73-468: Kunapipi , also spelt Gunabibi , ('womb') is a mother goddess and the patron deity of many heroes in Australian Aboriginal mythology . Kunapipi gave birth to human beings as well as to most animals and plants. Now a vague, otiose , spiritual being, "the old woman" ( Kadjeri ) once emerged from the waters and travelled across the land with a band of heroes and heroines, and during
146-638: A charismatic leader who tightly controls its members. It is in some contexts a pejorative term, also used for new religious movements and other social groups which are defined by their unusual religious , spiritual , or philosophical beliefs and rituals , or their common interest in a particular person, object, or goal . This sense of the term is weakly defined – having divergent definitions both in popular culture and academia – and has also been an ongoing source of contention among scholars across several fields of study. According to Susannah Crockford, "[t]he word ‘cult’
219-536: A polygynous relationship. Zahng Gil-jah is a South Korean woman, by the World Mission Society Church of God believed to be “God the Mother” ( Korean : 어머니 하나님 ; RR : Eomeoni Hananim ; Korean pronunciation: [ʌmʌɲi hanaɲim] ). Church members may also call her “ New Jerusalem Mother”, “Mother Jerusalem”, or “Heavenly Mother”. In Theosophy ,
292-489: A rational choice . The application of the labels cult or sect to religious movements in government documents signifies the popular and negative use of the term cult in English and a functionally similar use of words translated as 'sect' in several European languages. Sociologists critical to this negative politicized use of the word cult argue that it may adversely impact the religious freedoms of group members. At
365-515: A "cult movement" is an actual complete organization, differing from a "sect" in that it is not a splinter of a bigger religion, while "audience cults" are loosely organized, and propagated through media, and "client cults" offer services (i.e. psychic readings or meditation sessions). One type can turn into another, for example the Church of Scientology changing from audience to client cult. Sociologists who follow their definition tend to continue using
438-559: A Mother Letter, and every word uttered by Him Who is the Well Spring of Divine Revelation is a Mother Word, and His Tablet a Mother Tablet." There is difference of opinion between the academic and the popular conception of the term Mother goddess . The popular view is mainly driven by the Goddess movement and reads that primitive societies initially were matriarchal , worshipping a sovereign, nurturing, motherly earth goddess . This
511-478: A complementary masculine form with Djanggawul , a female figure. According to Tony Swain, Kunapipi traditions, especially regarding her northern origins, reflect the impact of Sulawesi/Macassar influences, via contacts with trepang traders, and possibly the pre-Islamic rice mother cult, which survived down to modern times among the Toraja and Bugis . This article relating to a myth or legend from Australia
584-404: A continuity with traditional beliefs and practices, whereas cults arise spontaneously around novel beliefs and practices. Scholars William Sims Bainbridge and Rodney Stark have argued for a further distinction between three kinds of cults: cult movements, client cults, and audience cults, all of which share a "compensator" or rewards for the things invested into the group. In their typology,
657-428: A cult by the media, government and former members is a significant factor as to what lead to the deaths. The term was noted to carry "considerable cultural legitimacy". In the 1970s, with the rise of secular anti-cult movements , scholars (though not the general public) began to abandon the use of the term cult , regarding it as pejorative. By the end of the 1970s, the term cult was largely replaced in academia with
730-519: A cult may be a common occurrence, but it is not scholarship". However, it has also been viewed as empowering for ex-members of groups that have experienced trauma. Religious scholar Catherine Wessinger argued the term was dehumanizing of the people within the group, as well as their children; following the Waco siege , it was argued by some scholars that the defining of the Branch Davidians as
803-691: A destructive cult by "anticult crusaders." In 2002, the German government was held by the Federal Constitutional Court to have defamed the Osho movement by referring to it, among other things, as a "destructive cult" with no factual basis. Some researchers have criticized the term destructive cult , writing that it is used to describe groups which are not necessarily harmful in nature to themselves or others. In his book Understanding New Religious Movements , John A. Saliba writes that
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#1732765102586876-408: A female-dominated one). That this form of society ever existed was supposedly supported by many figurines that were found. In academic circles, this prehistoric matriarchy is considered unlikely. Firstly, worshiping a mother goddess does not necessarily mean that women ruled society. In addition, the figurines can also portray ordinary women or goddesses, and it is unclear whether there really ever
949-488: A few of the figurines were identified as female and these figurines were found not so much in sacred spaces, but seemed to have been discarded randomly, sometimes in garbage heaps. This rendered a cult of the mother goddess in this location as unlikely. In Egyptian mythology , sky goddess Nut is sometimes called "Mother" because she bore stars and Sun god . Nut was thought to draw the dead into her star-filled sky, and refresh them with food and wine. In Kongo religion ,
1022-489: A part of the collective unconscious of all humans; various adherents of Jung, most notably Erich Neumann and Ernst Whitmont , have argued that such an archetype underpins many of its own mythologies and may even precede the image of the paternal "father." Such speculations help explain the universality of such mother goddess imagery around the world. The Upper Paleolithic Venus figurines have been sometimes explained as depictions of an Earth Goddess similar to Gaia. In
1095-485: A series of excavations at Çatalhöyük , north of the Taurus Mountains in a fertile agricultural region of South- Anatolia . Striking were the many statues found here, which Mellaart suggested represented a Great goddess, who headed the pantheon of an essentially matriarchal culture. A seated female figure, flanked by what Mellaart describes as lionesses , was found in a grain-bin; she may have intended to protect
1168-823: Is a Pater Noster but no equivalent Mater Nostra , however the Hail Mary and the Sub Tuum Praesidium have been popular forms of prayer and praise to Virgin Mary for many centuries. Some may perceive a parallel in calling Mary "Our Mother" and the Almighty Yahweh as "Our Father". In contrast to the Pagan notion of a fertility goddess , Mary is both the Perpetual Virgin and the Mother of God at
1241-404: Is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . This article about a deity is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Mother goddess A mother goddess is a major goddess characterized as a mother or progenitor, either as an embodiment of motherhood and fertility or fulfilling the cosmological role of a creator- and/or destroyer-figure, typically associated
1314-599: Is a cult with a primary interest in political action and ideology . Groups that some have described as "political cults", mostly advocating far-left or far-right agendas, have received some attention from journalists and scholars. In their 2000 book On the Edge: Political Cults Right and Left , Dennis Tourish and Tim Wohlforth discuss about a dozen organizations in the United States and Great Britain that they characterize as cults. In
1387-509: Is a shapeshifter, semantically morphing with the intentions of whoever uses it. As an analytical term, it resists rigorous definition." She argued that the least subjective definition of cult referred to a religion or religion-like group "self-consciously building a new form of society", but that the rest of society rejected as unacceptable. The term cult has been criticized as lacking "scholarly rigour"; Benjamin E. Zeller stated "[l]abelling any group with which one disagrees and considers deviant as
1460-437: Is considered to be one of the most important and widely cited studies of the process of religious conversion. J. Gordon Melton stated that, in 1970, "one could count the number of active researchers on new religions on one's hands." However, James R. Lewis writes that the "meteoric growth" in this field of study can be attributed to the cult controversy of the early 1970s. Because of "a wave of nontraditional religiosity" in
1533-432: Is considered to be the motive force behind all action and existence in the phenomenal cosmos. The cosmos itself is purusha , the unchanging, infinite, immanent, and transcendent reality that is the divine ground of all being, the "world soul". This masculine potential is actualized by feminine dynamism, embodied in multitudinous goddesses who are ultimately all manifestations of the one great mother. Shakti, herself, can free
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#17327651025861606-404: Is conventional within its culture, is related to a particular figure, and is frequently associated with a particular place, or generally the collective participation in rites of religion. References to the imperial cult of ancient Rome , for example, use the word in this sense. A derived sense of "excessive devotion" arose in the 19th century, and usage is not always strictly religious. The term
1679-458: Is highly unlikely that such a civilization ever existed. For a long time, feminist authors claimed that these peaceful, matriarchal agrarian societies were exterminated or subjugated by nomadic, patriarchal warrior tribes. An important contribution to this was that of archaeologist Marija Gimbutas . Her work in this field has been questioned. Among feminist archaeologists this vision is nowadays also considered highly controversial. Since
1752-428: Is mostly evangelical protestants. The Christian countercult movement asserts that Christian groups whose teachings deviate from the belief that the bible is inerrant, but also focuses on non-Christian religions like Hinduism. Christian countercult activist writers also emphasize the need for Christians to evangelize to followers of cults. Starting in the late 1960s, a different strand of anti-cult groups arose, with
1825-435: Is sometimes presented in contrast to a "benign cult", which implies that not all "cults" would be harmful, though others apply it to all cults. Psychologist Michael Langone , executive director of the anti-cult group International Cultic Studies Association , defines a destructive cult as "a highly manipulative group which exploits and sometimes physically and/or psychologically damages members and recruits." In Cults and
1898-581: Is variously applied to abusive or coercive groups of many categories, including gangs, organized crime, and terrorist organizations. Sociological classifications of religious movements may identify a cult as a social group with socially deviant or novel beliefs and practices, although this is often unclear. Other researchers present a less-organized picture of cults, saying that they arise spontaneously around novel beliefs and practices. Cults have been compared to miniature totalitarian political systems. Such groups are typically perceived as being led by
1971-555: The APA Task Force on Deceptive and Indirect Methods of Persuasion and Control , literature from previous court cases in which brainwashing theories were used, and expert testimonies which were delivered by scholars such as Dick Anthony . The governments of France and Belgium have taken policy positions which accept "brainwashing" theories uncritically, while the governments of other European nations, such as those of Sweden and Italy, are cautious with regard to brainwashing and as
2044-577: The Assumption in the west and the Dormition in the east. As the foremost saint , some Christians believe she continues to supernaturally intervene in the world through Marian apparitions ( Our Lady of Velankanni ), Marian shrines ( Our Lady of Zeitoun ) and Marian devotions ( Our Lady of the Rosary ). According to Mariology and Scholasticism branches of study, though Mary is venerated as
2117-621: The Baháʼí Faith , Baha'u'llah uses the Mother as an attribute of God: "And when He Who is well-grounded in all knowledge, He Who is the Mother, the Soul, the Secret, and the Essence thereof, revealeth that which is the least contrary to their desire, they bitterly oppose Him and shamelessly deny Him.". Baha'u'llah further writes that "Every single letter proceeding out of the mouth of God is indeed
2190-820: The Catholic Church and the Orthodox Church revere Virgin Mary as the Mother of God, a rendering of Theotokos and Deipara since the Ecumenical Council of Ephesus in 431 AD, and disregard Protestant objections to Marian devotion . She is regarded as "Our Mother", the Blessed Mother , or the Holy Mother as she gave birth to Jesus Christ , since Christians alike refer to themselves as " Brothers and Sisters in Christ ". There
2263-651: The God-man of Christianity . In the Latter Day Saint movement , particularly the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints , many adherents believe in a Heavenly Mother as the wife of God the Father. They are collectively referred to as Heavenly Parents . The theology varies, however, according to the Latter Day Saint denomination . Some believe in multiple Heavenly Mothers married to one Heavenly Father in
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2336-484: The Jehovah's Witnesses , and other sects which were loosely referred to as " neo-Pentecostals ". In the 1970s, the scientific status of the " brainwashing theory " became a central topic in U.S. court cases where the theory was used to try to justify the use of the forceful deprogramming of cult members Meanwhile, sociologists who were critical of these theories assisted advocates of religious freedom in defending
2409-764: The Proto-Indo-European sphere (i.e. from Dheghom and Dyeus ). In some polytheistic cultures, such as the Ancient Egyptian religion which narrates the cosmic egg myth, the sky is instead seen as the Heavenly Mother or Sky Mother as in Nut and Hathor , and the earth god is regarded as the male, paternal, and terrestrial partner, as in Osiris or Geb who hatched out of the maternal cosmic egg . Between 1961 and 1965 James Mellaart led
2482-841: The Russian Interior Ministry prepared a list of "extremist groups". At the top of the list were Islamic groups outside of "traditional Islam", which is supervised by the Russian government. Next listed were " Pagan cults ". In 2009 the Russian Ministry of Justice created a council which it named the "Council of Experts Conducting State Religious Studies Expert Analysis." The new council listed 80 large sects which it considered potentially dangerous to Russian society, and it also mentioned that there were thousands of smaller ones. The large sects which were listed included: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints ,
2555-522: The Sky Mother , Nzambici , was the female counterpart of the Sky Father and Solar god , Nzambi Mpungu . Originally, they were seen as one spirit with one half male and the other half female. After the introduction of Christianity to Central Africa , the description of Nzambi changed to Creator God and Nzambici to his wife, "God the essence, the god on earth, the great princess, the mother of all
2628-614: The ancestral period she gave birth to men and women as well as creating the natural species. She could transform herself either into a male or female version of the Rainbow Serpent . The Kunapipi cult seems to have arisen among tribes in the Roper and Rose River areas. In the Alawa version, she is said to have emerged from the waters. From there, it is thought to have gradually spread north-east into Arnhem Land , where it existed as
2701-530: The court case of United States v. Fishman (1990) ended the usage of brainwashing theories by expert witnesses such as Margaret Singer and Richard Ofshe . In the case's ruling, the court cited the Frye standard , which states that the scientific theory which is utilized by expert witnesses must be generally accepted in their respective fields. The court deemed brainwashing to be inadmissible in expert testimonies, using supporting documents which were published by
2774-542: The 1930s, new religious movements became an object of sociological study within the context of the study of religious behavior . Since the 1940s, the Christian countercult movement has opposed some sects and new religious movements, labeling them cults because of their unorthodox beliefs . Since the 1970s, the secular anti-cult movement has opposed certain groups, which they call cults, accusing them of practicing brainwashing . Groups labelled cults are found around
2847-463: The 1930s, new religious movements perceived as cults became an object of sociological study within the context of the study of religious behavior . The term saw its origins in the work of sociologist Max Weber (1864–1920). Weber is an important theorist in the academic study of cults, which often draws on his theorizations of charismatic authority , and of the distinction he drew between churches and sects . This concept of church-sect division
2920-433: The 1940s, the long-held opposition by some established Christian denominations to non-Christian religions and supposedly heretical or counterfeit Christian sects crystallized into a more organized Christian countercult movement in the United States. For those belonging to the movement, all religious groups claiming to be Christian, but deemed outside of Christian orthodoxy , were considered cults. The countercult movement
2993-455: The 1950s, American social psychologist Leon Festinger and his colleagues observed members of a small UFO religion called the Seekers for several months, and recorded their conversations both prior to and after a failed prophecy from their charismatic leader. Their work was later published in the book When Prophecy Fails: A Social and Psychological Study of a Modern Group that Predicted
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3066-409: The 1960s, especially in popular culture , the alleged worship of the mother goddess and the social position that women in prehistoric societies supposedly assumed, were linked. This made the debate a political one. According to the goddess movement, the current male-dominated society should return to the egalitarian matriarchy of earlier times (though a matriarchy is not an egalitarian society, but
3139-657: The Creatress of all life. She is associated with the full moon and stars, the Earth , and the sea. In Wicca , the Earth Goddess is sometimes called Gaia . The name of the mother goddess varies depending on the Wiccan tradition. English historian Ronald Hutton, however, has forcefully stated that any use of the term "Mother-Goddess" can be accounted for, and disregarded, as the scholars and mythographers' own projection of
3212-513: The Destruction of the World . In the late 1980s, doomsday cults were a major topic of news reports, with some reporters and commentators considering them a serious threat to society. A 1997 psychological study by Festinger, Riecken, and Schachter found that people turned to a cataclysmic world view after they had repeatedly failed to find meaning in mainstream movements. A political cult
3285-480: The Earth goddess is called the " Planetary Logos of Earth ". The Mother Goddess, or Great Goddess , is a composite of various feminine deities from past and present world cultures, worshiped by modern Wicca and others broadly known as Neopagans. She is considered sometimes identified as a Triple Goddess , who takes the form of Maiden, Mother, and Crone archetypes . She is described as Mother Earth, Mother Nature, or
3358-533: The Earth, sky, and/or the life-giving bounties thereof in a maternal relation with humanity or other gods. When equated in this lattermost function with the earth or the natural world, such goddesses are sometimes referred to as the Mother Earth or Earth Mother , deity in various animistic or pantheistic religions. The earth goddess is archetypally the wife or feminine counterpart of the Sky Father or Father Heaven , particularly in theologies derived from
3431-454: The Family , the authors cite Shapiro, who defines a destructive cultism as a sociopathic syndrome , whose distinctive qualities include: "behavioral and personality changes , loss of personal identity , cessation of scholastic activities, estrangement from family, disinterest in society and pronounced mental control and enslavement by cult leaders." Writing about Bruderhof communities in
3504-460: The Virgin Mary onto the evidence and source data. More recently Hutton was criticized in a review for ignoring the evidence of numerous goddesses identified as either mothers or both virgin and mother in pre-Christian antiquity, in addition to providing no evidence or secondary citations with which to substantiate his own position. Carl Gustav Jung suggested that the archetypal mother was
3577-605: The activities of Unification Church members in California in trying to promote their beliefs and win new members. Lofland noted that most of their efforts were ineffective and that most of the people who joined did so because of personal relationships with other members, often family relationships. Lofland published his findings in 1964 as a doctoral thesis entitled "The World Savers: A Field Study of Cult Processes", and in 1966 in book form by as Doomsday Cult: A Study of Conversion, Proselytization and Maintenance of Faith . It
3650-671: The activities of a very small minority of new religious groups, mass culture often extends them to any religious group viewed as culturally deviant , however peaceful or law abiding it may be. While some psychologists were receptive to these theories, sociologists were for the most part sceptical of their ability to explain conversion to NRMs . In the late 1980s, psychologists and sociologists started to abandon theories like brainwashing and mind control. While scholars may believe that various less dramatic coercive psychological mechanisms could influence group members, they came to see conversion to new religious movements principally as an act of
3723-620: The animals, and the mystery of the Earth." In Hinduism , Saraswati , Lakshmi , Radha , Parvati , Durga and other goddesses represents both the feminine aspect and the shakti (power) of the supreme being known as the Brahman . The divine mother goddess, manifests herself in various forms, representing the universal creative force . She becomes Mother Nature (Mula Prakriti), who gives birth to all life forms and nourishes them through her body. Ultimately she re-absorbs all life forms back into herself, or "devours" them to sustain herself as
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#17327651025863796-611: The book Misunderstanding Cults , Julius H. Rubin said that American religious innovation created an unending diversity of sects. These "new religious movements…gathered new converts and issued challenges to the wider society. Not infrequently, public controversy, contested narratives and litigation result." In his work Cults in Context author Lorne L. Dawson writes that although the Unification Church "has not been shown to be violent or volatile," it has been described as
3869-423: The classification of a religion as xiejiao did not necessarily mean that a religion's teachings were believed to be false or inauthentic; rather, the label was applied to religious groups that were not authorized by the state, or it was applied to religious groups that were believed to challenge the legitimacy of the state. Groups branded xiejiao face suppression and punishment by authorities. In 2008
3942-589: The foremost saint, she is still a creature and never viewed as an equal of the Triune God who is the Creator . In pre-Islamic Arabia , Collyridians were an unorthodox Christian denomination who reportedly worshipped Virgin Mary by making burnt offerings of dough to her. Ancient Christians viewed the Collyridians as heretics, holding that Mary was only to be honoured, and not to be worshipped like
4015-567: The formation of the secular anti-cult movement (ACM). This was in response to the rise of new religions in the 1960s and 1970s, particularly the events at Jonestown and the deaths of nearly 1000 people. The organizations that formed the secular anti-cult movement (ACM) often acted on behalf of relatives of "cult" converts who did not believe their loved ones could have altered their lives so drastically by their own free will . A few psychologists and sociologists working in this field suggested that brainwashing techniques were used to maintain
4088-622: The groups. Since the 2000s, some governments have again distanced themselves from such classifications of religious movements. While the official response to new religious groups has been mixed across the globe, some governments aligned more with the critics of these groups to the extent of distinguishing between "legitimate" religion and "dangerous", "unwanted" cults in public policy . For centuries, governments in China have categorized certain religions as xiéjiào ( 邪教 ), translated as "evil cults" or " heterodox teachings ". In imperial China ,
4161-463: The harvest and grain. He considered the sites as shrines , with especially the Seated Woman of Çatalhöyük capturing the imagination. There was also a large number of sexless figurines, which Mellaart regarded as typical for a society dominated by women: Emphasis on sex in art is invariably connected with male impulse and desire. The idea that there could have been a matriarchy and a cult of
4234-555: The height of the counter-cult movement and ritual abuse scare of the 1990s, some governments published lists of cults. Groups labelled "cults" are found around the world and range in size from local groups with a few members to international organizations with millions. While these documents utilize similar terminology, they do not necessarily include the same groups nor is their assessment of these groups based on agreed criteria. Other governments and world bodies also report on new religious movements but do not use these terms to describe
4307-553: The individual from demons of ego, ignorance, and desire that bind the soul in maya (illusion) . Practitioners of the Tantric tradition focus on Shakti to free themselves from the cycle of karma . The worship of the mother deity can be traced back to early Vedic culture. The Rigveda calls the divine female power Mahimata (R.V. 1.164.33) which means "great mother". Although no Mother Goddess exists in Christianity, both
4380-435: The late 1960s and early 1970s, academics perceived new religious movements as different phenomena from previous religious innovations. Destructive cult is a term frequently used by the anti-cult movement . Members of the anti-cult movement typically define a destructive cult as a group that is unethical, deceptive, and one that uses "strong influence" or mind control techniques to affect critical thinking skills. This term
4453-619: The legitimacy of new religious movements in court. In the United States the religious activities of cults are protected under the First Amendment of the United States Constitution , which prohibits governmental establishment of religion and protects freedom of religion , freedom of speech , freedom of the press , and freedom of assembly ; however, no members of religious groups or cults are granted any special immunity from criminal prosecution . In 1990,
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#17327651025864526-609: The loyalty of cult members. The belief that cults brainwashed their members became a unifying theme among cult critics and in the more extreme corners of the anti-cult movement techniques like the sometimes forceful " deprogramming " of cult members was practised. In the mass media , and among average citizens, "cult" gained an increasingly negative connotation, becoming associated with things like kidnapping , brainwashing, psychological abuse , sexual abuse , and other criminal activity , and mass suicide . While most of these negative qualities usually have real documented precedents in
4599-570: The mother goddess was supported by archaeologist Marija Gimbutas . This gave rise to a modern cult of the Mother Goddess with annual pilgrimages being organized at Çatalhöyük. Since 1993, excavations were resumed, now headed by Ian Hodder with Lynn Meskell as head of the Stanford Figurines Project that examined the figurines of Çatalhöyük. This team came to different conclusions than Gimbutas and Mellaart. Only
4672-420: The power of death feeding on life to produce new life. She also gives rise to Maya (the illusory world) and to prakriti , the force that galvanizes the divine ground of existence into self-projection as the cosmos . The Shakti sect is strongly associated with Samkhya , and Tantra Hindu philosophies and ultimately, is monist . The primordial feminine creative-preservative-destructive energy, Shakti ,
4745-537: The private nature of personal beliefs. Later sociological formulations built on such characteristics, placing an additional emphasis on cults as deviant religious groups, "deriving their inspiration from outside of the predominant religious culture." This is often thought to lead to a high degree of tension between the group and the more mainstream culture surrounding it, a characteristic shared with religious sects. According to this sociological terminology, sects are products of religious schism and therefore maintain
4818-635: The same time, she is not considered the "Heavenly Mother" in reference to God the Father or the "Heavenly Father" as her consort . St Mary has never been referred to as a goddess in the Gospel 's accounts of the Annunciation , Wedding at Cana , or the Magnificat . Since the Apostolic age the church has believed that Mary entered heaven alive after her death and subsequent resurrection , known as
4891-405: The term "new religion" or " new religious movement ". Other proposed alternative terms that have seen use were "emergent religion", "alternative religious movement", or "marginal religious movement", though new religious movement is the most popular term. The anti-cult movement mostly regards the term "new religious movement" as a euphemism for cult that hides their harmful nature. Beginning in
4964-504: The term is overgeneralized. Saliba sees the Peoples Temple as the "paradigm of a destructive cult", where those that use the term are implying that other groups will also commit mass suicide . Doomsday cult is an expression which is used to describe groups that believe in apocalypticism and millenarianism , and it can also be used to refer both to groups that predict disaster , and groups that attempt to bring it about. In
5037-399: The word "cult", unlike most other academics; however Bainbridge later stated he regretted having used the word at all. Stark and Bainbridge, in discussing the process by which individuals join new religious groups, have even questioned the utility of the concept of conversion , suggesting that affiliation is a more useful concept. In the early 1960s, sociologist John Lofland studied
5110-530: The world and range in size from small localized groups to some international organizations with up to millions of members. In the English-speaking world, the term cult often carries derogatory connotations. The word "cult" is derived from the Latin term cultus , which means worship. An older sense of the word cult, which is not pejorative, indicates a set of religious devotional practices that
5183-586: Was a mother goddess. Cult#Scholarly studies Cult is a term often applied to new religious movements and other social groups which have unusual, and often extreme, religious , spiritual , or philosophical beliefs and rituals . Extreme devotion to a particular person, object, or goal is another characteristic often ascribed to cults. The term has different, and sometimes divergent or pejorative , definitions both in popular culture and academia and has been an ongoing source of contention among scholars across several fields of study. Beginning in
5256-460: Was based upon the nineteenth-century ideas of unilineal evolution of Johann Jakob Bachofen . According to the academic view, however, both Bachofen and the modern Goddess theories are a projection of contemporary world views on ancient myths, rather than attempting to understand the mentalité of that time. Often this is accompanied by a desire for a lost civilization from a bygone era that would have been just, peaceful, and wise. However, it
5329-469: Was further elaborated upon by German theologian Ernst Troeltsch , who added a "mystical" categorization to define more personal religious experiences. American sociologist Howard P. Becker further bisected Troeltsch's first two categories: church was split into ecclesia and denomination ; and sect into sect and cult . Like Troeltsch's "mystical religion", Becker's cult refers to small religious groups that lack in organization and emphasize
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