Glossary Of Cult Language
The glossary for Neophyte: My Life In A Sex Cult
Like all cults, the Deer Tribe uses a specialized lexicon—a mix of invented terms and redefined words. This insider language, informally known as Deer Speak, exerts powerful influence by shaping perception, discouraging critical thinking, and reinforcing group identity. It also creates a linguistic barrier that distances members from outsiders. The following glossary includes many of the key terms used within the Deer Tribe’s belief system.
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Alchemy: A metaphysical practice that transforms the self by working with the five elements—earth, air, fire, water, and the void—using complex recitations, sacred powers, planetary influences, and various protocols to support personal and spiritual evolution.
Apprentice: An individual who commits to the Sweet Medicine SunDance Path as their Path with Heart, dedicates their life to spiritual development, seeks to discover their true self, and rejects conformity to societal views.
Apprentice Guide: A Deer Tribe member holding a minimum rank of Sacred Pipe Carrier who supports lower-ranking members in their gateway process.
Ashram: The informal name used by Silver and his students to refer to the Rudra Center.
Aura Perceptual Analysis (APA): The study of the human energy field, called luminosity, and the evolution of the soul.
APA Reading: A method for mapping spiritual health and development, provided exclusively by elite members of the Deer Tribe.
Body Imprint Removal Ceremony: A Quodoushka 1 shamanic ceremony, erotic in nature, designed to remove "pain tapes" believed to be stored in the body's tissues.
Book of Life: One of the twenty sacred powers, encompassing all the events and learnings of an individual's lifetime.
Book of Life Reading: A practice akin to a tarot reading, conducted with the Mayan tarot deck and interpreted exclusively by elite members of the Deer Tribe.
Closed Symbol: A refusal to engage with an idea from a new perspective, viewed as a mark of immaturity and lower spiritual growth.
Contamination: A label for anyone who challenges authority, expresses doubts, or behaves in ways that do not align with the Deer Tribe’s values; it suggests that the individual is spiritually negative and is harming the collective harmony of the tribe’s teachings, ceremonies, and activities.
Council of Law (COL): A governing body of the Deer Tribe that serves as the voice of the people, making organizational decisions and assisting apprentices in clarifying issues and resolving problems related to their guide, the teachings, or the Path.
Core Personality: The fundamental aspect of our being that our soul chooses before birth, categorized into three types—do gooders, who seek approval through helping others; space cadets, who feel out of place and dreamily navigate life; and farts, who prioritize their own thoughts and speak freely without regard for others.
Dharma: The state of actively creating our unique life story, free from past lessons, where things flow more easily and manifestation occurs with greater speed and clarity.
Deer Tribe Metis Medicine Society: A 501(c)(3) organization dedicated to recruiting members and spreading the teachings of the Sweet Medicine SunDance Path.
Energy Exchange: A work trade arrangement where labor or services are provided instead of money for participation in a teaching or ceremony.
Freedancer: A person who attends a Quodoushka workshop without a committed partner; a Deer Tribe term for "single."
Gateway Ceremony: A ritual within the Gateway Process, each designed to facilitate personal transformation and spiritual growth, consisting of specific practices and assignments that guide individuals through their next stage of evolution.
Gateway Process: The journey a soul undertakes on the path to enlightenment, consisting of 15 gateways, each comprising at least 10 specific ceremonies, personal rituals, and Warrior Task Assignments, designed to help individuals maintain and sustain desired changes in their lives.
Gleaning: The ability to see and engage with reality objectively by perceiving the deeper essence of something or someone, going beyond surface appearances.
Hereditary Lineage Leaders (HLL): A group of six individuals selected by SwiftDeer to uphold the leadership and lineage of the SMSD Path.
Karma: The lessons our soul seeks to learn throughout our lifetime.
Longhouse: A gathering of individuals to learn about medicine teachings and practices.
Medicine: The shamanic healing practices and “knowledge that works” within the Sweet Medicine SunDance Path.
Medicine Gift: A gift given to the leader or leaders of a teaching or ceremony to express gratitude for the experience.
Medicine Pipe: A ceremonial smoking pipe used in all Deer Tribe ceremonies.
Mesa: A special type of altar that incorporates the presence of the four elements—earth, air, fire, and water.
Monitoring A Ceremony: A designated individual responsible for overseeing another person during a ceremony.
Nagual: The unseen, spiritual world beyond the five senses.
Neophyte: A trainee in the Quodoushka workshop, serving as an assistant and learning to facilitate healing practices.
Numerology: A practice of extracting hidden information from numbers about your life and your personality.
O’larien: The psychic gifts inherent in humans, regarded as a natural birthright.
Orende: A scale of 1 to 10 used to assess an individual's overall development, including their psychic development in O’larien.
Pain Tapes: Emotional and physical wounds that become trapped in the body, hindering personal growth and intimacy by projecting past traumas onto others.
Personality and Events: Normal situations labeled as overly dramatic or uncomfortable, used by Deer Tribe teachers to belittle, dissuade, and devalue people's feelings.
Pipe Mesa: A sacred bundle crafted from animal hide, used to store a medicine pipe along with ceremonial items like cloth, smudge, feathers, tobacco, a crystal skull, and cleaning tools in the Sweet Medicine SunDance Path tradition.
Pity: A feeling of sorrow for one's circumstances, often used as a dismissive term for expressing sorrowful emotions.
Pretender Voices: Internal thoughts and dialogue that place false limits on us.
Quodoushka: A sacred sexuality workshop provided by the Deer Tribe Metis Medicine Society, often abbreviated as "Q."
Q Grad: An individual who has successfully completed a Quodoushka workshop.
Red Lodge: A program offered by the Deer Tribe that functions as a shamanic university, teaching apprentices and non-apprentices the ceremonies, teachings, and healing practices of the Sweet Medicine SunDance Path.
Rudra Center: A spiritual school in Denton, Texas, operated by an individual named Silver, offering various teachings and practices.
Taj: A large, white tent structure on SunDance land that functions as a dining room, kitchen, and general assembly area.
Sacred Dream: Our unique life purpose that embodies the special mission we fulfill to bring beauty into the world.
Sacred Pipe Carrier: A rank in the Sweet Medicine SunDance Path, granting individuals the authority to provide specific teachings, conduct sweat lodges, and oversee apprentices during ceremonies.
Sacred Powers: Spiritual energies that are cultivated and harnessed through ceremony and practice, often associated with healing, intuition, and connection to the sacred.
Smudge: An herbal blend of sweetgrass, sage, lavender, and cedar that is ignited to produce smoke, which is used for cleansing individuals and spaces.
Stance and Posture: An individual’s armored reality pattern and their adaptive responses to core wounds; ‘Stance’ represents the primary way one manifests their trauma in daily life, while ‘Posture’ serves as a secondary, protective mechanism developed to cope with and rescue the Stance."
SunDance: An annual 10-day event held by the Deer Tribe in the high desert near Snowflake, Arizona.
Sweet Medicine SunDance Path: The spiritual journey of the Deer Tribe Metis Medicine Society, encompassing ancient shamanic teachings and ceremonies that empower individuals on their quest for enlightenment.
Warrior Task Assignment: A practice created by an apprentice guide to help their apprentice implement desired changes in their life.
Warrior Technique of Discipline: A practice for spiritual development.
Wheel Teaching: The format of all Deer Tribe teachings. Concepts are organized in a circular arrangement, referred to as a "wheel."
Working Clothes: Refers to nudity, symbolizing a return to authenticity and vulnerability during exercises and ceremonies.
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