We are used to the fact that religion is very serious and has many followers who worship dogmas and make it the meaning of life to carry the word of God to the masses. But there are religious movements that are very different from dogmatic and popular religions.
Meet some of the weirdest deities that people worship.
10 weirdest deities people worship
1. John Frum, the American serviceman
Tanna Island is located in the province of Vanuatu Tafea, about a couple of thousand kilometres east of Australia in the South Pacific Ocean. This is a very small island, but 28 thousand people live on it. And many of them are typical cargo cultists, that is, people who worship certain Western things. It is often something from the time of the Second World War. To get the latest stories, install our app here
Residents of the island of Tanna worship John Frum, an American serviceman. It is unclear whether he existed in reality, and in general, most likely, his name is a distorted phrase John from America, which translates as “John from America”. But that doesn’t stop cultists from honouring John Frum.: they have built a symbolic runway on the island, placed mock-ups of aeroplanes there and are waiting for John to arrive on the island as if a mouse would come running to the bait.
John Frum is seen as black or white but always in a military uniform, which cultists imitate. And they also claim that they communicate with John on the radio through female psychics.
2. The haunted boat
If the worship of a person can still be called more or less normal, then the cult of a haunted boat is already beyond the limit. The fact is that people who lived on the southern coast of New Guinea saw a steamer passing by and thought that it was carrying the spirits of their ancestors. In short, this first documented cargo cult originated in 1919 and lasted for several years. It was called the Vailala Madness, and it was madness.
Perhaps, along with John Frum, Pacific islanders still worship this ghost ship. But the steamer, according to the cult, contained not only dead spirits, but also canned food, tools, and weapons for the destruction of white colonizers. The belief was actively developed also because planters of the British Empire kidnapped people everywhere on the islands to enslave the local population.
3. Aliens
The topic of UFOs became popular in the 79s, and many religions worshipping extraterrestrials arose. In the 90s of the XX century in Ivo, A. Benda stated that he had contact with a cosmic being with telepathic power and having light powers. He said that extraterrestrial civilizations control a fleet of spaceships, which the Galactic Command of Ashtar heads, and they will transfer all believers to another dimension.
They consider Jesus one of their many deities and stubbornly believe in many conspiracy theories, for example, in the global plan of the forces of evil to destroy people, forced chipping, and other similar things.
4. The divine being Prince Philip
And again, fast forward to the island of Tanna in Vanuatu, where already familiar cultists are waiting for the arrival of John Frum. Cargo cultists of the Yaohnanen tribe consider Prince Philip, the wife of Queen Elizabeth II of Great Britain, a divine being. Why? The fact is that according to ancient legends, the son of a mountain spirit will go across the sea, marry a decent woman there and return back.
Since Vanuatu belonged to the British Empire for a long time, the choice fell on Prince Philip, who in 1974 arrived on the island on an official visit and sent his signed portrait to the tribe, in which he held a spear in his hands. The prince did not know about the cult of his name, and with this gift, he only rooted faith in the islanders. There is no disagreement between believers in John Frum and Philip because cultists believe that these two “deities” are brothers.
5. Chinnamasta
Hinduism is a very specific religion. And among the entire pantheon of gods, take a narrower circle of Dasha Mahavidya (a group of ten female deities. She is the goddess of self-sacrifice and s3xual abstinence. Hindus believe that she cut off her head and walks with it in her hands, experiencing pleasure, while three streams of blood flow from her open neck, two of which are drunk by her assistants, and the third is a severed head. To get the latest stories, install our app here
One of the myths says that Chinnamasta and her companions swam in the ocean for too long, leading to severe hunger. The goddess was so merciful that she cut off her head to satisfy the appetite of the helpers, allowing them to drink the blood.
6. Flying Spaghetti Monster (Pastafarianism)
This religion began as a satire, but now there are many cult followers, and we are not sure if everyone understands that this is only an allusion to the real Abrahamic religions. Its essence is that cultists worship a Flying Spaghetti Monster, and religion has only one doctrine.
Physicist Bobby Henderson founded the religion in 2005 in protest against the decision of the Kansas Department of Education to introduce the concept of “Intelligent Design” into the school curriculum as an alternative to the theory of evolution. He demanded that the theory of the Flying Spaghetti Monster be taught along with other religions.
7. Lakshmi
Lakshmi is a Hindu deity representing riches, love, prosperity, fortune, and beauty. Famous Lakshmi images demonstrate the latter argument since she has four limbs and legs, making her much more lovely than simple mortals. So, what do you suppose occurred when a girl in India was born with four arms and legs? People began to treat her as though she were the reincarnation of the mythical goddess Lakshmi, with Hindu pilgrims flocking from miles around to the little town where she was born. The girl with several confirmed photographs isn’t a Hindu deity reincarnated. She’s a parasitic twin, which means she took her sister’s limbs while still in the womb. People didn’t believe she was a deity since she was born around Diwali.
Her celebrity brought wealth to her poor family, allowing them to undergo surgery to remove the additional limbs, which her father interprets as more evidence she’s true divinity.
8. Babi
Babi was an Ancient Egyptian baboon deity who was violent and bloodthirsty. Babi was a symbol of supernatural violence that the king aspired to as early as the Old Kingdom.
Because his phallus was the lock on the doors of heaven, Babi had complete control over the darkness and the ability to open the skies for kings. Babi’s phallus was also employed as the mast for the underworld ferryboat.
Protection spells were required to protect oneself from the frightening deity, who was thought to dwell on human entrails, particularly during the weighing of the heart rite in the Hall of the Two Truths, which determined a person’s fitness for Paradise.
9. Baron Samedi
Baron Samedi is a Haitian Vodou deity who is depicted with a skull-like face in a black top hat, a long black coat and dark sunglasses. Also, this deity carries a cane with an image of an erogenous member. To get the latest stories, install our app here
According to the belief of Haitians, Baron Samedi rules cemeteries and intersections, as well as the spirits of the dead. He makes followers obsessed at parties and rituals and forces them to dance obscenely, say rude things in a high nasal voice, simulate s3xual interc0urse, overeats, drink a lot and smoke. In general, it looks like an excuse for human sins.
However, despite all the absurdity, the inhabitants of Haiti treat Baron Samedi seriously and worship him because he can give cultists useful advice on any topic and tell that a person is under the influence of witchcraft. In addition, he is called upon to take revenge on the enemies of his followers.
10. Ungud
Ungud is a snake deity who is sometimes masculine and sometimes female in the mythology of the Wunambal people of northwestern Australia. He is linked to rainbows and the tribe’s shamans’ fertility and erect!ons. Ungud dwelt underground as a big python at the beginning when just the sky and the earth existed. To get the latest stories, install our app here
Ungud is associated with earth and water and is credited with causing rain to fall.
Ungud and Wallanganda, the sky deity (associated with the Milky Way), created living beings through their dreams at night.
These clones are said to have produced human souls, which eventually entered women and formed infants. As opposed to a Father-God or a Mother-God, Ungud is considered an archetype of life itself.
