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Since
the 1950s, there have been science-fiction cults. Ultimately, science fiction might be the myth of our time. Typically, religions form from myths, coalesced, and made firm with the addition of ritual and traditions. The conflagration of science fiction with UFOs is pretty dang strong. I’ve heard that it was the increase of science-fiction stories on film and magazines that helped to bump up the saucer mania of the late 1940s and early 1950s. I’ve written a lot about the crossover, notably in comics. The idea of the UFO cult is a bit nebulous, as there are even mainstream Christian churches that hold interpretations of passages in the Bible that are UFOlogy-ish. Still, they feel science-fiction flavored for the most part. Probably the novel that had the most influence was Robert Heinlein’s Stranger in a Strange Land. People have pinned the rise of the Manson Family on this Heinlein tome for years, and it’s likely not a book that Charlie himself read, since he was barely literate according to most. But it was big in prison, along with Dianetics, and both of those made it into Charlie’s sermon/orgy times. In fact, he named one of his children Valentine Michael, after the main character. There is some indication that a couple of members had read it, most likely Valentine’s mother, Mary Brunner.
True Russian Orthadox Church—Founder: Pyotr Kuznetsov, Founded: early 2000s, Membership at Peak: ~35
