The Rise and Fall of the Doomsday Cult, Aum Shinrikyo

Aum Shinrikyo (Supreme Truth) is a doomsday cult that began in 1984 by Shoko Asahara. Aum (its common name) is responsible for two sarin gas attacks and multiple murders and kidnappings.

At its peak, Aum Shinrikyo had tens of thousands of worshipers worldwide and carried out the worst domestic terror attack on Japanese soil. On March 20, 1995, the attack carried out on the subway killed 13 and injured 5,800, some permanently.

Shoko Asahara's Humble Beginnings

Born Chizuo Matsumoto into a low-income family in 1955. Matsumoto lost most of his eyesight from childhood glaucoma (like Ray Charles). His family sent him to live in a home with other vision-impaired youth. Because his vision was better than his classmates', he bullied them. He became both feared and followed. This experience set up his ability to get others to follow him.

A Sign of the Future

Matsumoto loved sci-fi and claimed that he would rule a robot army one day. After leaving the home for vision-impaired children, he applied to college but didn’t make the cut and began practicing acupuncture and yoga (both common careers for the blind in Japan). At this time, he also discovered the writings of Nostradamus, a 16th-century French astrologer and physician who created extensive writings about the end of the world.

Matsumoto became obsessed with the idea of Armageddon. He claimed he received visions of…