* From the Latin word "sanctuarium", meaning a sacred or consecrated
place. To us, our Temple is a sacred dwelling for our Gods - both from our Dianic Wiccan path
and our ancient pagan Graeco-Roman religious tradition. Here we honor the Goddess in
Her many aspects - especially as the four-fold Lady Diana - She as Wildwood, Ephesus,
Lucefera, and Hecate. It is here, too, that we celebrate the Wheel of the Year,
Her Lunar Mysteries, and train our Kori's (daughters) and Gio's (sons) for priesthood.
* From the Delphoi Temple of Gaia, meaning delph "hollow" or delphus "womb".
Here, sitting over the omphalos stone, (which was considered the center of the earth and the
universe), the Delphic priestesses, known as Pythia's, received prophetic messages from the
Gods themselves.
* From our heritage as Pagani, meaning those who follow an earth-based
nature religion, honoring the cycles of seasons, lunar mysteries, deity, and magic,
while honoring a pantheon of Goddesses and Gods. Paganism was the "mainstream religion"
of the ancient world for over 6,000 years. Wiccans and Pagans alike will be
forever indebted to authors such as Marija Gimbutas, who wrote the revealing
book, "The Language of the Goddess" (Harper, 1989):
"Marija saw that the female form, rendered in thousands of images,
reflected the centrality of women in religious and cultural life.
Images of the Goddess, and male Gods, both anthropomorphic and zoomorphic,
expressed a sacred participation in the great natural cycles of fertility/birth,
death and regeneration.
During the last few years of his life, Joseph Campbell spoke frequently of
Marija Gimbutas, profoundly regretting that her research on the Neolithic
cultures of Europe was not available during the 1960's when he was writing
The Masks of God. Otherwise, he would have "revised everything." Campbell
compared the importance of Marija's work to Champollion's decipherment of
Egyptian hieroglyphics. He was not alone in this appreciation. According to
anthropologist Ashley Montagu, "Marija Gimbutas has given us a veritable
Rosetta Stone of the greatest heuristic value for future work in the
hermeneutics of archaeology and anthropology." *
* From the "religio arcani", meaning religion of secrets. As Witches, we
celebrate the lunar, stellar, solar, and elemental mysteries of our natural
universe. Practitioners of magic harmonize their energies with corresponding
energies, for specific positive and life-affirming purposes.
* And finally from the well of Wicca. The Latin word, "religio"
meaning "for the Gods", we define as a fusion of deity worship, magic
expression, and Pagan spirituality. As Wiccans we revere our Pagan ways,
melding Witchcraft and Goddess worship into a celebration of the Craft of the Wise.
While we can agree with Webster's Dictionary that religion is
"...any specific system of belief and worship, ...involving
a code of ethics and a philosophy"; we also view our Wiccan religion as
celebrating liturgy through sacred rites, training devotees, ordaining clergy,
serving the community, honoring our ancestors, and observing the initiatory
mysteries.
*Joan Marler January, 1995 http://www.online.pacifica.edu/cgl/Gimbutasbio
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Chicago Pagan Pride 2008