Everything You Need to Know About Heaven’s Gate

Heaven’s Gate is one of the most famous American cults to ever exist, but not many people know much about it. We are here to help teach what you need to know about Heaven’s Gate. However, keep in mind this article will mention suicide, so if you are not comfortable with this you should not continue reading.

Marshall Applewhite’s Beginnings

In March of 1997, America was rocked by news of one of the first widely-known cults in American History. Even to this day, decades later, it is still one of the most recognized cults of all time. Looking at cults in retrospect, it is easy to scoff at those who fall prey to them and their often-outlandish ideologies. However, when one examines the core of these cults, the truth becomes apparent as to how and why people latch onto such groups.

Heaven’s Gate’s founder was born Marshal Herff Applewhite on May 17th, 1931, in Spur, Texas, to Marshal Herff Applewhite, Sr., and Louise Applewhite. He had a relatively normal childhood growing up and was one of four children. His father was a Presbyterian preacher leading Applewhite to become very religious as a child, playing a role in creating Heaven’s Gate.

Applewhite Enters Middle Age

After graduating from Austin College in 1952, Applewhite married Ann Pearce at the age of 21. The US Army drafted him into the Signal Corps two years later. Once his two years were up, Applewhite returned to a college in Colorado. He then focused on musical theatre for the next several years before becoming a music professor at the University of Alabama.

After pursuing a sexual relationship with a male student, he was fired. As he was a teacher at a religious school, they did not approve of his same-sex relationship. After learning about the affair, his wife left him in 1965, and three years later, in 1968, they divorced.

In 1972, after suffering a near-death experience, Applewhite met the woman who became his spiritual partner in leading the Heaven’s Gate Cult. Bonnie Nettles was born in 1927 and was deeply interested in religious and spiritual matters, which helped form the backbone of Heaven’s Gate’s ideologies.

Heaven’s Gate Begins to Form

Believing themselves to be the two prophets spoken of in the Book of Revelations and the world would be destroyed soon, they taught some would be saved and enter T.E.L.A.H. (The Evolutionary Level Above Human). 

Traveling around Oregon and California, they spoke to anyone who would listen about their religion. These meetings would prove to be slightly fruitful, as they would bring into the fold their initial following. The members of Heaven’s Gate dropped out of society as they believed they would be taken up into a spaceship to be taken to T.E.L.A.H. However, this never occurred, so the group settled in a complex in Texas to await their entrance into T.E.L.A.H.

In 1994, the group was again stirred from their peaceful existence as they believed their entrance to T.E.L.A.H was imminent. They left behind most of their belongings and headed to California, settling down in San Diego to await their transition. To support themselves throughout the waiting period, they worked as web developers.

If you are interested in Heaven’s Gate, their website is still currently online here. This site existed to inform people about T.E.L.A.H. and how it could be entered. The red warning about Halley’s Comet still flashes across the screen as if time stopped the day the cult died.

Haley’s Comet Comes Closer

1997 became the fateful year for the cult when rumors circulated about a mechanical object coming in the wake of Halley’s Comet, and the cult was ecstatic. They finally began to prepare their preparation, even though the rules of the game had changed. When the cult was first founded, the members were told they could keep their earthly shell when they transitioned. However, after Bonnie’s death, Applewhite changed his statement. He then said the cult members would need to give up their earthly bodies to enter T.E.L.A.H., but new bodies would be given aboard the spaceship taking them to the next stage.

As the comet came closer, the cult began to make their final preparations for their exit from the mortal realm to enter the next higher state of being. This was mostly final indoctrination and setting up the groups for the suicide. Before the mass suicides, the entire cult went out for a final dinner together. They all ordered the same food: Dinner salads, turkey potpie, iced tea, and cheesecake with blueberries. Witnesses report that they all were very polite and seemed in good spirits. Only a week later, all but two members were dead.

Heaven’s Gate Ends

Police found the cult members’ bodies on March 26th, 1997, all wearing the same clothing and Nikes. This Nike brand is no longer sold due to it being associated with the Heaven’s Gate cult. The members committed suicide by eating applesauce laced with barbiturates and then had plastic bags placed over their heads. Three groups committed suicide over several days, resulting in the deaths of 39 people. Two were groups of ten members, and one was a group of 9. Two cult members are still alive, though, and currently upkeep the Heaven’s Gate website.

Heaven’s Gate was a tragic accident and showed what can happen to those lost in this world and fall prey to a charismatic leader such as Applewhite. Cults are real, and they are a menace to their society. However, as long as people are greedy, seek power, or are religious fanatics, the charismatic shall rule the weak-minded.

Sources

Hafford, Michael. “Heaven’s Gate 20 Years Later: 10 Things You Didn’t Know.” Rolling Stone, Rolling Stone, 22 Sept. 2019, www.rollingstone.com/feature/heavens-gate-20-years-later-10-things-you-didnt-know-114563/.

“Heaven’s Gate Cult Members Found Dead.” History.com, A&E Television Networks, 9 Feb. 2010, www.history.com/this-day-in-history/heavens-gate-cult-members-found-dead.

“Marshall Applewhite.” Biography.com, A&E Networks Television, 17 July 2020, www.biography.com/crime-figure/marshall-herff-applewhite.