Order of the Eclipse - pagan order...accepting new members

[Sanguina Cruenta]

Sweet gave me permission to plug my Order ^_^

I run, with the help of Vi, a Pagan Order called the Order of the Eclipse.

Pagan Orders draw from ideals of monasticism such as dedication to deity, study and spirituality. When creating this Order, I wanted a focus on polytheism, as it's a less common deity concept than soft-polytheism when it comes to things like Pagan Orders and, in fact, in Paganism in general.

I'm posting here to give people a general idea of the concept of a Pagan Order, and of this Order in particular. If you're interested at all in the Order of the Eclipse, or if you have questions, send me a PM and let me know. The Order is accepting Neophytes (i.e., people interested in joining) so if you're interested don't hesitate to PM me ^_^  

[Sanguina Cruenta]

The Order's website is here. If you're interested, give it a read over as it contains more information than I'm going to include here, such as specific steps and titles within the Order and the guidelines of behaviour.


The primary purpose of the Order is to provide structure and focus to one's Pagan studies. We accept people who have been Pagan for decades as well as those who have just discovered Paganism. The idea of the Order is not to create a new religion, but to provide some more structure to the religion you already have. If you feel you're floundering a bit in your studies or you'd like to stand on more solid ground spiritually, providing a sense of structure can be a great help. That was the first reason for the creation of the Order.

The second was to honour the Gods. As polytheists, we all may follow different gods, but a primary point of monasticism and a primary purpose of this Order is to honour the gods we serve, and to study to become better able to do this.

Part of the point of monasticism is to bring a sense of prayerfulness into one's life. From time to time in our hectic lives, we might long for the peaceful, quiet retreat of a real monastery, where we can devote our time to studying and spirituality. That's not possible for us as Pagans, but what we can do is seek to bring that sense of monasticism into our lives.

The Order works on a basis of Hearth Cultures - the culture with which you most strongly identify your faith. This is usually just one culture, but some people identify with more than one. That's fine, so long as you can do them justice. Your Hearth Culture might be Norse, Greek, Egyptian, etc. The Order of the Eclipse widens this a bit, so if your faith is based on Shinto, Hinduism, African religion etc, you have the option to choose these as your Hearth Culture.
And then there's Wicca - or rather, Wicca-based religion. Wicca is interesting in that, while there are elements it draws from other faiths, it is rather unique in its incorporation of Ceremonial Magic and English Folklore. If your faith is based on Wicca's Outer Court, you may elect to choose this as your Hearth Culture.  

[Sanguina Cruenta]

Most of the information is on the website, but here are a few questions you might have...

What does the study program entail?

For the most part, you create your own study program. The Order provides a number of requirements but what you choose to do for these requirements is up to you. For example, in Dedicancy one must perform a spiritual practice at least once a week, but what that spiritual exercise is is up to you. It might be studying and performing chants, meditation, energy work etc.

A full list of requirements is here.


Do I have to be a polytheist to join?

The Order's emphasis and focus is on polytheism, but we don't exclude those who aren't polytheists who would like to join. It's important to remember that as the focus is on polytheism, most of the members will speak with the assumption that one is a polytheist. If this would bother you, then this isn't really the right Order for you.


Does it cost anything?

You don't pay the Order anything. It will only cost you what you choose to spend on yourself.


Do I have to do homework?

Well, yes and no. You are expected to complete your study program, but there are no set mentors and nothing that needs to be "handed in". What you do, you do for yourself. So you do need to do the work, but no one's going to mark it. The point is personal growth, so if you don't do the work, you don't grow. You're the one who loses out.  

[Sanguina Cruenta]

Reserved  

[Sanguina Cruenta]

Reserved  

[Sanguina Cruenta]

Open. You can now express your thoughts and ask questions ^_^  

[doistu]

I am interested in this venture and I would certainly consider pursuing it. However, I've already got a lt of stuff going on...completely my Alevels, moving from college to uni...

I dunno, I feel like this is a step I would like to take but I would hate to start and not finish.

I guess what I'm saying is...literally in hours, what is the amount if time I'm expected to dedicate to this and would you recommend it to someone like me...who is 18, female, a frequent worrier and already very busy?  

[Sanguina Cruenta]

This is the sort of thing where you're answering to yourself. If you can get things done in a couple of hours a week, that's fine. But the basic idea isn't so much that you do, like, five hours study a week or whatever. The idea is that you're bringing your faith into your life. So I find it difficult to give you sort of an hour estimate.

The first step of the Order is the Novitiate and it lasts around six months, and during that time you're kind of feeling out where you stand currently and what you'd like to do during your Dedicancy. So for the first six months there's not a lot that you're really doing wink Just finding your feet, preparing, etc. It's something you're musing about in the back of your mind.

But after the end of that six months, if you don't feel like you're at the right point in your mind or in your life, you can continue your Novitiate until you're ready to move on.  

[doistu]

I see. Thank you very very much. That really helps. Unfortunately, I'll have to leave it for now. I want to really dedicated myself to it but I just don't have the time or resources (living with the rents make lots very tricky) to take it on right now.

In a couple of years when I have my own place I'll get in contact and give it a jolly good go. Until then good luck and I wish you every sucess  

[Sanguina Cruenta]

Thank you! And to you as well ^_^ Thanks for your interest!  

[too2sweet]

I am seriously considering joining. I have a fairly good idea of what I want to do, but as usual just need to give myself a swift kick in the a** to get it started. xd  

[Kyreie]

I think I would like to join. I'm definitely an eclectic pagan; I would consider myself a hard polytheist, trying to pin down a specific pantheon is a little difficult, I most drawn to the Hellenic and Egyptian gods. I honour the Lord and Lady, I work with animal spirits and I'm also beginning to work directly with dragons. I like the idea of embracing the darker side as well as the light, I think it provides a much needed balance.

Like too2sweet, sometimes I also need a kick in the a** to get started! 3nodding  

[o sunflower king]

Ohh, I definately want to join this. I've been really, really skimping on my practice and worship lately... if I have an expectation to fullfill, that should help~  

[Sanguina Cruenta]

I'm delighted that people are interested ^_^ Have a peruse of the website, shoot me off a PM, and if you're happy, we can start getting Livejournals set up and getting you accepted into the community ^_^  

[Angel Bruja]

I would like to join. I know which culture I want to study, since I don't know that much about their practices. I'm just not sure how much time I'll get for it. We can study at our own time and pace, right?