Everything about The Church Of All Worlds totally explained
The
Church of All Worlds (CAW) is a
neopagan religious group whose stated mission is to evolve a network of information, mythology, and experience that provides a context and stimulus for reawakening
Gaia and reuniting her children through
tribal community dedicated to responsible stewardship and evolving
consciousness.
The key founder of CAW was
Oberon Zell-Ravenheart, who participated in the Church as "
Primate", later along with his wife,
Morning Glory Zell-Ravenheart, designated High Priestess. CAW was formed in 1962, evolving from a group of friends and lovers who were in part inspired by religion of the same name from the
science fiction novel Stranger in a Strange Land by
Robert A. Heinlein; much of the church's mythology includes science fiction to this day. The headquarters are in
Cotati, California.
CAW's members, called
Waterkin, espouse
pantheism but it isn't a belief-based religion. Members experience
Divinity and honor the experiences and views of others. They recognize the
Earth Mother Goddess and the
Father God, the Green God and Goddess, and the
Horned God and Lady of the Beasts. CAW also recognizes the realm of
Faeries and the
deities of many other pantheons. Most of their ritual celebrations are centered on the gods and goddesses of
ancient Greece.
Formation
CAW began in 1961 with a group of
high school friends. One of these was Richard Lance Christie from
Tulsa, Oklahoma. Christie was fascinated by the "
self-actualization" concepts of
Abraham Maslow, a renowned American
psychologist, and after meeting then-Timothy Zell at
Westminster College, he began experiments in
extrasensory perception. It was during this time that the group they formed read Heinlein’s science fiction novel, which became the inspiration for CAW.
Heinlein's book, combined with Maslow's self-actualization concepts, led to the formation of a waterbrotherhood that Zell and Christie called
Atl, the
Aztec word for "water", and also meaning "home of our ancestors". Atl became dedicated to political and social change and the group grew to about 100 members.
Zell formed CAW from Atl, and filed for incorporation as a church in 1967. It was formally chartered on
March 4,
1968, making it the first
Earth religion to obtain full United States recognition as a church.
Early organization and beliefs
CAW modeled its organization after the group in Heinlein's novel, as a series of 9 nests in circles of advancement that were each named after a planet. The basic
dogma of the CAW was that there was no dogma – the basic "belief" was a stated "lack of belief". Within their religion, the only sin was
hypocrisy and the only crime in the eyes of the church was interfering with another person.
By 1970, CAW placed greater emphasis on
ecology and nature, applying the term
pagan to nature-lovers in general, regardless of religion.
Evolution
Moving toward an emphasis on nature eventually led to a breaking of the relationship between CAW and Atl. By 1974, CAW had nests in more than a dozen states around the United States. That year, Zell married Morning Glory (
née Diana Moore) and in 1976 he and Morning Glory settled in
Eugene, Oregon and then at the Coeden Brith land in northern
California.
When Zell stepped away from central leadership, the Church of All Worlds suffered a series of internal strife that led to most of the church dissolving. By 1978 the focus and headquarters shifted to California with the Zells and the nine-circle nest structure was revamped. CAW then served for several years as an
umbrella organization for its subsidiaries.
Subsidiaries
Morning Glory Zell founded the
Ecosophical Research Association (ERA) in 1977 to research arcane lore and legends. Its first project of note was the creation of living
unicorns in 1980, after noting that early art depicts the creatures as being more goat-like than horse-like. The Zells reconstructed what they claimed was an ancient unicorning procedure, a process involving surgically manipulating the horn buds of
kids during their first week of life, and created several unicorns, some of which toured with the
Ringling Brothers Circus for a time
(External Link
).
In 1978 CAW merged with Nemeton, a Pagan organization founded by
Gwydion Pendderwen and Alison Harlow. In 1987 CAW also absorbed Forever Forests, another one of Pendderwen’s organizations. An outgrowth of Forever Forests was founded in 1983 by
Anodea Judith, past president and High Priestess of CAW, called Lifeways.
The Holy Order of Mother Earth (HOME), founded in 1978 by the Zells, is another subsidiary, dedicated to magical living and working with the land.
Renaissance
By the mid-1980s, CAW had practically ceased operation outside of
Ukiah, California where the Zells relocated in 1985. Anodea Judith assumed presidency until 1991, and the structure of the organization was revamped with plans for more nest meetings, training courses, new rituals and publications. By the late 1990s CAW had increased membership internationally, becoming particularly strong in Australia where it became legally incorporated in 1992.
In 1998 Oberon Zell-Ravenheart took a year-and-a-day
sabbatical from his role as Primate, and the church headquarters were moved to
Toledo, Ohio.
Attempted termination
On August, 2004, the Board of Directors decided to terminate CAW due to financial and legal struggles. In January, 2006, CAW was reestablished.
Further Information
Get more info on 'Church Of All Worlds'.
|
External Link Exchanges
Do you know how hard it is to get a link from a large encyclopaedia? Well we're different and will prove it. To get a link from us just add the following HTML to your site on a relevant page:
<a href="http://church_of_all_worlds.totallyexplained.com">Church of All Worlds Totally Explained</a>
Then simply click through this link from your web page. Our crawlers will verify your link, extract the title of your web page and instantly add a link back to it. If you like you can remove the words Totally Explained and embed the link in article text.
As long as your link remains in place, we'll keep our link to you right here. Please play fair - our crawlers are watching. Your site must be closely related to this one's topic. Any kind of spamming, dubious practises or removing the link will result in your link from us being dropped and, potentially, your whole site being banned. |
