Have you ever wondered what it would be like to join a Cult group?  I feel so bad  because I found a site that asked if anyone had any experiences with Cult groups and I didn't get a chance to talk to them!

A while back I dedicated a year of my life to physically seek out as many Christian churches and witches coven groups I could find because I'm Christian and Wicca friendly and most of the people I met were nice and it was a positive experience, but out of the 20 groups I went to that year there were 3 groups that really gave me the creeps.  I thought this would be a good subject to talk about and give you some things to think about if you ever decide to visit a Christian church or Pagan religious group for the first time.

Let's face it, going to a religous place for the first time can be very scary and intimidating, but it can also be very rewarding as well.  After the 3 bad experiences I had though I felt it was important to come up with some kind of stragety to keep myself safe from people who may want to exploit me.  I hope what I have to share is helpful to keep you from being a victim of a cult group.

As a result of what I experienced I came up with a list of red flags to watch for and hope this can help you too, after I list the warning signs to look out for I will briefly tell you what happened to the 3 groups that gave me trouble.

(A) If the new group you are visiting insists to cut off all contact with the outside world while you are in their presence, time to run!

(B) If you are being pressured to do something that is against your principals, your morals or makes you feel uncomfortable, run!

(C) If the new group you are visiting insists that everything is evil and they are the only path to salvation, run fast!!!

(D) If the new group is verbally abusive, shunning, demeaning to any of their members or to you, time to take a hike!

(E) I once went to a place that was so paranoid that they were going to be persecuted and martyred any second, I felt they lost all touch with reality. The amazing thing is that this group was an established and respected Christian Church, in a nearby city of mine!

(F) If the new group encourages any kind of harassment or oppression of people that are outside of their faith, beliefs, or disagrees with them, it's time to get your running shoes on ha ha!

(G) If the new group you are with is trying to control you life and making decisions for you "In your best interests", run as fast as you can!!!

I hope you understand that I am in no way trying to discourage you from finding a Church or group of people that you can relate to, just please be careful because I have found from experience that cult groups can form from any Pagan or Christian background and no faith is completely safe from being corrupted by a charasmatic leader or group of people that wants to control you life and manipulate you.

I visited a lot of coven witch groups in my area, and most were very loving people that were famly friendly, accepting and not plotting to harm anyone and I will list some of the groups I went to that were helpful: (1) The Sister Order Of Syblings (2) Eclectic Traditions (3) Lycerian Witches (4) Covenant of the Goddess (5) Sacred Wells Congregration, but unfortunately there was one group I attended that wasn't nice and as a result this was the:

1st cult group I escaped from

There was this one coven group that had free classes and was recruiting people to join their coven that were not nice.  The High Priestess I met from this group seemed like a nice person at first.  She seemed to genuinely care about her students and helped them develope their talents, but the more contact I had with this group the more I noticed the red flags I should have noticed to get away from them quickly before it was too late to leave!  The last time I ever visited their group was when I went to their Samhain Sabbath and it was nice, but after the ritual occurred, the people there were saying some bad things about some of their "Ex" members and how they are going to have to get even with them?  They were very paraniod, and their fixation to get even with people made it very easy for me to say bye bye to them.  After I left the group though I got some harassing emails, and a few threats, from them, but I am a strong person and they got the message that I can't be intimidated by them or anyone else for that matter!

the 2nd cult group I escaped from

I went to a very beautiful looking well kept Christian Church in my city so I went inside and the congregration greeted me warmly, but when the service started they were really fixated on religous perscution and believing everyone was out to get them and it was strange, just like the witch coven group were paranoid these people seemed paranoid too.  The religous message for that day was that we needed to wear our righteous armor, and sharpen our swords to defend the Christian truth from the eveyone that is going to harm them it was strange?  Well after the services were over there were a group of people that came to me and they were so happy I came.  They even invited me to come back later in the evening so that I can help them sharpen their swords for the Lord!  I didn't ask them if their swords were figuratively or literally I just thanked them and got out of there as fast as I could!

3rd Cult group I escaped from

I don't know if it is fair to call this last Christian start up group I went to a cult group, but the young preacher violated my red flag concern when he said in His sermon that He doesn't want us to make any decisions on our own, he will make it for us!  He even gave us his phone number to call if we needed to make a decision and he will tell us what to do!  I'm sorry sir, but No!  Thankyou for allowing me to visit your church, God Bless and Goodbye!  This temporary church was in a strip mall and there were only 6 people including me attending his evening service, but it felt too controlling and creepy for me to feel safe or to give them another chance sorry!

When I try to find a group of people to hang out with I really want to find people that I can love, feel like I'm part of their family and be accepted for who I am while we search for our reason for being here and the Divine we believe is watching over us.  I think that is the goal of most people who want to feel accepted, and find people with similiar beliefs you can worship with in peace. Thanks so much for allowing me to share some of my experiences and concerns with you and hope what I said is helpful to keep you from becoming a victim!

I understand that when you find people that seem to be nice and have your best interst at heart you want to be accepted, but please don't let anyone ever pressure you to do anything you are uncomfortable with or think is wrong.  Peer pressur can make you vunerable to doing something you may regret later and just know you have the right to say NO!  There is no shame to walk away from people who want to exploit, control or use you for their purposes, because they are not your friends and never will be!  Take care of yourself, God bless and want you to know I care and love you very much, sisters and brothers!