Orthodox Temple of Natural Religion

Today is the Khalkeia. In ancient Greek times, a priestess would guide workers to ceremonially place wool upon a loom, that would over the next nine months be spun to make an elaborate, bright-yellow-and-blue robe to be taken in procession and placed upon the statue of Athena at the start of Her Panathenia Games, to petition her blessing and supervision of the games. I presume that after the games, this sacred robe would be stored or else placed upon one of the statues of Athena within the polis, and a new robe would be made for the next year. Thus, the making of the robe was a way of not just consecrating the sacred games but also of contributing to the worship and honor of Athena throughout the state.

Tonight His Holiness Peteseph Drakontos celebrated an exclusive outdoor Samhain rite with laity in attendance. The completion of the Samhain rite marks the beginning of a new liturgical year, the fifth year of the Temple. Here's to returns and rebirths. Praise be to Persephone, Hekate-Morrigan, Zeus-Dagda, Hera, Dionysos-Asklepios, Hermes-Anubis Khthonios Psychopompos, Agathodaimon, Toutates, and Phanes-Eros, the Gods of tonight's rite. 🙏🏻

A revelationist is principally an anti-moralist, committed only to enforcing worldview for self-serving purposes. For them, morality exists on no objective grounds but rather derives from adherence to the revelation or tradition they have inherited, no matter how arbitrary. Those who, seeing their religion as only an ontological worldview, regard their religious tradition as a relic preserved in time like some object in a museum are as guilty of revelationism as Abrahamists—and they are less militant; unlike their ancestors, they lack the power to create vital, glorious traditions. The future is in your spirit, not in the museum! This is not to disregard the legitimacy or value of traditional understandings and practices, but rather it is to exhort the restoration of the natural religious tradition into a living, intelligent force rather a dead, empty, limited form. The teleological and epistemological dimensions of true religion simply cannot be dismissed by cementing religion into something purely ontological. The logical metaphysical underpinnings of religion must be understood, or else you are simply believing revelation rather than understanding Truth.

A revelationist is principally a moral relativist. For them, morality exists on no objective grounds but rather derives from adherence to the revelation or tradition they have inherited, no matter how arbitrary. Those who regard their religious tradition as a relic preserved in time like some object in a museum are as guilty of revelationism as Abrahamics—and they are less vital; unlike their ancestors, they lack the power to create vital, glorious traditions. The future is in your spirit, not in the museum. This is not to disregard the legitimacy or value of traditional understandings and practices, but rather it is to exhort the restoration of the natural religious tradition into a living, intelligent force rather than a dead, empty, limited form.

People often criticize our mission to establish an orthodoxy among natural religions. This stems from fundamentally misunderstanding our mission. We do not desire to tell religions what they must believe; in fact, we are more flexible and vital than any fixed tradition. We do not desire to eliminate, compromise, or alter any religious traditions. That is not what the Temple is about in any way whatsoever. Our mission is to establish alliance among the natural religions in order to affirm moral objectivism and ecumenical disposition: Our mission is to ensure we are all principled and cooperative. Until pagan religions can do this, they will continue to be misrepresented and genocided by the elite. Rallying around localism and particularism isn’t going to change things for the same reason a small petition or protest won’t change things. We are stronger united, in greater numbers, and with greater public awareness of the nature and superiority of paganism. Continuing to be standoffish, obscure, unprincipled, and uncooperative isn’t going to do anything to redress our grievances or enlighten the world; such relativists are only enemies to truth, natural religion, and the well-being of humanity in general and Europeans in particular.

Today is the true Samhain, and it may be celebrated tomorrow as well. Happy Samhain, and Happy Late Autumn, the season of Earth. The colors of the season are now Red and Brown.

Pretty cool shirt.

Marzanna is a Slavic goddess associated with death, winter, and illness. In Slavic mythology, death is seen as a natural part of the cycle of life and rebirth, and Marzanna serves as a guide and protector for those who have passed on. Marzanna is also closely connected to the cycle of birth, life, death, and rebirth, as she brings about the end of one cycle and the beginning of the next.

Marzanna $30 with free shipping. Can come in most colors. Also available as a hoodie.

Today, the Temple has gained a new Initiate, Brother Justin, who is a longtime student and practitioner of the Germanic lore. We are thrilled to welcome him into the esoteric fold of the Temple and to support him in his studies to become a priest for the Temple, and we are grateful for his service on our Germanic Development Team, along with Seeker Devin, both of whom, have become good friends of mine through our work. Brilliant, friendly, humorous, wise, sensible, sincere, and, above all, loyal men like him are hard to come by, and we cherish him as our Brother. Congratulations, Brother Justin!

Why do people celebrate and decorate for Halloween and Christmas less than they used to? Firstly, I believe that people don’t enjoy the economic prosperity and energetic optimism to decorate like they used to. Secondly, I believe people have grown weaker due to a combination of impoverishment, sedentary lifestyle, and softening of discipline and cultural standards applying to the youth. Thirdly, a friend points out that in some metropolitan areas, there are more foreigners who don’t observe these holidays. And, fourthly, I think everybody is simply on their screens now, so they do less stuff in real life. I also think people are so tuned into pop culture and Internet news/discourse that there is less local activity and folk culture. Because, for instance, other things that have declined precipitously are parents coaching their kids’ sports, people volunteering, local groups like book clubs, parents reading to their kids and people reading print in general, people’s willingness to do homework or extracurricular activities, public behavior and respect, and subscription to local publications and newspapers. It’s all “As soon as I’m done showing up here, I’m getting back home to my screens”: There is a profound lack of care for and investment in the real world around them. And, this is an unspoken but visible cultural existential crisis we are experiencing today. Let us take more time to appreciate the world we live in and be content with simple divine being; let us appreciate and contribute to the institutions we’ve built and maintain; let us enrich ourselves and our communities and get more active locally.