"Keep pure your highest ideals. Strive ever towards them, Let nothing stop you nor turn you aside ..."
- Doreen Valiente

The arrival of Summer is around the corner

The Temple of the Dark Moon was originally established in 1999 in Adelaide, South Australia in order to provide accurate information on Paganism (in particular traditional Wicca and Wytchcraft), and magick with respect to the Southern Hemisphere.

Since those early beginnings, the Temple has developed into an actual working group that aligns itself with a unique combination of Alexandrian Wicca, ceremonial magick and traditional Craft. Our Inner Circle also explores other spiritual teachings and occult workings with the view of providing each member with as much personal experience as possible.

We describe ourselves as being a "progressive" Alexandrian based coven in that we perceive traditional Wicca to be a continually evolving spiritual path. We believe in the true spirit of the Wiccan Rede, as well as operating under the axiom of "Perfect Love and Perfect Trust". We also adhere to the balance of both divine masculine and divine feminine energies.

Aside from being a working coven, we do offer training through various mediums which are run when time permits or demand dictates. Details of such training can be found under the Training Available page.

When it comes to the Wiccan degree system, we acknowledge these as "benchmarks" with respect to spiritual training for those seeking priesthood instruction only. This means that we also acknowledge that such training may not be the calling for all members within the Inner Court, and for those whose desire is not to be trained as such, we respect their decision. Spiritual evolution is, after all, an individual process and within the Temple of the Dark Moon we welcome input from all members equally.

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WHAT'S IN THE NAME?

The dark phase of the Moon is traditionally the last three days of the lunar cycle, immediately preceding the New Moon, and the time when the night sky is notably absent the presence of the Moon.

Demetra George, in her ground breaking book Mysteries of the Dark Moon, The Healing Power of the Dark Goddess (Harper San Francisco, 1992) noted that in the earliest mythologies and traditions, night was given precedence over day, and the Moon was revered over the lesser Sun. George further noted that: “The earliest peoples understood that the power of life lay in the darkness of the moon. The purpose of the dark phase of any cycle is that of transition between the death of the old and the birth of the new. The dark time is a time of retreat, of healing, and of dreaming of the future. That is, the fallow times preceding outbursts of creativity and growth.”

Further, in occult thought, the dark phase of the Moon often represented the subconscious level of our being, and it is at this level that the hidden or forgotten knowledge that has been passed down through the ages, can be found.

It is for these reasons that the Temple decided on the name "Temple of the Dark Moon", to act as a guide for those seeking the forgotten knowledge of ages past.

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THE TEMPLE'S FOUNDER AND HIGH PRIESTESS

The Temple of the Dark Moon's founder and High Priestess is Frances Billinghurst, who has been interested in and has studied various aspects of Paganism, metaphysics and the occult for most of her life.

Frances has been initiated as a 3rd Degree Wytch and High Priestess, and holds an honourary 6th Temple Adeptus degree and Charter with the Ordrine Scatere Stellae (teaching the later magickal workings of Alex Sanders, from the 1980s prior to his death in 1988). She is also trained in Hermetic (ceremonial) magick and has an interest in traditional Wytchcraft (ie, non-Gardnerian) as well as Goddess spiritual practices. In 2007 she received a Green Tara empowerment from Her Eminence Jetsun Kushok Rinpoche.

For over a decade, Frances's involvement in Paganism and the Craft has been a full one, taking up much of her personal time, and often placing her in the public arena. The following are some of her achievements to date:

• In 2002 Frances commenced writing articles for Australia's No.1 spiritual lifestyle magazine, "Insight" and is its longest contributor. Her articles have also appeared in various other publications around the world since 1998, including the 2008 "Llewellyn's Witches Calendar", and more recently, the Goddess pages within "Spellcraft" magazine, as well as "Magickal Light", the ezine for the Magicka online school.

• In addition to her writing, Frances has appeared in the local Adelaide newspaper, "The Sunday Mail", "The Age" and also "The Messenger".

• Frances held the position of Secretary for the Pagan Alliance Inc (South Australia) from 2000 until 2006. Her position involved actively campaigning for Pagan rights with respect to the use of knives that are used within various Pagan traditions, as well as discrimination on the grounds of religion.

• Frances has presented lectures at:

  • 2003: New Zealand Pagan Festival (where she also led the opening ritual with Chief Druid, Philip Carr-Gomm)

  • 2009: Australian Wiccan Conference (Adelaide)

  • 2010: New Zealand Pagan Festival (where she also led the opening and closing rituals with occult philosopher, Ramsay Dukes)

  • 2010: Australian Goddess Conference (Gold Coast)

  • 2011: Theosophical Society (Adelaide)

  • 2011: The Goddess Gathering (Gaia's Garden, Melbourne)

  • 2011: Australian Wiccan Conference (Tasmania).

• In supporting her local Pagan community, Frances has regularly presented lectures at various events sponsored by the Pagan Alliance Inc (SA) as well as contributing articles to that organisation's newsletter.

When she is not presenting workshops and lectures within the Pagan community, or writing articles, Frances enjoys painting, learning how to garden in the harsh Adelaide climate, and focusing on completing her long overdue first book (anticipated release early 2012).

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