Was I In A Cult? - Morningland PT1: “The Daughters of Isis”

Episode Date: April 7, 2025

Content Warning: This episode contains discussions of child abuse and sexual coercion.It started with a pizza party for single moms. But soon, there were purple-lit temples, custom medallions, and a man who called himself “Donato the Christ”. What could possibly go wrong?In Part 1 of Frankie Tease’s gripping story, we follow her teen years inside Long Beach, California’s Morningland—a so-called spiritual community where rituals masked control, and devotion was slowly weaponized.Manipulation. Isolation. Grooming disguised as enlightenment—and a disturbing undercurrent of coercion that only grew darker with time. Frankie lived it all. And this is just the beginning.Next week brings even more revelations… as well as Frankie’s road to freedom.LINKS:Come see us LIVE April 25th at the Napa Valley Streaming Festival!Follow us for more culty content: @wasiinacultSupport the show: If Was I in a Cult? has impacted you, please rate and review—it really helps more people find us! And consider joining our Patreon for ad-free episodes and more.Have a story of your own? We’d love to hear it. Reach out to: [e-mail] Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

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. Hey guys, this episode contains disturbing content, including discussions of child abuse and troubling sexual coercion. So please take care while listening. troubling sexual coercion. So please take care while listening. So Morning Lent Church is a New Age religion that's goal is to bring in the New Age of Enlightenment. They wanted to use the Bible, the Bhagavad Gita, and all of Gandhi's teachings. Meanwhile, it's truly a sex cult with a sadistic leader who knows how to get money out of people. Welcome to Wizayana Cult, where the cults just keep coming. So many cults.

Truly what is happening, everyone? I'm Liz Iacuzzi. And I'm Tyler Meesom. Today's guest goes by the name Frankie Tees. And this story, folks, it is a wild one with a capital W and a capital O. We are talking chanting, astrology, custom medallions, and so much more, and a guru self-named Donato the Christ, which if you didn't guess, guys, he's not. No! Spoiler alert! Sorry. Ruining the episode for all. But what he is or was is a charismatic narcissist who ditched his wife and kid after a spiritual

awakening and by awakening, well, we mean he just got horny and decided he was a god. Yeah, he had an affair, left his family behind and then became Christ. Classic! Yeah, cliched almost. This story does unfold slowly through crystals and candles and what felt like a community until suddenly, well, it wasn't. And we're grateful to Frankie for her openness in taking us on this very wild journey. Welcome to the show, Frankie. Thank you so much for having me on this wonderful show.

Your story is unlike any we've heard. Why don't you just do a brief introduction? You bet. My name is Frankie Tease. I'm a twin. I'm a redhead. We're freaks of nature. Yeah. We're both fiery people. It may be the hair, who knows? We were born in 66, grew up in sunny

California. The atmosphere in North Long Beach, which is a very specific neighborhood, is very working class. We lived in this kind of a house with a sprawling yard. And we had so much fun playing hide and go seek in our neighborhood until it was dark. Our father was in the Navy and then AWOL from us in the Navy. And so my mom rose to the occasion. My mom also, working class, civil, job, untrained. We were on welfare, so money was tight, but we had a good life. My mom is very mild-mannered.

She's a really cute blonde woman who was hit on by a lot of guys. My mother was a real blessing. She put us in music starting at age five. I was a violin player. Now, my sister played cello, and we both sang in choir. There was so much music activity. Also, my sister's a rock star.

I was her backup singer. I was good with that. And so we were standing on the bed, practicing our little delta don. We're so old. But, uh, what song is that? It's so old. What song is it? Trust me, Tyler will know it.

It's like a, I think it's Delta Dawn. He'll know, he'll know. It was so goofy. Oh, thank you for the vote of old goofy music knowledge, Liz. You certainly have Elaine Meesom and you know how to drive in it. I do know the song Delta Dawn quite well, actually. I love that song. It was a top 10 hit in 1972 for a 13 year old Tanya Tucker.

But me, I prefer the jazzier Helen Reddy version, which hit number one on the charts in 1973. The song Delta Dawn tells the story of a faded southern belle jilted by a lover who walks downtown with a suitcase in her hand looking for a mysterious dark-haired man. Play it Rob. Cause she walks downtown with her suitcase in her hand Looking for a mysterious dark-haired man But the amazing part of the story is the songwriter, right?

Alex Harvey's his name. So at the age of 15, Alex was set to perform on a TV show in Jackson, Tennessee. His mother, a spirited woman from the Mississippi Delta, she wanted to come. Fearing she'd embarrass him due to her drinking, Alex asked her not to. That night, she died in a car crash and it haunted him. Holy fuck, why is life so intense sometimes? Right? So years later, Alex, while staying with his fellow songwriter friend, a man named Larry Collins, it's late at night, Alex is strumming his guitar when he looks up

and he saw a vivid vision of his mother laughing in a rocking chair. He quickly wrote the line, she's 41 and her daddy still calls her baby. She's 41 and her daddy still calls her baby. Alex runs to the other room, he wakes up his songwriting friend Larry and together they finish the song in 20 minutes. Alex later said, quote, I don't think my mother came in that night to scare me, but to say it's OK. That song was a gift to her. An apology. How do you know that? How do I know that? How do you know that whole story?

Well, I read it, Liz. You think I knew that all? Crazy story, isn't it? Got goose pimples. And a good song to boot. Well, I will listen to that song, but not right now, because right now we're going to go back to Frankie, who at this point is living a life with a twin sister and a single mother doing her best to provide for her children and give them a good life. And then one day. As we were booking along in life, mom gets an invite at some point around age eight for

us, age eight, to go to a group called Parents Without Partners. So they help people with resources or whatever. We go to a restaurant and it's pizza. I think the moral of the story is guys, cults love food. So if you're invited to food of any kind, snacks, potlucks, barbecues, question it. Just question it, especially if it's free. Yeah, it doesn't mean you don't go. Just question it.

As my father used to say all the time, there's no such thing as a free lunch. Question it, especially if it's free. Yeah, it doesn't mean you don't go. Just question it. As my father used to say all the time, there's no such thing as a free lunch. It's like a bunch of kids and the parents, probably like 50 or so. Everyone was like sitting around eating and talking for some time. And then these three women get up all dressed in white, beautifully made up with tiaras on their heads, ornate, spacey looking, like they just got off a spaceship. It was the seventies, so it was a little bit different, lot of long hair. They're silent, everyone's silent,

they're dying to hear what they're gonna say. Hello, we're Morningstar. Today we're going to tell you some things. We're going to do readings. We're going to show you our talent. And they pick people out of the crowd and start doing these readings for people. Spot readings. Just you need to clean up your life.

What you're doing is destructive. Then just go right to the next person. Cold read. It was pretty astounding. The whole thing is reading someone's future, their palm, tarot astrology, aura readings, you name it. So everything about new age religion is predicting the future. Yeah, we didn't think much of it because we're kids, but my mom was fascinating right away because

she was looking for something. She was definitely disillusioned by religion at one point, which made her seek alternative religion. You know, her mother was actually a Mormon, and I can certainly understand her disillusionment from that particular religion, myself having fallen from their graces many years hence. Many years hence? Why do you talk like you swallowed a thesaurus? Do you mean, why do I converse as though I've ingested a glossary, Liz?

Just sort of exactly what I just said. So my mom said, okay, we need to go to one of these Sunday services. Parents without partners. Now let's just talk about this quickly. A group for single mothers, mostly turns out to be a recruiting front for a cult. So when people ask how this stuff happens, that is how nowhere did anyone say parents without partners pizza will turn into palm readings, fortune telling, and an invitation to a cult. So a couple weeks go by and mom decides, well, let's check this place out.

And she puts us in the car, a big old Chevy truck, and she takes us to 7th and Ohio in Long Beach, East Side, 20 minutes away from our house. So from the outside, you see a white building and a corner with all windows. And you walk in and there's music playing, like chanting, and there's purple everywhere. Everywhere's purple because that's supposed to be like a really spiritual color.

It was quite beautiful. There were chandeliers, there were crystals, there were reflections and soft lighting and beautifully dressed people, very showy. And the incense was very thick. I have to say the olfactory was a really strong factor to make sure someone had an ambient experience. You know, you go somewhere to have all your senses dazzled. Like a show, music show or whatever. This was the type of show that was like spiritual stimulation. It's very populated. Young people, older people,

you just saw quite a mix. There's chairs and a person is standing in front of a very ornate altar. The whole wall is an altar. The altars would be made of candles, so many candles. It's plants mixed with pictures of deities, pictures of masters like Gandhi, the Buddha, and Jesus. So they were taking all of the Hinduism, all the Buddhism, and all the Christianity and

putting in a soup. Religion soup. It was some singing, like a guitar live singing, and then everyone gets quiet, and then some chanting songs, we are one with the knowledge of Christ, or something like that. But once we got to the temple, it was total love bombing. Oh man, I will never forget you. I will never forsake you. Listen, listen, listen to her. It was total love bombing. We were like loving it and we get the little book and sing the songs with everybody. And like I said, so ornate and

beautiful. Like you just want to be in there. And so Frankie and her sister started attending services with their mother. So this is the Sunday services we would go to once a week. We would continue to live our life, but Sunday service was our thing. Life wasn't interrupted really. It was her new church, our new church. Yeah, so Morning Lent Church is a new age religion that's goal is to bring in the new age of enlightenment by bringing as many people into a higher consciousness as possible. They wanted to use the Bible, the Bhagavad Gita, and all of Gandhi's teachings. But your mom had some issues with traditional Christianity, correct? She had issues with the fact that you had to be married to go to heaven in most religions.

And I do believe the female leadership was really attractive. And you'll find that with a lot of new age religion, there's female leadership. Even though it was founded by a man. Ironic. Dan Spirato and his wife, Patricia Spirato, called themselves Donato and Sri at first, and then Sri Patricia. And then Sri kept changing her name as things happen. So they're the founders. They're an Italian couple.

She was from California and he's from New York. She went to New York, met him. They had, in her words, to meet, a wild weekend. And then he abandoned his family, no divorce or anything, with a child, and abandoned them, left them in New York, and came to California to start a church with her. And it's Morningland Corporation on paper. So Donato is the founder. He's the reincarnation of the Christ. And what gave Donato the authority to be able to run this organization? I think balls.

He had a lot of freaking balls because you got to admit to call yourself the Christ. So he's a part of the Great White Brotherhood. Words you never want to hear in the same sense. Great White Brotherhood? No. So, he's in charge, and the gopies are a ring like Krishna had. The insinuation is that there is a sex order, a sexual order for him. Later I found out between us there was a lot of drugs being done by the upper clergy and whatnot all the time. So Tanana liked to give the gopis acid for their training

and their mind opening and stuff like that. What is Gopi? So Gopi is like a female servant of Krishna. Gross. And like he had 10 or 12 and it's considered a spiritual order like a priest or a priestess. Like superstars. And how do you become a Gopi? You're chosen. Of course.

If you look good enough, you're in. No, I don't know. They learned how to heal, to lecture, to do the readings, to recruit. And they were all trained in answer to Donato. Shree, Patricia, was above the gopies. So she's like above a gopie, but not the same as Donato. He was in charge. Was Donato having sex with all the gophe's?

I know he was married to Shree. Yeah. You wonder if that pissed her off, huh? So Frankie and her family would continue going to the Big White Monastery, as it was referred to, and enjoying the pomp and ceremony of the service. Oh, hold on. Tyler needs to break for his lunch. He's going to eat the encyclopedia A through E today.

Peter Rogers thesaurus. Donato would be speaking and that would last for a certain amount of time. And then there would be readings. And sometimes there would be healings, which is of white or very ornate share. Then a person from the audience would come and sit facing the altar. And then Donato or Sri Donato or one of the gopis would hold their hands over the head to align their chakras. And that was normal. I would do that once, I think, and it feels like a tingling sensation when they're holding

their hands over you and you can't explain it. And it's like, I think it's simple energy exchange. Let's face it. But anyway, it was seductive and they called it healing. When they would do the quote readings, it was the women doing the readings. It was definitely the gopies doing the readings a lot. Sometimes it would be very special and he would just walk in and start doing readings. Everyone's like, Oh, my God, Donato's doing the readings. Everybody wants a private reading

with Donato, but you can't have them all the time. It was really alluring, the readings. Really, it was just like, you're going to know so much when you get out of that thing about your life and what you need to do. It was so important. Everyone wanted to book a reading right after the service. You're not going to get a reading if you don't pay it though. The readings were $2550 to $100 back then. And it was suggested donation because they have the tax exemption of religious stature standing. I think it was the foundation of their scam. You can often choose the type of reading like tarot astrology, numerology. The readings one-on-one my mother got into, she was going to give us our first reading. She was going to buy that for us. And I remember we were sat down

with one of the go-peas. She had short hair like the really famous skater at that time. Can't think of it. Everyone wanted this haircut. It was so stylish. It's almost like a bowl. OK, pretty sure she's talking about Dorothy Hamill, the 1976 US Olympic gold medalist who sparked a nationwide hairstyle craze with her distinctive wedge cut. This short layered style was characterized by its voluminous crown and tapered back. You just couldn't resist adding to the facts like I was taking a fact and you just had to get in there. Voluminous is a word I don't often get to use and I thought it'd be a good time for it.

Dorothy was basically the original Rachel Green. The Rachel, yes. Fun fact, Dorothy was born in Chicago, what up, but she grew up in Greenwich, Connecticut. And if you are a child of the 70s as I am, you remember the Dorothy Hamill hairstyle. Everyone had it, my sisters all had it. And apparently not even gopies were immune to this trend.

We sat down with this reading and the first message was that my sister and I have different paths. What do you think of that? Yeah, it's heart wrenching because who would want to separate people who were shadows of one another in sync like that? It was like, gosh, this is brutal. This is the type of people we were dealing with that were really cunning. So when I say the word occult, that's exactly what it is. This type of church, Morningland, is an occult church. Secretive, very manipulative.

But I do believe the crack had begun that very day. That's the crack that changed us forever. It's the little baby earthquake that began a chasm that I didn't know was coming. I'll put it that way. We'll be right back. Okay, Tyler, spring cleaning time is here and guess what I'm most excited to get rid of? Your co-host. Close, my old nasty deodorant.

I've finally upgraded to Lume Whole Body Deodorant, guys, and I'm obsessed. I love, personally, their whole body deodorant guys and I'm obsessed. I love personally their cream tube deodorant. It's so smooth, doesn't mess up my clothes. I use it every morning and I don't ever actually reapply. And it works everywhere on your body. I love the solid stick and now my feet, my pits and yes my belly button are odor free. Try it listeners.

Smell my belly button. Plus there. Try it listeners, smell my belly button. Plus, there's no harsh chemicals. Hard pass. It blocks odors for up to 72 hours actually and it is safe to use literally anywhere on your body. I think you just said that. I did, but thanks for reiterating it in a much more feminine voice.

So Liz. I just feminine-splained you that. So Liz, what is your favorite scent? Personally, I'm loving the new Vanilla Bliss scent. It's cozy. It's just the right amount of vanilla bean and sandalwood. I love a sandalwood, not too sweet, super fresh. So Lumi's starter pack is perfect for new customers

and is a special offer for you, our belly button sniffing listeners. New customers get 15% off all Lumi products with our exclusive code. And if you combine the 15% off with the already discounted starter pack, that equals 40% off the starter pack. Use code INACULT for 15% off your first purchase at lumedeodorant.com. That's code INACULT at L-U-M-E-D-E-O-D-O-R-A-N-T.com. Please support our show, guys, and tell them we sent you.

W E S E N T Y O U. Y O U S T I N K A L L T H E T I M E before Lome. All right, we're just gonna say it. Viahemp is one of our favorite sponsors we've had on the show. I use it, Tyler uses it. Guys, you know we love this company. Yeah, I recently took one of their gummies to chill before a flight and I accidentally

achieved inner peace. Oh gross, I don't want to know what that looks like on you. Right there in seat 14B. Still bad for 14A actually. And Liz took one and she forgot she had anxiety for like 36 hours. They've got low, mid and high THC. So whether you're looking to be productive, deeply unbothered or literally part of your couch, Vaya has something for everyone.

And everything Vaya makes is made with organic lab tested hemp grown on American farms. So you're not getting some mystery product that smells like motor oil. This is premium stuff, my friends. Plus, Viya's actually a leader in the hemp wellness space, over half a million customers with a cult following of very relaxed people. So if you're 21 and over, treat yourself to Viya's annual Spring 420 sale. Why is it 420? Black Friday level savings up to 35% off site wide right now.

And up to 50% off packs and bundles and get a free gift plus more savings with your first order using our exclusive code INACULT at ViaHemp.com. Plus, enjoy free shipping on orders over $100. That's code INACULT at VIIAHEMP.com. After you purchase, they're going to ask you where you heard about them. So obviously, please support our show. Tell them we sent you guys. And enjoy your everyday with VIA. Hey listeners, quick cult-free moment here on April 25th. We're doing something new. We're going live, like actual people in seats at the three-day Napa Valley Streaming Festival.

And we are so excited. Our special guest is none other than Moses Storm, comedian, actor, and yes, someone with one hell of a cult origin story. You may know him from his HBO special, Trash White, or from being raised in a doomsday cult traveling on a Greyhound bus. So come for the wine, but stay to watch us fuck up in person. It's our first ever live Was I In a Cult show,

and we would love to see you guys there. So come make fun of Tyler in person, what can I say? That's certainly worth the price of admission. There are other great events at the festival as well, so tickets and info at NapaValleyStreamingFest.com. We'll link in the show notes. Now, back to Frankie's story. So, 74 is when we arrived. And then in 76, my mom decided she wanted to be a disciple. And then in 76, my mom decided she wanted to be a disciple. When she decided to become a disciple, you can volunteer and do things. You can start attending other classes

that aren't available to the public, stuff like that. It's the next rung of the recruitment. Because right now, my mom is seduced by knowledge. It was stimulating mentally. It was really important because our whole family got initiated as disciples. It's a commitment and you sign a book, whether you go to heaven or not, or to the spaceship or ascend,

or whether you're trapped here on Earth. Once you decide to be a disciple, everything's going to change. The seriousness, the tone, the expectations. The initiation of becoming a disciple is you alone at the altar. For us, it was with Donato, one at a time. So it's like first time I stood alone in front of the master period. It's extremely special and prestigious moment. It's everything. You get a silver medallion at your initiation. It's a necklace.

And it had the logo. It's an ornate silver medallion with relief raised symbol. It looks like a three, the oom symbol, a little oom lot on it, and the sun behind it, because this is the rising sun, and then a little pyramid around it, and like a bridge that represents the bridge you have to cross to get to the Master. Physically, it was like some kind of touching of the head. Oh, anointing your third eye with sandalwood. Your third eye was opened. The pyramid was given to us. So everyone had a special mantra that was given to them once they were initiated. But

also were given new names, spiritual names. My mom's was Anahata, the name of the heart chakra. And my sister and I were Sumala and Tani. And the name change, very important, because when you change someone's identity, you're tossing out everything that happened before. So now I'm this person, and I'm a disciple, and my new identity has this Sanskrit name. So now we are all disciples, the whole family, and then we wear white all the time. All this from a pizza party for single moms to make friends, in case you lost the thread here. That is just how slick indoctrination can be.

Their Bible was very steeped in astrology, so they created a different symbol for every single planet that no one else had ever used. This was the morning land version of astrology. I would learn how to read astrology books. I started to learn and practice how to write all the symbols because I think I saw it as my future, a job that I'd be having in the future. And it wouldn't be a new age cult if they didn't blame your suffering on your previous life choices. They believe in reincarnation. So during the readings, it would be like talking about your last life. They would tell us, this is what beings do, where they're from.

And there's no need for any pain. Everything could be healed. If someone was sick, they would say, this is your past life. This is, it was like horrific, really. So cruel. You caused this. And get into diagnosing why and then say they would get more readings, donate more. So here's the deal. You suck because you sucked in your past life and your husband left you because you suck and you lost your job because well you still suck and you don't have what you want in life well because you continue to suck and oh by the way it's all your fault and too bad because well you suck. Yeah and now give us your money so we can do a reading to tell you how much more you suck.

So you can pay for all of your suckage. Suckage? Do you like that word? I do. I'm adding it to the vocabulary. Add it to your lunch. Adding it to the thesaurus, or thesaurus, as I like to call it. Does thesaurus give you enough protein, or do you get that from other sources? The next big event is that the male leader dies. And it's at an event. Oh my gosh, how did he die? You say he's a master. How could that happen? So at the funeral is quite a scene. There

was hundreds of people from Long Beach and hundreds of people from Escondido. We all went to this hillside and he's buried there. They had only the five years that he was Donato the Christ on the gravestone. It said he was born on the day they created the cult and ascension 1976. So Donato dies, which if you're the Christ feels like a bit of a plot hole, but we're not going to linger on that because the woman waiting in the wings, well, she's about to turn morning land into her very own kingdom. Or I guess in this case, queendom. And now the funeral was over. We had gone back to a large hall to have a reception.

And now the current leader of Morningland, Sri Patricia, everyone who she didn't agree with was excommunicated that day. Hundreds of people. It was like an apocalypse and they have nowhere to go. And they're disoriented, but they weren't deprogrammed or anything. They were still believing all the things like Sonata of the Christ just died. It's the end of the world type of thing. She went in hard after he died and then she was renamed Sri Donato. Ta-da! Of course she was. Ta-da! She came to Long Beach and took it over and she put everyone on sabbatical who didn't get kicked out. Why? To control the narrative. So she said to everyone, we'll call you back if you get to come back. So it's a club everyone's trying to be in and she's got complete control. And so they're all waiting for a callback

and it went like almost eight months. My mom was talking to her friends and trying to find out it was really strange time. The first thing she did when she called us back and says, would we like you and others to move into the area as close as possible to the temple? So, Frankie was part of the exclusive club that got to stay. I'm telling you, the psychological warfare in this group was an 11 out of 10.

11, 11. Look right across the board. 11, 11, 11. Spinal tap? Spinal tap. Yeah, spinal tap. Really? Oh yeah, it's great. It's a fresh reference.

Yeah. She started filling all the apartments around the temple with morning land people. And then everyone goes back to morning land and now life resumes with her in charge. And what year did morning land get created? How many years later? 73. So this was 70 and now we're in what? We're in 76?

Did you hear that? Yeah, what happened? Thunder. Oh, wow. Whoa. That was crazy loud. I know. Mommy. No, just kidding. I had two questions. Um, uh oh, can't hear you. Hello? I'm going to stop the recording, Frankie, because I can't hear you. Apparently, Donato the Christ didn't much care for us discussing him from the afterlife. So we'll be right back.

So listen, Rocket Money has genuinely helped me so much. I had no idea how many random subscriptions I was paying for until it showed me everything in one place. Right. I, myself, found this one subscription I signed up for during a free trial. Forgot all about it. Turns out, been charged for months. Rocket Money not only found it, why it cancelled it for me. It's been a game changer.

I've saved real money, I feel way more in control of my spending, and I'm even starting to build a new little savings cushion. And I feel like grown up sort of getting there. Maybe you should start acting like one. Oh yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah Savings doesn't help you become less of a child like Tyler, but Rocket Money and Rocket Money has over 5 million users and has saved a total of $500 million in canceled subscriptions, saving members up to 740 bucks a year when using all of the app's premium features. Imagine an extra 740 a year guys. So cancel your unwanted subscriptions and reach your

financial goals faster with Rocket Money. Go to rocketmoney.com slash Colt today. That's rocketmoney.com slash Colt. Rocketmoney.com slash Colt. Wasana Colt is brought to you by Progressive Insurance. Fiscally responsible, financial geniuses, monetary magicians. Why these are just some of the things people say about drivers who switch their car insurance to Progressive and save hundreds.

Because Progressive offers discounts for paying in full, owning a home and more. Plus, you can count on their great customer service to help you when you need it. So your dollar goes a long way. A long way. Visit progressive.com to see if you can save on car insurance. I do. Progressive Casualty Insurance Company and affiliates,

potential savings will vary not available in all states or situations. We've got a countdown five, four, three, two, and here we are. We're back with Frankie Tease, because if you heard that wild thunder shortly after, Frankie's power went out and we lost her. So welcome back, Frankie. Not permanently. Yes, welcome back.

Yeah. So I wanted to pick up where we were. Alright, let's paint the picture of this full-blown compound cult hiding in plain sight right in the middle of downtown Long Beach, California. Real quick, Long Beach, California, known for Snoop Dogg, a haunted cruise ship, and the locally named Napalm Lagoon, when oil companies in the 1950s literally dumped toxic sludge into a lagoon because it was, I don't know, cheap, legal, and probably the same reason you tossed the

yogurt cup in the trash this morning instead of rinsing it out and recycling it. Just plain lazy. When I'm around 11, it would have been 76, 77-ish, and we moved within a block of the temple, like many other disciples. As kids, we're not taking classes. We're helping in activities, and we're helping with garage sales, and we attend Sunday service.

My mom, she would be at two or so classes a week, working full-time, and be at the Sunday service. And of course, it wouldn't be a cult without giving that money. I mean, someone's gotta have their hand in the cookie jar. The person who was serious as a disciple eventually ties 10 to 15% and took classes. So that means a lot of money.

My mom is giving as much as she possibly could as a single parent and take care of two girls by herself. And they still were pressuring her. So it was pretty intense. Animals. Assholes. Didn't really need a thesaurus for that one, did you Liz? Then on other events would be garage sales.

They would be huge, take up the whole property, everyone donates everything they possibly can donate. We would get donations from surrounding businesses, furniture and large equipment, and that would be turned into cash. One day when I was right around age 12 or 14, I was invited in for some special moment with Sri Patricia, and she opened the door to her office, which had books from the floor to the ceiling, all spiritual manner of books, psychology, Buddhism, Taoism, books on sex, books on tantra. But during our meeting, she opened a book

and there was a very thick wad of 20s in it. And then I stood there probably gate-mouthed even more, realizing there must be thousands of dollars in this room. Shridhanana would display that mildly flamboyantly by occasionally wearing furs and gold on almost every finger. So now after being in the group for a few years, Frankie and her sister are being groomed for a higher ranking.

Somewhere between 12 and 14, we were initiated as the Daughters of Isis. There was no other Daughters of Isis. So it was just the two of us. And then we were more serious with the music. We're the Daughters of Vices. We recorded an album. They sold the tapes. It was very haunting, the music. What is this world?

This embryonic state of mind We were part of an Egyptian lineage, part of the daughters of ISIS. It went back reincarnation-wise. This is going to fuck you up. We were soulmates in another life, and we couldn't get male and female bodies, so we came in as twins. You see where that's going? You seeing where that might go? So that was in one of the meetings to start teasing the ideas of what she wanted us to do.

We'll be right back. This message is sponsored by Greenlight. Tyler, who taught you about money? Oh, my bank account overdraft notifications, actually. Right. Same. But our kids, they're actually learning how to manage money the right way. Why? Because we use Greenlight, which is a debit card and money app made for families that lets kids learn how to save, invest, and spend money wisely.

It's really great. Tyler and I love this for our kids. I wish we had had something like this when I was growing up. Yeah, my son, he loves it. He gets his own little debit card, he tracks his savings, and his personal favorite and mine, he gets paid for his chores. Chores, the chores feature is genius.

You set up tasks, they do the tasks, and then boom, allowance gets deposited automatically. Yeah, and we get to track everything, no more of that, I thought I gave you 10 bucks last week battle. Yeah, right. Greenlight makes it easy for families to raise financially smart kids, and we actually do use it and love it,

so yes, we do know it works. Total game changer. Start your risk-free Greenlight trial today at greenlight.com slash cult. That's greenlight.com slash cult to get started. Greenlight.com slash cult. Podcasting isn't just about talking, it's about growing, engaging and monetizing. And that's where Podcast One Pro comes in.

Whether you're an independent creator or a major brand, Podcast One Pro gives you the tools you need to take your podcast to the next level. We're talking about premium hosting, advanced analytics, dynamic ad integration, and expert distribution, all designed to maximize your reach and revenue. Plus, with access to PodcastOne's industry-leading network, you'll be connected to top tier advertisers and a massive audience. It's time to go pro and turn your passion into profit. Visit

podcast1pro.com to get started today. Podcast 1 Pro, the power behind the podcast. So we go to our first year in high school. It was me and my sister. We're power behind the podcast. So we go to our first year in high school. It was me and my sister. We're wearing white and medallions. We're freaks. We're fucking freaks.

Full on. I was breezing through schoolwork and practicing my astrology science writing. I was mentally in mourning land the whole time I was at school. I was reading a book. I was assigned under my book at school or whatever. No friends. I wasn't connecting to anybody. But unlike other kids in the 70s, Frankie and her sister weren't hopping on that big yellow school bus to go home.

Rather, Shree had her own pickup service. She had these two men. Good-looking, picking us up from school. We don't want you to be unsafe. Now you're with the master. We'll take you. You're like in this mob, you know? And it was quite ornate.

This Christ-plained New Yorker picking these 15-year-olds up at school to make sure we go every day after school directly to the temple for these sessions. And that's what we did right after school. These storytelling sessions, these training sessions involved very long attention span needed, very long sitting sessions filled with smoke and coffee. The cult itself was smoking, like everybody smoked. Coffee and cigarettes were a part of our everyday routine, especially after I, age 17, I started smoking with them.

So at this point, Frankie has spent all of her teenage years and then some inside the cult, fully indoctrinated, isolated, and reprogrammed. Honestly, it feels like one of the worst cases of cult control that we have had on this show. Yeah, I'll agree with that. I was mentally completely in training with Shreedon Otto and this group of six people and my sister.

This was our whole life. So now it's a high demand group, very small, very intense. And it's ironic, I lived like 12 blocks from the beach, never went there. And now that's to me, incarceration, severe incarceration. So from age 16, there was no extra time. Remember, I have to go right back to the temple. When you have a slave you're grooming, you can't let them just be going out and having fun. Well, you're in training now. You're one of the daughters of Isis. This is important.

Pretty soon, they got an idea to disappear us, and that's what they did. We did not go back to school for the second and third year in high school. we disappeared. We're just going to the temple every day. When we are dropped out of school, my mom doesn't even know how did they do this. So the thing is that my mother was disabled by telling her she can no longer interfere with us. The master has a special plan for us. That is the game. That's the game. By the time they lured us into the circle, we want to be mystics, we want to be teachers, we want to be healers, we want to be spiritual people, I was like, this is heaven. I love it. I'm doing good in the world.

This is what I want to evolve. I want to heal people. Yes. One of the moments my mother described to me, which was hair-raising, is that she was walking out of the classroom late at night, and Sri Dhanata was standing at the end of the hall. As she was walking past, trying to fake a smile, Sri Patricia looked at her and said, thank you for your daughters.

She said that. Your daughters will always be safe with us. Couldn't be further from the truth. Now she felt this pressure like I'm gonna lose my daughters and what do I do? Because it's like this is a situation that's getting worse every day for her. It seemed like the moment we turned 18, 1984, I'll never forget it. We were pulled in and told to bring our belongings to the temple, that we would be living there now. We lived in an apartment behind the temple. There was a session with 200 people. My mom was one of them. They were told they were all being excommunicated

and decided to clean house and my mother was sent away. The explanation is if we can get rid of her, we now have full access to the daughters. She went home stunned next door and my sister didn't go say goodbye to her, but I did. You know, I didn't have a bad relationship with my mom. But for years, they had started a narrative that she was healed of being an abusive parent. And they made her talk about it in every class. And now I know what it was about.

It was about laying the groundwork to get in our heads that we had a bad mom and that they could do better for us. And it worked. And we didn't even understand what we were doing. We were barely 18 and so indoctrinated. They worked together to disassociate my mother and our relationship with her to get access to us together.

And my mother is sitting outside every other day to see us. We weren't allowed to talk. I found out later, started absconding any mail that we got, which was sent to the church by my mother. One of those mails they threw away was an invitation. Sorry, this one really gets me of all the things. An invitation to go to my grandma's funeral. And I never even knew until I left many years later that that took place or that she was dead.

I hate cults. OK, the sex rings. So sex and drugs and rock and roll, it was really an underlying theme. There's a lot of sex talk and directions and telling people what to do. I would like to say I felt like I was in the center of a carnival watching it all around me all the time, just taking it all in. But there was a whole ring of people that were couples that was called like an echelon, a circle within the cult. In the couples, they had their own directives and sexual instructions. One of them is that you can't have coital sex.

You must get a vasectomy. If you're straight, you should go with gay. If you're gay, you should go straight. The amount of sexual disorientation that was mandated by this woman was astounding. Let me add, it wasn't like people were fucking in the halls and making out. It was secretive. A person who just became a disciple, they are not brought into the sex ring. Only after you're a disciple and the master decides that you have serious potential slash whatever, you get brought into a certain group.

What group? Sometimes she'll make up an order, like with us, the Daughters of ISIS. There was no other Daughters of ISIS. So it was just the two of us. So we're told we're a higher vibration and level than our parent. Now the next special meeting is that we're virgins

and we're special. The three of you are going to go into the Crestline Lodge for a special seminar. Oh my God, really? Okay. Crestline is right near Big Bear. It's absolutely beautiful. Crisp Bear always up there. And so we go to this ginormous lodge, but it's only us there.

The fireplace is lit, and we are sitting in the the lodge and Saravati sits, my twin sister and I, down and says, you know, there's been a lot of progress and spiritual growth and now this is time for a very special initiation. And it's going to involve all three of us. Oh, it is? Okay. The thing is it's really important that you keep this to yourself. This is between us only. And this is very sacred. And then she says, we're going up to the loft. What? Going up to the loft? That's like where Donato died. That's where only the gopies sleep.

I've never been up there. So we all march up these stairs, this creaky little wood stairs. There's a fireplace going and she leaves the top door open because no one's there. Scream as loud as you want, I might add. No one's there. And she says, well, let's all take off our clothes. Okay. And then we sit down on the bed.

There's three beds. And she says, you better stop because you're gonna make me cry. And she says, this red vial of wine will begin the initiation. We sat on this bed naked looking at each other in total utter fear. And we drank this wine.

I have no idea what she does it with. And after that, I literally did not remember much. I know I had a freeway with my sister and this woman. That was my first sexual experience. Yay. No big deal. I was brought back too with smelling salts and it wouldn't be the only time. So basically from 16 to 22, I was a concubine.

And that is it for part one of Frankie's harrowing story, a childhood stolen by the Morningland Cult in Long Beach, California. Next week we'll continue Frankie's tale, one that includes not only more distressing incidents within the cult, but her crazy saga out of it. We'll also hear from Frankie's mother and the heartbreak she endured from being forced to separate from her daughters. Shreidanano proceeded to stand me in front of her in a forced confession.

And I remember talking and talking and talking while she read and rearranged books and placed them in the proper order. At one point, I went from laughing to crying, and I now know I was in hysterics. And I remember her just chuckling. And I think she was thinking, I broke her. It took a while. It's done. Now you can be a gopie. Now let's get you to be in training. And if you're joining us in Napa for our first ever live show on April 25th, we are excited to see you there. Come by, say hello, buy me a drink.

And again, if you want these episodes without ads, please join our membership by heading to Patreon, Was I an Occult? Patreon, you can join there. And if Frankie's story inspires you to tell your own story on our show, you can email us at info at wasinocult.com. Was I an Occult is created, produced and hosted hosted by me, Tyler the Christ, Meesam. And me, Liz, telling the truth that he's not the Christ. Sound design and edit by Rob Silvermedallion-Pera.

And of course, our assistant editor, Greta Gopi Stromquist. Thanks, everyone. I'm fine. in comedies like Pee and Peel, The Neighborhood, Everybody Hates Chris, and Boomerang.