Section II:  The Paradigm
Of the Temple of the Children of Lilith

A Master was talking to his disciples and asked, "Is that boulder inside your head or outside of it?"
One of the disciples said, "As the great Buddha said that all is illusion, I must say that the boulder is inside my head."
The Master looked at the disciple with wonder, "Your head must be very heavy with that boulder inside of it."

Paradigm has become a buzzword these days.  Initially, it was coined to describe the set of conditions for interpreting data in science1.  After having spent some thirty plus years in the public domain, it has since expanded its definition from science to also refer to the set of conditions utilized to interpret data perceived by an individual -- combining the gestalt, context and schema from psychology.  A paradigm, in this sense, represents the philosophical, religious, ethical and social beliefs of individual or group and acknowledges that "deep" reality is interpreted through this filter.

Each individual has a paradigm, as do social groups.  Paradigms can be classified in several ways; the Temple tends to utilize the terms meta-paradigm, paradigm and sub-paradigm.  Meta-paradigms are broad overreaching paradigms that influence our paradigms.  Sub-paradigms are refinements upon paradigms -- e.g., Baptist is a sub-paradigm of Christianity.  Meta-paradigms can usually be identified as a derivitive of one of the following two meta-paradigms: Order -- in which Order is the natural state of things, Chaos is merely a deviation from the natural state which will again be subsumed into Father Order; and Chaos -- where Chaos is the natural state of things, Order is a temporary anomaly that will eventually be subsumed back into Mother Chaos.  These paradigms are not necessarily as antagonistic as one would assume, as they are so deeply embedded that they effect how we interpret our paradigms, rather than provide a comparison with the beliefs of others.

Most philosophies and religions of the past Æon (Christianity, Islam, Marxism, Fascism, et al) revolve around the Order meta-paradigm.  Most modern philosophies/religions can be interpreted around either, and many of the older philosophies/religions are being reinterpreted to manifest under either meta-paradigm as well.  Now that we know what a paradigm is, let us elaborate upon the specific paradigm utilized by the Temple of the Children of Lilith.

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Footnotes

1.  Actually, the Dictionary places this term in use in the 15th century, with a definition similar enough in scope to show its evolution toward its current popular definition.  { Return }