Praise for Pagan Humanists

I like to see whenever Humanistic Pagans or Pagan Atheists get mentioned by more polytheistic or deity-centered Pagans — especially when it is positive.  Most recently I read Teo Bishop’s post where he mentions “Pagan Humanists”.  He writes:

“Sometimes I think the Pagan Humanists have it right in their approach to their practice. They see the Gods as archetypes, but they also see the archetypes as our entry into deeper engagement with the greatness, the expansiveness, the mystery of the Gods. In a way, I’d rather suspend my need to affirm some definite conception of the Gods if it allowed me to approach Them with greater reverence and wonder.”

Not all Pagan Humanists relate to the gods as archetypes of course.  Many are more pantheistic than Jungian.  But as someone who relates to divinity in both ways, I appreciated Teo’s observation that sometimes we need to suspend our need to define the gods — whether polytheistically (like Teo) or pantheistically (like many Humanistic Pagans) — so as to open ourselves to the experience of mystery that is the divine, however conceived.