About the Brotherhood - Our History and Purpose

Submitted by Amatheon on May 9, 2005 - 10:27pm.

In Brief

The Brotherhood of the Phoenix is a neo-pagan order for Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender men who love men. Founded in the summer of 2004 by seven gay men from diverse traditions such as ceremonial magick, shamanism, and pre-Gardenarian witchcraft; we sought to create an ecumenical neo-pagan tradition which serves the community of men who love men. The mandate of our order is to help our brothers overcome the burden of societal labels. We reject the limiting beliefs and prejudices of modern culture and religions that preach intolerance and hate. Instead of didactic teaching, we stress a simple neo-pagan principle: “Find the Divine within your own experience.” To impart this principle, we hold public rituals near the eight common holidays of neo-pagan tradition where we celebrate the embodiment of the gay male divine through the life-cycle of human experience. We are committed to the principles of Activism, Outreach, and Education to build positive relationships, which benefit our community and our world. The Order sponsors workshops, lectures, social and outreach events to achieve these aims.

History of the Order

The Gay Men’s Mystery School, which forms the core of the Brotherhood’s clergy training program, was created in 2000 to train gay men in the magickal arts in order to reclaim their rightful places as healers, mystics, teachers, shamans, and ordained priests. In the summer of 2004, several of the school’s initiates gathered with good friends and seekers to envision and build a neo-pagan order for gay, bisexual, and transgender men who love men, capable of existing as a nationwide religious order and beyond.

Gay Neo-Paganism

Neo-Paganism is often identified as one of the most quickly growing religions in the United States. There are religious, spiritual, ecological, and activist neo-pagan groups thriving throughout the country. As a highly-individualized form of spirituality, diversity is necessarily one of the key elements sought out and taught by many of these groups. Unfortunately, despite the open, accepting nature of many organizations and the presence of gay-centric groups such as the Radical Faeries and the Minoan Brotherhood, a great many of our brothers have not been able to satisfy their spiritual needs within the groups already existing.

Reinventing the Wheel (of the year)

There are many reasons for creating a new spiritual tradition. Chief among them, religion must understand and respond to the present day needs of the individuals and communities it serves. When a religion fails to adapt its structure to present times, it loses its authority and becomes stagnant. Its symbols cease to inspire and empower the seeker by failing to connect with his experiences or by criminalizing his identity.

When a religion no longer speaks to the community it serves, its role as a spiritual guidepost becomes null and void.

We feel that our brothers are being left out in the spiritual cold by other institutions and we watch as they seek spirituality with mixed results. In response to this absence of meaningful, accepting spiritual traditions we have created a tradition that speaks to the current experiences of our brothers. It is a tradition that has links to what has come before, but roots itself in the present with an eye to the future. It is a tradition that has, and will continue, to adapt to the needs of the community.

Our Founding Purpose

The mandate of our order is to help our brothers overcome the burden of societal labels. We reject the limiting beliefs and prejudices of modern culture and those religions that preach intolerance and hate. Instead of didactic teaching, we stress a simple neo-pagan principle:

Find the Divine within your own experience.

The Queer God

Our Brotherhood recognizes that being “other” is not a cause for shame, but a gift to celebrate. Accepting that we and our brothers have our own challenges and journeys ahead of us, we have seen a vision of the God who is found amongst men who love men. He, like each of us, is on the road of fulfillment and rebirth. Each of his eight faces represents a phase or time in our lives.

  • He is the Divine Youth, full of life, joy, potential, awe, and innocence.
  • He is the Explorer, traveling beyond his community and their ideals to learn about the world at large, its people, and the mysteries of the universe.
  • He is the Lover, who comes to love all men, and wishes to fill their hearts full and give them pleasure.
  • He is the Healer, who has experienced sickness and suffering along with wholeness and health. He helps us to learn to heal ourselves and each other.
  • He is the Warrior, willing to fight to the death to protect his loved ones from those who sling hate and violence.
  • He is the Androgyne, both male and female but more than either; who knows the mysteries of balance.
  • He is the Shaman, uniting all dualities and polarities while bringing back wisdom from the places only the spirit can visit.
  • He is the Elder, the giver of wisdom, the nurturer of the community, and the one who doesn’t fear death or change. He is the culmination of these faces and he lives in all men who love men.

Public Rituals

Our public rituals are open to all gay, bisexual, and transgender men who love men. We celebrate the mysteries of the divine by holding a public ritual near each of the eight great days of the neo-pagan tradition. Our Ritual format provides a context for personal growth, healing, and spiritual experience in a safe, supportive atmosphere.
Want to learn more about what to expect at our rituals? Click here!

Activism, Outreach, and Education

As part of the work of our order, the Brotherhood sponsors workshops, lectures, social and outreach events. We seek out individuals and organizations allied with our purpose to form positive relationships which benefit our community and our world. We support each other in the effort to heal our environment, conserve our natural resources, and make conscious decisions in everyday life.
For more information about the basic spiritual and philosophical beliefs of the Brotherhood, click here.

Contact Information

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