252 - The Family (A Not So Family Friendly Cult)

This week's podcast gets back to our roots in weird cults.  The cult du jour is The Family, an Australian group also known as the Santiniketan Park Association and the Great White Brotherhood (yes, they are that racist).  The cult started as a new age group led by founder Anne Hamilton-Byrne, that taught a strange amalgamation of Christianity and Eastern Religion with Hamilton-Byrne claiming to be a reincarnation of Jesus Christ. Sadly, the group eventually led down the path of Hamilton-Byrne skimming money from everyone involved and a large number of children being illegally adopted and abused.  While the cult is nominally still around, it faded after the 90s when the abuses were brought to light and charges were filed.  Hamilton-Byrne lived to be 98 years old, passing away in 2019.