Of Cults and Worship

I am a member of The Awakening Tribe. However, if one were to use only that description as a representation of my entire individual personality and being, it would be the same as describing just a tip of the iceberg to represent the entire iceberg itself. As this is true of me, so it is with everyone else.

Care must be taken in putting labels on groups as well as individuals. The characterization or generalization or categorization of any group of people can also be misleading because (especially in the North American English language) the labels themselves tend to have multiple definitions.

A word used as a label can be intended to mean one thing, yet be completely misunderstood, according to which definition of that word is in use by the person hearing it. The word "cult" is an excellent example.

First, lets look at what the on-line Mirrium-Webster Dictionary says a "cult" is:

Main Entry: cult
Pronunciation: 'k&lt
Function: noun
Usage: often attributive
Etymology: French & Latin; French culte, from Latin cultus care, adoration, from colere to cultivate -- more at WHEEL
Date: 1617
1 : formal religious veneration : WORSHIP
2 : a system of religious beliefs and ritual; also : its body of adherents
3 : a religion regarded as unorthodox or spurious; also : its body of adherents
4 : a system for the cure of disease based on dogma set forth by its promulgator <health cults>
5 a : great devotion to a person, idea, object, movement, or work (as a film or book); especially : such devotion regarded as a literary or intellectual fad b : a usually small group of people characterized by such devotion

Here, we have five definitions of that word. Notice that the final definition is so general it will include any group with a special interest. A quilting bee could be called a "cult" because the participants are greatly devoted to the project of making a quilt.

Yet this innocent activity becomes the object of great fear to one who automatically equates the term "cult" to dark deeds and evil. The elderly ladies of the group are suddenly envisioned as creating patterns of satanic pentagrams instead of daises, or imagined to discuss malicious spells instead of practical stitches. Yes, they are a "cult," but not of witches.

Little can be done for a person who chooses to live in fear. That person is the only one who can make it different for themselves. We each create our own perceptions; we each create our own personal realities.

We can, however, be aware of the misuse of definitions and labels. And we can work to better communicate and correct misunderstandings caused by such misuse. Such is my primary purpose with this article, and in describing The Awakening Tribe to a small extent.

Yes we are a "cult." No, we are not a "cult." Both are true statements. I've just covered the "yes" part. Now, let's discuss the rest of Webster's definitions of "cult" in Dave Letterman's "Top Ten" countdown style.

4 : a system for the cure of disease based on dogma set forth by its promulgator <health cults>

Okay, so we listen to a few channeled "energy essence entities" no longer (or never) in physical form. One might consider these entities as "promulgators." But we don't have a "system for the cure of disease based on dogma."

In The Awakening Tribe, nobody is selling anything, and none of the Tribe members are obligated to buy into what is being said. We just discuss things, then each of us decides for ourselves what to think. As Peter says, "You cannot do it wrong."

The third definition of "cult" is:

3 : a religion regarded as unorthodox or spurious; also : its body of adherents

The Awakening Tribe has been legally established as "The Awakening Tribe Congregation of the Universal Life Church." But I don't think any of us regards our group as being what is traditionally thought of as "religion." But here we get into hair-splitting labels again.

Suppose one were to label us as "a body of adherents" just because we are interested, and keep coming back to hear more. This person would again be looking only at the tip of the iceberg and still not understanding the whole thing. Religions tell people what to believe. That's not what is happening here. Each of us is independently deciding what to believe.

2 : a system of religious beliefs and ritual; also : its body of adherents

Each of us are ordained ministers, yes. The late, great Founder of the Universal Life Church, Rev. Hensley says we are all ordained ministers by virtue of just being. This includes every human on planet Earth. One just has to recognize that. While we may do a little ritual to help an individual have better realization along those lines, nothing is set in stone.

We customize our rituals as we see fit, both individually and collectively. Each time we create or perform any rituals, we know and have faith that we can't do it "wrong." Okay, so that's a system; fine.

Just don't miss the rest of the iceberg: The Awakening Tribe is not dictating beliefs to anyone; everyone has to take full individual responsibility for their own beliefs.

This number one definition of a "cult" uses other terms which also beg further definition. It all depends on what one considers to be "worship." In my own reality, it is a showing of respect - but not necessarily of belief acceptance.

But there is a different definition of "worship" used in the words of Seth, speaking in this following quote from Sue Watkin's book Conversations with Seth - the story of Jane Roberts' ESP class::

"Now, Seth does not dig worship," Seth said to us one evening. "For one thing, Seth understands worshippers. And, when one understands worshippers, one does not dig worship! If you think this sentence over, then you will realize that those who worship do no real honor to the object of their worship. For upon that object, they place all of their hopes, all of their dreams, all of their inadequacies, and all of the responsibility for their lives; and even a god — a sane god — would refuse to accept such a worship.

"The god would understand also the nature of the universe, and the nature of playful creativity, and would know that such a worship is --at its base now, at its base-- a denial of the very validity of life.

"For All That Is endows creatures with a latent capacity for the greatest kind of creativity. And a creature who says, 'Save me, Oh Lord, and hear my voice! Look upon my iniquity and save me from my sin, and rule Thou my life which Thou hast indeed given me,' says really, 'Oh Lord, Thou hast given me no capacity for reason, no free will, no power, no authority, and no goodness; and since Thou hast wronged me of all the holy virtue, then Thou might as well protect me, for I have no abilities of my own, and Thou hast made me without honor. Therefore, it is Thy duty to preserve the poor world upon which indeed Thy mighty foot is placed!"

"So, Seth does not dig worship ... but worshippers have to face the god that they believe they are worshipping. For they are saying, 'You have made an inferior product — a flawed image. I am despicable, and therefore, although I adore you and I say 'Yea, though I travel through the valley of death, et cetera,' and though I say 'I adore you, Oh Lord!' what I mean is, 'I hate you because you have created me an inferior creature, and therefore I will make you pay --for my iniquities, Oh Lord, are yours. How can I be good when Thou hast made me flawed? Therefore, do I crawl upon my knees to show you that I cannot stand upright before Thee, for Thou hast made me flawed!'

"Such worshippers take it for granted that the product of God is poor — from an inadequate factory — a poor cosmic assembly line. Ford calls back its products if they are flawed, and so such worshippers say, 'Oh, Lord, call back humanity, for we are flawed!' And, no one answers, so it seems ...

"When the old answers and the old organizations no longer have any meaning to the individual; when he can find reflected in the official answers none of his own questions; then the individual rises up from within itself; and, as once this civilization was born, so shall others be born in the same way. And so always from within itself does the race then go within its psyche for newer revelations; newer in that they are fresher to the source of itself — they have not been worn away by distortions and so in-turned by organizations that their meaning has become lost.

"So you arise out of yourselves individually, and out of the heart of your psyche; and so shall the civilization also emerge out of its mass psyche."

—A 1970's Talk by Seth, as Channeled by Jane Roberts and Reported by Sue Watkins

So, is my definition of "worship" wrong? No. Is Seth's definition of "worship" wrong? No. Do I have to buy into a reality where one definition is right and the other one is wrong? No.

Instead, I prefer to view each definition as one of those little sharp chunks of ice sticking up out of the water. I can immediately acknowledge that I know I'm not getting the whole picture. As I expand, said picture is always expanding forever ahead of me.

Yet, if I understand that there is always "more to it than meets the eye," I will be more open to better perception of the whole, not just it's parts.

James N. Thames