The cult of the Gate of ParadiseAccording to dictionaries, a cult is 1) a system of religious worship or ritual. 2) A religion or sect considered extremist or false. 3) Obsessive devotion to a person or principle. It is believed that every cult is linked to some type of religion, and all religions have a common basis of “an act of faith”. Whether this so-called act of faith means going to heaven or being reincarnated, or moving to some other planet, depends on the beliefs of the cult itself. The Heaven's Gate cult is one of thousands of millennial cults and UFO-based cults around the world. the world. It has been around for over 22 years now. The cult was led by a man named Marshall Applewhite and a woman named Bonnie Nettles. They were called "Do" and "Ti" by the cult. These were said to be their spiritual names. Bonnie met Marshall as a patient in a psychiatric hospital where she worked as a nurse. The sect was composed mainly of men and women. All members were crew members and ranged in age from 26 to 72. Although many members lived together in a mansion in California, they came from all parts of the country. Many were from California, but members also came from Arizona, Colorado, Texas, Florida, New Mexico, Minnesota, Utah, Ohio and Florida. There were approximately 39 members living in the $1.3 million Rancho Santa Fe mansion. They ran a website for their cult called “Higher Source.” The cult had many beliefs that our human bodies were just vessels, occupied by members of the “Kingdom of Heaven.” They believed Marshall Applewhite was a link between their cult and their god. God was said to speak to them through Applewhite. He was considered an equivalent of the Jesus of the Christian religion. And that people must follow him as they followed Jesus 2000 years ago. The cult believed that their time on earth was only an education to learn how to become a member of the Kingdom of Heaven. G-d (Applewhite) taught them that to leave this world behind and move on to the next, people had to give up family, sensuality, selfish desires, the human mind, and the human body if necessary..