Let's Talk About Sects

A spiritual school in Victoria teaches that we each have a spiritual guide who we can rely on to help us through life, and that the couple who run the school – Ian and Pearl Rogers – sit on a council alongside entities who have lived many lifetimes before this one. Students are lucky enough to gain access to incredible knowledge through this council, which boasts Leonardo Da Vinci, Mahatma Gandhi, and Lady Di amongst its members. But forum posts dating back to 2012 allege that Sphinx Spiritual has been operating as a cult for many years. It’s only now that former members have started speaking out.

Part 2 is already available to Patreon supporters, and will be released on the main feed on Wednesday 27 May.

Full research sources listed here. You can support us on Patreon, with a one-off donation, or grab some merch. Sarah Steel's debut book Do As I Say is available on audiobook now.

If you have been personally affected by involvement in a cult, or would like to support those who have been, contact Cult Information and Family Support in Australia, or the International Cultic Studies Association outside of Australia.

Credits:
Written and hosted by Sarah Steel
Music by Joe Gould

Links:
Legislative Assembly Victoria Clerk of the Papers — Notices of Questions, Volume 4, Session 1988-92
Legislative Assembly Victoria Clerk of the Papers — Notices of Questions, Volume 3, Session 1988-91
‘To strike a balance’: A History of Victoria’s Workers’ Compensation Scheme, 1985–2010 — by Marianna Stylianou, Monash University, June 2011
WorkCare funds $2m lawsuit against ABC — by Paul Robinson, The Age, 17 November 1991
Lengthy defamation case draws to close — by Paul Robinson, The Age, 22 March 1992
ROUX AND OTHERS v AUSTRALIAN BROADCASTING COMMISSION [1992] 2 VR 577 — BYRNE J., 13 Mar 1992, Victorian Reports
Public Service ‘spy’ wins compo claim — by Gay Alcorn, The Age, 2 December 1990
Who are the Council? - more than 7 Historical icons! — Sphinx Spiritual YouTube channel, 31 March 2023
Inside the Sphinx Spiritual School — A Current Affair, 16 February 2026
Inside the controversial spiritual school run by former detectives — by Sam Cucchiara, A Current Affair, 16 February 2026
The 11 Spiritual Values - Revealed! — Sphinx Spiritual YouTube channel, 17 February 2023
The Wisdom of Crazy Horse — Ian Rogers’ blog with posts dating back to April 2012, visited April 2026
sphinxspiritual.com.au Ian and Pearl Rogers — Cult Education Institute forum posts dating from 22 September 2012
Spiritual LoveMatch — various archived versions of the Sphinx Spiritual dating platform website between 2015 and 2018
Pythagoras Investing — archived versions of the official website
Stock Nostradamus — archived versions of the official website
Everything you must know about Sphinx Spiritual School of Learning — by Amelia Swan & Brooke Grebert-Craig, Herald Sun, 4 January 2026
Former student of Sphinx Spiritual School of Learning speaks after leaving controversial sect — by Brooke Grebert-Craig & Amelia Swan, Herald Sun, 5 January 2026
The mystical Mornington Peninsula sect drawing in wealthy, single women — by Brooke Grebert-Craig & Amelia Swan, Herald Sun, 4 January 2026
FYI - THIS IS VERY RARE! If you want to see a true High Maintenance relationship at work - look at Ian & Pearl! — Sphinx Spiritual Facebook post attributed to Ian Rogers, 21 May 2016
Anyone come across the Sphinx Spiritual cult? — Reddit thread dating back to 13 January 2022
A warning about a widespread, local "Spiritual School". — Reddit thread dating from 2 November 2025
Posts by Jamie123 — Cult Education Institute forum posts about Sphinx Spiritual dating from 24 March 2024
Sphinx Spiritual Surgery — Sphinx Spiritual School of Learning Facebook video, 4 July 2025
Spiritual Surgery — Sphinx Spiritual School of Learning page about the modality, visited April 2026
Parenting Spiritually: In support of your child — by Ian & Pearl Rogers, 2013

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The Aggressive Christianity Missions Training Corps, or ACMTC, is a hardline fringe religious cult that was led by a former hippie who went by the name Deborah Green. In The Oracle’s Daughter, author Harrison Hill tells the story of the group through the experiences of three women: Deborah, the self-proclaimed oracle; Maura, who nursed Deborah’s ailing brother and became one of her first followers; and Sarah, the oracle’s daughter of the title.

The group’s practices included harsh punishments of children and extreme forms of exorcism, and its crimes included kidnapping and abuse. Through his book, Harrison examines the dwindling gap between the fringe and the mainstream in the United States, and shows how we may be much more vulnerable to extremism than we think.

Links
The Oracle's Daughter — by Harrison Hill, Scribner, April 2026
The Oracle’s Daughter: Sarah Green escaped her mother’s cult 22 years ago. She still thinks about those she left behind. — by Harrison Hill, The Cut, 8 June 2021
harrisonhill.me — Harrison's website

Credits:
Produced by Sarah Steel
Music by Joe Gould

You can support Let's Talk About Sects here. If you have been personally affected by involvement in a cult, or would like to support those who have been, you can find support with or donate to Cult Information and Family Support if you’re in Australia (via www.cifs.org.au), and you can find resources outside of Australia with the International Cultic Studies Association (via www.icsahome.com). Find Sarah's audiobook Do As I Say here.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The ABC’s internationally award-winning podcast Expanse, exploring big stories from across Australia, looked at the mysterious case of the Nannup Four for its sixth season. Host Dominique Bayens investigated the 2007 disappearance of Chantelle and Leela McDougall, Tony Popic, and a man known as Simon Kadwill from the town of Nannup in Western Australia. Simon was actually a name taken on by a man called Gary Felton who led a doomsday group called The Truth Fellowship. Dominique spoke with Let’s Talk About Sects about the series in March, and is back to give us an update and a way that listeners may be able to help the families and loved ones left behind.

Links
Help find the Nannup Four — Barry McIntosh's fundraiser
Last chance for answers in Nannup Four cold case as police admit search error — by Dominique Bayens, ABC News, 21 April 2026
Expanse: The Nannup Four — Australian Broadcasting Corporation, 2026

You can support Let's Talk About Sects here. Find Sarah's audiobook Do As I Say here. If you have been personally affected by involvement in a cult, or would like to support those who have been, you can find support with or donate to Cult Information and Family Support if you’re in Australia (via www.cifs.org.au), and you can find resources outside of Australia with the International Cultic Studies Association (via www.icsahome.com). If you or someone you know is in crisis or needs support right now, please call Lifeline on 13 11 14 in Australia, or find your local crisis centre via the International Association for Suicide Prevention website at www.iasp.info.
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Fai West was just 10 years old when she was first introduced to the teachings of Soulaire Allerai and the Soulful Journey. A few years later, as a teenager in high school, she found herself living in Soulaire’s basement, sleep deprived from attending multiple late-night classes and channelings of an omniscient being known as ‘G’, and learning about her own presence in a future dimension called The 99.

Full research sources listed here. You can support us on Patreon, with a one-off donation, or grab some merch. Sarah Steel's debut book Do As I Say is available on audiobook now.

If you have been personally affected by involvement in a cult, or would like to support those who have been, contact Cult Information and Family Support in Australia, or the International Cultic Studies Association outside of Australia.

If you or someone you know is in crisis or needs support right now, please call Lifeline on 13 11 14 in Australia, or find your local crisis centre via the International Association for Suicide Prevention.

Credits:
Written and hosted by Sarah Steel
Music by Joe Gould

Links:
Being: The Soulful Journey — by Soulaire Allerai, FriesenPress, December 2023
Being: Transformation Begins With… — by Lynn Young, Master Path Publishing, March 2007
Soulful Journey — website, accessed February 2026
Living Faith Spiritual Community — ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer listing, accessed February 2026\
Getting Real with Soulaire — Podbay episode shownotes, accessed February 2026
An Interview with Lynn Young (Master Soulaire) — by Tim Miejan, Edge Magazine, 1 October 2008
Lynn Young, Interview — by Tim Miejan, Edge Magazine, 1 October 2007
soulaireallerai.com — archived website from 28 February 2021
Inspiring Conversations with Soulaire Allerai of Bad Rooster Food Truck — Voyage Minnesota, 24 March 2022
Soulful Journey® Wellness Center — archived website page from 12 August 2025
Family, former followers, claim food truck finances a Minnetonka cult — by Tom Lyden, FOX 9, 28 August 2022
Bad Rooster Responds: It’s because of our success — by Tom Lyden, FOX 9, 30 August 2022
Bad Rooster LLC and Soulaire Allerai vs Kelly Ring Abedi and Angela Marie Hummelgard — Minnesota Judicial Branch Court Records Online, document search conducted for Case Number: 27-CV-22-10996 and documents viewed March 2026
Minnetonka food truck co-owner sues two sisters over cult accusations — by Kim Hyatt, The Minnesota Star Tribune, 28 July 2022
Families accuse Minnesota food truck of funding New Age ‘cult’ that ‘brainwashes’ members — by Josh Marcus, The Independent (UK), 1 September 2022
Judge dismisses 'cult' lawsuit filed by food trucks — by Tom Lyden, FOX 9, 21 July 2023
‘Abuse, Fear, and Gaslighting’: Ex-Members on Life in Food Truck Owner’s ‘Cult-Like’ Group — by Kate Briquelet, The Daily Beast, 14 September 2022
Community Highlights: Meet Soulaire Allerai of Bad Rooster Food Truck — Voyage Minnesota, 18 December 2025
Kelly Abedi’s Facebook post — about Bad Rooster from 7 July 2022 that she continues to update with developments
Living Faith Instagram — accessed February/March 2026
The Soulful Journey Instagram — accessed February/March 2026
Bad Rooster Instagram — accessed February/March 2026
Living Faith Spiritual Community website — accessed February/March 2026
Soulful Journey Facebook page — accessed February 2026
Bad Rooster Truck Facebook page — accessed February 2026
Bad Rooster website — accessed February/March 2026
Popular Food Truck Accused of Luring Women Into a ‘Cult’ — by Kate Briquelet, Daily Beast, 5 September 2022
'The Journey Comes First': More family members make claims against Bad Rooster — by Tom Lyden, FOX 9, 13 September 2022
Meet Soulaire Allerai — Canvas Rebel, 2 September 2025
Minnetonka food truck owner asks judge to stop sisters from making public cult accusations — by Kim Hyatt, The Minnesota Star Tribune, 24 September 2022
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The sentences just came down for OneTaste’s founder Nicole Daedone and her second-in-command Rachel Cherwitz – if you're unfamiliar with OneTaste you can listen to Let's Talk About Sects' deep dive in November 2020. From that episode, you may remember Ruwan Meepagala. When he spoke with LTAS five years ago, Ruwan had already been working on his memoir, which he finished writing and released last year. It’s called ORGSM: A Memoir. The sentencing was the perfect opportunity to revisit Ruwan's story and find out how his perspective has shifted over the intervening years.

Credits:
Written and hosted by Sarah Steel
Music by Joe Gould

Links
Founder of ‘orgasmic meditation’ company gets nine years in prison in forced labor conspiracy — Associated Press, The Guardian, 31 March 2026
ORGSM: A Memoir — by Ruwan Meepagala, Subversalist Publishing, October 2025
Ruwando.com — Ruwan Meepagala's website

You can support Let's Talk About Sects here. If you have been personally affected by involvement in a cult, or would like to support those who have been, you can find support with or donate to Cult Information and Family Support if you’re in Australia (via www.cifs.org.au), and you can find resources outside of Australia with the International Cultic Studies Association (via www.icsahome.com). Find Sarah's audiobook Do As I Say here. With thanks to Money Saver Home Loans, supporting partner for this episode of Let's Talk About Sects.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.