Unholy Zeal

 

January 13, 2022

How it was just before the Spanish arrived.
The Mexican I wish I had a better understanding of their history. From what I know, they began their journey to the central highlands of Mexico from what are now the present-day American states of Utah, Arizona, and Nevada. I’m not sure why they migrated south, but if I had to guess, I’d hazard it was a combination of factors: climate change, food scarcity, and possibly interference from the “Gods.” I mention the latter only because we know that the Annage were active in the Americas during the initial migratory period.

We can be reasonably confident that, as the Mexican moved south, they were met with suspicion and hostility. Where they were accepted, it was often in the lowest of capacities—as slaves. And slavery in their context didn’t confer rights or status. It would have seemed unthinkable that one of them might one day become a High King like Coattail (Meet-CO-watl). Yet, through many long years and great effort, that is exactly what happened.

Unfortunately, for this to come to pass, a troubling precedent had to be set—one that would play a major role in how everything later unravelled.

Until recently, I had laboured under the misconception that the Mayan/Aztec world was far more centralized and organized, perhaps resembling ancient Rome with a central government overseeing provincial governors. This, however, was not the case. Their world was composed of independent city-states, much like ancient Shumer or, more recently, classical Greece. And that meant frequent warfare. It was through this constant warfare that the Mexican rose to power, eventually overcoming their former overlords.

This rise is historically fascinating, especially because successful slave revolts are exceedingly rare. Part of the Mexica’s success came through careful subterfuge. As captives and slaves, they were forbidden from participating in celebrations or sacred ceremonies, yet they were expected to maintain their owners’ weapons and ceremonial attire in pristine condition. Being slaves, they were also forbidden from possessing anything that could be used as a weapon. The Mexican, however, were resourceful—they would secretly craft two copies of a weapon: one flimsy and harmless in case of discovery, the other a true and functional replica.

Itzcoatl’s father, Acamapichtli (Ah-cah-mah-PEECH-tli), had died during a time of violence. He had married a noblewoman from Culhuacan. The Mexican supported Itzcoatl’s ascension to the throne because of his mother’s lineage—it would help secure loyalty among the people of Culhuacan. In their volatile political environment, there was no tradition of primogeniture. Leadership was based not on birth order but on strength and capability. Itzcoatl’s rise is a testament to just how fluid their political structure was.

While not entirely unheard of, regicide—the killing of a king or queen—was rare. Noble families tended to remain closely allied, knowing they would be rewarded with high military ranks or positions in the priesthood. Interestingly, deposed kings were not always executed, unlike King Alalu, who was overthrown by King Anu. In many cases, deposed rulers would attempt to remain loyal and persuade their followers to support the new regime—often in vain.

Coattail had not been groomed for kingship. That role had been intended for his half-brother Huitzilihuitl (Hwee-tzee-lee-HWEE-tl). Both were sons of a slave girl from a neighbouring village, Azcapotzalco. She had been a vegetable seller before being handed over to Acamapichtli—likely as a wager, debt settlement, or offering to curry royal favour. She was said to be quite attractive. In Mexican society, the children of slaves were not automatically considered slaves themselves.

Sadly, Aztec civilization has long been misunderstood. Scholars have often labelled them “cannibalistic savages” who killed indiscriminately and believed, mistakenly, that all Aztec slaves were prisoners of war to be sacrificed to the gods. While many prisoners of war—mostly men—were indeed sacrificed, not all slaves were the same. As in the Mediterranean world, slaves could come from any background, even royalty. In fact, Itzcoatl’s mother had been a former princess.

We will return to the world of the Aztecs in later articles. For now, however, our Grail quest continues. In our search for spirituality, we have come to see how the Western world’s primary source of spiritual guidance has been deeply corrupted. When the Aztecs, Mayans, Inca, Toltec, and Olmecs spoke of their gods, they often invoked The Plumed Serpent—Quetzalcoatl—an Annunaki. The Bible, too, speaks of an Annunaki figure: El Shaddai. The biblical story provides archaeological support (see our article “Israel is in the Wrong Place”)Is Israel in the right place?  suggesting that it, like the Mesoamerican pyramids, may reflect real events.

Our Grail bloodline heritage begins with Enki and an unknown hominid, followed by a long list of begats that culminates in the birth of Jesus Christ. After the failed Jewish rebellion, Jesus is said to have gone to India, while his wife and children fled to Europe. There, the bloodline eventually merged with the royal houses of Europe—particularly concentrated in the Royal House of Stewart.

Due to the unholy zeal of the Catholic Church and a friar named Diego de Landa (see our article An Accomplishment), most of Mesoamerican history was deliberately destroyed—lost to us forever. It remains unknown, and possibly unknowable, whether that lost history contained any records of Grail bloodline connections. Mesoamerican creation stories differ from the Ennuma Elish, but they also contain references to a great flood.

Quetzalcoatl and Viracocha were said to be sons of Enki and El Shaddai—a younger generation of deities, it seems, who presided over the entire Mesoamerican world. At this point in our journey, it seems unlikely that Coattail or his family were actual Grail kings. More plausibly, they were warlords—much like the Coburg Saxe-Windsors of the United Kingdom—who fashioned themselves into royalty.

Where Does It Begin?

 

December 19, 2021

For most of us, we go through life accepting the daily cycle of sleep, waking, eating, going to school/work, returning home for a few hours of recreational time then sleeping again then repeat. As we grow older, we are introduced to our spiritual selves either by our parents or, by our individual needs. Some never acknowledge that spiritual need, either because of they have never been introduced to it, or because they have had a very negative experience with it, or are simply too self-absorbed to consider it. Yet despite our belief system or lack thereof, we are flung in to it from the day that we are born.

And no, I am not referring to christenings, baptisms, or bar mitzvahs. I am talking about our true spiritual journeys. In our articles “It’s Not Looney But Only Barely” and “Understanding Looniness” I reference having memories of an existence of before this one. In the article, I briefly describe the chain of events that led to my incarceration in this realm. While in that “other” realm, I experienced what I describe as a “briefing” which partially illustrated what would take place in this present place. I was stood around a table where I was studying the layout of Earth and its geography. The map was extremely detailed; it displayed population and its forecast growth, as well as areas of interest, which included war zones, and areas of future conflict and fascinatingly, highlighted in gold, the Grail’s vine beginning in ancient Shumer and extending to Scotland. This map had many other interactive features as well.

I took note of this feature and asked about it, I was told only that, “some things and people are special”. This then, was where my Grail quest truly began, and, my spiritual journey continued from. As I have related elsewhere, a child younger than 7 years of age can and does recall previous lifetimes, after that age, ego and “education” interferes with our ability to recall these previous lifetimes. These things are all interconnected. From as early as 3 years of age I could recall these things. I of course, did not have the vocabulary to share these questions, but as I got older, age, ego, and “education” lured me further from my spiritual purpose; which had been to some extent communicated to me at that briefing.

They came together in strange and varied ways, the first being, telling my church Sunday school teacher that Moses and the burning bush was really a UFO (I was 7 years old). The second was in two parts taking place in grade 5 where I discovered plate tectonics and wondered why Earth was a cracked egg; see our article “The Cracked Egg”. Part B to that was Dad’s introduction to a Guy called Capon, who introduced us/him to The Holy Grail. Even at that tender age of 10 years old, the information conveyed by Capon transmitted an absolute truth that had been completely absent from any church narrated material. Unfortunately, my Grail quest was delayed there, and for the next 17 years, I rather floundered around trying to find a new entry point.

 For much of that period I was as lost as its possible for a soul to be. Little did I realize, nor could I have known that while being in that terrible mental, emotional, and spiritual state I was still executing my duties as explained in that “briefing”. The Templars who too often are mistakenly portrayed as “Catholic warrior protectors of the Holy Land” actually believed something quite different. In essence, they believed that humankind was/is fighting a battle between light and darkness, and every one of us is either light or dark. Krsna too tells us that during our immortality we will experience lives of light and darkness.

I believe that while in my previous incarnation I was in a realm of darkness as a being of light. I also believe that what I experienced during those 17 years was training me to deal with an individual who comes from a realm of such darkness that I can barely describe. Even though in many ways I descended to her level, being there and my subsequent recovery tells a positive story that I am still a warrior for light because at no time has my nature ever changed.

So what is the Holy Grail? Is it just a cup? A women’s womb? Maybe just a concept? It is all of that and more, it is a path to the truth, a way back to our true spirituality. The Annunaki concept of god is something that encompasses all, Enki’s boy Thoth shortened that down to what we call the universe-some call that god. Hermetics with its simple system of disciplined truth is what Jesus taught, the Pauline church hijacked Jesus’s teachings, the Grail strives to bring the truth of its hijacking to the people who continue to accept the Pauline lie. But not only that, it seeks to bring balance to our fractured world.

Science and technology make our world easier to manage, and Hermetics teach us about pure love and service to each other without being walked on. The grail allows us to know who we are by giving us access to the Akashic record, and with such access, we are given the opportunity for healing. Real healing that enables not just ours but also generational as well. You and I are here to teach and learn from each other, those lessons will break generations of bullshit that has held us back from attaining higher vibrational frequencies and higher plains of existence.

All of a Sudden It Began to Make Sense

 

January 15, 2022

I do not necessarily proscribe to the theory below, however I do trust in the fact that science and spirituality are two peas in the same pod and that they must learn how to communicate. Plus, String Theory says anything is possible.

What Happens When We Die? Scientists Say the Soul Returns to the Universe.
The reason why so many of us are afraid of death is that we just don't understand it. We can't prepare for what we don't know, and the unknown is scary that way. So we keep asking ourselves: “What happens to us after we die?” While usually, we try to answer that question spiritually, it seems like science has now found the answer. UK scientist Dr. Sam Parnia believes human consciousness lives on even after we die. He shared his findings in Morgan Freeman’s Netflix show The Story of God. Here's what he, along with other leading scientists, have found.

What If We Actually Lived On Forever?

Dr. Parnia is not alone in his theories. After extensive research, the University of Arizona’s Stuart Hameroff and British physicist Sir Roger Penrose also believe that while our bodies physically die, our soul, or what they refer to as "consciousness," lives on forever. Scientists are starting to find that the soul is made of information that can be stored at a quantum level. It's those quantum mechanisms, or the behaviour of matter, that make the infinite process.

Consciousness Is Just Stored

Dr. Hameroff and Dr. Roger have concluded that the soul and its consciousness are simply made of stored information. Think of the conscious mind as a program on a computer. Even if the computer itself dies, the program itself can be transferred and continue to exist. This way of thinking is what has led them to say that even after human beings die, their soul comes back to the universe, and it does not die itself.

The Brain Is a Biological Computer

The idea of the brain as a biological computer that can store the information that makes us who we are is not a new idea. But it's the understanding that this means that the soul it holds doesn't die either that is groundbreaking. This knowledge has been in the making since 1996. Dr. Hameroff, the American physicist who works in the departments of Anesthesiology and Psychology, and Sir Penrose, the mathematical physicist at Oxford University, have been working hard to solve these theories for decades. Their work is based on the Quantum Theory of Consciousness. The theory believes that the soul is maintained in the brain.

The Soul Exits the Body Upon Death, But Doesn't Die

Dr. Parnia tells Morgan Freeman in his documentary that “The evidence we have is that when a person dies, that part that makes us who we are – the soul or mind, or whatever you call it – it does not become annihilated." But how this happens can be a bit complicated. It's all based on what they call "Orchestrated Objective Reduction," which is how the information is transferred over. Basically, right when the heart stops beating and the blood stops flowing, the information that makes a person can't be destroyed, so it just gets distributed into the universe at large.

The Beyond Is an Infinite Reality
Image 5
Researchers are now claiming that there is an infinite universe beyond after death. This is where the soul continues to live forever when it is spread from the body. They also say that this world we're living in is just a perception or a reality that we've created for ourselves to give our lives a beginning and an end. The soul itself never ends. The documentary explains it like this: “What we consider the here and now, this world, it is actually just the material level... The beyond is an infinite reality that is much bigger.” Believing this is accepting that the soul runs on a deeper level that goes beyond this world.

Near Death Experiences Put It in Perspective
Dr. Sam Parnia has studied more than 100 cases of cardiac arrest survivors. These are people who have technically died and came back to life. What's really interesting about them is that a big number of them had really weird experiences when they died. They came back often feeling more at peace, comforted, and even happy after they went through death. It's like dying and coming back to life somehow gave them a profound and mystical experience. Some of them even felt like they met up with other loved ones who had previously died. The scientists think this means that death is a universal experience, so all the souls go to the same place after they leave their physical bodies. But in near-death experiences, if a person comes back, the information of their soul, or their consciousness, comes back with them.

So what does it mean to have a soul? From a scientific perspective, it's an interaction of neurons, but from a spiritual perspective, it's our whole being and the good and the bad that create our identity. But even now, science is also saying that the soul is something more than neurons, and it's actually a consciousness that has existed since the beginning of time and will continue to live on forever.

Is Your Soul Still Finding Its Purpose?

The Great Flood Again...

 

December 25, 2021

Nibiru is a pain in the ass. When the Annage arrived here between 450,000 and 432,000 years ago, Earth was in the midst of an ice age. They set up shop in ancient Shumer, on what is now the floor of the Persian Gulf. The end of the last ice age came rather abruptly, and it was catastrophic for the Annage.

I don’t put much stock into Noah's “40 days and nights”—it was more likely 40, or even 400 years in length. Whatever the true number, Noah’s story is likely the result of abrupt climate change that caused sea levels to rise by hundreds of feet. This makes sense when we consider that glaciers miles high at both poles were melting.

There is some geological evidence suggesting that as Nibiru nears Earth, we see an increase in volcanic and tectonic activity. It is thought that the end of the last ice age was triggered by Nibiru’s passage. The resultant volcanic and tectonic upheaval, caused by its gravitational pull, led to massive ice loss and rising sea levels.

When we look at our article “Where Are You?”—a scientific paper using statistics to search for Nibiru—we're given an approximate timeline for locating the “planet of millions of years.” It’s likely it will be discovered within the next ten years. As exciting as that is, I’m just as eager to determine where it is in its orbit: perihelion (closest point) or aphelion (farthest point). Regardless of its current position, we still feel its gravitational effects on Earth through geological changes.

As for the events surrounding Noah’s flood, it is believed the greatest water damage—tsunamis and the like—came from the south. Other accounts suggest the floods were caused by meltwater runoff from rivers. Remember, these events occurred at the end of an ice age. The mountains around the Horn of Africa would have been snowcapped, and yes, there would have been rivers running through the desert.

The only thing in the south big enough and icy enough to cause such chaos is the continent of Antarctica. The flood may have been caused by massive ice sheets sliding off the continent—an event not unlike what we’re witnessing today. Although we can’t be certain, I believe today’s scenario is a combination of both Nibiru’s approach and human-caused global warming.

Three and a half billion years later, there are still continent-sized chunks of solid rock floating around in Earth’s mantle. I believe these are undigested remnants of Nibiru’s moon, left over from the planetary collision. As the weight and pressure on Earth's crust ease due to melting glaciers, the planet will continue to "burp"—meaning volcanic activity is likely to increase.

This is particularly relevant in Antarctica. As of May 2020, we know of 138 dormant volcanoes there. Unfortunately, as with all volcanoes, there is no reliable way to forecast if or when they will erupt.

During the worst of Noah’s crisis, the Annage—under instruction from Enlil/El Shaddai—took refuge aboard their shuttles and orbiting satellites, crowding 600 or more aboard and leaving millions of us to drown. Millions died then. The numbers could be far worse now—perhaps not by drowning, but by the cumulative effects of global climate change, as described in the Old Testament.

Here is some data on what’s happening in Antarctica. As the Earth warms due to climate change, glaciers are beginning to shift. Researchers believe that landscapes sloping inland will increase the speed at which glaciers move. Because a canyon has been found beneath the Denman Glacier, scientists can better anticipate how nearby ice will move in the future.

However, other powerful forces of nature are also at play. While the canyon may accelerate glacier movement, other geographical features can counteract this. This, in turn, may reduce the impact on sea levels. One example is the Transantarctic Mountains, which separate eastern and western Antarctica and span more than 2,000 miles.

Multiple glaciers have formed near these mountains and flow into the Ross Sea. Their movement is hindered by a large sheet of floating ice. While there's concern that this sheet may melt, it currently remains intact. By doing so, it prevents the glaciers from advancing, helping keep sea levels steady.

The BedMachine project recently revealed new findings that ease previous concerns. Earlier models suggested that if the ice sheet melted, glacier flow into the Ross Sea would increase. Fortunately, data from the project suggests otherwise. By studying the terrain beneath the ice, researchers discovered a high ridge running below. This ridge could slow or even halt glacier movement into the sea—even if the ice melts.

This could significantly impact the Ross Sea ice shelf. By slowing glacier drainage, the movement of the ice shelf—and thus water levels in the Ross Sea—would also be affected. Researcher Mathieu Morlighem has expressed optimism. He believes that even if the shelf were to melt or collapse, it likely wouldn’t seriously affect East Antarctica.

If something serious does ever happen in this region, it won’t be because of the Ross Sea ice shelf. That’s certainly good news, especially given how long it's been a concern.

Unfortunately, there’s also bad news. Across the icy continent lies the Amundsen Sea—part of the vast Southern Ocean surrounding Antarctica. Discovered in 1920 by Captain Nils Larsen, the sea itself isn’t the problem—it’s what’s flowing into it.

A massive glacier is continually flowing into the Amundsen Sea.We don’t know how long this has been happening, but the glacier is estimated to be the size of the United Kingdom. It has become one of the fastest-moving ice shelves in the region, shifting more than a mile each year. And it shows no signs of slowing down. In fact, it may be accelerating.

If this trend continues, no one knows how fast it could move before it finally collapses. This glacier is known as the Thwaites Glacier, named after Fredrik T. Thwaites, a geomorphologist and glacial geologist from the University of Wisconsin. His father, Reuben Gold Thwaites, was a prominent historian.

In the 1970s, Terry Hughes—professor emeritus at the University of Maine—was one of the first to predict the glacier’s collapse. His prediction was validated by a 2001 study using satellite radar data, which showed the glacier was out of balance and steadily moving. Thwaites has also earned the nickname “Doomsday Glacier” due to the potential impact it could have on global sea levels.

Unlike the Ross Sea, the land beneath Thwaites lacks any supportive ridges. Only two ridges are nearby, both miles away. Once the glacier passes them, there may be no way to stop it.

As the University of Washington study predicted, the question is no longer if Thwaites collapses—but when.

It’s Not What You Think

 December 31, 2021

Scientists Have Found an Incredible Secret Below the Ice of Antarctica

The southernmost continent in the world, Antarctica, continues to be a source of fascination and mystery for people around the globe. Our knowledge of this frozen continent began on January 17, 1773, when famed explorer James Cook became the first to cross the Antarctic Circle, which surrounds it. Cook is pictured in the painting below.

On January 27, 1820, a group of Russian explorers became the first to lay eyes on Antarctica. They sighted an ice shelf that bordered what is now known as Queen Maud Land. While our understanding of the last discovered continent has progressed considerably since then, what do we really know about Antarctica?

Due to its harsh climate and remote location, Antarctica is the loneliest and least visited of the seven major continents. Spanning 5.5 million square miles, it is home to many penguins, seals, and whales, but has no permanent human residents. Nevertheless, Antarctica has remained a constant source of fascination ever since it was first discovered. Each year, small groups of researchers and tourists continue to visit the frozen landmass.

A Startling Discovery

Thousands of miles away in the Golden State of California, scientists have made a shocking discovery about Antarctica. This discovery is not about the surface of the continent but about what lies many miles below the ice.

Photo Courtesy: Joe Mastroianni, National Science Foundation/Wikimedia Commons

Given that Antarctica is nearly twice the size of Australia, it is no surprise that this has only now been found. When one takes into account the increasing dangers of climate change, the discovery becomes even more unsettling.

This scientific breakthrough came as a result of a collaborative effort between several institutions. In 2014, these collaborators used advanced technology and physics to map out the entire continent.

Five years after the creation of the map, these scientists made their findings public for the first time. While the data was highly informative, it also revealed chilling implications about the effects of climate change on Antarctica.

For years, scientists have been able to peer below the surface of Antarctica using radar technology. By sending out pulses of microwave radiation, they have systematically mapped the terrain beneath the dense sheets of ice.

Unfortunately, this technology has its limitations. The depth of certain regions in Antarctica makes it impossible for the microwaves to accurately determine what lies beneath. Instead of reaching the bottom, the signals are deflected by trenches, valleys, and other geological formations.

In December 2019, the moment of truth finally arrived for Antarctica and its mysterious underworld. A team of international researchers—hailing from the United States, Europe, Australia, and Asia—revealed the findings from their extensive project.

Known as BedMachine Antarctica, its objective was to map the area beneath the surface as accurately as possible. In preparation, researchers reviewed records dating back almost 50 years. The radar data compiled from these records covered nearly a million miles.

Although this legacy data was insufficient to complete the project, it provided a crucial starting point. With this foundation, the scientists began assembling their comprehensive map of Antarctica. To fill in the gaps, they turned to the principle of mass conservation.

This scientific law, discovered by Mikhail Lomonosov (pictured above), states that if any closed system is never exposed to external forces, then it remains constant. In essence, since matter cannot be created or destroyed, it stays unchanged in a closed system—such as the terrain beneath Antarctic ice.

With mass conservation in mind, the scientists estimated how much ice lies beneath Antarctica by tracking how it flows across the continent. By knowing the volume and speed of ice entering valleys, they could fill in the gaps where radar data was limited.

Not only did the team determine the amount of ice in these valleys, but they also discovered how deep they extend underground. By "pulling back the curtain," they revealed the structure and contours of the valley floor. Through their tireless efforts, the most expansive and accurate map of Antarctica ever created came to be.

The results of their study appeared in Nature Geoscience, a journal published by Nature Research. On December 13, 2019, a day after the article’s publication, the findings were presented at a meeting of the American Geophysical Union.

The study’s conclusions are directly tied to Queen Mary Land, part of the Australian Antarctic Territory located in East Antarctica near the Southern Ocean.

Also known as the Queen Mary Coast, this area was discovered in 1912 by the Australian Antarctic Expedition and named after Mary of Teck, Queen of the United Kingdom and wife of King George V. She was the grandmother of Queen Elizabeth II, and is shown in the painting above.

One of the most important landmarks in Queen Mary Land is the Denman Glacier. This enormous glacier spans roughly 12 miles and dominates the remote landscape.

As shown in the map above, several other glaciers occupy the area—such as Reid Glacier, Scott Glacier, Northcliffe Glacier, and Apple Glacier. However, none of these rivals Denman Glacier’s hidden secret.

A Record-Breaking Canyon

Beneath the Denman Glacier, the researchers discovered a massive canyon extending 11,500 feet below sea level. While its very existence is impressive, its depth is the most significant feature—it is currently the lowest natural point ever discovered on land.

By comparison, the Byrd Glacier, located nearly 1,400 miles away in the Ross Dependency, reaches a depth of 9,121 feet below sea level. The Ross Dependency is named after Sir James Clark Ross and is administered by New Zealand.

Previously, the lowest known land point was in Asia, at the southern end of the Jordan Valley in Israel, where it meets the Dead Sea. This region lies 1,411 feet below sea level. The canyon beneath Denman Glacier surpasses it by almost eight times.

Interestingly, the lowest point on Earth overall is much deeper than even the Denman Glacier. In the depths of the Pacific Ocean, just east of the Mariana Islands, lies the Mariana Trench, believed to reach 36,037 feet at its deepest point.

While the depth of the Mariana Trench is undeniably awe-inspiring, the Antarctic canyon is equally remarkable, considering it lies beneath a glacier on land. Though it was long suspected that something lay beneath Denman Canyon, no one had managed to map it—until now.

The researchers’ ingenuity and technical skill proved vital to achieving this groundbreaking feat. By overcoming the limits of conventional radar technology, they unlocked a major geographic discovery.

Challenges and Comparisons

Although the depth was a major revelation, it was not the only one. Surprisingly, there are valleys around the world that are similarly deep yet remain above sea level.

For example, the Yarlung Tsangpo Grand Canyon, which runs along the Yarlung Tsangpo River in the Xizang Autonomous Region of southwestern China, reaches nearly 20,000 feet at its deepest point.

What made mapping the Antarctic canyon so challenging? Multiple trenches cut through the valley floor, causing radar microwaves to bounce off irregular surfaces. This made it almost impossible to determine where the actual bed of the glacier was.

But this diverse and skilled team of researchers succeeded in overcoming what had once seemed insurmountable.

The Recreated Sound of Earth's Last Pole Flip

 

Religions Can't Be Tamed

 

December 30, 2021

What if we understood more about spiritual practices that exist outside the boundaries of organized religions? What if important and intuitive spiritual needs aren’t being satisfied within mainstream world religions? What if we could gain valuable insights from these “wild religions”? What if the ways in which religions address misfortune are actually key to their success?

Wild Religions Are Persistent

In Morocco, if a family member falls ill, a devout Muslim may bypass the confines of orthodox Islam and instead visit a marabou—a mystic healer who operates more or less underground. The marabou might write a verse from the Quran on a piece of paper, dip it into a glass of water, and then offer the water to the visitor to sip as a form of spiritual healing. This ritual is not found in the canon of Islam, yet it persists and is still practiced today.

Mystic healing, shamanism, ancestor worship, voodoo, spirit-warding rituals, tarot cards, and other forms of divination—these are the practices that characterize many of the world’s “wild religions.” And these are the practices that fascinate Professor Pascal Boyer, an evolutionary anthropologist and psychologist at Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri. Boyer is widely considered one of the most influential founders of the cognitive science of religion.

“Wild religions existed before the emergence of organized religions in most prehistoric societies. They’re also found today in small-scale, so-called ‘tribal’ or ‘traditional’ societies. And they still persist alongside organized religions in most large-scale societies,” Boyer explains.

With support from the Templeton Religion Fund, Boyer has established a cohort of a dozen scholars from the fields of history, anthropology, psychology, and religious studies. Together, they plan to combine their expertise in a detailed, collaborative research project aimed at examining wild religions.

Looking Beyond Doctrines, Leaders, and Rituals

Despite their historical and contemporary prevalence, wild religions have been largely ignored or treated superficially by researchers, Boyer says. As a result, prevailing attitudes about religion are skewed toward those with well-established doctrines—Christianity, Islam, Buddhism, Judaism, Hinduism, and so on. According to Boyer, “We’ve forgotten that a great deal of religious activity was happening before those doctrines—and is still being practiced at their margins.”

That oversight, he argues, is a serious one. Existing both outside and within organized, “tamed” religions, the practices of wild religion are authentic expressions of spontaneous spirituality. As such, Boyer believes they may hold important clues for understanding the psychology of religion—why people believe, what they believe, and how those beliefs function.

Harvey Whitehouse, Director of the Centre for the Study of Social Cohesion at the University of Oxford and one of Boyer’s collaborators, agrees. “Different scholars have different ways of trying to boil religion down to a single thing,” he says. “But I think one of the hallmarks of this project is that it doesn’t look for that kind of magic bullet. Instead, it fractionates religion into its myriad component features and tries to explain how they are grounded in different aspects of our cognitive apparatus.”

The Persistence of “Why Me?”

Initially, the project is focused on building a database to map the beliefs and practices of wild religions—both past and present. It will look for recurring patterns and analyze why these similarities exist. In particular, the research will focus on how wild religions address misfortune.

According to Boyer, unlike doctrinal religions, wild religions rarely deal with abstract questions such as the origin of the universe, the root of evil, or the salvation of the soul. Instead, they are focused on immediate, pragmatic concerns—curing illness, ensuring a good harvest, or understanding why misfortune strikes one person but not another. These traditions offer ways to deal with witches, ancestors, ghosts, and spirits.

Boyer sees this difference as critical. “Wild religions activate universal cognitive systems concerned with threat detection and precaution,” he explains. His research will investigate how this deep-seated cognitive response to risk—essentially, proactively “fighting” for safety and solutions rather than “freezing” or “fleeing”—helps explain the resilience of wild religions across cultures. “When misfortune happens, a very common human question is, ‘Why me?’ So maybe,” he speculates, “the way religious traditions address misfortune is crucial to their success.”

Later stages of the research will examine how religious traditions evolve, testing the hypothesis that wild religions enjoy a “sticky” cultural advantage, while doctrinal religions tend to hold greater institutional and political power in the present.

To truly understand human religious capacity, Boyer insists, we must look beyond “tame” religious traditions and expand our view to include the older, more widespread, and spontaneous forms of religious thought and practice. The research he now leads is a significant step in that direction.

Comparative Chart: Wild Religions vs. Organized Religions

Aspect	Wild Religions	Organized (Tame) Religions
Origins	Prehistoric; ancient, spontaneous traditions	Historically recent; codified systems that emerged later
Structure	Informal, decentralized, often individual or local practice	Formal hierarchy, institutions, leadership (clergy, priesthood)
Sacred Texts	Rare or non-existent; may use symbolic items (e.g., amulets, charms)	Central, codified texts (Bible, Quran, Torah, Vedas, etc.)
Doctrines	Few or none; flexible belief systems	Well-defined theological doctrines and creeds
Focus of Practice	Immediate, practical concerns (healing, protection, agriculture)	Existential questions (salvation, morality, creation, afterlife)
Practices	Shamanism, ancestor worship, divination, spirit communication, voodoo	Prayer, ritual worship, fasting, pilgrimages, sacraments
Cognitive Appeal	Activates threat detection and precaution systems; reactive	Engages moral reasoning, abstract reflection, communal norms
Persistence	Continues alongside or within organized religions	Maintained through institutions and formal conversion
Cultural Embedding	Deeply embedded in folk traditions and rural communities	Linked to empire-building, state sponsorship, education systems
Research Status	Understudied, often dismissed as superstition	Heavily studied in theology, history, and sociology
Example Figures or Roles	Marabou, shaman, witch doctor, diviner	Priest, imam, rabbi, monk, bishop
Influence Mechanism	"Sticky" through cultural transmission and need-based relevance	Institutional power and political alignment
Examples	North African folk Islam, Haitian Vodou, Amazonian shamanism, tarot readings	Christianity, Islam, Judaism, Hinduism, Buddhism