Cultic Studies Review, Vol. 3, Nos. 2 &3, 2004, Page 87
had to go through the tests, train to develop, and prove readiness to the Next Level. Ti and
Do, as the Next Level‘s representatives here on Earth, were key to that process. Nothing
was given, except that which was given by their leaders.
After a time, based on group discussions, adherents understood something even more
significant than the deposit of knowledge. They came to understand that they, like their
leaders, were also beings from the Next Level who had assumed, or taken over, human
bodies. Thus, it was not only Ti and Do who were not human, but also the students were not
human, had never been human, and did not belong here. They were all part of an
extraterrestrial crew sent here for training and now waiting to go home. This is a very
significant factor affecting the group‘s sense of cohesion, as well as a major source of each
member‘s loyalty to the group. This idea, perhaps more than any other, bound them to the
system, to each other, and to their leaders. The Heaven‘s Gate worldview cleverly served to
make sense of the adherents‘ pre-group lives by reframing their past experiences. The
alienation prevalent among many of their generation was particularized in each one of them
by the group‘s teachings. The result was that students believed that any sense of alienation
they might have felt was directly attributable to a prior connection to the Next Level and
their real purpose here on Earth, which was to leave and go back home.
The Self-Sealing System: Bounded Reality
As the social dynamic closes in on itself, adherents find themselves living within a bounded
reality whose parameters are enclosed and defined by the self-sealing system. This is
evidenced in each dimension as follows:
Charismatic authority: leadership was secretive and inaccessible
Transcendent belief system: group doctrine was inviolable, came down from
on high, and required personal transformation according to a formula set out
by the leader/group
Systems of control: rigid boundaries defined inaccessible space and topics
closed to discussion or inquiry
Systems of influence: internalized norms, all-pervasive modeling, and
constant peer monitoring ruled out inappropriate questioning
In the case of Heaven‘s Gate, this social reality evolved as a self-fulfilling prophecy. As the
years passed, Applewhite and his students grew old together. During the many years of
being sequestered, the members had bonded into a closed, unified group. In August 1994
they produced a poster with a bold, all-capitalized headline blaring out at the world:
UFO TWO AND CREW SAY:
―THE SHEDDING OF OUR BORROWED HUMAN BODIES MAY BE REQUIRED IN
ORDER TO TAKE OUR NEW BODIES BELONGING TO THE NEXT WORLD.‖
IF YOU WANT TO LEAVE WITH US YOU MUST BE WILLING TO LOSE
EVERYTHING OF THIS WORLD IN ORDER TO HAVE LIFE IN THE NEXT.
CLING TO THIS WORLD AND YOU‘LL SURELY DIE.
From this statement it is apparent that the physical metamorphosis talked about in the early
years had evolved into an understanding that they would be leaving behind their human
bodies, mere ―vehicles‖ to be shed ―like an old used car,‖ as one student remarked in his
exit statement.
Over time the group‘s discourse had turned more to evacuation and leaving the planet. On
the Internet members were posting more and more statements about leaving and about the
wasteland of planet Earth and human life. Apparently their messages were not well received
had to go through the tests, train to develop, and prove readiness to the Next Level. Ti and
Do, as the Next Level‘s representatives here on Earth, were key to that process. Nothing
was given, except that which was given by their leaders.
After a time, based on group discussions, adherents understood something even more
significant than the deposit of knowledge. They came to understand that they, like their
leaders, were also beings from the Next Level who had assumed, or taken over, human
bodies. Thus, it was not only Ti and Do who were not human, but also the students were not
human, had never been human, and did not belong here. They were all part of an
extraterrestrial crew sent here for training and now waiting to go home. This is a very
significant factor affecting the group‘s sense of cohesion, as well as a major source of each
member‘s loyalty to the group. This idea, perhaps more than any other, bound them to the
system, to each other, and to their leaders. The Heaven‘s Gate worldview cleverly served to
make sense of the adherents‘ pre-group lives by reframing their past experiences. The
alienation prevalent among many of their generation was particularized in each one of them
by the group‘s teachings. The result was that students believed that any sense of alienation
they might have felt was directly attributable to a prior connection to the Next Level and
their real purpose here on Earth, which was to leave and go back home.
The Self-Sealing System: Bounded Reality
As the social dynamic closes in on itself, adherents find themselves living within a bounded
reality whose parameters are enclosed and defined by the self-sealing system. This is
evidenced in each dimension as follows:
Charismatic authority: leadership was secretive and inaccessible
Transcendent belief system: group doctrine was inviolable, came down from
on high, and required personal transformation according to a formula set out
by the leader/group
Systems of control: rigid boundaries defined inaccessible space and topics
closed to discussion or inquiry
Systems of influence: internalized norms, all-pervasive modeling, and
constant peer monitoring ruled out inappropriate questioning
In the case of Heaven‘s Gate, this social reality evolved as a self-fulfilling prophecy. As the
years passed, Applewhite and his students grew old together. During the many years of
being sequestered, the members had bonded into a closed, unified group. In August 1994
they produced a poster with a bold, all-capitalized headline blaring out at the world:
UFO TWO AND CREW SAY:
―THE SHEDDING OF OUR BORROWED HUMAN BODIES MAY BE REQUIRED IN
ORDER TO TAKE OUR NEW BODIES BELONGING TO THE NEXT WORLD.‖
IF YOU WANT TO LEAVE WITH US YOU MUST BE WILLING TO LOSE
EVERYTHING OF THIS WORLD IN ORDER TO HAVE LIFE IN THE NEXT.
CLING TO THIS WORLD AND YOU‘LL SURELY DIE.
From this statement it is apparent that the physical metamorphosis talked about in the early
years had evolved into an understanding that they would be leaving behind their human
bodies, mere ―vehicles‖ to be shed ―like an old used car,‖ as one student remarked in his
exit statement.
Over time the group‘s discourse had turned more to evacuation and leaving the planet. On
the Internet members were posting more and more statements about leaving and about the
wasteland of planet Earth and human life. Apparently their messages were not well received
