Some questions come up frequently, so here are the most often asked.
No, while Filianism is not one of the neo-paganisms of our time, neither is it an Abrahamic faith, nor is it a subset of any other faith. It is uniquely its own.
So is it polytheistic or monotheistic?Filianism views Dea as the one Source, but it would be best described as either 'soft monotheism', or better yet, 'henotheism'. Filianism has deity as three-fold, Trinitarian, and also contains the Janyati, aspects of Dea. We note that there is one God, Dea, and She has many aspects. All is contained within Dea, hence 'henotheism', as well as panentheism, are the most apt terms.
Why do I see so much imagery of Mary around some Filianists, are you worshipping Mary from Christianity?No, we do not worship Mary, nor are we any form of re-imagined Collrydianism. This originally stems from one group of earlier Madrians who preferred to use what they termed 'living-stream' images of God, as they felt that past goddess imagery wasn't proper for modern day usage. Today, Filianists are working to create their own holy images, and most are moving away from images of Mary, to help dissuade the confusion that we worship her or anything from the Christian tradition.
There seems to be a lot to this, will this site contain everything about the religion?At this time, it will cover the basics of the faith and the basics of practicing. There are further mysteries that, as a community, we would like to reserve for advanced practitioners. The priestesses of the faith are working on a pathway to learning this, and we will let people know once that is available. This is to help protect the mysteries and keep the faith within people working for its betterment, and for their own betterment.
Does that mean this is a closed tradition?In a way, yes. We want to keep the mysteries reserved for those who are serious about the faith and their path, and guard against those that would use the faith in ill-advised ways. We have, unfortunately, had various circumstances over the years of bad faith actors using Filianism for their own gain or other reasons and therefore to protect the faith and its adherents, we would like to return to an intiated path for higher level learning.
I came across something called Aristasia, what is that, are you involved with this?No, we are not associated with Aristasia and their world-building. They are from a splinter group from Madrianism, and as far as we know, they are defunct, though we do not/have not initiate(d) any type of contact with them. They may have utilized Filianism during their activity, but they are in no way associated with the current adherents and priestesses of the modern day faith. Aristasia was nearly entirely an online roleplay and world building community and caused contention and harm within the real world. While we are not a part of it, we recognize some people came to find Filianism through this community. But, we are a modern faith focused on spiritual progress of both individuals and greater community, and connection to Dea. We welcome curious seekers, but we are not doing any world building here.
Are there other groups practicing this religion?There are, with the largest group known as the Janites, or the Janite Tradition. They have some of their own tenets, creeds, and lexicon, but are a branch of the same spiritual tree. There are some others, but as they are private groups we will respect their privacy and not name them here, for the time being. If these groups reach out and want recognition, however, we will happily note them with ways to contact.
What if I have further questions, or want to learn more than this?A contact form is available! Please see the Contact Page in order to reach out with questions.