The Pied-Piper type.


[forum.culteducation.com]

Meh writes"

"One of the ploys he uses to enlist their loyalty is to request their assistance on certain things - convince them that he needs their help."

This is an ingredient in the seduction into bondage process that
is rarely identified.

Very well thought out for the TV show to include that element.

Most of us imagine the cult leader as someone being looked up to and
adored by dependants and submissives.

Yes, there is that element.

But, a very shrewd move is for the guru or charismatic to ask us
for our help.

Another brilliant move is for the guru to "play cute" be sort of childish giggly
-evince a small child side that brings out the nurturing parent in us.

At other times the guru may play the pathetic child ("no one understands me but you" -- which also elicits protectiveness from disciples.

This does at least two things

*Plays to our strengths, or what we consider our strengths. I can tell you
all that back when I was in the peace movement, I ignored all pleas
that I take it easy and get some rest. I had lots of misery in other parts of my
life, so being helpful and selfs sacrificial was the only area where I felt
I had any usefullness and where I felt I had agency. I was hooked on feeling
'helpful.'

So this service component is a potent ingredient in bondage. Had a pal who
bonded me closer to her by being sick all the time and getting me and other friends of hers to run errands for her -- constantly.

* It also elicits our compassion and may be a way for many to
experience the tender nurturing side of themselves by parenting, protecting
nurturing the charismatic by running errands and, most important *protecting
the image of the leader from harsh outside scrutiny and also protecting the image of the leader from our own doubts.

This nurturance is readily elicited from girls and women.

But very many men crave this outlet for a tender side of themselves they
usually feel forced to disown. Protecting a leader brings out a lot of
energy in men, too. Guard duty. Being one of a band of men proteting the public
image of a leader can give male disciples that 'band of brothers' feeling, a feeling of mission.

Great observations, corboy, and spot-on.

There's one scene where the cult-leader is trying to re-bond with his son; he was imprisoned when the kid was a baby, and he's now about 10. Daddy comes into the kitchen to make s'mores, his "favorite food ever." He clumsily makes a botch of it and asks his son to help him . . . poor guy hasn't made them for so long that he can't quite remember how to do it properly. Finally, his little boy relents with an exasperated roll of his eyes and a warm little smile. It wouldn't surprise me if there's a subconscious association that someone who is a little ditzy and helpless can't possibly be that dangerous.

As I mentioned, there's some really dumb stuff, but they've gotten some of the important elements right.

Of course, as cult members, we all stepped forward to help das org, whether it was to call members who hadn't been to meetings for a while, work on the schedule or drive someone to a meeting. Just another piece of perversity that by being so helpful, we were glued ever more tightly to the group that was trying to bleed us of our individual humanity.

Meh wrote:

"It wouldn't surprise me if there's a subconscious association
that someone who is a little ditzy and helpless can't possibly be that dangerous."

Acting stupid and ditzy can be a brilliant move.

Read an anecdote by someone in the fashion industry.

I cant find the book, so here is a paraphrase.

Elizabeth Hawes, an American designer, was put off by a cute little miss who was Miss Ditz incranate. This person
came across as a little girl type -- and lisped when she'd ask, coyly,

"An how muth isth thith little bitty thiyng??"

Hawes muttered to a male comrade. Hawes, a sharp smart lady, wondered
how someone so stupid could stay in business.

Her pal replied, "Don't be fooled. She's pretending.
While she's lisping her cute questions, everyone leaning forward to understand, she's mentally calculating how much profit she'll get
selling it in gross."

Shifting gears,

Here is a contribution made some years ago to this board. It is by
The Anticult, who analyzed the tactics of the
'crazy like a fox' presentation.

[forum.culteducation.com]

Corboy: Giggling and wiggling around can be confusion inducing. I saw the Dalai Lama do this during a two day lecture and it added to my exhaustion. Found it
distracting as fucking hell.

Maharishi Mahesh Yogi and Sri Sri Ravi Shankar also do the wiggle giggle.

That laugh, giggle sparkly eye technique can be quite beguiling, especially if
males learn to use it. Gives them a sense of being childlike, enchanting, 'free'. Knocks us off balance a bit.

Whoever wrote scripts for that show must have either been in a high demand
group or have taken care to interview a lot of people.

(Maybe have sat and done some reading of this very message board? If so,
give them a wave and thank them for turning this into great TV. That
is how to educate the world.)

Watch out for the ditzy cute 'crazy like a fox' ploy.

In the 1910s, Gurdjieff, who was perhaps one of the
most adept covert trance technicians of his day, had a
habit of speaking in an accent that was both unfamiliar and
quite difficult for listeners to understand.

This meant they focused their attention all the harder to
understand him -- and this is a main ingredient in trance.

Gurdjieff also used a lot of confusing words and sentences.

I dare speculate that the people who created neurolinguistic programming
may have learned a great deal not only by studying Dr Milton Erickson, the
medical hypnotist, but also by studying Gurdjieff's bag of tricks.

This is very heavy stuff.

And used for bad purposes in excess, these techniques will
poison and blight the abuser.

Whatever power one gets will be an empty spill of ashesh.

The array of tools these charlatans have at their disposal is kind of amazing. It makes me wonder if some people just intuitively know how to manipulate their intended victims vs how many have actually studied the methods.

Years ago, I worked for a small s/w firm, reporting to the cfo. He asked me to do a couple of things that were highly questionable; I went to HR, and they did some after-hours checking on his computer, and found enough evidence to not only have him arrested on criminal charges, but to sue the shit out of him.

I was tasked with cleaning his office out, and while going through his file cabinet was utterly horrified to find a pile of books on hypnosis and a document certifying him as a hypnotist. He was creepy and unethical anyway, but finding those materials made him even more so.

Most people just don't understand how easy it is to be manipulated and even put into a light trance.

Am very sure that some of these
tricks go back thousands of years.

[forum.culteducation.com]

In the second century C.E. Lucian of Samosata, a teacher of
rhetoric who also loved humor, wrote some essays which
have survived.

One exposes a maverick mystic named Perigrinus.

[www.google.com]

The more interesting one for our purposes describes someone
Lucian regarded as a con artist who became rich and famous
by creating a religion based on a miracle working snake.

Alexander created a medical healing gig and it paid off.

Archeological evidence has been found in the form of emblems
issued by "Alexander" and his snake "Glycon"

[www.google.com]

Here's the quote:

" Well, as I say, Alexander made predictions and gave oracles, employing great shrewdness in it and combining guesswork with his trickery. He gave responses that were sometimes obscure and am­biguous, sometimes downright unintelligible, for this seemed to him in the oracular manner. Some people he dissuaded or encouraged as seemed best to him at a guess. To others he prescribed medical treatments and diets, knowing, as I said in the beginning, many useful remedies. His “cytmides” were in highest favour with him—a name which he had coined for a restorative ointment compounded of bear’s grease. Expectations, however, and advancements and successions to estates he always put off to another day, adding: “It shall all come about when I will, and when Alexander, my prophet, asks it of me and prays for you.”

23. A price had been fixed for each oracle, a drachma and two obols. Do not think that it was low, my friend, or that the revenue from this source was scanty! He gleaned as much as seventy or eighty thousand a year, since men were so greedy as to send in ten and fifteen questions each. What he received he did not use for himself alone nor treasure up to make himself rich, but since he had many men about him by this time as assistants, servants, collectors of information, writers of oracles, custodians of oracles, clerks, sealers, and expounders, he divided with all, giving each one what was proportionate to his worth.

24. By now he was even sending men abroad to create rumours in the different nations in regard to the oracle and to say that he made predictions, discovered fugitive slaves, detected thieves and robbers, caused treasures to be dug up, healed the sick, and in some cases had actually raised the dead. So there was a hustling and a bustling from every side, with sacrifices and votive offerings—and twice as much for the prophet and disciple of the god. For this oracle also had come out:

“Honour I bid you to give my faithful servant, the prophet;
No great store do I set upon riches, but much on the prophet.”

25. When at last many sensible men, recovering, as it were, from profound intoxication, combined against him, especially all the followers of Epicurus, and when in the cities they began gradually to detect all the trickery and buncombe of the show, he issued a promulgation designed to scare them, saying that Pontus was full of atheists and Christians who had the hardihood to utter the vilest abuse of him; these he bade them drive away with stones if they wanted to have the god gracious. About Epicurus, moreover, he delivered himself of an oracle after this sort; when someone asked him how Epicurus was doing in Hades, he replied:

“With leaden fetters on his feet in filthy mire he sitteth.”

Do you wonder, then, that the shrine waxed great, now that you see that the questions of its visitors were intelligent and refined?"

Sound familiar? It should O_O

Today is the first anniversary of my own personal Independence Day - I left sgi just one short year ago!

Thanks to all of you for your support, kindness and humor. I'm not sure I could have done it if y'all hadn't been there.

And, since my move to upstate NY was successfully completed last weekend, I should probably be a little more careful with that "y'all" thing . . .

What a huge move! Congratulations.

Now, right now, go looking for winter clothing. Summertime is
best.

You want advice on boots that fit.

You also want lessons about how to drive on black ice. And when
not to drive at all.

What to keep in your car trunk at all times.

How to stock up supplies so you have enough in case of power outages.

And...warning. Unless you are an athlete, shoveling snow is tough
on the body. People screw up shoulders and backs. And some trigger
heart attacks.

The mistakes with snow shoveling are to run out, no warm up, no
physical conditioning, you're under a time crunch and go at it
like Paul Bunyan on speed.

And dribbles of water on pavement can freeze into invisible, transparent
slip hazards.

You want to get thorough tutoring on all this.

Your neighborhood fire house can be a source of info and also
tips for further resources.

And dont laugh. So will staff members at the local emergency room. They
can point you to sources of information.

If you do not have one, get an exercise bike or treadmill for indoor use
so you can exercise when the weather socks you in.

Thanks for all the advice, corboy! My daughter and son-in-law have lived in the area for more than a decade - he's a volunteer fireman/emt and my daughter is the Queen of Safety, so I've already been made aware. Plus, I'm originally a mid-Atlantic girl; we had nearly seven feet of snow in the Philadelphia area last year. While I don't enjoy it, I have total respect for snow, black ice and other lousy road conditions.

Living in an apartment gives me the advantage of rarely having to shovel snow and not worrying too much about having to dig out.

I do plan on expanding my polar fleece collection - this is the first day in the week I've been here when the temp is going over 60 or so. My apartment complex was built in the 70's, and is very heavily wooded, so it's been chilly. I'll be grateful for that in July and August!

The greatest source of pleasure has been taking breaks and sitting out on the porch - brick to the top-of-the-thigh level and open on two sides. I can sit out there and just enjoy the sun trying to make its way through the pine, oak and maple trees out there. Pure luxury, with a cup of herbal tea at my side! I've put up a nice little gate for the dog, so he can enjoy it with me. Unfortunately, the cat got out on Wednesday - I'm hoping he returns, but I'm not optimistic about it at this point.