Citation

Hodges D, Paxton-Fear K. Digital Scholarship in the Humanities 2022; 37(1): 137-151.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2022)

DOI

10.1093/llc/fqab051

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

The infamous 'Heaven's Gate cult' committed a mass suicide in 1995 believing members of the group would achieve salvation through bodily transformation and departure aboard UFOs. The group left a large volume of writing available as a book and a website which outlined their belief structure. This writing, largely by the group's leaders Ti and Do, is supplemented by 'exit statements' written by the group members. We analysed these writings and demonstrated how the texts evolve from accessible texts for recruiting individuals into the group through more complex texts for cementing the belief structure and reinforcing the ingroup. We also identify differences in the 'exit statements' that demonstrate the ideas and concepts that gained traction with the group members. © 2021 The Author(s). Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of EADH. All rights reserved.

Language: en