Why this word is great
CULTUS — [Noun] Established or accepted religious rites or customs of worship; state of religious development. From Latin cultus ("cultivation, care, worship"), from colere ("to till, cultivate, honor"). Unlike "cult" (which evokes fringe devotion) or "culture" (which broadens into societal refinement), cultus is the quiet, deliberate tending of the sacred—the tilled soil of ritual. It is the incense curling toward temple rafters, the murmured repetition of ancient prayers, the careful arrangement of offerings on an altar. A thing cultivated is a thing remembered; in the repetition of rites, the divine is kept near.