Polytheist.com

The arrival of Polytheist.com on the Pagan scene is a welcome addition to the various blogs, news sites, and informative sites about different Pagan traditions and philosophies.

Because Western culture is steeped in monotheist, naturalistic, and monist outlooks, it is great that there is now a platform for expressing and articulating full-blown polytheistic ideas.  As a polytheist myself (and yes, it is possible to be a polytheist Gardnerian Wiccan), I am really looking forward to reading the articles on the site.

The site has gathered together an exciting collection of well-known writers on polytheism from a number of different polytheist traditions, including Julian Betkowski, Aine Llewellyn, Niki Whiting, and P Sufenas Virius Lupus. It is well-designed and organised, and has a Facebook page connected to it so you can see new posts in your Facebook news feed.

There are many reasons why polytheism is an exciting and vibrant theology that solves many contemporary theological conundrums (such as the diversity of gender and sexuality, the problem of evil, and the diversity of religious expression) and I expect many of these will be explored by contributors to the site.

In his first article, The New World, Julian Betkowski describes the excitement he feels about polytheism:

I see polytheism, then, as a framework for this complex, ongoing truth procedure. Polytheism encourages us to see the world as a place full of splendor, of incredible experiences, of wonderful surprises and variations. Polytheism encourages us to affirm the possibilities that surround us, to embrace life and explore its richness. Polytheism expands and opens Truth, and recognizes innately that it can derive from many simultaneous sources. As I see it, polytheism is the theological expression of love.

Understanding polytheism as being engaged with process means that it is constantly unfolding, expanding, and developing. While it binds tradition and history into itself, it is also powerfully oriented toward the future, toward the unknown and the possible. Guided by love, polytheism recognizes the necessity of individuals, and the irreducibility of individual experiences. Individuality and discrete experience become key features, absolutely necessary for our understanding of the world.

That certainly makes me want to read more!

Congratulations to all involved in the new project – may it go from strength to strength.