Jump to content

Summum

Edit links
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by 63.167.171.20 (talk) at 16:30, 19 April 2006. The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

Summum is a religion that began in 1975. The religion's philosophy stems from what it considers to be principles of nature that cannot be accredited to any person. These principles flower in different forms and were outlined in the writings of The Kybalion. But Summum, considering The Kybalion incomplete and antiquated, rewrote the work in a more modern language and incorporated additional information that includes the "grand principle of creation" which states, "Nothing and Possibility come in and out of bond infinite times in a finite moment." From the principle of creation emanate "seven great principles" known as psychokinesis, correspondence, vibration, opposition, rhythm, cause and effect, and gender. This group holds the belief that Moses was given both a "lower" and "higher" knowledge. The lower knowledge is embodied in the more widely known Ten Commandments, while the higher is expressed in what Summum refers to as the "Seven Aphorisms." In this aspect, Summum resembles an esoteric religious movement. "Summum" is a Latin word meaning "highest" and in the context of Summum's philosophy, it means "the sum total of all creation."

Practice of the religion involves meditation upon the aspect of creation that is within one's self. Summum believes that within all created things is an essence which is the spirit of the creator. The more one directs their attention to this indwelling spirit, the more one realizes its existence and moves along the lines of spiritual progression, developing "spiritual Psychokinesis." It appears that there is no recognized deity per se in the philosophy, but rather that we are all part of the mind of the universe and that the universe collectively constitutes something great and worthy of study and meditation.

Summum practices mummification and "Transference" as a means to guide one's essence to a greater destination following the death of the body. This service is offered to people of any religious belief with an estimated cost of $67,000. The service is even offered for pets. Since Summum does not request nor accept donations, it is probable that these mummification services are a major source of financial support. Their research into the process of mummification has assisted Egyptologists in understanding the ancient processes. The process has even been featured by National Geographic.

It has been reported that there are over 200,000 followers of Summum.

Summum followers have gained a certain small notoriety of late in that they have proposed that their "Seven Aphorisms" be placed in public places along side the Ten Commandments, specifically in several locations in Utah. (It is unclear from the available documentation what the precise form of these seven aphorisms would take on these proposed monuments. Perhaps just a list of the seven principles, perhaps something more.) Christians and town fathers have objected on the basis that the Ten Commandments are of great historic significance to the United States, and as such are not solely a religious statement, whereas the seven aphorisms are a modern philosophy with no significant historical bearing on the country. Nevertheless, Summum has prevailed in litigation where the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that Summum was denied its right to free speech and governments had engaged in discrimination. The governments, however, elected to remove their Ten Commandments monument rather than allow Summum to erect its Seven Aphorisms monument.

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Summum&oldid=49147390"