What is Mystrikism?
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Mystrikism is a sensible, syncretic, philosophical discipline that offers a rational alternative to traditional religion. We seek to provide a logical ethos that values critical thought, scientific inquiry, and ethical principles grounded in empirically measurable well-being. We do so without relying on unsubstantiated ingredients such as the supernatural.
Syncretic refers to the blending of ideas, beliefs, and practices from diverse sources into a cohesive whole. It aims to draw the best from all worlds, incorporating any viable, inferential, and useful insights. Rather than indiscriminately merging ideas, our approach carefully selects elements from human philosophy, culture, and even some sensible aspects of theological thought, creating a balanced, cogitative synthesis.
The ultimate purpose of Mystrikism is to encourage and facilitate sapient beings in exploring and uncovering the mysteries of the universe, marvelling at its sublimity and complexity, and expanding our knowledge and wisdom.
Mystrikism addresses the need for common ground among sceptical individuals, enhancing, complementing and building upon secular humanism. It offers a framework of evidence-guided ethics rooted in quantifiable flourishing for sapient beings, sentient life, and ecosystems; a rational concept greater than ourselves; and a naturalised “spirituality” (in quotes) that celebrates moments in life that transcend the ordinary.
We recognise the need for subjective truth, what a person genuinely experiences from the inside: emotions, values, perspectives, meaning, and idiosyncrasies based on their genetic makeup and personal experience. But we also hold that objective truth, what is real, independent of anyone’s feelings about it, is crucial for understanding reality beyond the boundaries of our thoughts, facts that are universal to all. So we strive for something practical and humble, the honest pursuit of the most confident, current, provisional approximation of objective truth, knowing full well it is revisable, and the understanding that reality has the “final word”.
That links straight into how Mystriks think about morality and ethics. We treat morality as subjectively grounded but rationally guided, and that these aims, goals, values, and standards ultimately come from sapient minds. But ethics, as the means to achieve those ends, should be as objective as we can make it. Science-tested, evidence-based, methodologically objective practices, actions, protocols, and strategies. Always provisional, always updateable as better data or reasoning becomes available.
Of course, no one is expected to become a scientist by profession, but we encourage Mystriks to do their best to think like one, carefully and honestly unravelling the truth around us. Each of us uncovers the secrets of the universe in our own way, whether by exploring the depth and breadth of the micro and macro-cosmos, investigating nature and its governing laws, examining our own inner selves, and learning the value of justice in living systems.
Mystriks believe that the noblest goals are the honest search for the best current provisional approximation of objective truth, the appreciation of reality’s splendour, and the employment of justice. Thus, principled decency and the integrated principles of science are central to our ethos. The Union upholds that compassion infuses warmth and sustainability into the lifeless realms of cold logic and reason.
Why should we write “no religion” or merely “agnostic” or “atheist” on a census form when we embody so much more? We find marvel and sublimity in the world like any other intelligent beings, except we don’t attribute these experiences to any supernatural interpretation.
We revere, simply meaning respect and awe, the dynamically infinite unknown as a rational and natural aspect of reality, eternally beyond our scope, giving perspective to our self-importance, humbling egotism, and subduing our hubris. This reverence is not worship, nor does it involve any form of devotion or supernatural belief. It’s a recognition of the vast mystery without assigning it divine attributes. By definition, the mystery of reality is beyond our understanding, epically greater than ourselves, and not in conflict with logic and the purposes of science. This concept has no mind, agency, personality, agenda, awareness, or any divine, paranormal, or supernatural elements. Though some forms of pantheism or pandeism interpret the unknown as a manifestation of a god or divine force, Mystrikism firmly separates itself from such beliefs.
Mystriks train themselves to deliberately pause and savour those naturalised (non-supernatural) “spiritual” (in quotes) moments of awe, wonder, beauty and connection that transcend the ordinary. That inspired feeling you receive from your brain and nervous system when you look at our Milky Way galaxy, see the delicate splendour of a dewy spider’s web, learn an important truth, or hear a perfect piece of music.
Because we care about truth and we know humans are fallible, we also spell out our epistemic foundations, the standards we use to decide what deserves belief in the first place. It’s basically our anti-self-deception toolkit. In a nutshell, we try to be dogmatic about method, not truth. And we summarise those standards as: Reliability (grounded in consistency); Objectivity (with resistance to bias); Verification (through independent cross-checking); Reproducibility; Relevance; Trustworthiness (marked by transparency); Empiricism, if applicable (based on observation and measurement); Logical coherence (free from contradiction); and Falsifiability.
Mystriks acknowledge the limits of human knowledge, perception, memory and cognition, relying on the integrated principles of science to compensate for our flaws in our attempts to comprehend reality. Mystrikism integrates the philosophy of naturalism, emphasising that the universe’s complexity and beauty are sufficient without requiring any supernatural explanations. We currently subscribe to naturalism because, so far, it is the only worldview that consistently and reliably produces accurate, useful predictions we can all share, verify, or correct, rather than superstitions that explain nothing and are typically unfalsifiable. Therefore, for the moment, we provisionally treat reality as entirely natural, and so far, we see no valid reason or verified evidence to think otherwise.
So far, like other superstitions, god propositions have not been scientifically verified, and most are not even falsifiable (as usually defined). As a result, our agnosticism leads us to non-theism: because we don’t know, we provisionally don’t believe. Many forms of atheism often involve an outright and active rejection of theistic claims, which can create a sense of finality. Non-theism, on the other hand, leaves more room for humility and inquiry. It simply indicates a current absence of belief in gods, without requiring an absolute or definitive stance. For Mystrikism, non-religious non-theism better aligns with our core values of evidence-based belief, the scientific method, and openness to the unknown. In this way, we remain grounded in reality while staying open to the mysteries of the cosmos.
And just as importantly, Mystrikism is not so much a membership as a mindset. There is no initiation rite, no conversion ceremony, and no membership card. You can engage lightly or deeply. You can take what resonates, test it in your life, and leave what doesn’t, with no pressure and no strings attached. The point is not signing onto an organisation. The point is learning to think more honestly, act more justly, and live with more wonder, without abandoning reality.
We invite those seeking a like-minded identity and sensible, inferential values to be guided by. If our philosophy resonates with you and you wish to live by some or all of our principles, we invite you to drop us a line. We are happy to answer any questions or benefit from any viable criticisms.