Structure

Structure of the Correllian Tradition

Correllian Structure - Definitions of the Temples and Shrines of the Correllian Tradition

The following information can also be found on the pages of www.correllian.com under the menu button ‘Structure’

TEMPLES

Correllian Temples are be established by charter, which may only be granted by the Heads of the Correllian Tradition through the Chancellor. Though any Temple may include Correllian ideas or even Correllian clergy, only a Temple chartered by the Correllian Tradition can be considered a true Correllian Temple.

Customarily Correllian Temples are established under a chartered Temple Head and a Board of Directors. The Head of Temple is responsible for the day to day running of the Temple. The Temple’s Chief Director, who may or may not be the same person as the Temple Head, is responsible to the Correllian Tradition for all required legal paperwork.

Temple Heads are established by charter. The first Head of a given Temple is considered the Founding Head of Temple. Subsequent Heads of Temple may be nominated by their predecessor or by the Temple’s Board of Directors, but must be recognized by charter of the Tradition before being considered to be fully seated. Moreover, to be fully seated a Head of Temple must be a member of the High Priesthood, or Third Degree of Clergy.

Temple Heads may be chartered from outside the High Priesthood at the discretion of the Chancellor, but are considered to be Acting Temple Heads under the imperium of a Third Degree Sponsor until such time as they themselves achieve the status Third Degree Priesthood, when they can be considered fully seated. When an Acting Temple Head achieves Third Degree status all initiations which they have performed in the pursuance of their office shall be considered part of their lineage. If an Acting Temple Head never achieves Third Degree status, initiations they have performed shall trace through the lineage of their Sponsor.

All fully seated Heads of Correllian Temples have a seat on the Witan Council, hence the name. Acting Heads of Temple may attend and address meetings of the Witan, but do not have a vote on the Council until they are fully seated.

Correllian Temples are expected to conform to the basic tenets of Correllianism, but are given great leeway in the actual running of the Temple.

PROTO-TEMPLE - A Proto-Temple is founded in the expectation of going on to become a full Temple

When a Proto-Temple receives its charter as a Temple, the Keeper becomes recognized as the seated Head of Temple. If however the Keeper is below Third Degree when the Temple is chartered and is acting under the imperium of a Third Degree sponsor then the Keeper shall be recognized as Acting Head of Temple under their sponsors imperium until they have themselves attained the Third Degree, at which time they shall be fully seated on the Witan.

SHRINES

In Correllian parlance a Shrine is a place of worship similar to but less formal than a Temple. Whereas a Temple must be headed by a Third Degree Cleric, or under the direct imperium of a Third Degree Cleric, a Shrine may be headed by a person of any Degree.

Sometimes a Shrine is formed as a less formal alternative to a Temple. Other times a Shrine may be formed to fulfil a specific function -as an annual ritual, social event, ministerial or charitable activity.

The Correllian Tradition recognizes three kinds of Shrine:

A Witan Shrine is founded in the expectation of going on to become a Proto-Temple.

A Formal Shrine is a Shrine which has been established to perform a specific duty, often of a charitable nature.

A Personal Shrine is a personal expression of the Shrine Keeper's spirituality and may be undertaken by any Tradition member.

All three kinds of Shrine are described in greater detail below.

WITAN SHRINES

The most formal Shrines in the Tradition are Witan Shrines!

A Witan Shrine is a Shrine founded in expectation of its later becoming a Proto- Temple: At this time all new Correllian Temples must spend at least one year as a Witan Shrine and a further year as a Proto-Temple before being officially chartered as Temples of the Tradition.

A Witan Shrine functions in the same manner as a Shrine, described above, with the difference of its being considered a formal body of the Tradition rather than a private function of the Shrine Keeper, and it’s focused toward developing the functions of a Temple.

The Keeper of a Witan Shrine must be a member of the Third Degree High Priesthood, or a person studying toward Third Degree and under the imperium of a Third Degree sponsor approved by the Council of Elders.

Unlike ordinary and Formal Shrines a Witan Shrine is considered a formal body of the Tradition. A Witan Shrine Keeper is not regarded as having a seat on the Witan Council, and hence has no vote in the Council, but may attend and participate in the Council on the same basis as Acting Heads of Temples.

FORMAL SHRINES

In addition to the Witan Shrines described above, the Correllian Tradition also includes Formal Shrines.

A Formal Shrine is basically the same as a Personal Shrine: a private worship center maintained by an individual Correllian Tradition member of either Inner or Outer Court. The difference is that a Formal Shrine is dedicated to a specific project, event, or program of a social or charitable nature which the Tradition endorses.

A Formal shrine is created by Charter rather than recognition. To be granted a charter as a Formal Shrine a Shrine must meet these criteria;

To be chartered as a Formal Shrine a Shrine must be associated with a charitable activity or ministerial outreach project of some sort, beyond the celebration of worship.

Despite this a Formal Shrine, like an ordinary Shrine, has no representation on the Witan Council as it remains essentially a venture of its Shrine Keeper rather than of the Tradition as such.

PERSONAL SHRINES
To be an official Correllian Shrine, a Personal Shrine must be recognized by the Tradition. A Personal Shrine is given official existence through Recognition rather than Chartering. Recognition may be obtained through application to the Council of Elders through the office of the Chancellor.

Though a Personal Shrine may be recognized by the Tradition, it is not an official body of the Tradition, but rather the private project of a Tradition member.

Any Correllian may act as a Shrine Keeper, because of the informal nature of a Personal Shrine vs a Temple. A Keeper may be a Cleric of any Degree, or even an Outer Court Member, since a Personal Shrine performs no official ceremonies. However for the same reason a Shrine -no matter what the Degree of the Keeper- has no representation on the Witan Council.

ORDERS
An Order is an association dedicated to the study or practice of a particular subject, such as ecology, healing, music, etc.

Although regarded as an independent body, an Order is formed by a Charter from the Tradition, which may only be granted by the Heads of Tradition through the office of the Chancellor. An Order may be formed around any subject of interest.

An Order commonly has a single Head who is responsible for organizing and facilitating it, who is called an Order Head. The Order Head is also established by Charter from the Tradition. The Order Head may be of any Degree appropriate to the Order’s subject, as defined by the Tradition.

MERITORIOUS ORDERS -Recognition of extreme accomplishment
Membership in the Meritorious Orders is given to honor people who have distinguished themselves by exceptional acts of service to the Tradition, to Paganism as a whole, or to the world.

Meritorious Orders which are awarded twice yearly at the Lustrations, to recognize the work and achievements which keep our Tradition running on a daily basis.

CONTEMPLATIVES
The Correllian Tradition strongly favors the development of Contemplative orders focused on meditation and self-development. These orders may be based upon temporary or longer-term retirement from the mundane world. We believe it is important for people to be able to get away from the pressures of the world for spiritual retreat and re-creation. We feel that an ideal period for such spiritual retreat for most people would be from a few days to a few weeks.

To this end we desire to found one or more Contemplative Houses to provide for this need. These Contemplative Houses would be available to members of the Correllian Tradition for spiritual retreats whenever needed. In addition they could sponsor classes and workshops for Tradition members as well as the general public.

STUDY GROUPS

This Section is divided in to two groups, study groups studying the initiatory lessons and groups studying other subjects. A Study Group may be hosted by a Temple, Shrine or a private individual. Obviously anyone can study these subjects, but to be recognized as an official Correllian Study Group, the group must be registered with the Correllian Tradition.

For more information and advice on application please email Lady Anna: witanherald@gmail.com