While most people think of a cult as a group ruled by a charismatic leader – where members dress alike, live together, and follow strict rules that control how they think and behave – there are modern movements that don’t fit this traditional description yet include the same dynamics, as Chantal discovered.
She says,”The New Age cult holds beliefs from the most benign,such as the natural world being where we can experience God,to outright harmful,like cancer being treated with detoxes instead of proper medical care.
“You can see how people start down this path – the medical system isn’t perfect and holistic wellness can be incredibly transformative, but it becomes perilous.”
The indoctrination was slow and subtle for Chantal.
“This ideology slowly moulded me into someone who didn’t question the ‘truths’ I was absorbing,” she tells. “vaccines were the cause of chronic illness. anything unnatural was harmful. Pharmaceutical companies are corrupt,therefore all medications are bio-weapons to control our minds and keep us unwell.”
As with all conspiracy theories, Chantal says there are grains of truth, which is what makes them so compelling and insidious.
“I wasted years experiencing depression and chronic anxiety when I should have been on medication, but because of the New Age cult, I believed that medication was a cop-out.”
The Day My Friends Joined the Cult – And I Had to Leave Them Behind
“People I trusted were sharing bizarre posts about ‘the tens of thousands’ of vaccine deaths or political conspiracies,” reflects Chantal. “I couldn’t believe the level of warped reality that had infected so many people I was so close to.
“Then a dear friend posted that Jacinda Ardern was secretly behind the Christchurch massacre and I thought,’Enough is enough!'”
Moving to the countryside,Chantal began unfollowing friends,isolating herself and ceasing online contact with those she knew in the cult.
(Image: Chantal’s now-husband, Joshua.)
“Coming out of the New Age cult was the longest, deepest mental breakdown of my life. I had to annihilate my old identity and rebuild anew.”
Chantal has documented her experiences in a new book called Suspended Belief: Memoir Of A New Age Apostate. What began as a journal in 2022 evolved into a frank account of how she has healed.
“I wrote it to make sense of the madness,” she explains.
“My mum cried reading it. It’s terrifying to go public, but I want others to learn from my mistakes and not fall prey to misinformation.”
Worth a look