mystery cult

noun

Any of various ancient religious movements in which initiates undergo secret rites to achieve unification with the godhead.

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Meanings

nounmystery cult (plural mystery cults)

plural mystery cults

  1. Any of various ancient religious movements in which initiates undergo secret rites to achieve unification with the godhead.

    The mystery cult of Isis in Roman Egypt was an attempt to harken back to the religion of the New Kingdom, which itself was trying to harken back to the religion of the Old Kingdom.

    1981, William Irwin Thompson, The Time Falling Bodies Take to Light: Mythology, Sexuality and the Origins of Culture, London: Rider/Hutchinson & Co., page 210
Cite this entry
APA

mystery cult. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/mystery%20cult

MLA

“mystery cult.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/mystery%20cult. Accessed November 5, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “mystery cult,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/mystery%20cult.

Source: mystery cult on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.