Video Woman claims she was branded with other women in a secret society There was ambient light. By rejecting non-essential cookies, Reddit may still use certain cookies to ensure the proper functionality of our platform. Not initially intended as my initials but they rearranged it slightly for tribute, Mr. Raniere wrote, (if it were abraham lincolns or bill gates initials no one would care.). [What you need to know to start the day: Get New York Today in your inbox.]. ', Met Gala red carpet 2023: Margaret Qualley, Maya Hawke, Lily Collins and more grown-up celebrity kids lead fashion's biggest night, The It List: Menudo docuseries makes the case for Menendez brothers' innocence, new doc sheds light on early years of King Charles, Megan Fox goes blonde in 'Johnny & Clyde' and all the best in pop culture the week of May 1, 2023. Something like, Please brand me, it would be an honor, something like that. She made it sound like a bad-ass bitch boot camp, Ms. Edmondson said. The recordings have offered the first contemporaneous account of how Mr. Raniere helped devise one of the most secret and controversial practices within Nxivm. Mr. Raniere, 58, co-founded Nxivm (pronounced nex-ee-um) in the 1990s as a self-help organization based in a suburban town in upstate New York. It was a very meaningful initiation ceremony.. Sarah Edmondson, 42, spent 12 years in the cult led by the charismatic Keith Raniere. Mr. Vicente said he was aware of the negative publicity, including a 2012 series by The Albany Times-Union that described alleged abuses inside Nxivm. In a letter, the agency said it would not look into Dr. Roberts because she was not acting as Ms. Edmondsons doctor when the branding is said to have happened. Slaves added compromising collateral every month to Dropbox accounts, and a Google Document was used to list a timetable for recruiting new slaves, several women said. India, now 29, is the daughter of Dynasty star Catherine Oxenberg. The women have denied the allegations. The Nxivm founders disturbing fantasies were captured on an audio recording by Smallville actress and DOS slave Allison Mack, while the two took an early morning walk together on January 9, 2017. The women, in their 30s and 40s, belonged to a self-help organization called Nxivm, which is based in Albany and has chapters across the country, Canada and Mexico. The band have become the very thing their critics accuse them of. He styled himself as the grandmaster of a secret society within NXIVM called DOS, while its members, all women, were his sexual slaves. The pyramid schemes the organization utilized were also Ranieres creation. The women lay nude as Roberts permanently stamped scarred them just below their bikini line with an insignia incorporating Ranieres initials, KR. A former NXIVM cult member is speaking candidly about her ordeal. In early June, Mr. Parlato published the first in a torrent of salacious posts under the headline, Branded Slaves and Master Raniere.. The person should ask to be branded, Raniere told Mack. Although Mack didnt take the stand against him, she met with prosecutors numerous times and was available to testify at Ranieres trial if requested to do so, they said. Copyright 2000 - 2023 The Epoch Times Association Inc. All Rights Reserved. In this courtroom artist's sketch, Keith Raniere, second from right, leader of the secretive group NXIVM, attends his trial in Brooklyn federal court on May 7, 2019, in New York. Edmondson, who was a member of the group from 2005 until 2017, filed a New York State Department of Health complaint against Roberts for practicing medicine negligently. The brandings were connected to a Nxivm subset called D.O.S. Keith Raniere helped design the ritual, according to recordings introduced during his federal trial. Soon after, the complaint was reconsidered. Late one night, Ms. Mehdaoui met secretly with another Nxivm member. His lawyer, Marc Agnifilo, said in an email on Sunday that Mr. Raniere played a role in the creation of the subset but was not a member. And I wasnt gonna do that.. But it seems that no one else is liking the minty-fresh look. I had two women holding my hands and my feet so I wouldn't convulse, India told the magazine. NEW YORKThe founder and leader behind the now-defunct organization NXIVM was also behind a branding ceremony that membersof aninternal secret society were forced to participate in, an audio recording played during the ongoing trial on May 22 revealed. [But] Sarah was making fart jokes during the branding. that he had repeatedly assured others he had nothing to do with. Several former members have asked state authorities to investigate the groups practices, but officials have declined to pursue action. Branding video? : r/theNXIVMcase - Reddit Tears came down her eyes. Keith is Keith Raniere,the leader of the notorious sex cult based in Clifton Park, NY, that purported to deliver members self-empowerment. For hours, muffled screams and the smell of burning tissue filled the room. By 2016 she and Raniere developed a workshop series that claimed to relieve physical ailments, such as chronic back pain, by re-patterning clients bodies through different postures, exercises and manual adjustments., She describes her relationship with Raniere as platonic, but did say: He kissed me romantically once. Raniere also tried to downplay the pain of the branding ritual, telling Mack that love is stronger than anything, even over life itself. DOS employed a pyramid structure involving levels of slaves headed by masters; slaves were then expected to recruit their own slaves, thus becoming masters themselves. India, who has been undergoing two years of intensive therapy and cult deprogramming, said shes ready to finally share her story. Even if they cried when they were getting the brand, even if they wore surgical masks to help them with breathing in the smell of burning flesh they were still able to transcend the fear and cry out to one another Lets get strong together,' Mack told the newspaper. She said Mr. Raniere told her the secret sorority began after three women offered damaging collateral to seal lifetime vows of obedience to him. In explaining why Mack deserves a less-than-guidelines punishment, prosecutors explained that perhaps most significantly, Mack provided the government with a recording that, at trial, served as crucial evidence of Ranieres role in devising the branding ceremony., Do you think the person whos being branded should be completely nude and sort of held to the table like a sort of almost like a sacrifice? They would come in and give me a hug. Cookie Notice Bowen Xiao was a New York-based reporter at The Epoch Times. Woman claims she was branded with other women in a secret society's initiation ritual Sarah Edmondson says she willingly participated in the alleged secret ritual at a home near Albany, New York. Mack is scheduled to be sentenced on June 30. VIDEO: Branding ceremony footage (news coverage in Spanish) I knew nobody had dared to do what I was doing because this cult had financially ruined them., India added, I can't describe in words how grateful I am for that. Nxivm recently filed criminal complaints with the Vancouver police against Ms. Edmondson and two other women accusing them of mischief and other crimes in connection with the firms now-closed center there, according to Ms. Edmondson. Some people were willing to take responsibility for that while others claimed to be victims of their choices.. Accused sex cult leader Keith Raniere wanted the branding of his female slaves to mimic ritualistic human sacrifice, a Brooklyn jury heard Wednesday. But other people have become drawn more deeply into Nxivm, giving up careers, friends and families to become followers of its leader, Keith Raniere, who is known within the group as Vanguard.. I dont know if that, thats a feeling of submission, you know, Raniere said in that recording. This was a way to help women surrender and realize that they can take pain. After a story about the branding ran in The New York Times, he emailed a draft position statement to the first line masters, according to testimony. Mark Vicente and his wife, Bonnie Piesse, both former members of Nxivm. A former member of a secret master-slave society that was part of the Albany-based group NXIVM gave a first-hand account of her "branding . By many accounts, Mr. Raniere sleeps during the day and goes out at night to play volleyball or take female followers for long walks. I wore a blouse and a nice pair of slacks, Roberts told The Post. Soon, Mr. Vicente was taking courses that he said helped him expose his fears and learn strategies that made him feel more resolute. Dr. Danielle Roberts told Dateline for an upcoming episode that the . Ms. Oxenberg had become increasingly concerned about her 26-year-old daughter, India, who looked emaciated from dieting. searing his initials into his followers flesh. By continuing to use our site, you accept our use of cookies, revised Privacy Policy and Terms of Use. Sarah Edmondson, 42, spent 12 years in the cult led by the charismatic Keith Raniere. Director and fellow ex-Nxivm member Mark Vicente also is interviewed in the episode, which features snapshots of Mack and Edmondson looking extremely friendly with one another, as well as many photographs of Raniere posing with multiple groups of women over the years. Dr. Porter, as part of an experiment, showed women graphically violent film clips while a brain-wave machine and video camera recorded their reactions, according to two women who took part. This email will be used to sign into all New York sites. There were four or so other women in the room all naked, except for Roberts and the groups master, a high-level female who oversaw the proceedings and who included Allison Mack. Others saw a different side. Want to catch up on NXIVM news? She said it had been formed as a force for good, one that could grow into a network that could influence events like elections. Former members have depicted him as a man who manipulated his adherents, had sex with them and urged women to follow near-starvation diets to achieve the type of physique he found appealing. Nxivm sued several former members, accusing them of stealing its trade secrets, among other things. Through Nxivm, Mr. Raniere transformed himself into a New Age teacher with long hair and a guru-like manner of speaking. I disassociated out of my body., Since the late 1990s, an estimated 16,000 people have enrolled in courses offered by Nxivm (pronounced Nex-e-um), which it says are designed to bring about greater self-fulfillment by eliminating psychological and emotional barriers. Remembering one of fashions most problematic faves, Karl Lagerfeld. The most gripping TV drama of the year is happening behind closed doors. Mr. Vicente said he had been contacted by Ms. Salzmans mother, Nancy, a co-founder of Nxivm who is known as Prefect, after the 2004 release of a documentary he co-directed that explored spirituality and physics. I was scared to death but it didn't matter if I was scared, Catherine told the magazine. At 16, he entered Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, N.Y. Before Nxivm, he helped run a company called Consumers Buyline Inc., which offered discounts to members on groceries and other products. Osteopath Danielle Roberts lost her medical license to practice in New York after branding 18 of the women in the NXIVM sex cult.
