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At its peak, 'Orgasmic Meditation' group OneTaste was making millions and endorsed by the 'high priestess of the vagina', Gwyneth Paltrow.
Now, the defunct 'cult' faces sex-trafficking and prostitution allegations
Here's the bizarre story
Thread
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/women/life/inside-multi-million-dollarorgasm-cult-endorsed-hollywood/
Now, the defunct 'cult' faces sex-trafficking and prostitution allegations
Here's the bizarre story
Thread
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/women/life/inside-multi-million-dollarorgasm-cult-endorsed-hollywood/
This is a story of idealism and desire, of Californian sex communes and three-hour orgasms, of the search for Eden and the worms in the apple of power and money... https://www.telegraph.co.uk/women/life/inside-multi-million-dollarorgasm-cult-endorsed-hollywood/
In 1994, Californian-born Nicole Daedoe joined a community of orgasm researchers called The Welcomed Consensus.Here she developed a technique called âorgasmic meditationâ
What is orgasmic meditation?A woman lies on âa nestâ of pillows and âbutterfliesâ her legs (Daedoneâs words), draping a leg over a fully-clothed man beside her.
He sets a 15 minute timer.Wearing latex gloves he then touches âthe upper left quadrantâ of the clitoris
In 2004 Daedone set up OneTaste Urban Retreat. 
She hoped to promote OM as âa way to make orgasm, connection and sensuality sustainableâ.The community quickly grew to around 50 members, most in their late 20s, OM-ing 2 or 3 times a day with various âresearchâ partners
Prospective OM-ers were offered a menu of services:
An introductory workshop cost $195
A week-long âurban monkâ programme set you back $2,000
Or you could train to become a certified coach for $16,000
An introductory workshop cost $195A week-long âurban monkâ programme set you back $2,000Or you could train to become a certified coach for $16,000
They sold were how-to DVDs, âOne Strokeâ lubricant and OM pillow sets to build nests.Men stroked women, and sometimes women stroked women; nobody stroked men.
But everybody paid...
OneTasteâs former âlead instructorâ Ken Blackman said that OM-ing âresonated particularly deeply with techies.â
âSilicon Valley was a really great place to market because we could talk in terms of having a new operating system for human connection.â
OneTaste soon gained traction with celebrities too.
KhloĂ© Kardashian was said to âswear byâ OM.
But its most celebrated champion was Gwyneth Paltrow...
Paltrowâs website Goop â famous for selling the âThis Smells Like My Vaginaâ candle â ran interviews with Daedone
KhloĂ© Kardashian was said to âswear byâ OM.But its most celebrated champion was Gwyneth Paltrow...
Paltrowâs website Goop â famous for selling the âThis Smells Like My Vaginaâ candle â ran interviews with Daedone
Daedone was sensitive to the cult accusations.
Yet, in 2015, Daedone organised a series of events called Magic School, naming a handful of the inner circle as âpriests and priestesses of orgasmâ
Yet, in 2015, Daedone organised a series of events called Magic School, naming a handful of the inner circle as âpriests and priestesses of orgasmâ
By 2017, OneTaste had 150 staff members, including salespeople.They promoted a smorgasbord of different courses costing up to $60,000 a year.
The âNicole Daedone Intensiveâ, offering personal tuition in stroking by Daedone herself, cost up to $36,000
OneTasteâs downfall began in 2018 when a Bloomberg investigation discovered that it was engaging in pressurised sales tactics.They urged customers to take out multiple credit cards to pay for courses.
Potential customers, it was alleged, were referred to as âmarks'
Another Bloomberg investigation revealed that in 2015 OneTaste had paid a $325,000 out-of-court settlement to a former staff member who said that she had been ordered to sleep with prospective male customers
In 2020 âThe Orgasm Cultâ podcast brought damning allegations of staff being coerced into having sex with men to entice them to take courses.It was allegedly said that women should be able to have sex with anyone as âthe orgasm is so strong that it alchemises everythingâ
Responding to the BBC programme, a lawyer for OneTaste said: âAll allegations of abusive practices are completely false. OneTaste is an organisation that helped individuals to increase health, happiness and connection through methods combining mindfulness and sexuality.â
In October 2018, after the Bloomberg exposé, OneTaste announced it was closing all its US offices saying instead it would be focusing on online education to reach a wider audience.But the OneTaste website no longer exists...
And Nicole Daedone disappeared
However, her cult of the orgasm continues to thriveâŠ
A new âInstitute of OM websiteâ, set up by former members, invites users to âLearn to OM for freeâ.
Read more https://www.telegraph.co.uk/women/life/inside-multi-million-dollarorgasm-cult-endorsed-hollywood/
A new âInstitute of OM websiteâ, set up by former members, invites users to âLearn to OM for freeâ.
Read more
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/women/life/inside-multi-million-dollarorgasm-cult-endorsed-hollywood/
