What sort of bizarre ancient religious sects and groups still exist today that basically nobody knows about?

Found a post I was talking about

>That is what is commonly believed to be true, yet I became informed that this is not completely correct.

>The problem seems to be that the remaining few who still follow the religion need to cover themselves with secrecy because of fear of reprisals and - in addition - destruction of still existing ancient scriptures and documents.

>I am frequently in contact with one of world's leading specialists on Manicheism, who told me about the existence of one remotely located community where people still adhere to this religion. This community also has ancient scriptures that are not available anymore elswhere.

>Yet as it was explained to me it is obvious that they can not be approached without bringing them in danger. Hence I can not blame my friend for not wanting to become become specific on their location (I know in which nation). I have no reason at all not to believe someone who is famous worldwide for studies and publications and who I know personally well enough to know that telling fantasy stories, and especially on Manicheism, is out of the question.

>If it was my study field I think I would slowly go crazy as the years go by in which I know that what I lack in my texts (and what everybody considers to be lost) is out there, to think about the sad conditions in which these invaluable manuscripts are stored, and that there is no way to approach them without putting people's lives at risk.

Tell me more, fellow Gnostic hereti. . . I mean fellow truth seeker

Shit like this probably exists all over the place. Remote communities where followers fled into hiding and took what they could with them and preserved them for centuries.

Every so often incredibly ancient Christian and Jewish texts are discovered in some remote community because of shit like this.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_Manichaeism

You may be interested

There apparently were even Roman pagan communities in Central Italy all the way up to Renaissance.

Citation needed

Waifuism

St. Thomas Christians, old af Christian sect in India

Oh hai

British explorers around the time of Lawrence of Arabia report polytheistic arabian communities, adhering to Islam in public and in old paganism in private.

The ones that see in Jesus a strong leader and fearful warrior

I dont think its too hard to believe but ya sources would b gud

I do think it's hard to believe. People often underestimate how hard it is to hide somewhere "remote" and practice "in secret". Especially in medieval Italy, it's small and crowded.

Most Protestants are Nestorians.

paganism in Mar El, Finnic 'republic' in European Russia - real continuous autochthonous religion not reenactor bs

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mari_native_religion

Candida Moss said Manichaeists revere farts

thedailybeast.com/articles/2016/12/04/how-a-fart-killed-10-000-people.html

>bizarre ancient religious sect
>still exist today
The Blood Cult that is Christianity

>'republic'
What did you mean by this?

This desu.

Both Arianism and Nestorianism lives on in Cuckestants.

autonomies in russian federation are fake, just like 'federation' itself, russia is more centralised than .. finland, whatever

Source?

The OP mentioned Nestorians which they all were and some still are today.

The 'Nestorian' patriarchate recently returned to Iraq after moving to Chicago in the 1930s where Assyrian refugees were already gathering.

>Manichaeism with chinese characteristics

Basically the Persian Church as opposed to the Roman one.

*tips fedora*

*removes wooden spike from virgins chest"

There are still Samaritans. I somehow thought they died out in the Middle Ages.

I never heard of that. But I did hear that Greek paganism survived into the middle ages in remote Greek villages on the mani peninsula. Untill a Byzantine emperor stamped it out.

Pagan until the 9th century.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maniots#Medieval_Mani

Luciferianusm isn't ancient lmao or at least people who claim that religion do not descend from any ancient sects.

As others have said different gnostic sects especially Coptic areas and Manes, cathars etc.

You could argue different esoteric groups use ancient mythology and rituals in a real way but not directly descended.

Judaism

>Blood Cult
>death cult
It's so funny how retards string random words together as if they mean something.

To be fair, Christianity is all about its followers giving up their material possessions because what happens after death is more important than your life. And that saving other peoples souls takes precedent over your own well being, give up the shirt off your back so a stranger can keep warm, that kind of stuff. And many of its followers are absolutely convinced that the world is going to end in their own lifetimes.

Its as much of a death cult as Egyptian paganism is.

Khurranism.

The Alevi

>shugendo
my nigga

its gotta be in Iran

Mandeans.

I'm honestly pretty sure at this point that stuff like the Freemasons are an extension of Roman mystery cults. On the topic of Roman mystery cults, the Eleusinian mysteries lasted a LONG time.

kek

I was thinking China. China isn't very kind to religions not under the governments control.

Looks fun.

>ywn live a wholesome life in ancient greece

Meh, romanticisations may be a bit fanciful. Real temple prostitutes might have looked more like this.

youtu.be/2GFaN9-1iz0

pre-Vedic fire worship in Southern India

isn't the purpose of christianities anti-materialism not to make one prepare for another life but to see that the best things are spiritual (friends, love, kindness)

>Its as much of a death cult as Egyptian paganism is
Kemet was very much like Christianity in its focus on the afterlife and charity, and it certainly had some of the most elaborate burial rituals ever, but it doesn't predict the world will ever end (being one of the few religions with no real apocalypse mythology). So in that sense, it's quite a bit less of a death cult.

And the weird thing about the ancient Egyptian religion (well, one of the weird things), is that your soul is actually divided up into a dozen or so parts, some of which remain on Earth after you die. In some ways, it kinda hybridized eternal afterlife with reincarnation.

If you leave this world worse for wear, not only will the crocodile of dewm eat the best bits of your soul, but you'll also suffer, either directly or indirectly, in that miserable world you helped create. So, at least under Khemet, there's some motivation to think of your legacy and of future generations, even if they may never know you name. (That being my biggest gripe about Christianity - no reason to think of those far after you - though they nonetheless manage to build cathedrals that are often multi-generational projects.)

Granted the details of said Egyptian religion vary like mad from era to era, as the damned religion, and it's proto-predecessors, were just around for so damned long and subject to rather extreme politics.

>stop exposing the retardation of my backward beliefs

I like to think of kemetism as a group of religions rather than a single one.