What is that you say?

cults 3 Minutes

Over the last few months I have been sitting back collecting my thoughts and expressing my feelings much to the chagrin of former friends and acquaintances. Mainly because I am putting things out there in the wild. Why you might ask is because I need to vent. Yes I could write this all down in a nice little quiet journal offline. No one would see it but me. But for me that does not suffice. I lost one friend who was not vocal enough, hid his angst away, and kept it mainly to himself. Yes he spoke to a few people who he thought he could trust. Those enablers that allowed him to continue on his path to suicide. So yes I may seem outspoken and maybe considered the “enemy of the state” and being kept under a watchful eye. But wait maybe I am not alone, and If I am not alone then YANA.

With a continuation of my previous post some things I have forgotten or maybe was in denial about or just not sure of and needed to rediscover. There is no clear cut, definitive guide or “AHA” to what determines a cult a cult. Yes there are warning signs and indicators but no one really fully understands the inner workings of cults. We are all familiar with the Dalmer, the Manson scenario but at first these things did not necessarily fall into the realm of “cult.” No one has actually infiltrated a cult and broke down their inner workings from a sociological, psychological point of view. No one has actually done a successful active case study on a cult from within. Most cults are not determined to be cults until after a long enough period of time has elapsed that there are enough people who come forward and say “hey man I think this is a cult” and some one actually case studies the former members.

Cults never admit to being cults. Members who remain active within the cult never see the cult. Cult leaders never admit to being cult leaders.

here lists some of the warning signs you maybe in a cult. But again no list is a definitive and I have found multiple lists but this to me seems to be most complete.

The group is focused on a living leader to whom members seem to display excessively zealous, unquestioning commitment.
The group is preoccupied with bringing in new members.
The group is preoccupied with making money.
Questioning, doubt, and dissent are discouraged or even punished.
Mind-numbing techniques (such as meditation, chanting, speaking in tongues, denunciation sessions, debilitating work routines) are used to suppress doubts about the group and its leader(s).
The leadership dictates sometimes in great detail how members should think, act, and feel (for example: members must get permission from leaders to date, change jobs, get married; leaders may prescribe what types of clothes to wear, where to live, how to discipline children, and so forth).
The group is elitist, claiming a special, exalted status for itself, its leader(s), and members (for example: the leader is considered the Messiah or an avatar; the group and/or the leader has a special mission to save humanity).
The group has a polarized us- versus-them mentality, which causes conflict with the wider society.
The group’s leader is not accountable to any authorities (as are, for example, military commanders and ministers, priests, monks, and rabbis of mainstream denominations).
The group teaches or implies that its supposedly exalted ends justify means that members would have considered unethical before joining the group (for example: collecting money for bogus charities).
The leadership induces guilt feelings in members in order to control them.
Members’ subservience to the group causes them to cut ties with family and friends, and to give up personal goals and activities that were of interest before joining the group.
Members are expected to devote inordinate amounts of time to the group.
Members are encouraged or required to live and/or socialize only with other group members.

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Published by Lugh Sulian

Lugh Sulian Standing on the Ledge · Rebuilding from the Rubble Lugh Sulian is a working name for a working moment. This profile exists to hold Standing on the Ledge: Rebuilding from the Rubble—an ongoing, real-time record of what happens after collapse, when old rules stop functioning and new ones haven’t yet earned trust. This is not myth reenactment. Not spiritual bypass. Not curated healing. It’s a field journal from the threshold. The name Lugh points toward skill, clarity, and responsibility carried with awareness. Sulian gestures toward sight—what can be seen when illusion drops away and pretending becomes too expensive. Together, they frame the posture of this work: to look clearly, act deliberately, and refuse to rebuild what already failed. Through short-form video, spoken reflection, and long-form writing, this project explores: Collapse without spectacle Responsibility without authority Burnout as a systems problem, not a personal flaw Pagan cycles as lived practice, not aesthetic Small fires instead of grand rebuilds This space is intentionally unfinished. It documents: Standing still without freezing Moving forward without rushing Learning from rubble instead of hiding it Unplugged-Pagan.com serves as the grounding—seasonal awareness, ritual stripped of performance, and meaning built from experience rather than doctrine. Standing on the Ledge is one expression of that grounding, focused on the human cost of broken systems and the slow work of rebuilding integrity. This is not a teaching platform. It’s a shared watchpost. If you’re here, you’re likely between versions of yourself—tired, alert, uncertain, and still standing. You don’t need answers yet. You need honesty, boundaries, and permission to move at the speed of truth. No conclusions offered. No certainty promised. Still on the ledge. Still watching. Still working the rubble. Godspeed. Optional Short Versions (for profile headers or bios) Short bio (Facebook / site header): Threshold work. Pagan-rooted, process-driven. Documenting collapse, clarity, and the refusal to rebuild what failed.

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