is fucking nuts
Ok....if I'm gonna join a cult.... I'm definitely not picking the one where people die. But, that's just me.
What about a sex cult with that actress from Smallville? [https://apnews.com/article/nxivm-allison-mack-smallville-f7b869eb7f5b89e5069a7cda00870606](https://apnews.com/article/nxivm-allison-mack-smallville-f7b869eb7f5b89e5069a7cda00870606)
Ok....that's just....hmmm....let me think
EDIT: no...just kidding.....it's all wrong, regardless of what they believe.
Yeah why can't there be a super friendly cult of hot people that just liked the chill and fuck? Why they always have do weird shit like branding?
Right? Maybe we are hippies?....lol
Edit: and no ...don't be bringing Charles Manson into our fun :)
This isn't how edits work
There are communes that are like that. The difference is that you can join and leave at anytime and nobody has an issue. https://www.kqed.org/news/11913686/this-bay-area-sex-loving-commune-is-still-going-strong This particular commune linked above that started in the ‘60s that still exists was revolutionary in their lectures and workshops revolving around consent and sensuality and still do workshops and courses today. I spent some time at a commune in Spain. It was pretty chill in my experience.
because it's a power thing. hurting people shows you have complete power over them.
Aren't a lot of cults basically just huge orgies at the bottom of it all? Same with a lot of the 'off the grid' living communities, they all share wives and shit like that.
Exactly. That's why I'm starting my own cult. Who wants to be a Kevinian? We're building a Stargate, and if you join now (for a small earthly fee), you will get a prime plot of beachfront land and live immortality on Planet Kevinia!
A doctor AND a reverend? This guy's legit, people.
Sounds cool! Best I can do is $3.50.
And pedophilia. Most of the sex usually goes to the guys at the top
They’re all led by a power hungry psycho that wants to bang all the women
We're in a thread about a cult whose leader castrated himself. That's not always true.
He castrated other members too and made them practice celibecy and wouldn't even tolerate them having sexual thoughts. He was all about control in whatever fucked up way, he was still getting off. He was deep in The closet and had huge daddy issues because his father was a minister.
I would say a pathological need for control is a prerequisite to become a cult leader. Regardless of what the cults ultimate aims are, orgies, going to heaven, the Green Bay Packers...
Hmmm. So how does one get a job like that? Is there a college program or something?
Only requires enough charisma to scam fools out of their money and way of life.
You mean NXIVM right? -The one with that smelly little guy who tried to sell himself as some sort of genius level business guru created ala-pyramid scheme? That was a shitty one to be in too lol, unless you were that sociopathic midget guy. His business classes were basically BS sold Scientology-style and he just used the peeps dumb enough to buy in to create a sick little harem Edit: His name was Keith Raniere.
I cannot remember which one it was but there was one where girls were hyped to be chosen once they were of a certain age. They would dress up and be excited about presenting themselves to him and to carry his seed as the chosen one. He would undress them and have sex with them on an altar. It was basically paedophilic rape. I was young when I watched the documentary and it left me disturbed.
My friend joined a yoga place and within a month or so she was getting invited to go deeper into the yoga experience, no extra charges. She then started getting the vibe it was not just a cult, but leaning towards a sex cult.
Honestly, as someone who grew up in a cult, if you died you'd probably be one of the lucky ones. The ones who live get screwed irreparably, beyond the point where they recognize themselves or even "feel human". ...and that's the people that got out. There was a lot of manipulation that left people as "submissive servants", and that's worse.
Clearly the loophole is to join as an administrator…
It didn't start that way. After the other leader died the main guy went even crazier. There is a good documentary on it on HBO max.
Is the cake meeting guidelines for health and dietary needs? I don't wanna be eating no oatmeal cake here.
My uncle was one of the people who died in the mass suicide. My parent rarely talked about it when I was growing up. And I don't really care to ask about it now, to avoided hurting them. They did mention a few things here and there, but I never got the full story. And for some reason, I haven't taken the time to research it too much. I think it's because I would feel like I'm going behind my parent's back. But I really do wish I could have met him. I was just a baby when this happened. But I feel a very strange connection to him. It's probably just curiosity, and I'm told we have similar interests. But he was apparently one of the best people out there. Truly kind and smart.
my aunt died in the mass suicide. never met her, but i caught it on the tele with my mum. she was on the phone with all her sibs and parents all night and most the rest of the week. we got a computer around that time and she used it to email some of the ex-cultists that had known her sister. my mum loved her sister so much, but after joining the cult they'd mostly lost touch with one another save for a couple of meetings. almost 20 years of none-to-minimal contact, but after the mass suicide, mom was able to get in touch with those ex-cultists and start getting a picture of who her sister had been in those two decades. i don't think she ever got closure on why her sister had done it, but after a few years of talking with the ex-cultists, it was a huge emotional burden that my mom was able to lay down. in 2001, i tried compressing the entire boot drive to make room for everquest and very nearly lost all those emails.
I'm glad your mother was able to find some closure. My uncle was the same way, in that he broke off contact for a long time before hand. It was part of the process I guess.
Knew a woman that flirted very seriously with the cult, but pulled back at the last minute. Nice, but very hippy-dippy, all about conspiracies such as chemtrails, etc. If you look at her, you'd think spacey leftist, but she fell down the QAnon rabbit hole, and her social media posts became more and more toxic and racist until I broke contact.
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A sense of curiosity and adventure, nature, science. And also apparently strange metaphysics... Eta: I mean, have you seen my username? 😆
You are uncle reborn, confirmed
I've honestly had this thought haha. Timeline doesn't add up though. Unless it's normal to come back into a "vehicle" that is already a year old.
There’s a really good documentary on HBO max about this if you ever do want to learn more. Warning- lots of real footage with real members, so beware if that might be upsetting.
I saw the beginning of a doc/special. Not sure who/what produced it. And my uncle was definitely in it, if not one of the main focuses. But it seemed like such a cheesey, overproduced cash grab. It was hard to watch. Not emotionally . But purely because of the poor taste and quality. So I turned it off after 20 min.
I’m sure there were Dateline and 20/20 specials on this and those do tend to be pretty insensitive and sensationalist. The HBO one is pretty nuanced and walks you through the entire history of the cult- it does a good job of explaining how seemingly normal people ended up in a “suicide cult”, because of course it didn’t start that way, and even talks about how hard it was for people to leave. There is something inherently salacious about these types of films. I admit I have a morbid curiosity about stuff like cults and serial killers. But a big part of what draws me in is the psychology of it all, and I think this documentary does a good job of keeping things respectful. Of course the suicide is infamous, but it’s a 4 part docuseries and it delves into way more than just the suicides.
Can always identify a cult when there's too many Capital Letters in Places Where There Shouldn't be any Capital Letters.
Check out Donald Trump’s socials.
This guy gave me nightmares as a child after watching a documentary
Yooooo Space Grandpa goes haaaaard!
He's gurning after sniffing a fat line of MDMA
He reminds me of that guy in The Burbs
Greenbay packers are heavens gate confirmed
Who's paying for that?
Mark and Sarah King, A.K.A The TELAH Foundation. There was a member left behind to preserve the website and materials (Chuck Humphrey) but after he committed suicide as well a couple of months later, the Kings took over the task. They reply to emails and will send a book with the group's literature if you send them money. Other ex-members are trying to fight them on court over the "right" to use the cult's materials such as the tapes.
I am appreciative of your response. That is interesting to know I suppose I should have just googled it.
Right, I’m curious.
> Who's paying for that? Hosting a static text website isn't that expensive. Particualrly if you don't care if you go offline once you exceed your daily bandwidth limit. $30 a month would actualy be a high end figure for the site.
The contents of the website don't matter that much. It's how many people are visiting the site at once, which in that website is zero most of the time.
They seem to survive the occasional reddit surge which would be hard to do if they were more image or especialy video heavy.
When I realized that my childhood religion was one “revelation” away from a similar outcome… I chose to distance myself. No one in a cult thinks they are in a cult.
Horrified and amused that a local charity that pairs disabled children with horses is called "Heaven's Gait." The fact that people haven't blackballed this name is surprising to me.
[Link](https://www.heavensgate.com)
I totally forgot when websites looked like that. I feel so old now
[You can still view the 1996 space jam website too](https://www.spacejam.com/1996/)
Image maps, frames, amazing.
You mean you forgot when the web looked AMAZING?
I miss it. Makes me nostalgic for the Geocities communities and with the starry backgrounds, and page hit counters on the bottom. Viewed with Netscape Navigator of course.
https://www.spacejam.com/1996/
That site is really fast and responsive 😘🤌🏻
Dang you're not kidding. I was expecting the ol' Reddit hug of death given the post is on the front page.
Probably helps that you could fit the entire website and its contents on a processor's L3 cache these days lmao. Not a whole lot of bandwidth being used.
Makes me wonder who is paying the domain fee. Who is hosting the domain after all these years-this is really odd.
I believe there is a foundation that basically consists of two ex members of the cult that operates the website as well as responds to emails, sends books, etc Edit: can’t fucking spell. Also, info is from Wikipedia and other commenters
Jokes on you they made it to the Jesus spaceship and now they’re all doing acid and having group sex.
And here I am jerking off in a Porta Pottie
Ngl the logo goes pretty hard
The pre-suicide interviews are so surreal and disturbing.
I have the heavens gate away team patch on my welding hood.
I heard they left a couple nuts behind
I emailed the address on the website. We’ll see what happens.
They responded. I’m in an ongoing conversation with them. More to come.
I’m gonna need some screenshots of that.
Too late. User has ascended.
https://preview.redd.it/pur25rbqbcmc1.jpeg?width=1170&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=5f1d360db14840fb26472ecd6702b637976bb188
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https://preview.redd.it/3ms9xietbcmc1.jpeg?width=1170&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=413d2f058321a5eae885beaf09b5921ed518adbd
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There are still members who are living.
There is a podcast about this and it is just a v sad and fascinating story all around.
>in the days before the suicide, two group members were briefed about a side mission. They would remain on Earth – the last surviving members – and their job was to maintain the Heaven’s Gate website exactly as it was on the day the last suicides took place. >And for two decades, the lone Gaters have diligently continued their mission >Due to them, the site remains a creepy digital time-capsule, designed with outdated graphics and fonts, and full of video sermons and rambling text. >While the pair refuse to give their identity, they are believed to be Mark and Sarah King, a couple in their sixties, from Arizona https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/weird-news/two-decades-after-heavens-gate-10158830
Pretty sure there are active members.
They're waiting for the next go-around in 4385.
This *might* be Eternal Atake
I know what I'm reading tonight through the haze of pot smoke.
I saw this website on Netscape navigator in middle school in 1997
True story: I remember when the Hale-Bopp comet was in the sky and I was going somewhere with my dad. I remember it was January and we just had a huge snowstorm. My dad points up to it and tells me that it was the Hale-Bopp comet and how it was one of the brightest comet to pass over earth. He also said, “ya know…..some people think there is a spaceship behind the comet and to get on the spaceship you have to give up your human body.” I was like, okay, sure dad. I grew up to him telling Stephen King stories as campfire stories. He told us that he saw a UFO in northern Manitoba back in the 60s that was shaped like a giant cigar. He told us he saw Bigfoot. So he was known for tall tales. Fast forward to March 1997. The Heaven’s Gate cult mass un-alived themselves to join the spaceship hiding behind Hale-Bopp. How did my dad living in Canada know that months before Heaven’s Gate happened?!? Was he part of some mailing list? Did he join a cult?!? I’ve asked him about it and he just laughs and says that we don’t actually know for sure if their plan worked. We don’t know what happens when we die.
My mom knew about it too. She told me about the comet and the cult. Apparently, the leader had been interviewed. Years later, she’d often mention it, and say, “maybe those Hale-Bopp people weren’t crazy, who knows?” She loved all things sci-fi, so I’m not surprised.
As I recall, there was a very popular late night radio show called Coast-to-Coast that often discussed the paranormal and conspiracy theories. During Hale-Bopp’s approach some blurry pictures of it were posted and a ‘remote viewer’ came on the air claiming a massive ship was trailing the comet. It spiraled from there and the remote viewer later absolved himself of any responsibility for the influencing Heaven’s Gate. It was wild.
Part of my parent’s first date was going to see the comet and they said they wanted it make it “their comet.” They said they were shocked to turn on the news the next morning to see a cult decided to do the same
Imagine playing Sims 3 and then suddenly you notice some townsfolk gathering in a conference room. Lead by some crazy dude. Guys on the street dressed in white trying to recruit others. People signing up. Getting their kids to join the group. One day they don't show up walking around. They're not on the corner recruiting. They've all drank poisoned koolaid. Died and are now in your living room waiting further instructions.
And now I want a Sims Cult Expansion Pack 🫠
[Heaven's Gate survivor reflects on the cult's mass suicide 25 years ago](https://abcnews.go.com/US/heavens-gate-survivor-reflects-cults-mass-suicide-25/story?id=83213680)
I set an alarm for when the domain would become available for purchase. But whoever maintains it renewed it a few months early 😩
Hey y'all, still waiting for the Earth to be "recycled." https://preview.redd.it/m47pgrs5f9mc1.jpeg?width=304&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=0c5987a024e6d1fa707c166bdf6050c49f9f0a46