Summum

Today we bring you one of my favorite NRMs ("New Religious Movements"), the quirky little cult known as Summum. (Don't forget to click on the "Gift Shop" link!)

It all began in 1975, when Salt Lake City native Claude Rex Nowell ("Corky" to his family and friends) encountered some highly intelligent folks that he called "Summa Individuals." They taught him about the true nature of creation... so, naturally he changed his name to Summum Bonum Amen Ra, and wrote a book about their teachings.

Well, re-wrote a book, actually. The original, called The Kybalion was published in the early 1900s by "the Three Initiates." It's supposed to be a culmination of the teachings of Hermes Trismegistus, a syncretism of the Greek god, Hermes and the Egyptian God, Thoth. Yes - a syncretism; "the attempted reconciliation or union of different or opposing principles, practices, or parties, as in philosophy or religion."
(syncretism. (n.d.). Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1). Retrieved April 16, 2008, from Dictionary.com website: http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/syncretism)


Ol' Corky felt that the Three Initiates had not gotten it quite right, so he updated The Kybalion and published it under the name "Summum - Sealed Except to the Open Mind." Corky Ra has published other books as well, and has built a pyramid... in Utah.

Yeah. UTAH. They even managed to get a license to brew wine in Utah. Well, Corky and company call it "Nectar Publications" but the government calls it wine. Summum is Utah's first federally bonded winery. Get it? A guy named "Corky" owns a winery... This is better than anything I might make up!

I know what you're thinking - "What good is a pyramid without mummies?" Well, Corky has you covered there too. Turns out the Corkster was a licensed funeral director in the state of California, and he has become known as the "father of modern mummification." He will happily mummify you or your pets.
Corky has actually made being the Mummy Lord of Utah a pretty lucrative gig. The "mummiforms" you see at left are not cheap - their website says that animal mummifications range from $6,000 to $128,000, depending on the weight of the animal. I assume human mummies are much more expensive, as the prices for that aren't even listed.

I am officially suggesting that the Flock all gather at the gates of the Summum Pyramid in Salt Lake City, dressed as mummies. Then we should sing "How Dry I Am" until they give us wine! Who's with me?!



I'm coming for you, Corky. You and your little mummy cat, Oscar, too...