![Jupiter]()
Image source: [British Museum](https://www.britishmuseum.org/blog/gods-and-goddesses-greek-and-roman-pantheon)
# Cult
## Etymology
The word _cult_ comes from the Latin word _cultus_[^3]:
> 1610s, "worship, homage" (a sense now obsolete); 1670s, "a particular form or system of worship;" from French culte (17c.), from Latin cultus "care, labor; cultivation, culture; worship, reverence," originally "tended, cultivated," past participle of colere "to till" (see colony).
It generally meant the _religio_ or what Cicero referred to as the "cultivation of the gods"[^1]:
> I prefer to listen rather than to any leader among the Stoics. Since, moreover, the whole religious system of the Roman people has been divided into sacred rites and auspices, with the addition of a third part consisting of the prophetic warnings derived, by the interpreters of the Sibyl or by soothsayers, from portents and prodigies, it has been my opinion that none of these observances ought ever to be treated with contempt, and I have convinced myself that it was by means of auspices and the establishment of sacred rites that Romulus and Numa respectively laid the foundations of our state, which certainly could never have been so great without the most assiduous __cultivation of the good will of the immortal gods__. You are in possession of my opinions, Balbus, both as an individual and as pontiff; let me now understand yours, for from you who are a philosopher I ought to receive a reasoned account of religion, whereas it is my duty to believe our ancestors even when they offer no such account.
The worship of dieties is the basis of societal traditions and practices and art, which leads us to refer to those things as _culture_.
## Catholic cultus
The Catholic Church uses the term to denote the veneration of the saints (dulia)[^2] and to clarify the difference to the worship of God (latria).
> (Greek doulia; Latin servitus), a theological term signifying the honour paid to the saints, while latria means worship given to God alone, and hyperdulia the veneration offered to the Blessed Virgin Mary. St. Augustine (City of God X.2) distinguishes two kinds of servitus: "one which is due to men . . . which in Greek is called dulia; the other, latria, which is the service pertaining to the worship of God". St. Thomas (II-II:103:3) bases the distinction on the difference between God's supreme dominion and that which one man may exercise over another. Catholic theologians insist that the difference is one of kind and not merely of degree; dulia and latria being as far apart as are the creature and the Creator.
In more modern years, the term _cult_ has taken on a more negative connotation, often referring to high-control groups practicing deviant psychosexual behaviors.
### Footnotes
[^1]: "De Natura Deorum" [On the Nature of the Gods](https://oll.libertyfund.org/titles/cicero-on-the-nature-of-the-gods), Cicero. Source originally published 1896. Retrieved June 05, 2024.
[^2]: [New Advent: Dulia](https://www.newadvent.org/cathen/05188b.htm) Source originally published 1909. Retrieved June 05, 2024.
[^3]: [Online Etymology Dictionary: cult (noun)](https://www.etymonline.com/search?q=cult). Retrieved June 05, 2024.
https://wikistr.com/cult*dd664d5e4016433a8cd69f005ae1480804351789b59de5af06276de65633d319
mleku (npub1fjq…leku)