“Windows To Spirituality”
Religion Of Humanity The religion of Humanity (from French Religion de l’Humanité or église positiviste) is a secular religion created by Auguste Comte (1798–1857), the founder of positivist philosophy. Adherents of this religion have built chapels of Humanity in France and Brazil. In the United States and Europe, Comte’s ideas influenced others, and contributed to the emergence of ethical societies and...
Freemasonry Freemasonry or Masonry consists of fraternal organisations that trace their origins to the local fraternities of stonemasons that from the end of the fourteenth century regulated the qualifications of stonemasons and their interaction with authorities and clients. Modern Freemasonry broadly consists of two main recognition groups. Regular Freemasonry insists that a volume...
Neoshamanism Neoshamanism refers to “new” forms of shamanism, or methods of seeking visions or healing. Neoshamanism comprises an eclectic range of beliefs and practices that involve attempts to attain altered states and communicate with a spirit world. Neoshamanic systems may not resemble traditional forms of shamanism. Some have been invented by individual...
Eckankar Eckankar is a religion founded by Paul Twitchell in 1965. It is a non-profit religious group with members in over one hundred countries. The spiritual home is the Temple of Eck in Chanhassen, Minnesota. Eckankar is not affiliated with any other religious group. The movement teaches simple spiritual exercises, such as singing “Hu“, called “a love song to...
Raëlism Raëlism, also known as Raëlianism, is a UFO religion that was founded in 1970s France by Claude Vorilhon, now known as Raël. Scholars of religion classify Raëlism as a new religious movement. The group is formalised as the International Raëlian Movement (IRM) or Raëlian Church, a hierarchical organisation under Raël’s leadership. Raëlism teaches that an extraterrestrial species known as...
Vampire The modern day term, Vampire (derivative of the German vampir), usually refers to mythological or folkloric beings that subsist on the life force of a human being and/or animal. In most cases, vampires are represented as reanimated corpses who feed by draining and consuming the blood of living beings. The word “vampire” is mentioned in Babylonian demonology, and the even more...
Baphomet Baphomet is a deity that the Knights Templar were accused of worshipping, and that subsequently was incorporated into occult and mystical traditions. The name Baphomet appeared in trial transcripts for the Inquisition of the Knights Templar starting in 1307. It first came into popular English usage in the 19th...
Contemporary Religious Satanism Contemporary Religious Satanism: A Critical Anthology is an academic anthology published by Ashgate in 2009 and edited by the Norwegian religious studies scholar Jesper Aa. Petersen. Containing eight separate papers produced by various scholars working in the field of Satanism studies, the book examines different forms of Satanism as practiced in...
Witch-cult Hypothesis The witch-cult hypothesis is a discredited theory which proposes that the witch trials of the Early Modern period were an attempt to suppress a pre-Christian, pagan religion that had survived the Christianisation of Europe. According to its proponents, this witch-cult revolved around the worship of a Horned God of fertility whom the Christian persecutors referred...
European Witchcraft European witchcraft can be traced to classical antiquity and has a continuous history during the Middle Ages, culminating in the Early Modern witch hunts and giving rise to the fairy tale and popular culture “witch” stock character of modern times, as well as to the concept of the...
The Satanic Bible The Satanic Bible is a collection of essays, observations, and rituals published by Anton LaVey in 1969. It is the central religious text of LaVeyan Satanism, and is considered the foundation of its philosophy and dogma. It has been described as the most important document to influence...
Maleficium (sorcery) Maleficium (plural: maleficia) as a Latin term, “An act of witchcraft performed with the intention of causing damage or injury; the resultant harm.” In general, the term applies to any magical act intended to cause harm or death to people or property. Its use in English comes from “Early 17th century; earliest...
The Satanic Temple The Satanic Temple is a nontheistic religious and political activist group based in Salem, Massachusetts. The Temple has chapters in 13 US states and in Canada The group uses Satanic imagery to promote egalitarianism, social justice, and the separation of church and state. Their stated mission is “to encourage benevolence and empathy among...
Parody Religion A parody religion or mock religion is a belief system that challenges the spiritual convictions of others, often through humor, satire, or burlesque (literary ridicule). Often constructed to achieve a specific purpose related to another belief system, a parody religion can be a parody of several religions, sects, gurus, cults, or new religious movements at the same time, or even a parody...
Juche Juche (주체/主體, “self-reliance“) is the official ideology of North Korea, described by the government as “Kim Il-sung‘s original, brilliant and revolutionary contribution to national and international thought”. It postulates that “man is the master of his destiny”, that the Korean masses are to act as the “masters of the revolution and construction” and that...
Native American Church The Native American Church (NAC), also known as Peyotism and Peyote Religion, is a Native American religion that teaches a combination of traditional Native American beliefs and Christianity, with sacramental use of the entheogen peyote. The religion originated in the Oklahoma Territory (1890-1907) in the late nineteenth century, after peyote was...
Church Of Divine Science The Church of Divine Science is a religious movement within the wider New Thought movement. The group was formalized in San Francisco in the 1880s under Malinda Cramer. “In March 1888 Cramer and her husband Frank chartered the ‘Home College of Spiritual Science’. Two months later Cramer changed the name...
Progressive Reconstructionism Progressive Reconstructionism is a loosely-knit interfaith community found primarily in the developed world. It comprises activist adherents of Reconstructionist Judaism (and of some other Jewish traditions), the Christian left, progressive Hindus, Buddhists. Muslims, left-leaning Neopagans, Wiccans, and members of other faiths. This community also includes progressives who follow a spiritual practice but...
Hellenism Hellenism (the Hellenic ethnic religion, also commonly known as Hellenismos, Hellenic Polytheism, Dodekatheism, or Olympianism, comprises various religious movements which revive or reconstruct ancient Greek religious practices, and which have publicly emerged since the 1990s. The Hellenic religion builds on traditional religion and on a traditional way of life, revolving around the Greek Gods,...
Nontheism Nontheism or non-theism is a range of both religious and nonreligious attitudes characterized by the absence of espoused belief in a God or gods. Nontheism has generally been used to describe apathy or silence towards the subject of God and differs from an antithetical, explicit atheism. Nontheism does not necessarily describe atheism or disbelief in God; it...
