Amanda Torrey
Amanda is a Mystic; an idea driven person and ecstatic conduit for inspired concepts. After many years of working in law firms and creating commuunity service organizations her 2009 DePaul degree in Religious Studies centered on how cultural ethics impact social systems. Amanda’s special focus was developing bridges between marginal communities (alternative subcultures) and mainstream society. As people become aware of the full spectrum of gender, psychosexual and spiritual identifications, she wanted to take part in filling their need to understand the importance of self-definitions. Religious Studies calls xenophobia “Othering,” so Amanda wants to assist the process of lessening negative Othering effects on select social subcultures.
Her interest in ancient history and the nexus of sexuality and spirituality led to the formation of the Terra Incognita intentional community with her husband David in 1998. Together they have explored diverse areas of Sacred Sexuality, as well as BDSM, Chaos Magick, Neo-Paganism, polyamory, the Qadishtu Path, Sex Magick, Taoism and Tantra.
Temple Terra Incognita (TTI) is a Sexual Magick group founded in Chicago that has slowly grown from a small gathering of friends to a larger collection of karmically interconnected people. TTI has attempted to integrate spirituality with sexuality using an ancient Mesopotamian model that is adaptable to a variety of religious and magickal beliefs. While the Temples of Sumer and Babylon have inspired our mindset, we also feel a connection to the European mariners who were brave enough to sail to the “unknown lands” they called Terra Incognita on their maps. Scary, shadow-filled places of Monsters and Magick near The Edge of the World.
We believe that breaking fear-generated barriers is an important part of personal growth. TTI also feels the power of loving energy can help heal most emotional wounds as well as unite those participating in the Process of Transcendence. In our perspective, symbolic acts can only bring symbolic rewards, so both diety and divine energy exchanges should be real.
To actively pursue these ideas Terra Incognita is dedicated to the eclectic Qadishtu Path of Sacred Sexual celebration and healing. TTI has developed a very flexible neo-Pagan type of ritual to focus energetic group workings, which owes a great deal to Chaos Magick creativity. Our Qadishtu priesthood is Temple-based, in homage to historical precedents and includes educational outreach and various hands-on practices with seekers. We have hosted assorted salons, workshops and podcasts, as well as presented at festivals and conferences. Starting in the fall of 2004, New Zealand filmmaker Lynda Brendish began filming an award-winning documentary about Terra Incognita called Uncharted Lands. It captured TTI’s shift from a larger public group dynamic to one that is more family-based.
Amanda uses her knowledge as an Ethicist and Historian of Religion as she develops The Deviant Minds, NFP which adds a positive perspective regarding the many cross-roads between sex and spirituality. The first related project was a weekly podcast called The Deviant Minds Salon (DMS). DMS began in May 2011 and was designed to give a voice to alternative communities, especially those who celebrate the sacred in sexuality. Presently she is developing Chicago’s first SexFest & Symposium, which we hope will debut in the Spring of 2013 and honor the same ideals as the DMS. There are also exciting potentials for the Deviant Minds, NFP to do patient advocacy work around sexual issues that traditional therapists cannot address and provide educational presentions on a variety of important topics that are currently underserved.
Amanda Torrey
Amanda is a Mystic; an idea driven person and ecstatic conduit for inspired concepts. After many years of working in law firms and creating commuunity service organizations her 2009 DePaul degree in Religious Studies centered on how cultural ethics impact social systems. Amanda’s special focus was developing bridges between marginal communities (alternative subcultures) and mainstream society. As people become aware of the full spectrum of gender, psychosexual and spiritual identifications, she wanted to take part in filling their need to understand the importance of self-definitions. Religious Studies calls xenophobia “Othering,” so Amanda wants to assist the process of lessening negative Othering effects on select social subcultures.
Her interest in ancient history and the nexus of sexuality and spirituality led to the formation of the Terra Incognita intentional community with her husband David in 1998. Together they have explored diverse areas of Sacred Sexuality, as well as BDSM, Chaos Magick, Neo-Paganism, polyamory, the Qadishtu Path, Sex Magick, Taoism and Tantra.
Temple Terra Incognita (TTI) is a Sexual Magick group founded in Chicago that has slowly grown from a small gathering of friends to a larger collection of karmically interconnected people. TTI has attempted to integrate spirituality with sexuality using an ancient Mesopotamian model that is adaptable to a variety of religious and magickal beliefs. While the Temples of Sumer and Babylon have inspired our mindset, we also feel a connection to the European mariners who were brave enough to sail to the “unknown lands” they called Terra Incognita on their maps. Scary, shadow-filled places of Monsters and Magick near The Edge of the World.
We believe that breaking fear-generated barriers is an important part of personal growth. TTI also feels the power of loving energy can help heal most emotional wounds as well as unite those participating in the Process of Transcendence. In our perspective, symbolic acts can only bring symbolic rewards, so both diety and divine energy exchanges should be real.
To actively pursue these ideas Terra Incognita is dedicated to the eclectic Qadishtu Path of Sacred Sexual celebration and healing. TTI has developed a very flexible neo-Pagan type of ritual to focus energetic group workings, which owes a great deal to Chaos Magick creativity. Our Qadishtu priesthood is Temple-based, in homage to historical precedents and includes educational outreach and various hands-on practices with seekers. We have hosted assorted salons, workshops and podcasts, as well as presented at festivals and conferences. Starting in the fall of 2004, New Zealand filmmaker Lynda Brendish began filming an award-winning documentary about Terra Incognita called Uncharted Lands. It captured TTI’s shift from a larger public group dynamic to one that is more family-based.
Amanda uses her knowledge as an Ethicist and Historian of Religion as she develops The Deviant Minds, NFP which adds a positive perspective regarding the many cross-roads between sex and spirituality. The first related project was a weekly podcast called The Deviant Minds Salon (DMS). DMS began in May 2011 and was designed to give a voice to alternative communities, especially those who celebrate the sacred in sexuality. Presently she is developing Chicago’s first SexFest & Symposium, which we hope will debut in the Spring of 2013 and honor the same ideals as the DMS. There are also exciting potentials for the Deviant Minds, NFP to do patient advocacy work around sexual issues that traditional therapists cannot address and provide educational presentions on a variety of important topics that are currently underserved.
David Torrey
David is a rational romantic. He believes there is a sublime poetry to ~everything~ and that Magick is simply science that hasn’t yet been explained. While the five standard senses, scientific method and logic are valuable tools, there are other important ways of Knowing. From a background in chemical engineering, history of science and technical writing, David has slowly evolved to accept intuition, archetypal mythos and mystical experiences as equally valid. His interest in ancient history and the nexus of sexuality and spirituality led to the formation of the Terra Incognita intentional community with his wife Amanda in 1998. Together they have explored diverse areas of Sacred Sexuality, as well as BDSM, Chaos Magick, Neo-Paganism, polyamory, the Qadishtu Path, Sex Magick, Taoism and Tantra.
Temple Terra Incognita (TTI) is a Sexual Magick group founded in Chicago that has slowly grown from a small gathering of friends to a larger collection of karmically interconnected people. TTI has attempted to integrate spirituality with sexuality using an ancient Mesopotamian model that is adaptable to a variety of religious and magickal beliefs. While the Temples of Sumer and Babylon have inspired our mindset, we also feel a connection to the European mariners who were brave enough to sail to the “unknown lands” they called Terra Incognita on their maps. Scary, shadow-filled places of Monsters and Magick near The Edge of the World.
We believe that breaking fear-generated barriers is an important part of personal growth. TTI also feels the power of loving energy can help heal most emotional wounds as well as unite those participating in the Process of Transcendence. In our perspective, symbolic acts can only bring symbolic rewards, so both diety and divine energy exchanges should be real.
To actively pursue these ideas Terra Incognita is dedicated to the eclectic Qadishtu Path of Sacred Sexual celebration and healing. TTI has developed a very flexible neo-Pagan type of ritual to focus energetic group workings, which owes a great deal to Chaos Magick creativity. Our Qadishtu priesthood is Temple-based, in homage to historical precedents and includes educational outreach and various hands-on practices with seekers. We have hosted assorted salons, workshops and podcasts, as well as presented at festivals and conferences. Starting in the fall of 2004, New Zealand filmmaker Lynda Brendish began filming an award-winning documentary about Terra Incognita called Uncharted Lands. It captured TTI’s shift from a larger public group dynamic to one that is more family-based.|
Currently David is the Operations Manager for the Deviant Minds, NFP and helps host the Deviant Minds Salon weekly podcast. He hopes that Deviant Minds diverse projects will promote a sex positive paradigm making our world a better educated, more generally supportive place to live for all.
