Episode #15: A Cult in Oregon, Rajneeshpuram Part 1; Great Expectations

Hold onto your butts, it's about to get wild. Lady tells us all about the Cult that set up shop in Oregon, Rajneeshpuram. This Cult quickly built up a commune, amassed a following, then proceeded to hold Oregon hostage for 3.5 years. In this episode, we talk about the cult's founding, it's rise to power, and how it got it's hooks into Oregon. It's a wild wild ride, so pack a lunch, we're going to Oregon.

Sources Cited:

• Abbott, Carl (February 1990), "Utopia and Bureaucracy: The Fall of Rajneeshpuram, Oregon", Pacific Historical Review, University of California Press 

• Aulak, Sabrina, and Charlotte Everette. “Who Is Ma Anand Sheela's Husband John Shelfer?” The US Sun, The US Sun, 7 Apr. 2023, https://www.the-sun.com/entertainment/2733799/ma-anand-sheela-john-shelfer/

• Bansal, Kuvam. “5 Interesting Facts You Need to Know before You Watch Netflix's New Documentary on Ma Anand Sheela.” Vogue India, Vogue India, 13 Apr. 2021, https://www.vogue.in/whats-new/content/ma-anand-sheela-interesting-facts-netflix-documentary-trailer-searching-for-sheela

• Carter, Lewis F. Charisma and Control in Rajneeshpuram: A Community without Shared Values. Cambridge University Press, 2010

• Carus, W. Seth. Bioterrorism and Biocrimes: The Illicit Use of Biological Agents since 1900. Center for Counterproliferation Research, Institute for National Strategic Studies, 2002

• FitzGerald, Frances. “I-Rajneeshpuram.” The New Yorker, The New Yorker, 15 Sept. 1986, https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/1986/09/22/i-rajneeshpuram

• Gordon, James S. The Golden Guru: The Strange Journey of Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh. The Stephen Greene Press, 1988

• Harris, Michelle. “Here's What Netflix Left out of 'Wild Wild Country'.” Portland Monthly, Portland Monthly, 15 June 2022, https://www.pdxmonthly.com/news-and-city-life/2018/11/here-s-what-netflix-left-out-of-wild-wild-country

• MacLeod, Andrew. “Residents of the Tiny Town of Antelope Failed Thursday... - UPI Archives.” UPI, UPI, 15 Apr. 1982, https://www.upi.com/Archives/1982/04/15/Residents-of-the-tiny-town-of-Antelope-failed-Thursday/1736387694800/

• Mullan, Bob. Life as Laughter: Following Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh. Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1983

• Oregonian/OregonLive, Kristi Turnquist | The. “Netflix Documentary on Rajneeshees in Oregon Revisits an Amazing, Enraging True Story.” Oregonlive, 14 Mar. 2018, https://www.oregonlive.com/tv/2018/03/netflix_documentary_on_rajnees.html

• Oregonian/OregonLive, The. “Immigration Problems Plague Rajneesh, Followers (Part 19 of 20).” Oregonlive, 19 July 1985, https://www.oregonlive.com/rajneesh/1985/07/immigration_problems_plague_ra.html

• OSHO International Foundation. “Osho International Foundation: Osho – Transform Yourself through the Science of Meditation.” OSHO, https://www.osho.com/oshointernationalfoundation

• Vedant, Satya. The Awakened One: The Life and Work of Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh. Harper & Row, 1982

• Way, Maclain and Chapman Way, directors. Wild Wild Country. Netflix, 16 Mar. 2018, https://www.netflix.com/watch/80145242?trackId=255824129. Accessed 2023

• Wollaston, Sam. “Growing up in the Wild Wild Country Cult: 'You Heard People Having Sex All the Time, like Baboons'.” The Guardian, Guardian News and Media, 24 Apr. 2018, https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2018/apr/24/wild-wild-country-netflix-cult-sex-noa-maxwell-bhagwan-shree-rajneesh-commune-childhood
  

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