The Church of All Worlds (CAW) is an American Neopagan organization co-founded by Oberon Zell-Ravenheart, then known as Timothy Zell, in the early 1960s. Its stated mission is to develop a network of mythology, information, and experience intended to foster the reawakening of Gaia, the Earth Mother Goddess, and to reunite humanity through community, stewardship, and evolving consciousness.
The origins of CAW trace back to 1961, when a group of high school students in Tulsa, Oklahoma, led by Richard Lance Christie, began exploring ideas influenced by psychologist Abraham Maslow’s theories of self-actualization. Christie later met Zell at Westminster College in Fulton, Missouri, and together they conducted experiments in extrasensory perception.
A central inspiration for the group was Robert A. Heinlein’s 1961 science fiction novel Stranger in a Strange Land, which featured a fictional religion called the Church of All Worlds. Drawing from the book, Zell and Christie created a “waterbrotherhood” named Atl — an Aztec term meaning “water” and “home of our ancestors.” The group combined Heinlein’s philosophical ideas with Maslow’s psychological framework, advocating social and political transformation. Atl eventually grew to about 100 members.
Building on Atl’s foundation, Zell formally established the Church of All Worlds and filed for incorporation as a church in 1967. The organization received its legal charter on March 4, 1968, in Missouri, making it one of the first Pagan churches to gain official recognition in the United States. CAW emphasized direct spiritual experience rather than belief-based doctrine, defining itself as a “religion of experience.” Its principal “dogma” was described as a “lack of dogma,” and members — called Waterkin — were encouraged to experience divinity personally.
The Church’s structure mirrored the fictional institution described in Heinlein’s novel. It was organized into nine “nests,” or circles of advancement, each named for a planet. Its core ritual, the “sharing of water,” symbolized unity and was drawn directly from Heinlein’s concept of the “water-brotherhood.” This integration of science fiction into ritual and theology reflected CAW’s emphasis on creativity and evolving mythology.
In 1968, Zell began publishing “Green Egg”, a journal that became one of the most influential publications in the growing Pagan community. Through the publication, he helped popularize the term “Neo-Pagan” as a collective identity for emerging Earth-centered spiritual movements.
By 1970, CAW’s focus expanded to environmental and ecological themes. Zell claimed to have independently articulated the Gaia Hypothesis (spelled “Gaea”) that same year, around the time scientist James Lovelock proposed a similar idea. The Church came to view the Earth as a single living organism, embodying the Goddess as Holy Mother Earth, which aligned with early principles of the Deep Ecology movement.
In 1974, Zell married Morning Glory (born Diana Moore). The couple served as the Church’s “primate” and high priestess and later relocated first to Eugene, Oregon, and then to Coeden Brith in northern California. In 1977, Morning Glory founded the Ecosophical Research Association (ERA), a CAW subsidiary devoted to studying mythology and folklore. The ERA gained public attention in 1980 for creating “living unicorns” through a surgical procedure on young goats, a process for which Zell received a patent in 1984. One such animal, Lancelot, was later exhibited by the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus.
As operations shifted to California during this period, Zell reduced his involvement in day-to-day leadership, and internal divisions arose. Most CAW nests outside the Zells’ circle dissolved, leaving the organization primarily centered around its subsidiaries, including the ERA and the Holy Order of Mother Earth (HOME), which focused on ecological living and land-based practice.
CAW’s network expanded again in the late 1970s and 1980s through mergers with other Pagan organizations. It absorbed Nemeton in 1978 and Forever Forests in 1987. By the mid-1980s, most active operations were based in California, particularly at Annwfn, the Zells’ sanctuary land.
Under new leadership in the late 1980s, including Anodea Judith, who served as president until 1991, the Church underwent reorganization. Training programs were introduced, “Green Egg” resumed publication in 1988, and membership activity increased. CAW achieved legal incorporation in Australia in 1992, extending its international reach.
Zell, now legally known as Oberon Zell-Ravenheart, eventually returned to leadership. Financial and administrative difficulties in 2004 led the board of directors to dissolve the organization, but CAW was revived in January 2006 in what members called the “Third Phoenix Resurrection.” The Zells resumed leadership roles, and “Green Egg” returned as an online publication in 2007.
In 2005, Zell founded the Grey School of Wizardry, an online educational institution offering instruction in esoteric subjects and magical practice. The curriculum was based on material developed for The Grimoire for the Apprentice Wizard, co-written by Zell and collaborators. He continues to serve as president of the school’s Board of Directors.
Key Sources:
Ferre, L. (2017, July 25). Church of All Worlds. Occult World.
Heinlein, R. A. (1961). Stranger in a strange land. Ace.
Lanahan-Kalish, D. (2019). The Church of All Worlds: From invented religion to a religion of invention. University of California Santa Barbara.
Sulak, J., Zell, O., & Zell, M. G. (2014). The Wizard and the Witch: Seven Decades of Counterculture, Magick & Paganism: an Oral History of Oberon Zell & Morning Glory.
Ward, T. P. (2017, October 24). Church of All Worlds reaches half-century mark. The Wild Hunt.
Encyclopedia of Cults, Sects, and New Religious Movements 