The main world religions, despite the fact that they unite people all over the world, still cannot suit absolutely all the inhabitants of the Earth, and it is no wonder that the number of religions or teachings that closely resemble them has already exceeded five thousand. Among them there are those that lead to amazement and confusion - anyone, but not the followers of these confessions themselves.
1. Cargo cult
When, during the Second World War, American troops were constantly landing on the islands of the Pacific Ocean, fighting against Japan, and along with the military there appeared clothes, canned food, tents and weapons, in the eyes of local tribes all this looked quite original. It was believed that white people with useful goods performed various rituals - this is how they interpreted the combat step, the use of radio communications, the organization of takeoff and landing of military aircraft. After the end of the war, the cargo stopped flowing, and the islanders began to carry out similar rituals themselves - in order to induce the old abundance.
Cargo cult on the islands of Vanuatu.
According to the inhabitants of Tanna, all those goods that fell to the islanders "from heaven" were created by the spirits of the tribe. White people allegedly took possession of them by dishonest means, gaining access to the Land of Ancestors. To attract more of these "sacred" objects, the islanders use the materials at their disposal to build objects similar to these precious artifacts - planes from straw and palm trees, "airports" carved from wood, rifles.
The central figure of the cargo cult on Tanna Island (Vanuatu) is a certain John Froom, who is portrayed as an American soldier during the Second World War.
The adherents of the cult conduct rituals to attract the gifts of their ancestors.
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2. The cult of Prince Philip
On the same island, in the village of Yaohnanen, the cult of worship of Prince Philip, the spouse of the Queen of Great Britain, is practiced. It arose in the middle of the last century. The ancient belief of the tribe said that the son of a mountain spirit would go overseas, choose a wife for himself there and return. The islands of Vanuatu have long been part of the British Empire. It turned out that Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, wife of Queen Elizabeth II, was recognized as the same deity.
On the island of Tanna - the cult of Prince Philip.
In 1974, the royal couple visited Tanna Island, and the prince left several of his photographs to the tribe.
3. Pan Wave
This religious movement originated in Japan in the 1977 century. Founder - Yuko Chino, teacher, she used elements of Christianity, Buddhism and New Age in her teaching.
The followers of the Pan Wave religion are convinced that electromagnetic waves are destroying the environment and changing the planet's climate. To avoid harm from this radiation, believers wrap themselves in white matter and cover objects around them with it. The community built a laboratory in the Japanese prefecture of Fukui, where the harm from radiation is minimized, but from time to time Chino announced the impending end of the world; the date, however, was changed to a later one each time.
The followers of this cult escape from electromagnetic waves by wrapping themselves and surrounding objects in white cloth.
In 2003, the church gained fame when its adherents tried to catch an Arctic seal in the waters of Japan - which, according to the Wave of Pan, was a harbinger of the apocalypse.
4. Neodruidism
In general, priests were called druids among the ancient Celts - a people described in the works of ancient historians. The current Druids emerged as a neo-pagan movement under the influence of 19th century romanticism. They profess worship of the spirits of nature, harmony with it, respect for all living beings, believe in reincarnation, oppose the demonstration of human remains found by archaeologists in museums, considering their burial necessary.
This religion involves performing rituals near ancient megaliths.
Meetings and rituals of the neodruids take place in nature, often at ancient megalithic structures, such as Stonehenge. Healing practices are common among modern Druids, and ceremonies are held with an appeal to shamanism and the occult.
5. Buying
An independent religious movement arose in the Urals under the influence of the tales of Pavel Petrovich Bazhov and as a variation of Roerich's teachings. Despite the fact that the characters and plots of these works are the fruit of the writer's creative thought, not related to folklore, they became the basis for a whole cult.
The mistress of the Copper Mountain is the patroness of the Urals, according to the Bazhovites.
The mistress of the Copper Mountain among the Bazhovites is a powerful patroness of the Urals and an assistant to the Mother of the World, and she herself is helped by the Great Snake, Ognevushka-jump and other characters in the tales of the Ural writer. In addition to the Mistress, the divine essence is attributed to Lenin. The center of the Earth is the ancient city of Arkaim, discovered in 1987 in the Chelyabinsk region.
6. Happy Science
Science as a way to comprehend the secrets of the universe itself can become a religion, this is proved by beliefs that arose in the XX century and still exist. "Happy Science", a religious movement, dates back to 1986, in 1991 it received official registration. Japan became the homeland of the teachings, and Ryuho Okawa became the prophet, who, after achieving enlightenment, began to travel around the world with lectures, talk about his revelations and make predictions.
Ryuho Okawa, head of this church.
Members of the community devote time to meditation and reflection, and Ryuho himself allegedly has the ability to come into contact with various significant figures of the past - from Shakespeare to Margaret Thatcher. Religion implies faith in a single god - El Kantare, who from time to time incarnates in human form, one of which was Buddha Shakyamuni.
7. Raelites
Claude Vorilon, a French journalist, began preaching this doctrine in 1973, calling himself Rael. According to his theory, people on Earth were created by scientists from other planets, becoming the product of extraterrestrial scientific thought. These aliens are the supreme deity. The main goal of the Raelites is the development of science and technology, which will lead to the achievement of immortality by man - so that he can be equal to those who once created him. They advocate research aimed at human cloning and even fund a number of laboratories.
Claude Vorilon.
The Raelites proclaim gender equality and the path to freedom through free love.
8. Church of Maradona
It is not hard to guess who became the object of worship of this cult - the legendary Argentine footballer. The followers of the belief number 60 thousand people from six dozen countries around the world. The symbol of the church is D10S, which includes the number 10 - the number under which Maradona spoke, and also refers to the word DIOS, that is, God.
Members of the cult of Maradona.
As befits a self-respecting religion, this one also has its own commandments, among them are those that tell you to take Diego as a middle name and name your child the same way. Another one is “love football above all else”. Among the holidays in the community, Christmas is celebrated on October 30 (the football player's birthday), Easter on June 22 (the day he scored two decisive goals for England at the 1986 World Cup) and Epiphany on August 16 (the beginning of a career in football).
The religious movement has its own commandments - related to football.
The church was founded by football fans in 1998. Diego himself is not a member of this religious community.
9. Discordianism
This religious movement of a parodic nature proclaims chaos as its main deity. Order, according to the Discordians, represents despondency, unhappiness, destruction of creativity, the curse of Gruad Grayface - a dark creature without a sense of humor. The symbol and supreme deity is Eris, the ancient Greek goddess of discord, whose name in the ancient Roman version is Discordia.
Discordian life is the art of playing games, and the solution to humanity's problems begins when they are no longer taken seriously.
The ancient Greek goddess Eris became a symbol of the cult.
This movement was founded in 1963, since the publication of a treatise by Omar Khayyam Ravenhurst (real name - Kerry Thornley) and Malaclips the Younger (Gregory Hill).
10. Jedism
As one of the new religious teachings, Jediism emerged from the George Lucas saga of Star Wars. This is the so-called non-theistic religion, its god has no personality. Everything is determined by the Force - the energy field that unites the Galaxy, it can be dark or light, and the Jedi, of course, develop the power of light.
The Jedi Church has a large number of followers - more than 150 thousand.
This subculture is considered one of the most widespread in Great Britain, there are more than one hundred and fifty thousand of its adherents. The Jaist Code includes five truths: no emotion - there is peace; there is no ignorance - there is knowledge; there is no passion - there is serenity; there is no chaos - there is harmony; there is no death - there is Power.
11. Pastafarianism (Church of the Flying Macaroni Monster)
This officially existing religion appeared in 2005 thanks to the 24-year-old physicist Bobby Henderson in response to the introduction of the concept of intelligent design - an alternative to evolutionism - into the Kansas school curriculum. The creator of the new religion argued that everything that exists was created by a deity similar to pasta and meatballs, demanding that his teaching be included in the school curriculum, since it is not inferior to the two already existing.
This is how the supreme deity of the Pastafarians looks like.
A letter about this was posted on Henderson's website and received a huge response, the number of followers of the new church rapidly increased. Pastafarians consider pirates to be the main divine creatures, they wear a colander as a headdress, and their only dogma is the rejection of dogmas.
The name is taken as consonant with Rastafarianism - a subculture of Rastafarians who do not accept the Western way of life and profess the principle of universal brotherly love. Pastafarians, since all religions have the same status in the face of the law, can invite “their” priest to conduct a marriage ceremony - an opportunity used by atheists in countries where marriage is done by clergy.
Pirates are special characters in a world ruled by the Macaroni Monster.
The latter movement, as a rule, causes violent discussions among those who are not involved in the Pastafarian church, forcing them to think about the place of humor in the pantheon: is it worthy to become the central deity in the modern world?