Prophetic Charisma: The Psychology of Revolutionary Religious Personalities [Hardcover]

Len Oakes (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 1997

Len Oakes explores the phenomenon of cult leaders. He examines the psychology of charisma and proposes his own theory of the five-stage life cycle of the two types of prophets: the messianic and charismatic. Often characterized by isolation, autonomy, grandiosity, and manipulativeness, Oakes maintains that the cult leader has a narcissistic personality. This individual possesses a heightened empathy, confidence, and memory, as well as autonomy and detachment - while appearing disquietingly normal most of the time. The author has interviewed several leaders whom, he feels, exemplify the charismatic personality. He also provides insight into the behavior and personality of many well-known cult leaders such as Jim Jones, Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh, L. Ron Hubbard, Werner Erhard, Kathryn Kuhlman, and J. H. Noyes. For eleven years, Oakes was a member of a charismatic communal group, during which time he simultaneously undertook his research into the psychology of charisma. His results - informed by both insider and academic viewpoints - contradicts many current accepted beliefs about cult leaders and their followers.

--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 246 pages
• Publisher: Syracuse Univ Pr (Sd); 1st edition (December 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0815627009
• ISBN-13: 978-0815627005
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.2 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #5,590,432 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

31 of 34 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Essential reading for anyone who has encountered charisma, May 26, 2004

By A Customer

This review is from: Prophetic Charisma: The Psychology of Revolutionary Religious Personalities (Paperback)

*(Recovery note: Prophetic Charisma is probably most beneficial for persons in somewhat advanced recovery from cult involvement--who have already reclaimed their boundaries, are appropriately angry at how their trust was violated, and who want to de-mystify the impact of their guru, but without making excuses for him (her).

Persons in very early recovery who might still be tempted to deny the harm they've suffered and who are still tempted to make excuses for an abusive guru while blaming themselves for all that went wrong should wait awhile before reading Prophetic Charisma. Reading matter that is helpful at a later stage of recovery may be less helpful or even hamper early recovery. Your therapist can help you figure out where you're at.)

This book is of the utmost value for anyone who has been affected by a charismatic person, whether in a one-on-one relationship or in a group lead by such a person. Prophetic Charisma is a great resource for any journalist who studies religion or politics. The descriptions of narcissistic personality disorder and the psychology of mystical awakening are extremely valuable and the excellent bibliography goes up to 1996-97.

I had always wondered whether gurus and charismatic leaders all attended the same 'Guru Training School' or some equivalent of Hogwarts Academy, because their personalities and life trajectories seemed remarkably similar. Len Oakes gives a detailed description of the way future leaders self-select and train themselves to function as charismatic leaders and gurus. This information will be especially valuable to journalists and historians.

What I found most valuable in this book is its combination of scholarship, lucidity, and the author's warm humanity. When Dr. Oakes describes charismatic leaders and those who trust in them, he does not stand aside, at a safe distance, but stands with them, and conveys their humanity. Dr. Oakes was once in a community led by a charismatic and knows the price in pain of putting one's heart on the line for a leader. That is probably why so many people were willing to trust him and respond to his questions--leaders and followers alike.

In the chapter entitled 'The Charismatic Moment' one man told Oakes the intimate details of an ecstatic experience triggered by his guru; that experience was as raw and intimate as orgasm and the man was both blissful and utterly terrified.

Len Oakes was a trustworthy confidante for such matters, because he'd once given his heart and soul to a charismatic leader. After leaving the leader's community, Dr Oakes re-assessed his earlier commitment. He became a social science researcher, a clinical psychologist and remained well aware how his former guru had abused money, sex and power.

Yet after becoming a social scientist and psychotherapist, Dr Oakes did not put his earlier experiences behind him, or shame himself for having once trusted a guru. Instead, Oakes has retained a creative, compassionate dual perspective: He allowed himself to remember how he felt when he opened his heart and tenderest hopes to the sunshine of his leader's charisma. Dr Oakes has become psychologically amphibious--he can simultaneously remember how he thrilled to a guru's charisma, yet at the same time remain the alert, critical minded stance of a social science researcher and clinician.

The most remarkable feature of Prophetic Charisma is that Dr. Oakes humanises charismatic leaders without excusing the harm they often do. He demonstrates very convincingly that these are narcissistically flawed, suffering human beings who are unable to experience normal empathy and intimacy. To compensate for these deficits, these sufferers desperately and creatively activated their other talents, strove to master the arts of social finesse and manipulation, and through brilliant, strenuous improvisation, activated personal charisma and created social settings that further enhanced that charisma.

What Oakes found is that none of the 20 charismatic leaders he interviewed were genuinely spiritual themselves, *though they were capable of inspiring spiritual experiences in their followers*.

What Oakes found was that the charismatic leaders were never able to rest in peace or enjoy a single agenda-free moment. Every instant was spent scanning the environment, working the angles, calculating each move on the human chessboard 20 steps ahead. A charismatic leader may seem serene but covertly lives a rat-race existence.

Last but not least, Dr Oakes makes it clear that charisma can be used for pro-social(Winston Churchill, FDR) as well as anti-social agendas. Charisma has had a great impact on human history; we need to demystify it so we can better understand it.

15 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Compassionate, insightful...brilliant!, May 2, 2004

By A Customer

This review is from: Prophetic Charisma: The Psychology of Revolutionary Religious Personalities (Paperback)

I have read several books about cults and cult experiences, and Prophetic Charisma is wonderful addition to the "required reading" list. Oakes has done his research, so the book is informative. But what sets this book apart is Oakes' compassion, understanding and non-judgmental approach. Chapter 7, "The Followers and Their Quest," helped me immensely in understanding my own experience with a cult. Actually, the whole book helped me. I strongly recommend it to anyone who wants to "get inside the head" of cult leaders and members (present, former and future.)

5.0 out of 5 stars An insider's view into the making of a prophet, November 9, 2011

By 

Erik - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Prophetic Charisma: The Psychology of Revolutionary Religious Personalities (Paperback)

This book was a fascinating read for me, because it studies the patterns common in the lives and development of a large number of prophetic individuals. The author proposes two broad classes of prophets, and develops a five-stage prophetic life cycle. While studying psychology as an undergraduate, the author was invited by a cult leader to study and document a communal group and its leader. He spent 10 years with this group as an outsider with unique privileged access. Later, as part of his doctorate in psychology, he studied and personally interviewed 15 prophets and over two hundred followers. He also attended dozens of public meetings with other prophets, teachers, faith healers, etc. He also studied the lives of the leaders and the followers of many other well documented religious groups. Expanding his scope, he also brings in information from the lives and words of charismatic political leaders such as Adolf Hitler, Winston Churchill, and Mohandas Gandi.

The pattern that emerges from the author's study (Early Narcissism, Incubation, Awakening, Mission, and Decline or Fall) is powerfully illustrated with examples and quotes from the lives of numerous charismatic leaders. The power of ritual is explained. The basis for the hypersexuality that so frequently accompanies charismatic leaders is explored. An entire chapter explores the needs and motives that drive the followers, since a charismatic prophetic leader is nothing without followers.

I found the book insightful. I purchased this book a couple of years ago as I was wrestling in my mind with questions such as "what is a prophet?", "how can I tell a true prophet from a false one?", and "how was the founder of the group I was raised in similar to or different from other prophets?". I found this book tremendously helpful in my own healing process, because it gave me the perspective to see and understand the origins of religious groups as an extension of the experiences and the development and needs and motivations of the founding charismatic prophetic leaders, and the experiences and the development and needs and motivations of his followers. Although the book does not discuss the topic explicitly, I found the book left me personally believing that ancient prophets (as described in various holy books) followed the same patterns as those seen in the modern prophets described in Prophetic Charisma. I found the more I understood the nature of the charismatic prophetic leader, the more I became convinced that the phenomenon is both pervasive and ancient. It gave me the insight of realizing the the group I was raised to believe in was far from unique, but was rather a common manifestation of something foundational and pervasive in human experience -- the charismatic prophetic leader and his adoring followers.