I spent 20 years in a doomsday cult

Dar (left) was brainwashed by Frederick (right) into joining his ‘Eternal Values’ cult (Picture: Supplied) When Dar Dixon first met Frederick Von Mierers, his initial thought was: ‘Who is this asshole?’ Little did he know that he’d just been introduced to the leader of a notorious cult preparing for an alien invasion, who would go on to groom him for more than two decades. Dar was working as a waiter and was at a crossroads in life. A vegetarian interested in meditation, spiritual practices and alternative lifestyles, his football career had ended with concussion and injury, and he had dropped out of college. So when he met Frederick, a New York Socialite, at the Hari Krishna restaurant where he worked, Dar was intrigued. ‘He had blue eyes, bleached hair in a crazy straw colour, and he crackled with energy,’ he remembers. ‘Although I thought he was an asshole, I was fascinated by him.’ Dar is now a successful actor (Picture by Kevyn Major Howard) As they chatted, Dar discovered that Frederick led a New Age collective which believed the apocalypse was approaching. He told Dar he was an alien from planet Arcturus inhabiting a human body and warned of a coming pole shift that would cause floods and earthquakes. Frederick explained that when it happened, he and his followers would be safe and settled in North Carolina, ready to lead the New Age. Giving ‘life readings’ to mine people for personal details, the cult leader would provide them with a cosmic profile and gem prescription that he claimed would solve all their problems. And he was on the hunt for attractive, successful young people, including models, actors and professionals to join his collective. Ask Metro Use AI to go deeper into the stories you care about – powered by Metro and trusted publications. It was clear he had set his sights on Dar – so when invited the waiter to come to Manhattan where he could live with him and make a lot of money -Dar simply replied: ‘Sure.’ Frederick brainwashed many young, conventiomnally attractive people into his cult (Picture: Supplied) ‘Frederick love bombed me. It was intense attention and focus, telling me I’m not like other people, that I was from Arcturus, like he was. He told me we’d be set for money. That I wouldn’t have to worry about anything. ‘It sounded great, and also a lot of bull. But I was enthralled by him. He was hilarious, quick on his feet, super handsome, very funny. He was the kind of crazy that I needed at that time,’ Dar, now 64, tells Metro from his California home. Among Frederick’s entourage was supermodel Hoyt Richards, who became embroiled at just 16 and later became the subject of HBO documentary Bring Me the Beauties, named after one of the cult leader’s catchphrases. HBO’s Bring Me the Beauties: A Model Cult follows one man’s experience of meeting Frederick Von Mierers (above) when he was just 16. Three days later on the plane to New York, Frederick promised to make him one of the leaders of his ‘Eternal Values’ group. He would be trained in its practices including different types of yoga that would lead to enlightenment, and was promised a job waiting tables in Manhattan’s swankiest restaurants, earning up to $1,000 in tips a week. Instead, two days after arriving, Frederick told him: ‘You’re not going to be working at a restaurant. You need to work with your hands. We’re going to need that in the future.’ ‘I felt betrayed,’ remembers Dar. ‘I couldn’t understand how this man who told me I was destined for greatness could all of a sudden demote me 48 hours after I landed.’ Dar was sent to live in a Bronx loft with six or seven others and put to work painting and decorating for wealthy New Yorkers, sometimes up to 20 hours a day. He handled caustic substances that left him coughing and with swollen eyes. At other times, he cleaned Frederick’s apartment or ran errands until two in the morning. To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video ‘I did it because I wanted to find that love from Frederick again. ‘I was afraid I was going to lose out on everything I was promised. I also felt screwed, because I had no money and no other options in New York.’ So he worked hard, and the money he earned went straight to Frederick, who was said to have spent it on facelifts and a lavish lifestyle. Dar, meanwhile, had no money to fly home. Frederick also imposed strict rules around food, sex, relationships and contact with families, while followers underwent intense criticism and psychological pressure. They also had to endure regular colonics and enemas. ‘Brainwashing is a nasty business. You can’t think your way out of it. What you are taught in an abusive situation is your thoughts and feelings have no merit,’ explains Dar. Dar worked for hours at a time for Frederick, for little or no money (Picture: Supplied) ‘He told me I was special, different, unique, fabulous. I thought Frederick may be God, if not an exalted being. I was going to be a leader of the New Age. ‘Over time, any critical thinking gets shut down. A cult is really no different to an abusive relationship.’ Frederick would also regularly ‘blow a gasket’, Dar says, and members were subjected to ‘slam’ sessions in which they were screamed at, berated and publicly humiliated. ‘I got torn apart verbally, psychologically and emotionally and eventually there were physical threats. It was highly destructive. And it just made me more compliant. ‘It sounds so sick, but I just thought, “If I can just be a good boy, then he’ll love me.”’ Dar and Hoyt in archival footage from the cult (Picture: Supplied) Meanwhile, Frederick was building an empire, making thousands from the painting and decorating business, telephone life readings, diet consultations, and selling medicinal herbs and vitamins and gems that supposedly had mystical powers. As the years passed, Dar says Frederick became increasingly erratic and violent. One member was beaten ‘black and blue’ after deciding to leave, while on another occasion, Dar was involved in a group sexual encounter which he took decades to understand. ‘It was grooming,’ he recalls. ‘Slowly your boundaries erode.’ Although Dar was straight, Frederick convinced him to have sex with multiple men. Frederick’s’ opulent penthouse loft (Picture: Supplied) ‘One night he told me, “You’re going to have your grand opening.” He made it sound hilarious. It didn’t hit me until 30 years later when, on the phone with my brother, I told him the whole story and he said, “You know that’s called rape.”’ In 1989, five years after joining the cult, Dar was abruptly kicked out. Another member told him he was lazy and resistant and had to leave. Frederick ignored his pleas for help, and his belongings were packed and thrown outside. ‘I was a mess. I felt like the bottom had just dropped out of my world,’ remembers Dar. Returning to California, he tried to rebuild his life, training as an actor. ‘I slept with as many different women as I could. I partied and did all kinds of crazy stuff to distract myself.’ Four years later, he bumped into Richard Hoyt in a restaurant and discovered Frederick had died of AIDS-related complications. When Frederick died, Dar’s first thought was to get back in the group (Picture: Supplied) ‘When I heard that, I started to shake. I hadn’t cried for years and suddenly tears came to my eyes. The person that had impacted my life more than anyone I could think of outside my family had died and I felt like I had died too. ‘I just felt I had to get back to the group to grieve and reconnect with everyone. It is hard for someone to understand if they haven’t been in that situation.’ Dar rejoined Eternal Values, which had moved to a lakeside mansion in North Carolina and was under new leadership. But the group had changed dramatically, stockpiling food and weapons and becoming involved with militia groups. It took Dar years to realise he had been subject to grooming in a cult (Picture by Sean Miller.) During a traffic stop in 2004, a police officer pulled a gun on Dar, because of his involvement with the group. He still does not know why it happened, but it had a transformational effect. ‘The cop had a loaded nine millimetre and it was pointed right at my chest. He was 10 feet away from me, and that’s when the light went on in my head. I thought, “I didn’t sign up for any of this. What is going on?” ‘I realised this is not right. I have to get out of here.’ Dar made the excuse that his father needed his help, and returned to California. It was the last time he was ever involved with the group – but even then, it was only after reconnecting with Hoyt and spending months talking through their experiences that the truth finally landed and he realised he had been in a cult. ‘I had heard that idea several times over 20 years, but that night it became very clear to me that I was a mess and needed help immediately,’ remembers Dar. Dar and Donzaleigh (centre) are now happily married (Picture: Supplied) Dar underwent years of therapy to understand his grief and confusion. Today, he says he is well. He married actor Donzaleigh Abernathy, youngest daughter of civil rights leader Rev Dr Ralph David Abernathy, and built an acting career, appearing in NCIS: Los Angeles, This Is Us and Grey’s Anatomy. ‘I am good now. I still have moments where I think about the past, but it’s fleeting. I am no longer affected,’ he insists. Dar has also written The Walk-In, based on a term Frederick used to describe an extraterrestrial taking over a human body, that he has decided to reclaim. ‘It’s about a guy walking back into his life. It was incredibly difficult writing the book. I had some very strange dreams when I revisited it all. But right now, I feel fine. ‘I worked my ass off to get to this point. And I’m happy to say I’m good now.’ Find out more about Dar’s book, The Walk-In, here. Arrow MORE: My date and I met in a hotel room for one night of passion Arrow MORE: UK passengers warned of knock-on flight disruption after US glitch Arrow MORE: Man who beheaded three children is executed as US puts two inmates to death