How does a cult get started?

[Cycloneman]

This question has been bothering me a while. I undestand how you can make a cult grow (proselytizing and such) and keep members, but how exactly does one get the first few members to think that you've seen/heard/are (a) god(s)?

[Kuja]

This question has been bothering me a while. I undestand how you can make a cult grow (proselytizing and such) and keep members, but how exactly does one get the first few members to think that you've seen/heard/are (a) god(s)?

It all starts with someone who wants to talk, and a few people willing to listen.

It is literally that simple.

[Sir Sirius]

Someone charismatic finds a few gullible, vulnerable or lonely people and talks them in to believing in... well, whatever doctrine he likes. Then the original devotees then sucker in more people and it spreads from there.

Typical pray on the weak plot used by confidence men and religions through out world history.

[cosmicalstorm]

Its a lot of chance involved aswell, for every sucessful cult there is a million who didnt make it big.

[Superman]

Cults usually start with a charismatic individual who "sells" a bill of goods to, like Sir Siruus mentioned, people who long for a sense of community they don't have. Cults like the Mormons, Jehovah's Witnesses, Scientologists, etc., all started with one individual who was probably a little on shady side, but could appeal to a lot of people. This individual almost always possessed an extraordinary level of charisma.

Interestingly, some people take the "cult" label off of any group that ends up growing beyond the founding individual. The Mormons, for example, now have a governing body in charge that took the place of Joseph Smith. Personally, I think all religious groups could be lumped into the "cult" category, but that's just me.

[Cycloneman]

I guess I just don't understand how you can talk to a person say, "Hey dude. I hear what angels say," and the person actually believes you.

[Superman]

I guess I just don't understand how you can talk to a person say, "Hey dude. I hear what angels say," and the person actually believes you.

It's more than simple words. Cult leaders normally have a level of charisma that makes people want to be around them. They're very appealing to the people who end up following them. Hell, look at someone like Elvis. The guy has been dead since 1976, but every year thousands of people show up at his grave to honor the anniversary of his death. Some people are just capable of this kind of appeal.

[Lambda 00]

And, eventually, due to the appeal, the cults grow. For example: Christianity, Judaism, and Islam started out with a single (Christianity supposedly had 12) leader(s), and grows from a cult to a full-fledged religion. Scary, isn't it...

Here's my oversimplification of it:
- A leader *Highly Charismatic* gathers a few nutjobs (no offence meant; don't lynch me) *Who also happen to have much charisma*, who then begin to proclaim the greatness of whatever they're "Selling" (In this case an ideal) to the populace, thus gaining more converts, who start spreading "the word", etc... Eventually, once a group has a certain number of people, it is classified as a cult, and once it reaches a certain limit, then it becomes a religion. Also, natural disasters and the primitiveness of a society are both influential factors in this.
[Sorry I can't make this into a great tenable argument, I'm at a loss in terms of sources ]