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From: torin@netcom.com (Darren/Torin/Who ever...)
Subject: Church of All Worlds FAQ Part 3/7
Message-ID: <torinCnrtKJ.I7H@netcom.com>
Followup-To: alt.religion.all-worlds
Summary: This posting contains a general outline about the Church of
	 All Worlds, a neo-pagan church and alt.religion.all-worlds.
	 It is *not* for all religions.  It should be read by anyone
	 who wishes to post to alt.religion.all-worlds.
Reply-To: c-a-w@netcom.com 
Organization: Church of All Worlds
Date: Tue, 5 Apr 1994 05:21:55 GMT
Approved: news-answers-request@MIT.EDU
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Xref: bloom-beacon.mit.edu alt.religion.all-worlds:678 alt.answers:2337 news.answers:17684

Archive-name: church_all_worlds/part3
Alt-religion-all-worlds-archive-name: FAQ-part3
Last-modified: Thu, 24 Mar 1994

II. ***WHAT*** IS THE CHURCH OF ALL WORLDS???
 
     A. OVERVIEW
 
        The Church of All Worlds ISN'T a bunch of folks who read
 Robert Heinlein's book _Stranger_in_a_Strange_Land_ and wanted
 to play act. It wasn't started by Heinlein, nor did he belong to
 or benefit from it, except perhaps in the form of new fans.  The
 Church does draw some of its form and philosophy from SISL and
 tends to attract future oriented people who enjoy reading
 speculative fiction, never-the-less, it definitely ISN'T a
 trekky type grok-flock (but some of us have tendencies towards
 being trekkies).
 
 From Otter Zell:
   --0z--
        The Church of All Worlds is Neo-Pagan, implying an
 eclectic reconstruction of ancient Nature religions, and
 combining archetypes of many cultures with other mystic,
 environmental and spiritual disciplines..  Indeed, we were the
 ones who first proposed, in 1967, that the term "Pagan" be
 adopted to apply to the newly-emerging movement of Nature-based
 and revivalist pre-Christian religions, including Witchcraft as
 European shamanism, but also including Egyptian, Greek, Norse,
 Druidic, Hindu, and various indigenous tribal traditions, such
 as Polynesian, Native American, African, etc.
 
        But we in CAW are not trying merely to recreate a
 Paradise Lost; we are actively involved in helping to save the
 present world as well as working to actualize a visionary
 future.  With roots deep in the Earth and branches reaching
 towards the stars, we evoke and create myths not only of a
 Golden Age long past, but of one yet to come.
 
        CAW presently has about three dozen regional "Nests",
 which is what we call our local congregations, or Circles.
 These are indeed member groups, as are the several subsidiary
 "branch" organizations that we have created and chartered to
 focus on particular areas of concern.  These branches include:
 Nemeton --- fundraising, marketing and publishing; Forever
 Forests --- treeplanting and environmental action; Ecosophical
 Research Association (ERA) --- research and exploration into
 origins and actualizations of myths and legends; Lifeways ---
 education and personal development; Peaceful Order of the Earth
 Mother (POEM) --- dedicated to children and child nurturing;
 Holy Order of Mother Earth (HOME) --- developing magical and
 ritual structures and techniques.
 
        CAW is worldwide, including seven Nests in Australia,
 where we are the first legally-recognized Pagan religion (as we
 were the first in the US).  A third of our Nests are in
 California, reflecting the greatest concentration of our
 members.  We have individual members in many other countries
 throughout the world.
 
        We have created a new Tribalism, where we relate to each
 other as members of a tribe, with interconnecting clans and
 families.  And in turn, our tribe is one of the Nations of Earth
 Religions, bound together by our common love and reverence for
 our Mother, the Living Earth.
      --0z--