In traditional usage, the cult of a religion, quite apart from its sacred writings ("scriptures"), its theology or myths, or the personal faith of its believers, is the totality of external religious practice and observance, the neglect of which is the definition of impiety. Cult is literally the "care" owed to the god and the shrine. The term "cult" first appeared in English in 1617, derived from the French culte, meaning "worship" or "a particular form of worship" which in turn originated from the Latin word cultus meaning "care, cultivation, worship," originally "tended, cultivated," also the past participle of colere "to till". Thus in French, for example, sections in newspapers giving the schedule of worship at Catholic churches are headed Culte Catholique; the section giving the schedule of protestant churches is headed culte réformé. Many religions and spiritual movements hold certain written texts (or series of spoken legends not traditionally written down) to be sacred. ... Theology (Greek θεος, theos, God, + λογια, logia, words, sayings, or discourse) is reasoned discourse concerning religion, spirituality and God or the gods. ... // For the Derek Sherinian album, see Mythology (Derek Sherinian album). ... Impiety is a lack of proper concern for the obligations owed to cult in its proper sense. ... This article is becoming very long. ... The English language is a West Germanic language that originates in England. ... Events Change of emperor of the Ottoman Empire from Ahmed I (1603-1617) to Mustafa I (1617-1623). ... Worship usually refers to specific acts of religious praise, honour, or devotion, typically directed to a supernatural being such as a god or goddess. ... Latin is an ancient Indo-European language originally spoken in Latium, the region immediately surrounding Rome. ... The name Catholic Church can mean a visible organization that refers to itself as Catholic, or the invisible Christian Church, viz. ...

By extension, "cult" has come to connote the total cultural aspects of a religion, as they are distinguished from others through change and individualization. Well-known global cults include Islam and Christianity. Culture (from the Latin cultura stemming from colere, meaning to cultivate), generally refers to patterns of human activity and the symbolic structures that give such activity significance. ...

The meaning "devotion to a person or thing" is from 1829, and from that connotation comes the modern meaning of "cult" as in a "cultist" or a "cult following". Cult and cultist have recently accrued negative connotations that are separately dealt with at the entry cult. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe 1829 was a common year starting on Thursday (see link for calendar). ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... This article is becoming very long. ...

In Roman Catholicism, cultus or cult is the technical term for the following and devotion or veneration extended to a particular saint. The Roman Catholic Church, most often spoken of simply as the Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with over one billion members. ... Catholic devotions are prayer forms which are not part of the official public liturgy of the Church but are part of the popular spiritual practices of Catholics. ... In traditional Christian iconography, Saints are often depicted as having halos. ...

Some Christians make refined distinctions between worship and veneration, both of which are outwardly expressed in cultus or cult and are indistinguishable to the observer. Catholicism and Eastern Orthodoxy distinguish between worship (Latin adoratio, Greek latreia [λατρεια]) which is due to God alone, and veneration (Latin veneratio, Greek doulia [δουλεια]), which may be lawfully offered to the saints. These private distinctions between deity and mediators are exhaustively treated at the entries for worship and veneration. Worship usually refers to specific acts of religious praise, honour, or devotion, typically directed to a supernatural being such as a god or goddess. ... Veneration is a religious symbolic act giving honor to someone by honoring an image of that person, particularly applied to saints. ... As a Christian ecclesiastical term, Catholic - from the Greek adjective , meaning general or universal[1] - is described in the Oxford English Dictionary as follows: ~Church, (originally) whole body of Christians; ~, belonging to or in accord with (a) this, (b) the church before separation into Greek or Eastern and Latin or... ... Veneration is a religious symbolic act giving honor to someone by honoring an image of that person, particularly applied to saints. ... In traditional Christian iconography, Saints are often depicted as having halos. ... Worship usually refers to specific acts of religious praise, honour, or devotion, typically directed to a supernatural being such as a god or goddess. ... Veneration is a religious symbolic act giving honor to someone by honoring an image of that person, particularly applied to saints. ...

Among the observances in the cult of a deity are rituals and ceremonies, which may involve spoken or sung prayers or hymns, and often sacrifice, or substitutes for sacrifice. Other manifestations of the cult of a deity are the preservation of relics or the creation of images, such as icons (usually connoting a flat painted image) or three-dimensional cultic images, denigrated as "idols", and the specification of sacred places, hilltops and mountains, fissures and caves, springs, pools and groves, or even individual trees or stones, which may be the seat of an oracle or the venerated site of a vision, apparition, miracle or other occurrence commemorated or recreated in cult practices. Sacred places may be identified and elaborated by construction of shrines and temples, on which are centered public attention at religious festivals (called "feasts" in some Christian communities) and which may become the center for pilgrimages. Look up deity in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... A ritual is a set of actions, performed mainly for their symbolic value, which is prescribed by a religion or by the traditions of a community. ... Mary Magdalene in prayer. ... A hymn is a type of song, usually religious, specifically written for the purpose of praise, adoration or prayer, and typically addressed to a god or other religiously significant figure. ... Marcus Aurelius and members of the Imperial family offer sacrifice in gratitude for success against Germanic tribes: contemporary bas-relief, Capitoline Museum, Rome For other uses, see Sacrifice (disambiguation). ... A relic is an object, especially a piece of the body or a personal item of someone of religious significance, carefully preserved with an air of veneration as a tangible memorial, Relics are an important aspect of Buddhism, some denominations of Christianity, Hinduism, shamanism, and many other personal belief systems. ... Look up icon in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... In the practice of religion, a cult image is a man-made object that is venerated for the deity, spirit or daemon that it embodies or represents. ... An idol is a man-made object that is venerated in some way. ... Consulting the Oracle by John William Waterhouse, showing eight priestesses in a temple of prophecy An oracle is a person or persons considered to be the source of wise counsel or prophetic opinion; an infallible authority, usually spiritual in nature. ... In religion, visions comprise inspirational renderings, generally of a future state and/or of a mythical being, and are believed (by followers of the religion) to come from a deity, directly or indirectly via prophets, and serve to inspire or prod believers as part of a revelation or an epiphany. ... Generally, an apparition is act or instance of appearing. ... A miracle, derived from the old Latin word miraculum meaning something wonderful, is a striking interposition of divine intervention by a god in the universe by which the ordinary course and operation of Nature is overruled, suspended, or modified. ... In various religions, sacred (from Latin, sacrum, sacrifice) or holy, objects, places or concepts are believed by followers to be intimately connected with the supernatural, or divinity, and are thus greatly revered. ... Eastern Orthodox shrine Buddhist shrine just outside Wat Phnom. ... Temple of Hephaestus, an Doric Greek temple in Athens with the original entrance facing east, 449 BC (western face depicted) For other uses, see Temple (disambiguation). ... A religious festival is a time of special importance marked by adherents to that religion. ... The Forum for European-Australian Science and Technology Cooperation (FEAST) is a non-government organisation aimed at highlighting and developing collaborative research activities between Europe (European countries and the European Union) and Australia. ... Christians believe that Jesus is the mediator of the New Covenant (see Hebrews 8:6). ... For other uses, see Pilgrimage (disambiguation). ...

The comparative study of cult practice is part of the disciplines of the anthropology of religion and the sociology of religion, two aspects of comparative religion. In the context of many religious organisations themselves, the study of cultic or liturgical practises is called liturgiology. The anthropology of religion involves the study of religious institutions in relation to other social institutions, and the comparison of religious beliefs and practices across cultures. ... The sociology of religion is primarily the study of the practices, social structures, historical backgrounds, development, universal themes, and roles of religion in society. ... Comparative religion is a field of religious study that analyzes the interpretive differences of common themes, myths, rituals and concepts among the worlds religions. ... The word leitourgia is derived from the two Greek words, leos and ergon. Leos, meaning the people of God and Ergon meaning the work. ... The word leitourgia is derived from the two Greek words, leos and ergon. Leos, meaning the people of God and Ergon meaning the work. ...

One of the most famous cults is the Church of Scientology. Scientology is a system of beliefs and practices created by American pulp fiction[1][2] and science fiction [3] author L. Ron Hubbard in 1952 as a self-help philosophy. ...

See also

• Impiety
• Imperial cult
• List of religious topics

Impiety is a lack of proper concern for the obligations owed to cult in its proper sense. ... An Imperial cult is a cult were an Emperor, or a dynasty of emperors, are worshipped as (semi-)gods or deities Ancient Rome In the Roman Empire the Imperial cult was the worship of the Roman emperor as a god. ... Many Wikipedia articles on religious topics are not yet listed on this page. ...

External links

• Cult and Religious Articles of Kievan Rus