I grew up in a cult where children were locked in cupboards, publicly beaten and forced to go without food – so that we could all ‘go to Venus when the world ended’
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A woman who grew up in a cult where she was subjected to public beatings, days of food deprivation and being locked in a closet has laid bare the nightmare of growing up in fear.
Actress and screenwriter Guinevere Turner, 57 – known for her work on the American Psycho movie – was born into the Lyman Family after her pregnant mother voluntarily joined the commune when she was nineteen.
In 1966, musician Mel Lyman founded and headed the group, also known as the Fort Hill Community, in the Fort Hill section of a Boston neighbourhood.
Like many cult leaders, Mel was a charming, charismatic and highly manipulative individual, who saw himself as the greatest man on earth, the ‘living embodiment of truth’, a world saviour, an alien entity in human form and Jesus Christ.
In one piece of writing published by Lyman titled ‘Declaration of Creation’, he alleged: ‘I am going to reduce everything that stands to rubble and then I am going to burn the rubble and then I am going to scatter the ashes and then maybe SOMEONE will be able to see SOMETHING as it really is WATCHOUT.’
The family was formed of 100 adults and sixty children in 1968, when Guinevere was born.
They took LSD and smoked marijuana – many of their beliefs revolved around astrology and they had faith in a cosmic messiah.
Although they shared some ‘hippie’ attitudes, the commune’s values were very traditional, with women dressing conservatively and cutting their hair in short, modest styles.
Mel discouraged sexual activity and ordered one commune member to get an abortion on at least one occasion, according to journalists reporting on the family in the 70s.
Couples in the commune were discouraged from spending private time together. Mothers lived separately from their children and women were expected to serve men and obediently carry out domestic duties.
In a first-person piece for the New Yorker in 2019, Guinevere described ‘not knowing her mother very well’ as they were often in separate compounds, of which there were five – in Kansas, Los Angeles, San Francisco, New York, Boston and Martha’s Vineyard.
She remembered girls aged 13 or 14 being ‘chosen’ by adult male members of the family for ‘marriage’, although there was no formal ceremony.
And Guinevere spoke about one thirteen-year-old who lived right next to cult leader Mel’s room.
She wrote: ‘It was commonly known that she belonged to Mel, and no one else would be allowed to have her, or think about having her, for the rest of her life.
‘When we were alone, she would cry and say that she didn’t want to have sex with Lyman but knew that soon she would have to.
‘She already slept in his bed. If I had
Content retrieved from: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-14805803/cult-family-locked-kids-believed-live-venus.html.
