This document is currently under development. Don't expect much yet, and you won't be disappointed. Resources for dealing with cultism will be added. Eventually. Maybe. But to what end?

Cults are everywhere, in everything, the warp and woof of all human societies.. Without cults you wouldn't have anything to believe, at least not in any form that you'd recognize. Herewith is a brief introduction to cults.

WHAT IS A CULT?

Of course, a cult is a religion without sufficient political power. In a culture where various power bases share control of society, a cult is any group OTHER than the Dominant Heresy. Of course, there are other, more formal definitions:

cult   n   [F & L; F culte, fr. L cultus   care, adoration, fr. cultus, pp. of colere   to cultivate ...]   1 : formal religious veneration : WORSHIP   2 : a system of religious beliefs and ritual; also : its body of adherents   3 : a religion regarded as unorthodox or spurious; also : its body of adherents   4 : a system for the cure of a disease based on dogma set forth by its promulgator   5 a : great devotion to a person, idea, or thing; esp : such devotion regarded as a literary or intellectual fad   b : a usu. small circle of persons united by devotion or allegiance to an artistic or intellectual movement or figure ...
  —Merriam-Webster New Collegiate Dictionary, 1972

Inferred here are some other points. A cult is a system of ritual — the cult of Judaism or cult of Santeria merely refers to the rites, liturgy etc of those belief-systems. A cult is devotion to a figure, such as a personality cult, as those of Stalin, Mao, Madonna, BillGates, etc. A cult is a fad, unless it lasts long enough to go mainstream. And a cult is a clique.

Starting your own cult can be a lot of fun. For general guidelines, see Start Your Own Religion For Phun And Prophet. Joining a cult can be nearly as much fun, especially if you can take it over and bend it to your will. Otherwise, you'll just be a pawn in someone else's hand. But maybe that's what you want.

But not all cults are created equal. Cults come in may sizes, shapes, colors, flavors, intents, purposes, and destinies. Some possible cults include:

• PERSONALITY CULT   You've done something notable, like aroused and screwed a demon, and now you want the recognition and worship you deserve. Fine.
• LITERARY CULT   A subset of the above — you want your followers to focus on a teensy eensy bit of what literature is being generated. Whatever.
• POLITICAL CULT   A subset of the above — you want your followers to imbue you with vast temporal power, so that you may control others. Nice try.
• MAINSTREAM CULT   You want to expand the domain of your recognition to include a major portion of the populace, especially if they make contributions.
• SCIENTIFIC CULT   You want to promulgate some specific reality-notions, such as Zetetic Astronomy (Earth is flat) or Cretinism (Gods of creation are morons).
• DOOMSDAY CULT   You envision the total destruction of the world as we know it, all your critics and followers, and maybe yourself too. Sounds good to me!
• SACRIFICIAL CULT   Instead of destroying you and yours, you'd prefer just to take the lives of others, more worthy of meeting oblivion soon. Yeah sure.
• SEX CULT   You and your members want lots of (sacred) sex. OK.

Your cult may have very limited purposes, like garnering numerous members, letting the leader fock and/or fock over those as are wanted, and evading taxes. Or your cult may wish to extend its control over greater portions of the temporal & spiritual landscape, engulfing the bodies & minds & souls & banks of all who come near. Or you may wish to conquer and/or destroy the world, solar system, universe, reality. Or you may just want someone to take notice of your pathetic poetry, ignoring your physical and moral imperfections. Whatever.

If you aren't the center of attention, your cult may focus on any number of points. You may wish to venerate some religious and/or spiritual and/or fantasy figure of the past, present or future. You may wish to attribute all manner of weird abilities and characteristics to this figure, the more the merrier. Or you may venerate some idea, no matter how psychotic. The concept of eating holy hot peppers may fit the bill here. Or you may venerate a place, especially the first place where you got laid. Maybe you want to worship the bug that is eating into your brain, the alien implant that resides within your brain, the mind-control rays that are cooking your brain, or just the aesthetic excellence of your brain. Hey, GO for it!

This document is under development. Stay tuned for more...

CULT FICTION:
A WOMAN'S ADVENTURE INTO A TELEPHONE POLE CULT

She was born under a bad sign. Her mother was on crack, her father was chronically constipated, and she went to public schools. She was desperate, and she met a guy. A guy who loved telephone poles.

He seduced her and lured her into a dark world, a world of sacrifices to power lines and electrocutions, dancing around poles in the nude and drinking blood.

One day she realized that this was a little weird. She spoke to her lover dude about it. "O Master Woodpole, why are we doing all these things. I don't know about this Almighty Telephone Pole Creator and these prayers to Alexander Graham Bell.

"Don't you LOVE ME!!, he cried, "don't you care about the Pole Creator, are you under the power of the EVIL STREET LAMPSTRESS!! If you leave now.....

to be continued

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