The Sworn, with their deep reverence for death and intricate rituals, handle the corpse of a fellow member with profound ceremony and symbolism, blending reverence for both physical remains and the spirit that once inhabited them. Through these practices, the Sworn both honor the deceased and reaffirm their beliefs, drawing strength from each member’s life and death as a continuous thread in the cycle of their community’s existence.

We take a look at The Sworn's most holiest of texts: The Testament of Ash and Bone and compare it to other religious manuscripts that have had huge impacts throughout history.

Grinner's attire, steeped in the eerie reverence for the Lord of Death, both aligns with and starkly contrasts the garb of religious figures throughout history, whose clothing symbolizes unique spiritual messages and authority. Here’s a comparison with some well-known leaders.

An old, obscure ball sport that The Sworn have adopted is Skullstriker based off "Pallone col Bracciale," an ancient Italian game played with a wooden bracelet (bracciale) used to strike a ball. The game is fast-paced, requiring agility, strength, and teamwork—skills highly valued by The Sworn. To tie it into their death-centered worship, The Sworn adapted the rules: the ball is symbolically seen as the soul, and the goal of the game is to keep the "soul" in motion, avoiding stagnation (death without purpose). The court's boundaries are marked to resemble a sacred circle, symbolizing the eternal cycle of life, death, and rebirth, with chants often accompanying each serve. The wooden bracelet used in their version of the ball sport "Pallone col Bracciale" is carved into the shape of an ornate skull, symbolizing death and reinforcing their spiritual beliefs.

The Sworn's Ouroboros symbol diverges from the traditional image in both design and meaning, embodying their reverence for death, rebirth, and their belief in an eternal cycle shaped by mortality. Here’s how the Sworn’s Ouroboros stands out and what it represents within their faith.

The Parable of the Wandering Spirit offers profound insight into The Sworn’s post-apocalyptic reality. It provides a spiritual framework that allows members to process grief, cope with isolation, and find meaning in a world that often feels devoid of it. The Sworn, through their rituals and remembrance, create a sanctuary for those both living and dead, offering connection where there would otherwise be despair. By keeping the memories of the deceased alive, The Sworn fortify their sense of purpose and community, ensuring that no spirit, whether wandering or sacrificed, is left alone or forgotten.

Join us as we compare some of the craziest cults in the history of the modern world:

The People's Temple and Jim Jones, The Manson Family and Charles Manson, Aum Shinrikyo and Shoko Asahara, Heaven's Gate and Marshall Applewhite, Branch Davidians and David Koresh, and more.

We compare them to The Sworn and their leader Grinner, focusing on their watershed moment, the Island of Redemption Incident. The incident unfolded on an isolated island located in the South Pacific, where a small community of 150 individuals had resettled to escape the rising chaos of a world still recovering from the aftermath of the zombie outbreak. This island was believed to be a sanctuary, untouched by the living dead, but it soon became the epicenter of a horrifying and orchestrated massacre led by The Sworn.

Today we ask a chilling hypothetical: would you eat human harvested meat if your survival depended on it? Is it cannibalism if they are still alive after the harvest? Take a listen.

Cannibalism has existed throughout history, predominantly as a last resort for survival. However, The Sworn takes it to the next level in their religion as an essential part of their traditions and worship.

It's debated that one of The Sworn's rise to power was based on one thing: geography. We take a look at other successful island communities of similar sizes throughout history to see how The Sworn stacks up, and what they do differently.