In my last discussion of Steven Hassan’s book, Freedom of Mind, I touched on the way one could evaluate a cult members profile while still in the cult.

            In line with this evaluation of the cult member’s status, Hassan recommends the development of a member’s pre-cult profile. This is where one can see the possibility of mining some of the interests, affections and relationships when the cult member was far healthier psychologically. Hassan recommends that one do this by creating a chronological outline of the events, which shaped the cult members life at a happier, more stable period.
            I think it is important to try and discern what caused the cult member to be attracted to the cult in the first place. In my case, it clearly was the literature of the cult that helped bring me to the portals of AMORC as well as the accessibility of a lodge in Haiti.  In my case, I do not think I had the general vulnerability of a typical cult member. At the time, I was earning a living while invested in attending perhaps the finest engineering school in Haiti with a limitless vista of potential ahead of me because of the significant contacts I had made in the professional and government circles in my field of endeavor.

            What was missing was the fact that, despite my potential, I was impatient to move forward quickly and I wanted a short cut, knowing the difficulty of a continuing upper climb such as mine. Also, there was the fact I was intensely curious about the meaning of human existence and was not satisfied by the answers provided by a conventional religious upbringing.

            If I were to talk to someone like myself about my cult, I guess I would provide them with information I have provided in The Prisoner of San Jose and AMORC Unmasked, two books which undermine many of the ideological and philosophical contentions of AMORC as well as providing an explanation of cult identity after effects of joining a cult like this, effects that mirror classic PTSD symptoms. A thorough interview with me- at this time- would have allowed the exit psychology to penetrate some of the façade I would carry with me to defend the cult and protect myself from realizing the psychological breakdown that was occurring to me over a period of many years.

            On the other hand, besides showing some inroads for helping the cult member to recover some of this former enthusiasms and interests, even friendships, this pre-cult profile might point to some of the member’s vulnerabilities that led him into the cult.
            My worst characteristic was possibly a kind of impatience to upward mobility and a resulting intellectual vulnerability for easy answers based on that impatience.  I did not research AMORC- I swallowed its lies so quickly that I embarked on a reading and psychological and psychic exercise program which quickly led to door of mind control and suggestibility. These conditions, fostered by hypnotic conditioning,  short circuit rather quickly any help to easily exit from the cult.