What Drug Fueled Cult Was Created Behind this Millbrook Gate House?

When I'm not talking on the radio or listening to it, I'm usually glued to a podcast.

Especially if it's a true crime podcast. But recently I stumbled upon one about cults and I couldn't turn it off.

It ended up being a learning experience for me. I learned about psychedelic drugs in the '60s and '70s and how the Hudson Valley played a pretty big part in one of the most infamous psychedelic cults and international drug rings.

The podcast called Cults and another called King Pins focused on the crimes and times of the summer of '69. The Brotherhood of Eternal Love was a cult created by 22-year-old John Griggs after he "discovered LSD and had an epiphany."

During the Brotherhood episode, they explained that Griggs was inspired to start the cult after meeting with Timothy Leary.

Leary was a psychologist and writer and, according to his Wikipedia page, he studied the "therapeutic potential of psychedelic drugs under controlled conditions."

Griggs visited Leary at Millbrook Estates in Dutchess County and was inspired by the compound Leary had created. So much so that he started the Brotherhood of Eternal Love.

Not only was The Brotherhood a psychedelic drug cult, but they were also an international drug ring, running psychedelic drugs to different parts of the world.

If you'd like to learn more about Timothy Leary and how the Hitchcock Estate in Millbrook played a part in the LSD movement back in the '60s check out Timeline.com.

We have a feeling the Hitchock Estate looks a little different nowadays...