Just saw an ad for this documentary about a really odd cult leader I'd never heard of before:
Real name Mary Teal Bosworth but known universally as "Teal Swan". She's 37 years old and basically began building her public persona in 2011
* Claims to have supernatural powers including ESP, X-ray vision, X-ray hearing, and prophecy (according to her official bio on her author page: "clairvoyance, clairsentience, and clairaudience"). She claims to be able to see the "auras" and "souls" of her followers as well as view their internal organs.
* Claims that during her childhood she was regularly raped, prostituted off, and tortured by a Satanic cult for 13 years from age 6 to age 19. She states that the cult did this in an attempt to remove her special powers from her because they believed that only men could hold such power. However, she says she repressed the memories of the abuse and didn't recover the memories until undergoing therapy from Barbara Snow (therapist) - Wikipedia, a noted quack psychiatrist whose license was suspended after she created fake Satanic panics in several other cases.
* Claims that after escaping from the cult she traveled to China where she was treated by practitioners of Chinese Traditional Medicine, who recognized her spiritual abilities and taught her to hone them.
* Believes in reincarnation, crystal healing, tarot cards, and portals to other dimensions. Claims to be the partial reincarnation of Indian spiritual master Sai Baba Shirdi. She also has claimed to be partly alien and says she was designed by a panel of 6th-dimensional Arcturian beings who intentionally decided to make her physically beautiful "on every continent" in order to enhance her mission
* She encourages her followers to visualize their own deaths, including their own suicide, and think of suicide as a "safety valve" or "re-set button" option that's always available to them so that they can set the idea aside and improve their lives. However, her methods have been connected to the suicides of multiple followers.
* Former friends and followers have accused her of being mentally unstable, lashing out dramatically when criticized, and prone to emotional abuse and manipulation of her followers. They say she has convinced people that they were sodomized by gray aliens or that their cat is a holographic projection that can sense health issues.
* In the 10 years since she started the cult she got divorced in 2013, started another relationship but then declared him a sociopath and had him sent away for therapy, remarried a different man in 2014, divorced that man in 2014, and remarried for a third time in 2016.
* Charges up to $2,000 a pop for attendance to her workshops
* Maintains a headquarters in Costa Rica, where followers are often kept for extended periods of time, completely isolated from family and friends
* Conducts herself largely over social media, where she has 1.5 million facebook followers, 600k Instagram followers, and 1.24 million Youtube subscribers
* States that she wishes to have more spiritual influence than the pope
Teal Swan - WikiGlobal | The Celebrity Encyclopedia
Teal Swan - Wikipedia
Woman’s bizarre claim she is actually part alien
How Internet Guru Teal Swan Lures Followers - and Why It Should Worry Us (Podcast)
Teal Swan & The Craziest Wellness Cult Conspiracy You’ve Never Heard Of
Real name Mary Teal Bosworth but known universally as "Teal Swan". She's 37 years old and basically began building her public persona in 2011
* Claims to have supernatural powers including ESP, X-ray vision, X-ray hearing, and prophecy (according to her official bio on her author page: "clairvoyance, clairsentience, and clairaudience"). She claims to be able to see the "auras" and "souls" of her followers as well as view their internal organs.
* Claims that during her childhood she was regularly raped, prostituted off, and tortured by a Satanic cult for 13 years from age 6 to age 19. She states that the cult did this in an attempt to remove her special powers from her because they believed that only men could hold such power. However, she says she repressed the memories of the abuse and didn't recover the memories until undergoing therapy from Barbara Snow (therapist) - Wikipedia, a noted quack psychiatrist whose license was suspended after she created fake Satanic panics in several other cases.
* Claims that after escaping from the cult she traveled to China where she was treated by practitioners of Chinese Traditional Medicine, who recognized her spiritual abilities and taught her to hone them.
* Believes in reincarnation, crystal healing, tarot cards, and portals to other dimensions. Claims to be the partial reincarnation of Indian spiritual master Sai Baba Shirdi. She also has claimed to be partly alien and says she was designed by a panel of 6th-dimensional Arcturian beings who intentionally decided to make her physically beautiful "on every continent" in order to enhance her mission
* She encourages her followers to visualize their own deaths, including their own suicide, and think of suicide as a "safety valve" or "re-set button" option that's always available to them so that they can set the idea aside and improve their lives. However, her methods have been connected to the suicides of multiple followers.
* Former friends and followers have accused her of being mentally unstable, lashing out dramatically when criticized, and prone to emotional abuse and manipulation of her followers. They say she has convinced people that they were sodomized by gray aliens or that their cat is a holographic projection that can sense health issues.
* In the 10 years since she started the cult she got divorced in 2013, started another relationship but then declared him a sociopath and had him sent away for therapy, remarried a different man in 2014, divorced that man in 2014, and remarried for a third time in 2016.
* Charges up to $2,000 a pop for attendance to her workshops
* Maintains a headquarters in Costa Rica, where followers are often kept for extended periods of time, completely isolated from family and friends
* Conducts herself largely over social media, where she has 1.5 million facebook followers, 600k Instagram followers, and 1.24 million Youtube subscribers
* States that she wishes to have more spiritual influence than the pope
Teal Swan - WikiGlobal | The Celebrity Encyclopedia
Teal Swan - Wikipedia
Woman’s bizarre claim she is actually part alien
How Internet Guru Teal Swan Lures Followers - and Why It Should Worry Us (Podcast)
Teal Swan & The Craziest Wellness Cult Conspiracy You’ve Never Heard Of
