2 Hours of Horrifying Internet Cults

Hey, what's up guys and welcome back to the podcast and today we're getting into two hours of some disturbing internet cults This is a compilation of some of the most disturbing Disgusting and downright horrifying internet cults. I have found online and exposed and these are truly disturbing So make sure to stick around and I appreciate guys stopping by means the world makes you rate to show five stars It really does helps so so much and if you'd like to see bonus content then head over to my patreon where every single week You get exclusive bonus episodes exclusive live streams exclusive discord access early access videos and add free Content the link is in the first link in the description and the pinned comment and so head over there You get some great content and it helps support the show, but anyways, I won't keep you up in and without further ado Sit back relax grab a drinking grab a snack and let's get into two hours of some horrifying internet cults In this video is for educational and documentary purposes only it discusses real-world crimes and disturbing content That has been publicly reported and prosecuted your discretion is advised 764 in the dark corners of the internet some communities don't just break the rules They shatter every boundary of human decency What began as a twisted online group spiraled into one of the most disturbing digital cults of our time It wasn't built by career criminals or shadowy elites, but mostly by teenagers kids and what they did It's hard to believe without seeing the evidence This is the story of 764 a transnational exploitation ring that's spanned across Discord servers, telegram chats, and anonymous forums with roots in extremist ideologies and Sadistic manipulation this group is left a trail of devastation across the globe from the United States to Sweden from Brazil to France Dozens have already been arrested Hundreds of victims have come forward in the worst part 764 is still active. It all began in early 2020 Several groups sprung up at an exponential rate online after the pandemic hit seen as nobody had anything to do in real life Most people turned to the internet There was a specific set of people that decided to use their free time in one of the most malicious ways possible Groups began to rise up with their aim and goal to extort individuals and there were over 20 different groups CVLT, Court, Cascar, Harm Nation, League Society, 7997, 8884, 2992, 555, Slittown, 545, 6996, 404, NMK, 696, 984, 1378, 303, SR1, XVN, Hell, and no lives matter Altogether, these groups are known as the community or the comm for short These groups were prevalent everywhere, but mainly discord the criminals involved Teenagers a lot of the people committing these heinous acts were teens and they were doing it to other teens a Common theme among these groups was winning over approval of others and so the goal was to be the most evil These kids were hung up on trying their best to torture others in the literal sense a victim of the comm said There was a 13-year-old girl on stream. She cut her entire body for them She would do this sometimes daily. They were called cut shows They would have her cut things into herself and then they would allow others to tell her what to cut into herself This is the same girl that one leader had convinced to kill her kittens on stream These abusers would also groom children if you could get a girl that was ungroomed and then groomed her for the first time That gave you status once groomed the next objective was to go as far as possible with them You wouldn't want me to punish you the way I would make you right now anyways. I don't care. I don't care at all Anything you want. I'm game. I'm serious. I'll burn myself with a hot spoon One day, however, it was one of those teenagers who undeniably took things so far with several members being arrested swiftly Including Bradley Chance Cadenhead Growing up his circumstances weren't the best in fact They were pretty terrible though at first. He had a loving religious family Bradley was bullied at church ever since he was just six years old At just 10 years old his loving happy family began to swindle out of control He was an easy target at school He would also cut himself not long after his mom left But it was from here that he found goal and torture online Slowly becoming fascinated with it right before 9th grade freshman year of high school started custody switched around He would now be living with his mother But just as he turned 14 the pandemic hit But in August 2020 school reopened and he wasn't ready. He couldn't go back He faked illness at times it would sometimes throw up from anxiety of returning to school He stopped going completely after a week and started staying in his room 24/7 This drastic exposure to the in-net especially the dark side after being so mentally vulnerable for the last half decade resulted in a grim combination He chose one of the worst paths possible He began messaging strangers on discord under the username Felix He built his own online persona and began learning how to group and extort others who were similar to his age or even younger At 15 in January 2021 Cadenhead dropped out of school officially Cadenhead had learned enough more than enough to start his own sick and twisted operation 764 764 was inspired heavily by the order of nine angels another cult It followed ideals such as neo-nazism, satanism, fascism, etc Cadenhead made the first 764 discord server this same month January 2021 He would make girls send him explicit photos then blackmail them into self-medilation or even torturing and murdering their own pets He would often brag about this Felix I make bitches eat their house pets and cut for four hours straight. I got proof too He had terabytes of explicit photos Some of this involved very young people He adopted the name Felix the cheese pizza god He was incredibly arrogant claiming the feds would never get him Anonymous dude what the fuck is wrong with you? I'm reporting this to the police. You can't just post cheese pizza like that I've already been reported to the FBI 15 times and they haven't done shit I'm a device band from almost every email service. I've been through 400 Felix accounts a hundred fake accounts banned on Roblox twice Two months later on the 25th of august 2021 the police showed up at his doorstep They walked in with a search warrant where Cadenhead emerged from his room in the most disgusting state possible His hair was dishevelled in stinking the room reeked of body odor and a main laptop was confiscated With 20 different pictures blatantly open of girls engaged in certain acts Further digging found that children had carved I heart cheese pizza 764 and Brad as a p.o. Into themselves Being declared fit to stand trial as an adult he pleaded guilty on the advice of his attorney waving trial He was to be at home with an ankle monitor until sentencing in May of 2023 at the hearing All the truth came to light the evidence presented at the punishment hearing showed that the defendant possessed images of young children Not only being abused, but also choked, beaten, suffocated and grievously injured The defendant used these images to coerce others and to mutilate in themselves including carving his screen name into their bodies and harming animals the judge sentence Bradley Cadenhead to 80 years in prison But the story doesn't end here 764 is still very much active to this day in February of 2021 22-year-old Caleb Merritt is arrested for the kidnapping and essay of a young girl And this piece of trash was sentenced to a deserved 350 years in prison. He had cremated her into thinking she loved them making her testify that it was her intention to run away with Merritt because she loved them But the whole ordeal was somehow connected to a CVLT discord server after discord themselves filed a report to the police Their system flagged the girl making S.H. Statements and threats Only after three days of messaging he managed to convince her to meet him or they had relations Merritt will only be eligible for parole at 54 years old Considering how even normal criminals frown upon these predators, however, it's very likely Merritt will never see the light of day again Thank God In November of 2021 Angel Alameda living in Queens, New York was arrested for being in possession of a firearm while being a felon in his house Please found bloody paper with sketches of the zodiac killer as well as tons of other cult-like memorabilia tied to order of nine Angels and 764. And around the same time, a girl had forced a man into burning himself live on camera in a Discord voice chat. Watch the disturbing Discord users video on my channel if you want the whole story there. Nino Luciano H. or Tobs live streamed himself on a Discord voice chat attacking an 82-year-old man. And two weeks later, stabbed a 74-year-old woman to death on voice chat. He did this to prove himself to Roma, a 764 affiliated Discord server. He was sentenced to 14 years in prison, um, way too short if you ask me. December, 2023, Kalana Limpkin was arrested for founding and running a 764 splinter group. He was arrested as the result of a 7-month investigation. The same month, a user who went by the name "rabbit" was brought up on federal cheese pizza charges in Michigan. The culprits, 47-year-old Richard Anthony Reyna Denz Moore. He ran a splinter group of 764 known as Sewer, but managed to get away with a plea deal being sentenced to only 30 years in prison for his actions. It was at this point that law enforcement throughout the USA was starting to see just how widespread and cancerous Bradley's actions were, leading to the National Security Division of the Justice Department to put out a very bold statement. This group seeks to do unspeakable harm to children to advance their goals of destroying civilized society, fomenting civil unrest, and ultimately collapsing the US government institutions. As utterly dystopian as it may sound, it's very accurate, with each member arrested being somehow worse than the last. The entire network was clashed as a transnational threat. In October of 2024, another 14-year-old was detained for attacking several victims in public. He had been clashed as a terrorist for this by his homeland Sweden, going by slain online. He attacked a woman with a knife, and upon his arrest made a statement, "Terror is not about age." Same month, Australia. 28-year-old Jake Thompson Vandermeal was arrested after a two-month-long investigation was set in motion from a brave young girl who had called the National Kids Helpline after he had abused her through extortion. Already, over 15 different individuals have been arrested and brought up on charges. Not just from the US, but from Romania, Sweden, France, Australia, the UK, and who knows how many more are out there. The worst part, only half of the years gone by, and we aren't even halfway through the list of people who have been caught as part of 764. January. A 17-year-old student living in Bucharest, Romania, is facing extradition by the FBI to face charges in the USA after he made over 450 bomb threats to schools, hospitals, and government institutions all over America in the UK. 25-year-old Jero Jaime Tina Jero pled guilty to online enticement, three different accounts of producing cheese pizza, three counts of distributing cheese pizza, five counts of interstate communication of threats, cyber stocking, and conspiracy to commit murder. Pras and Nepal and Leonidas Varaguinas were charged with operating a child exploitation enterprise, and I know I'm mispronouncing all these guys' names, but who gives a shit? These guys are a piece of trash they don't even deserve to have their name pronounced correctly. They conspired with other group members to create and distribute images depicting the exploitation of people. And if you're not convinced these guys are horrible enough, they had even created guides, detailed instructions on how to groom and extort these victims. The two leaders and several other members would have pissing contests on who had the most content. You don't have as much cheese pizza as me though, and I can't get over how upset I get reading all this. These people are so horrific. They created even more graphic guides on how to continue committing these vial acts. The amount of evidence against these two is so overwhelming I'd have to make a whole video just to get through it all. Brazilian police arrested a group of people who were affiliated with 764 after they planned to stage a mass attack during the Lady Gaga concert. As if that wasn't bad enough, they were conspiring to perform a satanic human sacrifice of a child or baby live during the concert. During the production of this video, a viewer of the channel reached out to me. They're a survivor of 764 or a similar splinter group. And with their full consent, they've agreed to share their story. Their voice and identity have been altered to protect their privacy. What you're about to hear is real and difficult. Please listen with care. Hey, how you doing? All right, cool. Like I said, in kind of the before interview, whatever, you can stop or skip any question at any time or whatever. Just let me know. Totally fine with whatever. How did you first come across the group or individual involved in 764 or a associated splinter group? Okay. So, um, it was like, I was like, and well, a lot of times, I've just gotten my first phone. And I was really lonely because I was during COVID and other truly, I got up onto this court. At first, I was like, I'm like this, anime, surburied, not the ball, didn't I? And it's that we're like, crochet, but we're really worth a term, but that has been already tabulating to being like a field of interviews. And I was in a very difficult time, so I thought those surburies were just supports. It's that I'm actually worth, but I was definitely worth, and then I came across this guy. And he told me, and he keeps on the photos, and he thought I was like, you were cute. And asked me to join the surburies, and so it did. It was definitely the splinter group, because I didn't maybe search on the main parts of it all. And while there was a very simple talk, the only of that, it was kind of different in ways. Definitely very similar to most. Okay. Thank you so much for sharing that. And how I assume it was discord, but what platforms did they use to contact you in general? So they kind of first got in contact with you on discord, and then they kind of linked all of your other social medias, kind of, they kind of found your other social media is correct? Yes. Okay. That makes sense. And if you want, like I said, stop or skip any question, but can you kind of describe the manipulation or abuse? Did it start off slow, or did you kind of know, like, hey, this is weird? And I should maybe, you know, back off, or was it kind of a curiosity thing, or how did they approach you with that sort of, that sort of thing? Okay. So, take in mind when I first met these, well, I was already kind of almost being introduced into this heat year, you know, different, like, what we call it, and should we call it internship, but you really double down the lines up into the server where it was pressed off on curfew disorder and the actual core videos, and after I met the first guy, he was really sweet. Yes. He was sweet and kind. He told me that he needed, he wanted, but he's so badly, and that's what they think. I'm like, resistance and even himself, I sent him a few of the tests first, I messed up it, and then he probably didn't touch his server, then he passed through the war, and then there was four guys, like, fixed six, and like, one of them were like, DMing me, and calling him a special one, saying I was so good for doing exactly what they said, and they would ask me the other things, like, each. We'd also work hard things into my size of arms, and ask you to send those proofs, they creeps me for that, and if I sent no, I said, "Get one truth, it was tired," it would look like, regardless, regardless, it wouldn't block me any other way, it could be a quote, and not bad, it's like, said, in the public server, for instance, let's do it. Okay. Thank you for sharing. Like I said. I'm making this video because this group is just so utterly disgusting, and thank you so much for sharing. I hope this can help other people that might be going through something similar, you know? And my next question was, were they ever charming or kind to you? and it sounds like they were so they you know they were I guess skilled quote-unquote on kind of just manipulating you like it so they're they're not always abusive they're kind of charming in that way. Okay so they just kind of bombarded you with you know complements and stuff like that. Okay thank you that makes sense thank you for sharing. And looking back was there a moment where you realized that like this isn't normal but still stayed anyway and what kept you in it was it blackmail was it promises or did they use threats or what kind of kept you in this uncomfortable space. And my dad he was one of them said he would always talk about another post that is for me either so I had no point. And so I didn't care how much attention it was I just wanted the form of cause of it potentially even that video statement you didn't discuss it but I just didn't do it and how much kept you in was that cycle of praise and that's something that has been from what should you said the praise again and I was kind of like at least on this I guess an anime from the group I was sort of like from the words whether like everyone knew my handle they would pass them around and pass them around with their photos. I don't think it's going to have to caught yet because they were really smart under music. One guy had showed me and he had like a whole set up with a bunch of here. He cost me a lot of these guys and you know I covered two in the video that we're doing just that bragging about it and sooner than later the FBI came showing up at their doorstep for this sort of stuff so it's going to get him at one point where there are others involved in your experience any other sort of or was it just kind of one person or just a bunch of people I think you kind of answered this briefly but it was a group correct. Yes it was a bunch of people and they would because I've had passed them around with their photos and my musicians were with enough between those people they want to okay and kind of moving on to the end of it but how did you get out or how did it overall end you said briefly that you you know kind of just blocked them on everything and deleted all social medias or did like what made you realize like enough is enough and you had to end it and what made you you know not want to stay because you were scared of you know something happening or backlash of leaving these guys so it's probably enough wasn't technically but a technical wasn't so I have multiple disorders because of how I distributed the child over them being a physician of vicinity identity disorder and just it has that one point I kind of just blocked and woke up and everything was gone and I just ordered my socials everything was blocked and don't get me back so I don't want to know exactly I can remember that the night before everything wasn't dark I was under that and I felt terrible because of guys what are the guys as making me that I was no friend because I was not a teenager. Okay so it's just kind of like a it just to happen stance that it you kind of woke up one day and it was all gone okay and have you reported your experience to the authorities or any sort of legal or law enforcement? no really because I require like an investigation and I don't want to get rid of that with how one provides all the police could be and also so we did including that discourse that they had I don't even have the screenshots for evidence. You're right I understand that. I have some messages from again I don't know what I used to have but I don't know if I was from dirt or not because I checked them because everything else. And what do you want people watching this video right now to understand about these groups or individuals? It's like on the chain it's whatever you do it's never going to be enough small because they can keep you up their grass people to it and they'll discard you one your parents find out even if they do that they must not but you will you become too old for them to have their fucking water. This is the best thing you can do something that I didn't tell your parents I wish that was to go back to some of them as recently I think that's a very good message for everyone watching you're not alone people will help you there's answers to whatever sort of suffering or things are going through there's an answer to it don't go through it alone and I think that's a good statement you just had and is there anything you'd say to someone who might be caught in a similar situation right now just talk to your parents like you just said yes but also if you feel like you can't talk to your parents literally trust delete everything so as you delete everything they can have no more power over you at use to the presence the trombone will always be there but as soon as you can cut that off I don't think they can't reach you anymore because it will say that you didn't use her they'll just forget about you they'll discard you and they'll just move on to someone else thank you so much for your time and everything do you have anything else to add? yes she has um because these guys they are all really scared because they weren't told you all but they're scared so you delete their account they won't never show up to their house really unless they can get you alone or they don't care for you watching you delete their accounts by some time if you're just they probably won't come to your house because they know that a few deleted everything you're on wire and all the damn should done that's how they'll just move on the action set emotion by Bradley Cadenhead continued to make horrible impacts on several lives today but you might have heard a different name throughout this whole case the one that several arrested individuals claimed to be a part of and had even inspired Bradley Cadenhead himself to create 764 order of nine angels in the 80s there was a time where everybody in the United States was scared of the satanic cults that supposedly prayed on children the satanic panic lasted for several years with the real problem being greatly exaggerated by the public and lots of institutions and groups were accused of committing SRA satanic ritual abuse cult like organizations that worship Satan did exist one new religious movement is the order of nine angels which was started in the 1960s according to them it was founded somewhere in the border between England and Wales by a woman involved in a secretive pre-Christian tradition these groups were headed by grandmasters slash mistress but remained mainly separately late 1960s when one grand mistress united three of these temples camlod the temple of the sun and the noctulians to form the ONA it follows a form of satanism tied with neo-Nazi beliefs order of nine angels takes this to the extreme the main idea behind the group is that human history is divided into aons that lasts around 2000 years around 800 years in each civilization faces a time of troubles that last very specifically between 398 to 400 years in the current aeon that civilization is the Western one, and its time of troubles has already passed. But according to them, this time it's different. The Judeo-Christian religion supposedly infected Western civilization and what was once a pioneering entity imbued with elitist values and exalting the way of the warrior has become a essentially neurotic inward looking and obsessed. They reject the idea of democracy and racial equality, claiming them to just be shams. The core belief is that they must stop this infection or else human evolution will be stopped. This explains the unusually high amount of political activism within the group compared to other occult groups. After this, in the new Aeon, a galactic civilization is going to form, composed of Aryans that will colonize the Milky Way. If this wasn't far-fetched enough, the members also practice magic, specifically left-hand path magic, and Western occult groups that believe in magic, they split it into two parts, left-hand which is bad or evil magic, and right-hand which is good magic. Right-hand magic informs to some kind of moral or religious code, such as karma, whereas the left-hand opposes whatever the right-hand magic believes, and rejects the existing beliefs. They teach that there are two realms, casual which obeys the laws of physics, and a casual which does not, to perform magic. You are supposed to draw energy from the "accousal" realm. They also believe in dark gods that exist in the "accousal" realm, that are dangerous and members are warned to not interact with them. One of them is a goddess named Baphomet, which is known in their text as a mature woman carrying a severed head. In their material, they say Nazi Germany is a practical expression of the Satanic spirit, a burst of Luftharian light, or of zest and power, and an otherwise Nazarene, pacified and born world. Unlike traditional religions such as Catholicism, where there is a central figure of authority such as the Pope, it operates in independent groups known as nexians, that form the broad network of associates known as the "collective with a K". It does have a hierarchy within it, however, and to climb up the ladder, you have to prove yourself by undertaking leadership of your group. They strongly dislike other Satanist groups such as the popular Church of Satan and Temple of Sat, saying that they just associate with the image of Satan and don't actually fully experience it. According to esotericism, scholar Nicholas Goodrich Clarke, Order of Nine Angels, rejects the quasi-religious organization and ceremonial antics of the Church of Satan, the Temple of Sat, and others' Satanic groups. He believes that traditional Satanism goes far beyond the gratification of the Pleasure Principle and involves the arduous achievement of self-mastery, self-overcoming in the Nichen sense, and ultimately cosmic wisdom. His conception of Satanism is practical with an emphasis on individual growth into realms of darkness, in danger through practical acts of prowess, endurance, and the risk of life. Like any religion, it has its own practices, and is highly elitist, it has very strict membership requirements in some groups, and according to them, the goal of the Satanism of the Order of Nine Angels is to create a new individual through direct experience, practice, and self-development, with the grades of the Order of Nine Angels system being highly individual, based on the initiates, own practical, and real life acts, instead of merely performing certain ceremonial rituals. Basically, they want you to do something forbidden, against the status quo, illegal, et cetera, to shake off the cultural and political condition of the society. In their mythology as per one of their main texts, the Naos, the core system of the Order of Nine Angels is the Sevenfold Way, also known as the Hebdometry. In order of increasing rank, these are Neophyite, Initiates, External Dept, Internal Dept, Master Slash Mistress, Grandmaster Slash Mousa, and Immortal. According to the group, only very few have reached the Master/Grandmaster stages, and at least in 1989, only four individuals have ever reached the rank of Master. As mentioned before, there is no formal initiation process or recruitment, and must take increasingly difficult challenges to progress up their hierarchy. For example, to become an external adapt, you have to sit for an entire night at one lonely spot without moving or sleeping. For the next stage, internal depth, you are supposed to stay away from human society for at least three months, or usually six months without any contact or support from others. To become a Master, you have to live alone in a dark, isolated cave for a lunar month, which lasts roughly 30 days, which is the time it takes for the moon to cycle through all its phases, from New Moon to New Moon. This is aptly named the ritual of the Abyss. One of their major practices is known as the Insights Rolls, which is basically living a life completely different to before, such as being undercover in a politically extreme group for an extended amount of time to gain experience and contribute to the associates' evolutionary superiority. The Order of Nine Angels continues to be a secret cult, with them being linked to terrorism in recent times, and also linked to 764, the main subject of today's video. While many try to link themselves to this group out of desperation to be seen as one of them, their activities have spread online, drastically, and although it's difficult to trace them, their impacts are felt with each individual from 764. The real danger doesn't lie in the posers, but the actual members themselves. Open the Eyes of Your Heart January 18th, 2025, a Desperate Post appears on Reddit. I just escaped from a cult in Kentucky. At first glance, it sounds like the usual internet user wanted attention, until you keep reading. The claims people are still inside the cult. Over 20 of them, following a man she says is starving them in the name of God. And according to her, it isn't metaphorical. She says she spent 6 months in the group. By the time she left, she looked severely malnourished. Others she claims weren't as lucky. People were allegedly being forced into extreme fasting. A disabled man was still inside being abused. And the group's leader had just escalated things even further. Then comes the part that makes it harder to dismiss. This wasn't happening in isolation. There was no hidden compound where this was going on, no locked facility. The leader she says was doing all of this in plain sight and broadcasting it online on YouTube. The OP's original post was, "I just escaped from a starvation cult based in Kentucky." Please, there are still over 22 people in there following a man man. He's starving them to death and they're going to die. Because they believe the lies that this is what Jesus wants. I was deceived for 6 months and it's embarrassing to admit. But it's truth. All of the fasting made me look like a corpse and I was a size 16. I'm barely gaining my energy back as I was literally dying of malnutrition and starvation. Once I got out, I tried to warn others but they've all blocked me. There are 3 others that got out just in time. One they don't know is out. He's being the fly on the wall. The leader just called everyone to a 7 day drive fast. After we completed a 3 day fast and barely broke Thursday morning, he told us that we had to go to a liquid diet so that we would be ready for the rapture. That's when I woke up. I refused to do any of it anymore. So that means that the rest of them went from 3 day fast every week to a liquid food diet for one day straight into a 7 day drive fast. He's going to kill them and they don't realize what he's doing. Please warn everyone about open the eyes of your heart ministry on YouTube. The leader's name is Julian. I just reported him to the FBI. But I don't know how long this is going to take. There are also 4 young people forced by their parents to do this and one mentally handicap man. He has the mentality of a child. Go to this page on YouTube if you're feeling the need to call this sick bastard out. Thank you for listening. This is so scary. Cult leaders are some of the most evil people to walk the planet. That's not a very hot take and not many people would disagree but it's easier to imagine these monsters controlling and abusing a group of people when they're right in front of them. It's hard to picture is someone so sadistic but also charismatic and smart enough that they can manage to pull this off through a screen. This is who Julian A is and that is what he has somehow managed to do with open the eyes of your heart ministry. But this is far from a ministry. Because that's something that provides a service under God's name. To whether this be preaching, community service, or missions, it's a community of people that are out to help people through the calling of God. Julian should be ashamed to call his channel a ministry. What opened the eyes of your heart actually is, are over a thousand videos that are usually Julian, but sometimes this woman named Bonnie or other members, whoever it is will often talk about a dream interpretation and usually how that dream proves that the end times are coming. Basically, the message is that the rapture is soon. But this isn't just the preaching of these ideas. Members are told that in order to re-salvation, they have to follow 8 steps. Number one, confess sins, number two, repent from sin, turning 180 degrees, number three, read God's word daily, at least 10 chapters, four, praying to Father God daily, five, worshiping Father God daily, six, participating in holy communion up to three times a day, before each meal, number seven, fast weekly, and number eight, fruits and vegetable diet. This may look normal. It may seem as if these are pretty basic practices for someone who is religious, and Julian may be tricking people into thinking there's nothing out of the ordinary. Not user, GG forever, who wrote the post I just read, is desperate to make sure others know this is not the case. Like they said, they tried to warn the others, many blocked her, but one listened to what she had to say. A few days after her post and sending out a message to other members, user to high W shared their own experience. People don't help needed against a cult where they make people die from starvation in Jesus name. I'm really sorry to write this here, but led by the Holy Spirit, this is going to be my first post. If I break any rules or say anything wrong, I would love to be guided by you all. I'm a loving Christian from Turkey, where there aren't many Christians. I was saved by Jesus miraculously while I was lost in the world, and I fell fully in love with Him and everyone around me. One day I came across this channel called Open Eyes of Heart. As someone unprepared in lacking knowledge, I thought that this was a real ministry that spoke the words of Jesus, quoting scriptures and giving prophetic messages. I followed the eight steps they required each day to work towards my salvation. I didn't know that we are saved through grace. I was brainwashed. These steps must be completed each day as a leader chief, angel of 144,000, or we risk being rebuked by the Lord and losing our salvation. The steps include worshiping, praying, excessive fasting, three days each week without food, just water, following a Daniel fast, which is not recommended for health, studying scripture for at least 50 to 100 chapters each day without absorbing any information. If we only do 10, we are not getting enough washing through the word, repenting, confessing sins, and taking communion three times a day before each meal. After a while, I learned some scary truths about it, which I will discuss further. The most alarming and ungodly step was the fruit diet. Yes, we were on a fruit diet. This was not just for a couple of days, but until we die. The leader of this ministry, whose full name is Julian A, told us to eat only six portions a day, with two portions per meal. One banana counts as one portion, and one orange counts as one portion, and so on full video. After a while, I started to have dreams and visions with words spoken into my ears from deceiving spirits, which I thought were the Holy Spirit in God. And I began to dive deeper into everything. They revealed one of their videos they were working on with Archangel Michael regarding the ministry, which is here. Eventually, they invited me to the ministry to work with them. Yes, if a deceiving spirit establishes a stronghold on you, it invites you to become a ministry member and a chief angel, assuring you of your spiritual scent to heaven. I was truly at peace and full of love thinking, wow, I'm really doing a good job. After a while, false started, and I gave up so much food I starved myself to death. Even worse, I felt like I was dying. But because I love Jesus so much, I was ready to truly die for him. Engaging in a deceiving fast, where I only ate two fruits all week. But suddenly, I received a message from a member who just left the ministry, and I opened my eyes to the truth. They were really making people starve until they died. That last line is chilling. These innocent people who just want to practice their faith in God are coming to one day and realizing what they've been doing has been pushing their body to the edge. In edge that once they've stepped off, they can't come back. And that's exactly what some have done. This same user mentions later. As time passed, and after dedicated work, we discovered many bad fruits about this ministry, such as manipulating a pregnant woman into thinking she needed to go on a three day water fast with only two fruits a day, telling diabetics and heart patients to stop taking their medications. And a poor brother who has asthma and can't breathe was told to stop using his inhaler because it was demonic. Young people that are being forced to starve. There were also two people who used to be on the team, but died after excessive fasting. It's sickening to imagine the deception these people are under. So much so that they feel there's no other choice but to slowly watch themselves die, to kill their own offspring. What Julian is spreading isn't the word of God or the word of Jesus. Those two springs are messages of love, not starvation and suffering. Telling them the only way they can give themselves to God is by torturing themselves is nothing short of evil and diabolical. And tragically, I don't think his message has stopped spreading. Like these two users efforts to stop him, it looks as if he's still going. There were others who came out and shared their near death encounter with open the eyes of your heart. Even some whose family members are stuck listening to Julian. My family member is missing and she's probably in a starvation cult. Hey everyone, sorry if I'm not supposed to pose this here, but I'm pretty desperate. Since April this year, my mother has been missing. She had already been acting a bit distant for a while, praying a lot, having many Zoom meetings and often needed to fast. We were of course really worried, but her response was always, everything is fine. And the doctor says I'm perfectly healthy. In April, she left. She said she was going to work, but she had called in sick and she just never came back. It's been seven months of uncertainty and we just want answers. Long story short, some time ago I found out that she had joined the open eyes of your heart ministry. There are a few other discussions about this group online, but none of them seem very recent. Are there more people who have dealt with this group? How can I find out where my mother is? And most importantly, how can I make the authorities understand that she's actually in real danger as authorities do nothing? I've seen one or two YouTube accounts regularly commenting under their videos, calling them a Colton such, but I don't know how to contact those people. I just don't understand how to message someone on YouTube. Just to be clear, of course we realized something was wrong. Of course we tried to find out what to do, since we felt it had to do with her faith. It seemed to be turning into something cult-like, but everything we read online warned us to be careful about what we said to her because otherwise she might turn against us. So we tried to be very cautious. Even with all of that, there's still a video posted seven days ago as I'm writing this and a video at least once a week for the last year. Open the eyes of your heart hasn't gone anywhere. Some of the videos aren't even Julian, but some members themselves making their own videos. And while I haven't found specific information on if or how much money he's taken from them, there are some YouTube comments that allude to him cashing in on these victims as well. Was your stupid book, Marital Castle? Not giving you enough funds, dude? The only thing Julian is looking at is the money they're scamming. from vulnerable people. You miss an arrogant, egotistical devil who left his family and now separates families and makes up crap. Brainwashes vulnerable people to take their money. He thinks that he is special, but he needs serious mental help. At least there are some people that are trying to hold him accountable. But it's not enough. The Reddit posts, the comments, the calls to the FBI aren't enough to shut this down. Right below a comment calling him out will be another one that praises him. Someone that is believing all of the bullshit he's posting. Another vulnerable person for hint to manipulate. One user comments, "I hope you're doing well. I miss seeing a notification from you. Brainw are just taking you in god time. I've come to expect videos from you and I apologize for that. Your uplifting words and dream interpretation help me stay in the arms of father, which is highly appreciated. Especially right now and my whole being is a target for the enemy and his army. We know it's only going to get worse from here on out, so everything and everyone we can find that helps us stay strong in the lore of our extremely important to hang on to. Thank you for sharing and for being one of those important aides. May god bless us all. It's nothing short of cruel to gain the faith of someone who's struggling and then tell them to starve themselves all the while they think they're getting closer to god. It's terrible, vile and sadistic. And until law enforcement takes this seriously, this cult will still be out there, roping people in, manipulating their every move and bringing them to their deathbed. It was 2001 in Brooklyn, New York when Sid was scrolling through messages on his aim account. Sid, who was a freshman in college, lived in his parents' basement. His life up to that point had been rough. He suffered a toxic upbringing that left him emotionally and mentally scarred, frequent scoldings, strict supervision, verbal thrashing, the works. But in Sid's fragile, emotional state, he always found ways to cope. He liked to play video games. To be more specific, he liked to play Final Fantasy VII. It might not look like much compared to today's titles, but at the time, Final Fantasy VII was revolutionary. No one had really seen graphics like this. With its beautiful cutscenes, gorgeous colors and more importantly, it's mature and narrative storytelling. The protagonists of the game, Cloudstrife and Zach are iconic. The whole game is made to feel like a movie, and Sid really, really liked that. Not only was it beautiful, it was emotional and relatable. He played the game in 1998, and after that, Sid was a mega fan. He created and maintained a website dedicated to two of Final Fantasy VII's main characters, Cloud and Zach. To a lot of isolated teenagers online, they weren't just characters, they were idols. Heroes who endured suffering, reinvented themselves, and found purpose in a world that felt broken. Sid, related to the characters so much, in fact, he decided to create a website to celebrate them. He posted art and made discussion threads, so people could talk about the characters with him. With the booming interest in Final Fantasy VII, the site gained traction, and people from all over the nation began contacting Sid, trying to get involved. They sent him pictures of their art, they made recommendations on layouts for the web pages, many of these people were just fans, but some were very friendly. And so Sid began several new relationships. Then one day, he received a message from an unknown account. I got an instant message from some stranger offering a link exchange. They told me they ran the domain Hojo, another Final Fantasy website. I'd never been there before, but I ran a quick check. It looked mostly personal, with a little bit of a shrine to the character professor Hojo from the same game. I was like, "Oh, that's cool. Sure, we can link exchange." The person who ran the website insisted on being called by the name of the character, Hojo. And the two began talking constantly. At first, Hojo just seemed a centric, just another intense guy from an online fandom community. But the conversations quickly became personal. Hojo wanted to know everything, Sid's fears, his frustrations, his family life, his dreams. Hojo spoke with absolute confidence and a friendly curiosity. And then things started to get weird. Sid writes, "One day, I just got done putting up some art. It was of the monster Genova from Final Fantasy VII. I gave it a little mini story under the image to be creative. Hojo contacts me and tells me that it was really well written. I'm flattered, so I thank him." Then it starts getting weird. It was really realistic, he says, "Is that a memory?" Understandably, I'm like, "What?" He replies. "Is that one of your memories?" I was unfamiliar with the concept being put to me at the time, being still pretty internet Virginia. I said no, I just made it up. He seemed disappointed and I didn't understand why. Days later, another message came in. It read, "My wife would like to talk to you." That wife was a woman named Jen. Jen was young and just like Sid, she was a fan of Final Fantasy. She insisted on being called Genova, one of the antagonists from the video game. But Sid would quickly discover Jen wasn't just a fan and neither was Hojo. They were believers. I was asked if I had any memories of past lives. I do believe in past lives. I think it's a pretty valid cycle given how many cultures believe in it. So I told Jen, "No, I don't have any memories of past lives." But I believed it was possible. I should have never said that. It was like inviting the vampire into my house. Jen's attack was swift and sure. She began in a flurry explaining things to me. How there are alternate universes. Do you grant me that? Sure, there could be. And in those universes, maybe, just maybe, video games actually happened. I thought it could be possible. Through all of this, she tells me that she thinks in a past life, I was Zach from Final Fantasy 7. Think about it, she said, "You're both country grown. You both have that instinct of dragging off friends who could be left behind. You'd take a bullet for someone, right? You say you don't believe in magic or any of that. And he wanted to be a mercenary. For all of his five or six lines, you have a similar speech pattern. You even live in a basement like he was locked in one. And you hate it. At all your brain with freshman idiocy and vodka, and this will suddenly make sense. Sure, maybe. I'm not him now, I said, but it was possible. You were our Zach," she says. Sid wondered to himself, "Why did you use the word R?" Well, we didn't know it at the time, but Jen and Hojo weren't the only ones in this little group. There were many others who were convinced that they were reincarnations, that video games were real, and that Jen, the magical online source risk, was right. Sid was introduced to Jen's community. Everyone went by nicknames, naturally pulled from Final Fantasy. Some lived nearby to Jen. Others lived across the country. Together, they were all friends, connected by the same interests, the same hobbies, but more importantly, Jen, she was the matriarch, so to speak. The leader of their band, and she had convinced everyone to live under the same delusion, that they were all living, breathing, reincarnations of video game characters. Sid, of course, didn't believe any of this, but he played along. It was role-playing, he'd tell himself, nothing more. And for that matter, a host of other people seemed to be playing along. Come Christmas of 2001, Jen invited Sid to her home, and Sid agreed. He packed up his pet rat in a couple pairs of clothes and set off for Pennsylvania. It cost me $300 to go buy bus for my podunk school to their apartment in state college, and they assured me that they would pay to feed me. I would just visit for a weekend to meet people and hang out. At the bus stop, Hojo, Jen's partner met me in a lab coat. Hojo and Jen were lesbians, and that was cool with me. I'm just no-knit here to avoid future confusion. When we arrived at the apartment, Jen came storming up to Hojo and screamed in her face. I have no idea what it was about. Jen was wearing a purple skirt pulled up around her breasts. It looked like she had just got out of bed, and I was, to say the very least, intimidated. About three seconds later, she rolled around in a quick change. Suddenly, the nicest person ever, whatever she was mad about, was out the window. It was a two-bedroom apartment, and it was a mess. Trash piled into kitchen corners, glitter all over the floor, stains, dishes piled up, empty soda bottles shrewd about, but said didn't mind. These were his friends, regardless of their personal issues or the state of their apartment. He'd make the most of it. Together, the three went to the mall for some window shopping. Jen spotted something she wanted, whatever it was, and couldn't bear to be without it. She soaked and complained, withdrawn to one corner of the mall, until they were forced to leave. During this, Jen adopted a new personality, a child. She stopped around the mall, huffing and puffing like a baby. And this is when Sid began to realize, Jen wasn't role-playing. She truly believed she had multiple personalities floating around in her head, more than just the video game characters. Over the coming days, Sid would witness these personalities. All of them being dramatic, extreme, manipulative. This really came to light one day, when Sid had just gotten in a fight with his mother over the phone. Sid was not the kind of person who let himself cry, especially because there was usually no one around to care. But this time, someone was there. Sid writes, "I let myself cry at Jen's house. Jen and Hojo suggested I stay longer and begin talking about very, very drastic measures that I needed to get away from my home, that I could abandon my family. Here's the number of a youth support group." Jen told me that her mother was the same way, and that Hojo had to go all the way to California to rescue her. Jen's mom was apparently a horrible abusive person who hated her daughter for being a lesbian. Her father was absent or divorced or something. It was never clear. She kept saying how even though her grandmother was rich, she didn't love her. She had stories about her abusive friend. I was sympathetic, always believing in that, don't complain. People have it worse than you, stick. That conversation lingered in his head. Even when Sid returned home two days later, Jen's words echoed in the walls of his family home, a home where he felt so depressed, angry, isolated. But he didn't feel so alone with Jen and Hojo. He started to wonder if maybe those drastic measures were really that drastic. Why continue living his life in Brooklyn? Why spend his days trapped in a dark basement? Why stay with his family? Sid started to forget about the mess, the temper tantrums, the delusions. Maybe the final fantasy house was where he belonged. After his first visit at Christmas time, Sid continued to visit Hojo and Jen every few weeks, and between intervals, there were new behaviors that started to rear their even uglier heads. Jen started pressing the issue of Sid's other life. He was Zach, after all, from Final Fantasy. She wouldn't insist he should have memories, and when he denied the claims, she'd get a twisted look in her eyes. Within the next few visits, more people would come and go from the house, more members of Jen's growing cult. One of those people was a girl named Aries. Sid and Aries had become fast friends. They talked all the time, and saw each other often. She was sweet, and kind, so it was no surprise that Sid came to really like Aries. But Jen had noticed that also. Jen wanted the two to become intimate. She dropped little comment at first, subtle little hints, and when that didn't work, Jen outright commanded Sid to sleep with her. She threatened to put an aphrodisiac in their food. Still, neither would budge, and in lieu of Sid's advances, Jen took it upon herself to court the young Aries. Jen approached Aries, acting stern. She started flirting. Aries was in no place to object. After all, Jen was the leader of their friend group, the owner of the home, the brokerage for all of their friendships. So Jen took her to bed, all night while Sid was falling asleep, he'd hear the sounds of their intimacy. It went on like this for days. For a couple of months though, it wasn't that bad. Sid couldn't make the trip often, just the occasional weekend trip. And with time away from Jen's house, the uncomfortable pressure that she applied didn't seem so bad. So he kept visiting. And things only got worse and more delusional from there. Jen began asking him for money. She needed to buy food for the house, and Sid was expected to contribute. Sid was broke. He was just a poor college kid trying to get by, but he didn't want to be rude. So he'd give her what little money he had. With that money, Jen would go by steak. Expensive steak. That was all she ever wanted to eat. But Sid was a allergic to red meat. He was raised vegetarian. His body never adapted to the heavy proteins. He told Jen that he couldn't eat the food, but Jen didn't care. So whenever he stayed at Jen's, he'd eat the steak, night after night, and he'd make himself sick. But it was okay. He'd manage, after all, Jen didn't mean to ignore his requests. The group mentality began to sink in. The longer Sid stayed, the harder it became to tell where hospitality ended, and obligation began. Jen made every extra task feel like a favor. Every sacrifice, a proof of loyalty. By the time some were crept in, Sid had already been folded into the rhythm of the house. The dinners he couldn't eat, the magic battles, the talks about reincarnation, the endless expectations. So when Jen asked him to stay through the summer, it didn't feel like a question. It felt like the next thing that was always going to happen. So Sid grabbed his pet rat, a couple pairs of clothes, and took the long bus ride down to stay college. He'd be living with Jen until the fall semester began. With no car, and no phone, Sid spent his first days trudging through the summer heat, going from business to business, asking for a job, until a local supermarket finally gave him a shot. He'd start that week. The pay wasn't much, but it was enough to cover his share of rent, staying at Jen's for the summer. Sid was elated as any college kid would be, a whole summer with his friends away from home, building a life that finally felt like his own. Whatever questions lingered in the back of his mind, the strange rules, The small discomforts, the way Jen always seemed to get her way, they were easy to quiet beneath the excitement of it all, because at that age, when you're handed the thing you've been wanting most, you don't stop to ask what it might cost. So he worked his new job, and when Jen asked for his paychecks, he gave it without question. I was the workhorse, I guess because I was Zach from Final Fantasy, I was therefore the manly man, Jen quit her babysitting job, and refused to look for another one. I was the one who had to carry groceries to and from the house, the one who made the money to feed everyone, the one who had to fix or move furniture when it needed to be fixed or moved. My computer could rarely get online because Jen was on it almost 24/7. Jen was not supportive of me having a social life. When my phone ran out, I was not allowed to call home on my own. When I talked to people online, she would hang over my shoulder and ask who they were. Then she would write down the screen name and go talk to them on her computer later. This is how she got a hold of many of my other friends, who she would later abuse. Jen would, and did, keep a very strict track of my activities. If I was going out, I had to tell her where. I did not have a house key so I had to make sure they were home or I would be locked out. I was locked out a few times because Jen would go to sleep and I would stand at the door banging and not be able to get in. I had a few fun moments like dumpster diving but I had to keep it all secret to myself or I would get in trouble. Then there was the fighting. Not the silly magic fighting I talked about earlier but real fighting. Screaming fights, slapping, punching. The sound of flesh beating on flesh is not one you can miss and the apartment was small so there was no way not to hear them hearing one of them win or whimper. In the beating, and immediately after, the noisy intimacy. And in the midst of real violent fighting, there was also the increasingly difficult imaginary fighting. Jen would wake him up at 3 a.m. to fight imaginary enemies, whatever demons or goblins or ghouls she invented, Sid was expected to combat. Within a couple of weeks at staying at Jen's, his mental health was beginning to suffer. As was his performance at his new summer job, so his hours were cut. And with Sid's shrinking paycheck, Jen bought steaks. The only time he ate was at work. Sid would beg his co-workers for something to eat, expired bakery goods or sushi, just something to get by. But the manager's noticed, one of his managers outright denied him. And quickly, Sid was suffering the consequences of his inaction. He didn't realize how controlling Jen would become. He didn't realize that he was in a cult. The summer he'd began to take its toll, without a car, Sid walked for hours each day, from work and back to the grocery store and back. And as the days grew longer, his health continued to deteriorate. In the house did too, Jen and Hojo were unclean, piles and piles of trash and muck stacked in corners, papers lying around, food wrappers, sweaty clothes, spillages. Their home began to smell like garbage and rotting meat, all amplified by the blistering heat, baking it all. But there were still his other friends, like Aries, another member of the cult, and another victim of Jen's. She endured the same treatment as Sid, the long nights, the yelling and screaming, financial control, but Aries was waking up. When she was over, Sid could talk freely, and he would become conscious of the treatment he was enduring. But once she was gone, Jen and Hojo went back to working on his psyche. They had me brainwashed. I was terrified and miserable, but I was brainwashed. I know this because Jen had a fight with Aries at one point. I don't even know what it was about. I think Aries woke up to what Jen was doing and wanted out. Jen was on about how she had been betrayed, how they were so united. About this time I began to learn what happened to Aries, Jen had made Aries sit in a bathtub full of ice cubes and green food coloring as part of her training. It's a wonder the poor girl didn't get hypothermia, but Jen was up in arms. Apparently Aries called one evening when Hojo and I were at the used bookstore, stealing books, yes, that poor. And said she wanted some of her things back, that she had left at the apartment. Jen exploded. She called Hojo's cell phone and tears, screaming she was going to commit S word. I believed it. Hojo called a nearby cult member and demanded he go over. Hojo called Aries and screamed at her. I told her off to. We rented a taxi with money we didn't have and raced home. She claimed to have made an attempt of S word. When we arrived, she had wash claws on her arms. I woke up for a second and knew this was bullshit. I had a problem with S H. Jen had made no attempt of S word. She had just scratched herself. At most it would sting but I was still mad at Aries because I was supposed to be. I wrote her nasty emails. I joined them in bashing her. I ignored her when she came to pick up her stuff. Even though she obviously wanted to still be friends with me. I regret that now because we never reconciled. Maybe if I got the clue and tried to get out with her, things would have turned out different. And just like that, another ally was gone. Near the end of summer, Jen and Hojo were having trouble paying bills. Not because they were working, they weren't. But because Sid wasn't providing enough. So they made the decision to move apartments. This time into a one bedroom. It was in the same complex just across the street. And with help, it wouldn't have taken long. On the day of the move, Jen and Hojo were nowhere to be found. And Sid, knowing that time was running out, had to move it all by himself. In 90 degree weather, half starved and nauseous. He moved the furniture, the boxes, the dressers and drawers, until the entire apartment was somewhere else. Sid was angry. He had to escape somehow, some way, but the truth of the matter was he had no money. His bank account was drained. And for the foreseeable future, it would remain drained. He had no strength, he wasn't eating or drinking, and he had no way of reaching out for help. Jen would see, and he would be punished. Though Sid was nearing his breaking point, he wasn't brave enough to leave. Not yet, so he stayed to endure. One more abuse. Toward the end of the summer, Sid's hours had been cut to one hour a week. By the time Jen got a hold of his check, he had $6 in his pocket. He was dizzy from starvation and sickness, and had lost a lot of weight. One day, the forecast called for rain in the afternoon. Sid, not knowing this, walked to work. And just as soon as he arrived, the rain started coming down. Hard. So hard, the electricity went out in the supermarket, and everyone was sent home. He had to walk in the pouring rain all the way home. When he finally returned, he left his soaked shoes outside to dry. Only nothing more than to dry off and relax. But Jen wasn't interested in his comfort. That night, she pulled them outside. She was laying in the grass, talking about God with another member of the cult, and wanted Sid to join. She wanted him to admit he believed in God. Sid was fed up, so he denied her. No, he didn't believe in God, and he would never believe in God, or her. Jen began fake crying, pretending to be a child. But Sid, after a long day, had gone fed up. He screamed at Jen to stop. Jen, shocked and upset, sprinted way into the house. I'll let Sid tell you. So what happened next? The next morning, someone had stolen my shoes. You may think it's a silly reason to snap, but that's what did it. That this got awful town with these got awful people who were taking all my money. They had to take my shoes too. My had it. I just had it. I pulled a sheet of paper that had Hojo's computer campus logging in name. I stole some keys. I threw some edible trash to my poor rat who was starving too. I threw on a change of clothes, a pocket knife, and all the money I had left. $5. Into my bag along with my sketchbook and a pencil. And I walked. Chewless. Because I had no money, I couldn't leave town. But being so poor and town for so long, I learned where I could find the cheapest food and drink. I could get a bagel for $0.50 and a drink for $0.75. The streets were so hot, it burned my feet, it hurt like hell, but I was done. I went to my job and poked my head in. I couldn't actually go to work because of the no shoes policy. I quit. It didn't make sense to work there anymore. I'd hang around the bus stop or in front of the church yard and I'd sit in the shade and draw and think. I tried to think of what to do. People would notice me in my torn pants and my bare feet and I'd just shrug and laugh it off. I was homeless for a few days. All in all, I felt fantastic, I felt great, better, better than the entire two months I spent with them. I had the freedom to walk where I wanted and sit down where I wanted. There were no smells, there was no fighting, no one was ordering me to buy a steak, I wasn't sick of the food I ate, no one was waking me up telling me to go outside and look at fairy rings. I swear to you, I'd much rather be homeless than live with people like them ever again. The threat of homelessness does not faze me because I've seen something so much worse. He contacted one of Jen's friends that lived nearby and asked him for a place to stay. He didn't give any details, fearing that if the friend knew, he would tell Jen. Thankfully, that didn't happen. The friend agreed to let Sid stay. There, after months of psychological torture, starvation and forced labor, he finally phoned his father and Sid was finally free. And I'd love to tell you all that the story ends here. Sid goes free, Jen and Hojo were arrested and no one was ever heard again, but I'd be lying if I told you that. The truth is, their pattern of abuse continued for years after Sid ran shoeless from their home in 2002. On his website today, which was created to catalog the stories of other victims and keep other community members safe, there are 20-something stories. Some of them are stories like Sid's, others are journal entries, email threads and conversations. At the bottom of the page are warnings about what a cult is, what it looks like, what it does, and how to stay away from it. After Sid left the final fantasy house, they adopted a new victim named Kat. Here is an excerpt from her own account. My name is Kat and I actually emailed you once before a long while back. One time not too long after I left, Jen's group by choice slash complete meltdown. I haven't really had the guts though to write anything until now, a day after my two-year anniversary of having a mental breakdown and leaving. They identified me as their Zach too. Thankfully, the experience didn't turn me off of being a phantom Zach. I was really damn stupid at the time and I was not doing well with my parents, my current roommate, and a really long bout of depression I was in. They seemed nice enough when I met them and I was willing to go along with all these stuff they talked about because I was happy just to spend time out of my apartment. It was almost fun right? I'd even sometimes joke around with my roommate slash best friend at the time about it. I remember she got a big kick out of it at first, but things also dwindled with time between us. Jen and Hojo slowly poisoning our relationship. Mind you, I'm not the type to get pulled into crap like this easily but they had sadly noticed the state I was in and hooked me nice and tight when I was as down as I had ever been, at least at the time. I was viewed as a source of income to Jen and also as a guard type person. Meaning she'd have me sit up until dawn a lot of nights because she was afraid something horrible was going to happen. Most nights in fact were quite lovely and calm, but extremely tiring because I wasn't getting much sleep anymore. I'd sleep after his line out and wake whenever Jen would waltz into my room to either use my computer or wake me up to do whatever was my duty. Their fights would get so bad and so loud you could hear it on any of the three floors of the house from behind two closed doors. Three, if you also counted mind, you could also hear them hitting each other, screaming like they were on fire or something. There was one occasion I remember very clearly where I was in the wrong place at the wrong time and was trying to get the hell out of the way when Jen spotted me. She stormed over and grabbed my upper left arm and shook me very hard, screaming about not looking at her like that. I had a black and purple bruise the size of her hand that lasted for weeks and weeks before it fully healed. The truth is, after Sid, many people were sucked into Jen and Hojo's twisted world. Some, for just a little while. Some for months. Even years. The story has since become infamous. It's been covered across news networks like Vice and continues to track the tension across the internet. Jen and Hojo hopped fandoms as the years went on. The last known sighting of Jen online was in the Hannibal fandom in 2016, where she claimed many more victims in her delusional quest for control. There's even more drama and stories crossing many different corners of the internet involving Jen. We just covered Final Fantasy. There are entire communities she tormented after Sid escaped the house. But every story across every fandom, every community, every decade paints a single vivid picture, one of an abuse of household, filled with delusional, unwell people, and a cult-like mentality where scars embellish more people than we'll ever truly know. As of 2009, Jen and Hojo split. Today, no one knows if her pattern of abuse of behavior ever stopped, where she is or what she's doing. But we know for a fact that neither Jen nor Hojo have ever faced consequences for their actions. Thankfully, Sid's story and the stories of other victims posted on his website opened the eyes of many. People started to wise up to her behavior. So hopefully, many people were spared the same fate. But many more weren't, and I can only pray that the victims of their cult, the victims of Jen and Hojo, find the peace they deserve. User just made this account, imagine your life without the internet, imagine being unable to pull up Instagram for a quick fix to loneliness, or Google to answer any question you have in under five minutes, and worst of all, no TikTok to doom scroll before bed. Many people don't realize how much they rely on these things. Most of us take that for granted. How easy it is to access the entire world in our pocket, to connect to people from across the world, and to learn about things we didn't even know we could learn. Not everyone has this ability though, and some may think those people are lucky, to live in ignorant bliss, a lot of us want an escape from the internet, to get back to reality. But for user just made this account, the internet is the escape, from the hell that is his life. On June 3rd, 2018, when he quite literally just made his account, he also made his first post, on our slash confession, he said, confession. I'm on the internet right now. I'm born, brought up in a cult. So this is confession worthy. I'm supposed to be posting and marketing the products the sect makes online. And one of my mothers checks the search history nightly. But everyone is too dumbed down to realize that incognito is a thing. So when everyone is gone doing work, and I'm made to post the listings on the internet, I will go incognito and browse Reddit and world news and Twitter feeds and whatever else. I'm 19. If they found out, I would definitely not be left with so much freedom and be punished. Yeah, even if now, been adult by the government's order, I'm still pushed in the group of being a child. So I'd probably get a serious beating. I'm actually really lonely and empty all of the time. For the people who post their information and pictures and lives on Reddit, you really do a lot for me. And it helps me get through these days. Thank you so much. This is my first Reddit post. I know I have to flare, but I can't find out how to do that until I post. I hope that's okay. Like I said, the internet can be incredibly terrible and sickening, but this post immediately made me remember all of the incredible things about it and how all of those things are tiny slivers of joy in the user's life. It's heartbreaking to realize that he didn't even know what the internet had to offer. At first, it was just something he had to use to get his work done. Something on a computer that allowed him to do the things he's been forced to do. There's something so sad but also kind of wholesome about that. Like he was sitting blindly on top of a mountain, unaware of the view that was before him being the internet. But thank God he stumbled upon Reddit and had his eyes opened and it was just purely by accident. One time I try to look up, make color swirl candles and it gives me a link that went to Reddit. Then I found out there was more things than that here. LOL. And the tragic part of being in the cult though is that even with a tiny amount of exposure to the outside world, it's still exceptionally difficult to break free. Even if someone starts to understand how unhappy and sick they're becoming. But now that OP has found the internet and people that he can talk to, at least to the screen, he has an outlet to share some of these feelings that have been haunting him for years. The OP posts, "I'm really miserable all of the time." There isn't one time in my days that I'm not miserable. There are only times that I am so busy that I'm not feeling it as much. Sleep is miserable, being awake is miserable. I don't want to do anything at all but I have to do them anyway. Everything is intimidating to me and scary to me to the point that I am struggling to do anything different at all. But being like that still has me stuck in this miserable place. I don't know anything about anything and I'm so far behind every other person there is in the world. I don't have the energy to talk to anyone or fight back against the bad things that hurt me now. I feel like maybe my body is weak and bad to the point where I'm just gonna die soon and I'll experience nothing before that happens. Just the same daily thing that I'm always made to do. Now I'm just in this place. I can't study, I can't meet new people. I can't learn new things. I can't go to a new place anywhere in the world. I can't learn about myself or anything else. Here I am just like this and I'm stuck like this forever. It's just crushing to read this post. But then it's post after post after post like this and it just gets more and more heartbreaking. Because now he has the internet and now the OP is aware of thousands and thousands of more things that he's unable to have. And even though he's exhausted and isn't sure how to feel hope, there are some hopes that won't die. I have a dream of seeing the ocean. I wanna see it one time before I die. I know they're all different like the beaches depending on where you go, but any of them is okay I think. I just would really like to see the ocean once. I'm really, really tired. Everyone deserves to see the ocean and not just once in their life. But to get there is a very daunting road for the OP. Some users actually get frustrated with him for not finding the courage to pack up his things and leave. But he's just a kid. Yeah, he's 19. But he has nowhere near the amount of education, life experience and guidance that most 19 year olds have gone by that age. He's scared or more like terrified and has no idea how to begin. One user asks the OP. I totally get the urge to convince OP to leave the cult. But I'm not sure how much it will help. People make big decisions when they're ready. Not before. No matter how much good advice they get from others. OP, I'd encourage you to consider where your boundaries are. When will you know if it's time to leave? What are the lines that you won't allow crossed? And how will you respond if that day comes? Best wishes. And then the OP responds to this comment saying, "Really, thank you so much." There's a lot of reasons why I have hesitation. I really do love my family and they provide me with things like food and electricity. I don't have skills in life like to drive or work. And I don't have a really big education at a big school like a lot of people do on the outside. There is my pets here that I love very much and try to watch the younger kids. I don't feel comfortable leaving them, but I can't take them because the government would take him back here. It's the only life the OP has ever known. I don't think many people can understand what that's like to leave the only people you've ever met, including his innocent siblings that he wants to continue to protect. This seems to really be the biggest obstacle for him because he has another post about wanting to get custody of his siblings. But his story hasn't gone under the radar. Hundreds of people from Reddit are now rooting for him. He starts to become more than just another random person with a sad story. People get to actually know him. Through their questions in the comments, OP becomes a real person to those following him. I like to look at the news. Weird things that people will put up for sale on Etsy. Twitter pages and feeds. The Wikipedia site recipe plays on websites and on Reddit or whatever I can find. I think I'm pretty good at searching for things. For a few years, my sister before she left taught me some things about how to use the internet. So the history doesn't come up and what websites have interesting news to look at. I was taught by people here. It's not always the same. Sometimes one of my mothers or when I was younger, it was an older teenager. I interact with them not very often because the girls are busy and the boys are working a lot. I work a lot. But I'm really weak and get sick easily. So I do things indoors like cleaning or cooking or listing things online for sale because I am religious. I wear whatever clothes. My clothes are very big. I think LOL, but it's cool I was told. Like there's people that wear big clothes because it looks cool. Well, I don't mind it. We make all of our food here, but it's usually the same kind of things. But I'm good at making bread because of that. The internet has made me really happy. I really love reading things. I saw football on TV before though when someone was watching it. I don't know what the thing you listed was, sorry. Thank you for your questions. It was nice to be asked them and answer them. So in August of 2018, when the post suddenly became more different, everyone noticed. This starts shortly after a post he makes on July 21st. I live far away from major cities and I have no money. If I'm going to be homeless soon, where should I go? I search what I can and I don't know what to do because I live too far from the places that people tell me I can help and I don't have money. A friend or family to take me and I don't know how to drive. I live in like a far rural place. If I'm going to be homeless, I'll really just be kicked outside. What should I do? Finally, it seems like the OP is going to try and make an escape from the cult he's a part of. Of course, people want an update. They give him resources and pray that he reaches the life he deserves, but he doesn't give us the answer we are hoping for. Though what comes isn't really bad news either, but it still doesn't feel good. A little over a month later comes a post that just says "look in the garden." And then another one. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth, for you will see Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and all of the prophets in the kingdom of God. But you will be thrown out. Luke 13 verse 28 A couple of posts like that continue for the next two months, just Bible verse after Bible verse, and another cryptic spam post in of one specific question. By high-sop plant fresh dry oil, where? He has multiple postings about this high-sop oil. Each one seems like he's trying to figure out where to buy it, even though he never formally puts a question mark or an actual sentence into the post, which is really, really strange. Like obviously he isn't the most familiar with the internet, but his first couple of posts were nothing like this. He knew how to post a question, and the fact that he's even asking a question is strange. When he said himself, he feels like he's pretty good at looking things up. And then the overwhelming amount of religious Jesus praising postings. He's given enough information that makes it pretty clear he comes from a religious cult. But he never really gave any sign that pointed to him being religious. In fact, he said, "I guess I am religious, so what's happening?" Well, when someone straight up asks him what's the deal with these cryptic posts, his response is simply repentance. Is his "I guess I am religious" turning to a true and complete faith in God? Which given the context of him living in an abusive, controlling cult, doesn't feel like a good thing. Well, someone notices something about high-stop oil that pointed this being true. High-stop oil is typically used as medicine to help with stomach problems. It's also used for purification rituals in the Old Testament, specifically for David who has committed adultery. It was also the plant that made up the sponge that Christ drank wine from. Which was his last act in the mortal world alongside his words, "I thirst." I think the user is asking for purity. But a lot of people can't believe this is really him. This is no way the same person. The person asking for high-stop oil before clearly had no idea how to use Reddit either. I hope you're okay, we won. I told you, "I'm going to keep saying this to you. We know this isn't our friend. I hope my comment keeps you awake at night. We, hundreds of thousands of people from all over the world, all know this is not our friend posting. He is smart and knows how to properly use Reddit. He is arguably the most genuinely kind and good person on Reddit, if not in the world. That is why we all care about him so much and why we are all his friends. This is why so many people follow him and check in with him to see if he's okay. It's why so many people have offered emotional and financial support to him. He is our friend. He truly cares about people and we care about him. That is what love is. Also, his artwork is dope and you're a jerk for tearing it up. Like I said, there are some people that cannot even fathom the idea that this is the same person and I don't want to believe it either. But there's a couple of posts and comments mixed in with all of this that gives me another theory. The last one or two weeks I've been doing something bad and I feel guilty about it. I've been taking alcohol from the store rooms that my families have, putting it in mixed water in a bottle and drinking it when I can. It's clear so it's easy to do it like that. I don't know why. I think it makes me feel far away and helps me so I can do chores, but I think it's making me more tired. But I think the taste is bad though. I'm not supposed to know there's alcohol in the store rooms because men in our family aren't supposed to drink it, but everyone does anyway. I'm not a kid so maybe it's not a problem anyway other than in my own family. I just wanted to get it off my chest. Thank you for reading. And then on one of the first Bible-verse posts, he replies to a comment with an update on his situation saying, "Okay. My family is having a wedding now and I am really drunk. I made coconut wax and soy wax. How are you?" So he's clearly struggling with drinking, which isn't hard to understand. He's in extreme pain having to live with people that are actively hurting and entraping him. In that place, is it really so hard to believe that he's drunkenly making these posts? And just a couple of encouraging comments and posts on Reddit probably aren't enough to give him the courage to get far away from these people. We don't know a lot about the cult, but it's obvious he's been brainwashed and indoctrinated into what they believe. It takes time to get out of that to start to think for oneself. All of the desire to run away, to see the ocean become a new person, has to bring feelings of shame onto the O.P. In the cults, these are bad things, sinful things, and when escape seems to scary, and all he has to return to is what he's used to, he's going to want that guilt washed away. To return to the God he's been taught, purification. Either way, whether these posts are him or it's his account being infiltrated by his abusers, it's terrifying, because it means that he hasn't escaped these people. He doesn't ever go into specific detail on what he endures here, but there's hints along the way that show the prison that he's in. One post particularly felt haunting. Before the shift into Bible talk, he made a post on a subreddit dedicated to "users discussing abuse". You're saving your sisters from being soiled. Don't you want your sisters to be modest and married? Men won't marry non-vergians, so you'll protect that for them, won't you? I was always underweight as a kid. Short of a different ethnicity that people think was interesting. So even as a boy this was the obligation put on me. If I said no or fought it away, then it was my fault for who got abused instead. A girl probably younger than me, then how can I forgive myself for that? I will let that happen. I know that isn't it or isn't the truth, but this is what I was told. Modesty was never given to me because I'm a boy, but now I'm an adult. All always be a boy. I'm never going to be a man. I can't stand with my own feet. I can't support myself or function in the world like people do. I can't make eye contact with people. I can't lift my voice or give an opinion. I'm subservent. Anyways, thanks for reading. It's like the OP is vomiting out onto the screen. The words are all jumbled and run into each other, but the message is clear. He's been hurt very, very badly by people that are supposed to protect him. They're keeping him trapped under their thumb so they can use him anyway they want, making sure he stays where they want him. Far away from the rest of the world. Far away from anyone that could help him. These are evil people and it's chilling to watch him go back and forth between almost finding the strength to leave but then returning back to what's familiar to him. What he's used to. And this is no fault of his own. It's abuse, which takes an enormous amount of courage to break free from. And despite everything the OP has been through, people have faith in him for good reason. The OP is smart, determined, and brave. So this is a rare time where the story goes in a positive direction, at least I think it does. After the multiple Bible quote posts, he then made a post asking what Vancouver was like. Then he kind of disappeared. Not for a while, just for a couple of months, but even when he came back, he wasn't posting anywhere near the amount we're used to. He made one post in 2019, a picture of a drawing he had done. And then nothing else until 2020. This is when he started to frequently make posts about criminal cases against those who committed acts on young people. It's like this was an obsession for him. Most were just reports of articles, but he made one where he vented about one case in particular. John Austin Galeen in Ottawa should be guilty of 32 cases of SA. Religious operations of people who hibernate the cover of God to launder money and do horrible things to young people and women. Network outside of their own territory and religion. Anglican Scientology, TFI, OTS, and even more than that. Popular and favorite celebrities fund it and now we can all see how it is tied together. Things like this are upsetting for most people, at least people with a heart, but I think OP may be feeling a little more than that. But a post like this actually feels hopeful. It shows he's starting to understand what has been happening to him, believing that it's not okay and that he deserves better. Posting article after article, he's trying to expose the people that maybe the general public isn't aware of. Maybe John Galeen is connected to the cult he came from. Maybe he's trying to out him for being a monster. Or maybe not, but either way it feels like he's in a different mindset than the first post. He's made it to the other side. When first reading through these posts that was just a gut feeling, but then I scrolled through the comments on some of those posts and what I found was over join. You're out of the cult? Yes, for almost a year I've been living in Vancouver. I was working part time with help and counseling, but now because people are sick I'm only staying inside. I just hope that maybe I can share things I read to make people know how many sick people there are in the world. I guess I have a lot of anger about it, but I'm okay. I am safe. Thank you. How are you? He's safe. There's not many times I come across stories like these. And real lines, they have a happy ending by the time I'm finished. The thought of the OP making his way to freedom is extremely heartwarming and exciting. And if I'm being honest, almost too good to be true. Maybe that's me being cynical or it's the feeling I get from his most recent and last post. On August 16th, 2023, he posted a 9 minute and 40 second video that's just a black screen with light-hearted instrumental music in the background. It starts with a man's voice who sounds a little bit like AI, but also a talk show host. He says, "As a little child, a compilation, then a different piano song starts followed by 9 minutes of a woman reading us stuff from the Bible," I assume. And like I said, this is all over a completely black screen. So that's pretty much all of the information I have. I mean, I hope it's nothing. I hope all it means is that he may have found his way back to religion and faith, but in a healthy way, not under the guidance of abusive cult leaders, or the fact that it started out by referencing a little child. It's possibly a reflection on the things he learned as a kid. That doesn't have to mean he's returning to that person, but instead processing what he went through, or it means nothing. Hopefully, the worst-case scenario is too heartbreaking to even think about too much. I'd rather imagine he's still living in Vancouver, continuing to build his life there, making friends, finding new and better jobs, building a family, moving past all of the torture he was put through by people he thought loved him. And by now, I hope that he's seen the ocean and way more than once.