Cargo cults mostly exist in pre-industrial tribal societies, like remote parts of New Guinea or islands in the south-west Pacific Ocean. These type of cults are fixated on the "cargo" or material possessions of more advanced, industrialised and wealthy nations or groups and as you can imagine, these type of cults really became popular after WW II, with the greater interaction between pre-industrial and industrial nations.
John Frum cargo cult
Members of cargo cults believe that the cargo that was dropped from aeroplanes, using parachutes, during the war, was actually deliveries coming from the gods. As these people had no understanding of modern technology and such things as aeroplanes, they would engage in "magic" and rituals in an attempt to increase the cargo coming from the gods.
After the war, when the military bases closed, members of cargo cults would try to get the aeroplanes and the cargo to return, by building imitation airstrips, wearing the leftover clothes of military personnel and constructing models of such things as aeroplanes.
Other aspects of modern Western society and religions, would often be integrated into cargo cults, like crosses and other things regarded as magical artefacts.
Members of cargo cults would often dress like soldiers or worship some prominent American like John Frum, who was an American World War II serviceman, on the island of Vanuatu.
The members of cargo cults had no understanding of modern technology but desired the prosperity that seemed to come with it. So, they would create bamboo replicas of planes and control towers in the belief that it would attract planes and bring them material goods.
Another cult on Vanuatu reveres Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, believing that he is the pale-skinned son of a mountain spirit and brother of John Frum (a person who is often depicted as an American World War II serviceman who will bring wealth and prosperity to the people).
The Prince Philip Movement is a religious sect followed by the Kastom people, who live around Yaohnanen village on the southern island of Tanna in Vanuatu. The belief of this group is that Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, the consort to Queen Elizabeth II, is a divine being.
Books To Read
How to Keep Your Head on Straight in a World Gone Crazy, by Rick Renner
