A personal memoir and a wake-up call for society to recognize and reject the erosion of critical thinking, "An Everyday Cult" is an essential read for understanding how people fall prey to mind control and cultic manipulation.
Tracing the arc of eighteen years under a trusted teacher's unethical tutelage, Gerette Buglion's true-life story shows how her innocent quest for meaning is answered by a man who sees directly into her soul, awakening insight while simultaneously eroding her capacity for critical thinking. Through an increasingly murky and treacherous narrative, she lays bare the hallmarks of cultic manipulation-mind control that flies under the radar of human awareness-and implores society to wake up to its ever-present abuses of power.
"An Everyday Cult" imparts a universal story, demonstrating how recognition of cultic membership-largely riddled with preconceived notions-may be an essential key to human evolution.
Buglion, Gerette: - First time author, Gerette Buglion B.A. Elementary Education and Special Education, was born on Long Island, NY where she was tossed around by waves at Jones Beach as a young child. Her northward migration started at five years of age, when her large family moved to Dutchess County NY to farm. Cows, sheep and untold numbers of cats accompanied the rest of her childhood until she fledged farther north. Work and passions merged in caring for others as an elementary school teacher, certified special educator, house parent for people with special needs as well as a hiking guide. Gerette's greatest joy comes from parenting two exceptional young adults, being married to an extraordinarily understanding man for over 30 years and escaping from what she calls an 'everyday cult'. An Everyday Cult, her memoir, was published in 2021 and details the inspiration for her current work in cult recovery and education: helping others navigate and avoid the complex power dynamics involved in cultic or controlling groups of all kinds. Gerette has presented at the annual conference for ICSA, the International Cultic Studies Association since 2015. She and her husband, a Licensed Mental Health Counselor, co-founded a cult recovery support group. Buglion also launched and co-facilitated Cults & Culture, a year long community discussion forum at her local library, offers consulting and education in cultic abuse for individuals, families and organizations of all kinds. Her signature writing course, Writing to Reckon offers survivors support for the process of finding a coherent narrative out of the traumatic experiences of coercive control. In October 2020, Gerette co-founded igotout.org and co-manages the hashtag #igotout movement, whose sole mission is to inspire survivors of cultic abuse to tell and share their stories to promote healing, education and prevention.
Edmondson, Sarah: - Sarah Edmondson has an exceptionally diverse portfolio of interests and dedicates herself with limitless energy and positivity to acting, activism and parenthood.Born and raised in Vancouver B.C., Sarah first launched her professional acting career on the popular CBC teen soap series, "Edgemont", where she played the love interest to Grace Park's (Hawaii Five-O) character, Shannon. From there, Sarah went on to numerous lead and supporting roles on SyFy's "Andromeda", "Continuum", and "Stargate SG-1", USA Network's "Dead Zone" and Lifetime Television's "Killer Hair" and "Hostile Makeover". Sarah also guest-starred on J.J. Abram's hit FOX series, "Fringe", and has been seen in a recurring role as a troublemaker ex-girlfriend on USA Network's hugely successful dramedy, "Psych".Sarah also didn't hesitate to step into the role of a psychopathic criminal groupie in Blaine Thurier's critically acclaimed feature, A GUN TO THE HEAD, which premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival. The launch of this film was on the heels of Sarah's Leo Award-nominated comedic roles in the short films AWKWARD, which screened at The Just For Laughs International Comedy Festival, and SPARKLELITE MOTEL.As a voice over artist, Sarah has created original voices for characters for Cartoon Network's "Max Steel", and "Transformers Cybertron", Discovery Kids "Class of the Titans", Hasbro's "My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic", and Netflix's "Dinotrux". Sarah has also voiced characters for popular international children's series including The Rose in France Télévisions "Le Petit Prince", and Thea Stilton for Italy's Rai 2's "Geronimo Stilton". She can be heard as River in Seasons One and Two of "Minecraft Mini Series" by Mattel Action!.Sarah was seen in Hallmark's LOVE AT FIRST BARK, THE WEDDING MARCH 2: RESORTING TO LOVE, and AT HOME IN MITFORD, alongside award-winning actress Andie MacDowell. She played supporting roles in Hallmark's WEDDING OF DREAMS, starring Debbie Gibson, and Season Two of CBS's "Salvation." Just before the birth of her second child, she appeared in Hallmark's WELCOME TO CHRISTMAS.In 2005, when NXIVM, a personal and professional development company, promised to provide the tools and insight Sarah needed to reach her potential, she was intrigued. Over her twelve-year tenure, she went from student to coach and eventually operated her own NXIVM center in Vancouver. Questions kept coming up about the organization's rules and practices, which came to a head in 2017 when she accepted an invitation from her best friend to join DOS, a "secret sisterhood" within NXIVM.In 2019, Sarah published Scarred: The True Story of How I Escaped NXIVM, the Cult that Bound My Life, with Kristine Gasbarre. In this tell-all memoir, she shares her story from the moment she takes her first seminar to her harrowing fight to get out of NXIVM, collaborate with the FBI, help others, and heal.Sarah's full story as a whistleblower is featured in the CBC podcast "Uncover: Escaping NXIVM" (downloaded over 25 million times) and "The Vow", the critically acclaimed HBO documentary series on NXIVM.Now with the launch of her own podcast, "A Little Bit Culty," Sarah is keeping the conversation going by exploring the fads, beliefs, and trends that blur the line between devotion and dysfunction. Co-hosted by her husband and fellow NXIVM whistleblower Anthony "Nippy" Ames, the podcast is part conversational coffee date and part deep dive on everything from Waco to lululemon. And while there was nothing small about Sarah's cult experience, "A Little Bit Culty" is grounded in her mission to help people understand, heal from, and avoid abusive situations, one little red flag at a time.Besides her work as an actor and podcaster, she makes time to attend conferences and events around the world as a speaker, host, and cult-recovery advocate.
