MODERN-DAY CULTS: PART I
In the Post-War Era (after 2024), Ripley Way has gained significant interest from religious groups and government entities like the NAP due to supernatural legends and accounts that have permeated the region since its founding in the early 17th century. In this first report, two entities are explored: The Mosier Family Vision Network and the Autumn Rain pagan commune, both cultures are tied to Ripley Way, known to the NAP as an AREA of EXTREME INTEREST/IMPORTANCE.
Logo used since 2002 when the organization underwent a simplified rebranding after acquiring LCMTV (Life Christian Ministries TV).
Founded in 1982, the original Mosier Family Vision building was the retooled and relocated congregation of RW Hillside Church of God, an old-school Baptist church started in the early 1930’s. RW Hillside was created by Pleasant Mosier JR., a Virginian-raised biblical scholar and pastor since age eleven. Pleasant Mosier JR. had seven daughters and one son, born between 1948 and 1996. Four of these daughters contributed to the ministry, raising their sons to become preachers for MFV. His only son, Drakeforth Mosier would join the RW Hillside ministry at sixteen and became noted statewide for his high-energy sermons and knack for getting the audience involved in his preaching.
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Drakeforth Mosier and the Expansion of MFV (1982 - Present)
The only son took the MFV from a local Baptist church to a national religious network with significant media influence, helped by several government-backed contracts and beginning booms of TV telemarketing. Starting in 1991, MFV began broadcasting its services nationally via syndicated television and radio, later expanding into digital platforms. MFV’s programming, which combines wordy but engaging sermons, orchestral music and modern hymns, has attracted a large following.
As MFV expanded, it established Radiant Faith Alliance, INC. in 1995, which functions as a sister company focused on Baptist-based teachings while maintaining a presence in media and telecommunications. Services led by his second-born son Thomas Mosier at the Radiant Faith Alliance Pavilion in Texas regularly draw 8,000 congregants every Sunday.
Despite the charitable and community-driven philosophy that Radiant Faith promotes, the organization’s business dealings have led to Congressional scrutiny over monopolistic practices. Its control over telecommunications companies, particularly those previously tied to a media monopoly broken up in 2025, raises concerns about the family’s wider business influence.
Drakeforth would have seven children (four boys and four girls) through two marriages.
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The Mosier Family Influence
Beyond the religious network, during the 1980’s rise of MFV, the Mosier family extended reach into the corporate sector, particularly through telecommunications and mass media. Drakeforth’s middle sons hold board positions in two major telecommunications companies, VESTO and PREEM PKG, formally of a three-part media monopoly that was dismantled by U.S. regulations in 2025. Despite this breakup, the Mosier family retains substantial influence over media distribution networks, allowing them to control key platforms for their religious broadcasts.
The financial web of shell companies and subsidiaries that support MFV and Radiant Faith Alliance has made it difficult for regulators to fully assess the scope of the Mosier family’s wealth. Despite investigations into their monopolistic tendencies, the family has managed to maintain control over critical parts of the telecommunications infrastructure, creating a powerful synergy between religion and media.
The Radiant Faith Alliance Pavilion in Texas is one of the largest religious venues in the U.S., and the centerpiece of the Mosier family’s media operations. Thomas Mosier leads services from this location, which are broadcast globally, providing a platform for the family’s religious message to reach millions of people each week.
The Pavilion is also key to Radiant Faith Alliance’s financial success, with services combining orchestral performances, hymnal groups, and charitable messages, all carefully crafted to appeal to a wide audience. These services have helped bolster the family’s public image as benevolent religious leaders, while their behind-the-scenes influence in media has allowed them to further expand their control over religious broadcasting.
Though Pleasant Mosier fully retired in 1999, still alive at 97, the ministry still flourishes under his presence, although it is in a celebratory manner. Pleasant’s two living daughters are still active with MFV, working as media consultants that advertise the network’s pavilions and churches, with talent agency offices in Los Angeles and New York City.
Sarah Hapsad Mosier (b. 2013), the youngest daughter of Drakeforth, represents a departure from the family tradition, pursuing a career in theater rather than ministry.
As the Mosier family’s influence continues to expand, the N.A.P. will maintain close surveillance of their operations, especially given their opaque financial dealings and wide-reaching control over key media platforms. This section ends with a financial overview…
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Mosier Family Vision Network (MFV) Revenue Investigation
Estimated Annual Revenue:
•$500 million to $700 million (including donations, media royalties, and business ventures)
1. Donations and Charitable Contributions
The Mosier Family Vision Network relies heavily on donations from its massive congregation, which includes on-site attendees and remote viewers of its globally broadcast services. With broadcasts reaching over 20 million listeners weekly, a large portion of MFV’s financial support comes from small, regular contributions from viewers and congregants who subscribe to their message of charitable giving and selflessness. Several political SUPER PACs have donated money, leading to a dozen IRS investigations (three in progress as of time of writing).
•Charity Drives: MFV frequently hosts nationwide charity drives, encouraging its followers to contribute toward various causes, including poverty alleviation, healthcare for underserved communities, and global missionary work.
•Online Donations: MFV’s use of online donation platforms has expanded in recent years, allowing viewers to donate directly through the ministry’s app or thirteen dedicated websites. This system helps funnel contributions seamlessly into MFV’s operations.
2. Broadcasting and Media Royalties
A substantial portion of MFV’s income is derived from broadcasting and media royalties. Through syndicated religious programming, including radio, television, and online streaming, MFV generates significant revenue from advertisement deals, royalty fees, and licensing for its content. MFV has a strong online presence, with its services available on major streaming platforms such as Next, YouTube, Roku, and On. MFV charges fees for premium services, including exclusive access to special-event religious seminars, musical performances, books and guides, etc…
•Publishing: MFV produces and sells a wide range of Bibles and other study books, devotionals, and associated religious materials, authored primarily by members of the Mosier family. These materials are heavily marketed through their broadcasts, with proceeds going back into MFV’s operations.
3. Educational Ventures
MFV’s educational institutions provide another key source of revenue. The ministry operates a ministry college based in Ripley Way and an online university that reaches a global student base. The bible campus and faculty contributes heavily to Ripley Way’s economy as up to two thousand students will be present during the school year. The donation arm of the MFV gives sizeable donations to the Talbot County School Board on a quarterly basis (exact figure unknown) and similar donations to the state wildlife protection fund.
•Ministry College: With 1,900 on-campus students, MFV’s ministry college offers a range of degrees focused on theology, religious studies, and leadership training. The college brings in revenue through tuition fees, donations from alumni, and endowments provided by wealthy benefactors. The college features a four-acre pond, dining hall, eight townhomes, 2,000-seat open air church (known as the ‘home pavilion’) and four main school buildings.
•Online University: MFV’s online university has proven to be a major source of income, with over 30,000 paying students. These students enroll in courses related to ministry, missionary work overseas, religious leadership, and personal health development, all offered through a digital platform that allows MFV to reach a global audience. The online university is structured similarly to major educational institutions, charging tuition, course material fees, and additional service fees for certifications and advanced programs.
4. Corporate Investments and Subsidiaries
The Mosier family, through MFV and Radiant Faith Alliance, INC., controls a network of corporate investments and subsidiaries. While these businesses often operate in industries adjacent to their media activities, such as telecommunications, they also extend into more general real estate and business consulting ventures.
•Telecommunications: The Mosier family holds board positions in two major telecommunications companies that provide broadcasting infrastructure, internet services, and data centers. These companies were part of a three-part media monopoly before its dissolution in 2025. Despite the breakup, the Mosier family maintains significant control over their remaining interests in these companies.
•Media Subsidiaries: MFV owns or has financial stakes in several media companies that assist with content production, distribution, and advertising. These subsidiaries help MFV maximize its earnings from media ventures by controlling the full cycle of production and distribution.
•Real Estate Holdings: Through shell companies, MFV also has investments in real estate, which include church properties, retreat centers, and broadcast studios. These investments provide long-term capital appreciation while generating steady rental income.
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In Closing:
One of the most concerning aspects of MFV’s financial structure is its lack of transparency. While the organization claims to operate as a charitable and nonprofit religious entity, many of its revenues are channeled through for-profit subsidiaries, particularly in the telecommunications and media sectors.
MFV’s financial opacity has led to increased scrutiny from regulatory bodies and Congressional investigations. The N.A.P. remains vigilant regarding the organization’s monetary practices, as there are ongoing concerns about how MFV and Radiant Faith Alliance, INC. use their corporate influence to maintain a monopoly on religious broadcasting and telecommunications services in certain regions.
AUTUMN RAIN
The featured ‘A’ image was featured in Nu Cultus Americana, an East Coast horror fanzine published throughout the 1990s. This design was in the back section where readers could submit designs for tattoos or showcase their talent.
This submission is from an anonymous submitter, dated October, 1991:
“Autumn Rain has become my life. Last week, I sketched out this symbol that came to me in a dream. I’ve been to the Highlands camp twice with my friends and I wanna go back. It’s the only place I really feel at one with the universe. The fire can talk to you and tell you stories. It all makes sense once you become one with your Ohlani. JACK DUNN FOR PRESIDENT!!!”
Estimated Membership: 10,000
Threat Level: 5
Location: East Coast states, primarily Virginia and the Carolinas
Focus: Literature-based cult, pagan religion
Demographic: Primarily drifters and orphans; associated with many missing children cases across the United States
No fixed buildings of worship
Tax-exempt status
Focus on wilderness living in areas without cell tower coverage
Nature-based pagan cult practicing a syncretic form of Native American (Cherokee, Iroquois) medicinal and magical practices, infused with 18th century Protestant religious elements
Leadership Structure:
One destined male leader
Trio of elected female consorts and advisors
Hundreds of foot soldiers
Notable Presence: Western Virginia
-Known refugee camp in the reclaimed National Forest Area near Ripley Way, Virginia
Areas of Concern:
Connection to missing persons cases, particularly children aged 10-18
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Autumn Rain is a pagan, literature-based cult that emerged in the late 1980s. The group is largely defined by its focus on esoteric knowledge, archival preservation of ancient texts, and the practice of syncretic spiritual rituals inspired by a combination of Native American traditions and Protestant mysticism. Although its members claim to possess a spiritual lineage connected to a lost Cherokee tribe, this foundational belief has been widely debunked by scholars. Nevertheless, Autumn Rain’s ritual practices, secrecy, and expansion into online culture have ensured its continued existence and influence, despite ongoing surveillance and legal challenges.
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Founding and the Enigma of Jack Dunn:
The exact circumstances surrounding the founding of Autumn Rain remain obscure, particularly due to the mysterious figure of Jack Dunn, who is frequently credited as the group’s founder but whose existence is highly contested. The first verifiable connection to Dunn appeared in 1989, when he allegedly signed the lease agreement for a double-wide trailer in Baggersville, Virginia, near Ripley Way. This trailer is significant because it later became the focal point for early Autumn Rain gatherings. However, no photographs, official records, or personal history of Dunn exist, leading many researchers to suspect that Dunn is a fabricated figure designed to mythologize the group’s origins.
Several hypotheses about Dunn’s true nature have been proposed. Some claim that Dunn was a homeless drifter who, through charisma and circumstance, gathered a group of followers. Others argue that he never existed, and was simply a narrative device crafted by early members of the cult to imbue their practices with a sense of supernatural authority. The N.A.P. has been unable to locate any concrete evidence that definitively proves Dunn’s existence, leaving his role in the group’s formation ambiguous at best.
Autumn Rain’s early years were marked by secrecy and isolation, with the group establishing a series of illegally constructed camps deep within Virginia’s national forests, particularly near Ripley Way. These camps served as the cult’s primary locations for spiritual ceremonies, archiving ancient texts, and performing rituals involving psilocybin mushrooms and marijuana.
The 1989 trailer, initially leased by Jack Dunn, was reported stolen in 1999 by a woman identified as Lacey Dunn, who claimed the trailer had been towed away by unknown individuals. The trailer, which had been retrofitted with various wooden extensions, became a gathering place for the cult’s followers. By the time Rangers Mary Brigg and Cade Wilson discovered the trailer in October 1999, it had been hidden deep within Washington National Forest. Surrounding the trailer were eight small wooden cabins containing sleeping quarters, illegal drugs, and ritual items. The encampment was abandoned shortly after the discovery, and two days later, the site was found burned to the ground. Despite this, Autumn Rain continued to expand its operations, relocating its camps across the East Coast.
Following the destruction of their 1999 camp, Autumn Rain’s activities shifted to exploit ecological protection laws, which were introduced to safeguard National Forest lands from real estate development. By taking advantage of these laws, Autumn Rain was able to establish multiple encampments across Virginia, North Carolina, and South Carolina, often positioning themselves in remote, cell tower-free regions.
The George Washington National Forest, near Ripley Way, became a central location for the cult, allowing them to evade detection while conducting rituals and expanding their archival activities. These camps mirrored the original layout of the 1999 encampment, consisting of small cabins, stolen vehicles, and illegally cultivated drugs. While many outsiders believed these camps were inhabited by homeless people, N.A.P. investigations confirmed that the camps were part of Autumn Rain’s broader strategy to remain hidden while growing their membership.
The cult’s early reliance on psilocybin mushrooms and marijuana evolved into more complex operations, with evidence suggesting that Autumn Rain developed hybrid psilocybin cultures to be used in ritualistic psychedelic ceremonies. These ceremonies are believed to be a key component of their spiritual practice, facilitating altered states of consciousness that Autumn Rain believes allow members to commune with the universal life force known as Ohweya.
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The Role of the Autumn Rain Lexicon:
In 2008, the N.A.P. received a hemp scroll delivered by an emissary of Autumn Rain. This document, known as the Autumn Rain Lexicon, contained translations of the cult’s spiritual terminology and descriptions of their beliefs. The lexicon revealed key insights into the group’s practices, including the concept of Ohweya, the life force that flows through all living things, and Uhlani, the power that certain leaders—Nehi and Gali—are said to wield to manipulate this life force.
According to the lexicon, Nehi are male leaders with superhuman abilities, while Gali are female leaders revered for their spiritual power and the ability to bear powerful offspring. The Uwayi act as trusted advisors and oversee the group’s resource management, while the Odeylida, or spies, infiltrate rival factions and report back to the cult’s leadership.
Autumn Rain gained significant online exposure following the release of their documents to conspiracy forums in 2009, leading to an influx of interest in their occult practices. By Halloween 2009, these documents had permeated various online spaces, drawing the attention of individuals fascinated by gothic literature, dark rituals, and American folklore. This lexicon, coupled with the emergence of hundreds of documents from Autumn Rain’s archives that have appeared online since, gave the N.A.P. and the public unprecedented insight into the cult’s beliefs and organizational structure. These documents fueled public fascination with Autumn Rain, particularly among online conspiracy communities, spawning several inspired video games and television series.
The figure of Jack Dunn became an Internet phenomenon, with Dunn’s name becoming synonymous with the Boogeyman by the 2010s. Fan fiction based on Autumn Rain’s rituals and mythology proliferated across social media platforms, particularly among young people who were drawn to the group’s aura of witchcraft mystery and gothic nature aesthetics. This surge in online attention inadvertently popularized the group’s imagery, embedding Autumn Rain into American countercultural narratives.
Despite claims that he signed the lease for the infamous 1989 trailer in Baggersville, Virginia, no authenticated photographs or detailed records of Dunn exist. Many researchers have come to believe that he may be a modern myth, invented to augment the cult’s supernatural aura and enhance its mystique.
Fictionalized, tongue-in-cheek accounts of Dunn’s magic rituals and involvement in occult practices spread rapidly, particularly among young people interested in gothic literature and the macabre. Fan fiction about Dunn’s life, supposed rituals, and encounters with the paranormal proliferated the online comics scene in the early 2010s.
Autumn Rain’s emergence as a cultural touchstone for occultism and American gothic culture reflects broader societal interests in dark rituals, witchcraft, and satanic practices. The cult’s online footprint helped bring on a cultural schism between those fascinated by America’s colonial roots and its long-standing fixation/repression/moral objection around ritualistic magic.
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Mimicry:
A cornerstone of Autumn Rain’s mythology is their claim of descent from a lost Cherokee tribe in the Shenandoah Valley, whose spiritual practices allegedly merged paganism with nature worship. According to the group, this tribe passed down ancient wisdom through sacred texts and oral traditions that form the basis of Autumn Rain’s esoteric rituals today. However, these claims have been thoroughly debunked by scholars.
Prominent among these critics is Dr. Daniel Marks, a linguist and expert on early Native American religions from Minnesota, who published a rigorous critique in 2024. In his paper, Marks unequivocally refuted the existence of such a tribe, stating, "There is no linguistic, archaeological, or anthropological evidence to support the claim of a 'lost Cherokee tribe' as they suggest. In the documents, this tribe is said to have practiced a blend of pagan mysticism with some vague system of Christian-derived beliefs centuries before European missionaries arrived."
Dr. Marks also pointed out the appropriation of Cherokee religious symbolism by Autumn Rain, calling it a distortion of the Cherokee lexicon. According to Marks, the cult's language bears no resemblance to authentic Cherokee linguistic structures besides syllable mimicry. He concluded his critique by stating, "This narrative of a mystical Cherokee tribe is pure garbage, badly-written fiction, crafted to bring some bold-faced color to the cult's identity and justify their practices by cementing it to a marginalized collective."
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The introduction of Autumn Rain into the online sphere created a cultural schism. By romanticizing dark practices and satanic magic, the cult inadvertently revived interest in America’s history of witchcraft, occultism, and demonology, prompting debates about the nation’s historical engagement with these themes. For many, Autumn Rain symbolized a return to colonial-era fears of dark spiritualism, while for others, it provided an alternative lens through which to view America’s evolving relationship with the supernatural.
This online exposure, particularly its viral nature, resulted in a wave of interest in both Autumn Rain and the American occult tradition. The cult’s influence on contemporary discussions of esoteric religion cannot be overstated, as it brought the intersection of history, dark ritual, and modern subculture into sharper focus.
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Conclusion:
The mythos surrounding Autumn Rain, including its claims of descent from a lost Cherokee tribe and the elusive figure of Jack Dunn, has captured the imaginations of both scholars and the general public. However, it is evident that much of the group’s narrative is based on fictionalized accounts designed to bolster its identity and appeal. Despite these fabrications, Autumn Rain’s growing online presence and their role in reshaping cultural perceptions of American occultism have had a lasting impact on modern American culture.
The N.A.P. will continue its investigations into the true origins and ongoing activities of Autumn Rain, with a particular focus on their camps, leadership structure, and ritual practices, as well as the continued study of their influence on American society and the digital age.
TO BE CONTINUED . . .
