Feraferia is a Neopagan religion with a community that began in Southern California and now spans the United States and parts of Europe. Members of this community practice Hellenic-inspired Goddess worship. The founder of the group, Fredrick McLaren Charles Adams II, experienced an ecstatic religious conversion in 1956 when he became viscerally certain of the primacy of the Goddess. Among many other intellectuals with whom he corresponded and exchanged ideas, Adams met and was deeply influenced by

Robert Graves Captain Robert von Ranke Graves (24 July 1895 – 7 December 1985) was an English poet, soldier, historical novelist and critic. His father was Alfred Perceval Graves, a celebrated Irish poet and figure in the Gaelic revival; they were b ...

and his book '' The White Goddess''. In 1957, Adams founded the classically inspired Fellowship of Hesperides and in 1959, he started a multi-family

intentional community An intentional community is a voluntary residential community designed to foster a high degree of group cohesiveness, social cohesion and teamwork. Such communities typically promote shared values or beliefs, or pursue a common vision, wh ...

in Sierra Madre, California. Following on the Fellowship of Hesperides, Feraferia was established in 1967 as a nonprofit corporation in the State of California, and as such, is one of the oldest organizations of

Neopaganism in the United States Modern paganism in the United States is represented by widely different List of Neopagan movements, movements and organizations. The largest modern pagan (also known as neo-pagan) religious movement is Wicca, followed by Neodruidism. Both of the ...

. The name Feraferia is a combination of the Latin root words ''fera,'' denoting “wild” or “feral,” and ''feria,'' or “festival.” The religion is based on the celebration of wild nature with a focus on the maiden Goddess Kore. For six years, Adams published the newsletter ''Korythalia'' once a month with inspiration and updates for Feraferians. During the 1970s, Adams, with Carroll "Poke" Runyon of the Ordo Templi Astartes, and Oberon Zell of the Church of All Worlds formed The Council of Themis, the first attempt to unite various hermetic, Neopagan, and

ceremonial magic Ceremonial magic (also known as magick, ritual magic, high magic or learned magic) encompasses a wide variety of rituals of Magic (supernatural), magic. The works included are characterized by ceremony and numerous requisite accessories t ...

groups in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. Adams, and Feraferia, were represented in Runyon's early Neopagan magazine, ''The 7th Ray'', with Adams illustrating as well as writing expositions on the Feraferia approach to what later became known as the

Goddess movement The Goddess movement is a Modern Paganism, revivalistic Neopagan New religious movement, religious movement which includes Spirituality, spiritual beliefs and practices that emerged primarily in the United States in the late 1960s and predominant ...

. In 1989, Feraferia member and award-winning filmmaker Jo Carson began shooting and directing the documentary film ''Dancing With Gaia'' to explore the meaning of Feraferia through words and images. The film features interviews with Adams and other prominent Neopagans and visits to sacred sites around the world. Adams died in August 2008, followed by his wife and co-founder of Feraferia, Lady Svetlana of Feraferia (Svetlana Butyrin) in 2010. Adams named Jo Carson as literary executor of his estate and charged her with the mission of disseminating the messages of Feraferia to other Neopagan communities and the world. Carson has since published ''Celebrate Wildness: Magic, Mirth and Love on the Feraferia Path'', a handbook of Feraferia and a showcase for Adams’ prolific artwork. Carson has presented on aspects of Feraferia numerous times at the Neopagan conference PantheaCon, and maintains a physical library for and about Feraferia as well as an extensive website with more than 150 articles. Currently, Carson is working on a new publication, ''The Green Pulse Oracle: A Tool for Eco-Psychic Insight,'' based on a system of oracular glyphs first developed by Adams.

References

External links

feraferia home
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