Greetings & Introduction from the T.O.A.D.

[Hal]

Greetings and Blessings to the 5 Hive Community,

My name is Hal Lucius Nation,

I am the Grand Hierophant and Chief Officiant of the Temple of Awakening Divinity (T.O.A.D.).

The Temple of Awakening Divinity (T.O.A.D.) is a syncretic spiritual organization that exists to provide a safe and practical context for the direct spiritual experience of the Divine for its participants through a ceremonial rite of Entheogenic Eucharistic communion.

We have been in existence since December of 2007 and operating regular ceremonies of the Temple for nearly a decade (as of this date) with over 4000 members initiated worldwide into the Entheogenic Gnosis and over 1100 ceremonies held to date.

While the T.O.A.D. could be viewed as a formal church or temple, and its practices deemed religious or spiritual in nature, the T.O.A.D. intentionally has no formalized dogma. In fact it specifically eschews dogmatic constructs as these tend to create division and generally serve to distance individuals from the direct spiritual experience of the Divine (or Source), which we seek to foster and provide. Therefore there are no formal requirements of specific religious/spiritual belief affiliations or practices for those wishing to attend gatherings or "circles" of the T.O.A.D. Each individual seeking participation in the activities of the Temple is left to develop their own unique understanding of their particular spiritual nature and relationship with the Divine and are encouraged to develop their own particular spiritual praxis that suits their needs as they deem fit. Suggestions and assistance in these practices are offered to those seeking to go deeper into the Work.

The guardians of the Temple have been quite wary of participating in other online forums as we have witnessed a great deal of animosity and contention within various members of the wider entheogenic community and we do not wish to participate in such squabbling, which only serves to weaken our mission and purpose of global awakening and merely makes those participating in such behavior look foolish and thus compromises our overarching intentions. We will have nothing to do with such behavior.

Our intention here is to observe and, when appropriate to provide necessary and useful information that we have found resourceful in administering the Entheogenic Gnosis safely and successfully with the greatest outcome for those partaking in our sacred Eucharist.

We are happy to address any legitimate questions or concerns in regards to these practices. It is our sincerest hope that we may provide effective counsel to those seeking information in regard to best practices in these endeavors. We will address any questions received clearly, concisely, discreetly and as promptly as we are able. However, please understand that this is not the central purpose of our organizations mission. We ask that you be patient in terms of responses as it is not necessarily our current intention to participate regularly in this forum....at least for the present.

We look forward to our participation and to getting to know this community better in the time ahead.

In Perfect Love & Perfect Trust,

Hal

[Flux]

Greetings Hal,


And thanks you for your presence here...we are honoured to have a Grand Heirophant of T.O.A.D here, especially given your mentioned reticence in participating in forums. Great to hear you guys are active as I learnt about your existence some time ago through the Rak Razam podcast and Erowid.

The notion of non-dogmatic spiritual practice is so very pertinent to this medicine as it emerges now and I would like to express my gratitude, respect and admiration for what you do. As a global community of seekers, we have the cultural advantage of not carrying traditional ways of relating to this molecule the way ayahuasca does - and therefore having built something from the 'ground up' as you have is invaluable in allowing the space for people to relate to the medicine, self and spirit in a way that embraces the uniqueness of the individual's ontology.

One of the central topics of concern at this moment is developing a structured 'code of ethics' for 5-MeO-DMT (building on, but distinct from other entheogenic ethical frameworks such as those made for ayahuasca) so that seekers may have some guidance in knowing what to expect from a good practitioner, facilitator or server. We are working on creating a space here dedicated to this development as the wider and more diverse the contribution, the more solid the platform will be. We very much look forward to whatever contributions you feel like making and greatly value you input.

Blessings,

Flux