pagan theology

someone posted a similar poll on mysticwicks, and i was wondering what kind of results it'd get here. i'm curious as to how the hipforums pagans view god/dess(es)?

an explaination of terms: (examples listed are simply that, examples. if you are a soft polytheistic traditionalist or a duotheistic reconstructionalist, no one's saying that's "wrong")

hard polytheism is the belief in many gods, separate and distinct. this view is often favored by those in reconstructionist faiths,

soft polytheism is the belief in many gods, which are faces of one all-encompassing deity. this belief tends to be popular with many eclectics.

duotheism is the belief in two separate, deities, usually a goddess and a god, who may or may not have many aspects or faces (all goddesss are one goddess, all gods are one god). this belief is the foundation of traditionalist witchcraft.

monotheism (no gender) the belief in one and only one omnipotent deity, without separate aspects or faces, neither male or female, encompassing both, or beyond gender. among pagans, this belief may be professed by some christo-pagans, for example.

monotheism (with gender) the belief in one and only one omnipotent deity, without separate aspects or faces, either male or female. among pagans, this view is favored by some dianics who only recognize the goddess, and of course we are familiar with its role in dominant "mainstream" religions in the US and elsewhere.

pantheism is the belief that divine is found within nature, without anthropromorhic or personified gods. some gaian pagans may hold this belief.

archetypalism is the belief that the gods are not "real" but are useful as psychological tools to help our develop, understand, and get in touch with our own sacredness. this is a popular view among atheists who are drawn to pagan culture and ritual.

non-pagan those with non-pagan beliefs are welcome to respectfully make their views be known and be counted in this poll.

other (combination theologies) none of these beliefs have to exist in a "pure" state in anyone's world view. for example, as a gaian witch, my personal beliefs might encompass both pantheism and soft polytheism.

other (not listed) this poll is very limited, and does not encompass every belief by far. you are welcome to share your views if you wish if they are not represented here.

of course there are more ways of describing our understanding of and relationship with the sacred than how many gods we experience. for example, do we experience god/dess as an external, higher power, as internal or immanent divinity, or in a holographic or macro/microcosmic way (god within is a smaller face of god without)? do we create our gods, do they create us, or are we co-creators?

disclaimer:
i am *not* a theology student. this is not a scholarly poll, nor does it have any intentions of coming across as one. so, for the purposes of this poll, i don't want the above terms to be viewed as final, hard-and-fast, black-or-white definitions. this poll is not intended to start fights, or even debates, but to generate interesting discussion and create a general portrait of our diversity on this forum. please express your views, but i must ask that every one be respectful, and remember that religion and spirituality is very, very personal. if someone voices their views and does not wish to explain or defend them, i ask that that desire be respected, and no explainations or defenses be demanded.

with that disclaimer out of the way, to satisfy everyone's curiosity, my own beliefs as stated lean towards pantheism and soft polytheism. i believe in a holographic relationship with god/dess, and in co-creation, i believe that truth is relative, and not absolute.

 

i voted other. by most definitions, my beliefs would fall within the realm of polytheistic and/or pantheistic paganism, but I don't feel comfortable with labelling my spirituality.

 

I guess I would be pantheistic or panentheistic.

 

archetypalisms definition is incorrect. archetypalism, especially the study of Joseph Cambell, would be that there is, say, a European archetype god, who all the other gods are a cultural version of. Like could be said that Thor, and his many contemporaries of other Indo-European tribes, is but one cultures face of
an Indo-European archtype.

But, hey, whats it matter, most of those definitions are lacking anyway.

I can marry none of them, but hard polytheism is close.

 

thanks for the correction heron

 

Kitty, what do you keep changing on here? It keeps showing in my post list that you wrote something everyday, but nothing changes. Am I just crazy? lol

 

i don't change anything & its been doing that to me too. so maybe we're both crazy. either that or having gluten-induced hallucinations from french fries.

 

Uuuuugh... french fries evil.... but soooooooooooo tasty...

 

although i try to stick to as much celtic wicca as possible, i often find myself combining spiritual practice from other roots

 

I try to stick to being a core animist, without infringing on others ancestoral and cultural birthrites, but some times i just wanna be a Celtic-Teutonic-Kabbahlistic-Christian Wiccan pseudo-shaman Necromancer who welcomes Jesus into my heart as my lord and lady, but sometimes i realize that would be retarded.

So i stay away from applying prefixes to my spirituality. Though i have called myself a core animist looking through Celtic eyes, thats no bullshit so it flys.

 

*practically snorts juice out of my nose*
Ah so glorious, couldn't have put it better myself.

Hmm I think 'hard polytheist' probably applies best. With I suppose a rather pantheist take on nature. Never really felt a need to explain and label it. Still a useful exercise to consider these matters.

 

i like pantheism. it appeals greatly to me. it's almost as if I can feel the life of the world surrounding and permeating.

"when you see beyond yourself then you may find peace of mind
is waiting there

and the time will come when you see we're all one
and life flows on within and without you."-- George Harrison

 

i like pantheism. it appeals greatly to me. it's almost as if I can feel the life of the world surrounding and permeating.

"when you see beyond yourself then you may find peace of mind
is waiting there

and the time will come when you see we're all one
and life flows on within and without you."-- George Harrison

 

Welcome to the forums!

 

Probably something most similar to this.. Kinda.. Not quite but I guess that fits best.

 

I know non-pagan. Just not sure what I believe yet.

 

I'm a combination of polytheism and pantheism. I believe that the divine is present in everything but I also believe that there are very strong spiritual, non-corporal entities in the universe which affect the lives of humans and that those entities might be considered "gods". Overall, they are just one more part of the great All that runs through everything. They are just one more part of the web.

 

I follow duotheism. <3

 

This may not be the correct definition of archetypalism, but it does describe my perspective accurately.

 

In reading the above definitions, I was struck with a concern that none of them mention a belief in the interconnectedness of all things. Now, perhaps that is a given, so it wasn't mentioned, but I thought I should bring it up anyway, since that feeling is at the core of my faith.

I guess I would have to say that my personal belief system is the understanding of this universe (can't speak to the others) as a living system with dual (male and female) aspects. I have found that my mind seems to wrap itself around this immense (and humbling) concept by splitting Goddess and God into a multitude of more specialized aspects, like masks which are worn to perform specific functions. As a part of this system, I feel these aspects working within me as well as around me. I guess I would have to say that the teachings of Joseph Campbell were among the greatest influences in the crystalization of my belief system into a thing which I could use words to describe - a very hard thing to do.