When I read the slides and watched the videos on the Heaven's Gate Cult in the out of body experiences lecture, my mind was absolutely blown. This was a mass suicide pact made by a UFO cult in 1997, in which they gathered a powerful barbiturate called phenobarbital which they purchased in Mexico, and planned to mix it with alcohol to get the job done. The cult had a uniform composed of nike shoes that were on sale, and a patch specifically designed for "the away team" which one of the followers described as similar to a spacecraft in Star Trek. He states, "The away team goes down to the planet, does what they have to do, and comes back up." Two men named Applewhite and Nettles were seen as the keys to the kingdom of heaven. In December of 1996, the Hailbot commit moved closer to Earth to which Applewhite announced that this was the sign that he's been waiting for, and that the spaceships will soon arrive to take them home. In the video presented on the lecture, one of the followers mentioned that the day the suicides were planned would be the "happiest day of his life", and that he's been "looking forward to this for so long". My jaw literally dropped. I will never understand why certain people hold these types of beliefs, but to each their own.
Hi Audrey, I was also in complete shock when I learned about the Heaven's Gate Cult. It really shocked me to see how far people believed in things and to see how far they would go for these beliefs. When people become passionate about something, there's really no telling what they will do.
ReplyDeleteThis was an interesting lecture. great post!
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