The Heaven’s Gate Cult

The Heaven’s Gate cult is among the numerous millennial and UFO-based cults all over the world. The Heaven’s Gate cult was led by Marshall Applewhite and his partner, Bonnie Nettles. Marshall claimed his spiritual name was ‘Bo’, but much more recently, he was known as ‘Do’ (pronounced as doe) and Bonnie Nettles utilised the name ‘Ti’ (pronounced as tee). Heaven’s Gate was 1 of 3 organizations that had been founded by Marshall Applewhite and Bonnie Nettles. The initial was Human Individual Metamorphosis (HIM), which they started in 1975. They traveled to Colorado desert, exactly where they unsuccessfully waited for the arrival of a UFO. Then, Applewhite started the Total Overcomers Anonymous (TOA) in 1993. He put an ad in USA Today stating that the Earth was about to be ‘recycled’, i.e. the entire globe was to be wiped clean (or rejuvenated), with the evil forces.

The Heaven’s Gate Cult: Their Beliefs

The Heaven’s Gate cult members believed that they could only save themselves by leaving it immediately, or to put it bluntly, by committing suicide. The cult was against suicide, and hence they believed in an alternative definition of ‘suicide’. Based on them, suicide meant, ‘to turn against the Subsequent Level when becoming offered’. The cult’s belief was that the body was only a medium to aid them in their journey. In this pursuit, the members with the cult added ‘ody’ (meaning ‘children with the Subsequent Level’) in the finish of their names. By Subsequent Level, they meant the Kingdom of Heaven. This truth was mentioned by Applewhite himself in a video that was filmed just days prior towards the the cult members committing group suicide.

Applewhite combined elements of Christianity, with unusual beliefs about UFOs and paranormal phenomena. He also construed the passages from gospels and also the Book of Revelation, to relate to UFO visits. In a peculiar way, he described a story inside the Book of Revelation, in which two witnesses are killed, and remain dead for 3 along with a half days, but are then revived and sent towards the clouds. He believed that the Earth was in control of evil hands. Applewhite claimed that about 2,000 years ago, aliens had come to Earth from the Kingdom of Heaven (the Subsequent Level). 1 of these aliens was ‘Do’, who was commanded by his female counterpart ‘Ti’. ‘Ti’ was referred to as ‘Heavenly Father’ by Applewhite. He claimed that ‘Do’ left his body and entered the body of Jesus Christ. Sometime later, one more group of aliens (or extra terrestrial beings) returned, and they moved into human bodies, but got scattered. Later, in public meetings, he mentioned that the converts (the members of his cult) had been the lengthy lost crew.

The Heaven’s Gate Cult: History

The Heaven’s Gate cult was the idea of Applewhite and his partner, Bonnie. Applewhite met Bonnie, a nurse in a hospital, exactly where he was a mental patient. He started to think that Bonnie and he had been ‘the two’, i.e. the two witnesses spoken about inside the Book of Revelation (Chapter 11, verse 3) within the Holy Bible. They tried to run an inspirational bookstore, which was unsuccessful. It was then that they traveled about the nation, including the churches, to announce their mission. Even so, only some individuals came forward in support.

The Heaven’s Gate Cult: Group Structure

The cult’s members gave up their worldly possessions, and lived a life of celibacy and asceticism. They lived together in a rented house in Rancho Santa Fe, California, and shared every thing communally. Some members with the cult, including Applewhite, underwent castration. They known as themselves brother and sister and lived their lives as monks and nuns. They wore unisex garments and abandoned their kids and family before joining.

On 26th March, 1997, 39 members with the cult, including Applewhite, committed suicide in their rented home in California, hoping that a UFO would come to rescue them. Two much more members attempted suicide in a similar fashion, in May that year, out of which 1 survived; even so, he committed suicide later once more. They had been widely publicized as cult suicides.

People who are depressed or suffer from numerous phobias, usually fall prey to such groups and in process, live a void life. If anyone falls into such a trap, we should aid him or her to differentiate among correct and wrong, to ensure that they lead a trouble-free life.