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The Temple of Divine Mysteries |
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In Service To All Forms of Life
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The Temple Of Divine Mysteries
Merry Meet and Blessed Be!
Welcome to The Temple of Divine Mysteries. We are a Mystery School. Our beliefs and practices are drawn from many different cultures and religions although we draw heavily upon Babylonian/Sumerian/Persian, Egyptian, Celtic, Druidic and many others. We follow and stress the Rede to all. We also draw heavily from Wicca and Witchcraft, or perhaps they draw from some of the other sources we mentioned. We are both an Eclectic Wiccan coven and a Mystery School. After all, when we boil away the trappings of all religions we are left with an aspiration to higher spiritual goals, the searching for perfection of the spirit, a closer connection with the source of all things (Goddess and God) which we can perceive.
The Temple of Divine Mysteries was the name adopted by the coven which operates out of The Mystic Gryphon. The choice of a name was a long and thought out process. We wished to find a name which described who we were and what we did. In the end we chose The Temple of Divine Mysteries because of our link with the divine source (which everyone has) and because of our beliefs which are very diversified in background.
We follow three basic guidelines:
- The Rede - "An it harm none do as you will"
- Do nothing to interfere with the free will of another
- The Three Fold Law - "Whatever you do will return three fold"
Those reading who are Wiccan, practice the religion of Witchcraft, etc. know what these guidelines mean and know how dear they are to those who follow them! These guidelines are not just rules, they are a way of life. They are merged into a way of life which will change how you view the world and your place within it.
The Temple of Divine Mysteries has been given its own section in The Mystic Gryphon for two main reasons: Growth and to reflect the Temple of Divine Mysteries itself. The Mystic Gryphon web site is growing at a phenominal rate. The Temple of Divine Mysteries is spreading out also. Look for new material in all three parts of The Mystic Gryphon. At the time of writing (October 19, 1997) the new year rapidly approaches and with it a new look and feel to The Mystic Gryphon web site.
The Temple of Divine Mysteries has two components or sections. There is a new moon training coven/discussion group which is designed to introduce people to magickal workings, the religion of Witchcraft, group workings, etc. The new moon group is open to all who are interested. This group meets on the new moon of each month. A second group, the full moon coven, meets on the full moon. This group is closed to all but inner circle members. We struggled with the decision of a closed full moon group for a while. A coven must be a close knit family where everyone knows and trusts everyone else explicitly. An open group can not have the closeness of family which is required. For these reasons we chose to operate two groups. Membership in the full moon group is by invitation only. Most of the full moon members have completed Michelle Griffin's year long course in witchcraft which is described in The Mystic Gryphon School of Witchcraft, although, successful completion of the course does not gaurentee invitation to the full moon group. A person can also petition to enter the full moon group after attending at least a year (preferably more) of new moon gatherings, demonstrated knowledge of the magickal arts and of the religion of Witchcraft, be spondsored in the full moon group by one of the temple elders - after a period of a year and day of participation in the full moon group the person may be asked to join. As you can see, the full moon group is a very close knit family - a family by invitation only (association, relationships, etc. will not grant access to the full moon group).
You will notice that there is some overlap between The Mystic Gryphon Magickal Reference Library and The Temple of Divine Mysteries. If you have visted each then you have noticed the identical background, music, pictures, etc. on both pages. This was done deliberately and not out of laziness. With a religion which uses magick as well as with a Mystery School it becomes very difficult to separate the beliefs and magick as they are linked in several ways. Many of the topics below are information but at the same time carry meaning in a religious sense as well. The connection is very true with a Mystery School which practices magick and follows the guidelines above. Where does one category end and the other begin? Are the Holidays a magickal topic or a religious topic? Are they both? Arguments can be made for all four cases (No, Yes, Both, Neither).
We hope that this section will provide information on the religion of Witchcraft, on Wicca, and on Mystery Schools which is of interest and use. Be sure to check back often as we will be adding new articles to this section.
Blessed Be!
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