The Open Minded Path is a universalist spiritual lineage for any who believe that every path can lead to enlightenment and any view of divinity is valid. Spiritual identities are meant to be preserved, so there is no central belief or practice, nor is membership restricted in any way. Instead, the Open Minded Path adapts to the needs of the individual.
We do not believe in censorship or limiting information, instead desiring to give knowledge freely. We believe in open, honest communication and open-mindedness, with a heavy emphasis on taking an academic approach to spiritual learning. Any who agree with and live by our Creed walk the Path with us.
Anyone can claim to walk the Open Minded Path, which is designed to be inclusive of all religions. Those who do walk the Path should embody what our lineage represents: the nature of seeking truth, being open minded, and maintaining a high level of academic and professional excellence.
Those who wish to join the movement and give back to others may become certified in being truly open minded and accomplished in their spiritual practices. This is something which both acolytes (masters of their own craft) and leaders (masters of teaching others) may do. Past experience welcome!
Certified Leaders have completed an assessment to ensure they are well-rounded, ethical, professional, qualified to lead, and truly open minded. Any Open Minded Leader is capable of helping anyone from any religious path. Please note that we do not have the resources to train someone as say a Pastor or Rabbi (at present), so these must pursue an external degree in addition to our certification process.
Those who are members of the Open Minded Path will give their denomination (a.k.a. their tradition or lineage) as "Open Minded", be they Open Minded Christian, Open Minded Wiccan or otherwise. They may or may not be members of an organization led by a certified Leader, and they may or may not be certified themselves. Anyone can use this label to demonstrate they are universalist and open minded.
Open Minded Organizations are those run by certified Open Minded Leaders. These Organizations might also be referred to as Open Minded Churches, Open Minded Covens, or otherwise. Each of these groups may be very different in theme and culture, and have additional requirements for membership than those listed here. Some admit anyone, and others accept only certified Open Minded Path members.
Joining the movement is as easy as desiring to do so, though a dedication ceremony to formalize your choice is highly recommended. Add the denomination "Open Minded" before your title (e.g. "Open Minded High Priestess" or "Open Minded Pastor") and religion name (e.g. "Open Minded Wiccan" or "Open Minded Christian"), and others will know you are a part of the movement. There is also an online community where those who walk the Path can interact, a Crossroads where the spiritual paths of all religions meet. We look forward to meeting you!
For many, having someone formally acknowledge spiritual progress is a key step to feeling advanced along a spiritual path. This is why the Open Minded Path offers to certify anyone seeking such reassurance and community, even for remote members. Certification here involves an assessment of both personal spiritual practice, one's knowledge and mastery over one's own religion, and open mindedness, one's awareness of various religions as well as one's knowledge of the fundamental similarities between religions. Becoming certified allows members to connect with like-minded others who are similarly advanced in a more intimate space on the Crossroads, list their shops or services on the Marketplace (and receive discounts on others' services too), and start certified Open Minded Organizations that are supported and promoted by the Open Minded Path.
There are no requirements to dedicate to the Open Minded Path. Anyone may do so privately or publicly before any Open Minded Organization. The Coven of the Open Mind frequently leads open full moon rituals on the Crossroads during which they are happy to hear any public dedications. Once you have done a dedication, whether alone or before an Organization, please mention that on the Crossroads server so that you can receive recognition (via a role, which grants access to a channel just for dedicants).
No certification is required for dedicants. Just let the Leaders in the community know of your accomplishment to get the role and gain access to dedicant-specific community.
Acolytes (or what many call "first degrees") are those who are "masters of themselves". They are sure their path is the right one, and they firmly believe that they will only walk that path for rest of their lives. They know their true, personal name, the one which they are called by their spiritual kin and which perfectly encapsulates their true self. Acolytes generally have the following skills in their spiritual toolkit, at least for use in their own matters, regardless of their spiritual journey:
Join the Crossroads for a time and ensure the Elders know you. Then work on the Acolyte Assessment and send it in to openmindedpath@gmail.com when complete. Please put your name and the word "acolyte" somewhere in the subject.
To become a leader in the Open Minded Path lineage, one must demonstrate an ability to educate others, to movitate and inspire, and to produce content which helps others to grow along their own spiritual paths. One must show a mastery of history (the evolution of culture), metaphysics (the evolution of science), and linguistics (the evolution of language). The purpose is to ensure that an Open Minded Leader is capable of verifying the historicity of a claim, determining the validity of a scientific claim, especially those used to justify irrational beliefs, and understanding an entirely different way of viewing the world (since language is a direct translation of sub-conscious thought). Skills a Leader should have:
Join the Crossroads for a time and ensure the Elders and the community know you. Remember that you aren't proving yourself worthy, but rather seeking to help others as best as you can. If it turns out that your efforts are in fact helpful, then you will naturally begin to fill the role of Leader. At that time, send in the Leader Assessment to the email openmindedpath@gmail.com. Please put your name and the word "leader" in the subject line.
Eldering is a term which many use in many ways, but which fundamentally means to grow more wise with age and the assistance of mentors. At this point in one's spiritual journey, the people one primarily finds oneself around are students become peers. Now, the students begin to teach as well, and the Leader begins to learn and be enriched by the teachings of their students. Meanwhile, their skills shift towards writing, producing content for massive audiences, and contemplating the larger problems of the world. They may find they disconnect from beginners, for no other reason than that age and reason brings perspective, something hard to communicate to the young and unexperienced. There are some lessons which only time may teach. Elders should largely:
Certification here is not something you can apply for, and you cannot enter the lineage as an Elder (so if you believe you are ready, still join as a Leader). It is something which is recognized by the other Elders of the community. Seek to help others, be your best self, and love the whole Open Minded community, and you will find yourself eventually attaining this stage of membership. The Elder Assessment is an interview before the Elder Council directly, when they believe you are ready.
We believe in freedom of choice and will, of practice and faith. We believe our divinity is our own. We believe that working with others is a worthwhile endeavor, and that even so, it is only through gaining knowledge of ourselves that we can build a personal relationship with the divine. In this way we focus on our personal growth, treating the beliefs of others as ideas to fuel our own thoughts and guide us down our spiritual paths, even if these differing beliefs would not suit us themselves. We hold no grudges, we hold no biases, and we do not discriminate based on religion, magical discipline, or any mundane reason.
All are welcome within our ranks so long as they agree to the following statements:
We believe in compromise, we believe in sharing knowledge freely, and we believe in working together to build a better world for all. To each their own rede, and as for our creed, we intend to protect and stand by our fellow members through thick and thin, through stormy and serene. We are one family, bonded in a spiritual oath to keep secret the details of each other’s and all of our lineage's doings and sayings.
There is no requirement to worship, no requirement to serve, and no requirement to make payments to maintain membership within the lineage. The only requirements are to act and speak in accordance with the above, to respect others within the lineage at all times, and to participate in the Crossroads, and always with an open mind.
We are seekers, of free thought and free body. We promise to stand in circle in perfect love and perfect trust, and to always uphold our oaths of loyalty and discretion to the lineage and to all of its members. This pact is not one of servitude, but of voluntary good will and good intent, given freely in order to ensure an environment of learning and benefit for all. For though we come together under the banner of this lineage, let it still be known that...
“... we owe no allegiance to any person or power greater than the divinity manifest through our own being.”
-The Council of American Witches, April 1974
So mote it be.
Our certified Leaders are capable in their various spiritual paths, and prepared to help any lost seekers in need of direction. Find their various contact information and spiritual backgrounds below.
The Lady Victoria Tehilah Firewind is a lineage witch who was raised in the craft by her grandmother, who taught her how to “listen to the wind” and “read the clouds” from a very young age. She was also raised through her matrilineal grandparents in the traditions of conservative Judaism, living as an Orthodox (Chabad) Jew for a couple of years during her college years. Lady Firewind studied physics at Drexel University in Philadelphia and has a Bachelor of Science in the field. She has work experience at a variety of academic institutions, including the American Museum of Natural History, NASA, and her own alumnal Drexel U.
Lady Firewind founded the Open Minded Path (OMP) throughout 2017 with the help of her husband and High Priest, Ogonslav Firewind. She is also the founder and Elder High Priestess of the Coven of the Open Mind. Both her coven and the OMP lineage she created are universalist traditions which have members from all over the world, from all walks of life, and with a vast wealth of cultural diversity and open discourse. Through their YouTube channel and other social media outlets, they have amassed a small following of largely solitary practitioners of Pagan or Wicca inspired paths. The OMP is an open tradition, though it does have a certification process for those who wish to formalize their membership and make use of the resources of the larger organization in their own spiritual leadership.
Lady Firewind is a proud Appalachian who likes hiking, being outdoors, and spending time with her dogs and family. She enjoys software development, web development, metaphysics, philosophy, and any form of thought experiment or puzzle. She is constantly growing, constantly seeking, and constantly learning, a student of life and experience and a teacher of both the wisdoms of the earth, and the heavens above. May those who come to hear her words find what knowledge they seek, blessed be.
Email: ladyfirewind@openmindedpath.org
High Priest Ogonslav is a Slavic Shamanic Wiccan witch who loves swamps, pumpkins, and growing pumpkins in the swamp! Trained in Wicca within the Open Minded Path lineage, Ogonslav prefers the more natural arts, like herbology, herb magic, healing magic (both herb-based and Reiki), and any form of life-based spellcrafting.
High Priest Ogonslav was raised in a strict Southern Baptist household, eventually attending a pastoral ministry college to appease the wishes of his parents. However, at some point during his attendance, it came as a revelation to him that the Christian community was just not a good fit. Instead he sought after other paths, mostly in accordance with his occult tendencies. Eventually he stumbled upon Wicca, practicing solitarily for several years before finding the Coven of the Open Mind.
Through past life regression, High Priest Ogonslav recalled myriad past lives, realizing that his embodied existence goes back many eons. He has been a witch or spiritual leader of some form in almost all of his past lives, with great capacity for working with life energy and healing. He is a seasoned psionics and energy manipulation practitioner, having studied these arts for many years. He is a certified Reiki Master and Herbalist.
Email: ogonslav@gmail.com
Born in the Pocono Mountain region of PA, Brother Damien grew up with a profound wonder and appreciation for spirituality, despite a non-religious home environment. Even from a young age, he was a seeker for knowledge and truth, relying on intuition to develop a personal philosophy due to the absence of external spiritual influences.
In his 20s, he began digging deeper into religion and philosophy, discovering Wicca, Eastern faiths, Middle Eastern ideals, the list goes on. Hermeticism and Mysticism seemed the most comfortable to Brother Damien, given the unique approach to spirituality of intuitive knowledge seeking with structured ritualistic thinking. His patron deity is Thoth, god of magic, knowledge, and measure.
Brother Damien is a master of the occult arts, dabbling in many different forms and with the capacity to lead rituals in a variety of fashions. His practices are largely informed by Freemason thought and the various writings of Eliphas Levi and the Three Initiates.
Email: thegardenmind@gmail.com
A community for any spiritualist along any spiritual path, this is the meeting place of every member of the Open Minded Path, whether certified or self-ascribed. We look forward to meeting you!
Those seeking certification of any level are expected to join this community to get to know us. Join the Discord server here.
This is the founding organization in the Open Minded Path, led by the Lady Tehilah and High Priest Ogonslav Firewind. This is a learning coven with primarily Wiccan members, but any faith is welcome. Members here are primarily solitary in their spiritual practices and typically do not take themselves or their lives too seriously. See their website for details.
This is a private and rather secretive group whose membership consists of those who believe in a ONE TRUE creative Power (God) of some form. Space in this group is limited and membership is largely by invitation only. For questions, reach out to the Grand Gardner at the email below.
Email: thegardenmind@gmail.com
This section has listings of shops and services offered by certified Path members. Many of these offer a discount for other certified members, so be sure to look out for that.
Email ladytehilah@gmail.com with your birth day, time, and location. Please put your name in the subject title. Payment can be sent via venmo (LadyTehilah) or paypal (use the email above). Payment must be sent in advance of the reading. Certified members of the Open Minded Path get half off! Here is an example reading.
Email ogonslav@gmail.com with your name and "reiki healing" or "reiki attunement" in the subject line. Payment can be sent via paypal (email above). Payment must be sent in advance of the reading. Certified members of the Open Minded Path get half off!
Mountain View Candle Works has been handcrafting candles since 2010. All the candles are made in the USA. Whether shopping for pillar candles, votive candles, floating candles, wax luminaries or just fun decorative candles, we design and make them all right here. We match our quality and value with anyone on planet earth! Check out our website!
Email ogonslav@gmail.com with your name and "past life reading" in the subject line. Also include in the email your birth name, day, and location. Payment can be sent via paypal (email above). Payment must be sent in advance of the reading. Certified members of the Open Minded Path get half off!
