Newsletter: Putin, Trump, and the Occult Beliefs Behind Their Dangerous Partnership
Vital Government Institutions on the Chopping Block!
This week’s episode of Cult Conversations: The Influence Continuum, “The Hidden Influence of Occult Beliefs on World Politics,” features an interview with my longtime friend and colleague, Joe Szimhart, an expert on occult beliefs and indoctrination. We discuss how political beliefs can be entangled with occult and spiritual beliefs to create the high-control, authoritarian movement that we see in MAGA today. We also talk about the hold Putin has over Donald Trump and how that affects the radical changes we’re seeing taking place in Washington D.C. now. You can also listen to the podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.
Next week’s episode, “Make it Meaningful: How to Find Purpose in Life and Work: Leaving the Kabbalah Centre Cult and Becoming a Scholar in the World of Corporate Social Responsibility,” will feature an interview with Debbie Haski-Leventhal, PhD, a survivor of the Kabbalah Centre, who has transformed her life and become a self-described “professor of purpose and impact,” working with individuals and companies to make lives more meaningful. Her recent book is called Make it Meaningful: How to Find Purpose in Life and Work. This is a must listen to (or watch) interview. The book is fantastic for all former cult members and anyone doing counseling with ex-members.
I recently attended the Harvard Medical School’s conference, Psychedelic-Assisted Psychotherapy: Navigating Complexity in Community, on March 6th and 7th. I shared insights on my Influence Continuum and BITE Model of Authoritarian Control. I learned about ongoing research involving the use of ketamine for dissociative disorders and so much more. I had a rewarding time and connected with many experts in this exciting and growing field.
We are now offering extra blog posts exclusively to our paid subscribers. In our most recent post, The Trump Regime is Canceling Higher Education for Supposedly Being Too ‘Woke,’ we explore one of Trump’s most sinister attacks on our valuable government institutions and his continuing dismantling of our government services. Education is one of the most vital cornerstones of our society, and his actions, unchecked, could deprive millions of students of achieving their dreams through education. This will profoundly impact our society and cannot be allowed to continue. If you aren’t already a paid subscriber, now is an excellent time to become one; all contributions help me further my work and pay the Freedom of Mind team who make this work possible.
I was recently interviewed by a Bosnian news team about Trump and Putin and how they work as de facto cult leaders. The article, Dr. Steven Hassan for N1: Trump is a malignant narcissist and has the profile of a cult leader, is in Bosnian, but the embedded video is in English.
This week’s livestream will be Wednesday, March 12, at 1-2 pm EDT; I welcome everyone to tune in with questions and comments! Last week’s livestream was a great success; you can see the replay here if you missed it.
Evaluate whether your group is a cult by using Dr. Steven Hassan’s BITE Model of Authoritarian Control™ survey! We’d love your input—not just on high-control groups but also on healthy ones! If you’ve been part of a positive, ethical group, please share its name. You can submit multiple entries if you’ve experienced more than one. Feel free to spread the word on Reddit, Facebook, or anywhere ex-members connect—the more data we gather, the stronger our research becomes. Our goal is to build a comprehensive, evidence-based database of both authoritarian and healthy groups. Thank you for contributing!
“How did I get to the point where I am upset with this current administration?” Joe Szimhart asks at the start of this week’s Cult Conversations: Influence Continuum episode. His journey from a self-described “cult believer” to a leading expert on esoteric religious movements offers invaluable insights into how authoritarian influence takes hold in both spiritual and political spheres.
Read the blog post or listen to the podcast below:
How can you tell if that group your family member has joined is safe? Is your relationship hitting a “rough patch,” or is there actual cause for concern? With this anonymous, easy-to-use diagnostic tool, you can answer simple questions and determine if any group or relationship is beneficial or destructive, ethical or unethical, healthy or unhealthy. And now, you can share your results on your social media if you wish!
As always, please let us know what you think about these pieces or what you’d like to see us discuss in the future. Thanks so much!
Listened to this and was glad that I did , thank you !