Editing Cult of the Pah-wraiths

[[File:Cult of the pah-wraiths symbol.jpg|thumb|250px|right|The symbol of the Cult of the Pah-wraiths]]

The [[Cult of the Pah-wraiths]] was a group of [[Bajoran]]s who worshipped the [[Pah-wraiths]] rather than the [[Prophets]]. It was formed after the [[Cardassian]] occupation of [[Bajor]] by Bajorans who believed that the Prophets had abandoned them by watching while Bajor was ravaged. Members of the Cult embraced the notion that the Pah-wraiths would bring about the Restoration of Bajor. They identified themselves by wearing red earrings and red armbands.

After Gul Dukat had released a Pah-wraith into the [[Orb of Contemplation]] and collapsed the entrance to the [[Bajoran Wormhole]], the Cult grew in size and numbers. What was once considered a joke by the Bajoran people soon turned into a phenomenon the likes of which the [[planet]] had never seen before, with members of the Cult including [[Kai]] Winn Adami at one point. (DS9: "Tears of the Prophets", "The Dogs of War")

In early 2375, they were seen chanting in front of the [[Bajoran Temple]] on Deep Space 9. A member of the group traveled to [[Earth]] and attempted to assassinate Benjamin Sisko, when they learned that he would embark on a quest to find the [[Orb of the Emissary]]. (DS9: "Image in the Sand")

After Dukat released the Pah-wraith into the wormhole, he became "the Master" of the Cult and led some fifty members to the abandoned Cardassian station of Empok Nor, where they founded a colony.

Later in 2375, Vedek Fala abducted Colonel Kira Nerys from Deep Space 9 at Dukat's orders, and attempted to convert her to the Pah-wraiths. During her time there, a Cultist named Mika gave birth to a half-Cardassian child, which Dukat claimed was a symbol of the covenant between him and his followers. However, Mika's husband, Benyan, and others were unconvinced, and Dukat attempted to have his followers commit mass suicide by ingesting promazine capsules, to keep them from turning against him.

Kira, suspicious of Dukat's intentions from the start, exposed Dukat's capsule as a fake and that he had no intention of dying with the rest of the Cultists. Dukat escaped from the station, while his betrayed and disillusioned followers abandoned the Cult and returned with Kira aboard the USS Defiant. However, Fala, devastated by these events, took his capsule and committed suicide before the Defiant arrived. (DS9: "Covenant") 

[[Category: Ideologies and Religions]][[Category: Organizations]]