... or "The Lupercalian Festival Gathering's Greco-Roman Temple of Nude Drunken Debauchery" as we like to call it. We like our debauchery nice and orderly, so we must insist that you read this short list of rules before writing to us.

Question :

"Aren't you going to be turning people off with a name like that?"

Answer : Yes, and so what if we do? Those who are bothered by our little joke are unlikely to enjoy a stay at one of our events. Those who can't get into the spirit of an event, detract from it by being there. Steering such people away would seem to be a good thing.

Question :

"Yes, but what of those who don't come? You don't seem to be making a positive impression on them".

Answer : If they're not coming, why should their impressions make any difference to us at all? Spend a little less time worrying about the opinions of those who haven't learned to mind their own business and you'll live a far happier, freer life. Nobody shall be harmed here, so how is what occurs here of any concern to outsiders? If anything, they should feel grateful to us for our indifference. By refusing to reinforce the expectation that they'll get their way by being nosy enough, we help them grow into better human beings, who will be easier to live with.

Question :

"But, how can you call this religion? People running around naked, doing heaven knows what?

Answer : Didn't we address this earlier? Perhaps you need to broaden your definition of religion.

Look at the youth culture of the 1980s and 1990s in Chicago, especially on college campuses. At the beginning, one would find a certain amount of youthful "acting up", but those who were there will tell you that it was "good clean dirty fun" done in good spirits. A level of puritanism was then shoved down the throats of that generation, and imposed through persistant social pressure. Did we see "clean living" result? Hardly. The late 1990s became notable for the level of "perverted debauchery" seen, as people might have once put it. The only difference is that the fun was beaten out of it. In place of innocent, simple forbidden pleasures, one finds ugliness, hostility, and denial. Denial in the sense that the participants are pretending to enjoy things that couldn't bring anybody any pleasure at all.

They may lie to others, or even to themselves, but real joy can't be manufactured by an act of will. It can only be found. The problem is, at the time of this writing, that there is no longer a happy medium. One is forced to choose between being smothered by social conservatives at church or family events (or by the politically correct in public), or being subjected to the uncaring grotesquerie of the bars, or places even worse. Many, out of sheer boredom, find themselves forced into the second choice.

The fact is that younger people, given the chance, will do strange and unusual things, when they are truly living freely, making their own decisions instead of having them made for them, by peer pressure or authority. To miss out on the opportunity to do so, is to miss out on one's youth, and nothing that we could ever do in this "debauched" environment, will ever equal the sickness of a society that pressures its young people to do so. Any god worthy of being worshipped, will want his worshippers to be happy. Any tradition that forces people to miss out on so much in life, for no real reason, could not possibly respect his will, for this reason. The question is not whether this year's new adults will "misbehave". They will. Accept that. The only question is whether they will get to blow off steam in a caring environment, or if their natural urges will be twisted by a misguided attempt to contain them. Our little temple will be a place for them, and others to do so in a healthy way, without losing sight of the principles that really matter, without losing respect for themselves and others.

If this disturbs parents and "elders", so be it. If they would claim to possess wisdom, let them find the wisdom to know when it is time to let go. Few acts of "rebellion" are so self-indulgent, as the desire to control those whose time for freedom has come.

Question :

"Are you saying that this will be a democratic or anarchist group?

Answer : No, far from it. Small scale democracy brings one nothing but backbiting politics, and with sex as a potential lure, some real nastiness could be expected. There are local Traditionalist groups, where a higher level of democracy is seen. One of them (our sister group) actually is moderately anarchic. But, there, pleasures are more cerebral, and the rules less relaxed. Here, we have to worry about the "creep factor". The "temple" will have a definite hierarchy, bound by a definite charter (still being written), limiting the actions of its members. One might say, that the charter sets out "constitutional rights" for the membership, something that one doesn't tend to see in many local Pagan groups. The hierarchy will not necessarily be "clergy". Its role is administrative, not spiritual, except to the extent that it is here to provide a good environment for some occasionally spiritual experiences. (Unlike Hindus or Christians, we see nothing anti-spiritual about the pleasures of the flesh. These are gifts from the gods. What is anti-spiritual, is the denial of one's true nature). We are here, to see to it that none are mistreated.

If you will, think of "The Host" as a very permissive, but caring resident assistant in a dormitory. Think of the relationship one would have with him. In time, there should be a "Hostess" as well, with decisions made, as in a family, by the mutual consent of the two partners. Below them shall be a collection of assistants, growing in number as the size of the membership makes such growth necessary. Here, though, the focus will be far more on play than on study.

Question :

"So, that's your religion ? A big, happy party?"

Answer : NO! Of course not!

What a shallow religion that would be! This common misconception stems from a fact that few want to face up to : most Neopagans haven't left their Christian pasts as far behind as they'd like to think, and they still have trouble seeing other religions, from anything other than a Protestant Christian perspective. Christianity, especially Protestant Christianity, which seems to be the background of most Wiccans and Neo-Pagans, is very much a "one stop shopping" kind of religion. All of one's needs are met in one place, by one perfect deity, who teaches one perfect path, that all are to follow perfectly at all times. Many neopagans will pay lip service to the notion that there is no one true path, but let them hear about the aspects of each deity, and the different roles of each shrine, and the blank incomprehension that follows tells a different story.

True story. I walk into an occult bookstore one day. A conversation starts up, about a local shrine to Aphrodite Urania. In Greek terms, the difference between her and Aphrodite Pandemos is a simple one : the former aspect is concerned with agape, the second with eros. The former is the non-sexual love of family, friends and community, the second is that of sexual passion. Both are to be valued, but our language, in a very sloppy way, often lumps the two together as "love". Thus, the frequent lack of comprehension when somebody walks into a shrine to the Urania aspect of Aphrodite, and discovers that no orgies are planned. (Not that there are going to be any here, either).

The woman I am speaking to feels the need to inform me, in a "hipper than thou" tone, that she sees nothing wrong or unnatural about sex, that it's "just another bodily function". How very sad if, in her life, it has been reduced to being nothing more than that. Passion should involve the mind, at least as much as it involves the loins. But, a broader point was being missed. There is a difference between that shrine saying that "sexual passion is not what we are concerning ourselves with", and saying "we are opposed to sex". This is a difference that the woman in the store either couldn't get, or perhaps refused to get. Hellenic Shrines and Temples, unlike mainline Christian churches and Wiccan covens, do not ask their members to belong to them, or visit them, exclusively. Like the gods they serve, each represents one aspect of life, and expects that you will speak with others. A shrine to Urania and a shrine to Pandemos aren't members of different denominations, in an exclusive Christian sense. As one walks ones path with each of the gods, and each of their aspects, different things will be asked of one, not because the license of a shrine to Pandemos, or the relative restraint of one to Urania is imagined by the leadership of either to respresent some kind of absolute truth, but because in each case, this is what it means, to have the experience of that aspect of the deity.

Yes, there is a place for an intellectual examination of one's faith, an we encourage all to find such a place, and make use of it, to the limits of their abilities. This, however, is not that place, for that is not the role it is meant to play. Click here to enter our page.