ed only they have been validated by extensive scientific testing (Knight, n. d.). In sharp contrast, myths, as represented by various thinkers who have provided their own definition of myths, are stories shared by groups, which deal with a wide range of topics such as: the origins of the world, prescientific interpretations of the world, social topics and the human psyche (Campbell, 1972; Eliade, 1960; Frazer, 1900).
In the remainder of this paper, two major theoretical frameworks will be used to explore the two aforementioned questions relating to the cultic phenomenon and the related topic of the psychotherapy of science, myth and cult. First, the works on the unconscious of one of the founding fathers-- Carl Gustav Jung (1956, 1964)ùwill be introduced to demonstrate how the interior psychological make-up of human beings is highly susceptible to the cultic phenomenon. Second, Robert Jay Lifton's (1989) eight principles of ideological totalism will be discussed to show how cults utilize various forms of psychological manipulation to control
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