CHURCH OF ALL WORLDS

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2004-08-24 18:01:18

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CHURCH OF ALL WORLDS AND THE PAGAN WAY

Two organizations that most influenced the early development and spread of neo-paganism were the Church of All Worlds, (Green Egg) and The Pagan Way. By 1980, Pagan Way, which emerged in 1970 as the result of an international collaboration of a core group of people, had disintegrated, but it's rituals composed primarily by American Gardnerian, Ed Fitch, continued to be used by many neo-pagans. Fitch published a lovely magazine called The Crystal Well, from which a book called, Magicikal Rites from the Crystal Well, evolved. He also chaired two pagan Ecumenical Councils, one of which was COG, Covenant of the Goddess.

Church of All Worlds was founded and incorporated in 1967 by Tim Zell (aka. Otter G'zetl/Oberon Zell). As a child, Zell kept to himself and spent most of his time in the woods He manifested psychic gifts in the form of telepathy and claimed he could hear the thoughts of those around him. As a result he shunned large groups of people, because the commotion was too much to handle. A large part of his early years were fraught with serious illness, strange reincarnation dreams, especially of his grandfather, and finally a nervous breakdown. At some point, he says, the telepathy and dreams came to an end

Zell emphasized ecology, and called upon pagans to become involved in environmental issues. Attracted to Science Fiction, he founded his Church in St. Louis after reading Heinlein's, 'Stranger in a Strange Land'. The Church formed it's charter in 1968, and attracted a large following of intellectuals. It and Zell played a major roll in the coalescing and networking of the budding Neo- pagan movement and the alliance of paganism with the environmental moment. Religion, Zell believed, should not be concerned with personal salvation but focus primarily on connecting with all time and space, the life flow of the universe and the oneness of all things.

As in Stranger in a Strange Land, each new group which hived off was called a nest. In t970, Zell formulated and published the "theology of deep ecology," which later became known as the Gaea Hypothesis, the concept of Mother Earth as a sentient being, who in order to survive needs the harmonious balance of all things on the planet. He became well known among pagans, giving keynote addresses at various festivals, where he met his second wife, Moore Ferns, (Morning Glory Zell). They were handfasted after recognizing each other as soul mates and experienced a profound telepathic intimacy.

Zell's magazine, Green Egg, became the hottest pagan newsletter around in the seventies, particularly their 'forum feature'. After a time the Zells added another woman partner to their marriage. In 1976, they headed southwest and stopped for awhile at Coeden Brith in CA, land belonging to Allison Hadow, cofounder of the Neo-pagan organization, Nemeton. (see Faery Tradition) In time, the newsletter collapsed and the Church went into a disorganized and inactive phase. Eight years later, the Zells returned to Coeden Brith and shared a secret with Hadow. They had discovered, among other things, how to create unicorns from baby goats. The most famous of his unicorns was Lancelot, whom he paraded around to various Renaissance Fairs, (including the one in MD). Lancelot eventually was sold (or rented) to the circus.

Today, Zell is a freelance graphic artist and lives in Ukiah CA. Recently he changed his name to Oberon Zell. Green Egg was resurrected as a flashy magazine in 1988, Like the earlier Green Egg, the 'forum feature', where readers write and argue about a variety of issues is one of the most interesting and significant segments of the magazine. Oberon is a colorful fellow and in the last few years sculpted an ongoing series of ancient Goddess figurines with Morning Glory's research and input.

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