Studies reveal several techniques that certain cults practice to persuade followers of their authenticity, ranging from physical to psychological. Cult leaders and active followers employ a combination of these methods to entice members and increase their devotion.
Some common physical routines used by cults include hyperventilation, repetitive motion and body manipulations. On the other hand, psychological tactics include trance/hypnosis and guided imagery.
Hyperventilation involves continuous over-breathing which causes carbon dioxide levels in the bloodstream to drop. This activity produces respiratory alkalosis, an abnormal condition of increased alkalinity of the blood and tissues. In its milder stages, hyperventilation induces dizziness or light-headedness. However, more prolonged over-breathing can cause panic, muscle cramps and convulsions. Cults often have people do incessant loud screaming, chanting or signing to produce this condition, which they construe as having a spiritual experience.
Similarly, constant swaying motions, assiduous clapping or almost any repeated motion helps to alter a person’s general state of awareness. A simple spin can already produce dizziness; imagine the effects of tenacious spin dancing and prolonged swaying. Group leaders either identify these motion effects as new levels of awareness or proclaim these as ecstasy.
There is also a number of body manipulation procedures performed in many religious factions. According to former members of a cult, their leader would walk from one member to another then press on their eyes until the pressure in the optic nerve cause them to perceive flashes of light. This process is called “bestowing divine light.” These same cult members were habitually instructed to intently push on their ear lobes until they heard a buzzing or humming sound, which was interpreted as hearing the “divine harmony.”
In contrast, other cult leaders employ hypnosis and trance to set people into altered states of consciousness, making them more compliant. Techniques that induce elevated levels of trance consist of prolonged chanting, meditation, singing and phrase repetition. In so doing, these leaders can sway their followers to perform almost anything, oftentimes without these followers being aware of the act.
To remove followers from their normal frames of reference and heave them up to oblivion, cult leaders also utilize a number of different guided-imagery patterns such as long detailed visual stories that can absorb the listeners into a trancelike state and make them more susceptible to suggestion and influence. Guided imagery is likewise used in another effective method popular with therapy cults to regress members back to the pain and loneliness of past events like childhood, tragedies and heartbreaks. This is frequently depicted in movies and sometimes even performed live in certain television programs.
These physical and psychological processes have been in existence for ages. Because of man’s relentless pursuit for a higher level of bliss, these and other means of persuasion will continue to be exercised for years to come.
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