-
Gatekeepers (c. 1990)
The Gatekeepers was a small apocalyptic group established in the early 1990s in Snohomish County, Washington, by Christopher Turgeon. The group began as a Bible study organization called Ahabah Asah Prophetic Ministries, with meetings held across Edmonds, Lynnwood, Everett, and Lake Stevens. The group’s direction changed after Turgeon announced that he had received a direct… Continue reading
-
Garden Ashram (c. 1977)
The Garden Ashram was a Hare Krishna-affiliated intentional community near Mullumbimby in the Northern Rivers region of New South Wales, Australia, situated on the Tweed River near Wollumbin (Mount Warning), a mountain significant to the Indigenous Bundjalung people. The region’s volcanic soil and heavy rainfall had long attracted people drawn to alternative lifestyles and Eastern… Continue reading
-
Gangaji (c. 1990)
Gangaji is an American spiritual teacher and author associated with the Neo-Advaita non-dual movement. She was born Merle Antoinette Roberson in Texas in 1942 and raised in Mississippi. Some sources render her name as Antoinette Varner or refer to her informally as Toni. After graduating from the University of Mississippi, Roberson married her first husband,… Continue reading
-
Ganas (1979)
Ganas is an intentional community located in Tompkinsville, on the North Shore of Staten Island, New York. Established in 1979, the group has been described over the course of its history as an urban kibbutz, an experiment in cooperative living, and a commune. It has also faced persistent allegations from critics and former members that… Continue reading
-
Christina Gallagher (1985)
Christina Gallagher, an Irish woman from County Mayo, gained public attention in the mid-1980s after reporting a series of supernatural experiences that later became the foundation of an international religious movement. Her claimed experiences began in 1985 at Cairn’s Grotto in County Sligo, where she said she witnessed a vision of the suffering head of… Continue reading
-
Galdrux (2020)
Galdrux is an online phenomenon based around a website that began publishing in 2020. (While galdrux.com was registered much earlier, it seems to have come into the hands of the current administrators around this time.) Galdrux presents itself as a “multiversal cult” centered on a spider-eyed chaos deity of the same name. Originating as a… Continue reading
-
Gaianism/Gaian Way (2019)
Gaianism is an earth-centered philosophical, holistic, and spiritual worldview that emphasizes a transpersonal devotion to the Earth, which is understood as a complex, self-regulating superorganism. Adherents, known as Gaians or Gaianists, follow an ethical framework centered on reducing humanity’s environmental impact and cultivating a direct personal relationship with the natural world. While it shares similarities… Continue reading
-
Gabriel of Urantia (1985)
Gabriel of Urantia, born Anthony J. Delevin on July 5, 1946, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, was an American spiritual leader who founded and led a religious community in southern Arizona. Delevin, whose original family surname was Dell’Erba, grew up in a working-class household. As a young adult, he pursued music, attended a seminary, and married. Following… Continue reading
-
Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (c. 1935)
The Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (FLDS) is a polygamous Mormon fundamentalist organization that originated in the early 20th century following a schism with the mainstream Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (LDS). The separation stemmed from the LDS Church’s formal renunciation of plural marriage in the 1890 Manifesto issued by… Continue reading
-
Full Circle (2014)
Andrew Keegan is a former child actor known for his roles on series including “Party of Five” and “7th Heaven” and in the 1999 film “10 Things I Hate About You.” In adulthood, he developed an interest in New Age spirituality and in 2014, he co-founded Full Circle with a group of friends. The organization… Continue reading
-
Friends of the Eucharist (1998)
Friends of the Eucharist was a traditionalist religious organization founded in 1999 by Ronald J. O’Brien in Keene, New Hampshire. Before establishing the group, O’Brien was known as Ronald J. Woodruff. In 1991, he was arrested by the U.S. Secret Service for his role in a $300,000 credit-card fraud scheme and later served 13 months… Continue reading
-
Friends Landing (1985)
Friends Landing was a spiritual and personal development organization founded by Susan Kilborne Musumeci, who used several names during her career, including WhiteWind Swan Fisher, WhiteWind Weaver, and Anahata Graceland. She operated the group with her husband, Ben Fisher. Formally known as Friends Landing International Centers for Conscious Living, the organization maintained an office in… Continue reading
-
Freemen (1993)
The Freemen, also known as the Montana Freemen, were an anti-government Christian Patriot militia that emerged in 1993, operating from a foreclosed 960-acre farm outside the town of Jordan, Montana. The group declared the property to be “Justus Township” and proclaimed themselves “sovereign citizens” who were exempt from outside laws, taxes, and government authority. Drawing… Continue reading
-
Freemasonry (modern foundation 1717)
Freemasonry is the world’s oldest and largest fraternal organization. According to Masonic legend, its roots trace to the biblical construction of King Solomon’s Temple, a project described as requiring stonemasons to organize into groups with specialized responsibilities. No concrete historical evidence supports Masonic activity in ancient times. Historically, Freemasonry traces its origins to the medieval… Continue reading
-
Freeman Group (c. 1960)
A religious movement centered around Bill and Patsy Freeman originated in the late 1950s and evolved over several decades into an independent fundamentalist Christian organization. Bill and Patsy Freeman married as teenagers in 1956 and initially left Bill Freeman’s Roman Catholic upbringing to join a Quaker congregation in Garden Grove, California. By the late 1960s,… Continue reading
-
Freedomites (1902)
The Freedomite movement, historically known as the Svobodniki or the Sons of Freedom, originated as a radical faction within the Doukhobor community in Canada during the early 20th century. The Doukhobors began migrating from the Russian Empire to Canada in 1898 to escape religious persecution and preserve their pacifist, communal way of life. By 1902,… Continue reading
-
Freedomain Radio (2004)
Stefan Molyneux is a Canadian Internet personality who founded Freedomain Radio, one of the internet’s earliest and longest-running political podcasts. He has been described as a white nationalist, a promoter of scientific racism, a men’s rights figure, and a leader of the alt-right. Several journalists and cult awareness organizations have also characterized Freedomain Radio as… Continue reading
-
Fraternitas Rosae Crucis (1856)
The Fraternitas Rosae Crucis (FRC) is a Rosicrucian fraternal organization that links its origins to ancient mystery traditions. According to the fraternity’s historical accounts, its foundational teachings developed over centuries from Egyptian mystery traditions concerning the immortality of the soul. According to the fraternity, Paracelsus drafted the original Fama Fraternitatis, which was published in Germany… Continue reading
-
Franklin Conspiracy (c. 1985)
The “Franklin Conspiracy” refers to a series of allegations that emerged in Omaha, Nebraska, during the mid-to-late 1980s. The claims alleged that a child sex-trafficking network connected to prominent local and national figures had operated for years under the cover of a community credit union. What began as an investigation into financial fraud expanded into… Continue reading
-
Foursquare Church (1923)
The International Church of the Foursquare Gospel, commonly known as the Foursquare Church, is a global Pentecostal Christian denomination within the evangelical tradition. Founded in January 1923 by Canadian-born evangelist Aimee Semple McPherson, it grew from a single congregation at the Angelus Temple in Los Angeles into an international movement. Its history has been shaped… Continue reading
-
Four Winds Commune (c. 1980)
The Four Winds Commune was a religious sect founded and led by Lucille Poulin, a former Roman Catholic nun and registered nurse. Operating from the early 1980s until its dissolution in the 2000s, the group became the subject of child welfare investigations, criminal proceedings, and public scrutiny because of its insular structure and disciplinary practices.… Continue reading
-
Fountain of the World (c. 1948)
The WKFL (Wisdom, Knowledge, Faith, and Love) Fountain of the World, often referred to simply as “Fountain of the World,” was founded in California around 1948 by Francis Herman Pencovic, who later legally changed his name to Krishna Venta. Born in San Francisco on March 29, 1911, to a Romanian Jewish immigrant father and a… Continue reading
-
Foundation of Human Understanding (1961)
The Foundation of Human Understanding was founded in Los Angeles in 1961 by Roy Masters. Born Reuben Obermeister on April 2, 1928, to a Jewish family of diamond cutters in London, Masters worked as a diamond expert in England, South Africa, and Belgium before immigrating to the United States in 1949. During his early adulthood,… Continue reading
-
Followers of Christ (c. 1880)
The Followers of Christ is a small independent Christian denomination with congregations in Oklahoma, Oregon, Idaho, and Alberta. The church was founded in Chanute, Kansas, around 1880 by Marion Reece, emerging from the Holiness Pentecostal tradition, emphasizing a literal interpretation of the Bible. Leadership later passed to Elder John Marshall Morris and his son, Marion… Continue reading
-
Fishdom (2019)
Fishdom is a mobile game developed by Playrix and released in 2008. It is primarily known as a tile-matching game in which players earn points to decorate virtual aquariums. More than a decade after its release, the game’s online presence expanded beyond gameplay when a dedicated subreddit was created on March 9, 2019. Founded by… Continue reading