VOLUME 2 |NUMBER 1 |2011 11
The majority of those who attend ICSA conferences are intel-
ligent, humble, respectful, accomplished, and committed to
supporting personal freedoms. Through various languages
and our multicultural exposure, attendees apply obscure
backgrounds and studies to have a positive impact on and
protect others from devastating mental manipulation.
Over the years, a few attendees have impressed upon ICSA
and cult experts that those raised in cults have different
issues than do former cultists who joined and left. After all,
those of us raised in cults lack a “precult identity” to which
we can return after we leave a totalitarian ideology. Thank-
fully, ICSA now offers special recovery workshops and con-
ference tracks for second-generation adults (SGAs).
Now to my personal highlight of the conference—an in-
depth conversation with a woman I’ll call Susan. Susan and
I initially met a few years ago, over dinner at an earlier ICSA
conference. Once again, we found ourselves sitting togeth-
er at dinner on July 4th, 2010. Cult is as cult does, beyond
the façade. We know that. Yet, it was still surprising for both
Susan and me to learn that there are many similarities in
our current lives as we casually chatted over a fabulous
multicourse meal, fireworks, and New York City’s skyline
reflected on the nighttime river.
Susan was raised in a polygamist group in the Midwest. Like
me, she left the group with her children, obtained an edu-
cation and career. Her children are now self-supporting.
She remains single.
Susan was raised with the small-town support of large fami-
lies. Everyone dressed simply and worked hard, with an
agricultural and manual labor-based economy. When Susan
was 12 years old, her father took another wife, who was 14.
A strict interpretation of Christian and Mormon scripture
provided their overriding life guidance.
I was raised in a global setting that eventually settled into
small-town Iowa, with a Hinduesque flavor devout women
wore sarees, and men had assigned colors for their suits.
Many were employed outside the cult. Celibacy was the
highest calling for the spiritually devout. Our daily routine
had strict rules. Guidelines about diet, clothing, sleeping,
and even architecture developed over time. Occult-esoteric
spiritual beliefs guided life decisions. Many lived physically
away from the group in which I was raised, but remained
governed by Maharishi’s occult dictates. Years after my chil-
dren and I left, I also remain single.
Both of our groups support a spiritual hierarchy with peer
pressure for ritualized practices. The economic basis of
towns that surround our respective groups is dependent
upon the groups’ contribution to the larger local economy.
Susan said that local law enforcement and others won’t
interfere with polygamist society because the outsiders are
economically dependent upon the contributions from
polygamist groups. Many of the sheriffs attended school
with the polygamist men. They are old friends and won’t
interfere. There have been mixed marriages between those
raised in polygamy and outsiders. No one will address the
problems directly. The entire larger community is compla-
cent with the polygamist lifestyle.
I concurred. The same situation exists with Fairfield, Iowa.
Even the current town mayor is “Governor of the Age of the
Enlightenment ” his son had been arrested with a group of
other TM-raised kids in a huge, illegal, marijuana-growing
operation after the kids moved to California. The TM mayor
does a good job managing the town. But the Transcenden-
tal Meditation group believes that its meditation reduces
crime, so the community avoids fully addressing certain sit-
uations as members arise to find practical solutions for the
future. There are long-standing friendships between locals
and TMers, shared community projects, and some intermar-
riages. Locals are reticent to publicly address misrepresen-
tations, damaged psyches, or financial deceptions inherent
in the TM Movement’s programs.
The lagging economy of Fairfield, Iowa was revived
through the influx of, and remains dependent upon
Maharishi’s followers.
While the larger communities surrounding both our groups
are well aware of various child neglect and repressed activi-
ties, economic dependency and fear of social stigma halts
intervention.
Critical thinkers from both of our communities who can no
longer tolerate the larger dysfunction usually relocate to
create lives elsewhere. Both cult mentality and the sur-
rounding mixed-cult mentality repress free expression and
political activism. We suspect this must be common with
communities adjacent to other sect groups.
Susan and I both gave birth at home within our respective
groups. We both had been raised with a generalized distrust
of the medical profession. We both left with our children the
oldest child was ten years old when we left. We both raised
our children largely away from group dictates and social sup-
port. We both went deeply into debt to obtain education
while working and raising children on our own. We’ll proba-
bly never fully catch up financially. We both made blunders
as we learned to function socially and professionally without
background training. We both made it!
We both love many people from our cult-based families. We
recognize their good intentions and naïve devotion, while
we reject such restrictive lives for ourselves. Some loved
ones from our past maintain contact many reject us for
leaving and even more so for publicly revealing the under-
belly of our respective heritages.
We also discussed how many cult “experts” don’t under-
stand our mixed allegiances and the ongoing effects upon
our daily lives. We cannot completely leave the group-think
in our past because our families continue to carry multigen-
erational effects.
We found that we are strong because of our choice to leave
a seemingly secure and narrow worldview. Now we each
conduct active personal and professional lives unrelated to
our cult families.
We both have experienced intimate relationships that are
threatened by our history. Having tried to deny the past,
10 ICSA TODAY
H
aving just returned from 2010’s annual conference of
the International Cultic Studies Association (ICSA) in New
York, my friends at home inquire what I found the most
impactful from this year’s conference.
My conversations with those who study destructive cults
and coercive persuasion around the world are the most
rewarding aspect of these ICSA conferences. Over the
years, some of us have developed warm, “hot-chocolate”
relationships. Some attendees are researchers and writers
on long-term effects of destructive cults others are periph-
eral in the field. Still others consult to governments and
publish on the seduction methods of charismatic destruc-
tive groups. Not all attendees have direct cult experience
some are therapists, academicians, and attorneys who work
with these issues professionally without ever having been
directly involved. Their humility, knowledge, and commit-
ment are inspirational. There is comfort to be with a group
that does not judge others because of an unusual history.
Post-Conference
and
Third-
Generation
Thoughts
By Gina Catena, M.S., N.P., C.N.M.
Cult Is As Cult Does
ICSA_volume3_proof6 5/10/11 12:14 PM Page 12
The majority of those who attend ICSA conferences are intel-
ligent, humble, respectful, accomplished, and committed to
supporting personal freedoms. Through various languages
and our multicultural exposure, attendees apply obscure
backgrounds and studies to have a positive impact on and
protect others from devastating mental manipulation.
Over the years, a few attendees have impressed upon ICSA
and cult experts that those raised in cults have different
issues than do former cultists who joined and left. After all,
those of us raised in cults lack a “precult identity” to which
we can return after we leave a totalitarian ideology. Thank-
fully, ICSA now offers special recovery workshops and con-
ference tracks for second-generation adults (SGAs).
Now to my personal highlight of the conference—an in-
depth conversation with a woman I’ll call Susan. Susan and
I initially met a few years ago, over dinner at an earlier ICSA
conference. Once again, we found ourselves sitting togeth-
er at dinner on July 4th, 2010. Cult is as cult does, beyond
the façade. We know that. Yet, it was still surprising for both
Susan and me to learn that there are many similarities in
our current lives as we casually chatted over a fabulous
multicourse meal, fireworks, and New York City’s skyline
reflected on the nighttime river.
Susan was raised in a polygamist group in the Midwest. Like
me, she left the group with her children, obtained an edu-
cation and career. Her children are now self-supporting.
She remains single.
Susan was raised with the small-town support of large fami-
lies. Everyone dressed simply and worked hard, with an
agricultural and manual labor-based economy. When Susan
was 12 years old, her father took another wife, who was 14.
A strict interpretation of Christian and Mormon scripture
provided their overriding life guidance.
I was raised in a global setting that eventually settled into
small-town Iowa, with a Hinduesque flavor devout women
wore sarees, and men had assigned colors for their suits.
Many were employed outside the cult. Celibacy was the
highest calling for the spiritually devout. Our daily routine
had strict rules. Guidelines about diet, clothing, sleeping,
and even architecture developed over time. Occult-esoteric
spiritual beliefs guided life decisions. Many lived physically
away from the group in which I was raised, but remained
governed by Maharishi’s occult dictates. Years after my chil-
dren and I left, I also remain single.
Both of our groups support a spiritual hierarchy with peer
pressure for ritualized practices. The economic basis of
towns that surround our respective groups is dependent
upon the groups’ contribution to the larger local economy.
Susan said that local law enforcement and others won’t
interfere with polygamist society because the outsiders are
economically dependent upon the contributions from
polygamist groups. Many of the sheriffs attended school
with the polygamist men. They are old friends and won’t
interfere. There have been mixed marriages between those
raised in polygamy and outsiders. No one will address the
problems directly. The entire larger community is compla-
cent with the polygamist lifestyle.
I concurred. The same situation exists with Fairfield, Iowa.
Even the current town mayor is “Governor of the Age of the
Enlightenment ” his son had been arrested with a group of
other TM-raised kids in a huge, illegal, marijuana-growing
operation after the kids moved to California. The TM mayor
does a good job managing the town. But the Transcenden-
tal Meditation group believes that its meditation reduces
crime, so the community avoids fully addressing certain sit-
uations as members arise to find practical solutions for the
future. There are long-standing friendships between locals
and TMers, shared community projects, and some intermar-
riages. Locals are reticent to publicly address misrepresen-
tations, damaged psyches, or financial deceptions inherent
in the TM Movement’s programs.
The lagging economy of Fairfield, Iowa was revived
through the influx of, and remains dependent upon
Maharishi’s followers.
While the larger communities surrounding both our groups
are well aware of various child neglect and repressed activi-
ties, economic dependency and fear of social stigma halts
intervention.
Critical thinkers from both of our communities who can no
longer tolerate the larger dysfunction usually relocate to
create lives elsewhere. Both cult mentality and the sur-
rounding mixed-cult mentality repress free expression and
political activism. We suspect this must be common with
communities adjacent to other sect groups.
Susan and I both gave birth at home within our respective
groups. We both had been raised with a generalized distrust
of the medical profession. We both left with our children the
oldest child was ten years old when we left. We both raised
our children largely away from group dictates and social sup-
port. We both went deeply into debt to obtain education
while working and raising children on our own. We’ll proba-
bly never fully catch up financially. We both made blunders
as we learned to function socially and professionally without
background training. We both made it!
We both love many people from our cult-based families. We
recognize their good intentions and naïve devotion, while
we reject such restrictive lives for ourselves. Some loved
ones from our past maintain contact many reject us for
leaving and even more so for publicly revealing the under-
belly of our respective heritages.
We also discussed how many cult “experts” don’t under-
stand our mixed allegiances and the ongoing effects upon
our daily lives. We cannot completely leave the group-think
in our past because our families continue to carry multigen-
erational effects.
We found that we are strong because of our choice to leave
a seemingly secure and narrow worldview. Now we each
conduct active personal and professional lives unrelated to
our cult families.
We both have experienced intimate relationships that are
threatened by our history. Having tried to deny the past,
10 ICSA TODAY
H
aving just returned from 2010’s annual conference of
the International Cultic Studies Association (ICSA) in New
York, my friends at home inquire what I found the most
impactful from this year’s conference.
My conversations with those who study destructive cults
and coercive persuasion around the world are the most
rewarding aspect of these ICSA conferences. Over the
years, some of us have developed warm, “hot-chocolate”
relationships. Some attendees are researchers and writers
on long-term effects of destructive cults others are periph-
eral in the field. Still others consult to governments and
publish on the seduction methods of charismatic destruc-
tive groups. Not all attendees have direct cult experience
some are therapists, academicians, and attorneys who work
with these issues professionally without ever having been
directly involved. Their humility, knowledge, and commit-
ment are inspirational. There is comfort to be with a group
that does not judge others because of an unusual history.
Post-Conference
and
Third-
Generation
Thoughts
By Gina Catena, M.S., N.P., C.N.M.
Cult Is As Cult Does
ICSA_volume3_proof6 5/10/11 12:14 PM Page 12
