The Latin word "cultus", from which our "cult" originated, is translated as "worship." If you look closely, you can see that the cult is one of the pillars of human culture in general. Worship of something is very characteristic of our nature, because it creates for us a certain ideal, gives a goal - we must strive for this.
The cult of ancient times
It is safe to say that a religious cult in any form is already a proof of the existence of intelligence in a living creature.
Indeed, for its creation it is necessary to have imagination and logic (albeit primitive). In the future, man found more and more phenomena that seemed to him stronger than a simple living being. There appeared worship of almost all elements of nature that could be both useful and harmful to humans - rivers, forests, animals and plants. Therefore, as soon as people ceased to be animals and acquired some mental skills, the cult did not slow to appear.
Apparently, man gave the first worship to the most expensive gift of nature - fire. After all, the storage of the hearth, the production of fire, even the simple lighting of a “torch” from a common fire - all this had the appearance of a ritual. Fire was the first companion of a man who helped him, made his life easier, or destroyed everything in his path if he was "angered". Traces of the cult of fire remained in every mythology of the world - remember at least the legend of Prometheus.
Next stage
However, a cult is a developing tradition. At some point in his existence, a person was faced with the fact that there is a thing that is completely beyond his explanation, which did not react to worship and veneration. She was inevitable. This is Death.
From the very beginning of the intellect in humans, he was worried about the question, what comes after passing this line? He could not give an answer to himself. It was then that the cult of ancestors arose. After all, they, already in the next world, knew what death was. Those ancestors who went to the world could help a person in worldly affairs, thanks to their wisdom and knowledge.
In order to understand the cult of the dead, it is worth familiarizing yourself with the myths of Scandinavia. It was there, due to the importance of the tribal community, that the worship of the ancestors was a huge part of the local ritual ceremonies.
The emergence of myth as a cult
As we found out, initially a cult is a worship of natural phenomena or objects or ancestors. In the second case, a personality already appeared in worship - evil or kind, cunning or honest, having its own specific character.
The endowment with personal qualities of a person of inanimate objects and even feelings (!) Created a myth. A huge pantheon of various gods appeared, each culture has its own. However, the cult of ancestors did not go anywhere with the advent of Zeus, Thor, Ra, and various other idols.
Its further development is especially noticeable in China. In the Middle Kingdom, everything, the most insignificant phenomenon and the most inconspicuous object, according to the ideas of the inhabitants, has a guardian spirit. They became the dead ancestors, sometimes replacing each other or simply patronizing the two. Many famous Chinese rulers, scientists and officials after death "remained" on the earth, helping ordinary people and protecting rivers, houses, settlements, light and rice fields.
Religion
No matter how important the awareness of the existence of God is for most of the inhabitants of the Earth, in its pure form, religion is a cult of the Supreme Being, and nothing more. It is the worship of a single, independent and omnipotent being that is central to monotheistic religions.
A religious cult is, in addition to worshiping God directly, also endowing a huge number of artifacts and rituals with some sacred, higher meaning. Following these very rituals (repentance, communion in Christianity, for example) is one of the main pillars of religion. With their help, one can satisfy the Supreme Being, and for non-observance, one can anger him.
Religion plays a huge role in the history of mankind - so big that it is difficult to overestimate it. In world faiths (Buddhism, Christianity, Islam), in fact, all moral standards of behavior for modern man are laid down. Religion thereby became higher than a simple cult, which turned from a frightened worship into teaching, an attempt to bring human life into a gracious order. It is the presence of philosophical impulses that puts religion at a level higher than a cult.
And if you move away from the sacred?
However, a religious cult is just an item (albeit a huge one) in the list of human worship. The cult does not always carry a higher and divine charge, a desire to explain the world. Our world and history are, in fact, filled with various worship options.
One of the most important cults in the history of mankind is the cult of power. He came to us from a cruel beastly world, where the presence of power is an indispensable point for survival.
The strongest (alpha) instantly becomes the main. Without his permission or knowledge, weaker creatures cannot do anything. However, these same bets and scales follow each other in the same way, creating a simple hierarchical ladder where the weakest (omega) is obliged to worship the strongest.
Such an animal device can be well seen in schools where children have not yet learned to control themselves and splash out all the bestial that remains of our ancestors.
Rational cult
Two major epochs in the history of mankind brought another cult. It can be called purely human, deprived of an ancestor from the world of cruel nature.
This is a cult of the mind. The presence of rational, logical thinking, thanks to ancient philosophers, is considered the main property of man. The ability to own thoughts in it is put much higher than the worship of the Supreme Beings.
An intelligent creature should set itself the goal of knowing the world through science, as well as the maximum objectivity in his knowledge. The cult of the mind often excludes the very idea of the Divine - simply because we do not see any evidence of the Supreme Being interfering in the affairs of people.
In France, during the Revolution, this phrase carried the antithesis of the dominant Catholicism. At that time, the cult of Reason became an entire Parisian movement aimed at establishing the dictates of science. Its participants tore masses and services, destroyed altars, while trying to enlighten the people through reading books.
At some point, the movement was lost in the abyss of revolutionary action. However, the denial of the divine and the formation of the human mind on a higher pedestal, and the presentation of objectivism as the main good, was greatly reflected in the events under the slogan “Freedom! Equality! Brotherhood!"
The cult of personality
A cult is a concept spread over a short period of time. The clearest example of such a “short-lived” cult is worship of one person - even during his lifetime.
The cult of personality arises most often as a political effect in the countries of totalitarianism, being the main sign of autocracy. The closest analogue is a religious cult. A man who has managed to gain power is endowed with a people with almost divine, magical abilities. Belief in him and his word becomes unshakable.
However, Sholokhov did not knowingly once said about the reign of Joseph Stalin: “There was a cult. But there was a personality. ” Indeed, as soon as the first outstanding person appeared in the world, ready to put himself above the rest, a cult appeared. Alexander the Great became the first man deified in life in the Ancient World. The cult of personality received the following development already in Ancient Rome: almost every great emperor was deified there, and Gaius Julius Caesar, even during his lifetime, began to build a temple to himself at the expense of the treasury.
The cult of personality was of great importance in the 20th century. Here it becomes the basis for many significant events - the clash of two cults, Hitler and Stalin, we now call the Great Patriotic War.
