“Praise Petey” trailer: a NYC “It Girl” inherits a small-town cult
The brand-new trailer for this upcoming Freeform animated series, featuring the voices of Annie Murphy, Christine Baranski, John Cho and Stephen Root.
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“An American Satan” (2019)
A survey of contemporary LaVeyan Satanism courtesy of director Aram Garriga, An American Satan is currently widely available via streaming channels.
The Dwan Light Sanctuary
A short documentary on the Dwan Light Sanctuary, a permanent art installation/space for contemplation on the campus of the United World College in Las Vegas (New Mexico, not Nevada). If the Prism Sanctuary doesn’t already know about this place, they probably ought to.
“A religion you can dance to”: Deborah Kelly’s Creation project
Australian artist Deborah Kelly describes Creation, a “queer science fiction climate change religion” and an experiment in collaboratively creating religion as a work of art: CREATION is a new religion, manifesting in spectacle and intimacy. A faith, a gathering of intention and purpose with which to face an era when paid opinion trumps environmental evidence. … Read more“A religion you can dance to”: Deborah Kelly’s Creation project
“Mother of the Dawn”: a look inside Brazil’s colorful, syncretic UFO religion
Founded in the 1960s, Brazil’s Vale do Amanhecer (Valley of the Dawn) is a new religious movement whose doctrine combines elements of Theosophy, Spiritualism, various Afro-Brazilian traditions and UFO theology.
Hulu’s “The Path” and the cult/religion/movement of Meyerism
The dramatic three-season Hulu series The Path follows the lives of Eddie and Sarah Lane (Aaron Paul and Michelle Monaghan), senior members of a new religious movement known as the Meyerists. Meyerism itself is a fascinating study in invented religion, combining elements of 1960s/’70s American countercultural spirituality with Peruvian shamanism, Scientology, Christian mysticism and Utopianism … Read moreHulu’s “The Path” and the cult/religion/movement of Meyerism
“The Message from Vega” – Contact (1997)
In the film adaptation of scientist Carl Sagan’s 1985 science fiction novel Contact, radio astronomer Ellie Arroway (Jodie Foster) makes first contact with an extraterrestrial intelligence from the Vega star system. This scene portrays the media and folk-religious response, as tens of thousands of people flock to the Very Large Array in the New Mexico desert; … Read more“The Message from Vega” – Contact (1997)
The Solar Shrine
Chicago-based artist/architect Antwane Lee and his collaborators describe the Solar Shrine project: The Solar Shrine is an Afrofuturistic, interactive art installation which is inspired by the magical realism of Ancient Egypt and Nubia. These two ancient cultures believed in Ra, the Sun God. Ra had metaphysical powers as the giver of life on Earth and … Read moreThe Solar Shrine
“Hail Satan?” (documentary trailer, 2019)
The Satanic Temple is a science-positive, socially progressive religion in Halloween regalia. Penny Lane’s 2019 documentary Hail Satan? is an illuminating – “Lucifer” being the Light Bringer, after all – and well-produced documentary on a fast-growing but still widely misunderstood religious movement. Far from being the embodiment of all evil, the Satanic Temple is revealed … Read more“Hail Satan?” (documentary trailer, 2019)
“Dudeism: the Path to Lebowski Enlightenment”
Often described as “the slowest-growing religion in the world”, Dudeism was inspired by the philosophy espoused and exemplified by Jeff Bridges’ character in the Coen Brothers movie The Big Lebowski. According to Dudeism.com: While Dudeism in its official form has been organized as a religion only recently, it has existed down through the ages in … Read more“Dudeism: the Path to Lebowski Enlightenment”