{"id":29726,"date":"2023-11-19T03:00:19","date_gmt":"2023-11-19T09:00:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/?p=29726"},"modified":"2023-11-18T17:39:28","modified_gmt":"2023-11-18T23:39:28","slug":"a-foundation-of-many-gods","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/2023\/11\/a-foundation-of-many-gods.html","title":{"rendered":"A Foundation of Many Gods"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

If you were born a medieval peasant, odds were good you were going to die a medieval peasant. For most of history (and before) things like social mobility and career choice were in very short supply.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s different today. While it\u2019s not exactly true that every little kid can grow up to be anything they want to be, we have more and better options and opportunities now than at any time in the history of humanity. And those options and opportunities don\u2019t end when we declare a major, begin a career, and choose a spouse. Some close and some shrink as we get older, but others are still there \u2013 often far more than we think.<\/p>\n

Sometimes more options is a good thing. Other times it just makes things complicated. Regardless, we have to choose or someone will choose for us.<\/p>\n

\"photo<\/a><\/p>\n

I\u2019m still working my day job as an engineer, and I\u2019ll be doing that for at least a few more years. How many more depends on the economy, on my health, and on how things go with my employer. I like my odds to get out on my own terms, but I\u2019ve seen too many bad things happen to people my age to assume it can\u2019t happen to me. Still, at some point in the not-too-distant future, I will no longer be spending 40+ hours a week in a corporate environment.<\/p>\n

Then what?<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve always said \u201cthen I become a full time Druid.\u201d And that\u2019s still my plan, but what exactly does that mean for where I live, how I live, and how I spend my days? Honestly, I\u2019m not sure.<\/p>\n

One of the advantages of getting older is that you have a much better idea of what you do and don\u2019t want. There are paths I investigated in my 20s and 30s that I don\u2019t have to investigate now \u2013 I know I don\u2019t want them. There are mistakes I made in my 20s and 30s that I learned from and won\u2019t make again. There are choices and commitments I\u2019ve made over the years that limit my options in the future.<\/p>\n

Any time we say \u201cyes\u201d to one thing we say \u201cno\u201d to all the other things we could have done with those resources \u2013 especially the resource of time. I\u2019ve said \u201cyes\u201d to a lot of things \u2013 and to a lot of persons<\/em> \u2013 over the years. You could say that those choices are limiting my future options.<\/p>\n

I prefer to say that those choices have built a foundation for what I\u2019m going to do with the rest of this life.<\/p>\n

A foundation of many Gods<\/h2>\n

Even at the worst of my childhood in a fundamentalist church, even when I was old enough to actively reject what I had been taught, I never seriously considered being an atheist. There was always something that whispered \u201cthere\u2019s more<\/em>.\u201d It took years of searching (some years more actively than others) to find the path that speaks to me, that calls to me, that\u2019s right for me. But when I found it, things took off in a hurry. I\u2019m now convinced I have a natural orientation toward Paganism and polytheism<\/a>.<\/p>\n

My experiences of the Gods and with the Gods have persuaded me that They are real and that They are individuals. They\u2019re not \u201cmany faces of one God\u201d or psychological archetypes or anything of the sort. They\u2019re persons \u2013 spiritual persons who exist on the same spectrum as all other living beings, only the Gods are the most<\/em>.<\/p>\n

The Gods don\u2019t seem to be terribly concerned with who we love, what we eat, and how we dress (unlike the God of some people, whose preferences look to be perfectly aligned with their own). They do seem to be concerned about how we live, and especially about our relations with other persons, in this world and beyond.<\/p>\n

What does it mean to live in a world with many Gods? I\u2019m still working through that, and likely will be for the rest of this life \u2013 and maybe beyond. But what has been seen cannot be unseen. Whatever I choose to do with my life, it will include Them. Their existence, Their virtues, and Their values are the first foundation of how I live my life.<\/p>\n

\"photo<\/a><\/p>\n

A foundation of oaths<\/h2>\n

I swore an oath of priesthood to Cernunnos<\/a>. I swore an oath of priesthood to Danu<\/a>. I swore an oath to serve the Morrigan<\/a> as Her Druid. That\u2019s not priesthood, but I\u2019m not sure the difference is important to anyone but me.<\/p>\n

Why would anyone take an oath to a deity?<\/a> For the same reason I married my wife: because the relationship was a good thing and I wanted to make it permanent. In each case, time and experience have shown that was a good decision.<\/p>\n

I promised daily prayers and meditations, weekly offerings, and seasonal celebrations. Mainly, I promised to be available and responsive when They send work my way. That work has been some of the most meaningful things in my life.<\/p>\n

I couldn\u2019t back out of that now if I wanted to \u2013 and I don\u2019t want to.<\/p>\n

Things have been relatively quiet over the past few years. I can speculate as to why<\/a>, but ultimately speculating is all I can do. But things are starting to pick up, and I suspect They\u2019ll be back to keeping me quite busy before too much longer.<\/p>\n

Whatever I do in my post-corporate years, I will still be saying prayers, listening in meditation, and making offerings. And, I suspect, doing other work to further the virtues and values of Cernunnos, Danu, and the Morrigan.<\/p>\n

\"photo<\/a><\/p>\n

A foundation of practice and precedents<\/h2>\n

Not every human-divine relationship requires an oath.<\/p>\n

For all that I argue against approaching the Gods in a transactional manner, the fact is that people have done that since ancient times. I\u2019ve done it myself, sometimes successfully and other times not (\u201cwho are you and why should I do anything to help you get what you want?\u201d). Mainly, if you work for and with some Gods, you will inevitably come in contact with other Gods \u2013 Gods who occasionally want something from you. Gods who may occasionally be willing to help you out. Gods whose virtues would be helpful in your life.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s how relationships get started.<\/p>\n

I have statues of Brighid, Lugh, Cerridwen, Isis, and Thoth. I have no formal commitments with Them, but I speak to Them every night. I make offerings to Them on occasion. On other occasions They ask me to do something for Them. And I do.<\/p>\n

My years of practice with Them have created a precedent, and the assumption that such practices will continue. Would there be Serious Consequences if I walked away from any or all of Them? Perhaps, but probably not. Would there be some consequences? Absolutely. I can\u2019t just walk away. I don\u2019t want to walk away.<\/p>\n

Whatever I do going forward, these and other deities will be part of my life.<\/p>\n

\"photo<\/a><\/p>\n

So what does all this mean?<\/h2>\n

The experiences I\u2019ve had and the choices I\u2019ve made create a boundary between what is possible for me and what isn\u2019t possible. In doing so, they provide a solid foundation for whatever options and opportunities I choose to pursue, now and in the future.<\/p>\n

I don\u2019t know what it means to be a full time Druid. I\u2019m pretty sure it doesn\u2019t mean \u201cthe same, just more.\u201d I\u2019m positive it doesn\u2019t mean \u201cwhat I was doing in the Before Time.\u201d In the words of J.R.R. Tolkien, \u201cthe road goes ever on and on.\u201d<\/p>\n

But this much I do know: the many Gods, my oaths, and my practices have built a foundation for what I will do in the future, and what I am doing in these present years of winding down and starting up.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I don\u2019t know what I\u2019m going to do when I\u2019m no longer tied to a corporate job for 40+ hours a week. But this much I do know: the many Gods, my oaths, and my practices have built a foundation for what I will do in the future, and what I am doing in these present years of winding down and starting up. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1129,"featured_media":29735,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1101],"tags":[31,180,29,4,5,8],"class_list":["post-29726","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-foundations-and-context","tag-cernunnos","tag-danu","tag-morrigan","tag-pagan","tag-paganism","tag-polytheism"],"yoast_head":"\nA Foundation of Many Gods<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"I don\u2019t know what I\u2019m going to do when I\u2019m no longer tied to a corporate job for 40+ hours a week. 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