Eusylvanians hold that we of Western mores have lost contact with healthful, life-promoting forms of religiosity. In an age of stifling skepticism, unchecked hedonism, and unquestioned (often implicit) scientism, shared notions of sanctity, divinity, and devotion have largely been replaced by atomized and frequently commoditized modes of ‘spiritual expression.’ We may define religion (<L., religio, obligation, bond, reverence) broadly and unconventionally as those values to which we commit ourselves and regularly pay homage, regardless of whether or not they are ‘supernaturally’ framed. In the West today, we may discern a widespread allegiance to secular humanism, contract liberalism, and (mass-market) individualism.  We ‘pray’ regularly to the ‘gods’ of appetite, ambition, and the man-machine vision of tomorrow. We have ‘faith’ in the market economy and in real and alleged scientific advance, sacralizing in the process the myth of human progress, the triumph of secular man. Despite its historical centrality to so much of Western life and culture, Christianity has, in the West, become increasingly marginalized and moribund. The tenets of pre-Christian faiths have—except by a scant few—been long abandoned, indeed, derided and dismissed.

Eusylvanians embrace the Enlightenment legacies of rational inquiry, naturalistic investigation, and experimental science, aiming thereby to enlarge our knowledge of the universe and of ourselves. Such an embrace notwithstanding, we feel ourselves most fully alive when enveloped within a wider mystery (<L., mysterium, sacrament; secret rite, worship)—a greater whole encompassing and exceeding our everyday understanding of nature and humanity. We approach the mysterious through coordinated forms of devotional positioning and process, experiential methods of engaging the sacred in ways that preponderate over the cogitation and avowal of ‘metaphysical’ doctrines or claims, thereby affirming the numinous (<L., numen, divine spirit, presiding divinity) at the levels of nature, community, and self. We seek to rescue, repurpose, and revitalize previous forms of religious worship and belief, finding inherent worth and practical value, for example, in Christian practices of community-building and ‘pagan’ methods of communing with the earth.

The ‘good forest,’ in this realm of Mystery, represents aspects of experienced nature, community, and self that appear in some way numinous or divine: phenomena that, as the ‘trees’ of this forest, are serviceably rendered (individually or aggregated) as expressed ‘godforms’ to which we regularly and reverently pay heed.

Eusylvanians hold that we of Western inheritance have, in large measure, traded historical identity and rootedness for shortsighted consumerism, market-driven individualism, and technological futurism. The cultural disruptions and seismic civil conflicts of the last century have left the West exhausted, demoralized, and increasingly bereft of an overarching narrative beyond the designs and demands of the commercial sphere. In the face of rampant cultural amnesia, we may affirm ourselves as inherently historically beings, the fruits of countless actions and reactions of the generations that have preceded us. Indeed, although discrete in our individualized make-up, we may consider ourselves parts of greater chains of becoming, sharing a destiny through a kind of ‘community in time’ with both ancestors and descendants.

Eusylvanians trust that we become more fully alive, indeed, more (paradoxically) free, when linking ourselves within these chains, in this way honoring the living tradition (<L., tradere, hand over, bequeath) of human nature, diachronically conceived. We seek to reveal patterns of such nature to the best of our abilities, investigating our forebears not only for tuition concerning the past, but for present and future guidance: suggestive instruction on how best to live, both individually and collectively. Eusylvanians strive to uncover, elucidate, and utilize accounts from Western and world history in pursuit of self-knowledge (who are we?), circumspection (what have we done?), and a purpose-filled life (where do we want to go?). We endeavor to honor stories of particular peoples while finding ways of weaving such stories into a harmonious whole.

The ‘good forest,’ in this realm of Heritage, signifies the ‘folk’ who are absent yet present, its ‘trees’ bespeaking an immanent ‘community in time,’ the ‘branch’ and ‘root’ of our progeny and forebears.    

Eusylvanians hold that we of Western landscapes have become increasingly alienated from the ecosystems in which we dwell—in body, mind, and spirit. Although recognizing and embracing certain technological gains, we maintain that humans feel most alive when connecting with the wild in which they have developed and to which they are inextricably tied. The material prosperity of Western man is unparalleled in the history of humanity, but so is his environmental destructiveness—both in overall volume and scope. Our ingenuity and efficiency in exploiting natural systems has grown alongside a widespread popular ignorance of such systems, leaving an often unsustainable and dangerous divide between profit-driven producers and individually-minded consumers. Even recognized experts and specialists, moreover, are thwarted in their attempt to comprehend deeply the qualities and quantities of sundry environmental ‘impacts’ and outcomes, both on account of the increased complexity of recent technologies and the potential compounding of their interactive effects.

Eusylvanians seek to apply scientific insights in the understanding of nature and our place in it. We wish to establish ways of living sustainably—as seen with our great grandchildren in mind. We seek further to cultivate methods by which to deepen our connections with other species, with the bioregions in which we live, and with the ecosystem as a whole. We pursue a strategy of localized environmental care, harmonizing where possible the rhythms of our lives with the patterns of ecological place.

The ‘good forest,’ in this realm of Nature, stands for the wild-ness of the earth, its ‘trees’ symbolizing the biosphere that we aim not only to judiciously employ, but also to passionately protect.

Eusylvanians hold that we of Western economies have inordinately exchanged commitments to local community for the promises of commercial society. Although engendering unprecedented material prosperity, Western civilization has created unparalleled social alienation, fracturing societies in a manner unseen in the history of humanity. Our culture of consumer capitalism has proved a corrosive influence on the many deeper institutions of Western life, commoditizing our interactions to the point of becoming, as individuals, less ‘ends’ than ‘means.’ When used improperly, our more recent social technologies hold the danger of fostering further forms of disaffection, promoting virtual identifications at the expense of true intimacy and care.

Eusylvanians seek to establish community connections beyond the commercial sphere, subjecting where possible demands of abstract ‘economy’ to more intuitive values of ‘people’ and ‘place.’ We support, where advantageous, the decentralization of regulatory powers and localization of commerce, modulating commercial interests with organic commitments to both kith and kin—our abiding ‘companions’ with whom we may faithfully share a meal. We uphold and defend the institutions of conjugal fidelity and familial love as the elementary components of a healthy society. While recognizing the importance of individual liberties, we aim to generate practices and events that honor, celebrate, and strengthen the bonds of family, neighborhood, and people.

The ‘good forest,’ in this realm of Companionship, symbolizes the collective to whom we feel ourselves tied, its ‘trees’ representing the members of a contemporaneous living folk—our ‘community in space.’