This week on Hashtag History, we are completing our coverage of the Heaven's Gate cult. They were/are a religious cult centered around the idea that God is an extraterrestrial being and that, in order to reach the highest level (what they call “the next level”) was to be swept up by a Comet.

The most tragic part about this story though is that, in 1997, 39 cult members (including their leader, Marshall Applewhite), were found to have committed suicide in order to attain this “next level”, making it the largest mass suicide on US soil.

In this Part Two special, we cover how Applewhite had to completely restructure the doctrine of Heaven's Gate in order to explain the death of co-founder, Bonnie Nettles.  The theory up to this point was that we would all one day be swept up by a UFO to attain the Next Level. But this isn’t what happened with Nettles though. And so Applewhite explained it away by saying the only way to attain the Next Level now was to physically, earthly die at which point the soul would evolve into an alien and progress to the Next Level but the body - the “vehicle” - would remain here on earth. And this is where it begins to lay the seeds for the horrific mass suicide we will be discussing in this week's episode...

If you are struggling with suicidal thoughts, you can always call the National Suicide Prevention Line at 1-800-273-TALK (that’s 1-800-273-8255). They are a 24/7, free, confidential line that is there to help you.

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- Rachel and Leah