By Frank Parlato
According to sources:
The secret branding rites of the all-female, master-slave group ‘DOS’ [Dominant Over Submissive] headed by former television actress Allison Mack, has been decried by some as abusive to women. [Woman are branded with a cauterizing iron on their pubic region with the initials of Keith Raniere and Miss Mack.]
Mr. Raniere is the conceptual founder of DOS.
Some are quick to blame Mr. Raniere as being some sort of “evil genius” for implementing the DOS branding program, with the aid of Dr. Danielle Roberts, MD a licensed physician who performs the actual branding.
But it is the requirement of collateral that seems to have drawn the attention of some people who call DOS illegal, including possibly certain law enforcement officials who are reportedly investigating the authenticity of published reports on DOS.
Assuming the facts are correct about the secret woman’s organization, the structure of DOS obviously requires collateral and cannot work without it.
That should be taken into consideration.
Members of DOS are required to find other women to join DOS if it is to grow.
These woman are invited into a secret sorority which is based on teachings that “build honor and character”.
In order to learn about the sorority, collateral is needed to insure a woman is serious and won’t reveal the secrets of DOS. Usually a simple nude picture will suffice at the onset.
It is expressly understood that ‘collateral’ will only be used against a woman if she defects. If she does not swear she won’t betray secrets of DOS she is not allowed to give collateral and cannot join DOS.
Then daily teachings begin. And additional collateral is given.
The need for secrecy is obvious. To outsiders the teachings may seem bizarre. Once a woman is branded, for example, she may not go to sleep without permission. She has to maintain a diet with a certain limited amount of calories. And be prepared for readiness drills 24 hours per day. Signals go out for drills and slaves must respond within one minute or be punished by paddling on bare buttocks.
One can easily see why collateral is needed. The branding, the sleep deprivation and other techniques devised to build discipline and character in women sound strange to outsiders who might hastily judge and destroy the organization without understanding it, supporters say.
Each month additional collateral is required.
Monthly collateral can be more nude photographs and videos; or audio and video recordings of admissions of activities which a woman would otherwise wish to keep secret. Mr. Raniere teaches collateral builds character and conscience.
“If you offer some weight in the form of collateral, you’re more likely to put weight behind your word.” Mr. Raniere teaches. “Women have a weak word and through collateral they learn to keep their word.”
The nude photographs are often raunchy and graphic and while these might not embarrass a model appearing in an airbrushed photograph in Hustler magazine – they can be embarrassing for businesswomen or mothers if they were to appear on the internet or in their husband’s email inbox.
Before making a DOS lifetime commitment, collateral such as addendum to wills, deeds to houses, bank accounts, and more nude photos and recordings are required. Some women pledge guardianship or custody of their children, or admit certain acts that would ensure child protective services would take their children.
Women who have no illegal or harmful secrets are told it is acceptable to fictionalize events on recordings to fulfill collateral provided the narrative is plausible and sounds authentic. For instance, a woman may admit to prostitution or adultery even if she never did, but she must give plausible details so her husband, family, friends, employers etc. will believe the recording and the recording must be able to harm her present career or marriage in some material capacity.
The purpose of collateral is, if it is used, to destroy a woman’s life, leaving her without a safety net. This is meant to help ensure she does not fail in the teachings.
Every master demands collateral. The master holds the collateral and a copy goes to the master’s master. All masters have taken a vow to obey Mr. Raneire.
The teachings also continue.
Each slave is required to perform acts of self denial. This denial may be food deprivation. Some women are denied sex for six months or a year. Some women are forbidden to date, others who plan to get pregnant are forbidden to do so through sexual intercourse but must get pregnant invitro.
Collateral is tailored.
Respected businesswomen do striptease videos that would look ridiculous if it appeared online and destroy that person’s credibility.
A lawyer admits to withholding evidence. A stockbroker admits to insider trading. A doctor admits she committed malpractice.
DOS is different than other organizations founded on the teachings of Mr. Raniere.
Mr. Raniere is also the conceptual founder of other organizations including Executive Success Programs, NXIVM, Knife of Aristotle, The Source, the Ethicist and Jness. All of these require students to pay for lessons.
The women of DOS do not pay in money for their lessons. To receive the “tools” from DOS – students have to pay with loyalty. The women of DOS are not even charged for the costly expense of being branded.
Mr. Raniere teaches that it is ethical to pay for what one receives.
Women pay in collateral – that will never be forfeited unless there is betrayal. In this respect DOS is free to every woman.
The five forms of collateral are those which destroy: 1 career 2 relationships 3 reputation 4 family 5 finances.
The purpose of the five is that in the event of betrayal every aspect of life can be sequentially or simultaneously destroyed.
Collateral must be fully able to eliminate a woman’s “safety net” in life, the knowledge of which is meant to help her maintain obedience which is essential to get the most from the teachings.
Then the sisterhood bonding experience can begin.
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 |
Frank Parlato 
Janine Morrison 
J.J. O'Hara 
Richard Luthmann 
Marie White 
Paul Serran
Please leave a comment: Your opinion is important to us!
[…] Part 10: Branded Slaves and Master Raniere: Collateral must be sufficient to destroy […]
[…] | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | […]
[…] 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 […]
[…] – June 10: Part 7: Branded Slaves and Master Raniere: But for Dr. Danielle Roberts, branding slave women might not be possible – June 10: Part 8: Branded Slaves and Master Raniere: Rules of the harem conform with DOS Rules of obedience – June 11: Part 9: Branded Slaves and Master Raniere: Allison Mack replaces the late Pam Cafritz at top of harem – June 11: Part 10: Branded Slaves and Master Raniere: Collateral must be sufficient to destroy […]
I left ESP / NXIVM just over two years ago and I can say that I feel like I have my life back. I was always someone who has wanted to help people, and I really believed that what we were learning was going to make a big difference. The thing that helped me the most was that I reached a point where I was financially and physically at rock bottom, and had the wake up call that my life was becoming something very different than what I had been working for and what was “promised” through the curriculum.
If you are involved currently, I would try and take a snap shot of your life when you began and your life where you are now – are you closer to reaching your goals? Are your external world goals supported, or have they morphed into something very different than what they once were, and very specific to the group?
I know I kept trying because I believed that continuing to push was going to be the thing that would get me back on track, financially and physically. But that just didn’t happen. I had a steady and consistent job before I gave it all up to pursue all things ESP, and was left with nothing but debt, no health insurance and the need to start my career again. The insidious part of this is that you’re not told any of this directly, not told to give up your job, your friends, your family…you just slowly start letting more and more of this go. There’s a social pressure because you’re trying to match how everyone else is in the group – the question here is, what if everyone is just trying to keep up with what they see around them, and no one is actually successful at it?
If being a rational thinker means evaluating all data, taking in all information and then making an informed decision, I will ask you this: Have you looked objectively at ALL of the information, or do you automatically read articles like this and assume bad intent by the author, by the sources sharing information? I can’t tell you how many times I would recite to my family and friends that would challenge my participation: “There are some angry people out there who are challenged by what we are doing. We challenge materialism, we challenge the status quo of society and people don’t like that”. Or “there were some wealthy families that were angry that their children were starting to think for themselves, and they had deep pockets so they started a smear campaign”. Did I really KNOW any of this? No. Did I really try to imagine that what was being said was true? Never once did I try to picture the actual people behind the stories, the complaints, the allegations. Who taught me to ignore these things? Keith Raniere and associated trainings.
The very first time I was open enough to consider WHAT IF IT’S TRUE? I can tell you I felt nauseous. For days. I voraciously read everything online that I could, and I started to see it from a different perspective. I felt it in my gut. Not the kind of “viscera” that I could chalk up to an inner deficiency, or some BS story of what was wrong with my internal guidance. I started listening to myself again. And I realized that my inner compass, my inner guidance had been stifled, but was not gone.
When I finally let myself imagine, even for a brief second, my life without ESP, at first I felt a huge shock of fear; it was almost too difficult to even ask myself “what would my life be like?” Then when I finally did, my first thought was “there is no good way to leave”. Stop and think about that for a second – no good way to leave? Doesn’t that raise an alarm? My second thought was “I would really miss my friends”, but the truth is, if someone is your friend, they will support and be a cheerleader for whatever it is you want to do with your life.
I started doing research into controlling groups / high demand groups to look at it from a psychological perspective. There is something called a “Closed system” which basically means that anything can be answered within the group, that they have the monopoly on reality; that anything outside of the group is lost / misled / not reality based, etc. Any doubts that you have are chalked up to an inner deficiency, an ethical breach, a dependency, etc to use the common terms. The truth is that there are many places to learn wisdom, to seek the truth, and ESP does not have the only answer.
I did miss my friends, but I did not lose all of them. The friends that were true are still my friends. We came together under a common desire to do good in the world, and our friendships transcend participation in the group. I have to say that since I left, I have found more love, more joy, and have gotten back to the roots of why I joined in the first place. I see how far away from myself I was, and I left with clarity; not with a nagging guilt that I was taking the easy way out, satiating, etc. I saw that what I read in some very impactful books was true, as hard as it was for me to overcome the first hurdle of considering another way.
Some very important resources. Please take a look and read, you can do it for you, ESPECIALLY if you are still involved but want to take in more information and make an informed decision that is right for YOU. Notice when you want to put a wall up before exploring. Much love to you. Trust your gut.
Here is a list of questions to ask yourself; I have to say that 6 out of 6 were true for me:
http://www.carolgiambalvo.com/what-is-thought-reform.html
For this one, ignore the word “cult” in the title if that trips you up. For me, even getting through the intro starting lifting a veil and allowed me to see more clearly than I had in a very long time I tell you, read the forward and you will be changed (order on kindle, you can start reading today!):
https://www.amazon.com/Combating-Cult-Mind-Control-Best-selling/dp/0967068827/ref=asap_bc?ie=UTF8
Again, ignore any words that trigger you and you want to argue against. If that’s what it takes to start reading, just get over that hurdle!
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B001RNPD9M/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?_encoding=UTF8&btkr=1
Here is a new article about NXIVM and Knife or Aristotle circulating on the anti-cult watcher websites and on twitter. WOW!
https://www.pastemagazine.com/articles/2017/05/the-knife-of-aristotle-isnt-just-a-fake-fake-news.html
Lifton’s eight cult criteria is expanded upon in a multitude of places on the internet. The website of Rick Ross has an analysis performed by a licensed psychiatrist on how NXIVM falls under it. Taken from one of those sources, briefly they are, and apply to various cults in nuanced ways:
Milieu Control. This involves the control of information and communication both within the environment and, ultimately, within the individual, resulting in a significant degree of isolation from society at large.
Mystical Manipulation. There is manipulation of experiences that appear spontaneous but in fact were planned and orchestrated by the group or its leaders in order to demonstrate divine authority or spiritual advancement or some special gift or talent that will then allow the leader to reinterpret events, scripture, and experiences as he or she wishes.
Demand for Purity. The world is viewed as black and white and the members are constantly exhorted to conform to the ideology of the group and strive for perfection. The induction of guilt and/or shame is a powerful control device used here.
Confession. Sins, as defined by the group, are to be confessed either to a personal monitor or publicly to the group. There is no confidentiality; members’ “sins,” “attitudes,” and “faults” are discussed and exploited by the leaders.
Sacred Science. The group’s doctrine or ideology is considered to be the ultimate Truth, beyond all questioning or dispute. Truth is not to be found outside the group. The leader, as the spokesperson for God or for all humanity, is likewise above criticism.
Loading the Language. The group interprets or uses words and phrases in new ways so that often the outside world does not understand. This jargon consists of thought-terminating clich�s, which serve to alter members’ thought processes to conform to the group’s way of thinking.
Doctrine over person. Member’s personal experiences are subordinated to the sacred science and any contrary experiences must be denied or reinterpreted to fit the ideology of the group.
Dispensing of existence. The group has the prerogative to decide who has the right to exist and who does not. This is usually not literal but means that those in the outside world are not saved, unenlightened, unconscious and they must be converted to the group’s ideology. If they do not join the group or are critical of the group, then they must be rejected by the members. Thus, the outside world loses all credibility. In conjunction, should any member leave the group, he or she must be rejected also. (Lifton, 1989)
It is crucial for cults to maintain the first, both in information and personal relationships. This is quite obvious in NXIVM where followers are thought-reformed into ignoring and shunning any negative information with respect to the group, and who begin to spend most of their time among others of the group who have now become their “best” friends after love-bombing. Both of these methods work synergistically. After all, third hand information (no matter how credible) cannot compete with first hand experience. The latter would create a cognitive dissonance in them that must be accounted for and helps to break them out of the group.
Thank you for this helpful information and your breakdown of it.
I feel so very, very sad that this both happened to me and to many of my friends. It’s also sad that it continues to happen to many of my friends and people I really care about.
If you are reading this, and you are wondering if any of this could be true…read up on cults. Get help. GET OUT. It’s the best thing I ever did.
Your life will be so much better for it. You no longer have to be a slave to this group. You can always restart your life. Don’t be afraid to make it happen. There are so many out there who can help you.
Agreed. It takes a lot of courage to do something as seemingly small as commenting on this site. I left too, although I wish I did sooner, not a day goes by that I don’t thank god that I left when I did. Not a day. There are many people out there, former members (mostly women), attorneys, and psychologists that are willing to help people who leave NXIVM. It is hard to leave, especially if your whole life has been entwined with the group, and Keith’s, particularly for years. I have thought often of starting a help site to connect people. What do you all think? I would do it for sure if the response was out there. Many people are afraid of Keith, but he is mostly incompetent when it comes to any day to day management of business and litigations. Everything Keith and Clare have done with the law has been a disastrous failure since Kristin Keeffe left. She was the brains behind that operation, now with her gone, no one has anything to fear. Your not going to be sued, your not going to be accused of anything, NXIVM, SOP, Jness, DOS are all dead in the water legally.
And most importantly, if you turned over pictures or audios etc. of yourself to Keith and Allison and they use them in retaliation to your defection – Keith, Allison etc. will go to jail for a long, long time. Be not afraid.
Here is the latest on social media for Clare Bronfman and Allison Mack.
Clare Bronfman finished a half marathon in New Hampshire. https://www.instagram.com/p/BUUhVtPFri_/?taken-by=nickiclyne
I guess this means she is branded too? So sad to see Sara Bronfman, Allison Mack, and Sara’s husband Basit Igtet there to cheer her on. I guess this means Sara and Basit won’t be saving Clare anytime soon. https://www.instagram.com/p/BUUmRrxF5la/?taken-by=nickiclyne
Allison Mack has this on her twitter feed as her top post. Deprived, starving, harem member/slave humor. Jokes about deprivation abound. https://twitter.com/allisonmack/
“I harbour the fantasy of one day opening a chain of upscale Kant Diet restaurants-serving nothing”
Clearly, “Confession” and “Loading the Language” of Lifton’s eight cult criteria is on display here.
“Collateral” is obvious to any one with a still functioning brain equivalent to “blackmail” here.
Dear Ugh – People in NXIVM don’t understand about Robert Lifton or his “eight criteria”. Please elaborate, it could help.
Information for Victim’s of DOS:
The Clifton Park State Police is 518-371-2287. This barracks understands all about Raniere and will treat you with kindness and make sure you are safe. Ask to speak with a Bureau of Criminal Investigations investigator.
National Center for Victim’s of Crime: victimsofcrime.org. This site includes links to attorneys across the country who will confidentially and compassionately evaluate your case, and may agree to represent you pro bono in meetings with the authorities or if you want to file a civil action against Raniere, Mack, etc.
Various violence against women hotlines for help can be found here: https://www.womenshealth.gov/violence-against-women/get-help-for-violence/violence-help-hotlines.html