001 - Idea Playground
The aim of this page is to collect any and all ideas or sparks that may occur to me. Not all of them will be golden, and not all of them will be useful, but I am committing here to writing them all down.
Could I create some cults within the Clebveth?
Where would be a good setting for a cult?
Could there be a Minoran cult? How would that work? What would that look like?
Do I need to create a new world for this world of cults and magic? Is sci fi the best setting?
What if...
- ...a cult follower started developing magic powers?
- ...a cult follower developed magic powers which were stronger than those of the leader?
- ...everyone believed a cult leader had magic powers, but they didn't?
...and if you look to your left, you will see the tower of XXX. The high- placed stained-glass windows and the curvature of the eastern side are typical of architecture from this period. The more observant among you will also notice the charring on the southern edge which dates from one of the many mage wars. There's actually a rather good story about that but we'll come to it later. Let's start with the tower itself. It took 487 years for the tower to be built. Stories say that the builders were deliberately held up for the final two months so the last stone may be laid exactly 487 years after the first, a prime number.
Such as the way of things on prime then. Numbers meant something.Words meant something. Meaning lay thick and heavy over the planet like a shroud because prime meant something.
| Novel 3 | Ideas |
|
|---|---|
| What if...? |
|
| Tone |
|
What causes someone to join a cult? What is it that draws people in? What situation do people need to be in to join a cult?
What people forget of course is that the tower was not merely made within the span of a prime number. It's construction was started on a prime year and ended on such. For this was to be a unique tower tower in divisible by any and so the dates and use must be unique With the loss of the old calendar and forgetting the old ways such details have been lost to time and space. The details two have been lost such as the glee worn on the builders face when he first received the commission the tears of frustration he and those who followed , cried at the impossible tasks they were asked to endure the Wilde that was felt by many upon the impossible towers completion.
Cult Leader Playbook
Example Cult Leaders
- Charles Manson
- Jim Jones
- Jaime Gomez
- Marshall Applewhite
- Shoko Asahara
- Sun Myung Moon
What Is A Cult?
A group centered around a powerful, charismatic, often autocratic figure.Can use mindcontrol and surpression of free thought.
Humans want easy answers and to be part of something bigger than themselves. Make the world a better place.
Build Your Foundation
Charles Manson - he was an actor and he loved playing a role.Embrace Your Calling
You don't get to be a cult leader by saying you're just like everyone else. Extorting people as a child, or beating them. Visions of a god. Manson - target of bullying as a child, persuades some people to sympathise and gets them to take revenge on his behalf and then take the fall for him too.Get Your Dogma Down
Craft a unique believe system with yourself at the center. Cult leaders follow whatever is useful for them. Takes time to craft and create them, but use to manipulate others. Listen to other sources and pull out what's useful. Can be eclectic mix.Types of Cult
- Religious
- Self-help
- Success - achievement
- New Age - spirituality
- Personality - following a person
Craft Your Persona
How you choose to present yourself to the world makes all the difference. Demonstrate you can do something no one else can do. Nothing wrong with trying different styles until you find one that works for you. Make the most of the social situations. Find groups of people who are particularly vulnerable and looking for meaning. Understand your moment. Charisma - ability to form connection between them and any person. Know how to use it. Practice makes perfect. Reinvent yourself to fit the times.Find Your Target Demo
What To Look Out For In Followers
- Open minded
- Idealistic
- Want to fix the world
- Young
- Trying to figure out who you are without family
- Feel lost
Timing is everything. People who want something you can convince them you're providing or can provide. They can be sweet, naive. Someone who's need you can play to. "He's completely happy and warm." - description of Manson by followers.
Bruised by not broken. If they're completely helpless they're of no use.
Make them feel special.
Test People's Loyalty
Know who's got your back. Test them to show they have faith in you. The action matters less than the fact that they'll follow it. E.g. Celibacy, castration, wrestling, drug taking - Leader doesn't have to do this, only followers. Mind games. "You don't need to eat. You don't feel pain." See if they'll do it. Manson: Creepy Crawling - sneeking into other people's houses at night, to change things in their house and eat their food - a way to gage obedience and messes with people's minds about what's right and what's wrong. Blurs the lines.Make Noise
Have a plan to grab the spotlight. Use the followers you have. If the thing you predict doesn't come true, then make them happen.Grow Your Flock
Give people something to believe in. Don't let them feel manipulated. Jim Jones - 20k devotees across 2 continents.- charismatic, intelligent Obsessed with religion from a young age. Fascinated by Hitler - who killed himself rather than surrender. Civil rights leader in the 50s. He was all about social justice.Blow People's Minds
Establish a higher authority. Make people think you're in some way special or even magical. Show them a miracle. JJ sensed people's pain and healed them. Fake it if you need to. Put on a good show. Artistry mixed with deception and religion.Personalise Your Pitch
Find a way to reach people from all walks of life. Make people feel like they're important. Content doesn't matter, speaking to masses and connecting with them is what matters.
Code Switching
Alternating between different dialects or languages within the space of a single conversation or sentence. e.g. using local words to connect to the audience. And talk about things the audience is interested in.Make Everyone Chip In
It feels good to connect people. Making people live together encourages them to bond and reduces the chances of them leaving. "Apostolic Socialism" - term created by Jim Jones. Sign over all worldly wealth to the church and live together. Sell any real estate and give money to the church. Make people feel guilty. You made all these sacrifices to help them, isn't it time they helped you? You could have been rich. They shouldn't give it a single thought. They can do unpaid labour too. Make people feel as though they are contributing and gain total control over them.Expand Your Territory
You need to be more than a big fish in a small pond. You need more followers than the rest. Go around, collect people and bring them back to your compound. Also sell things to make more money. Take sheep from other flocks as well.Always Have Back Up
Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh relied on his spokeswoman, Ma Anand Sheela, to protect his reputation.
NXIVM leader Keith Raniere had high-ranking member Lauren Salzman force female recruits to provide comprimising photos to make sure they remained faithful.
Shoko Asahara's inner circle killed a lapsed disciple who threatened to reveal his secrets.
Jim Jones had 30 people on the Planning Commission
It's good at the top, but you need the right sort of allies to keep your nose clean. Have people who will keep your secrets.
Make sure your inner circle is a strong part of your hierarchy. Get them to maintain your reputation and keep things quiet. Make sure they are in positions to help you.
Build Your Eden
If outsiders begin prying, find a less judgemental refuge. Get away to somewhere you can control all the information, and stop people from digging up dirt on you. Find somewhere that speaks your language, has some of the same ideals as you, and is beyond the reach of your enemies (or reporters). Best if it needs your help too (e.g. financial difficulties and needs your money). Send home images and information to make it seem like a paradise, so that others will follow you. Once they're there, they don't need to leave (and shouldn't be allowed to). If outsiders do visit, make sure you look presentable, and that no one can pass negative messages on to them.Reform Their Minds
If you want your followers to continue trusting you, you want them not thinking for themselves. If they are thinking then they might be questioning, and that's dangerous. An indoctrination process which moulds them into what you want them to be. Jaime Gomez - Buddhafield cult. His followers loved him, and would have given their life for him. He always wanted to be a star. Born in Venezuela and moved to Hollywood to be an actor. Failed. Got into porn. Failed. Became an acting teacher in Florida. His classes became more spiritual, a refuge from the superficiality of American life. Makes you feel like your part of something bigger than yourself. He created a compelling "origin" story about meeting a guru and having a moment of spiritual enlightenment through a master.Offer Something Exclusive
Understand your target's desires. They're not joining a cult, they're transforming themself into a happier person, someone more like they know they could be.
Some people won't believe it until they see it. Give people an experience they believe proves it.
Jaime offered a connection to the divine. Spoke as if he knew everything. "Enveloped in god consciousness".
He gave them an experience of seeing light. He used a flashlight.
Demand Service
Don't offer people too much free time. Make sure they work hard and a long time. The more time and effort they put into something, the more invested emotionally they'll become, the more difficult it will be for them to break away. Service - Service in the general way and then there's service for the Master, which is more important and puts them in a closer proximity to you. Physical service and financial - the followers can source revenue for you. He demanded acts of devotion.Force Conformity
Types of conformity
- Dress / clothing
- Hair
- Tattoos
- Food/Diet
Getting people to think alike isn't enough. You need to crush individuality through appearance. Make everyone dress the same, wear their hair the same way - turns off critical thinking and stops them from questioning anything.
Jaime changed their diet - banned a lot of thing. Tried to make everyone in his image - shaved chest, Ridiculed if he didn't like what you were wearing or how your hair looked. Think like me, be like me is part of the teachings. Very ritualistic with his habits.
Sever Prior Bonds
There's only room for one star for your followers and it needs to be you. To break down their sense of identity you have to break any bonds they have with anyone outside the cult. A little isolation goes a long way. Make them geographically distant. Make them shun people who leave. Give them a good reason to separate themselves. Those who are in the cult are "holy company", those who aren't are "the land of the dead". Choose. Tell them their connections won't understand. Publically shame people who want to break this rule. Tell them everything else is a distraction from their enlightenment.Divide and Conquer
If followers start seeking comfort in each other, you need to keep people divided. The loyalty must be to the leader not to other members.
Private 1:1 sessions make it special and allow you to tell them things to manipulate them. They feel better, you get all the information and can encourage them to rat each other out.
1:1 Therapy Sessions
- Relaxation exercises
- Probe with questions
- Record the answers
- Identify weakspots - past traumas, present insecurities
Monopolize All Information
Once your followers' minds are mush, you can tell them whatever you like. All information flows through you. Don't let people speak to each other. Give some information to some followers and not others. Keep things hidden. Be careful - because if their minds are mush, then ANYONE can put information in their heads.Promise Eternity
When people join a cult, it's exciting, but as it starts to stabilise the cracks can start to show. So you want to raise the stakes. It's easier to control people when there's an imminent danger, like the apocalypse. Marshall Applewhite - Also known as "Do" (pronounced Dough), with Bonnie Lu Nettles known as Ti (pronounced Tea), promised eternal life at the edge of the galaxy. There are alternatives to death. Convinced their followers to drop out of society, that they were aliens and they were going to take them to another world. Applewhite raised in a church. Father was a minister. Tried out musical theatre, as a performer and a teacher, then started hearing voices and felt he had a calling beyond teaching. Nettles was new ager and did astrology charts - determining their fates were intertwined. They embarked on a spiritual quest.Establish Credibility
Recognise that you can see things others can't then get other people to back that. Hook into things which are going on around you, cultural interests etc. Applewhite claims to be an alien and offers to teach others how to do the same.
We want to make sense of things that don't make sense. A bit of mystery, mixed with a leader who comes across as knowing more than them, goes a long way.
Demand Perfection
Setting a high bar
- 3 day sex ritual (sun young moon)
- Swallow bandages - making sick
- Eating regimine - causing malnutrition
If they want to live forever, they need to reach a certain standard. Reaching purity and perfection is impossible, so having these targets is great because followers will feel shame knowing that they're not there yet and keep working towards it. It keeps people loyal.
Become a butterfly - give up family and your attachment to the pleasures of life.
Silence Doubt
If you discredit one belief, everything else falls down. So you need to shut down critical thinking so they don't question the beliefs.
Thought terminating cliche - a stock expression which is aimed at shutting down independent thinking or questioning.
Creating your own language for the group - reinforce ideology. e.g. Houses = craft, Food = fuel, Kitchen = nutrilab, Laundry = fiberlab, "You left your house to do a job to earn money" = "you engaged in an out of craft task to earn some sticks", Human Body = vehicles, Sexual organs = plumbing, Underwear = seat covers.
Examples
- That's all the media's fault. You can't trust them
- You're being attached
- Don't let yourself be ruled by fear
- If you're questioning this, you need to do more work.
- Maybe you're not serious about enlightenment
Change The Script
Nettles died of cancer - but she was an alien, so how could she? When a prophecy doesn't come to fruition, you just change the goal posts. Whatever happened was exactly what was meant to happen, and you change things to explain it. Nettles had been called back to the aliens to lay down the foundations for everyone else. Then reaffirm their commitment to the group.Identify A Sign
Example Signs
- Heinrich Von Gene (Ephraim) - September 11th attacks
- Shoko Asahara - 1995 Earthquake (triggered by US machine)
- Monte Kim Miller (Concerned Christians - 1991 collapse of Soviet Union
- Heaven's Gate - Commet Hale-Bopp
People who join cults all want to be part of something that's bigger than themselves. What's bigger than a sign from God (or the Universe or Whatever)?
Control Your Image
Shoko Asahara - leader of Aum Shinrikyo. Reputation as spiritual guru, tv personality and owner of low-price bento box franchise. Exuded kindness and father-figure. From poor family, blind in one eye and short sighted in the other. Sent away to school. Trained in Acupuncture and herbalist and then studied Tibetan buddhism in India. Utopian view of a new world. His followers believed he was a superhero. Made people believe he could levitate and read people's minds. His bathwater was sacred. Within a decade, Aum had 10,000 members in Japan and 40,000 worldwide.Recruit Winners
Your followers are your ambassadors. Have elite or appealing followers, which provides a marketing opportunity. People will want to be like or near them and will join your followers.
Asahara had the right message at the right time. Targets highly educated young people who are good at computing and offers them something for those who don't fit in the high-speed consumerist society. Providing them guidance, giving speeches at top universities - hooks Hideo Murai, a top scientist - who he uses to build "shortcuts to enlightenment".
VIP Members
NXIVM offered special incentives to celebrities (Allison Mack)Symbionese Liberation Army kidnapped Patty Hearst
The Family (Anne Hamilton-Byrne's cult) enlisted physicist Raynor Johnson to access Australian high society.
Model Purity
Spiritual Bootcamp
- Extended Meditation
- Fasting
- Sleep Deprevation
- Electroshock Therapy
To lead a spiritual movement you have to show perfection in action. You have to convince people there's something sacred and pure about you.
Asahara crafted a pious image and recieved the blessing of the dalai lama. When followers joined they had to do a lot of harsh "extreme" training. A follower dies through this regime, but they destroy the body - does this make it look like Asahara failed? No! The follower couldn't reach enlightement in this body, so he needed to die to be reincarnated so that he could try again. At least he died under the guidance of the guru so that he could reach the next spiritual level.
Eliminate Dissent
Nothing is more dangerous than people who know your secrets. They are the ultimate threat as they could spread dout. Doubt is the biggest threat for a cult leader. The follower wanted to tell the police - this happening will prevent us from saving the world. So he is killed and his body is destroyed. Asahara uses the death as teachable moment - he had to die because his karma would have been bad if he'd told the police so Asahara was saving him from bad karma by killing him. So anyone who who stands against Aum becomes an "enemy of the truth" - a way Asahara legitimises murder.Seduce the Press
The media is like a dog, if neglected it'll sniff things out, but well-trained, it can be a cult leader's best friend. Gives you a platform to express your doctrine.
More external criticism started, so Asahara:
- Named an official spokesperson
- Get in the spotlight
- Asahara was quite funny and entertaining on talkshows
- Regular interviews in magazines
- Appeared in Manga and Anime (created by them)
- Released a song
- Use friendships with press to kill unflattering stories (and kill those who would speak against you)
Using the Press
Sun Myung Moon bought a news service and started The Washington Times.Jim Jones' Peoples Temple had a whole PR department to control the leader's image.
Heaven's Gate tried to control media coverage of their mass suicide by sending out press releases.
Get Political
Cult leaders want to have control and are attracted to power, so politics makes sense.- Jim Jones' support helped George Moscone get elected as Mayor of San Francisco, he got himself appointed to local housing commission
- Bhagwan Rajneesh worked the system by turning his cult's commune into an incorporated city
- Warren Jeffs had so much power in his own town, he hand picked the city manager, the police chief and the mayor
- Asahara founded a political party and ran as a candidate for parliament (and lost)
Don't get Mad, Get Revenge
If you're beaten, create a new narrative to explain it (e.g. someone stealing the election). Shift a spiritual war into an actual one. Get your followers to come up with affective weapons. Choose a target that will get attention and do the most damage. Asahara targetted the Tokyo subway with sarin gas. 14 people lost their life and thousands of people were injured. Asahara was arrested and sentenced to death.Become Immortal
Sun Myung MoonTraits of a Cult Leader
Pathological Narcissism - look out for number 1
Manipulative
Adaptive
Charismatic
Have a lot of false starts, while you figure things out
Strategically constructed image
Manipulative
Adaptive
Charismatic
Have a lot of false starts, while you figure things out
Strategically constructed image
Be the centre of attention
Aspirations of fame
Entitlement - believe you're special
Intelligent
Never satisfied
Aspirations of fame
Entitlement - believe you're special
Intelligent
Never satisfied
Manipulation Techniques
Make the other guy do most of the talkingBecome interested in other people and show it
Make life a razzle dazzle
Say the other person's name a lot
Never tell someone they're wrong
Just ask questions
Make them think your idea is the right one
survival of the friendliest The "words of the prophet" are a song or recording of audio of some kind. Maybe in a different language. Only heard at a certain level in the hierarchy of the cult. NEVER ADD THE ACTUAL WORDS TO THE BOOK - KEEP AS MYSTERY Crossfit - different words for normal things to make it clear who's part of the group. Is Lululemon a cult? Is the definition of a cult, the person's inability to leave (whether physically, emotionally, psychologically or socially)? 3HO has a commercial enterprise (Yogi teas). Changing names of members - takes ownership of a part of them. Something which is a great honour and something to be excited about. Use of jargon - changing the positive into a negative (e.g. "old soul" goes from meaning wise beyond years to meaning someone who is being punished by being kept on this plane - or something like that). Could I write the whole thing like a podcast or a youtube video? How many narrators is useful? Do I have a single omniscient narrator and then extracts from things like recordings and diaries? How do I communicate different people's perspectives. If it was a youtube video or a podcast why would someone be making it? Why would they be broadcasting it? What purpose does it serve? Can I have multiple third person narrators, some close and one omniscient or does that get too confusing? SCENE IDEA: One of the followers is running late to a gathering - allows for scene setting. Maybe outside the tower, so can use guided tour intro. POTENTIAL ACTION: Announcing the trip and who is to travel with them? Maybe some competition - proving loyalty? Maybe announcing trip and saying only the most devout may go - to announce WHO later, like incentive? SCENE IDEA: Followers (& leader?) travelling to another planet to spread the word - give opinions on where they're going. NEEDS SOME ACTION SCENE IDEA: Followers (& leader?) preaching (or whatever) on another planet - dealing with naysayers. NEEDS SOME ACTION - Maybe they see someone who used to be part of the cult? Or they think they do? Or maybe one of the followers is looking for a way out of the cult? SCENE IDEA: Followers (& leader?) returning from another planet with new recruits. Maybe there's a stowaway. Highlights onboard/indoctrination NEEDS SOME ACTIOn What type of cult are they? They are not a doomsday cult - has to be more interesting than that. Is it obvious they are a cult from the start? Does anyone in the book refer to them as a cult? Maybe once when they are confronted by naysayers SCENE IDEA: New recruits arriving of their own volition under their own steam. Shows indoctrination. NEEDS SOME ACTION OR SOMETHING TO MAKE MORE INTERESTING
Now that we're safely inside the tower, you can see that things aren't quite how they used to be. The central shaft has been cleared out and we will be using Endo lists to propel us through the tower. This is partly for your safety and partly for the conservation of the tower itself, well it was designed to last forever it may not have been built that way and therefore we need to be extra careful when we're inside so choose the lift that suits you best. Please make sure you're picking for your body type if you haven't used one before, please do turn the stabilisers on , I've had the misfortune of seeing a £250 XXX full from 700 feet and the end result was miserable for everyone involved. Let's try to avoid that today. Safety if you have any questions please do let me know my benefit as much as yours I don't want to be cleaning you up should you take a temple , now what can anyone tell me about what they notice on the inside of the tower?
Now I want you to imagine what it must have been like, arriving here as a new recruit. You were unlikely to have travelled far, at most from the nearest star system, but it will have seemed to be an impossibly long and treacherous journey. And to see this tower for the first time as you stepped off the shuttle. Remember, few would have seen anything more than two stories high, so this will have seemed enormous and awe-inspiring.
The tower was smaller than I was expecting. I'd been promised something which reached the stars, but this was hardly more than X stories high. Honestly, it was a little pokey and dingy compared to what I was used to.The tower is on a moon by itself. No one else lives on this moon other than the cult. It had been built as a colony for harvesting minerals, but the worth of the minerals dropped and the company which owned the moon and the colony went out of business and sold it to the leader of the cult. There is a single dome, with the tower coming out through the middle of it. The atmosphere outside the dome is breathable for short amounts of time, but not longer than about 40mins or so. There's an airfield here. Footrubs for the leader are important. only chance for private 1:1 with leader. SCENE IDEA: someone interrupting the footrub and the person giving the footrub is annoyed SCENE IDEA: Mota repeating the history of the tower from their perspective as a cousin trying to become a sibling. Lecturer testing her. She is new. Passing the commitment ceremony. Show love bombing etc. Need to create a magic framework. Is there magic beyond the sphere of Solace? What does that look like? Landing on a planet and automatically connecting with someone but not knowing it. They rescue you, but are pursuaded by people who are more like you that they will only hurt you by telling you. So you feel this odd connection to someone without really knowing why. And they continue to hover in the peripheries of uour life waiting for the time to be right, but a lot is happening and you're on a new planet and it never feels quite like the right time. And eventually something comes up and they have to leave and you're angry that they're leaving for an undefined amount of time but you don't know why you're angry.
Comments