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I. Cybeline Tolerance

Rev. Dr. Caillean McMahon



Toleration of other viewpoints, faiths, and practices is one of the foundation stones of Cybeline theology. The faith co-existed in multiple nations throughout the Roman world with various Pagan paths, with Judaism, and with Christianity. The basis for the toleration that marks the practices of the People of Cybele lies in the nature of our relationship to the Great Mother and in Her relationship to creation.

A Cybeline Pagan looks to the Goddess as the Creator of all things and imminent in all of Her creation.  The Goddess is honoured as the Great Mother, a loving parent watching over all of Her universe and extending the love without limit or condition to all.  In his “Oration to Cybele” Julian II, a Cybeline himself and neo-platonist, remarks “She is in control of every form of life, and the Cause of all generation; She easily brings to perfection all things that are made. Without pain She brings to birth. “ There are no exclusions to Her love or to Her interest in the children she has parented. Her love is universal.

In history, Cybelines brought prophesy, protection, comfort and healing to those whom they served in the name of the Goddess. Seeking out the wild and desolate places upon the earth, they co-existed with creation itself as stewards of that creation, not conquerors.  In the families of nations, of races and  of ethnic groupings, no one was excluded from the benefits and blessings that the Cybelines carried with them amongst mankind.

The Cybelines become the messengers of the love of the Mother. We have and will always minister to those in need, extend our hospitality as representatives of the Goddess to the world. Those who the Cybelines of the past served were from a panoply of faiths, political beliefs and social stations. No differentiation was ever made on any basis in terms of acting as the conduit of the Creator's blessings and as a role model of Her virtues for humanity.

The Goddess does not deny Her blessings even to those who do not recognize Her. She casts none into an abyss, She cuts none off from the family of the world. Her love is perfect and unique.

Each and every Cybeline, throughout their lifetime, acts as a minister of that love just as they act as a steward to creation. If we embrace the concept of the all-loving Mother, the ultimate reaper and sower of the garden of the universe, then in all that we do we seek to carry forth Her will, Her love and act as Her hands, heart and mind as we walk our path.

Our love and our friendship are not to be denied to those who disagree with us or deny our beliefs. Even those who rage at us or denounce the Goddess may not be repaid in kind, for Mother withdraws Her love from none of Her children. Further, discipline remains in the hands of the parent, not in the hands of Her children.

A Creator who casts out and cuts off some of the parts Herself in present in creation as punishment becomes less than infinite by whatever portion is removed from the whole. Hence, with an understanding dating back over eight millennia, the Cybelines have never had a concept of our Goddess damning or abandoning Her children. In acknowledging that we realize that we may never permit ourselves to give way to divisiveness or exclusion. We may not become the agents of hatred or prejudice. We are instruments of peace and of a perfect love.

Even in the face of hatred and adversity the Cybelines continue to pour forth the love of the Mother to the world She has brought into being. Our relationship with the Goddess, our special closeness all demands it as She works within us to perfect us as Her tools and ministers. We are called to live a special example in a perilous time where the concept of living one's faith has largely become a vehicle to exclude others who disagree. Cybeline theology stands as a bulwark against such thinking. Cybeline practice is an agent of healing in a wounded age. Our toleration, our love and our empathy are pathways through which Cybele leaves her arms open to her beloved children to be gathered up in Her warm and comforting embrace.