Today we will introduce a Youtube video from the WHY FILES series. It tells the history of an innovative yet shady kind of business and its marketing arm, which was set up as an immersive cult-like experience created by Jeff Hull, a multi-millionaire artist in San Francisco. The accidental cult was called the Latitude Society which drew in members from the circle of friends and gave them the experience of being in a secret society with cult-like aspects. The cover picture for this RajaLeaks article is Jeff Hull himself, wearing a crown. We’ve seen crowns before – LOL!
According to the video, the artist created a secret society, and all the uniforms, and ceremonies to go along with it. The society gave away gift cards that were an invitation to the secret initiation, and eventual membership. The organization had membership rank levels, and even uniforms showing the rank. At the top of the pyramid was the artist himself in his uniform. He was the top king in that society!
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The video tells of the accidental nature of this created cult, which started with a business model for an art project, yet turned into something else. When the artist decided to shut down the cult because of the huge monetary losses, he found it difficult. This author’s opinion is this art project stands its ground as a sociological study of how cults or religions are formed. It has all the elements of such organizations.
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Steve Hassan a cult expert is introduced in the video, along with his B.I.T.E Model of Authoritarian Control, developed by him to understand and verify the cult nature of organizations. From his website we find that: “He is a licensed mental health professional, cult expert and undue influence expert with professional experience in the United States and abroad including consulting, coaching speaking, media appearances, activism, writing, researching, teaching, intervention and recovery services, and expert consulting and witness work to assist individuals and families with problems related to undue influence.”
The B.I.T.E model developed relates to four areas of control:
- Behavior
- Information
- Thought
- Emotion
These four are detailed on the first page of Steve Hassan’s website into four tables of control mechanisms present in most cults. Naturally, many of the extreme cult control mechanisms are not present in the Raja Kingdom, yet we can find a few in each category, strengthening our belief that we are dealing with a cult of sorts, and a more detailed analysis should be performed. The four categories of control together make for control of the individual in the organization, and knowing these four tables helps the individual to realize how closed in he or she is. Here is his website. Check it out.
Raja Preston doesn’t believe these cult-like aspects were designed into the Raja Kingdom and the TM Movement before it, but it evolved to be so. In this sense, we are talking about an accidental cult. Realizing this we can help our friends in the organization to have more critical thinking and help them create balance in their lives. The TM organization is not bad per se, but over decades evolved certain undesirable traits, eventually leading to crowns, gowns, sovereign proclamations, and the whole political and religious aspect of the TM and TM-related organizations. Critical thinking is required to get out of that mess, and perhaps we at RajaLeaks can help a little. Myself having been deeply in the TM Movement, can understand what is going on with many of the members.
The WHY FILES video points out there isn’t much difference between a cult and a religion, and gives the definition of both.
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As it turns out Steve Hassan handled a lot of former TM Movement clients, and this is what intrigued me, because his B.I.T.E. model was partially built upon the experience of people in the TM Movement. There is no information about him advising people who were deeply in the Global Country of World Peace, for example, offshore company directors, Raja family members, TM teachers working for DLF, and other TM Movement-related organizations. In any case, we present to you this video, because it is educational, and relates somewhat to our situation in the TMO-GCWP world.