QAnon-wellness 'conspirituality' overlap (umbrella)
Umbrella entry for the 'conspirituality' phenomenon — the post-2020 alignment of wellness, anti-vax, conspiracy theory (especially QAnon), and online religious-influencer communities. Documented extensively in the Conspirituality podcast (Beres, Remski, Walker, 2020-present). Multiple documented family-severance patterns where wellness-influencer followers absorb QAnon eschatology and become unrecognisable to their families.
CLCI radar
BITE breakdown
0 — umbrella for the documented 'conspirituality' phenomenon: the convergence of wellness, anti-vax, conspiracy theory (especially QAnon), spiritual-influencer, and far-right online communities that crystallised during the COVID-19 pandemic. Documented extensively in the Conspirituality podcast (Beres, Remski, Walker, 2020-present) and academic work by Charlotte Ward and David Voas (2011, 'The Emergence of Conspirituality').
Profile facts
In context
The 'conspirituality' concept was first systematically described in a 2011 academic paper by Charlotte Ward and David Voas (Journal of Contemporary Religion) defining the convergence of New Age spirituality with conspiracy theory. The phenomenon massively accelerated during the 2020-2022 COVID-19 pandemic, when wellness-influencer communities (anti-vax, raw-food, essential-oils, yoga-and-meditation, ascension-and-starseed) increasingly absorbed elements of QAnon eschatology, anti-elite conspiracy theory (Great Reset, World Economic Forum, Bill Gates depopulation), and far-right political content. The Conspirituality podcast launched in 2020 by Matthew Remski, Derek Beres, and Julian Walker — three former yoga and wellness teachers turned investigative journalists — became the definitive ongoing documentation of the phenomenon, with 200+ episodes documenting specific influencer-led cult dynamics by 2025.
Documented mechanisms include: (1) gateway content: wellness-influencer audiences exposed to ostensibly health-focused content gradually move through anti-vax → general medical distrust → 'Great Awakening' eschatology → QAnon-adjacent worldview; (2) 'doing your own research': rhetorical framing that elevates parasocial-influencer claims above peer-reviewed evidence; (3) parasocial-influencer loyalty: followers of wellness influencers experience the influencer as personal-authority figure beyond their actual subject-matter expertise; (4) family-severance pattern: documented extensively in the r/QAnonCasualties subreddit (1M+ subscribers by 2024), where family members of conspirituality-converts document the cult-like behavioural changes; (5) financial extraction: substantial subscription, course, and product fees flowing from conspirituality-influencer ecosystems; (6) far-right convergence: documented overlap with militia, accelerationist, and Christian-nationalist political content.
Notable specific cases covered as separate entries include: Mickey Willis (Plandemic documentary), Christiane Northrup (turned anti-vax), David 'Avocado' Wolfe, Kelly Brogan, Sayer Ji (GreenMedInfo), Reiner Fuellmich, JP Sears, and dozens of others. The Conspirituality podcast and ICSA conference papers provide ongoing case-by-case documentation.
The CLCI 23 (High, lower-range) is an umbrella score reflecting the documented family-severance pattern, the financial-extraction mechanism, and the documented thought-replacement worldview across the broader conspirituality ecosystem; individual influencer cases have separate dedicated entries where documentation supports.
Recovery resources
- r/QAnonCasualties (Reddit) — Active 1M+ subscriber family-impact and recovery community
- Conspirituality podcast resources — Beres / Remski / Walker resource directory and recovery materials
- ICSA — International Cultic Studies Association — conspirituality archive
- Religious Trauma Institute — Religious-trauma clinical research
See the full curated list at /resources.
Legal cases & controversies
- Multiple individual influencer cases under various jurisdictions
Evidence by BITE axis
- Documented family-severance pattern via r/QAnonCasualties subreddit (1M+ subscribers by 2024)
- Substantial overlap with anti-vax, conspiracy theory, and far-right political content
- Parasocial-influencer loyalty elevating influencer-claims above peer-reviewed evidence
- Substantial financial extraction via subscription, course, and product fees
- COVID-era acceleration: massive expansion 2020-2022 with persistence 2023-2025
- Documented extensively in the Conspirituality podcast (Beres, Remski, Walker, 2020-present) and academic work by Charlotte Ward and David Voas (2011, 'The Emergence of Conspirituality')
- Documented 'doing your own research' rhetorical framing
- Gateway content mechanism: wellness → anti-vax → conspiracy → QAnon eschatology
Timeline
- 2011Ward and Voas first systematically describe 'conspirituality' in academic paper
- 2017QAnon emerges; initial wellness-adjacent uptake begins
- 2020-03COVID-19 pandemic accelerates conspirituality convergence
- 2020-05Mickey Willis 'Plandemic' documentary; major wellness-influencer anti-vax uptake
- 2020Conspirituality podcast launches
- 2021-01-06US Capitol attack includes documented conspirituality-influencer presence (Shaman, etc.)
- 2023Conspirituality book published by Beres, Remski, Walker
- 2024-2025Continued persistence and evolution; multiple academic studies
Evidence matrix
Structured sources cross-linked to the claims they document. Tiered per the source hierarchy. For free-text citations see the Sources section below.
Sources
- Conspirituality podcast (Beres, Remski, Walker, 2020-present, 200+ episodes) search ↗
- Charlotte Ward & David Voas, 'The Emergence of Conspirituality' (Journal of Contemporary Religion, 2011) search ↗
- r/QAnonCasualties subreddit (1M+ subscribers, family-impact documentation) search ↗
- Travis View / QAnon Anonymous podcast (multiple QAnon-wellness cross-references) search ↗
- Beres, Remski, Walker, 'Conspirituality: How New Age Conspiracy Theories Became a Health Threat' (PublicAffairs, 2023) search ↗
- ICSA conference papers on conspirituality (multiple 2021-2024) search ↗
- Mike Rothschild, 'The Storm Is Upon Us' (Melville House, 2021) — QAnon analysis search ↗
- Conspirituality' Explains Why the Wellness World Fell for QAnon — https://www.vice.com/en/article/conspirituality-explains-why-the-wellness-world-fell-for-qanon/ open ↗
- COVID-19 and "(con)spirituality — https://www.abc.net.au/religion/covid-conspiracies-and-conspirituality/12760976 open ↗
- The Emergence of Conspirituality — Journal of Contemporary Religion (2011) — https://doi.org/10.1080%2F13537903.2011.539846 open ↗
- QAnon's Unexpected Roots in New Age Spirituality — https://www.washingtonpost.com/magazine/2021/03/29/qanon-new-age-spirituality/ open ↗
- Yoga Teachers Take On QAnon — https://www.nytimes.com/2020/09/15/technology/yoga-teachers-take-on-qanon.html open ↗
- Iranian Accounts, Russian Tactics and Q — https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/tech-news/2021-04-21/ty-article/.premium/iranian-accounts-russian-tactics-and-q-israel-has-become-a-disinfo-battlefield/0000017f-e827-df2c-a1ff-fe77db160000 open ↗
- Podcasts of the week — https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2021/apr/16/a-riveting-tale-of-electoral-podcasts-of-the-week open ↗
- Galactic transmissions from tantra bros, pu$$y priestesses, red pilled starseeds and ayahuasca girls: Decoding the pedagogies of conspiritual life coaching — https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/10714413.2024.2388371 open ↗
- Galactic transmissions from tantra bros, pu$$y priestesses, red-pilled starseeds, and ayahuasca girls: Decoding the pedagogies of conspiritual life coaching — Review of Education, Pedagogy, and Cultur — https://doi.org/10.1080%2F10714413.2024.2388371 open ↗
- Alex Jones y el negocio de la industria de la conspiración del bienestar — https://www.nytimes.com/es/2022/08/14/espanol/opinion/alex-jones-conspiracion.html open ↗
- The Emergence of Conspirituality — Journal of Contemporary Religion (2011) — https://dx.doi.org/10.1080%2F13537903.2011.539846 open ↗
- Iranian Accounts, Russian Tactics and Q — https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/tech-news/.premium-iranian-accounts-russian-tactics-and-q-israel-has-become-a-disinfo-battlefield-1.9733592 open ↗
- Conspirituality' Explains Why the Wellness World Fell for QAnon — https://www.vice.com/en/article/93wq73/conspirituality-explains-why-the-wellness-world-fell-for-qanon open ↗
We cite sources by name and outlet rather than fabricating links. Where a source includes its own URL, the open ↗ link opens it directly; otherwise search ↗ runs a Google Scholar query for the cited title — useful for verifying academic sources. For news outlets, search the outlet's own archive.
Change history
Substantive edits logged per the score-updates policy.
- 2026-05-20Source-density flags derived from existing free-text sources[]: academic sources. Heuristic auto-flag; subsequent editorial pass will populate structuredSources[] with reliability tiers.
- 2026-05-20Score band scheme migrated from 4 bands to 5 (Minimal 0–5 / Low 6–12 / Moderate 13–20 / High 21–30 / Extreme 31–40). No CLCI value changed; the new Minimal band was carved out of the bottom of the previous Low band.
Key terms in this profile
Relevant hubs
Curated entry points on CLCI Hub for situations connected to this group.
- Start herePick the reading path that matches your situation.
- PatternsDocumented control patterns with linked profiles.
- Online groupsPolitical and ideological coercion often operates via online communities.
- FamiliesHow families and close friends can engage with high-control members.
- RecoveryIf you have left or are preparing to leave.
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Frequently asked questions
Q.Is QAnon-wellness 'conspirituality' overlap a cult?
CLCI Hub deliberately avoids the binary label "cult." Instead it places groups on a transparent 0–40 spectrum of documented control using Steven Hassan's BITE model (Behaviour, Information, Thought, Emotional). QAnon-wellness 'conspirituality' overlap scores 23 out of 40 — "High Control", at high confidence. The score describes documented control patterns, not a judgement of members' sincerity or beliefs; many members do not personally experience the patterns listed.
Q.What is QAnon-wellness 'conspirituality' overlap's CLCI score?
QAnon-wellness 'conspirituality' overlap scores 23 out of 40 on the Cult-Like Control Index, which falls in the "High" band. That total is the sum of four BITE axes — Behaviour 4, Information 7, Thought 7, Emotional 5 — plus a signed modifier of +0 for aggravating or mitigating factors.
Q.Why does QAnon-wellness 'conspirituality' overlap score 23 on the CLCI?
The score reflects publicly documented patterns including: Documented family-severance pattern via r/QAnonCasualties subreddit (1M+ subscribers by 2024); Substantial overlap with anti-vax, conspiracy theory, and far-right political content; Parasocial-influencer loyalty elevating influencer-claims above peer-reviewed evidence; Gateway content mechanism: wellness → anti-vax → conspiracy → QAnon eschatology. These map onto the BITE axes of behaviour, information, thought, and emotional control, and a signed modifier of +0 is applied for factors such as financial demands, leadership accountability, and exit costs. Every claim is backed by the citations in the Sources section on this page.
Q.How reliable is the QAnon-wellness 'conspirituality' overlap rating?
This profile is rated High confidence. High confidence means the score is backed by court records, academic work, and/or sustained investigative journalism. CLCI scores are not fixed — they are revised whenever new public evidence appears, and groups that reform can score lower over time.
Q.Where can I get help regarding QAnon-wellness 'conspirituality' overlap?
If you or someone you care about is affected by QAnon-wellness 'conspirituality' overlap, start with the Recovery resources listed on this page. General cult-aware support is available from the International Cultic Studies Association (icsahome.com) and the Freedom of Mind Resource Center (freedomofmind.com). CLCI Hub is an educational resource, not a crisis service — if anyone is in immediate danger, contact local emergency services.
Found something wrong on this profile?
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