TY - JOUR

T1 - Astronism and the Astronic Religious Tradition

AU - Taylorian (Cometan), Brandon Reece

AU - York, Michael

PY - 2023/8/14

Y1 - 2023/8/14

N2 - A new religion was founded in 2013 that goes by the name of Astronism while its community of followers are known as Astronists. This article gives a rigorous account of the eschatology, soteriology and worldview of this new space religion while contextualizing its emergence as part of a broader Astronic religious tradition. This proposed tradition may itself possess prehistoric roots in the Upper Palaeolithic in the earliest human observations of the night sky. Human beings in turn came to establish a relationship with celestial phenomena, one of both spiritual and secular utility that has since produced systems of astrotheism and astrology. In the contemporary, the projection of the Astronist theory of history onto the Astronic tradition has meant that Astronism’s salvific doctrine of transcension is established as a grand narrative and universal ethic that unites the Astronic tradition. In essence, this article considers how Astronism, as a new religious movement, is working to revive astronomical religion, albeit in ways relevant in an age of space exploration and appropriate to modern scientific knowledge about humanity’s true place in the universe.

AB - A new religion was founded in 2013 that goes by the name of Astronism while its community of followers are known as Astronists. This article gives a rigorous account of the eschatology, soteriology and worldview of this new space religion while contextualizing its emergence as part of a broader Astronic religious tradition. This proposed tradition may itself possess prehistoric roots in the Upper Palaeolithic in the earliest human observations of the night sky. Human beings in turn came to establish a relationship with celestial phenomena, one of both spiritual and secular utility that has since produced systems of astrotheism and astrology. In the contemporary, the projection of the Astronist theory of history onto the Astronic tradition has meant that Astronism’s salvific doctrine of transcension is established as a grand narrative and universal ethic that unites the Astronic tradition. In essence, this article considers how Astronism, as a new religious movement, is working to revive astronomical religion, albeit in ways relevant in an age of space exploration and appropriate to modern scientific knowledge about humanity’s true place in the universe.

KW - Astronism

KW - Astronic tradition

KW - new religious movement

KW - new religion

KW - space religion

KW - astronomical religion

KW - Astronist

KW - transcension

KW - cosmocentrism

KW - Cometan

U2 - 10.1558/ijsnr.25395

DO - 10.1558/ijsnr.25395

M3 - Journal article

VL - 12

SP - 3

EP - 31

JO - International Journal for the Study of New Religions

JF - International Journal for the Study of New Religions

SN - 2041-9511

IS - 1

M1 - 1

ER -