The term ‘cult’ is often thrown around, but what truly defines one? Some argue that authoritarian regimes bear cult-like traits, while others apply the label to established religions. However, the cults on our list fit the widely-accepted definition: small, often religious groups that strip members of their autonomy. Get ready to explore coercive manipulation, financial extortion, bizarre rituals, and outright murder.
The Rosary Prayer Group
In 1988, Lidia Naccarato, a Catholic-sect leader, prophesied the world’s end and led her group of 35 into heinous crimes in an isolated Italian farmhouse.
After a failed sacrifice attempt, a victim escaped and alerted police. A raid uncovered cultists in a trance, murmuring ‘Hail Mary,’ alongside a dismembered cat, a picture of Naccarato’s dead father, and one of the Virgin Mary. The group was also linked to organized crime with weapons, cash, and ammunition found at the scene.
The Odaeyang Mass Suicide
In 1987, Seoul police discovered 33 members of an Evangelical Church of Korea splinter group bound and gagged in a factory attic. Park Soon-ja, the cult’s leader and owner of Odaeyang Trading Co., had swindled over $8 million from her followers.
It was ruled a murder-suicide, common in doomsday cults. The investigation led to the arrest of the Evangelical Church’s overall leader, Yoo Byung-eun, for fraud. No one has been arrested for orchestrating the mass suicides.
Satanic Cult In A Seaside Village
In the 1990s, Colin Batley and his female followers relocated from London to Cydweli, West Wales. Inspired by Aleister Crowley, they formed a sex cult of ‘Thelema.’
The group faced 33 charges, including indecent assault, forced prostitution, rape, and inciting child sex. Five members received sentences ranging from 3 to 13 years, with Batley potentially facing life in jail.
The Ibadan Forest Of Horror
In 2014, a motorcyclist discovered a horrifying scene in Nigeria’s Soka forest: corpses scattered everywhere. Police found clothing and valuables from kidnapped victims.
Authorities suspect the ritualists ran a body-part harvesting farm, supplying clients with body parts for rituals. In 2020, Sunday Shodipe, an escapee, committed another ritual killing on behalf of fellow ‘herbalist’ Idris ‘Baba’ Ajani.
The Yahweh Cult Of Nebraska
During the 1980s economic downturn, Michael Wayne Ryan gathered impoverished farmers in rural Nebraska, tasking them with burglaries to raise funds. Calling himself ‘The King,’ Ryan prophesied a race war.
He collected wives and inflicted severe punishments, including forced bestiality and incest, on those who doubted him. The group committed murders to silence dissenters. Ryan was sentenced to death in 1986 and died in prison 29 years later.
The Rise Of A New Cult?
A new movement on YouTube, led by a man claiming to be the ‘reincarnation of Satan,’ encourages followers to perform a blood-letting ritual called ‘Blood over Intent.’
This ritual supposedly allows them to survive the end times. The phenomenon needs close monitoring to prevent potential tragedies.
The True Russian Orthodox Church
Pyotr Kuznetsov, leader of this 30-member sect, convinced his followers to hide in a cave in the Russian Taiga until after the predicted 2008 Armageddon. Kuznetsov, however, was in police custody.
One member died of cancer, another from starvation. The remaining cultists left the cave when the roof started to collapse in 2008. After a failed suicide attempt, Kuznetsov spent a decade in psychiatric care.
Black Jesus
Steven Tari, Papua New Guinea’s self-styled ‘Black Jesus,’ amassed 6,000 followers. He kept underage concubines, leading the Lutheran Church of PNG to declare him an ‘enemy of the church.’
Tari and his accomplice murdered 13-year-old Rita Herman. He was arrested in 2005 but escaped with the help of a Lutheran minister. Villagers eventually killed Tari in 2013 after he allegedly murdered another woman.
The Eleven
In 2018, authorities discovered eleven members of the Chundawat family dead in their Burari, India home. Ten were hanged, and the eldest was strangled.
Police concluded that Lalit Chundawat, believing himself possessed by his dead father, conducted rituals for prosperity. The family willingly participated, seemingly unaware the ritual would kill them.
The Zealots And The Natives
A group of lay preachers sought to evangelize the native Ngabe people in Panama. They beat, burned, and hacked villagers to death with machetes to make them ‘repent.’
Police found 14 villagers tied to trees, along with weapons and cash near an improvised church. The bodies of six children and one adult were also discovered. Ten people were arrested for the crimes.
These cults, shrouded in secrecy and violence, reveal the terrifying potential for manipulation and the devastating consequences of extremism. Each story serves as a grim reminder of the importance of critical thinking and the dangers of blind faith.
What do you think about these obscure cults? Leave your comment below!
