19. Getting Into And Escaping a South Korean Apocalyptic Christian Cult with James of JD Astrology

Have you ever gotten accidentally recruited into a cult - and lived to tell the tale? Well, James of JD Astrology and the Charted Astrology Podcast has, and he's come on to The Heal and Harm Show to tell us all about it!

James explains the slow burn, very sneaky recruitment process that this South Korean based Christian Cult would go through to assess potential marks, and then slowly groom and brainwash them into full cult indoctrination. James discusses his own Christian background, which was more in depth than most, and how cult members would sneakily use many tactics to bring new unsuspecting members into the group. Tactics used by this group included love bombing, meticulous grooming, withholding information and releasing it in a very slow drip manner, and having strict rules about which marks they pursued.

As a part of my research for this episode, James sent me a leaked compendium of recruitment how-to documents and PowerPoint presentations, including sample text conversations where cult members would pretend to be friends with new recruits in organisations which acted as fronts, hiding who was really putting on various Christian events.

This cult has been described as a messianic, high-control group with an apocalyptic and "end times" doomsday-centric approach to Christianity. James discusses how he felt while in the cult, how the cult caused him to feel about others in his life who weren't in the cult, and what the final straw was that enabled him to finally get out. I also share some of my own research into cult psychology, and compare some cult psychology to the psychology that occurs in abusive relationships. 

Episode 19 of The Heal and Harm Show with Sabrina Scott  ⁨@JDastrology⁩ 

On The Heal and Harm Show on YouTube, I dive into deep discussions with spiritual, witchy, occult, wellness, and self-help oriented guests to talk about what happens when we try to heal ourselves and improve our lives. So often in the spiritual space, people seeking healing and community end up in cults, abused, or more messed up than they were at the start of their journey. Named after the phrase, "a witch who can't heal can't harm" (and vice versa), this show explores the light and dark sides of spirituality, magic, witchcraft, healing, and more. The Heal and Harm Show is hosted by Sabrina Scott (https://sabrinamscott.com), a witch, life coach, and professional tarot reader with 5 books and 4 journals out!