Cultpunk Co-founded by meditation teacher Michael Taft, neuroscientist Kathryn Devaney and author Erik Davis, the Alembic (in Berkeley, CA) is a new: (…) nonprofit bodymind center committed to experiments in transformation. Drawing from ancient traditions and contemporary protocols, the space offers a wide range of skillful means for exploring, integrating, and transforming our felt engagement with … Read moreThe Alembic, Berkeley
Scoutleader Wiley offers an illustrated presentation on her system of Metamodern Magick: Metamodern Magick is a cross-disciplinary framework that seeks to enrich every individual’s knowledge of self and sense of being in the world through individual and communal ritual practice. Drawing from the work of John Vervaeke, Gregg Henriques, Marie-Louise von Franz, and Catherine Bell … Read moreMetamodern Magick with Scoutleader Wiley
Jesus was sitting on a rock in the desert, meditating and reading the Law, when Tarzan came riding up on a goat. Tarzan was munching nutmeg seeds and playing the harmonica. “Hi, Jesus,” he yelled. Jesus jumped like he was stung by a scorpion. “You startled me,” he stammered. “I thought at first you were … Read more“Tarzan and Jesus” – a Parable from Tom Robbins’ “Another Roadside Attraction” (1971)
Based in Copenhagen, Denmark, The Sisters Academy is: (…) a school in a world and society where the sensuous and poetic mode of being is at the center of all action and interaction. It defines the primary mode of being and is the values on which all societal institutions are building – including the school. … Read moreThe Sisters Academy
The First Church of David Bowie, Phonomancer is definitely either a metamodern religion disguised as a shamanic role-playing game or a shamanic role-playing game disguised as a metamodern religion: The Discotheque at the End of the Universe! is part of a live-action role-playing game called Phonomancer™ . You can play Phonomancer™ alone, or with up … Read moreThe First Church of David Bowie, Phonomancer
From the publisher’s blurb: To the casual observer, similarities between fan communities and religious believers are difficult to find. Religion is traditional, institutional, and serious; whereas fandom is contemporary, individualistic, and fun. Can the robes of nuns and priests be compared to cosplay outfits of Jedi Knights and anime characters? Can travelling to fan conventions … Read more“The Sacred in Fantastic Fandom: Essays on the Intersection of Religion and Pop Culture”
Philosophy professor Philip Goff writes for Psyche on the perspectives of practicing agnosticism and religious fictionalism: It is common to assume that religion is all about belief. Religious people are ‘believers’. Muslims believe that God revealed the Quran to Muhammad; Christians believe Jesus rose from the dead; Buddhists believe in cyclical rebirth and the non-existence … Read more“Why religion without belief can still make perfect sense”
In this video adaptation of the first chapter of his book Emergentism: a Religion of Complexity for the Metamodern World, Brendan Graham Dempsey asks – and begins to answer – whether we can/should reinvent religion to meet the Meaning Crisis.
Kumaré documents American filmmaker Vikram Ghandi’s self-reinvention as the guru Kumaré, in an attempt to explore and expose the guru/disciple dynamic in the cultic milieu. Growing out his hair and beard, dressing like a holy man and imitating his grandmother’s voice, Gandhi invented his own yoga and other rituals on the fly, gathering a devoted … Read more“Kumaré: the True Story of a False Prophet” (2011)
The first instance of Cultpunk at a generational scale occurred during the late 1960s and ’70s, when utopian counterculturalists – mostly on America’s west coast – began inventing new religions under the neo-Pagan banner. These pioneers notably included Frederick Adams (himself a very early outlier, having founded his goddess-oriented religion during the late 1950s) and … Read more“… a religion of atmosphere instead of faith …”
