Not sure if this is the right place to post this, but my sister and brother and I are concerned about our other sister and her family.

For the past 4 years she has been isolating herself and her children from us more and more, to the point where we never see or hear from them. There are many 'signs' that we see that could be considered 'warning sign's I guess of joining a cult (based on some of the sites I've reserached tonight). We are completely naive when it comes to this, so please excuse me if I'm inappropriate in any of my wordings here, or inappropriate for even listing a 'sign' that really is just a lifestyle choice that has nothing to do with a cult involvement.

1 - she talks often of 'the source' and 'him' telling her family 'the way' and showing them 'the light' for all of their decisions.

2 - They fasted for 30 days last year, and are now completely raw (children and adults.)

3 - they began to give away all of their possessions about 3 years ago.

4 - all conversation is very stilted and somewhat 'one way'... meaning when I talk to her it's all in generalities, no specifics. Of course, this is just a feeling I guess too and might just be a sign of a strained sibling relationship rather than anything else, but I thought I'd list it in case it was significant.

5 - she pulled her children from school and started homeschooling last year (I realize this might have no significance whatsoever, but from what I've read of homeschooling there is encouraged interaction with other homeschooling families, but my sister is not doing that... she keeps them isolated from the other homeschooling families).

6 - She's been talking about moving to a remote location in New Mexico (she's not very specific of the exact location ever, she once mentioned Taos and El Dorado) for quite some time, and now (the immediate reason for this email) we found out through a phone message 24 hours ago that they are leaving Wednesday morning (this Wednesday) to drive 900 miles to Sante Fe, NM. where they have no address or phone # to give us, and she's not sure her cell phone will work. Her husband quit his job (didn't give them 2 weeks notice) to do this.

6 - Whenever we speak of getting together she has some obstacle which is in the way but says that when 'the source' says it is time we will all be together.

Should we be worried? Any one have any experience with this behaviour? Sorry to sound so green, we just don't want to look back after not speaking to her or her children for years and say 'why didn't we see the signs and do something?' to ourselves.

thank you in advance for any insight, or even a pointer in the right direction of where to research more.

Jodi

This might be an abusive/controlling relationship.

See [www.culteducation.com]

From what you described, your intuition sounds quite accurate. Many cult leaders will describe themselves as the center of all knowledge and enlightment. Cults also seek to provide little or no information to those outside the cult, similar to what you are experiencing. In addition, they also seek to isolate their members from "corrupting" influences, ie: those outside the cult who are still are in control of their independent decision-making capabilities.

Has she mentioned who this "source" might be? Has she given this person a lot of money over the past year or so? Was her husband the first one to encounter the "source"?

Anyone who claims to be the centre of all knowledge and enlightenment, isn't. Simple as that. Because the wise know, the more you know, the more you don't know.

Agreed - part of wisdom is knowing what you don't know.