Articles Index

Axis Mundi in Judeo-Christian Religions

The axis mundi is a central point within any given religion. Within the Judeo-Christian religions, the axis mundis are specific geographic locations, specifically the Temple Mount and Calvary in Jerusalem and the Kaaba in Mecca.

Axis Mundi in Alternative Religions

The axis mundi is a religion's concept of the center of the world and is a bridge between multiple realms, stretching from the physical world into the realms of spirits and gods. The religion itself in some way revolves around this point, stressing it in ritual and/or mythology.

Why Don't Some Religions Proselytize?

While people generally consider their religion a good aspect of their life, many do not feel a need to introduce others to it. While they may be open to teaching outsiders who seek them out, they frequently will not seek out potential new converts.

Black Sun

The Black Sun design originates from a floor design at Wewelsburg Castle, which was renovated by Heinrich Himmler during the Third Reich. It draws influence from older Germanic symbols of similar design.

Santeria

Santeria is an African Diaspora religion centered in Cuba. It recognizes a collection of deities known as orishas with whom human beings can interact. Santeria has gained notoriety for its practice of animal sacrifice, which provides blood to the orishas. Developed by slaves of Catholic masters, Santeria also commonly equates its orishas with Catholic saints, and believers in Santeria might also attend Catholic mass.

Swastika

While the swastika is almost entirely associated in the West today with the Nazis, the symbol actually has a long history across the globe representing concepts very different from those given by the Nazis.

Cult Suicides

The reality of mass suicide pacts within a small number of religious groups is the source of perhaps the greatest stigma facing new religions. The reality is terrifying, even though they are exceedingly rare. Why would any group think suicide to be the ultimate expression of faith?

Heaven's Gate

Heaven's Gate is most known for the mass suicide of 39 believers in 1997. What is far less known is that the Heaven's Gate community still exists and still teaches the messages of their now-dead founders.

Who is Satan?

Satan appears within multiple belief systems. Unfortunately, there is a common presumption that all of these Satanic figures must indeed be the same being, despite the fact that each religion has its own very unique perspective and description of him.

Fact, Fallacy or Hoax?

Religions bring with them a wealth of different spiritual experiences. The more inexplicable they are, however, the more people distrust them, despite the fact that religion is generally unprovable in any sort of objective, scientific way.

Plastic Shamans

A growing interest in Native American culture and religion and has created a mentality described as plastic shamanism. Plastic shamans are considered frauds by Native Americans. Often, plastic shamans peddle their knowledge for money, and their knowledge is generally shallow or even incorrect.

Rael: Claude Vorhilon

Claude Vorhilon, also known as Rael, in the founder of the Raelian Movement, which is based on the belief that humans were created in laboratories by an alien race known as the Elohim.

Shamanism

Shamans play a vital role in their communities, acting as intermediaries between the physical and spiritual worlds. They exist in animistic cultures, where objects in the physical world have spirit counterparts that can bring blessing or catastrophe upon the tribe. They are most commonly associated with Native American culture, although they can, in fact, be found in cultures all over the world.

Religion and Fiction

Religion is an important influence on my pieces of fiction. However, fiction can also be highly influential on religion. While fictional religion cannot be taken literally, many of the ethics, worldviews, practices and metaphysics can be (and are) adopted by people who find real world meaning in them.

Why is the Occult so Associated with Satanism?

For many people, the word occult is practically synonymous with Satanism. Not only is that a relatively recent phenomena, but it's not grounded in any fact. While Satanists do often participate in occult practices, they are a tiny fraction of occultists. Learn how this misleading connection developed.

Sweat Lodge

The sweat lodge is a widely used practice among Native Americans for both physical and spiritual purification and communion with spirits. Various modern, non-Native groups and individuals have also appropriated the ritual for their own uses, generally to the offense of Natives.

The Hexagram

The hexagram has possessed a variety of meanings over the last several thousand years. It shows up in Hindu artwork, occult works, Kabbalistic sources, and it is the modern symbol of the Jewish faith. There are two forms of the hexagram. The first is of two interlocking triangles. The second is a unicursal figure.

Lucifer of the Luciferians

Luciferianism is a very individualistic approach to religion. Here are examples of two individual Luciferians' beliefs concerning Lucifer.

An Introduction to Spiritualism

Spiritualism is a religion, as well as a philosophy and a science, revolving around the continued existence of the soul after death and the ability of humanity to communicate with and learn from these souls as they continue to learn, develop and evolve.

Gender in Western Occultism

Associating specific traits with gender is a common practice across cultures, even if the traits themselves sometimes vary from culture to culture. Within Western occultism, concepts of gender are important in a wide variety of branches, with some qualities being considered male and others being considered female.

Satanic Infernal Names

While LaVeyan Satanists are atheists, the Satanic Bible does list 78 "infernal names" and four "crown princes of hell" for ritual use. These names can represent forces the user wishes to tap, holding metaphorical meaning rather than literal ones. These names originate in multiple cultures, including Judeo-Christian, pagan Egyptian and pagan Greek.

Crown Princes of Hell

LaVeyan Satanism allegorically employs the names of dozens of demonic beings. Out of all those names, four are considered the most important of demons, the crown princes of Hell. They are Satan, Lucifer, Belial and Leviathan. These four figures correspond to the four cardinal points and the four elements, creating a Satanic framework for a common occult practice.

Alternative Religion Quick Reference Chart

Quick reference to alternative religions, including estimated number of members, founders, dates of foundation, and belief type.

Belief Types

Religions can be broken down into a number of broad categories based on general purposes and views of divinity. Here is a brief overview of some of these categories and how they are used in other articles on the Alternative Religion Guide Site.

Discordianism

Discordianism is a modern religion of chaos and irreverence. Some categorize it as a parody religion, although there are many adherents who draw some measure of meaning and philosophy from it's often deliberately ludicrous statements.