The Divine Assembly is a mystic religion, where pilgrims search for divine communion through worship. In TDA, spiritual discovery and religion are first-person experiences. Direct visions and revelations replace hierarchy and dogma, and religion comes to life.

Tuning ourselves to the Divine is a fundamental part of being human. The first time I worshiped the Divine was when I saw tadpoles in a ditch after a storm. It was an absolute miracle, as I witnessed the tadpoles appear seemingly out of nowhere, grow legs, and turn into frogs. What?!!! Around that same time, I witnessed the miracle of a bird building a nest, eggs appearing in the nest, baby birds hatching from the eggs, and those birds learning to fly. No big deal. Just basic biology, which is to say, an absolute miracle!

I love to worship, and I worship constantly. The more I learn about biology, about the earth, the sun, the moon, and the stars, the more miraculous it becomes, pointing to something grand. The miracles magnify, as I truly see the people I love. The miracles mesh into God’s grandeur, as I truly see myself and learn to better connect with everything and everyone.

My mysticism does not fit within the confines of traditional religions. I find pre-packaged dogma to be alien and limiting. No one knows the ultimate answers that many religionists command others to follow. I think this is why organized religion is dying. It speaks when silence is warranted. It commands where it has no clue. It steps on joyous celebration of the mysteries.

After leaving a religion that choked me, I missed community. Leaning into that longing, another miracle occurred. I began to feel and observe and connect. I, again, worshiped in ways that were authentic to me. The spiritual clouds cleared, and I could see the stars for myself and autonomously navigate my spiritual journey in alignment with the Divine. It was powerful to realize that I am in charge of me. My heart and soul were filled with joy. I wanted to share it. I wanted to build worship community.

Gathering mystics, though, is a bit like gathering cats. The sheep-and-shepherd model doesn’t work.

As I searched for a way to promote mystic worship and build a worship community, I saw a vision of a community organized like mushroom mycelium. (It helped that I was on a magic mushroom trip). TDA’s tenet presented itself as substrate, a foundational idea to encourage mystics to freely worship and organically connect as many nodes and fully-independent, interconnected communities. I saw information, ideas, and resources flowing along that network, blessing surrounding ecosystems and producing good fruit through independent events and offerings. To be free, strong, and spiritually healthy, individuals and groups would need the ability to break off and reconstitute, without the wholesale loss of community and support that too often traps people in top-down religions.

TDA is do-it-yourself religion, with no intermediaries, guides, shamans, or gurus. As we each develop our own worship practices, TDA’s mycelial structure provides connectivity and community support. This peer-to-peer organizational structure promotes safety, by intentionally rejecting contaminating attributes of dogmatic and hierarchical religiosity that block direct mystical connection to the Divine and that create power dynamics which foster abuse of vulnerable worshipers. Unlike org-chart churches, TDA has no pre-packed institution, leadership, doctrine, sacraments, rites, or rituals, because mystics have never worshiped according to a checklist. Importantly, the mycelial structure means, there are no leaders or institution to protect. Individuals are to be protected.

TDA mystics seek the Divine in lots of different ways, like meditation, prayer, study, nature, yoga, fasting, art, music, ceremonies, rites, rituals, holy sacraments, and on and on. I marvel at the fresh ways members use these tools to make their worship vibrate with life and energy. Freed from the spiritual shackles of dogma and declarations, members explore the Divine with curiosity and eagerness. It is amazing where members find the Divine and how beautiful the lessons are that they receive through communion.

It is delightful to hear enthusiastic mystics exchange reports of the Divine, some saying “he,” some using “she,” others saying “they,” some using “it,” and many comfortably saying that they don’t have a clue. When curiosity and wonder replace dogma and heresy, differences pull people together, which is a bit of a miracle in a world often divided by religion.

I encourage TDA mystics to outline their religion in a personal creed. Writing and revising the creed can increase mindfulness and intentionality in worship, by challenging us to think through and detail the contours of our religious lives. Then, as a result of that effort, our authentic creeds can guide us, like scripture. For TDA members, like me, who worship with psychedelic sacraments, I encourage you to look into specific issues regarding your creed and legal safety; our sacraments currently are heretical. For TDA members who do not worship with psychedelic sacraments, I thank you for following your authentic path and continuing to broaden the TDA community beyond its psychedelic roots. Cats and mystics will do what cats and mystics do.

People ask when TDA will start in their area. The answer: as soon as someone decides to start, since each member is TDA. If a member joins others in worship, a congregation has formed. Mostly, TDA functions according to the small house-church model followed by early Christians and many modern evangelicals. It is interesting, though, to watch larger TDA groups arise and even determine congregational rules and agreements. I’m not entirely sure what I think about that, but the tenet makes clear: no one (including Steve) speaks for TDA or the tenet. One by one, mystics will shape TDA through their worship. The collective will emerge to serve and support the individuals. No doubt, some bad stuff will happen. Don’t surrender your autonomy and good judgment. You are in charge of you.

As long as you are safe and kind, please bring your mystic enthusiasms to TDA. TDA is always a work in progress, as members breathe life into it by building their connections with the Divine and with other members. Because there is no central entity directing things, TDA constantly fits itself to the formative energies and actions of its membership. I love how diverse worship magically connects us. I think we each connect to different aspects of the Divine, and when we connect in a divine assembly, we literally bring the Divine into being in our spaces, our interactions, our intentions, and our lives. But, what do I know?

One of my favorite TDA moments—when I thought maybe we are getting a few things right—came one morning as Sara and I were taking a stroll. A man excitedly stopped us to thank us for starting TDA. He said that he attended two TDA events. The events reignited his spirituality. He stopped drinking (after a 30-year addiction), and he found his way back to the church of his youth and the fellowship of that congregation. I was so happy! That is exactly how I want TDA to work. Without getting any hooks into him to keep him from pursuing his best path, TDA helped the man find his way toward his god and his place of peace and happiness. Whether TDA can provide an individual such support for 2 minutes or 2 eternities (if you happen to believe that way), that is church.

TDA is here. Take as much or as little of it as you need. You owe it nothing. You are in charge of you. I wish you well and pray that your journey is blessed and beautiful! If our paths cross, please reach out and say hi

- Steve Urquhart