Aquarian Tabernacle Church
The Aquarian Tabernacle Church (ATC) is a Wiccan church located in Index, Washington. It is one of the first Wiccan organisations to receive full legal recognition as a church in the United States, Canada, and Australia.[1] The church has an umbrella 501c(3), there are 29 affiliate churches in North America, with 3 additional affiliates on other continents and 7 countries.[2] (As of January 2015). The ATC founded SpiralScouts International and Woolston-Steen Theological Seminary. A degree giving college recognized by the Washington State government that can give degrees from Associates to Doctorates in Wiccan Ministry. The church does a lot of Prison outreach programs.
History
The Aquarian Tabernacle Church (ATC) was founded in 1979 by Pete Davis, who died at 6pm on 31 October 2014.[3] The current Arch Priestess is Rev. Lady Belladonna Laveau.
Purpose
The Aquarian Tabernacle Church is a positive, life-affirming spirituality, a non-dualist, non-racist, non-sexist, non-exclusivist, ecologically oriented faith dedicated to the preservation of Holy Mother Earth, the revival of the worship of The Old Gods in a modern context, the achievement of the fullest of human potentials and the creation of a peaceful world of love, freedom, health and prosperity for all sentient beings.[4]
Festivals
The ATC hosts two festivals every year. Spring Mysteries Festival this festival celebrates the Eleusinian Mysteries and provides a ritual experience second to none in beauty, inspiration, and spiritual timelessness. It occurs on the weekend of Ostara every year. The first year was 1985. Hecate's Sickle Festival celebrates the traditional Wiccan Samhain theme, It is ranked as one of the highest impacting Pagan spiritual events one can attend. It occurs in October every year. The first year was in 1989.
See also
References
- http://ATCwicca.org
- http://www.aquariantabernaclechurch.org
- http://www.aquariantabernaclechurch.org/about/home2
External links
- Aquarian Tabernacle Church (international)
- Aquarian Tabernacle Church of Canada
- ATC Wicca
- The Encyclopedia of Modern Witchcraft and Neo-Paganism, Edited by: Shelley Rabinovitch, James Lewis
- Panegyria
- The Encyclopedia of Witches, Witchcraft and Wicca By Rosemary Guiley
- The Encyclopedia of Modern Witchcraft and Neo-Paganism edited by Shelley Rabinovitch, James Lewis