Was I In A Cult? - A TikTok Astrology Cult: “Mystic Manipulation”

Episode Date: February 10, 2025

What happens when your dreams of becoming a therapist are unexpectedly dashed and a TIkTok astrologer promises to solve all your problems? Meet Taylor Marie, who found herself in an online cult that claimed to have "the only astrology system that works." Led by a charismatic married couple, this group charged outrageous prices for "life-altering" astrology readings, promised entrepreneurial and personal success, and preached that all other astrologers were frauds.  Taylor’s story is a cautionary tale about online communities, manipulation, and the dangerous power of social media cults. In this episode, she shares how she got entangled in the group, how it slowly consumed her life (and bank account), and the toxic breaking point that forced her to see the truth and get out. Her exit isn’t pretty — the leaders fought back with lawsuits, public smears, and astrology-based threats.  But today, Taylor has reclaimed her power, faced the fear-mongering from the cult head on, and found her true purpose—one that wasn’t predicted by a TikTok “guru.” _____ Follow Taylor’s NEW account: @taylormarietherapy Follow us for more culty content: @wasiinacult  Got a story that’ll make us say, “The stars did NOT see that coming”? Email us at [e-mail] —we promise we won’t charge $555 for it. Want ad-free episodes? Support us on Patreon and help fund our cult-unmasking, truth-telling, astrology-free-but-still-fun journey.

The views, information or opinions expressed by the guest appearing in this episode solely belong to the guest and do not represent or reflect the views or positions of the hosts, the show, podcast one, this network or any of their respective affiliates. online there's no way that they could possibly be a cult, which is the opposite from the truth. Online cults definitely do exist and they are out there and they are recruiting to this day. I was in a fully online cult for two years and I wanted to come on here to share my story because there is a certain level of power and healing that comes with sharing your story, especially when you are threatened. Welcome to Was I an Occult? The podcast, but you knew that already. I'm Tyler Meesom, but you knew that already.

And I'm Liz Iacuzzi, and you may have known that already too. You probably did. Yeah. This is a show guys where people who have been in cults or cult-like experiences get to own their story, reclaim their power, and maybe, just maybe, help someone else avoid the same fate. And today's guest guys is Brittie Incredible. You know, Liz, you say that every

week. I do. And I mean it every week. Yes, you do. Because Liz spent a number of hours interviewing this fine person and sharing her story along with all of our other guests who share their story. It does take guts. Bravado, daring, something that today's guest has in spades. And some of our guest guys leave their cult, walk away and never deal with it again. And some leave, but they don't just walk away quietly, they fight back and expose the truth. This is a story about manipulation, control, and a rapidly growing type of cult, manipulation, control, and a rapidly growing type of cult, one that doesn't require a compound, just a phone, a wifi connection, and a TikTok algorithm. Yes, an online cult, folks. This is your cautionary tale. And maybe it's also a reminder that it's time to put your damn phone

down. TikTok will always be there, guys. Well, actually, that's not true. Yeah, we don't know if that's the case. But for now, at least for now. Yeah, but if I do that, how am I gonna know to marinate my chicken in Nyquil? Or how to pour hot wax all over my face so that I can look young eternally forever?

I guess you'll just have to go make friends with a bunch of middle school boys, Tyler. IRL. Is that the acronym for in real life? Some questions should remain inside your head. You know, for the listeners who may not know but probably assumed, I'm something of a Luddite when it comes to social media technology. I just, I'm not up to speed, nor do I really wish to be.

So when you say an acronym like IRL, which means in real life, I'd much prefer to say in real life. In real life. The grumpy old man's coming out more during this episode. I assure you that is not the last of that character you will hear. Maybe you'll learn a thing or two on today's episode, Tyler. I hope so. Welcome to the show, Taylor.

Take out your knife Purify me Don't spare my life Crucify me My name is Taylor Marie. I am 26 years old. I grew up on Long Island in New York. My upbringing in my family life was pretty typical for the most part. I did go to religion classes, but it was mainly because my mom thought that's just what you should do. But we weren't really that religious. My mom always wanted me to be able to be self-sustaining and not have

to rely on somebody or something to survive. She wanted me to be very strong, independent, wanted me to achieve to my highest potential, which has its pros and it had its cons. I want you to be the very best version of yourself that you can be. What if this is the best version? I was an artist growing up. I grew up probably with a colored pencil in my hand from baby to college level. I went to the SUNY Plattsburgh art program, which was one of the best art programs ever. Loved it. Go SUNY Plattsburgh Cardinals. Caw caw, caw, caw caw. Tweet tweet. It's not a cardinal.

It's not a cardinal. But I had this gut feeling. I was just like, I do have a passion for being there for people. I do want to help people. I just don't know how to do that. So my academic advisor was like, you could minor in art therapy. I went to the psychology department and was like,

I wanna be a psych major too. And that's when I decided to go to graduate school for clinical mental health counseling for anyone who doesn't know to get your master school for clinical mental health counseling. For anyone who doesn't know to get your masters in clinical mental health counseling and to be a therapist, you need to get a certain amount of supervised internship hours during your degree. So the original plan was to graduate, get a job, become a therapist. However,

things took a turn because at my internship site, I was abused by my supervisor, who is also a licensed mental health therapist. I was trapped, I couldn't leave the internship. I had to finish my hours. After I finally graduated and I got my hours, I felt very damaged and lost afterwards. I wanted nothing to do with

therapy. I thought if someone like this who abused me can be a therapist, let alone a supervisor supervising other therapists, then that means that this field is not regulated, it's bad. It was very black and white thinking, which is very ironic given why we're here and what we're talking about. So now having given up on the dream of being a therapist and helping individuals, Taylor, she still needed a job. I actually ended up getting a part-time position at a paint bar downtown from where I lived at the time. I was teaching art classes and throwing in group support and a little bit of my, you know, therapy psychological, like self-compassion stuff, which was really awesome. I was scrolling on TikTok August of 2022, the same month that I

graduated. And up popped a guy talking about astrology. Their social media page popped up on my for you page. And it was one of their videos, they were teaching astrology. You social media page popped up on my For You page and it was one of their videos. They were teaching astrology. You have to factor in all the aspects, the conditions, the delegates, all of that stuff because it influences. And as soon as I start doing that, a lot of people jump, they bounce. They're like, nope, too much, too difficult. And they go try to find a simpler answer.

And it made her flashback to her initial discovery of astrology. Yes, if this were a movie, the next section would be sepia-toned. Snow dissolve. I had to have been like 10, 11 years old or something. I was really bored one day and I was just flipping through newspapers that we had lying around the house

and I saw the horoscope section and I was like, whoa. And then when I read about the horoscope, I was like, this is so accurate. How do they know me? What are these horoscopes? What is this? I learned tarot around the same time. I was 10 years old. My grandma disclosed to me that she was a professional tarot reader back in the day

while we were on vacation. And I was like, teach me, like teach me. Dissolve back to present time. I was like, this is a good time to actually dedicate real time to studying astrology and tarot like I've always wanted to do. So I was like, why not? So I gave them a follow and maybe a day or two after I followed them they posted another video Something that I liked about this teacher in particular in the very beginning was how confident he was and how Charismatic he was I'm sorry, but there is not a simpler answer astrology is complex

You're talking about decoding the universe. It is not going to be as easy as being like, oh Jupiter's in Gemini, all Gemini's are going to be lucky because you see that all over social media. I was drawn to it especially after having my self-worth deflated throughout internship. And this was when the astrologer introduced his wife in the video and then I was like, oh it's the two of them and they seem nice and they seem good together. And it seems like they have a good operation going here. I asked a question in the comment section and they within minutes did a video response

back to my question and answered it. And it was meaningful for me at the time afterwards. They started live streaming on TikTok. And I remember I popped in and the astrologer, he saw me pop in and he's like, Taylor. And I was like, oh, wow. Like I was acknowledged. Like, well, like that's cool.

Like they're so inclusive. But for the first time in a long time, I felt that sense of belonging. And who are these wonderfully thoughtful people who care about complete strangers they meet on the internet? The business is called Mystic Rebels and the astrologer is Logan and then the tarot reader slash herbalist is Ashley

and they're married. So it's Logan and Ashley, a married couple running Mystic Rebels. The name says it all. We're spiritual, but we'll also steal motorcycles and flick cigarettes dramatically in the rain. Mystic Rebels. They're like in their early to mid 40s. They do alchemistic astrology. Which is the name of their system and the narrative was that he spent the last two or so years

developing this system. There's so many different ways to practice astrology that go back to ancient times. And my cult leader decided that all of that is wrong and outdated for years and years and was like, I am the new and improved astrology because I go in and I make things better. So I took astrology and I made it better. Who decided that alchemystic astrology is even a thing?

The short answer, whoever made it up. But the long answer is I did ask Chad GPT this very question. And they said basically who decided that? And they said whoever wanted to sell it as a system, probably someone who thought, quote, regular astrology wasn't exclusive enough and needed a mystical marketing reboot. It also said somewhere in there, it was like probably somebody who needed to sell classes

and wanted to like basically get your money. So Taylor, you could have saved yourself a lot of time and trouble by just typing in Mystic Rebels. And during the live streams, this is where they started to tell you that their system of astrology is the only system of astrology that works. And that every other astrologer out there is a scammer and is a liar.

Other astrologers will not help you align with your energies, but if you are aligned with your energies, you will live a good life, you will make money, you will have good relationships but the only place that you could learn how to align with your energies is right here in this online group. And for your listening pleasure, the man of the hour himself explaining this very thing. The question always comes down to are you in alignment and that's the difference between me reading your chart and using alchemistic astrology and my students reading your chart versus everyone else. See, everyone else looked at the natal chart and said, according to their chart, they will succeed.

According to their chart, they will be the winner. According to their chart, they will lose. According to their chart, this is not in their favor. Alchemistic astrology says, that's silly. That is not how this works. It is not about looking at somebody's chart and saying, ooh, is it favorable for them? It's about looking at the energies and saying, are you in alignment? And I trusted that he had very strong opinions about it. But to be honest with you, it was the confidence that got me for him to be able to say

it so confidently and just so matter of fact and truly believe in it. It was, I felt so much cognitive dissonance to not believe it with him. So she was in, hook line and sun signed. And this is how it progressed. So I would pay for live readings, whether it was astrology or tarot,

and they would go live for hours and hours. Eventually they progressed into doing like eight hour long classes on TikTok live. If they answered your questions for free on TikTok, they would really appreciate if you threw them a tip, which I in the beginning tipped them, but eventually they would push more towards paid readings. The only true way to understand truly your energies is to buy astrology readings.

The only way to know my true bullshit is to let Mercury retrograde your bank account into negative. So I was like, let me dip my toes in the water. Let me get a reading. I got a reading. It was really good. I felt like the things that he was saying was aligning with my new life direction in terms of not being a therapist anymore.

And I grew even closer to them because while all my friends and family had good intentions of telling me to keep trying to be a therapist, I felt like this astrologer was one of the only people that was telling me I don't have to do that if I don't want to. My response was, I trust this person. They seem to really care about me in this community. Why would they lie? Oh, and we'll leave you with another fun clip

of the master pontificating before we cut to a quick break. And I tried every avenue, including being controversial. And I was like, well, I kind of like being controversial. I like to poke the bear. I don't like to do it the way that it turned into, but I like to do it in a way that provokes thought. I like to do it in a way that incites thought. I like to do it in a way that incites debate, not conflict, not challenge, but actual debate,

thoughts, speech, communication in general. So yeah, I'll be controversial, cool. Thoughts, speech, communication in general, you know. Doesn't even make any effing sense. We should describe for our audience kind of what he looks like. I wouldn't put him as like an astrologer guru type that might be in your mind.

No, he's more of a failed actor looking perfectly manicured stubble. I feel like Zac Efron would play him in the Lifetime movie. Yeah, little backwards half. Sort of like, yeah, maybe like a little poor man Zac Efron. Zac Braff meets Zac Efron, perhaps. Yeah, spouting astrological bullshit.

And now we'll be right back. We all know we need to, we feel better when we do, but for some reason eating healthy can be difficult. Because it's time consuming to read the labels and figure out what is exactly in our food. I mean what even is sodium benzoate? Trust me, you don't want it. And that's why we use Thrive Market, which takes the guesswork out of finding safe, healthy food.

All their products are 100% non-GMO and free from over 1,000 harmful ingredients. Our family is currently trying to eat less sugar this year and Thrive makes it very easy. They have these really good like Lilly's chocolate chips that are delicious and cacao and low sugar. I don't know, I love it. And when I create an account guys, Thrive asks the right questions

and automatically builds a grocery card tailored to my needs. Yeah, and me, I'm trying to do more vegetarian meals this year so I was able to filter the site to show me more healthy non-meat options. Convenient and it's delivered right to your door. And and this is a big and you can skip the inflated grocery store prices. And the grocery store lines! Don't forget about the lines. Ready for a junk-free start to 2025? Head to thrivemarket.com slash cult to get 30% off your first order, plus a free $60 gift. That's T-H-R-I-V-E market dot com slash cult.

Thrive market dot com slash cult. Use them guys, they're great. Did you know that ancient Egyptians believed that cats were magical creatures capable of bringing good luck to the people who housed them? So to honor these treasured pets, wealthy families would dress them in jewels fit for royalty. Well, in my house our cat Buzzy doesn't get jewels, but he does have a litter box fit for a king. Oh, that he does. Oh, that he does have a litter box fit for a king. Oh that he does.

Oh that he does. His majesty uses the Litter Robot and it is cool. You guys have heard it before we hear it. Wasn't a cult. Shout the praises of Litter Robot from the rooftop. Any rooftop we will shout. Litter Robot self-cleaning technology automatically cleans after every use so your cats will always have a fresh bed of litter to do their business.

And by business, no, his cat is not generating leads. Nope, nope. He's pooping. But seriously, you guys, this product is truly amazing. It looks cool and it saves you so much time and hassle. If you have a cat, you need the LRobot. That's all I'm saying. Litter-Robot will send a notification to your phone when it needs to be emptied so... Don't get a cat without it.

Just don't. Literally don't. I would never get a cat without a Litter-Robot ever again. And as a special offer to listeners of this show go to StopScooping.com slash Colt and use our promo code Colt to save an additional $50 on any Litter-Robot bundle. That's $50 off any Litter-Robot bundle at StopScooping.com slash Colt and use promo code Colt. StopScooping.com slash Colt promo code Colt.

Say what? StopScooping.com slash Colt promo code Colt. We're back. So just for my peace of mind and also because I'm an opinionated a-hole, I have to state my disdain for tarot. I mean, for me, they are just pieces of paper turned over at random and humans are naturally wired to see patterns and meaning even in randomness. This is a psychological phenomenon called apophenia. And tarot readings often use vague or general statements that can apply to almost anyone. It quote unquote works not because of supernatural forces but because

of psychology and our cognitive biases to create an illusion of insight. How's that grumpy old man for you? Good. But the thing is, are you doing tarot because you're going to it because it has all the answers and it's live or die? Or are you just doing it with friends over wine? Like you would strip poker. Yeah, don't invite me over for that. But okay, it is true. Even skeptics will admit that tarot can be a helpful tool for self-reflection so long as people understand it's not actually revealing hidden knowledge or predicting the future. It'd be funny if there was a psychic who only predicted useless facts.

Like? Like? Like, oh you you miss Tim? Well I don't know what's going to happen with that but you will run into an old work colleague you don't actually like a target. And after an awkward three minute conversation you'll say, all right see you later only to continue awkwardly running into him at every single aisle. That'll be $342. Yeah and that to segue is kind of what Taylor was paying. Because astrology readings are far from free. I paid for a lot of services.

I remember my first reading on TikTok Live was $25. Then it moved up to $55. Then it moved up to $88. They would up their prices and then make us feel guilty when we couldn't or didn't want to spend those prices. And their whole thing was we price ourselves based on our value. So if you don't pay these prices,

that means you don't value us. The private readings were very expensive. It ranges from like 300, 400, $500 for like an hour. Okay, real quick, I looked at their website and they offer a 30 minute astrology reading for guess how much? No, 100 and something. $195, 30 minutes. 60 minute reading, $375.

A 90 minute reading is, wait for it, $550 and 120 minutes, a two-hour session guess how much too much $735 Insane, holy shit sandwich. I am in the wrong career I mean, it's what makes our show our show right like why cults exist This is a prime example because people want the answers People want to know. People want somebody else to tell them what's going to happen. Are they going to be okay? Is life going to work out? That is what it comes down to. Am I on my right path? And they're looking to

another human being who knows them from jackal to tell them if they're living there on their right path. And they're willing to pay as we just saw a lot of money for it. As someone who just graduated and didn't have a job, I just did what I could to pay for them. So I was joining more live streams, communicating with them more, paying for more and more readings. You know, he would advertise the readings to be 10-15 minutes long. And then after a reading, he would chat with us and we would chat and hang out, talk about maybe something he said in a reading. He'll answer some questions and then he'll move on to the next reading.

So it was a sense of belongingness. You could chat with each other in the chat box. So like while he's reading for someone else, you can have a side conversation. It was just a big hangout. I didn't have school, you know, setting me up with friends anymore. So this kind of became my community. All of my friends became this group. Okay, so anytime I start to feel bad about our society and how it's going, I pick up an Atlantic magazine.

And realize that it's worse. Yes. However, it is fine journalism, speaking the truth. And this month they had an article written by Derek Thompson, which states how we as a society are rapidly becoming less social and are spending much, much more time alone than generations prior. In fact, in 2023, Vivek Murphy, the then Surgeon General of the United States, published an 81-page warning about America's epidemic of loneliness, stating that its negative health effects are equal to that of tobacco use and obesity.

We as humans are a social creature. We have evolved to commune face to face which we are now doing much much less of And that is the theme of sorts of this episode We will have more from the Atlantic article throughout the episode But I did talk about with my mom and my stepdad and they were mostly supportive But they had concerns like they were concerned about Why I needed to spend hundreds and hundreds of dollars on these readings. They felt like my money was being drained, which it was. They know this because they had to help me out of some tricky financial situations throughout

this whole process. But since it was causing a rift in our relationship, they stopped bringing it up to me because they were like, we feel like if we push too hard, we're going to lose you. And they were absolutely right because I felt like when they were questioning me and what I was doing, they were in turn questioning Logan and Ashlyn. I trusted Logan and Ashley and I felt like they were being more supportive than my parents were. And our hero, Taylor, being the self-driven person that she is, wanted more than simply to watch the videos. Well, she wanted to be a part of them. In one of my first readings, they told me that I have huge entrepreneurship energy

in my chart. And that was the most appealing thing for me to hear at the time. I always wanted to have my own business. And he told me that he could see me doing a spiritual business like them. So I would say like by November of 23 is when I just dove

headfirst into my spiritual business. So they were very encouraging, very we believe in you and you could do it and they gave me some ideas and they gave me advice and they mentored me in between paid sessions and they were also talking about expanding their business and doing an affiliate program where they're gonna feature their certified alchemistic astrologers and then I was told how this was going to be successful and how it was going to start making me 10k a month and I remember thinking that was a little silly and in one of my private readings when he said that like I brushed it off but he was like no you never made that kind of money in your life before.

That's why you're unable to comprehend making that much money a month. And I just thought that was so funny. Same brainwash, different Kool-Aid. So apparently, as many of our astute listeners remind us, the oft-used reference to Kool-Aid per the Jonestown Massacre is a misnomer. They actually used Flavor-Aid, great Flavor-Aid, which was introduced in 1929, two years after the creation of Kool-Aid, Liz. Riveting.

Thanks, Liz. The guy who invented Kool-Aid, I did go down a small bit of a- Rabbit hole with that, and then you deleted it. A little bit. I mean, it's not necessary, and I don't need to regale you with it now, other than to say that the guy who invented Kool-Aid did it in his mother's kitchen and he figured out a way to turn a juice concentrate into powder so that it would be easily shipped. Wow.

It was in Chicago no less. Chicago the home of Kool-Aid. Chicago the home of Kool-Aid. That makes sense.ool-Aid that makes sense the Kool-Aid man All red round and red and probably likes the bursting through walls So Taylor became a rebel mystic and as part of her duties she was to create videos touting the program of course. I used Alchemistic astrology to create the abundance the success and the business that I have today and I am now living a life that is fulfilling and I am fully aligned with my energies. I wanted to make this really good

educational intelligent video about how and why this system is different, why everyone should follow alchemistic astrology. And when I sat down and pulled out my notebook to write out my thoughts and notes for my video, I was sitting there and I was like, oh shit, what does make this different than the rest? Cue the crickets, Rob. I'm a smart person. I got a master's degree and I can't discern the difference between this system and another system.

So that was my first moment where I started thinking to myself, what if this isn't different than the rest? But of course, I'm not going to allow myself to if this isn't different than the rest? But of course, I'm not gonna allow myself to believe that or feel that at the time. So I made my video, I felt like it was okay. Logan has taught me his system and he taught me how to better my life with it. And now I'm able to read it

and help other people better their lives with it as well. And I already have. So Taylor, now fully ingrained, kept paying for these readings. This astrologer apparently saw on my chart writer energy. He was like, oh, you should write your books and you should publish. And I was like, actually, I do have an idea for a tarot book. I've been wanting to write. And then when I wrote it and published it, he was like, well,

I encouraged her to write it. Therefore, she wrote it because I told her to and took credit. Every time something good happened to me or that I made happen myself, they always chalked it up to, this is what happens when you get our services. This is what happens when you're a part of our community. Taylor's book is entitled

The Story of Tarot, Not Your Average Guidebook. Which made her a minor, no pun intended, star in the astrology circles. of the story of tarot, not your average guidebook. Which made her a minor, no pun intended, star in the astrology circles. Which increased her duties for the rebels. The Mystic Rebels. I was so stressed. I wasn't sleeping, I wasn't eating.

Like I was trying so hard to make this business. And to be honest with you, it did work and it was working, but it didn't get to the point of being sustainable in the longterm. I wasn't paying all of my bills, but looking down the road, I realized that I would basically have to sell my soul to these people.

So I felt like they were kind of like my safety net and I did rely on them. Like I said, if they wanted me to do something, they could easily just be like, yeah, that's aligned with your energies. This is what I see for you. If you go a different direction, you won't be aligned and that's not good.

Because they were the only truth, because they were the only ones who had the answers, I was afraid of making the wrong decision. When you claim to create your own system of astrology, you put yourself in an unchallengeable standpoint. If you're the creator, how could you ever be wrong? And people who questioned them were met with hostility. They were met with anger.

Like sometimes Logan would get so mad. He would start cursing people out and calling them names. You're either with them or against them. You're either aligning with your energies or you're not. So there definitely was concerns about not being involved with them for sure. Okay, so according to the earlier referenced Atlantic article, we as humans are typically awake for about 900 minutes a day. Unless you're Rob, of course, on a Sunday night trying to finish this episode. Unless you're Rob, of course, on a Sunday night trying to finish this episode. Editor's note, it's late Sunday morning.

I probably have 15 more hours I need to put into this episode, so wish me luck. So of those waking 900 minutes, the average American teenager spends about 270 of these minutes, almost a third, gazing at their phones. 270 minutes, that's four and a half hours per day looking at their phones. And consequently these screenagers... Oh, that's a portmanteau. Screenager. These screenagers are spending less time with friends, which might be part of the reason

why teenage anxiety and depression are at a record high. A recent study of high school girls said they felt, quote, persistently sad or hopeless. A likely contributor being screen time. There's actually a great Netflix documentary. Highly recommend watching it, especially watch it with your teenagers. It's called The Social Dilemma. And here's a quick clip. The number one problem, the number one psychiatric

disorder among teenagers is anxiety. Typically it's anxiety about needing to check in with social media. There's another study that looked at fear of missing out and it looked at kids who have high anxiety around missing out. Even though social media makes them more anxious, makes them more worried about missing out, they can't stop looking at it. That prefrontal cortex hasn't developed enough for them to be able to put it down,

to say to themselves, it's not making me feel good. But some of our listeners may be thinking, oh my God, four and a half hours a day, my teenager is spending way too much time on their phone. Guess what, guys? We adults are not immune to excessive phone use. Studies have shown that American adults spend about five hours a day on their phones. And for Taylor, she was likely spending more.

Sometimes they would go live all day. Sometimes they would go live multiple times a day. And if I wasn't on their lives, I was messaging them on Instagram because they welcomed me to ask them questions about my readings or ask them questions about my business. And they really wanted to see me successful. No one was going live to do readings every day like I was.

No one published a book like I did. Like that's how and why I was the star student. I got all the readings, all the classes. So they were basically like, be like Taylor, like buy all of our services and look and see how successful you'll be. And in addition to her own videos, Taylor also had to create videos on behalf of her leader.

I also spent time hyping Logan up because Logan would get a lot of hate on social media because he would antagonize people. He would victimize himself and be really sad about it and I felt bad and I would just say hey Logan like just remember you're awesome you got this. So if you are looking to align with your energies or learn how to do this for yourself Logan over at Mystic Rebels is where to go. Logan thank you again for everything and is where to go. Logan, thank you again for everything and as always, Vibe Higher. Because I genuinely saw Logan and Ashley as my friends

and we got really really close to the point where we started calling each other spiritual mom and dad. They call me their spiritual daughter. Oh the internet's a dangerous place, kids. Oh, yes, sir, it is. According to my fourth house, it's time for a break. Editor's note. It's about 10 p.m. on Sunday night. If you're listening to this Monday morning, I'm just about done spending my Sunday evening cutting out everything that Tyler said wasn't germane to the story. So I hope everything you've heard so far has been extremely relevant. Just a couple more hours of edits left and then I can go watch the Super Bowl. I DVR'd it. No spoilers.

Thanks. You know, did you know that the first video game was invented way back in 1958? I think our audience knows who wrote this week's ad. That's right, yep. It was called Tennis for Two and it only existed for a short period because they dismantled the computer to use for other parts. Well, we've come a long way because now you can play games on the phone in your pocket. Right, if you must.

Our go-to game is June's Journey. We immerse ourselves in a gripping tale of mystery, murder, and romance where every clue brings us closer to the truth. Yeah, I mean, it's fun. It doesn't take over your mind and time like other games or social media apps. It's fun. I play it while waiting in line or, you know, while I'm waiting for my husband to pick out his damn outfit. Yeah, you know, come on, Adam. Just wear the blue shirt. You look good in it. Actually, that's all he wears is the blue shirt.

But it's fun guys. Give it a shot everyone. Try June's Journey today. Yep. Discover your inner detective when you download June's Journey for free today on iOS and Android. Hi everyone. This is Jillian with Court Junkie. Court Junkie is a true crime podcast that covers court cases and criminal trials using

audio clips and interviews with people close to the cases. Court Junkie is available on Apple podcasts and podcastone.com. I never had an issue with other astrologers, but being a part of the group, I developed this disdain for other astrologers. And then there was like this group mentality of us versus them, like we're the special ones because we have this knowledge that no one else has because our leader is the one who created it. And we were the special enlightened ones who were doing the real astrology.

Standard us versus them cult behavior. We are right and they are wrong. We both read that line the same way. Words go up, words go down. They were on a TikTok live and Logan pulls up this monitor behind him and he starts pulling up other astrologers pages on tik-tok scrolling through their content

pausing them and explaining to us the audience why this astrologer is bullshit and why it's a scam why they're wrong and he was doing this for a lot of the creators and I was just sitting there and I felt like for the first time I was truly on the outside which was weird because I was still sitting there and I felt like for the first time I was truly on the outside, which was weird because I was still the star student at the time. It gave me the worst feeling in my stomach. I felt horrible about what we were doing. And I was like, if anyone's just scrolling right now, they're not going to learn astrology.

They're not going to want to join our community. We're sitting here hating on people. And I felt like this was a bad reflection on me and my business because I don't want people thinking that I stand for that. I don't think bullying is okay. I don't think calling out people is okay. And that's when I started questioning if he was full of shit.

But I suppressed it. I was like, nope, I'm not allowed to be mad at Logan. So I'm just gonna get over it. I was afraid to leave because I thought they would retaliate against me. Bash me to my friends. I had this gut feeling that they were going to do something bad. So days prior to this particular astrologer bashing session, Taylor had been visiting

various astrologer TikToks. How dare she use her phone to look at other things. Sounds like a mystic Rebel to me. I have a line of chakras and a little look at another astrologer's webpage. I'm a Mystic Rebel. I came across an astrologer who I thought was good and I actually commented on some of his posts and this other astrologer was responding

and I thought they were kind. So basically fast forward to this TikTok live. So Logan pulls up this person. When Logan saw this guy's content, something snapped. He lost it. He was like, this guy is copying me. And since Logan got worked up, the community that I was in got worked up. And then they started lighting their torches, sharpening their pitchforks. And they're like, we're going to go comment and we're going to make him give you credit, Logan. And I was

like, maybe we should talk to this person in private first before we start confronting them. And it didn't land very well. Everyone just told me like, there's your Libra rising coming out, like, because Libras are apparently people pleasers or whatever. Can you imagine two married astrologers in a fight? That's because your Capricorn is in your anus, Steve. And I'm talking about the planet, not your ass, okay? Although that too. Well, the only reason my anus is in Capricorn, Susan,

is because your Venus has been in retrograde since her honeymoon. Oh, Steve! And scene. So I go to the video that Logan freaked out about and people are commenting and they're like are you gonna credit Mystic Rebels? Are you gonna give them like they start commenting on this kid's post? So I just felt powerless and I felt sad that I couldn't stop it. I feel like you're making me look bad because like I'm I'm gonna be perceived as someone that's okay with this if I stay here. After this whole thing I cried because I felt so bad that I was a part of a community and being led by a leader who facilitated an environment where this

was acceptable because I knew in my business and in my personal life I would never ever do that to somebody. I remember calling my business and in my personal life, I would never ever do that to somebody I Remember calling my parents and I was crying and I was like I need to get out of here. I can't take it anymore I can't take being Invalidated by these people and by my knowledge and being told who I could trust and who I can and being told who I am And being afraid to question them or being afraid to disagree with them. So after the dust settled about that situation, I wrote them an email thanking them for everything, showing gratitude, wishing them the best. But I am taking myself and my business in a different

direction and I'm parting ways. And but I was like, but I wish you nothing but the best. parting ways and but I was like, but I wish you nothing but the best. And I got an email back from them and it was this very manipulative, dysfunctional email. And it was basically saying everything they've done for me. They feel so used and they're so hurt by me leaving. And that if I were to use what they taught me, that I would be hearing from their legal department. Hey, Tyler, I have a terrible astrology lawyer joke. You want to hear it?

I mean, the stars are telling me no, that I should say no, but I feel that won't matter. So go ahead. I figured you were going to tell me no, so I don't really have a joke. Somewhere out there, there's a really good astrologer lawyer joke. Okay, somebody give us, we'll think about it, but I don't have time right now. Someone will send it. Someone who sends us the best lawyer joke can get a t-shirt. I finished reading the email and I had an awful feeling in my gut.

And I was like, I don't feel like this is the end. So I go on TikTok, I go to their page and they were live talking about me. They were live seconds after they sent me that email. So they're saying that I took everything I could ever want from them and ran. I used them for free information. They were like talking about how hurt they were by the email I sent them. Like they worded it as a betrayal that I betrayed them, that I stabbed them in the back. But the thing is, everyone was only hearing their side of the story.

Therefore I watched all of my friends turn on me. These people were buying my book yesterday and now they're lighting their torches and sharpening their pitchforks towards me now. So instead of merely sitting and quietly absorbing the lies... Three days later, that's when I posted my video giving my side of the story. So I shared my experience of being like, this is why I left and I also addressed I used no one for free information. I paid for all of my services. It went viral and a lot of people showed me support.

And the Mystic Rebel leaders naturally did not let this be the final word. They start talking about me again, but this time they start talking about things that I told them in my private readings about my family. And they posted a screen recording of all of my DMS from the past six months, cause they thought that that would exonerate them from my accusations towards them. It didn't exonerate them because the people who read through the messages, so many people came to me and they're like, this really shows how influenced you were and how much

you were trying to be his friend and pleased him. Like reading how he speaks with you gives cult leader vibes. People started telling me, hey, it sounds like you were in a cult. And that's when I started doing cult research. And once I learned about cults and educated myself on cults, that's when I looked back and I was like, I was in a cult. That was when there was this trend going on TikTok where it was that photo of Pepe the puppet and you take something dark or traumatic, but then you make it into something funny with this like puppet meme.

I made this slideshow of like, when you think you're joining an astrology community, but really it's a cult. This video ended up going uber viral. Like it had 2.8 million views by the end of it. People started commenting on their posts and commenting on their Tik Tok lives being like, this is a cult and you're a cult and you should stop bullying that poor girl. And posting her DMS was wrong. and people started standing up for me. They started calling them out. Logan and Ashley basically went on this rampage for like a week straight trying to defend themselves. They were doing damage control.

They were completely losing their minds because they were getting called out left and right for the things that they do. Not to be outdone, bro-strologist Logan do. Not to be outdone, Bro-strologist Logan makes his own video. And he basically said to the camera very aggressively, he was like, I will destroy you. Taylor, I want you to understand that I have way more money than you. I'm talking about an absurd amount of capital that I will pour into destroying you with lawsuits. You have your Saturn in the seventh house and not only do you have Saturn in the seventh house but Neptune is entering your seventh house of lawsuits. Do you understand this? I know astrology so well that I can destroy you. I've done it before. I will do it again. And I was just like, wow, okay, that happened.

Like there was nothing for me to do. I just continued living my life. And I didn't post anything. And then it was late December. I get an email from them, but yeah, just the verbiage over and over again of we will destroy you and we will purposely make sure that it ruins your life. We will purposely make sure it will make you go bankrupt.

And it was just this really long dysfunctional email and they're like this ends here. Take down any and all of your videos about us by like December 20th.S. I have read that email and she is correct. It is really long and quite dysfunctional. And I felt like I was at a crossroads. Like, do I keep going back and forth with them? Or do I choose myself and like completely push them into last chapter? And I was like, I'm done. I'm done going back and forth with them.

I don't have anything to prove to anyone anymore. My thing went viral. They tried to scare me again. So the date came that I was supposedly supposed to take down my video and I did not. I didn't take it down because I was like, you don't get to say what I do or don't do. When I take this down, it's going to be on my terms because I want to. For two years, Taylor was told what to do and how to do it by these quote unquote mystic rebels. And now she didn't want to do what they told her to do. I eventually did take down my meme that went viral because it was still going

viral. I probably would have made it to 2 million views. I would love to keep it up and I would love to continue to spread awareness, but I'm gonna decide for myself that I'm fully done with them and I'm moving on from them. And I'm actually getting my life on track here, like in person. So of course, ever since I left, I took time to heal. I assessed my black and white thinking

because that's a big thing in cults. And I realized after I left my internship in grad school, I had black and white thinking. I had one bad experience with the supervisor. That means all supervisors are gonna be this way. And that's not adaptive. That's not a healing version. So I healed what I originally should have two years ago

before joining this cult. I took the state exam, I did the work, I got my pre-license and I went back to being a therapist not long after I left. Ah, thank you, yeah. And I was like, I could help so many people with narcissistic abuse and cult recovery. So now I specialize in helping survivors of narcissistic abuse and cult recovery. So now I specialize in helping survivors of narcissistic abuse and I help people recover from cults.

Like I have clients who were born into cults, recruited into cults, and we are processing that together. And it's been so amazing. And I was like, this is where I'm putting my energy. Those energies feel aligned to me. But I felt like I owed it to myself to be completely done with this online drama to really commit myself to this new career, this new life,

this quote unquote normal way of being and finding normalcy, finding who I am. I feel like I owed that to myself. I owed that to my future. And I got offline. I got off social media and I started going to events in person. I started integrating myself into my local community.

I started making connections with people in the real world, people from all different backgrounds and perspectives. And that has been one of the most healing things for me. In person, what a concept. You know, more and more time at home, less time dining together, working together, watching movies together and spending our time with faceless people online is making society weaker, meaner, and more delusional, and ultimately less happy. And numerous studies have shown that people who spend more time alone have lowered life satisfaction.

And that sociability equates to more personal happiness than does making more money. Right. That's true. That's a study. And here's the great thing. You know what? It doesn't matter because hanging out with friends, it's free. Except for this hang session. That's a study. And here's the great thing, you know what? It doesn't matter because hanging out with friends, it's free. Except for this hang session, it's always costly. Yeah, we have to be paid for this. But otherwise, most of them are free. Here's our challenge, guys. Put down your phone. Actually, before you put it down, pick it up, call a buddy, have them come over, make some time for a real in-person meeting.

Go for a walk in the park with a friend, get a cup of coffee together. Yeah, or not even a friend. You know what, talk to a stranger for a minute in the grocery store line or throw your best dad joke to the bank teller. Lightly engage with the person sitting next to you on your five-hour flight. But not the whole flight. Just say hi to them. Don't bother them for five hours. But not the whole flight. Just say hi to them. Don't bother them for five hours.

And when they start farting, stop talking to them. Or invite a friend over. You know what I mean? It doesn't matter. Put on wigs and have a dance party in the kitchen. It doesn't matter. Yeah, put on strap-ons and have a sword fight. It doesn't matter what you do.

Don't go too dirty. That's gross. People don't know what... No! You know what a sword fight is? Editor's Note. Yes, Liz, we know what a sword fight is. These's note. Yes, Liz, we know what a sword fight is. These are things we can do in real life, guys.

And we assure you your life will be better. I am located in Colorado, so I can provide services to residents of Colorado. If anyone is not a resident of Colorado, I am still here as a resource. Like, my door is open. Like, I am here to help people. I'm here to provide what I can, even if it's just a listening ear. Her info will be in the show notes, everyone. But don't talk to Mystic Rebels. They didn't, they didn't stop or anything, but they did change their approach. So now you can't be a part of the community for free anymore.

You have to pay $88 a month to be in their community, to be in their chat room. Ashley's doing these meditations and these trances and encouraging people to microdose and doing shrooms and honestly hypnosis and meditation. These are big in cult mind control. So it's very concerning, like what's going on behind closed doors now. And to wrap things up, let's leave you all with the incredible world altering mind blowing predictions from the one and only true master astrologer. I told you guys, Justin Timberlake was going to rejoin and sink even if it was short lived.

That happened even though every other astrologer told me I was crazy would never happen. I told you guys Trump was going to win even though most TikTok astrologers said Kamala Harris is going to win. Then they said there wouldn't be an election. I said yes there is. Then they said Trump was going to go to jail. I said no he isn't. And then recently earlier this week I think it was announced that he was not going to jail. There were going to be no uh you know basically no penalties for him. And then they said he won't make it to office. I said, yes, he will. Well, this is the 19th, he's getting inaugurated tomorrow.

So every single thing I've ever said that's a world event or a public thing has been 100% correct. And that's because in the astrology, I've already seen what has happened, what is happening and what will happen. Whoa whoa whoa whoa whoa stop the press as I spoke too soon this guy can predict boy band reunions? The stars truly do see important future events. A true prophet among us. That's our show everyone thank you Taylor for sharing your story and

for having a name that's only one letter worse than mine. Taylor we are so excited for your future one that shockingly you've managed to create all by yourself without needing an astrologer to charge you $555 to tell you you'd be successful. Yep she went back to her original passion, helping people, and that, my friends, is what true alignment looks like. All right now, everyone, go outside, hug a real person. How do you know if they're real? Well, if you can't scroll past them

or close the tab when they start talking, congratulations, you've made contact with the physical realm. Yeah, and remember, if anyone ever claims to have the only real truth, well... Just know that their Saturn is probably deep in Uranus. The planet, not their ass. Although, probably that too. We'll be back next week with a story of a one-on-one cult.

Our guest was in with her college mentor. The kind of like information control was like huge because he was my only point of contact for the world basically. Like I would go sleep in my dorm room, get up in the morning, go to the department, spend most of my day in the department near him and then would sneak over to his house

after classes were done until it got dark enough for me to like sneak back to my dorm room. Editor's note, it's 1 3 a.m. on Monday morning. The episode's due in a couple hours. The flavor aid that Tyler and Liz gave me isn't really sitting well with me. I hope I can stay awake long enough to get this up online. If you're listening to this, I did my job. Am I in a cold?

["Ace of Wands"] Was I in a cold is written, produced, and hosted by me, Tyler, the ace of wands, Meesum. And me, Liz, the queen of cups, Ayakuzzi. Sound design and edit by Rob, page of swords, para. Sword fighting, what what? Assistant editor is Greta, 8 of Pentacles, Stromquist. And our executive producer is Steven, Page of Wands Labrum. All of those are tarot cards, by the way,

that I had to look up. Page of Wands is a little sword fighty too. Little bit, yeah. Guess what? You and Stephen can get together in real life. Page of Wands. Notice that you have a sword and he has a wand. A broadsword, no doubt.

Two-handed broadsword. Oh my goodness. I'm gonna be the mood to solve a little crime before bedtime with NCIS or Tracker. Or curl up with a surefire hit like Forrest Gump. Run, Forrest! Pluto TV has thousands of movies and shows all for free. Pluto TV, stream now, pay never.