Alternative Religions A-Z
Asatru
An introduction to Asatru, including basic beliefs.
Alternative Religion Quick Reference Chart
Quick reference to alternative religions, including estimated number of members, founders, dates of foundation, and belief type.
Baha'i Faith
An introduction to the Baha'i Faith, including basic beliefs and practices.
Deism
Deism is not a specific religion but rather a particular perspective on the nature of God. Deists believe that a creator god does exist, but that after the motions of the universe were set in place he retreated, having no further interaction with the created universe or the beings within it.
Wicca
An introduction to Wicca, including basic beliefs and practices.
Jedi Religion (Jediism)
An introduction to Jedi Religion or Jediism, including basic beliefs and practices.
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.
Paths of the Western Occult Tradition
The following is a partial list of paths within the Western Occult Tradition . Many occultists follow practices involving aspects of multiple paths. This makes generalizing about the occult extremely difficult and is the reason I find it more helpful to describe individual occult paths. In addition, not all followers of these paths label the
Luciferians and How They Differ from Satanists
While Luciferians and Satanists both employ terms commonly associated with the Devil, they are not the same. Learn the similarities and differences between the two groups, as well as what they generally believe.
Raelian Movement
An introduction to the Raelian Movement, including basic beliefs and practices.
Occultism - Western Occult Tradition
Rumor, conspiracy theories and Hollywood have created a very warped image of occult studies, leading many to use the word as synonymous with black magic and demon worship. In truth, the occult is something both much more general and much less inherently threatening. The word literally means hidden, and occultists in the most general sense...
Multi-Faith Comparisons of Religions
A variety of quick comparisons between a variety of different religions, helping to illustrate both similarities and differences across different faiths.
LaVeyan Satanism, Theistic Satanism and Luciferianism
An overview on the types of Satanism and Luciferianism, including links to more information on these different forms.
African Diaspora Religions
When African slaves were brought to the New World, they brought their religions with them. Different tribes practices different religions, and slaves were sent to many different locations in the New World. As such, a variety of New World religions developed based on various aspects of tribal African religions and Catholicism, the primary...
Eckankar
Eckankar means "Co-Worker with God." It is a 20th century, monotheistic religion that posits that every human soul is a fragment of God. Eckankar practices heighten awareness of the ECK, or divine spirit, understood as the light and sound of God. The ECK is a bridge between human souls and God, and awareness of it brings spiritual...
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...
The Peoples Temple
The Peoples Temple is one of the most well known suicide cults, killing over 900 people in Jonestown in 1978. But before it became a symbol of religion gone wrong, it was a charitable organization that provided for the poor and embraced the disenfranchised.
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...
Tenrikyo
Tenrikyo is a monotheistic religion originating in Japan. Its central principle is striving for and embracing a state known as the Joyous Life, which is also the original and intended state of mankind. Founded in the 19th century, it is commonly considered a new religious movement.
Native American Church (and Peyote Use)
The Native American Church is a fusion of traditional Native American beliefs and Christianity. Central to its practices is the use of the drug peyote, which comes from a particular cactus plant.
Theistic Satanism
Theistic Satanism encompasses a variety of related beliefs honoring a figure addresses as Satan or associated with Satan. In contrast to LaVeyan Satanism, which is atheistic and considers Satan merely a symbol for what their faith encourages, theistic Satanists view Satan as an actual being. Theistic Satanism is largely a development of the...
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.
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.
The Students of the Seven Seals aka Koreshians
The Waco group most commonly known as "Branch Davidians" were, in fact, an offshoot of the Branch Davidians, professing radically different beliefs from the parent faith. In both its behavior and its ultimate demise in a 1993 fire, the Waco group was clearly an apocalyptic cult.