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This is Shadowland, a new podcast experience from This Jungian Life that explores the lives of people who work and take refuge in the hidden places of our culture. We hope our work will bring insight, compassion, and understanding to the darker side of human experience.
In that spirit, we meet Sarah, a mother whose daughter was rescued from the self-harm cult called “764.” This dangerous group has been identified by the FBI, who continue to prosecute their leaders. Despite those efforts, it continues and targets children. We explore how she discovered her daughter’s entrapment, the process of recovery, the growing danger of these types of groups, and the toll it has taken on her. Sarah’s ongoing work investigating these cults requires that we protect her identity. We are using a pseudonym, altering her voice, and obscuring her face.
*Information on the 764 cult
*FBI Public Service Announcement. Violent Online Groups Extort Minors to Self-Harm
Spotting the Hidden Web of Manipulation
The Self-Harm Cult 764 actively targets children as young as nine years old with subtle online recruitment and emotional manipulation. Young people often feel unseen or misunderstood, which makes them vulnerable to promises of praise and validation. They are shown progressively more intense gory images and graphic sexual content to desensitize them. Group leaders then threaten them with exposure and violence, so fear and secrecy expand and trap children in cycles of isolation. Parents may notice sudden changes in their child’s behavior but struggle to identify the underlying factors.
Creating Dependence Through False Empathy
Children who feel isolated encounter apparent friends who claim to understand their emotional struggles. These operators gradually shift conversations toward self-harming behavior under the pretense of shared pain. Edgy memes and jokes distort moral boundaries until cruelty seems exciting or normal. Inconsistent parenting, whether excessively strict or permissive, may strengthen the child’s loyalty to the cult. The cult’s encouragement overshadows concern for physical or mental well-being. Children are manipulated to escalate self-harm to prove their worth and cement their new identity.
Exploiting Emotional Wounds for Control
Trauma or neglect can leave unresolved emotional wounds that draw teens to radical groups that appear welcoming. Intense emotions like anger or shame gain urgency when others echo them in online spaces. Casual encouragement to express violence or hatred reshapes a child’s view of what is right or normal. Rapid-fire memes deliver small jolts of validation for destructive ideas, distancing teens from empathy and connection. Explicit instructions and images of self-harm replace healthy coping methods when the cult’s approval feels more tangible than self-care.
Accelerationist Ideologies and the Lure of Chaos
Accelerationist ideologies infiltrate children’s online gaming platforms through memes that glorify anarchy and extremist views. Adolescents who feel rejected by their peers may latch onto these ideas, believing they promise authentic freedom. Rage provides a temporary high that drowns out their reflective capacity and ethical ideals. These trends echo ancient images of a relentless, devouring force that tries to extinguish all light. Adolescents searching for identity may adopt aggression as a way to feel potent and significant. The thrill of tearing down replaces the potential for constructive engagement.
Ancient Echoes of Destructive Worship
Many ancient rituals provided images of archetypal evil and recitations to rebuke it in service to protecting goodness and light. In our modern era, these psycho-spiritual methods have been abandoned, leaving us vulnerable to unimaged archetypal influences. These collective unconscious forces are then expressed as personal and cultural illnesses. 764 uses satanic and nihilistic symbols to stir destructive unconscious impulses. Aligning with these ideas provides a warped sense of brotherhood.
Doxxing and Paralyzing Fear
764 tightens their grip through relentless harassment, making victims believe any challenge to the cult invites catastrophic retaliation. Teens who receive doxxing threats feel cornered by people who claim to know their every move. Shame compounds their anxiety, so they avoid reaching out to adults who might help. Leaders exploit this secrecy to assign harmful “challenges” that deepen loyalty. Adolescents lose ordinary checks and balances as the group replaces family and friends. Fear and silence reinforce each other in this vicious cycle.
Twisted Glorification of Mental Illness
Adolescent girls are particularly vulnerable to validation in communities that treat self-harm as fashionable or bold. Online praise for severe injuries or references to suicide turns intense distress into a public performance. Some teens embrace borderline identity traits, mistaking extreme instability for proof of realness or uniqueness. Group solidarity amplifies damaging cycles and frames them as acts of empowerment. Memes that celebrate “bed rotting” or unhealthily low body weight normalize choices that destroy emotional and physical well-being. This harmful image of femininity hijacks healthy nurturing drives and twists them into self-destruction.
Parental Struggles and Encrypted Clues
Parents often intuit something sinister behind sudden mood shifts or disturbing internet activity. They discover unsettling images or coded messages on phones and realize they don’t know the child’s online world. Confiscating devices can fuel angry outbursts or force teens to hide more adeptly, sowing uncertainty about the best approach. Some mental health professionals dismiss these signs as mere teenage rebellion, failing to see deeper exploitation. Fragmented communication among adults adds to the challenge of coordinating a response. We can improve outcomes by educating parents about hidden subcultures and guiding them to act decisively.
Memes as Micro-Radicalization Tools
Overlooking memes as “harmless jokes” underestimates their role in shifting moral compasses in children. Repeated exposure to violent or hateful imagery slowly legitimizes these attitudes, especially in impressionable minds. Teens absorb the group’s language and behaviors without fully grasping the risks. Within echo chambers that lack moral guidelines, casual cruelty escalates into overt performance. The drive to belong outstrips any second thoughts about right or wrong. Memes operate like propaganda, shaping beliefs through repetitive humor and ridicule.
Therapeutic Pathways and Rebuilding Hope
Dialectical Behavior Therapy offers a structured approach for those who cope with stress through self-harm. Concrete skills introduce mindful practices and help individuals reconnect with feelings that emerge beneath the surface. Explorations of hidden motivations clarify the unconscious forces that trigger harmful actions. Recovery must involve severing ties with cult influencers. As teens reclaim their sense of dignity, they replace secrecy and shame with self-compassion and informed awareness.
Modern Rituals for Defeating Chaos
Communities can adapt the principle of historic rituals to combat the surge of chaos in teenage lives. Shared affirmations and symbolic acts create a collective stance that resists destructive impulses. Families and peer groups can craft rituals—like physically discarding harmful content or reciting uplifting statements—that anchor moral clarity. Writing confessions of negative thoughts and then tearing or burning them can mimic the cathartic purpose of ancient rites. Organized gatherings or support groups help participants feel less alone, reducing the appeal of toxic online cliques.
Protecting Our Collective Well-Being
We must all stand united in our dedication to shield adolescents from self-harm cults and destructive ideologies. We must champion each individual’s inherent dignity and prioritize hope over harm. Let us hold these insights close and safeguard those we love.
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