Wednesday, May 21, 2014

#1049: Keith Raniere and NXIVM


Keith Raniere is the founder (with his associate Nancy Salzman) and leader of NXIVM, an organization in upstate New York frequently referred to as a cult because that is precisely what it is (there is a nice, though a bit “neutral” report on the group here). NXIVM is formally a company offering “Executive Success Programs”. The training uses a technique called “Rational Inquiry” to facilitate personal and professional development, as well as various techniques generally described as “manipulative”, in particular their “Exploration of Meaning” (EM) counseling sessions – Rick Ross, a New Jersey-based cult tracker sued by NXIVM (one of many) for trade secrets violations because he exposed some of its techniques and posted critiques by a psychologist and a psychiatrist (the case is here), described the EMs as similar to the auditing done in Scientology. During seminars, students must refer to Raniere and Salzman, as “Vanguard” and “Prefect”, respectively. Dissenters, on the other hand, are generally labeled “suppressives”.

As with self-help cults in general, the cost of attending NXIVM seminars and training is pretty steep, especially in light of the fact that what they teach you is equivalent to what you’d get in a vapid $9.90 self-help book ($ 0.01 plus postage if bought used on Amazon).

There is a fine NXIVM resource here.

Mark Vicente is a prominent member.

Diagnosis: Ok, so it is not entirely unlikely that Raniere is anything but a loon (David Miscavige seems an apt comparison), but an Encyclopdia of Loons won’t be complete without an entry on NXIVM, so there you go.

7 comments:

  1. Just started reading a New York Times article published yesterday about him and I find it quite frightening. Some entries on here deserve to be laughed at. Some deserve to be pitied. And then some deserve to be exposed for their odious behavior for all the world to see and reprimand. He definitely belongs to the third category.

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  2. You should do a search for the article. They brand women members of his cult and like almost all cult leaders, he controls the women both mentally and sexually.

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  3. Is he running theknifemedia as well ?

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  4. You need to update this article BIG TIME. It's not just a weird "Anthony Robbins meets L. Ron Hubbard" money-bilking mess....it's also a misogynistic sex-slavery scheme where Rainere, with the help of former SMALLVILLE actress, Allison Mack, would tempt attractive successful women with promises of Female Empowerment only to do the opposite, brand them like cattle and force them to have sex with him. He may even have a thing for kids. Here's Rick Ross' entire resource on the guy....https://www.culteducation.com/group/907-nxivm.html....This goes much deeper than "motivational coach money scam" stuff.

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  5. Please update this entry....It's a lot darker than a simple "Tony Robbins meets L Ron Hubbard Financial-Scam-O-Rama"....It's a misogynist sexual-slavery ring where Rainere trinks women into becoming his sex slaves. It involves false promises of Female Empowerment but provides the exact opposite. Also; women are branded like cattle and Allison Mack ('Chloe' from SMALLVILLE) is his accomplice in all this. Here's Rick Ross' stuff on all this.... https://www.culteducation.com/group/907-nxivm.html

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    1. Yeah, I've seen the news. Much has happened since this post was written. Hopefully I'll get around to writing a new one at some point.

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  6. Sorry for my two posts. I thought the first got eaten (I altered how this site uses my name).

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