Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
Heaven's Gate was an American new religious movement known primarily for the mass suicides committed by its members in 1997. Commonly designated a cult, it was founded in 1974 and led by Marshall Applewhite (1931–1997) and Bonnie Nettles (1927–1985), known within the movement as Do and Ti.
After leaving Heaven's Gate, Balch and Taylor published articles about Heaven's Gate. Eventually, they lost track of Heaven's Gate in the late 1970s. Balch's work as a sociologist took off [clarification needed] from his studying of Heaven's Gate. He held a reunion for surviving ex-members in the late 90s that included "Ti"'s daughter. [2]
Many events passed in creation of the Heaven's Gate group and the formation of its core members, with Nettles continuing to act as the interpreter of signs and the mystic of the group. In 1983, she had to have an eye removed due to cancer, and her doctor informed her that the disease was already spreading through the rest of her body.
Marshall Herff Applewhite Jr. (May 17, 1931 – March 26, 1997), also known as Do, [a] among other names, [b] was an American religious leader who founded and led the Heaven's Gate new religious movement (often described as a cult), and organized their mass suicide in 1997.
In March 1997, 39 followers of Heaven's Gate died in a mass suicide in Rancho Santa Fe, California. The group, led by Marshall Applewhite and Bonnie Nettles , believed that through their deaths they were exiting their human "vessels", which would allow them to advance to the "Next Level" via a spaceship they believed to be following comet Hale ...
Nichols' younger brother, Thomas, was a member of the Heaven's Gate cult. He died on March 26, 1997, in the cult's mass suicide that purposefully coincided with the passing of Comet Hale–Bopp. [59] A member for 20 years, he frequently identified himself as Nichelle's brother in promotional materials released by the cult. [60] [61]
Kanchha Sherpa, 91, was among the 35 members in the team that put New Zealander Edmund Hillary and his Sherpa guide Tenzing Norgay atop the 8,849-meter (29,032-foot) peak on May 29, 1953.
Lalich went on to write several books on the subject of cults, including her best known book, Bounded Choice (2004), based on Heaven's Gate. [10] As a recognized international authority in the field, Lalich has also appeared in several court cases as an expert witness on coercive control or undue influence .