White Star Order

Purpose

The White Star Order exists to encourage people who locate themselves within a spiritual tradition to:

practice that tradition,
learn from other traditions, and
serve within and outside their tradition through:
1. teaching spiritual values and practices,
2. conducting meetings for the purpose of sustaining and advancing people in their spiritual practice, growth and understanding,
3. assisting and promoting the experience of spirituality in everyday life within communities,
4. providing practical service for the relief and prevention of suffering, and
5. undertaking politically nonpartisan advocacy for the values of humility, compassion and wisdom and for the place of spirituality in everyday life.

Entrance and Membership

The White Star Order has two levels of participation, Entrant and Member. Any Entrant or Member may become a mentor to others within or outside the order who request his or her services in this capacity.

Entrance to the Order

Application and Assessment

Any person wishing to become an Entrant must be a legal adult in the locality in which they currently reside, and must apply to the local Members of the Order, who will assign a group of Members (not more than five or fewer than two) to assess their application. The applicant’s application remains current until the applicant withdraws it or it is granted, but the group assigned to assess the application may advise the applicant to withdraw it if their consensus is that they consider the application premature. There is no specific curriculum and no specific timescale for the resolution of an application for entrance to the Order, but the assessors must discuss the application at least every two months. In order for the application to be granted, the applicant must be clearly located within a spiritual tradition. The applicant must demonstrate to the satisfaction of the assessors that he or she practices and understands this tradition at more than a superficial level, and has at least begun to transcend the outward forms of the tradition and draw closer to the reality to which the tradition points. The applicant must also demonstrate a character which will bring credit to the Order.

Expectations

Once the application is accepted the Entrant must nominate at least one mentor, of any tradition, within or outside the Order, and meet with this mentor regularly. Entrants are expected in addition to participate in service, study and teaching through the Order, and to take opportunities to meet with other Entrants and Members of the Order to promote mutual instruction, encouragement and understanding. If the Entrant is consistently not fulfilling these expectations he or she may be asked to reconsider Entrant status. The Entrant may withdraw from the Order at any time. If the Entrant exhibits a character which may bring or has brought discredit to the order (not simply actions, but a consistent character), a disciplinary group of at least three and up to seven Members may be assigned by the local Members of the Order at the request of the Entrant’s mentor or any other Member who acts as a mentor to Members of the Order, and if the consensus of the disciplinary group is that the Entrant or the Order would be better served were the Entrant to leave the Order, the Entrant must do so.

Distinguishing Mark

An Entrant may distinguish himself or herself by wearing an outline of a white twelve-pointed star, along with a white outline of a symbol for any tradition he or she locates himself or herself within. Entrant is not to be used as a title, and being an Entrant to the Order confers no other title.

Membership of the Order

Not less than a year must elapse before an Entrant may apply to become a full Member of the order. The application and assessment process for membership is similar to that for entrance in all details, except for the assessment criteria.

Application and Assessment

In order for an application for membership to be granted, the applicant must demonstrate to the satisfaction of the assessors that he or she has a consistent spiritual practice (of any tradition); a deep understanding of his or her own tradition; a more than superficial understanding of at least two spiritual traditions other than his or her own, and at least basic knowledge of all the major spiritual traditions he or she is likely to encounter; the skills and willingness to serve others through the Order; the ability to teach; and a character exhibiting humility, compassion and wisdom.

Expectations

Once the application is accepted the Member must continue to meet with at least one mentor regularly, and is encouraged to take a mentor from a tradition other than his or her own. In addition to the expectations of Entrants, which also apply to Members, a Member is expected to participate in regular meetings with other Members of the Order who are at a similar stage in their spiritual life to promote mutual instruction, encouragement and understanding. (The Order encourages such groups to include members of different traditions.) If the Member is consistently not fulfilling these expectations he or she may be asked to reconsider Member status. The Member may withdraw from the Order at any time. The same disciplinary provision which applies to Entrants applies also to Members.

Distinguishing Mark

A Member of the Order may distinguish himself or herself by wearing a silhouette (i.e. a filled-in version of the Entrant’s outline) of a white twelve-pointed star, along with a white silhouette of a symbol for any tradition he or she locates himself or herself within, and may when writing in his or her capacity as a Member of the Order include the letters “WSO” after his or her name. Member is not to be used as a title, and being a Member of the Order confers no other title.

Discussion and Decision-Making

All Members within a defined geographic area may participate in making consensus decisions for the conduct of the Order in that area. This may be achieved through appointing smaller groups of Members to make decisions or recommendations on either specific issues or a class of issue (such as financial matters). Entrants in the area may speak to the issues discussed in the course of decision-making but are not required to be part of the formal consensus (that is, the consensus is a consensus of full Members). Any Member or Entrant may propose an issue for discussion and decision. The decision may be that there is no consensus or that the Order in the area need not take a position on the issue.

Inter-Area Issues

The areas are independent and not subject to a central group. However, issues considered to have application outside the area must be forwarded to as many other areas as are likely to be affected (in the judgement of the Members in the originating area). Each area should have regard to the consensus of other areas on the issue, but is not bound either to achieve consensus with other areas or to follow the consensus which other areas achieve, where local conditions differ significantly. During the discussion of an issue which affects multiple areas those areas affected must make their local discussions accessible to each other (either by circulating minutes or by holding broadcast sessions which can be accessed by Members and Entrants in the other areas), and the areas may appoint delegates to each other’s sessions. These delegates have a voice but are not required to be part of the consensus in an area which is not their own.

Formation and Change of Areas

By consensus of the Members in a geographical area, part of that area may be split off into an independent area, or the area may merge with another area with the consensus of the Members of the other area also, or by consensus of adjacent areas the shared boundary between these areas may be adjusted.

Private Issues

Under exceptional circumstances where relevant information should be closely held for the protection of the rights of persons concerned (but not for the protection of the Order simply as such), any Member having knowledge of details which he or she considers should not be publicly discussed may request the appointment of a trusted group of members to consider the issue privately and report back their consensus on the action to be taken. Otherwise all discussions must be held in public and made available to all Entrants, Members and the general public (either in the form of minutes or by broadcast).

Residence

A Member or Entrant is part of the area in which he or she currently resides. If the Member or Entrant has more than one residence, the most recently visited of the two areas is the one currently relevant. In cases where residence is unclear or disputable, if an area’s consensus is that the Member or Entrant has residence in that area, he or she does have residence in that area, and otherwise not (even if this means that the Member or Entrant is considered simultaneously resident in several areas, or in none). However, if no area currently accepts the Member or Entrant as residing there, the Member or Entrant is considered, for any purpose for which the Member or Entrant must have an area of residence, to reside in whichever area he or she was last accepted as residing in.

Symbols

The Order uses a white twelve-pointed star as its symbol. In addition, it displays, at locations where Members operate, symbols of their traditions, and the Members and Entrants also display these symbols on their clothing or jewellery. The symbols are not standardized but are frequently as follows: Shamanic (tufted drum), Hindu (lotus - might be confused with Buddhist?), Taoist (Yin-Yang, Tomoe?), Jewish (menorah or Mogen David), Buddhist (wheel or footprint), Christian (cross or fish), Muslim (crescent or Sufi heart), Neopagan (sunwheel or pentacle), Baha’i (nine-pointed star).