I read this information and something immediately smelled surprisingly familiar. We meet this constantly around us in a slightly different form:-) Here read!
One of the strangest cults exists among the inhabitants of the island of Tanna. These people worship the American pilot of the Second World War, John Frum - "the king of fabulous America, who descended to the land of the Melanesian people with a wonderful cargo" (that is, "with a load" in translation from English). The local population is wearing some kind of American military uniform and building fake runways with fake planes. They believe that one day John will return and bring back trucks, Coke, radio and other "priceless treasures".
And let's find out in more detail what the Cargo Cult is - the religion of airplane worshipers
During the Second World War, on some of the islands of Melanesia (a set of Pacific island groups) interesting cults arose - the so-called "cargo cults" (cargo - cargo transported by ship), which appeared among the local aborigines as a result of contact with civilized aliens, mainly with Americans.
The Americans, who fought the Japanese, set up their military bases on the Pacific Islands. They built runways there for aircraft to land on. Sometimes the planes did not land, but simply dropped their cargo and flew back. In general, cargo flew in or fell from the sky.
The islanders had never seen white people before, so they watched them with interest. Moreover, they had so many interesting things: lighters, flashlights, beautiful tin cans of jam, steel knives, clothes with shiny buttons, shoes, tents, beautiful pictures with white women, bottles of fire water, and so on. The natives saw that all these items were delivered as cargo from the sky. It was all so amazing!
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After observing for a while, the aborigines discovered that the Americans did not work to obtain all these fabulous benefits. They did not grind grain in mortars, did not go hunting or collect coconuts. Instead, they marked mysterious stripes on the ground, put on headphones and shouted incomprehensible words. Then they shone fires or searchlights into the sky, waved flags - and iron birds flew in from the sky and brought them cargo - all these wonderful things that the Americans gave to the islanders in exchange for coconuts, shells and the favor of young natives. Sometimes the pale-faced lined up in even columns and for some reason stood in rows and shouted various unknown words.
Then the war ended, the Americans turned down their tents, said goodbye in a friendly way and flew away on their birds. And there was nowhere else to take lanterns, jam, pictures and especially fire water.
The natives were not lazy. But no matter how hard they worked, they did not get either canvas tents, or beautiful clothes with a pattern, or cans of stew, or a flask with a wonderful drink. And it was insulting and unfair.
And then they asked the question: why did good things fall from the sky for the pale-faced, but not for them? What are they doing wrong? Day and night they turned millstones and dug gardens - and nothing fell from the sky. Probably, in order to get all these wonderful things, one must do the same as the pale-faced. Namely, put on headphones and shout words, and then lay lanes, light bonfires and wait. Probably all this is magic rituals and magic that the pale-faced have mastered. After all, it was quite obvious that all beautiful things appeared as a result of magical actions, and no one had ever seen the Americans do them themselves.
When anthropologists reached the island a few years later, they discovered that a completely unprecedented religious cult had arisen there. Pillars were stumbled everywhere, connected by hemp ropes. Some natives made clearings in the jungle, built wicker towers with antennas, waved flags of painted mats, others in headphones made of halved coconuts shouted something into bamboo microphones. And on the paved paths were thatched planes. The swarthy bodies of the aborigines were painted to resemble a military uniform with the letters USA and orders. They marched diligently, holding wicker rifles.
The planes did not arrive, but the natives believed that they probably did not pray enough, and continued to shout into bamboo microphones, light the landing lights and wait for the gods who would finally bring them the coveted cargo. Priests appeared who knew better than others how to march correctly and furiously reviled those who avoided performing all the rituals. During these occupations, they already had no time to pound grain, dig sweet potatoes and fish. Scientists sounded the alarm: the tribes could die of hunger! They began to receive humanitarian aid, which finally convinced the natives of the correctness of their views, because the wonderful load finally began to fall from the sky again!
Cargo cultists are usually unaware of manufacturing or commerce. Their concepts of Western society, science and economics are very vague. They firmly believe in a dogma that is obvious to them - foreigners had a special connection with their ancestors, who were the only creatures who could produce such wealth that cannot be produced on Earth. This means that you need to observe rituals, pray and believe.
Similar cargo cults independently originated on islands that are far from each other not only geographically, but also culturally. Anthropologists have documented two separate cases in New Caledonia, four in the Solomon Islands, four in Fiji, seven in the New Hebrides, and over forty in New Guinea. Moreover, as a rule, they arose completely independently of each other. Most of these religions claim that on the day of the apocalypse, a certain messiah will arrive with the "cargo".
The independent emergence of such a number of unrelated but similar cults indicates certain features of the human psyche as a whole. Blind imitation and worship is the essence of cargo cults - the newfound religions of our time.
Many cargo cults have died out, but some still exist today. For example, the cult of the messiah John Froome on the island of Tanna.
One well-known cargo cult on Tanna Island in the New Hebrides (named Vanuatu since 1980) still exists today. The central figure of the cult is a messiah named John Froome. The first mentions of John Froom in official documents date back to 1940, however, despite the youth of this myth, no one knows if John Froom actually existed. One legend describes him as a short man with a thin voice and whitish hair, dressed in a coat with shiny buttons. He made strange prophecies and did his best to turn the population against the missionaries. Eventually he returned to his ancestors, promising his triumphant second coming, accompanied by an abundance of "cargo." His vision of the end of the world featured a "great cataclysm": mountains will fall and valleys will fall asleep, old people will regain their youth,diseases will disappear, white people will be expelled from the island forever, and the "cargo" will arrive in such quantities that everyone can take as much as he wants.
But most of all, the island's government was concerned about John Froome's prophecy that he would bring with him new money with the image of a coconut during the second coming. In this regard, everyone should get rid of the white man's currency. In 1941, this led to a massive waste of money among the population; everyone quit their jobs and the island's economy suffered serious damage. The colony administration arrested the ringleaders, but no action could eradicate the cult of John Froome. The churches and schools of the Christian mission were empty.
A little later, a new doctrine spread, stating that John Frum was the king of America. As luck would have it, American troops arrived in the New Hebrides around this time, and lo and behold, there were black soldiers among the soldiers who did not live in poverty like the islanders, but had a "load" in the same abundance as the white soldiers. A wave of excitement swept through Tanna. The apocalypse was inevitably about to come. Everyone seemed to be preparing for the arrival of John Froome. One of the elders announced that John Froom would fly in from America by plane, and hundreds of people began to clear the bushes in the center of the island so that his plane had somewhere to land.
A control tower made of bamboo was set up at the airfield, in which "dispatchers" sat with wooden headphones on their heads. On the "runway" they built mock-ups of aircraft designed to lure John Frum's plane to land.
In the fifties, young David Attenborough sailed to Tanna with cameraman Jeffrey Mulligan to investigate the cult of John Froome. They collected many facts about this religion and were eventually presented to its high priest - a man named Nambas. Nambas famously referred to his messiah simply "John" and claimed to regularly speak to him on "radio" ("radio host John"). It happened like this: a certain old woman with wires wrapped around her waist fell into a trance and began to talk nonsense, which Nambas then interpreted as the words of John Froome. Nambas stated that he knew about David Attenborough's arrival in advance, because John Froom had warned him "on the radio." Attenborough asked for permission to look at the radio, but was (understandably) turned down. Then, changing the subject, he asked if Nambas had seen John Froome.
Nambas nodded passionately:
- I've seen him a bunch of times.
- What does he look like?
Nambas pointed his finger at me:
- Looks like yours. He has a white face. He is a tall man. He live in South America.
This description contradicts the above-mentioned legend that John Froom was short. This is how legends evolve.
It is believed that John Froom will return on February 15, but the year of his return is unknown. Every year on February 15, believers gather for a religious ceremony to greet him. The return has not yet taken place, but they are not discouraged.
David Attenborough once said to a Frum follower named Sam:
“But Sam, it's been nineteen years since John Froom said the“load”would come, but the“load”still doesn't come. Nineteen years old - aren't you waiting too long?
Sam looked up from the ground and looked at me.
- If you can wait for Jesus Christ for two thousand years, and he does not come, then I can wait for John Froome for more than nineteen years.
In 1974, Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip visited the islands, and the prince was subsequently deified as part of the John Froome Double Two cult (and again note how quickly the details change in religious evolution). The prince is an imposing man who no doubt looked impressive in a white naval uniform and a plumed helmet, and, perhaps not surprisingly, it was he, and not the queen, who became the object of veneration - the peculiarities of the local culture did not allow the islanders to accept a woman as a deity …
The cargo cults of Southern Oceania represent an extremely interesting modern model of the emergence of religion almost from scratch. Most importantly, they point to four features of the origin of religions in general, which I will summarize here.
First, it is the astounding speed at which a new cult can emerge.
Second, the details of the cult's origins are being lost with amazing speed. John Froome, if he even existed at all, lived very recently. Despite this, it is difficult to establish whether he lived at all.
The third feature is the independent emergence of similar cults on different islands. A systematic study of this similarity can reveal new data about the human psyche and its susceptibility to religious faith.
Fourth, cargo cults are similar not only to each other, but also to earlier religions. It can be assumed that Christianity and other ancient religions, now prevalent throughout the world, originated as local cults, like the cult of John Frum. Some scholars, such as Geza Vermes, a professor of Jewish culture at Oxford University, have suggested that Jesus was one of the many ardent preachers who emerged in Palestine at that time, surrounded by similar legends. Most of these cults are gone. According to this point of view, today we are dealing with the one who managed to survive. Over the centuries, as a result of further evolution, it has transformed into a complex system - or even into a ramified set of hereditary systems that currently dominate most of the globe. The demise of such charming contemporary figures as Haile Selasse, Elvis Presley and Princess Diana also allows one to explore the rapid emergence of cults and their subsequent memetic evolution."
When it was born, one cannot say with absolute certainty. Some researchers believe that in 1774, when the famous traveler John Cook landed on the Melanesian island of Tanna. For locals living in isolation and living for centuries by fishing, raising pigs and farming, Cook's visit was a real shock. White people, from the point of view of the aborigines, did nothing, but had supplies of food, comfortable clothes, weapons, which they willingly shared with them for small services.
Following Cook, other Europeans began to appear on the island, also bringing all kinds of useful items with them. But then, not finding anything interesting for themselves on the island, the Europeans stopped coming.
For the inhabitants of the island, this was a new shock. Why did the good gods, who sent white people to them with beautiful and useful things, suddenly get angry with them?
Having decided that it is possible to return the "manna from heaven" only with the help of correct prayers, the aborigines began to try to repeat the behavior of whites, believing that these "rituals" promised prosperity. The inhabitants of other Melanesian islands, which were visited by Europeans, experienced something similar. European researchers noted the existence of such strange beliefs at the end of the 19th century.
However, they manifested themselves in full force, as we already said during the Second World War.
For fans of the new cult, the arrival of the American military was tantamount to the "second coming." They prayed correctly, and the whites returned, now not only with ships, but also with flying "iron birds" who bring delicious food, clothing, medicines, and also absolutely unseen things like flashlights and radios.
White people willingly and generously paid for help in construction, for the services of guides, and the life of the Melanesians became, in their understanding, happy and carefree. But then the war ended and the whites left. No more "iron birds" came, there were no generous "gifts of the gods". The priests of the new religion, which now has a huge number of admirers, explained that the Melanesians do not pray to the gods well enough, which is why they no longer send them "gifts of heaven". And the Melanesians began to beg the gods even more diligently about "sending down the iron birds."
Another look
Those who first hear about the "cargo cult" often smile knowingly - this is how "freebies" spoil people. However, this is not quite true.
To understand the behavior of the Melanesians, you need to look at the world through their eyes. White people who come to the islands do nothing themselves and do not produce, but they have everything. Where did they get everything? Of course, they get everything from the gods. Why are the gods generous to white people? Because they know the correct prayers and rituals. And if you repeat them, then the "iron birds" with gifts will fly again.
The natives began to build runways, control towers, put on homemade headphones, began shouting into bamboo microphones, but the planes did not appear. This means that we are not repeating everything accurately enough, said the priests. The Melanesians stubbornly reproduced the actions of the whites, even began to hold a kind of parade, but there was no effect.
But the new religion also had an explanation for this case: the "iron birds" actually fly, they are simply intercepted by white people on other islands (some airfields continued to function, since American settlements remained there). And in general, those "iron birds" that were at first were sent by the gods for the aborigines, and the mean whites simply "stole someone else's."
Why is John Froome worse than Jesus?
When anthropological scientists reached the islands with a scientific mission a couple of decades later, they were horrified by what they saw.
The "cult of cargo" (worship of cargo) so captured the Melanesians that their traditional industries fell into decay. The islanders began to face a real famine. Anthropologists and psychologists tried to convince the Melanesians to explain them wrong, but the natives met these explanations with hostility. In their opinion, the whites, intercepting the "gifts of the gods," simply wanted to deceive them again.
Realizing that coping with the "cargo cult" is not so easy, the scientists called upon at least to provide the islanders with humanitarian aid.
But the appearance of this help for the adherents of the "cult of cargo" became a confirmation of their rightness, which is why the new religion only strengthened.
The situation began to change when people from local tribes began to visit the civilized world more often, where they began to understand what was really happening and how.
The "cargo cult" began to decline, but did not die at all, and the prosperity of the John Froom cult is proof of this.
