The Cult of Brother XII

Aimee Greenaway

Thank you to Darrell Bell, my colleague at the Nanaimo Museum, for his ongoing Brother XII research support. Brother XII established one of the most infamous cults in Canadian history on Vancouver Island. He claimed to be a benevolent spiritual leader who channelled ancient Egyptian gods, but Brother XII promoted conspiracy theories, treated his followers poorly, and was embroiled in high-profile court cases and scandals. The story of Brother XII and his cult, the Aquarian Foundation, still resonates today with its complex tangle of fact and fiction, search for lost gold, conspiracy theories, and the enduring question: Who were his followers? In 1878 Brother XII was born Edward Arthur Wilson in Birmingham, England. As a young man, Wilson worked as a telephone inspector and lived in Birmingham with his parents,…

You're reading a preview of

British Columbia History (Digital) - 1 Issue, 56.2 Summer 2023

DiscountMags is a licensed distributor (not a publisher) of the above content and Publication through Zinio LLC. Accordingly, we have no editorial control over the Publications. Any opinions, advice, statements, services, offers or other information or content expressed or made available by third parties, including those made in Publications offered on our website, are those of the respective author(s) or publisher(s) and not of DiscountMags. DiscountMags does not guarantee the accuracy, completeness, truthfulness, or usefulness of all or any portion of any publication or any services or offers made by third parties, nor will we be liable for any loss or damage caused by your reliance on information contained in any Publication, or your use of services offered, or your acceptance of any offers made through the Service or the Publications. For content removal requests, please contact Zinio.