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My position on the nature of the gods can be summarized like this: <\/p>\n

I am a hard polytheist practicing within a framework of pantheism and mysticism.<\/b><\/p>\n

Now let me elaborate.<\/p>\n

Hard polytheist<\/b>. As a hard polytheist, I believe there are many gods and goddesses who are real, distinct, individual beings. I don\u2019t believe they\u2019re metaphors or archetypes. I don\u2019t believe they\u2019re all aspects of one great God\/dess, although I will occasionally use the language of soft polytheism if it helps me relate to someone who takes monotheism for granted.<\/p>\n

I believe this because my experience of Isis is very different from my experience of Danu, my experience of Morrigan is different from my experience of Cernunnos, and my experience of Osiris is different from my experience of Brighid. When I read the stories of my ancestors, it\u2019s clear they thought the gods were individual beings too. Monotheism is a nice idea, but you need only look at the number of people who cry \u201cwhere is God?\u201d to understand that the world we live in is better explained by many gods and goddesses of limited power<\/a> than by one all powerful God.<\/p>\n

Practicing<\/b>. For most of the world for most of history, religion has not been about what you believe but about who you are and what you do. The concept that religion is primarily about what you believe is a modern, Western, Protestant idea. When I said that to John Michael Greer last week, he said \u201cI\u2019d add a four adjective \u2013 dysfunctional.\u201d<\/p>\n

My religion is something I do: I pray, meditate and study. I attend circles and celebrations. I pour offerings. I listen for the callings of my gods and goddesses, and I do the work they ask me to do. What we believe is important, but so is what we do.<\/p>\n

Within a framework<\/b>. Some people ask why you even need a religion \u2013 just do good and practice compassion. That may work for some, but I need a concept of who and what I\u2019m working with, what I\u2019m working toward, and why. I agree with the saying \u201cthe map is not the territory,\u201d but I need the map to understand the territory and to better experience the territory. My beliefs about the gods help me learn my place in the universe and how I can best relate to the gods and to all other living things.<\/p>\n

Pantheism<\/b><\/a>. Whatever the goddesses and gods of our ancestors may be, they are certainly not all powerful and it is virtually certain none of them (together or alone) created the Universe. Additionally, I am one of countless people who have experienced an ineffable moment of Unity, where the boundaries between myself and the rest of the Universe faded and I experienced that All is One.<\/p>\n

These two concepts are best explained by pantheism \u2013 the idea that God didn\u2019t create the Universe, God IS the Universe. That means God \u2013 the Divine, the Sacred, the Holy \u2013 is in you and me and the Sun and the Moon and the trees and everything else. And we are all in God. <\/p>\n

We are part of the Universe, therefore we are part of God, just as our organs and tissues are part of our body, and our cells are part of our tissues and organs. Reality is nested and interconnected. This is religious scholar and \u201cfreelance monotheist\u201d Karen Armstrong<\/a>\u2019s idea of \u201cthe God beyond God.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mysticism<\/b><\/a>. In the Hebrew Bible (Exodus 33:18-23), Moses asks to see YHWH but is only allowed to see his back. The literal interpretation I was taught as a child says YHWH is too holy for impure humans to look on directly. But the mythical interpretation shows the mystical truth \u2013 Moses couldn\u2019t see God\u2019s face because humans can only experience the Divine indirectly.<\/p>\n

Over the last 500 years we in the West have become enamored with the idea that anything worth knowing must be observable, quantifiable and repeatable. We have elevated logos<\/i> and dismissed mythos<\/i>. We now know more than our ancestors could have imagined. But there are still plenty of things we don\u2019t know, not because we haven\u2019t discovered or figured them out yet but because they\u2019re beyond the capacity of our powerful-but-still-limited human brains. <\/p>\n

There are other ways of knowing: intuition, revelation, and the truths expressed in story and song. Parables, koans, and triads. Communion with the Divine. <\/p>\n

Pantheism gives me a map for the territory of my practice. Mysticism helps fill in the blank spots on the map.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s one more thing I believe \u2013 I believe I may be wrong. I don\u2019t think<\/i> I\u2019m wrong \u2013 if I thought I was wrong I\u2019d believe something else. But religion deals with matters that are inherently uncertain. We do ourselves no favors when we pretend there is certainty where there is none<\/a>. If we are to live with integrity we must remain open to new experiences, new knowledge and new wisdom. If any of that requires changing my beliefs and practices, so be it. I seek living Truth, not some fossilized attempt at it.<\/p>\n

If we accept that our religion might be wrong no matter how meaningful and helpful it is, we are much less likely to be arrogant and rude when encountering someone whose beliefs and practices are different from our own. All beliefs are not equally valid \u2013 some are demonstrably more helpful than others. But my way isn\u2019t the only way.<\/p>\n

This is what I believe and what I do. I see the gods and goddesses as older, stronger and wiser than me, but we\u2019re all part of the same divine Universe. <\/p>\n

In my next post, I\u2019ll explore the question of what the goddesses and gods want from us.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"