#filianic studies

[tellurian-in-aristasia]

Good news, everypette! Filianic Studies appears to be back online for the time being! This doesn't appear to be just a reupload of the archived Wayback Machine either, because I see pages that never got archived are available again. This is an incredible resource to have available again, and I encourage everyone to save copies of whatever they're interested in for themselves, as well as manually save these pages to the Wayback Machine, just incase.

[ladybrythwensinclair]

Don't mind my messy living room. I'm still making things and catching up on paperwork. Here's your sneak peek at the next edition of the CDV. It will have adjustments made to pagination, verse numbers corrected, and better margins. I'm currently in the process of working through it to make sure the typeface works well. I will be republishing this through Lulu. (Yes, I have a love hate relationship with Lulu, but I am working to get this out at a better price than the $20 that Amazon's shenanigans forced earlier in the year. So far, Lulu is looking like the site that I can get to work for me right now.)

[littledoveofdea]

I'm considering making a second Tumblr account for my more personal lifestyle interests. I don't share too much of myself in general but I'd like to. I'm a very passionate person and my spiritual nature permeates every aspect of my life; its my life's Work to craft each day into an offering for Her.

I also barely use social media but it is my connection to community so I will try to be more *present* here. This Tumblr account was my first ever and solely dedicated to religion, I endeavour to share more of my thoughts as we travel along the Wheel. I imagine both my accounts will act as a sort of journal (sometimes without words) reflecting my Filianic studies and the way I am inspired by the teachings in my personal life.

I've always been nervous to be perceived and am protective of my heart.. but how will I ever connect with others of I don't open up a little first? Anyway, wishing you all a life full of love and laughter. Happy Sucridi and Amadéa! 🌹 ♀️💚

[themiscyreian]

Moura Approaches

The "Filianic Lent" -- The month of Moura -- begins on Feb 20. In this month, we honor the descent of the Maid into the darkest place, Her pain as She journeys deeper into darkness, and eventually Her death.

It is a season of fasting from luxuries such as sugar, chocolate, alcohol, and meat, and of trying to deepen our spiritual life. Thus, many choose to forgo practices they see as vices or overly present in their lives, such as social media or other technology, and pray and study scripture more frequently.

As part of my observance, I will be limiting my internet and social media usage. So this means I will not be using Tumblr until Moura ends! I'll have scheduled posts for the dates below, so that I don't need to worry during the month.

Upcoming dates are:

Moura Eve - 28 Brighe / Feb 19 Moura Day - 1 Moura / Feb 20 Med-Moura - 14 Moura / March 4 (in leap years)

Kala - 28 Moura / March 18 (in leap years) -------- The day with no date (March 19-20 in leap years) Eastre - 1 Culverine / March 21

May Our Lady bless you in the upcoming season!

Radiant Daughter of Eternal Light, You have torn Yourself from Your own Self for my sake. Forgive me. I have given myself freely into the claws of Irkalla, And my soul into eternal darkness; Yet You have interposed Your sacred body, Saying: take not this soul, take rather Me. O, You that have prayed beneath the full moon and by the running streams, Teach me the power of true devotion.

[maidenofsophia]

As someone who is currently exploring Gnostic Christianity but definitely feels more drawn to the Feminine, would you mind sharing what your journey into Filianism was like? I have had experiences that make me feel like I can't let go of the Masculine, so I'd love to hear someone else's story of a similar journey of you don't mind 🩷

Rayati! It was through a mutual on Tumblr that I discovered Filianism, as she had also looked for the divine feminine in early Christianity.

Before then I was a Gnostic for about fifteen years, and for the most part worshipped the Quaternity of Father, Mother, Son, Daughter. The Father was the Unknown God, the Mother being Sophia, the Son as Jesus and The Daughter as Mary Magdalene or Lower Sophia. There were a few Gnostic sects who taught this view on God, however overtime I became disheartened with how the feminine was perceived next to the masculine. Despite supposedly being equal, the Mother supposedly came from the Father and the Daughter was more often referred to as the "Bride", a completion for the Son, rather as a savior and divine presence in Her own right. This bothered me the more I realised I was far more drawn to the Feminine and the Father and Son just felt more distance. And then finally I felt a disconnect from the Christian mythos all together.

Sophia is still my main image of Déa and I take inspiration from what I studied of Her in the Gnostic texts to see parallels between Her and The Filianic Trinity. However I don't worship any form of Christ or the Father God. I do have a male "deity" that is included in my private faith but they are almost more of an angel, or lesser Janya.

Thanks for the lovely question.

[daughterofthesettingsun]

If you have yet to read it, there is a compilation of the writings of our foremothers collected in two volumes known as the Opera Omnia which you may enjoy. The fifth edition of the Eastminster Critical Edition was also published several years ago.

The Chapel is a lovely site but it's a bit hard to process sometimes so these are the current primary resources for the Filianic Ekklesia, and I encourage you to become familiar with their content if you're not already. Please reach out to me if you want to discuss anything you find of note, I am always available to discuss the faith.

You know what, I think I might amend my previous beliefs. was just reading the Chapels "Matriarchal History" and found myself agreeing honestly. I was holding onto old praxis with old gods but if I want to be Orthodox I gotta commit to orthodoxy.

[watermelon-blossom]

I got a few vouchers to use at a bookstore for my birthday... so I went to the city center and got a few (ie a lot of) books I had on my list for a while now, mostly about female divine power - by Pinkola Estes, Brinton Perera, Souzenelle (but also a few catholic books like Faustina's diary, Filianism is my religion, but studying Christianity is my hobby, to explain the mixture of books). Anyways, iced coffee is a must in this weather, Dea, bless all the baristas in these trying times 🥵🧋🍦

(Oh and I also did manage to read one book at the bookstore. It was super short and easy and tbh I am glad I didn't buy it, because for me it really is only a one-time read. It was:

Flynn, 21 Ways to Worship: A Guide to Eucharistic Adoration, 2012)

5/100

[tellurian-in-aristasia]

the filianism studies website is up again! if you were searching for something there that wasn't archived on the waybackmachine I suggest going there (who knows how long it will be online)

I know that you almost immediately messaged me again saying that you saw I'd already posted about this, but I figure I should respond anyways so that people can see it again! FilianicStudies.org appears to have come back online! The Wayback Machine has pinged an archive for it in mid May, so it appears to have been online again for a couple months now. If you're studying Filianism or Aristasian history, I highly recommend taking a peek at this archive, as well as saving local copies of whatever you might find relevant to your own studies, because we never know when it will vanish again. I'm slowly working on uploading some of the pieces I find particularly interesting to the Internet Archive, as a just-in-case backup. As well as the fact that the Internet Archive makes text searching documents fairly easy.

[daughterofthesettingsun]

The Pillar of Light 27-28

For me, this passage highlights what I would call the central “covenant” of Filianism, so it’s appropriate it appears so early in Our Lady’s teachings. Our Mother loves us, and through Her Holy Daughter, we may always feel Her Love. All we must do is ask. “Every cry of the world I shall heed,” is the Holy Daughter saying that She is always with us, that She witnesses our every confession and prayer. When you cry out to Déa She hears, and like the loving mother She is, She embraces us and enfolds us in Her love no matter what. But I don’t think this is saying that ‘every prayer will be answered’. Mothers sometimes have to tell their children ‘no’, but they never abandon us as we work through why we didn’t get what we asked for, and Déa will certainly never abandon any maid who calls on Her. It’s saying ‘in your doubt, in your fear, turn your heart towards Our Mother and you will always find peace. In weakness you will find strength through Her and in anger you will find softness in Her.’ It’s saying God will never abandon our hearts. 

[themiscyreian]

Ever since you posted this I’ve been thinking about it, because it tickled part of my brain that thought it remembered part of an article from the Chapel that discusses Soul & Spirit, but I couldn’t find the article. Well, I’ve finally found it again! 

The section I remembered specifically is about halfway down the page, but the whole article is on the subject of the Soul. I will also be perfectly honest, I have had a hard time wrapping my head around this article for a while! As a thought exercise to test my current understanding of the subject, I will give my interpretation of the difference as presented by the Chapel. Feel free to ignore me and just read the article for yourself!

(Link to Chapel page & long post under the cut)

http://www.mother-god.com/anima-mundi.html

The Spirit is the self in perfect unity with Our Mother—the only self that is really “True”. It is Solar in nature, being one with the Heavenly Mother. It is the pure essence at the very heart of a person, eternal and unchanging, and the Chapel borrows “Atma” from Sanskrit, which is used in Hinduism with a similar meaning as the Chapel gives. (Interesting but tangential: both Sanskrit Atma and Latin Spiritus, from which we get English spirit refer to breath, as do many other languages’ words for spirit!)

The Soul lies between the pure Spirit and the material world. The Soul or Psyche (from Greek) is the reflection of this Spirit which allows the earthly self to exist. All Souls are connected in the Lunar domain to each other and to the Anima Mundi, or World-Soul. It is how we connect to our true selves, to other Souls, and to the Divine. The Soul is changeable and flexible where the Spirit is not, and is likened to water.

Other than this Chapel article I have not seen any explicit discussions about the Soul-Spirit distinction in Filianism, but they may be out there! I have also seen mentioned a similar dichotomy between Soul and Spirit existing in Greek, Muslim & Jewish thought, but without more in-depth research I won’t comment on other faiths. An interesting area for further study though, to be sure.

I am, however, very much an amateur when it comes to both philosophy and Metaphysics! Many people have devoted their entire careers/lives to this, and I am not among them, however, I do find it interesting & fulfilling to study (Sai Mati is my patroness Janya what can I say). There isn’t much of a focus on complex philosophy, metaphysics, ethics, etc. in Filianic spaces compared to other religions (we are, after all, very small in the grand scheme of things), and it is not necessary/doctrinal to the faith to have any particular belief on the subject.

Soul vs Spirit

So what is the difference between the Soul and the Spirit in Filianism?

[ladybrythwensinclair]

The Opera Omnia is heavy reading.

I chewed my way through it and came out with more questions than answers as I tried to cross reference things with the various copies of the Clear Recital that I have. I am frustrated, but I will not despair. I know there are answers somewhere. Wordpress: https://cydira13.wordpress.com/2023/06/06/the-opera-omnia-proved-less-than-helpful/

Blogger: https://veiledwitch.blogspot.com/2023/06/the-opera-omnia-wasnt-as-helpful-as-i.html

[omnistpilgrim]

I've resolved to study and re-read more spiritual texts this year (starting 2022), and share quotes I like. (note that this isn't meant to be a list of recommendations, just a record. not all of these have been spiritually edifying to me.) List of what I've read so far:

Anglicanism/ Episcopalianism

The Book of Common Prayer

Buddhism

The Dhammapada- translation by Eknath Easwaran

Peace is Every Step- Thich Nhat Hanh

Radical Acceptance- Tara Brach

Catholicism

The Faith Explained- Leo J Trese

Theology For Beginners- Frank Sheed

True Devotion to Mary- Louis de Montfort

The Modern Saints- Gracie Morbitzer

The Secret of the Rosary- Louis de Montfort

The Catechism of the Catholic Church

This is My Body, This is My Blood- Bob & Penny Lord

Good News About Sex & Marriage- Christopher West

The Story of A Soul- St Therese of Lisieux

Christianity (general)

The New Testament

The Screwtape Letters- CS Lewis

The Heart of Christianity- Marcus J Borg

God Can't- Thomas J Oord

Mere Christianity- CS Lewis

The Wisdom Jesus- Cynthia Bourgeault

The Universal Christ- Richard Rohr

The Case For Christ- Lee Strobel

The Great Divorce- CS Lewis

Sacred Earth, Sacred Soul- John Philip Newell

Searching for Sunday- Rachel Held Evans

Unlearning God- Phillip Gulley

Saving Jesus From the Church- Robin R Meyers

Christianity (biblical analysis)

Inspired- Rachel Held Evans

What is the Bible? - Rob Bell

The Uncensored Bible- Kaltner, Kilpatrick, & McKenzie

The Gay Gospels- Keith Sharpe

The Bible Doesn't Say That- Joel M Hoffman

The Sins of Scripture- John Shelby Spong

Paul and Jesus- James D Tabor

Reclaiming the Bible for a Non-Religious World- John Shelby Spong

Forged- Bart D Ehrman

Jesus, Interrupted- Bart D Ehrman

Zealot- Reza Aslan

Jezebel- Lesley Hazleton

101 Myths of the Bible- Gary Greenberg

Divine Feminine

The Way of the Rose- Clark Strand & Perdita Finn

Missing Mary- Charlene Spretnak

Circle of Mysteries- Christine Lore Weber

The Goddess in the Gospels- Margaret Starbird

Now is the Hour of Her Return- Clark Strand

Waking Up to the Dark- Clark Strand

Wild Mercy- Mirabai Starr

The Woman With the Alabaster Jar- Margaret Starbird

Goddess: 50 Goddesses, Spirits, Saints and Other Female Figures Who Have Shaped Belief- Ramírez & Walsh

Druidry/ Celtic Paganism

The Book of Hedge Druidry- Joanna van der Hoeven

The Druidry Handbook- John Michael Greer

The Druid Path- John Michael Greer

The Book of Celtic Myths- Jennifer Emmick

Ecospirituality

Sacred Nature- Karen Armstrong

Filianism/ Déanism

The Gospel of Our Mother God

Hellenistic Paganism

The Iliad- Homer

The Odyssey- Homer

Mythology- Edith Hamilton

D'Aulaires' Book of Greek Myths- Ingri and Edgar Parin D'Aulaire

Hinduism

The Bhagavad Gita- translation by Barbara Stoler Miller

The Upanishads- translation by Eknath Easwaran

The Complete Illustrated Guide to Hinduism- Rasamandala Das

Hinduism: A Very Short Introduction- Kim Knott

Islam

The Qur'an- translation by Abdullah Yusufali

Judaism

The Tanakh

When Bad Things Happen to Good People- Harold S Kushner

Mormonism

The Book of Mormon

Norse Paganism/ Heathenry

Norse Mythology- Neil Gaiman

Hávamál- from the Poetic Edda

D'Aulaire's Book of Norse Myths- Ingri and Edgar Parin D'Aulaire

Paganism (general) / Wicca

The Spiral Dance- Starhawk

Paganism- Joyce & River Higgenbotham

Drawing Down the Moon- Margot Adler

The Path of a Christian Witch- Adelina St Clair

Tarot Fundamentals- Sasha Graham

Astrology- Carole Taylor

Tarot Magic- Donald Tyson

Wicca: A Guide For the Solitary Practitioner- Scott Cunningham

Cunningham's Book of Shadows- Scott Cunningham

The Witch's Book of Power- Devin Hunter

The Deep Heart of Witchcraft- David Salisbury

Quakerism

Faith and Practice- Baltimore Yearly Meeting

A Testament of Devotion- Thomas R Kelly

Living the Quaker Way- Philip Gulley

A Quaker Book of Wisdom- Robert Lawrence Smith

Letters to a Fellow Seeker- Steve Chase

Sikhism

Poems from the Sikh Sacred Tradition- Guru Nanak

Taoism

The Tao Te Ching- translation by Stephen Mitchell

The Tao of Pooh- Benjamin Hoff

Other/ Interfaith/ General Theism

A World of Prayer- edited by Rosalind Bradley

The Interfaith Prayer Book- compiled by Ted Brownstein

God of Love- Mirabai Starr

A New Earth- Eckhart Tolle

How to Believe in God- Clark Strand

Holy Envy- Barbara Brown Taylor

The Power of Now- Eckhart Tolle

Atheism

Atheism and the Case Against Christ- Matthew S McCormick

Letter to a Christian Nation- Sam Harris

Why I Became an Atheist- John W Loftus

God is Not Great- Christopher Hitchens

[daughterofthesettingsun]

I had spent around a half dozen years being this and that kind of wiccan and neopagan and never found any sort of comfort or deep connection with what I studied. I loved my goddesses, oh I adored them and praised their names day in and out, but the rest of being a neopagan just felt off to me. Polytheism doesn't work in my conception of metaphysics, and I found the traditions hard to follow or integrate into my day to day life, other living traditions like shaktism weren't realistic to convert to, and as close as Dianic witchcraft got for me I'm simply far more religious than I am political. Filianism meets all of my requirements: a fully formed and living religious tradition based on the worship of God exclusively in the feminine. It feels like home. That doesn't mean I haven't had my issues with the faith, I've spent years wrestling with the teachings and coming to understand them deeper, but honestly that's the relationship I wanted and needed with religion and its made my relationship with God all the stronger and more devoted.

one reason (personally) that I am not drawn to filianism or deanism is because I refuse to believe I am marred or imperfect in any way, a distorted version of what I once was. I am like Nature, and in Nature there is no such thing as perfection/imperfection. There merely is what there is.

[moonlit-archeress]

Hello, everyone ✨🌌

I'm running this blog for a while now and I know I have more followers here than in my main blog and I realize I never properly introduced myself (maybe for being shy, maybe for thinking no one would care lol) so I think now I'm in the mood of posting some things about myself here.

My name is Yara and I'm from Brazil. My name means "water lady" and it was given to me by my mother after a feminine water spirit in our folklore, in many ways similar to a mermaid.

This is mostly a blog specific to share my religious/spiritual journey and some insights about it or anything I find deeply inspiring in a sacred level.

I was born and raised in a folk religion named Umbanda, a syncretic faith of folk catholicism, indigenous shamanism and African (mostly Yoruba) traditional religions. It's not very well known worldwide but you can roughly think of it as a Brazilian version of the Cuban Santería or Haitian voodoo.

My experience with this religion was bittersweet (more bitter than sweet maybe) since all we practiced was mostly in a cult-ish fashion. There was great emphasis on a living charismatic leader and all the sort of shady things related to cults happened in the temples we attended. On the other hand, I was deeply influenced by the nature and spirit worshipping that we currently practiced and it made me interested in the so called "pagan" religions since they feel like home.

Eventually we (me, my mom and sister) left our original cult practice place and after some time I received sacraments in Catholic church. I think I was about 14 years old.

It was probably my deepest and most meaningful practices and I enjoyed everything about it, to the point I seriously considered joining an order as a nun. I ended up letting go of my practices due loosening of my faith and emotional distress.

More recently I've been studying about dharmic religions, mostly Hinduism and Buddhism. I must admit it's the most complete, complex and rational philosophical and religious system I ever studied about. It was a good time, three years precisely, but the cultural and language differences ended up beating my will to get any further with the practices.

I'm currently quite lost. I feel more drawn to Goddess centered practices, specifically Déanism and Filianism that are neoreligions and folk magic. I feel very drawn to the moon, forests, plants and the goddess Diana/Artemis. I also like Latin American folk practices, influenced by my own religious background and I'm also feeling drawn to Santa Muerte, a saint from Mexico that personifies death and transformation.

However, even with this sort of "pagan" influences I'm willing to rediscover catholicism again and I've been feeling a deep love for Saint Francis of Assisi and Saint Claire and their teachings. I've been trying to take this part of my spirituality slowly since I know the Church hurt a lot of people and I don't agree with everything they do, specially within the clergy.

I hope I can figure it out soon, maybe I'll eventually merge all these practices under the Christopagan label or I'll just adhere to one of the systems.

I'm open to talk of you want to, I'm very "Brazilian" which means I'm very open to make friends. We can share experiences and maybe help each other out.

Thanks for dropping by and I hope you enjoy my content 🌠

[maidenofsophia]

“For those who shelter in the darkness fear, above all things, the Messengers of Light.”

- The Way of Simplicity (v. 42)

This quote is probably one of my favourites from scripture and one that I find the most empowering. In context it speaks of how “the soft”, “the simple”, “the kind” etc are mocked and scorned by those around us who think to survive and be strong we must be cold, hard and aggressive. What I love about Filianism is how it flips this pro-toxic masculine message many of us were raised in on its head and says that it’s the soft who are the strongest, the kind who are the smartest, and the supple who endure the longest.

For years I was bullied for being ‘too sensitive’ or ‘caring too much about what others think’. And yes there is an issue with putting someone else’s needs above your own to the point you neglect to love yourself. This is why the Love of Self in Déanism is held equal to the Love of Others. Both have to be in balance as both flow equally from the fountain that is Love of Déa. However because I was chastised so much for being ‘weak’ that I was never taught the power of my empathy or the wisdom in understanding others feelings. Not saying I am all that wise or strong, but had I known there was a positive way to turn around how I see the word and react to it as a gift, not a hindrance, it may have saved myself and others a lot of pain. This is true to what I’ve learned in CBT as well. It’s a lot to do with changing the way you think but not necessarily having to change who you are as a person or try to be something you’re not. While I can’t go back and change how I reacted in the past, I can try in the future and also help younger sisters find courage in their sensitivity as well.

Our Lady was mocked, taunted and attacked by those who thought Her desire to save others as foolish, as it came at a cost of Her own power and ‘life’. Yet She continued on even into the darkest conclusion, and in return for Her devotion not even the gates of Hell could stop The Mother from coming to revive and uplift Her Daughter. Such is how Déa will always come for us so long as we continue to carry and bear Her light no matter how much the keres of this world attack or humiliate us. Not to say the people who mock us are keres, demons, for doing so - but the ignorance that blinds them and the kear that poisons their heart is the work of Irkalla. And every one of us suffers from this to one degree or another. It is not a case of ‘us vs them’ - we are all Déa’s children. Proudly bearing the torch of Our Lady’s light in compassion and wisdom helps to banish away the keres which grip another as well as those with their claws in our own souls.

We are told a few verses earlier that “within their laughter lies fear of chastity”. Remember this whenever you are mocked or bullied for your faith and the laughter becomes more something to be pitied than a weapon.

Praise Déa and may She shine within and around you today and for always.

[seekmothergod]

Looking for others into Deanism, Filianism, Mother God, Heavenly Mother, Mary Isis Diana, Wonder Woman, and not mind a male (sort of) into the dialogue.

I had a vision of a Goddess calling me as Hers!

Seeker studied many things, have a degree as a Divine Mother Minister