As a wandering lecturer who opened up a religious compound in the San Fernando Valley in 1949, Krishna Venta claimed to be from a mythical valley in India. He preached about love and knowing oneself, but was hiding a secret past.

When former Nazi serviceman Paul Schäfer fled Germany in 1961, he founded a rural community called Colonia Dignidad in Southern Chile. But the community’s bucolic appearance hid a culture of torture, murder, and pedophilia.

In the 1990s and 2000s, Rabbi Shlomo Helbrans and the Lev Tahor preyed on impressionable youths. The ultra-orthodox Jewish community was known to use brainwashing tactics on its followers, and would be accused of heinous crimes such as kidnappings and child abuse.

Charming, electric, and persuasive are just some of the ways people described Rabbi Shlomo Helbrans. As the leader of an ultra-Orthodox Jewish community in the 1990s and 2000s, he was known for brainwashing his followers, leading them to commit shocking crimes.

While the church became notorious for its aggressive recruiting practices through the 80s and 90s, it also experienced incredible growth—eventually reaching Los Angeles. However, Kip McKean’s hubris—and sins—would eventually lead to his downfall.

Before his church became one of the fastest growing—and most controversial—religious organizations in the United States, Kip McKean developed strict beliefs as a Bible literalist in 1960s Florida.

Witness the growing pains Wicca went through as it transitioned from a small secret society to a global religion, and explore the fallout from Gerald Gardner’s decision to speak publicly about their practices in 1954. Learn about Wicca’s evolution over the years—and whether it simply adapted to a changing world, or sold out everything that made it special.

September 1939: Occultist Gerald Gardner makes contact with what he believes to be a remnant of the long rumored "Witch-Cult." His experience with The New Forest Coven would reshape his understanding of paganism, and inspire him to chart a new course for his life.

He feared the rise of Communism posed a threat to the Catholic Church. Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira’s solution—to form his own reactionary movement to preserve and propagate his own beliefs.

After he was publicly humiliated when his memoirs were exposed as a hoax, Castaneda retreated into seclusion. But he brought with him a few dozen committed followers, who were sexual slaves and unquestioning adherents. Although he predicted that he was immortal, Castaneda's fatal cancer diagnosis rocked his followers to the bone: resulting in even more untimely deaths.