Theories of the end of the world come in all shapes and sizes, but in the post-colonized world, these vary from Christian morals to ritualistic sacrifices and orgies. To understand these variations in apocalypticism and millennial thought around the world, one must look back to colonialism and how the process of colonialism changes belief systems and ways of thinking; two of the places we can see this change is in Peru's Huacas and Melanesia's Cargo Cults. When each country was subjected to the arrival of the Europeans, each sacrificed various animals and possessions in the belief that the End was coming, but their end was not of Brimstone and Hell – theirs was the end of labour and the arrival of material wealth: “free of colonizers, materially…show more content… In Peru, the Andean huacas took part in “Taki Onqoy, or 'dancing sickness', which is a ritualistic behavior explained as “uncontrollable singing and dancing (as if) possessed” as a way of spiritual purification. In said ritual, they renounce their beliefs in Christianity and all things connected to the colonizers in the hopes that they will appease their 'native' Gods and be rewarded for it (Stern, 52). Although the Melanesians actively keep to their Christian beliefs, variations are created through Cargo Cults and multiple branches of Christianity; the S.V.D., S.D.A., and Lutherans are among many (Burridge, 18-19). In the movie Letter of the Dead, one can see how these different branches interact with one another – each promising different things for their beliefs, and the instability that is created when people within families and tribes when 'switching' between…show more content… These variations and their rituals are all performed for the want and need of power and stability through material possessions, possessed by their colonizers, which they believe, once possessed, will be the 'End' to their suffering and begin a new, better life in 'Paradise'; a life consisting of sitting and relaxing and the company of their ancestors, and where they would sit at office jobs and lead the ideal “Western” life. As these remote places are subjected to more globalization in the future, one can only imagine what these belief systems will grow into, how their 'End' will change, and whether or not they are finally given the wealth they so desperately cling
