I was brainwashed by a cult

Cindy Ferricks thought all her prayers had been answered when she joined the spiritualist sect Soul Freedom. Intelligent and articulate, the 46-year-old mum-of-three was keen to improve her psychic powers and to broaden her knowledge of the paranormal. But Cindy now describes her experience with Soul Freedom as a “living nightmare”.

“I trusted them with my life and they turned out to be nothing but a manipulative money-making cult. They’re destroying lives and ripping families apart,” Cindy says, her body shaking with anger.

“They prey on the vulnerable and poison their minds. But I didn’t know the full extent of how they operated until I joined the inner circle. What I witnessed still sends chills up and down my spine.”

Cindy has broken her silence to reveal the true nature of the sect, which is based in the old goldmining town of Mount Morgan, near Rockhampton. Among her disturbing allegations:

Exorcisms were regularly carried out on people whose “souls have been contaminated by dark, satanic forces”.
New recruits were given new identities and kept in “safe houses”, where they were brainwashed into believing their spouses were evil … liars, gamblers, even child molesters.
The death of members was celebrated, as they would provide a spiritual link to the “other side” and leave the sect an inheritance.

Read Cindy’s shocking story in this week’s Woman’s Day (on-sale July 9)