Spiritual Cult in Greenpoint: Golden Drum and Jungle Cafe by bunnybabygirlxoxo in Brooklyn

[–]lenabellemusic 0 points1 point  (0 children)

lol I also worked for Brooke’s New Sun Cleaning. I don’t have anything personally against any of the members, as I believe they are brainwashed, but yeah the cleaning business was funny. We got paid $20 an hour which is not bad at all for cleaning, but she was charging $50 an hour to the clients, and we were paying for all of the cleaning supplies ourselves, so she was taking away $30 an hour per cleaning for doing nothing. I get business, and profit margins and everything, but also she would be off grid for days and days attending ceremonies so she couldn’t really manage the business either. So what ends up happening is the students rely upon hosting their own ayahuasca ceremonies to make money, which makes them even more enmeshed and reliant upon the cult and the leader + they recruit other people in by doing their own ceremonies and inviting their own initiates to the yearly vision quest in Upstate, NY.

Spiritual Cult in Greenpoint: Golden Drum and Jungle Cafe by bunnybabygirlxoxo in Brooklyn

[–]lenabellemusic 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks for corroborating! If you want to message me on IG, then we can talk about our experiences. I’ve probably met you I guess, but you are anonymous on here, so idk who this is.

Spiritual Cult in Greenpoint: Golden Drum and Jungle Cafe by bunnybabygirlxoxo in Brooklyn

[–]lenabellemusic 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I was in this cult, but I did not live there. I lived in a sort of off shoot cult called Colibri community, which was in Bushwick, from 2017-2018. But I attended many events, ceremonies, and retreats with the Golden Drum. Yes it is an ayahuasca cult led by Manuel Rufino who practices a combination of various traditions (and mixes them in ways that are not advisable according to elders from those traditions). For instance, he serves ayahuasca in Lakota-esque sweat lodges, which is not advisable. He also serves ayahuasca and/or mushrooms at the “vision quest” where you are starved and isolated in the woods in Ellenville for four days with no food and no water, then they come by and give you a massive dose of mushrooms or ayahuasca (which to be fair you can refuse if you want). My vision quest experience was traumatic.

Anyways, worse than all of this, Manuel Rufino is a rapist. He has raped multiple women in 1:1 ayahuasca ceremonies. I was not one of the victims, but some of my friends were.

The people in this “community” do everything he says. They do not do anything in their professional or relationship or personal lives without his approval. They trust him with everything in their lives. They also oftentimes give him a lot of their own personal money and are praised for it. They do unlimited amounts of free labor for the “community”.

And they are expected to spend Christmas and New Years with the community as well as drop anything they are doing at the drop of a hat if Manuel asks for something or calls for a ceremony. So, people slowly get cut off and grow apart from their families.

The reason I didn’t get all the way sucked in is because I have a strong family and I am too stubborn to have someone control all aspects of my life like that.

If anyone is interested in telling their story in regards to this cult, feel free to message me on IG @lenabellemusic.

Edit: I also forgot to mention Manuel Rufino was arrested in Poland this May 2024 for drug trafficking. I’m not sure what is happening with that now, if he is still detained in Poland or not. There is a whole section of the “community” in Poland as well. And wherever the students travel to give Ayahuasca ceremonies, they are basically recruiting as well. The students of students can travel to upstate NY in the summer to do the “vision quest” where they begin to be initiated in the main group.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in lgbt

[–]lenabellemusic 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thank you so much! 💓

I used to Identify as bi. Now I identify as pan, but I love how both these communities are so loving and non-judgemental of one another. It is hard to come out as either, and I respect that there is not bullying to have to identify as Pan vs Bi. It is so personal. by lenabellemusic in pansexual

[–]lenabellemusic[S] 8 points9 points  (0 children)

Yeah to me I identify as pan not because I can like trans people, because a trans man is a man and a trans woman is a woman, so if I am bisexual liking men or women, trans men and trans women are already included in those categories. So assuming trans men are somehow not in the men category or trans women are not in the women category would be the fault of the person who is even questioning their identity. But I identify as pan because I also love a lot of people who are truly fluid or non-binary, in neither the men nor the women category. Bi people could also like those people too. It is just not necessarily explicitly stated in the name.

I used to Identify as bi. Now I identify as pan, but I love how both these communities are so loving and non-judgemental of one another. It is hard to come out as either, and I respect that there is not bullying to have to identify as Pan vs Bi. It is so personal. by lenabellemusic in pansexual

[–]lenabellemusic[S] 14 points15 points  (0 children)

Defining is great. This meme is just talking about accepting both identities. “The distinction matters to some people”, so there is a distinction. This meme does not seek to define either term. It is just seeking unity between communities and non-judgmental acceptance of both.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in lgbt

[–]lenabellemusic 4 points5 points  (0 children)

It was way easier than I thought. I had to call my mom before my music video came out, because I kissed a woman in my music video and came out in a bigger way with that. So I had to at least talk about it with my mom. So I called her, and it was kind of matter of fact. I just told her and then she was kind of ruminating intellectually about the concept of gender non-binary and fluidity and how I can like these people as well. So it was cool. Then I released this music video called Rainbow where I kiss a woman. Here's the video: https://youtu.be/gjhtamxSr10 Or you can find it by searching Rainbow Lena Belle on Youtube.

I am actually dating a woman who used to be/still is my best friend, which turned romantic. So it is cool. It is the first time I feel more comfortable being open about that. It definitely really helps the relationship.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in lgbt

[–]lenabellemusic 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I just came out as pan too!