LatAm

Originally an integrationist Disciples of Christ congregation in Indianapolis, the Peoples Temple under Jim Jones evolved into a totalitarian movement that culminated in the 1978 mass murder-suicide at Jonestown, Guyana, killing 918 people.

Esoteric Neo-Templar movement founded by Joseph Di Mambro and Luc Jouret (1984). Conducted mass murder-suicides in Switzerland, Quebec, and France between 1994 and 1997 killing 74 people including children.

Polygamist sect that broke from the LDS Church after the 1890 Manifesto. Under Warren Jeffs (Prophet 2002–present, imprisoned 2011) the FLDS practised forced underage marriages, expulsion of teen 'lost boys', and total community control. Heavily documented in court records and federal raids.

Extreme isolationist Haredi-fringe sect founded by Shlomo Helbrans (1980s, d. 2017). Practises full-body covering for women, child marriages, and total community control. Leadership convicted in multiple jurisdictions; community has fled across borders to evade child-welfare investigations.

Spindale, North Carolina-based Christian sect led by Jane Whaley. The 2017–18 Associated Press investigation documented corporal punishment of children, forced labour at member-owned businesses, and 'blasting' prayer sessions to expel demons.

NXIVM (1998–2018) and its imitators dressed coercive control as 'executive success programmes' or 'women's empowerment'. Founder Keith Raniere was convicted in 2019 of racketeering, sex trafficking, and forced labour.

Mexico-based Christian Restorationist movement founded by Eusebio Joaquín González (1926). Current leader Naasón Joaquín García was convicted in California in 2022 on multiple counts of child sexual abuse and sentenced to 16 years.

Network of fundamentalist Mormon polygamist groups descended from the LeBaron family. Notable for the 1972 Joel LeBaron assassination ordered by his brother Ervil; the 1977 'Lambs of God' assassinations across the US; and the 2019 Mexico cartel-related massacre of nine LeBaron family members.

Communal Messianic-Jewish-influenced movement founded by Elbert Eugene Spriggs (1972). Members surrender all property, work in community businesses (Yellow Deli cafés, construction), and follow strict child-discipline teachings repeatedly investigated by child welfare authorities.

International communal Messianic Christian high-control group founded 1972 in Chattanooga, Tennessee by Elbert Eugene 'Gene' Spriggs (1937-2021) and Marsha Spriggs. Operates approximately 50 communities in 9 countries; estimated 2,500-3,000 members. Recognisable public face is the Yellow Deli / Common Sense Market cafe network. Documented forced child labour, corporal-punishment doctrine, multiple government raids (Vermont 1984 Island Pond raid, Bavaria 2013 Wörnitz / Klosterzimmern raids, France 2015), and the full set of severance, total residential control, and arranged marriage patterns.

Sodalitium Christianae Vitae (SCV) was a Catholic Society of Apostolic Life founded in Lima, Peru in 1971 by Luis Fernando Figari. It expanded across Peru, Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, the United States, and Italy through the 1980s–2010s. The 2015 Pedro Salinas + Paola Ugaz book *Mitad Monjes, Mitad Soldados* ('Half Monks, Half Soldiers') surfaced decades of sexual, psychological, and physical abuse by Figari and senior leaders. Figari was suspended in 2017 and expelled in 2024. In **August 2024 Pope Francis suppressed (formally dissolved) the entire society** — an exceptionally rare canonical action. The current entry covers the SCV through its dissolution and the Sodalit Movement adjacent lay groups (Christian Life Movement, Marian Community of Reconciliation) that the same papal decree restructured.

Catholic religious congregation founded by Marcial Maciel (1941). The Vatican confirmed in 2010 that Maciel sexually abused dozens of seminarians and fathered children with multiple women; major institutional reform followed under Vatican delegate Cardinal Velasio De Paolis.

Carl H. Stevens Jr. (1929–2008) founded The Bible Speaks (TBS) in Bath, Maine in 1972 and built it into a major high-control evangelical-charismatic organisation centred at the Lenox, Massachusetts compound by the mid-1980s. The 1987 Dovydenas v. Bible Speaks $6.5M federal civil judgement — at the time the largest cult-recovery civil judgement in US history — found that Stevens had exercised 'undue influence' over Elizabeth Dovydenas. The organisation rebranded as Greater Grace World Outreach (GGWO), relocated to Baltimore in 1989, and continues operating with affiliated churches and Bible colleges in 75+ countries.

Brazilian 'faith healer' João Teixeira de Faria, who claimed to channel deceased spirits at his Casa de Dom Inácio in Abadiânia. Multiple Oprah-Winfrey-promoted appearances. Convicted of rape in 2019; over 600 women have alleged sexual abuse.

Post-WWII Pentecostal prophet movement founded around the ministry of William Marrion Branham (1909–1965), an American faith-healing evangelist. After Branham's December 1965 death in a road accident in Texas, followers organised around the Voice of God Recordings ministry in Jeffersonville, Indiana (now led by Branham's son Joseph), which distributes Branham's sermon recordings as scripture-equivalent. Doctrines include Branham as the end-times Elijah, the 'Serpent's Seed' doctrine, and a distinctive pre-tribulation rapture timeline. Approximately 500 congregations and 1-2 million followers globally.

Brazilian neo-Pentecostal mega-church founded in 1998 in São Paulo by Valdemiro Santiago de Oliveira after his split from IURD. Operates 4,500+ branches in Brazil and ~50 countries. The 2020 'miracle COVID-19 bean' incident drew international attention.

Mexican former physician who popularised the inhalation of vapor from the Sonoran Desert toad (Bufo alvarius / Incilius alvarius, 5-MeO-DMT) globally. Multiple in-ceremony participant deaths and Mexican criminal investigations.

Old Order Amish communities maintain high behavioural conformity through the Ordnung (community rules), Meidung (shunning) of baptised members who leave, and minimal engagement with outside media and education.

Word of Faith and Prosperity Gospel networks (Kenneth Copeland, Creflo Dollar, T.B. Joshua, much of TBN's flagship roster) blend Pentecostal worship with explicit teaching that financial gifts to the ministry produce divine wealth.

Brazilian Pentecostal megachurch founded by Edir Macedo (1977). Owns Brazil's second-largest TV network (Record). Subject of multiple Brazilian money-laundering and tax-fraud investigations over decades.

'Hot yoga' system created by Bikram Choudhury in the 1970s. Multiple women won civil sexual-assault judgments against him in the 2010s. Choudhury fled to Mexico to evade enforcement; the surviving Bikram Yoga community has fragmented. ESPN '30 for 30' and Netflix's 'Bikram: Yogi, Guru, Predator' (2019) are major documentaries.

Aubrey Marcus (b. 1981) is a wellness-influencer and the founder of Onnit Labs (a sports-supplement company sold to Unilever for ~$200M in 2021), the Aubrey Marcus Podcast, and Fit For Service (a residential-retreat-and-coaching network). The Fit For Service component has documented severance pressure, substantial financial extraction (~$10,000+ per multi-day retreat), and a programmatic combination of polyamory exploration, ayahuasca tourism, and 'masculinity work' that has produced multiple ex-participant complaints of psychological coercion. The wellness-bro-psychedelic-cult-adjacent pattern.

Umbrella entry covering the documented high-control variants of the Mexican Santa Muerte folk-religious cult — specific templos and lineages where transactional coercive-magic obligations, severance from family, and adjacency to organised criminal networks have been documented. Distinct from the broader low-control Santa Muerte folk-veneration phenomenon (~10–12 million casual devotees) which is mainstream Mexican syncretic Catholicism.

Umbrella entry for high-control cell-church / G12-style networks. Mainstream G12 (Cesar Castellanos) is moderate; specific high-control sub-networks exhibit shepherding-style discipleship patterns.

Christian denomination founded in the 1860s with Saturday Sabbath observance, distinctive health/dietary teachings, and a continuing-revelation tradition through Ellen G. White. Internally diverse — large mainstream wing alongside more controlling local fellowships.

United Pentecostal Church International (UPCI) is the largest Oneness Pentecostal denomination globally (~4 million members, ~30,000 congregations in 200 countries). Distinctive non-Trinitarian theology requiring baptism in Jesus's name only as a salvation requirement (not the Trinitarian formula); strict 'holiness standards' regulating women's hair (uncut, long, never cut), dress (long skirts, long sleeves, no jewellery, no makeup), and behaviour (no television in many congregations historically, no movies, no swimming pools, no slacks for women); strong patriarchal headship doctrine. Headquartered at Hazelwood, Missouri.

Commercial 'Kabbalah for Everyone' organisation founded by Philip and Karen Berg (1965, modern form 1984). Distinct from traditional Kabbalah scholarship; sells red strings, Zohar sets, and study packages. Celebrity endorsements (Madonna, Britney Spears) drove 1990s–2000s expansion.

The Society of the Holy Child Jesus (SHCJ) is a Catholic women's religious community founded in 1846 in Derby, England by Cornelia Connelly (1809–1879), an American-born convert. SHCJ operated girls' boarding schools and day schools across the UK, Ireland, and the United States from the 1840s through the late 20th century. Mid-20th-century coercive-control patterns at the schools have been documented in survivor memoirs, *Guardian* + *Irish Times* 2024 reporting, and the broader Irish state-inquiry context (Mother and Baby Homes, Magdalene Laundries). The contemporary order has substantially reformed and operates a much smaller educational footprint.

Florida-based MLM (founded 2001) best known for 'Crazy Wrap Thing' body-contouring wraps and the 'Skinny Pack' supplement bundle. ~100k 'Distributors' at 2018 peak; FDA 2012 warning letter on wrap disease claims; state attorney-general inquiries for income misrepresentation; characteristic Southern-evangelical coach culture documented across multiple ex-member accounts.

Western Karma Kagyu Tibetan Buddhist organisation founded by Danish lama Ole Nydahl (1972). Aligned with the Karmapa Trinley Thaye Dorje. Documented patterns of cult-of-personality around Nydahl, sexual relationships with students, and political controversies.

Historical Trotskyist sect founded by J. Posadas (1962). Distinctive doctrine combining Trotskyism with UFO contact theories. Small surviving network.

Generic name covers many Mexican Christian denominations. The CLCI applies to specific high-control sub-currents documented in Mexican press, particularly some independent Pentecostal congregations with documented severance and financial-extraction patterns.

Umbrella entry for the diverse set of Western-facing ayahuasca retreat facilitator circles (often Peru, Costa Rica, USA) that exhibit high-control patterns. Distinct from the established Brazilian Santo Daime / UDV churches.

Umbrella entry for high-control Western 5-MeO-DMT facilitator circles (the powerful psychedelic from Bufo alvarius toad secretions). Multiple documented sexual misconduct and severance patterns.

Umbrella entry for documented high-control sub-cells within Latin American Catholic Charismatic Renewal. Specific cases include various house-church cells under individual charismatic leaders.

Japanese new religion founded by Yoshikazu Okada (1959) practising 'okiyome' palm-radiation purification. Split into multiple successor branches after Okada's 1974 death.

Lay Buddhist organisation derived from Nichiren Shoshu. Globally promoted via Daisaku Ikeda's leadership (d. 2023). Excommunicated by Nichiren Shoshu in 1991. Affiliated with Japan's Komeito political party. Historical patterns of aggressive recruitment ('shakubuku').

Brazilian Pentecostal church founded by David Miranda (1962). Distinctive strict modesty code (no alcohol, smoking, dancing, jewellery). Substantial Latin American and diaspora presence.

Umbrella entry for the smaller documented high-control variants of Bolivian and Peruvian Andean curanderismo — specific living-yatiri (Aymara) and paqo (Quechua) figures whose lineages have produced documented financial-extraction, severance, and unsafe psychedelic practice (mishandled ayahuasca, San Pedro / huachuma). Distinct from mainstream low-control Andean indigenous religious tradition.

Strictest Rastafari Mansion founded by Prince Emmanuel Charles Edwards (1958). Distinctive black turbans / robes; insular community at Bobo Hill, Jamaica.

Ordo Templi Orientis ('Order of the Temple of the East', OTO) is a Western ceremonial-magic religious order founded ~1904 in Germany by Theodor Reuss and brought to international prominence by Aleister Crowley (1875–1947), who used it as the institutional vehicle for his Thelemic religious system articulated in *The Book of the Law* (1904). Crowley took leadership in 1922 and rewrote OTO ritual and doctrine to express the Thelemic premise 'Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law'. Multiple post-Crowley succession disputes have produced the contemporary Caliphate OTO (the largest organisation, US-based), SOTO (Society Ordo Templi Orientis), and Kenneth Grant's Typhonian OTO. Included in the dataset as a Moderate-band boundary case in cult-studies literature.

Japanese new religion founded in 1930 by Taniguchi Masaharu blending New Thought, Shinto and Buddhist elements. Substantial nationalist political associations under Taniguchi; significant moderation since 1985.

Broader Brazilian neopentecostal boom umbrella. Hundreds of denominations beyond IURD / Assemblies of God. Collectively tens of millions of Brazilian adherents.

Guatemalan evangelical political right. Historical 1982–83 Ríos Montt presidency associated with Ixil genocide; evangelical political involvement continues.

Umbrella for Latin American evangelical denominations beyond Pentecostal mega-denominations.

Catholic Charismatic Renewal in Latin America (originally a 1960s US movement) — mostly low-control with substantial Vatican approval. Specific high-control sub-circles around individual charismatic priests have been documented.

Mainstream Pentecostalism (Assemblies of God, Foursquare, Church of God in Christ) is a moderate-CLCI Christian tradition with energetic worship, glossolalia, and conservative behavioural expectations but generally voluntary participation.

Brazilian Christian-syncretic churches that use ayahuasca sacramentally — Santo Daime (founded 1930s) and União do Vegetal (UDV, 1961). US Supreme Court 2006 ruling protected UDV ritual ayahuasca use. Mostly low-control; specific high-control sub-chapters exist.

Japanese new religion founded by Nakayama Miki (1838) teaching faith in Tenri-Ō-no-Mikoto. Headquartered in Tenri City, Nara Prefecture. Practises distinctive sacred dance (Otefuri) and pilgrimage to the Jiba (sacred axis).

Largest single Brazilian Pentecostal denomination. Estimated 12+ million members. Mainstream Pentecostal low-moderate control.

Broader Latin American Pentecostal boom umbrella beyond Brazil. Mainstream low-moderate control. 200+ million adherents across region.

Umbrella entry for the diverse indigenous and syncretic spiritual movements globally — Native American, Andean, African Traditional, Polynesian, etc. Mostly low-control mainstream reference points. Specific high-control facilitator-led variants exist.

Jamaican Afrocentric religious-political movement (1930s+) venerating Haile Selassie I as God incarnate. Distinctive dietary (Ital), dreadlocks, ritual cannabis use. Mostly low-control with strong cultural identity.

Rastafari Mansion founded by Vernon Carrington ('Prophet Gad', 1968). Most globally diffuse Rastafari group; Bob Marley was a member.

Brazilian Afro-syncretic religion (1908) blending Spiritism, Candomblé, and Catholic elements. Substantial Brazilian following.

Oldest Rastafari Mansion (1930s+). Distinctive Nyahbinghi drumming traditions. Mainstream traditional Rastafari.

Mainstream French / Brazilian mediumship religion founded by Allan Kardec (1857). Substantial Brazilian following (millions). Distinctive doctrine of reincarnation and progressive evolution.

Broader umbrella for Brazilian Eastern-religion imports — Soka Gakkai Brazil, Seicho-no-Ie, PL Kyodan, Perfect Liberty. Brazil has one of the largest non-Asian memberships of multiple Japanese new religions.

Umbrella for Caribbean syncretic religions (Obeah, Espiritismo Cruzao, Trinidadian Orisha tradition).

Surinamese Afro-syncretic religion combining West African traditions with European elements.

Historical Jamaican Afro-syncretic religion; precursor to Revival Zion and Pukumina.

Umbrella for Mexican syncretic folk religion — Curanderismo healing tradition, Santa Muerte veneration, various local saint cults.

Mexican Santa Muerte (Holy Death) veneration. Among the fastest-growing religious movements in the Americas. Substantial mainstream popular following plus documented presence in narco / cartel contexts.

Cuban diaspora variant of Yoruba Traditional Religion. Distinctive orisha worship, animal sacrifice, and substantial financial commitment for full initiation. Mostly low-control with some moderate patterns.

Brazilian diaspora variant of Yoruba Traditional Religion. Distinctive orixá worship in terreiros (community houses). Mostly low-control mainstream tradition.

Haitian syncretic religion blending West African (Fon, Yoruba, Kongo) traditions with Catholic iconography. Distinctive lwa veneration and houngan/mambo priesthood. Mostly low-control mainstream tradition.

Mainstream Yoruba Traditional Religion / Ifá and its diaspora variants (Santería in Cuba, Candomblé in Brazil) are low-control reference points for African Traditional Religion.

Reform Judaism is the most theologically liberal major Jewish denomination, with full egalitarian leadership, no enforcement of halakhic detail, and openness to interfaith families. Serves as a low-CLCI reference point.

Conservative Judaism (Masorti outside North America) sits between Orthodox and Reform — observing Jewish law as binding while permitting evolving interpretation. Egalitarian, low-control, and democratically governed.

Umbrella entry for the diverse Native American Indigenous spiritualities across 500+ federally recognised tribes plus many more unrecognised.

Latin American Catholic base-community movement (Comunidades Eclesiales de Base) emerging from 1960s liberation theology. Mainstream voluntary Catholic tradition.