In 2007, a trip to China marked the beginning of Ramón Castillo’s radical transformation. He eventually coerced his followers into burning a newborn alive. He established connections with sect members and gradually isolated them—first from their pets (some of which were brutally slaughtered), then from their partners, and finally from their families.
Colliguay Cult – A Tale of Madness, Drugs, and Subjugation
Tragedy in Chile: The Rise and Fall of Ramón Castillo’s Cult
Members were sexually dominated and endured being beaten. Women were required to keep their hair short.
The summer of 2007 saw a group of people gather at El Toyo Estate in the Cajón del Maipo for a “Rainbow Gathering.” The aim was to engage in meditation and relaxation activities in search of inner peace.
During those days, the presence of Ramón Castillo Gaete (35), known as “Antares de la Luz,” who was already a fugitive and leader of the cult, became apparent. In November of that year, he burned a two-day-old baby alive, accusing it of being “the antichrist.”
Encounters and Clashes with Antares de la Luz
A woman at the 2007 gathering told “La Segunda” that “Antares arrived with his entourage and caused great controversy because his meditations left people in very negative states, especially affecting the younger ones. Despite everything, some of my friends joined Castillo, while others confronted him and asked him to leave.”
The event disturbed the entire meeting, as “we noticed he was unhinged, but he had the ability to make people believe in him. Some confronted him and asked him to stop his meditations because the entire atmosphere of the gathering was charged with negativity.
He responded by threatening that something terrible would happen to us and that those who wanted to be saved had to follow him… Several did follow him.”
The witness concluded: “People said they saw visions during the meditations like they had killed Jesus and such… They were crying because they really believed what they had seen. I don’t know if they were all crazy.”
Recruitment of Followers
A year and a half after that event, according to investigations by the Public Prosecutor’s Office and the Special Police Investigations Brigade (BIPE) of the PDI, Ramón Castillo, who proclaimed himself a deity, began to regularly meet with:
- Natalia Guerra (26), graphic designer;
- María Alvarez (26), actress;
- Karla Franchy (34), flight attendant;
- David Pastén (30), advertiser;
- Pablo Undurraga (30), audiovisual producer; and
- Carolina Vargas (26), bank executive.
The first four were arrested and charged with parricide (Guerra) and aggravated homicide. Castillo, Undurraga, Vargas, and Josefina López (24), the last to join the group, remained fugitives…
Connections and Manipulation in the Antares de la Luz Cult
Some knew Antares from his days as a Music student at the former Pedagogico, while others met him through “inner healing” consultations he offered on a Facebook page called “Calypso Productions.”
All the followers had something in common: they were young adults, professionals, attractive but lonely, and according to sources close to the investigation, they had certain family dysfunctions.
In early 2009, using a personality that investigators describe as “strong, yet charming,” Antares began gathering these individuals at various homes spread across the Metropolitan Region, and the IV and V regions.
At these locations, they held self-healing and self-awareness seminars, charging $60,000, which included meals, lodging, and other benefits.
“During these sessions, they conducted introspective journeys using ayahuasca, a powerful hallucinogen that distorted their visual and auditory perception,” a source recounts. These meetings also took place in semi-rural locations like Pirque or Cajón del Maipo in the Metropolitan Region.
Sacrifices Imposed by the Cult Leader
The combination of his followers’ emotional vulnerability and Antares’ dominant personality was key for him to start exercising “mediate authorship by control of the will,” using his followers as “tools.”
After visiting them at their homes, where he also conducted sessions or “takes” with ayahuasca, Antares deepened emotional ties and promoted detachment. It started with pets, continued with partners, and ended with families.
“He convinced them that cats and dogs were evil beings… So they ended up slaughtering their animals,” the investigating sources indicate. Subsequently, he dissolved the couples within the group. During rituals in which he altered his voice and under the influence of drugs, he proclaimed himself a god.
This is how he managed to end the relationship between Natalia Guerra and Pablo Undurraga. After this, Antares began having sexual relations with her and other women in the group. However, this was not the only benefit Antares obtained. According to the prosecutor of Quilpué, Juan Emilio Gatica, the leader was financially supported by the members of the cult, who rented properties, provided him with vehicles, and even took out loans to give him money.
In fact, it is reported that Castillo had fled the country with more than $15,000,000. Despite the privileges he enjoyed as the leader of the cult, Antares severely punished any behavior he considered inappropriate. For this, he ordered his followers to strip and then beat them with sticks 45 times. If anyone cried during the punishment, they received three additional blows. Moreover, he forced the women in the group to cut their hair.
The Tragic Fate of the Supposed Antichrist
Over time, the ayahuasca sessions and sexual relations with the group members continued. Antares, a self-proclaimed deity, had warned that no woman should become pregnant, as any child born would be the antichrist and, therefore, would need to be eliminated.
When Antares discovered that Natalia Guerra was pregnant, he reacted furiously, proclaiming that the child could be Lucifer and declared his intention to “catch him.” He then ordered the woman to seclude herself in a house in Los Andes. To keep the pregnancy secret from Natalia’s family, he informed them that she would embark on a journey through Latin America following “Che’s route.”
The intention was for the child to be born naturally and without any assistance other than from the women in the group. However, on November 21, Natalia experienced complications and was taken to Clínica Reñaca. There, on November 23, a boy was born. Two days later, the sect transferred him to Los Culenes estate in Colliguay, Quilpué…
