A Man Owning 20 Acres of Land in Texas Says Anyone Can Live There for Free — Is This a Cult?
"I don't care if you're sleeping in a tent or your vehicle or if you've got a 40-foot camper. Whatever you have, come on out here and let's get this party started."
Published Oct. 29 2024, 7:12 p.m. ET
There are three TikTok accounts run by people who live on 20 acres of land in West Texas known as Rebuilding Atlantis. One is manned by the individual who owns the aforementioned land. HIs name is Michael Guzman and according to his Instagram bio, he is "Rebuilding the greatest society that's ever existed, ATLANTIS!" By the way, it's never been proven that Atlantis was real. In that regard, Michael may just be building Atlantis.
The other TikTok profiles belong to the first two people who moved to Rebuilding Atlantis. Both are documenting their journeys via somewhat harrowing videos that involve an alarming amount of sun. It is the desert after all. A slew of jokes about a yet-to-be-filmed Netflix documentary exist in the comment sections of every TikTok. Is Rebuilding Atlantis a cult? Everyone on social media seems to think so.
Is Rebuilding Atlantis a cult? Ya gotta move to Texas to find out.
In January 2024, Michael posted a TikTok to the Rebuilding Atlantis account stating it was "time to start a revolution." All things considered, it doesn't sound nearly as concerning as that opening would suggest. Michael has land and he isn't going to charge anyone who wants to live on it. "I don't care if you're sleeping in a tent or your vehicle or if you've got a 40-foot camper," he says. 'Whatever you have, come on out here and let's get this party started."
Michael goes on to say that he has "everything organized and prepared" which includes chickens. This is a classic off-the-grid situation, as noted by the fact that Michael claims to be growing his own food. All of this is in pursuit of freeing one's self from the oppressive systems we all toil under. At least that's what Michael is telling us. Does he sound a little tense? Yes, but who isn't? He sounds mostly rational and definitely angry. Oh shoot, did I just joint a cult?
Ridiculing this man would be easy, but there are far worse things to do with your frustration that don't involve letting people live off your land for free. Honestly he sounds a bit lonely while asking folks to share his video. Seven months later, Michael is still asking people to join him. This time he mentions having water and says you'll need to get solar power panels for electricity. If there is one thing Rebuilding Atlantis is not lacking in, it's the sun.
Two people joined Michael at Rebuilding Atlantis.
On Oct. 15, 2024, Michael posted a TikTok asking people to stop wasting his time. "I've had a lot of people message me claiming to be interested," said Michael. He explains that hundreds of people reach out about living there, but they do not follow through. That all changed when Austin Mowery and a woman known as Visionary Empress arrived on the scene.
Less than a week after Michael vented about people not taking him seriously, Visionary Empress dropped a video detailing day two at Rebuilding Atlantis. In it, she was building what she called her "shade tent." In part two of that video, posted the same day, Visionary Empress explains what she does for work. "I do conscious language upgrades," she said, "which is all about helping you identify what your new choice and language is." OK, Michael might not be starting a cult, but it sounds like she is.
Austin started his TikTok once he arrived at Rebuilding Atlantis, which appears to be a few days after Visionary Empress. In his second video, Austin shows us his tents and then comments on a yurt in the distance. All we know about Austin is that he and Michael were road-tripping to Indiana. While they were gone, Visionary Empress went home to see her family. We're gonna keep an eye on Rebuilding Atlantis. How can we not?