Hello, does anyone know about any physical temples one might join as a pagan monastic? I’ve given it years of thought and would like to join an actual order of live in practicioners. Anyone know where they are?
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A few books have been published on the topic–if you search Amazon for “pagan monasticism” you’ll get some hits. I doubt there are any actual physical communities, but I’d be curious to hear about it if there are.
AODA is connected to the Gnostic Celtic Church, which is an order of independent monastics.
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Thank you for the heads up
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There are some who live as monks connected to pagan venues and sanctuaries. I know Four Quarters in PA used to have them, and they were in service to the community there, but I’m not sure that they still do. You might start by looking at some of the more serious pagan venues and sanctuaries and see if they have work trade programs that also have a monastic and service-oriented bent. Do be cautious though, as you proceed.
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Thank you MissD, xxxxxxxxxxxx
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Likely won’t find pagan temples today unlike in the past. Closest one would be Buddhist temples. Most pagan practices today are gatherings as it were in the past. Temples existed in the past when there were large population of pagans during that time.
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I would stay away from four quarters. I have a close friend who lived a life of service there and was in a very abusive situation. Also, I used to work there and have see first hand how toxic it is. Hundreds of us have been traumatized by what happened there.
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I’m sorry, the good spirit be with you
Living in religious community is something I dream of in the distant future. Maybe AODA will be able to support this one day!
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It is difficult to find such places, and so often they turn out to be anything but spiritual. It’s a disturbing and depressing truth that much of the time we are simply better off in our Groves or practicing in a solitary fashion. It’s taken me years to get over what happened to me at Four Quarters Interfaith Sanctuary, and there are parts of me that will never heal.
Someone else also mentioned Four Quarters. If you would enjoy a life of verbal and psychological abuse, I totally recommend Four Quarters. If not, please look elsewhere. I could go on at great length about how wonderful it was at one time, and how things went completely south and true colors were shown. If you need to know what a really well-hidden cult looks like, talk to Beth or me, or Josh.
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That is so sad about 4 Quarters and what you had to experience. People might love nature, build temples and place standing stones but is doesn’t mean they are kind and compassionate towards one another… I know many pagan and even other spiritual communities have quite a hierarchy and there are power play and politics. I sure wish people would evolve to a higher and healthier way of relating to one another in these types of communities!
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I’ve wondered this question myself. In doing some searching over the years, it seems hard to find a community of folks who embrace anything like the Rule of Awen as AODA’s GCC understands it. That is, lots of the places I’ve looked at (Buddhist, “spiritual” eco villages etc.) still have a focus on shared belief and are too rigid for me to develop my own spiritual path while being in community with others. (For example, as someone with particular dietary needs and limited capacity at times due to health conditions, a strict vegetarian or vegan environment and / or rigid physical work requirements won’t work for me.)
The closest thing I’ve found is Unitarian Universalist co-housing cooperatives. The UU model stresses shared values but not shared beliefs or even always practices. And they have a commitment to be in covenant with each other, which (I would hope) might help navigate tricky interpersonal dynamics.
But you’d have to do careful investigation and also be okay living with a diverse group of people who aren’t seeking a strict spiritual cohesion.
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I went to the site, and it appears that it hasn’t been updated since 2015 or so. Links didn’t work. Do you have a current connection with UUCC? It does sound pretty cool.
Ah, that makes sense…since that was the last time I was looking for such a thing. The main tools I have used in the past are online directories for cohousing, ecovillages, and intentional communities. Links:
https://ecovillage.org/ecovillages/
https://www.cohousing.org/find-cohousing/finding-cohousing/
https://www.ic.org/directory/search/
You can use filters to explore option. For example, this community comes up when I search for “pagan” on the Intentional Communities site:
https://www.ic.org/directory/skunk-hollow-commons/
Under the category “common spiritual practices” for this cohousing / ecovillage collective it lists:
- Common Spiritual Practice(s):
- Ecumenical (accepts all religions or spiritual practices)
- Unitarian Universalist
- Paganism or Earth Religions
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I don’t have personal experience here, but do know of this place. You might reach out to The White Mountain Druid Sanctuary to see if they know of any resources.
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