Schwa
Schwa's past is slightly blurred, but it is generally held that the
religion has its roots in ancient Egypt. A small breakaway group are believed to
have gathered regularly to exchange news and, on occasion, personal accounts of
landings by what they called `star-creatures'. These beings were identical to
the Egyptian gods, and their belief was that these beings came to their land,
from their home amongst the stars, disguised as animals with which they were
familiar (the jackal, the cat etc). Some hieroglyphics have been uncovered by
archaeologists which, according to Schwa followers, are the original
inscriptions of members of the ancient religion, but have been wrongly
interpreted by `UFO fanatics' as proof that aliens built the pyramids. This
leads non-believers to give little weight to what was "actually a true and
proper religion".
Since those primitive days the religion has developed enormously, but
the biggest and most important advancements have only come in the past decade.
Previously, followers had only gathered in what could be described as `sects' in
many different countries, with the highest concentration being in North America.
It wasn't until 1986 that Jeff Krantz, a 19 year old art student at the
University of Michigan, started came to be known as `The Union', a wave of
change that would sweep across the world over a period of two years, and would
result in united international Schwa religion.
"I had just been transferred from (the University of) Wisconsin in the
earlier part of that year," Krantz says. "I had attended regular meetings with
about half a dozen other believers. We met one night each week to talk about< ...