cultic
Of ritual worship
Cultic describes things relating to a cult or religious ritual practice.
The word appears most often in academic or theological contexts: cultic practices, cultic worship, cultic sites.
It refers to formal religious observance—sacrifice, ceremony, sacred objects—rather than to cults in the modern pejorative sense of fringe groups with charismatic leaders.
Profound admiring respect
- worshipReligious reverence and praise
- fervorIntense emotional intensity
- pietySincere religious devotion
- zealotryExcessive devotion to beliefs
fanaticism · idolatry · reverence · adulation · allegiance · ardor · zeal · faith
Spoken magical formula
- sacrificeGiving up something precious
- offeringSomething presented or given
- altarSacred ritual table
- chantingRhythmic repetitive vocalization
rites · priesthood · taboo · propitiation · libation · shamanism · totemism · oracle
Sacred devotional place
- sanctuaryProtected sacred space
- holyDedicated to the divine
- divineOf or from gods
- consecratedDeclared sacred through ritual
hallowed · sacrosanct · numinous · sanctified · temple · grove · precinct · relics
Formal moving line
- vestmentsCeremonial religious attire
- liturgyFormal worship structure
- consecrationDedicating to sacred purpose
- ordinationClergy appointment ceremony
incense · acolyte · cantor · chalice · paten · mitre · crosier · sacristy
Understood by few
- hermeticImpenetrably closed off
- gnosticRelating to mystical insight
- kabbalisticOf Jewish mystical tradition
- theosophicalOf divine wisdom study
mystery · gnosis · teachings · adept · neophyte · illumination · enlightenment · transmission
Narrow in outlook
- clannishExclusionary toward outsiders
- exclusionaryTending to bar others
- ingroupExclusive social circle
- separatistAdvocate for breaking away
schismatic · heterodox · splinter · fringe · breakaway · unorthodox · heretical · dissident
veneration
Profound admiring respect
- worshipReligious reverence and praise
- fervorIntense emotional intensity
- pietySincere religious devotion
zealotry · fanaticism · idolatry · reverence · adulation · allegiance · ardor · zeal · faith · deification
incantation
Spoken magical formula
chanting · rites · priesthood · taboo · propitiation · libation · shamanism · totemism · oracle · invocation
shrine
Sacred devotional place
consecrated · hallowed · sacrosanct · numinous · sanctified · temple · grove · precinct · relics · icons
procession
Formal moving line
- vestmentsCeremonial religious attire
- liturgyFormal worship structure
- consecrationDedicating to sacred purpose
ordination · incense · acolyte · cantor · chalice · paten · mitre · crosier · sacristy · tabernacle
arcane
Understood by few
- hermeticImpenetrably closed off
- gnosticRelating to mystical insight
- kabbalisticOf Jewish mystical tradition
theosophical · mystery · gnosis · teachings · adept · neophyte · illumination · enlightenment · transmission · lineage
insular
Narrow in outlook
- clannishExclusionary toward outsiders
- exclusionaryTending to bar others
- ingroupExclusive social circle
separatist · schismatic · heterodox · splinter · fringe · breakaway · unorthodox · heretical · dissident · enclave
culticmainstream
Dominant cultural current
orthodox · established · conventional · traditional · institutional
culticsecular
Nonreligious, worldly
rational · skeptical · scientific · empirical · freethinking
culticindividualistic
Favoring personal autonomy
autonomous · independent · open · transparent · noncoercive
- cult classicObscure work with devoted fans
- cult followingsDevoted admirers of something obscure
- cult leaderHead of fanatical group
- cult hitWork with fanatical admirers
- doomsday cultGroup expecting imminent apocalypse
- cult filmMovie with devoted niche following
cult, occult, occultism, cults, occultist, cultist, cultism, occultists, cultish