The Family

Charles Manson was a small man, 5’6’’ tall and 130 pounds. He did not convince his followers to follow by using brawn nor good looks– he used his astounding ability to know what people wanted to see (Ressler 63).

When Charles Manson arrived in San Francisco he was 32 years old. He found himself in Haight Ashbury at the end of the hippy era (see Haight Ashbury). The older hippies had moved on to other things and mostly young, rebellious teens were left. Charles watched and learned what these, mostly, young girls gravitated to and became that: he let his hair grow long, he wore sandals, and he spoke and sang in metaphorical terms that were elusive yet appealed to the younger crowd. He targeted the young girls who were naïve and easy to manipulate; girls who showed signs of emotional and self-esteem problems. In his interview with former FBI criminologist Charles described it by saying “when you hold up a mirror you don’t actually see the mirror but, rather, what is reflected in its shiny surface…I became a negative, a reflection of these kids. They were looking for themselves (Ressler 63).” (more on Ressler) The young people began to follow in droves.

In 1968 Charles and his followers moved to the Sahn ranch in the desert of California. The family was allowed to stay on the ranch in exchange for sexual favors to the ranch owner by Charlie’s “girls”. There were approximately 100 Family members living on the ranch.

Charles’ keen ability to mesmerize and manipulate others were key in convincing his followers to act upon his wishes, even when his wishes were not spoken outright. Charles began to utilize drugs, mostly LSD and amphetamines, to manipulate and mold his newly found family. Manson began to influence his followers’ thinking by breaking them down and making them question their own beliefs in good and evil. He would degrade each person by verbally assaulting his/her personality and by orchestrating orgies.

His disciples would listen, in a drug induced stupor, as Charles would rant and rave about societies indiscretions and how his followers should disown their families and their pasts. To help to discard their pasts Manson changed their names. This also helped appease his need for power; case in point: one of Manson’s greatest male followers was Charles Watson. Because there could be only ONE Charles in the group Watson’s name was changed to Tex.

Manson began preaching how the world, as they knew it, would soon end. He would bemoan his lack of a childhood and denounce the middle-class, advantaged people of our society. He pounded into his mind-altered listeners that a balance needed to be found, and that they would be the ones to find it. He would talk of death and destruction – he would paint a gory picture in the minds of his followers.

He fanaticism became more intense as he began to preach that the ‘black man’ was going to take over the world. The black Americans were going to destroy the big cities and kill all of the white people, except, of course, the Family. The Family was safe in the desert where no one could hurt them. He eventually decided that the Family needed to show the black people how to get started on their road to mass destruction. This idea of an Armageddon was fueled by Manson’s delusional belief that the Beatles’ song Helter Skelter was telling him that it was time for the massacre to begin.

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