The most unusual religion. The most unknown religions in the world. The African Dogon tribe living in the southeast of Mali considers Sirius to be their supreme deity.

Most people are familiar with the world's most widespread religions; Christianity, Judaism, Hinduism, Islam, etc.

12 PHOTOS

1. Raelites.

Also known as the Rael Movement, this is a UFO-based religion. Founded in 1974 by a former French journalist named Claude Vorilhon.

The religion is based on the belief that alien scientists from another planet came to Earth to create life thousands of years ago.

2. Scientology.

One of the most recognized religions, not counting the most widespread. It was founded by science fiction author Ron Hubbard in 1954. The goal is to study the true spiritual nature of people and their relationship with themselves, with their families, with other groups, other life forms, the spiritual universe and the spiritual being.

3. Saturday.

It is a religious movement based on spontaneous and ecstatic exercises. Founded by Indonesian spiritual leader Muhammad Subuh in the 1920s. The cult was originally limited to Indonesia but migrated around the world in the 50s.

4. Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster.

Also known as Pastafarianism. This belief began as a false religion based on an open letter to the Kansas School Board protesting the teaching of intelligent design.

It started out as a joke, but has been recognized as a true religion in the Netherlands and New Zealand, and to be honest, it sounds like a lot of fun.

5. Jediism.

Did you feel it was coming? This religious movement is followed by thousands of fans of Star wars» around the world and the cult includes the teachings of the Jedi. They believe that the Force does indeed exist in the universe. Since 2013, the religion has been the seventh largest religion in the UK.

6. Aghori.

This is a dangerous Hindu cult that is shunned by the rest of religious society in general, for a terrible reason.

Aghori practice horrifying rituals that include living in cemeteries and feasting on human flesh. They also use human skulls as cups, eat live animals, and meditate on corpses for spiritual enlightenment.

7. Neo-druidism.

The cult has some of the characteristics of a religion from the Middle Ages.

This modern sect also includes shamanism, earth love, animism, pantheism, and belief in sacrifice and reincarnation.

8. Church of Maradona.

Many consider Maradona the greatest star football of all time and the people of Argentina (as well as Italy) worship the iconic star.

9. Movement of Prince Philip.

It is easily one of the most bizarre religions practiced by the Customa people in Vanuatu. They believe that Prince Philip is a divine being.

10. Zoroastrianism.

One of the oldest monotheistic religions in the world, it was founded by the prophet Zarathustra in ancient Iran over 3,500 years ago. For almost a millennium it was one of the most powerful religions in the world and was the official religion of Persia.

Today it has become one of the smallest religions, with only 100,000 followers worldwide.

11. Church of the Under-Wise.

The Church of the Under-Wise started out as another of those parody religions like Pastafarianism. Founded by American writer and filmmaker Ivan Stang in the 1970s, the church ignores the idea of absolute truths. Instead, they focus on an interpretive lifestyle based on a philosophy developed by JR "Bob" Hobbs, a reputed travel salesman since the 50s.

12. Church of Euthanasia.

Founded by Rev. Chris Korda and Pastor Robert Kimber in Boston back in 1992, this anti-human religion is helping solve all the problems of the world through voluntary population reduction.

"Save the planet - kill yourself" is the slogan of the church.

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In addition to the generally accepted and world-famous religions, there are a great many religious movements, which the ordinary European is unlikely to have ever heard of and is unlikely to encounter with them. And even for travel lovers who visit many exotic countries, these rarest religions are not available and almost always remain “behind the scenes”.

1. Jainism - one of the oldest religions in the world, originated around the 10th century BC in India. To date, there are about 4 million followers of Jainism, and most of them are Indians, who are called Jains.

Jainism is a fairly strict and ascetic religion, and is built on 5 rejections: Jains never kill, cheat, steal, do not own wealth and worldly things, and do not have sexual intercourse. The principle of non-killing is very important for Jain followers, who believe that even the most microscopic organism has a soul. Therefore, all Jains are strict vegetarians, their monks go barefoot and sweep the ground in front of them so as not to step on and kill innocent insects.

2. Zoroastrianism is the religion of the teachings of the great Iranian prophet Zoroaster, or Zarathushtra. This religion originated in the 1st millennium BC and its followers, about 160-200 thousand people, can be found in the USA and India. Despite the fact that there are not so many ascetics of this faith, the historical importance of Zoroastrianism is great, since many Western and Eastern religions still trace its influence. philosophical ideas, and its influence on the world more than the influence of any other religious system.

Followers of Zoroastrianism believe in a single god - Ahura Mazda, who opposes the forces of chaos. According to this belief, each person must resist the forces of evil with his good thoughts, words and all good deeds. And then, at the end of time, the coming of the savior will happen - Saoshyant, who will overthrow evil, resurrect all the dead and make the world perfect, as it was at the beginning of its creation.

3. Bahaism is a fairly young religion, it arose only in the 19th century of our time, it was founded by a Persian priest named Baha'u'llah.

From the Baha'i point of view, all the famous prophets of world religions - Buddha, Jesus and Muhammad - are only recognized to express different aspects of the Common God. Each of the messengers of God performed in its time and place the mission that was needed in a certain era of the spiritual development of mankind, but at the same time God is One for all.

Today, India is considered the largest center of Bahaism, where about 2.2 million followers of this religion live. Also, the United States and Iran are among the largest religious centers of Bahaism.

4. Yoruba as a religious practice appeared thanks to a group of African tribes that inhabited western Africa (modern Nigeria and Benin), before the first missionaries appeared in Africa. It is believed that the Yoruba is the second largest African religion, and it largely influenced the formation of other African American religious movements.

The main belief of this religion is that each person has a destiny destined for him - ayanmo, which he must follow in order to end life path connect with the Creator of the world - God Olodumare.

5. Mami Wata - Another of the African religions, which worship the water spirit - Mami Wata. This Goddess is of extraordinary beauty, has long hair and is often depicted surrounded by large snakes. According to the belief of the African tribes, Mami Wata sometimes kidnaps floating people, but does not harm him, but, on the contrary, bestows excellent health, demanding in return for this eternal devotion and worship to her. This cult is also found in parts of South and North America, and in the Caribbean.

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Hello friends! Today we will touch upon the topic of religions, but not in the style of a scientific publication, but consider the strangest religions from around the world, in an interesting and introductory way. Happy reading.

Religious questions do not cease to excite the minds of people, and discussions on this topic sometimes reach state proportions. For many people, religion serves as a wonderful tool for explaining the world order. But at the same time, it cannot be denied that bloody crimes are committed and wars are waged in the name of religious values and laws.

In addition to the most common (world) religions - Islam, Christianity and Buddhism, there are also smaller belief systems. Consider the strangest of them.

Ann Lee

In the US state of Maine, a group of seven people form a religious community of "shakers". The main act of worship among the Shakers is considered to be dancing, which is necessary for cleansing from sin.

However, according to rumors, the matter is not limited to this - religious dances are followed by orgies. Children from such intercourse are brought up collectively. Such a community was first organized in 1974 by Ann Lee, who considers herself a female version of Jesus Christ. However, the cult did not become widespread and did not find sympathizers outside its own country.

The followers of the cult of Jesus Christ - the Papuans from New Guinea are convinced that the whites stole their idea and changed its interpretation. In truth, the son of God was born a Papuan and someday will come to Earth to restore justice and turn whites into slaves. This cult has existed for 80 years.

The Dogon African tribe prays to the star Sirius, from which, according to their version, the divine progenitor flew in in the form of a half-man, half-snake. An interesting fact: the tribe knew that the star Sirius is a double star for many years before science confirmed this. However, researchers who paid attention to such a “discovery” of the Dogon did not reveal any secret knowledge from them.

The inhabitants of America, who make up the Heaven's Gate community, created by Marshal Applewhite, also believed in alien forces. According to their version, God and Lucifer represent the warring teams of aliens. To escape from evil, it was proposed to commit suicide.

After it, the alleged soul moves to "another dimension", in which it continues its asexual existence. Members of the sect led a Spartan lifestyle without any frills. During the day they worked hard to ensure the promotion of their ideas, and after dark they went outside to study the starry sky and wait for the aliens.

In March 1997, 39 members of this sect committed mass suicide using propane. Some of the men had been castrated before. There is evidence that those who said goodbye to life believed that their souls were sent to the spacecraft accompanying the Hale-Bopp comet.

god eater

Among the Indians, beliefs are also quite common, which may seem strange to an ordinary person.

For example, in Canada, some Indian tribes pray to the cannibal god Buxbakualanxwe. Thus, cannibalism does not shock them, but is considered normal.

Claude Rael

Again in Canada, fifty thousand people are supporters of the modern messiah Claude Rael, according to whom the salvation of the earth is in the hands of alien beings. He also lists himself among them, saying that his father was an alien.

Most of the sympathizers of the Raelites are scientists who set themselves the goal of achieving immortality with the help of science. They pin their hopes on the development of cloning. Science replaces the idea of God, whose existence the Raelites deny. Raelites also support the idea of "free love" and live in communes.

God is food

The natives of Oceania during the Second World War believed in the mysterious origin of humanitarian aid shipments and cans of s. The reason for this was that the soldiers who arrived there distributed these goods among the local population.

Prayers in holes

On the territory of Russia there was a cult that denies the worship of icons - instead, people whisper their prayers into holes made in the wall.

Jain religion

The Jain religion is quite numerous in India. It is practiced by more than 5 million people.

The main principles of the Jains are the refusal to carry and use weapons and an ascetic lifestyle. Especially the Jains adhere to austerity in food - from hunger and exhaustion is considered the path to holiness.

Nevertheless, usury is widespread among the Jains, as a result of which the debtor is often robbed to the bone.

What do you think? What strange religions from the above would you be able to accept? Write about it in the comments to the article.

It seems to atheists that believers live in some strange world: they believe in the invisible, talk to themselves and find an explanation for the most unimaginable things. However, among the believers themselves there are those who believe in something even stranger than everyone else. Everything is clear with the main religions of the world, but what about those who worship aliens, ancient Germanic goddesses, and even their own egos?

Once Taoism was main religion Chinese Empire, and today the number of its adherents has decreased and continues to fall. It is believed that Taoism was founded in the 4th century BC. philosopher Lao Tzu, whose existence has not yet been reliably confirmed. The ambiguous term "tao" means "way", "road" and "principle". Taoists strive to live in harmony with the cosmic forces and not resist what is happening. The highest virtue is non-action - wu-wei. A person who has comprehended wu-wei achieves enlightenment and gains immortality.

Candomblé

This religion originated and developed among black slaves who were brought for sale to the cities of El Salvador and Cachoeira between 1549 and 1888. Today, the number of practitioners is 2 million and covers many countries in South America. The main religious rite is dancing to loud music with falling into a trance to communicate with the highest deity.

Jediism

What many considered a joke during the census is actually true. Jediism is a trend based on George Lucas' fantastic epic movie Star Wars. Followers believe that deep down a person knows what is evil and what is good, and that one must act on the basis of this deep knowledge, and not relying on someone else's authority. It is also believed that in everyone there is a light and a dark beginning, which are constantly fighting among themselves.

Falun Gong

This movement was founded by Li Hongzhi in 1992. Central to the religion are meditation and qigong exercises. The teaching includes elements of Buddhism and Taoism. Falun Gong adherents strive for perfect physical health and spiritual enlightenment. The Chinese government initially supported this current, but in 1997 it was accused of negative impact to the public. Now Falun Gong is officially banned in China, and its adherents are persecuted.

Raelites

The Raelites believe that representatives of extraterrestrial civilizations, called Elohim, brought life to our planet as part of a scientific experiment. The most significant persons in the history of mankind, including Buddha and Christ, are honored with a meeting with Elohim and act as his prophets. The religion was founded in 1974 by former French racing driver and sports journalist Claude Vorillon, who claimed to have had contact with aliens and received revelations from them. The movement began with 174 followers in France and now has 55,000 believers worldwide.

Baha'i

The Baha'i religion was founded in the 19th century in Persia. It emphasizes the spiritual unity of all mankind. It is a monotheistic faith that recognizes the existence of one God. It is based on the concept of three unities: the unity of God, the unity of religion and the unity of humanity. To date, representatives of the Baha'i religion are registered in more than 200 countries.

Satanism LaVey

Contrary to popular belief, not all Satanists worship Satan or others. evil spirits. LaVey's Satanism, named after its founder Anton LaVey, is sharply individualistic, hedonistic in nature and calls for the glorification of the ego. This purely materialistic religion denies the existence of God and other spiritual beings. Satan is seen only as an archetype, personifying reason, independence and pride.

Hesenry

This is a relatively young pagan religion, whose adherents are trying to reconstruct the spiritual picture of the pre-Christian world. At the head of religion is the pantheon of ancient Germanic deities and goddesses. Accusations of racism have been repeatedly made against this belief due to the predominance of both the pantheon and the followers of the white race.

Eckankar

This modern religious movement was founded in 1965 by Paul Twitchell. Ekankar sees the main task of man as the knowledge of God within himself through personal spiritual experience. Followers devote their time to long meditations and deciphering dreams, seeing in them clues to enlightenment. Dreams are represented as gates through which the soul temporarily leaves the body to reunite with the supreme deity named Ek.

Zoroastrianism

Zoroastrianism was founded in the 5th century BC. e. prophet Zarathustra in Iran and is one of the oldest religions in the world. Historians and archaeologists have established that in those days this was the strongest religion, which was later supplanted by Islam. There are about 2.6 million Zoroastrians in the world today, mostly in India and Iran. Religion preaches the worship of the creator deity Ahura Mazda and the voluntary rejection of evil thoughts and deeds.

Builders of Adytum

This new religion, created by Dr. Paul Foster Case in California. Most of the beliefs and techniques are taken from esoteric psychology, occultism, astrology and Kabbalah. Open ministries and training seminars are held for those who wish. The builders of Adytum consider Kabbalah to be the mystical root from which Judaism and Christianity grow. They accept people of all faiths who are determined to delve into mysticism more than their traditional religions allow. The number of members of the church of the builders of Adytum is small, only 5,000, which makes this religion one of the smallest in the world.

Mandaism

This is a Gnostic religion with a dualistic perception of the world. It is not based on the teachings of Jesus, Abraham or Moses. Only John the Baptist is revered. Mandaism divides the world into two parts - good and bad. All material objects, including the human body, come from the world of darkness, while the soul comes from the world of light. This is very ancient religion, scientists discovered its traces in the 1st century AD. Most of the Mandaeans live in southern Iraq (about 60,000 people), in Iran, Syria, Jordan.

Religion is certain worldview seeking to know higher intelligence which is the root cause of all that exists. Any belief reveals to a person the meaning of life, his destiny in the world, helping to find a goal, and not an impersonal animal existence. There have always been and will be many different worldviews. Thanks to the eternal human search for the root cause, the religions of the world were formed, the list of which is classified according to two main criteria:

How many religions are there in the world?

Islam and Buddhism are recognized as the main world religions, each of which is divided into numerous large and small branches and sects. It is difficult to say how many religions, beliefs and beliefs there are in the world, due to the regular creation of new groups, but according to some information, there are thousands of religious movements at the present stage.

World religions are called so because they have gone far beyond the borders of the nation, the country, have spread to a huge number of nationalities. Non-worldly confessions within a smaller number of people. The basis of the monotheistic view is the belief in one God, while the pagan view suggests the presence of several deities.

largest world religion, which arose 2,000 years ago in Palestine. It has about 2.3 billion believers. In the 11th century there was a division into Catholicism and Orthodoxy, and in the 16th century Protestantism also separated from Catholicism. These are three large branches, there are more than a thousand other small ones.

The main essence of Christianity and its distinctive features from other religions are as follows:

Orthodox Christianity has adhered to the tradition of faith since apostolic times. Its foundations were formulated by the Ecumenical Councils and dogmatically enshrined in the Creed. The teaching is based on the Holy Scriptures (mainly New Testament) And Holy Tradition. Divine services are performed in four circles, depending on the main holiday - Easter:

Daily.
Seven.
Movable annual.
Fixed annual.

In Orthodoxy, there are seven main Sacraments:

Baptism.
Chrismation.
Eucharist (Communion of the Holy Mysteries of Christ).
Confession.
Unction.
Wedding.
Priesthood.

In the Orthodox understanding, God is one in three persons: Father, Son, Holy Spirit. The ruler of the world is interpreted not as an angry avenger for the misdeeds of people, but as a Loving Heavenly Father who takes care of his creation and bestows the grace of the Holy Spirit in the Sacraments.

Man is recognized as the image and likeness of God, with free will, but fallen into the abyss of sin. Those who wish to restore their former holiness, to get rid of passions, the Lord helps on this path.

Catholic teaching is a major trend in Christianity, spread mainly in Europe, Latin America and the United States. This creed has much in common with Orthodoxy in understanding God and the relationship between the Lord and man, but there are fundamental and important differences:

the infallibility of the head of the church of the Pope;
Sacred Tradition is formed from 21 Ecumenical Council(the first 7 are recognized in Orthodoxy);
the distinction between the clergy and the laity: people in dignity are endowed with Divine Grace, they are assigned the role of shepherds, and the laity are herds;
the doctrine of indulgence as a treasury of good deeds done by Christ and the Saints, and the Pope, as the vicar of the Savior on earth, distributes the forgiveness of sins to whom he wants and who needs it;
adding your understanding to the dogma of the Holy Spirit emanating from the Father and the Son;
introduction of dogmas on the immaculate conception of the Virgin Mary and Her bodily ascension;
the doctrine of purgatory as the average state of the human soul, cleansed from sins as a result of severe trials.

And there are also differences in the understanding and performance of some Sacraments:

Arose as a result of the Reformation in Germany and spread throughout Western Europe as a protest and a desire to transform Christian Church, getting rid of medieval notions.

Protestants agree with Christian ideas about God as the Creator of the world, about human sinfulness, about the eternity of the soul and salvation. They share the understanding of hell and heaven, while rejecting the Catholic purgatory.

Distinctive features of Protestantism from Catholicism and Orthodoxy:

minimizing church sacraments - until Baptism and Communion;
there is no division between clergy and laity, every well-trained person in matters Holy Scripture can be a priest for himself and for others;
worship is held in the native language, is based on joint prayer, reading psalms, sermons;
there is no veneration of saints, icons, relics;
monasticism and the hierarchical structure of the church are not recognized;
salvation is understood only by faith, and good deeds will not help to be justified before God;
recognition of the exclusive authority of the Bible, and each believer interprets the words of Scripture at his own discretion, the criterion is the point of view of the founder of the church organization.

The main directions of Protestantism: Quakers, Methodists, Mennonites, Baptists, Adventists, Pentecostals, Jehovah's Witnesses, Mormons.

The youngest in the world monotheistic religion. The number of believers is about 1.5 billion people. The founder is the prophet Mohammed. holy book- Quran. For Muslims, the main thing is to live according to the prescribed rules:

pray five times a day;
observe the fast of Ramadan;
give alms 2.5% per year of income;
make a pilgrimage to Mecca (hajj).

Some researchers add the sixth duty of Muslims - jihad, manifested in the struggle for faith, zeal, diligence. There are five types of jihad:

inner self-perfection on the way to God;
armed struggle against unbelievers;
struggle with your passions;
separation of good and evil;
taking action against criminals.

Currently, extremist groups use the jihad of the sword as an ideology to justify their bloody activities.

A world pagan religion that denies the existence of a Deity. Founded in India by Prince Siddhartha Gautama (Buddha). Briefly boils down to the teaching of the four noble truths:

All human life- suffering.
Desire is the cause of suffering.
To conquer suffering, one must get rid of desire with the help of a specific state - nirvana.
To free yourself from desire, you need to follow eight basic rules.

According to the teachings of the Buddha, to acquire a calm state and intuition, to clear the mind will help:

a correct understanding of the world as a lot of suffering and sorrow;
gaining a firm intention to curtail your wishes and aspirations;
control of speech, which should be friendly;
performing virtuous deeds;
trying not to harm living beings;
the expulsion of evil thoughts and the mood for good ones;
the realization that human flesh is evil;
perseverance and patience in achieving the goal.

The main branches of Buddhism are Hinayana and Mahayana. Along with it, there are other religions in India, spread to varying degrees: Hinduism, Vedism, Brahminism, Jainism, Shaivism.

What is the oldest religion in the world?

For ancient world polytheism (polytheism) was characteristic. For example, the Sumerian, ancient Egyptian, Greek and Roman religions, druidism, asatru, Zoroastrianism.

One of the ancient monotheistic beliefs is Judaism - national religion Jews, based on the 10 commandments given to Moses. The main book is the Old Testament.

Judaism has several branches:

Litvaks;
Hasidism;
Zionism;
orthodox modernism.

Also available different kinds Judaism: Conservative, Reformist, Reconstructionist, Humanistic and Renovationist.

Today it is difficult to give an unambiguous answer to the question "What is the oldest religion in the world?", as archaeologists regularly find new data to confirm the emergence of different worldviews. We can say that beliefs in the supernatural have been inherent in mankind at all times.

The huge variety of worldviews and philosophical beliefs since the emergence of mankind does not make it possible to list all the religions of the world, the list of which is regularly updated with both new currents and branches from existing world and other beliefs.