When anthropologist-turned-mystical writer Carlos Castaneda retired from the public eye back in 1973, he disappeared into a secretive cult of his own making. His dozen books on shamanism are read to this day by millions of people. One reader in particular, a coach in Ukraine, became so influenced by the writer’s work that he used it to create a harrowing cult to control fighters for financial gain.
One fighter was lucky enough to get away.
Cult is a largely notorious term.
Broken down to its simplest form, a cult is a social or religious group with a novel set of beliefs, a deviation from social standard, fighting against the conveyer belt of conformity, under the control of an individual or individuals who use those beliefs to exert control over the other believers.