How these Smallville stars were lured into a cult

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                                       Carmen Ribecca





                        If you read any of the headlines in late-March, 2018, you probably had one question: Exactly how were two of the stars of Smallville, Allison Mack and Kristin Kreuk, lured into a cult that's been accused of everything from sex trafficking to the branding of women? To answer that, we need to take several giant steps back, and first look at the parent organization allegedly responsible, NXIVM.
NXIVM (pronounced "nexium") is a so-called self help organization that's been compared to Scientology on account of its rigid hierarchy. Members are ranked and assigned colored sashes, according to a 2012 Albany Times Union investigation. Meanwhile, its New Age ideology teaches the need for "ethical people" to control "much of the world's money" in order for "human existence to survive." The founder of NXIVM is Keith Raniere, a self-styled guru who renamed himself "The Vanguard," and who also allegedly used his powerful position within the cult to coerce female members into sexual relationships.
Raniere created other organizations within NXIVM, including the "exclusive sorority" Dominus Obsequious Sororium, or DOS, which former NXIVM member Frank Parlato (via The Daily Mail) claims was co-founded by Allison Mack. It's within the dark inner workings of DOS that this story truly broke open, particularly after Raniere was taken into custody in Mexico while Mack helplessly looked on as her guru was nabbed for suspicion of "sex trafficking and conspiracy to commit forced labor." Since then, news outlets began tracking both Mack and Kreuk's involvement, as well as the sordid details of DOS. Here's what we found out about how the former Smallville stars were lured into a cult.

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