The first version of this webpage appeared almost 20 years ago.  Since that time it underwent one name change, a tonnes of additions and today we find that we badly need to reconstruct it so that new seekers and old can more easily access the essential elements and still be able to delve deeply if the spirit moves.  Hi, I'm Cathryn Platine, the principle founder of the Cybeline Revival.  When I first started our revival in 1997 there were precious few references to Cybele at all outside a few scholarly works with limited access, two websites by Laura Seabrook and Laura Lansberry and a few scattered essays from magazines almost no one ever encountered.  Cybele was not on the radar of neo-paganism at all.  A lot has changed since then and since we held our first public ritual back on March 24, 1999 several other groups have sprung up honouring the Mother Goddess as Cybele, Magna Mater.  Laura Lansberry died many years ago and her website is still maintained by one of her partners, Julia.  Laura Seabrook came to the Phrygianum (our Convent home) in 2006, underwent the mysteries and is one of our priestesses.

Our theology starts from the simplest basis:  That the Divine Feminine principle is the basis of the universe.  That all of us, all that we encounter is Her in the aggregate.  We are all the Great Mother learning about Herself.  From this simple beginning springs our organizational models, our rituals, the principles of what we call Wholistic Feminism, our mission of charitable outreach and indeed the way we, as Cybelines, live our lives.  We are sometimes called the "scholarly Cybelines" because we have invested many years of strict historical research in order to embrace the essence of what proved to be literally the oldest surviving religion in the world.  We embraced the essence and then stepped away from "Pagan Reconstructism" by bringing those essences into the modern world.  We re-introduced to the world a model for Pagan Monasticism.  We've recovered long believed lost principles, our drumming patterns, ritual practices and corrected history.  The world centre of our Religion is in the Catskill Mountains of upstate New York at the foot of the Kaaterskill Clove.  Unlike many neo-Pagan groups, we have a "horizontal" organization, our Priestesses all considered equals but also expected to live our religion, dedicate themselves to a live of charitable works and ministry to others according to their strengths.  We welcome all to our services and to visit our first Phrygianum of the modern era.  We do not require anyone to renounce anything to join us.

  The section on the Phrygianum contains basic information about our organizational models, The Rule of the Women of Cybele and about our physical home.  The Theology section contains our Cybeline Exegesis and basic ritual information.  Current events are posted to our Facebook page at www.facebook.com/Maetreum/.  The history section contains past and current essays on our history.  The links sections contain, well, links.

We have traced Cybele back as far as approximately 10,000 BCE to Central Anatolia or Turkey.  It has been personally exciting to watch mainline historians begin to confirm things I have been writing and lecturing about for two decades now as well as see others discover Cybele.  Our next generation of scholars are being trained, we aim to be around a long time and seek no less than to change the primary worldview to one of Goddess Awareness from the current patriarchal thinking that has taken the world to the brink of destruction..  Hundreds of thousands have read the older versions of this website.  Join us.  Support our efforts for we do all our work, maintain our Phrygianum on a shoestring budget.  We are incoporated and a 501 (c)3 religious charity so all donations are fully tax deductable.

Maetreum means literally "Home of the  Mother" so our name is translated as the Home of the Great Mother Cybele.  In Roman times this was the official name of the various temples to Cybele and most specifically the one located on the Palatine hill in Rome itself.  Phrygianum translates as "Home of the Phrygians".  The Romans considered Phrygia the source of the Cybeline religion and the home of the Phrgyians was the complex that was the Convent home of the Cybeline Priestesses.  In Rome that was located across the Tiber on the Vatican hill.  The modern primary Phrgyianum is our Catskills location, while it is the first such in the modern era, it will not remain the only one long.

A special word from the Maetreum to Goddess oriented women

Look around, the American dream is now dead and the social experiment started in the fifties has failed..  We at the Maetreum are attempting to create a new model of living, a community of spiritual women working together cooperatively.  We have room for several women to move here.  We have a ceramics studio set up already and are acquiring the tools to spin and weave our own fabrics.  We are planting fruit trees and gardens and grape arbors.  We have a larger family of laying hens.  But in order to succeed in this we need  Goddess women willing to join us in our efforts.  If your life is falling apart because of the economy, consider a visit to see if you can join us.  We need you and I suspect, many of you need us.  We welcome all genders to our services, celebrations and for visits.
Blessing on you all,

Rev. Mother Cathryn Platine