Three Ways of Polytheism (And Relabeling)
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- Опубликовано: 1 апр 2020
- In this video we go into the different ways that the word Polytheism is applied in self-description. I also touch on the concept of Relabeling, which is when people change what another person describes by relabeling their experiences into their own tradition.
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Common exchange I used to have with my Dad:
Me: "Oh, My God!"
Dad: "You believe in God?"
Me: "I believe in all of them"
Why does this not have more likes?!
My boyfriend and I were going into a store once and there was an overly aggressive person was getting in peoples faces and asking if they believed in God. My boyfriend (being a 6/4, large and tattooed individual) responded with......."Which God?".....with a completely straight face. The person didn't respond and walked away. Not a surprise when we received dirty looks when we left the store lol.
"Do you believe in God?"
"I believe in The Gods"
@@LiEnby that how it is with my dad
He will ask me do you believe in god
And I'll respond I believe in all why
Lmao
Born and raised Christian. I'm listening and learning from this channel. My sibling has begun to follow a Nordic Pagan religious path. This way we can communicate better. My understanding of these gods are only through a mythology system. This gives me a bigger view of her world.
Your awesome for making an effort, it easy for us pagans too feel alone.
Great on you for learning! Your sibling is lucky to have you! I wish my family or friends would do the same for me
I wish my sis did this. My sis and i where born and raised Lutheran. And now she is a minister's wife. But i have shown her oceans vids and doesnt seem like she wants to hear me out or anything.
Your an amazing person for doing that for her. It's very easy for us pagans to feel isolated, your doing a great thing.
I'm also a Christian, but something more akin to a polytheist or rather a henotheist. I'm interested in learning more about different theistic traditions and seeing them in their own light alongside how they relate to the Christian cosmology.
I'm an Atheist (from Suris' community) I'm staying quiet just trying to understand and learn about polytheist perspective(s).
That is a admirable approach to take. Analise before you criticize.
Me too, kinda experimenting with Paganism
Same but I’m a christian experimenting with paganism
Good job staying quite, didn’t even hear you comment
@@sgt.wolfenstein0818 anal-ise lol
I’m a Hellenic Polytheist, and I’m glad to finally find these kinda of channels - expand my worship outside my own home and tumblr
I'm not polytheist but I find historic Celtic Paganism really interesting.
@@stylis666 I would say most polytheists I've talked to have decent reason to believe, even if it's not convincing to me. Personal experience is huge when it comes to what people believe, but bad for convincing others.
same im athiest but ive found most my ansesters were celts wich makes me want to learn more about there culture and religion.
@@stylis666 the merit of believing something doesn't mean it's going to be a good or bad belief. Atheists can still hold negative beliefs. Belief in gods or the supernatural is, in my opinion a neutral thing. Ideas and beliefs that get added on can be harmful, like your example. Christianity definitely carries harmful baggage with it. That doesn't mean all religious beliefs will make or convince someone to be harmful.
@@stylis666 you have extremely faulty logic
@@stylis666 religion in general doesn't encourage nor influence dogma that's a monotheistic thing.Also polytheistic religions and they're adherents have been by nature more inclined to accept other Gods of other peoples even if they don't worship them.The examples are endless the Roman Empire,Alexander the Great and his syncretizing of Zeus-Ammon,Germanic uses of Roman style altars dedicated to Germanic Gods,the 18th dynasty worshipping Ba'al Hadad of Canaan then syncretizing him with the God Set,etc.
Stop being ignorant,sit your atheist ass down,and open books on religions NOT atheist blogs on Christianity
Heathen here working on reconstructing (slowly in my "free" time between work and school) Frisian Heathenry.
Frisian is a challenge. Much respect!
The Schrodinger‘s atheist thing is absolutely brilliant.
I am a Syro-Roman Polytheist
I used to be Roman polytheist.
You are both hellenic and roman ? I wanna be that too but i'm very confused about the practice ? Could you elaborate more about your faith or the rites you do ?
I'm a Sumerian polytheist primarily, though I do incorporate aspects of other practices that I find useful or compelling such as attending Sangha.
So you worship Marduk, then? :)
Ahh , I'm from Iraq and I'm a polytheist as well, I believe in the norse gods, seeing that Iraq's ancient religion is traveling far makes me happy 😊. Enlil is quite a great god, great choice of faith if you ask me
@@gwang3103 Marduk would be Babylonian, not Sumerian
I too am also Sumerian Pagan/Polytheist. Nice to see someone else from the same tradition as me here.
I grew up Baptist Christian and was one until about two years ago. Now I would consider myself just agnostic about religion. I love watching your videos because I'm really interested in what other people believe and in different religious traditions. I've loved Greek, Norse, and Celtic mythology my whole life. Not meaning any disrespect, but there's a part of me that wishes I could be polytheist and be part of one of those traditions. It would be as wonderful as finding out your favorite story character was real and could interact with you. I guess the problem is I can't believe things are real if I don't actually believe they are and that kind of makes me sad. I would love to hear more about how you came to believe what you do (or if any other polytheist reads this comment I'd love so much to hear the same from you!)
@@BoboftheOldeWays thank you for sharing your story :)
I have a similar history. I think the turning point for me embracing a pagan path was to interrogate the way that my upbringing had programmed my perception of "reality" and "belief" as something that had to be "absolute" to be true and sincere. It was probably a little easier for me, because I had spent a lot of time in my youth trying to reconcile my intuition that the fae were real (and not "actually" malevolent demons) with the dogma I was being taught.
Another turning point was that I realized that my mother was low-key practicing hereditary witchcraft and was in deep denial about it.
@@mxmothmanart thank you! Your point about belief is very interesting. It's true that fundamentalist Christianity pretty much only deals in absolutes (you're either in or out!) so it's really interesting to challenge those ways of thinking and focus more on intuition. I've had so many spiritual experiences in my life that, being no longer Christian, I've tried to relabel in a naturalistic way. It would be nice to be able to trust my intuitions again!
@@blackbloom8552 I completely agree it's hard to differentiate and we're all inclined towards confirmation bias. I'm currently an agnostic atheist because I don't have sufficient evidence to be anything else right now. I find it interesting to hear why everyone believes what they do
Brilliant video- I don't know who this 'Schroedinger's Atheist' friend is but that's pretty much where I've been sitting and trying to put a word on!
But when I think of 'Polytheist' as term I definitely think of 'Hard Polytheism' as you defined it
same here! I finally found a word that pretty much describes my position
I would love to see you have a conversation with Jimmy Snow. Not a debate, just a convo. I really respect both of you and I find myself caught between atheism/archetypal polytheism and soft polytheism.
I would definitely watch
I'm a Kemetic. I watch because you have interesting perspectives and well made videos. Keep up the great work
I would categorize myself currently as an eclectic pagan, I predominantly worship gallic and celtic gods but I also am receptive to and venerate some others such as Apollo, and I used to worship Hades and Persephone, though I no longer do. My beliefs are ever evolving and follow no single religion or doctrine, but my main gods are Cernunnos, Epona, and Brigid as of this time. Cernunnos being my strongest relationship with a deity so far.
My polytheism intersects heavily with my animism, as well as intersecting with my philosophical beliefs of panpsychism and absurdism. At times these conflict and I have to often reevaluate my beliefs, but that's half the journey, learning to be self critical in constructive ways, and to adjust ones beliefs with experience and gained knowledge.
I adore your channel since discovering it and I've been binging your content recently because it really has been helping me nail down things that have evaded me or just not been discussed in spaces I occupy.
Hail and blessed be ✨👐✨
Hellenic Polytheist, here! :)
Madison Baker hell yeah, there are so many Hellenists here!
I follow the tradition of Shinto, to the extent that it is a polytheistic religion.
I've always wanted to learn more about Shintoism, it seems so beautiful!
Bruda!!
My understanding of Shinto (which is honestly quite limited, please grant me that) is that it takes polytheism to its logical extreme, such that there are not only "many gods" but that everything is imbued with a spark of the divine bearing some manner of agency and awareness. To me, this position sits on the outer edge of polytheism, and may in fact cross that border and enter into the realm of pantheism
@@VarianAlastair as far as i know shinto is more animistic than pantheistic
I follow Shinto traditions as well! Mainly follow Takemikazuchi due to my martial practices. It is a shame i don't live very close to any physical shrines. Always happy to find more people outside of Japan who practice Shinto.
Atheopaganism. I didn't know my religion had a name. Thank you! (Also, I do not refer to myself as polytheist, but you pretty much described my belief system perfectly).
At a festival in the desert, I met a man in possession of a very large gumball machine. He asked if I was ready to receive my deity. Having received a large dose of psilocybin an hour earlier, I was ready. I turned the handle and a large capsule rolled out. I eagerly opened the capsule and discovered inside a hand made caricature of Ra. I immediately began to sob, suddenly realizing how random existence really is and it’s ok.
Hellenic Greek Polytheist Pagan!
Mainly a Hellenic polytheist here, but in my practice I also cultivate a relationship with two Goddesses from the Muisca tradition. I grew up in Colombia. Your words about pluralism in this video put a smile on my face.
Oooo gurl at this point I don't hecking know where I am anymore. I thought I was Wiccan, but upon further self reflection, it just doesn't sit correctly in my heart or align with my beliefs about the gods. I'm in a tumbling place, trying to smooth myself out so I'll find a place to fit inside. And maybe I'll never find that perfect word to identify myself, though I'll try, but if I don't I hope my rough, jagged edges at least find a crack to fit comfortably inside.
While I’m pretty sure I am officially atheist at this point, I find that your descriptions actually describe my journey to this point, was raised monotheist, my favorite character in the Bible was Job, I thought the idea of interacting with deity like a person in the room was awesome, and I was truly offended when god took offended to being bitched out for screwing up someone’s life so bad whom was supposedly good, so I was quickly on the path out of mono early, about 8, I became polytheist early in childhood, I had read enough fantasy novels and knew enough local native people to firmly believe that every rock and tree could be its own god (I had no names at that point, that information was not available so I worked with what material I had) discovered Wiccan as an anxty teen and ascribed to the multi faceted gods concept for a bit, then discovered archetypes a few years later and that seemed to make more sense, finally after years of fighting with the ingrained idea that I had to have some religion to be a ‘whole’ fulfilled person just dropped the whole thing. I agree that the archetypal view is essentially atheism, but maybe that’s because that was part of my road to atheism, the final stepping away from the idea. I flirted with the New Druidism for a while, I’m musically inclined and found the whole idea fascination, and would love to hear your take on the idea of just building a new system as opposed to trying to reconstruct the old ones. Love your videos!
Neo-druidism is interesting
Hellenist, as you all know. >.>
That Jungian archetype thing is odd to me because, as far as I understand it, old school Jungian psychology has a principle called synchronicity by which the mind can interact with the universe and cause things to happen.
Thank you, this video was great but I can’t stand his dismissal of Archetypes as valid belief, just seems like he’s trying to drive a hard line between Esoteric and Exoteric truths
@@lmy2469 i dont see why both cant be the case at the same time real gods in the universe but also magicians inspired by deities making tulpas in their image makes sense too me.
The irish branch of Celtic polytheism😁
Hey! Sorry for replying to an old comment, and if this is annoying, I try not to use internet strangers as google, but i’ve been having trouble finding sources on Celtic polytheism and was wondering if there are any resources you would recommend to get started with? Thanks!
@@soapibubblesthestrange9972 no problem! Here's a website that might be helpful. Idk if you have more than the internet rn for resources and this one was reccomended to me as a basic intro!
www.tairis.co.uk/
I'm a Hellenist! I fall completely in the middle of hard and soft polytheism due to my occult-associations lol.
Orphic Hellenism is here! Lots of Hellenist in the comments so far.
Áristos Bywater hell yeah, Hellenism!!
@@bimbobaggins4521 Awesome Hellenism!, I myself Practice Asatru with the Gods and Goddesses of the North, But i really want Hellenism to become big haha
Same to a degree, i'm somewhere between Dionysian Devotee and Draconic Wicca. It's a mess of a path I know but its working for me
@@IcestormTundra The only way for polytheists to form a community if for us to welcome even those "outside the norm". In reality, we are all "outside the norm", let's welcome everyone. Of course, unless they fall outside the Xenia Declaration.
So I say, welcome friend
What is the xenia declaration?
Very interesting video! I’d say I fall somewhere between soft and hard polytheism... I recognize the distinct differences among the gods and goddesses across different pantheons, but see them as all being interconnected in a way too. This likely stems from my path as being a combination of Wicca as more of a guiding philosophy in the day to day and with Heathenry being a large part of the core of my practice.
Thank you for such a clear description of polytheism. The section on relabeling reminded me of when I had a seminary instructor ask the class if they were monotheistic or henotheistic in belief. I didn't answer as my reply would have been polytheism, and I wasn't ready for how that would have played out. And because you asked, I am a Pagan Unitarian Universalist and more hard polytheist.
Thank you for linking the creator of the statues. Absolutely beautiful!
Hellenic Polytheist here. Love your stuff! So glad to see other Polytheists making content. :D
Πως μπορει καποιος να πιστευη σε τετοια παραμυθια......
Great video as per usual, didn’t know there was such a disparity in the ways polytheism is claimed.
I am a Norse pagan over here. I am in the same boat as you with the "strict" polytheism
kemetic reform here! excellent video as usual, ocean
I’m an atheist, but as long as someone isn’t trying to force their religion into laws or classrooms, or citing religious doctrines as justification for harmful actions, then I’m cool with them believing in any god/gods they want. Great videos by the way! I just found your channel a couple days ago and I’ve already watched most of them. Keep up the good work! 👍
Im a baby hellenistic polytheist I think I lean twords hard polytheism but I have to do a lot more research. I only became a polytheist this past year so Im still very early in my journey with all this
I guess I end up in the soft polytheist category. I was once trying to define my faith and I came up with this: eclectic-inclusive centraleuropean paganism. What I mean by that is that here in central europe, three cultures were somewhat merged together - slavic, germanic and celtic. I looked at all the three pantheons and found so much similarities that I devised my own pantheon consisting of 9 gods, who are representative of all three pantheons. For example Perun/Thor/Taranis as a god of thunder, war, etc. When speaking to them I use their Slavic name and iconology, but that's really only because our country is slavic
Kemetic, and gonna be keeping it that way for as long as I can.
I'm learning more about and am finally comfortable saying I'm part of the Brythonic branch of celtic polytheism, thanks for some of those links a while back, they were a big help in starting to learn about all this
Super interesting video. I'm currently exploring the Gaelic paths in Celtic Reconstructionism
Any resource recomendations?
Great channel. I really am learning a lot and enjoy the content. I’m a very NEW Wiccan, but have found myself leaning towards the heathen centered deities and philosophies.
Hellenic polytheist, wish our community had someone like you, I appreciate all your content and personality, keep crushing it👊🏼👊🏼
Aliakai does similar content and i think she worships the same gods you do.
No tradition in particular but I honor an Egyptian deity and a Brythonic deity.
Was a Christian for nearly a decade. Most of that time being in a cult. Moved across the country, tried a few different denominations before leaving the religion altogether. Now I am philosophically Taoist, and an Anglo-Saxon Heathen. Love your work!
So I fall somewhere in between the last "soft polytheism" and actual soft polytheism, though I call myself a naturalistic pagan. I believe that there are different and seperate energies that aren't just what we see and I used the names of the gods to represent them but I don't believe them to be actual real physical gods, instead a personification of those energies.
I'm a hard Polytheist. I'm Wiccan. 20 years ago, I started out as duotheistic, but over time, my beliefs evolved to polytheism. I still work and have a relationship with the Triple Goddess. But I do believe in all the Gods.
I am taking time during my shelter in place to start going more in depth with different pantheons.
I am particularly interested in Norse and Celtic Mythology. I have found some books and put them on my to read list (one of which I saw you suggest in one of your videos). I was also trying to decide whether to do the home study program through the Order of Bards, Ovates, and Druids.
I was also looking to learn more about the Aradian tradition, and maybe the Roman pantheon.
Love this video, hope many atheists see it. Always fascinated by religion/mythology, and horrified by Christianity/Islam, and infuriated by relabeling (especially Roman all-gods-are-our-gods-just-got -it-wrong). Agnostic atheist for some time now, from Wicca long term (primarily saw deity as feminine or indeterminate), gnostic atheist toward Yahweh/Allah (downright antitheist to antiscience antiwoman fundamentalists - raised Baptist). Could be said to "bounce" around, answered a friend "still atheist with a pagan flavor". Never actually called myself polytheist, rather pagan or Wiccan.
Enjoy your videos and find them very informative.
Very glad to discover this YT channel today, since I like religion channels! I'm on Druidry as a spiritual path and often think about my theology. I suppose I am mainly a pantheist but also believe that there are multiple gods within the natural order. I mainly relate to Celtic deities in prayers and rituals.
No set path yet. My focus for now is reconnection with ancestral ways, their wisdom, their beliefs, their day-to-day lives and then finding a way to bring that into living now. Recently, I explored the Irish Pagan Path and will be doing so again. I've had interaction with the Irish gods and feel at home there, but I'm also exploring my Scandinavian ancestors as well.
Soft Polytheist. Raised Irish Catholic by my 1st generation Irish G-mother with a strong dose of American Indian by my mother. I took Cataclysm but had many of the issues you've spoken of. Found the Roman pantheon while researching Indian religion, but most of theirs doesn't resonate with me. Found Wicka at Ren Fair but the dule gods feel to Ying/Yang for me. Strong believer in reincarnation/after life, having seen Thantos twice. I knew St Bridget and later learned of Brig. The triple goddess feels right - that's in Indian religion as well. Lately I've been drawn to become more active and am looking into Irish Celtic gods.
Love your content & methodical approach. Bought the Venerable Bede for research thanks to you & The Wind In The World Tree
OMG, YES!! RE: EPICURUS!!!
Again, like I said in earlier comment, I've incorporated the Cyrenaics into my work and practice, and that also means looking into Epicurus, as some surviving sources had accused him of having practically plagiarised from a student of Aristippus the Younger.
Epicurean, and to a lesser extent (that we can say) the Cyrenaics, had a theology closer to "Enlightenment Era" Western Deism: the gods are many and distinct, and while they certainly do what they do within the cosmos, including our world, it's hubristic to assume that they necessarily do, or even want to, involve themselves in the lives of humans. That's also not to say that Classical Hedonists (and certain other Socratic schools) believe there's nothing to be gained from regular religious/spiritual practices, including devotional practices to the gods, but much like the more... let's say "theistic Chaos Magicians", there are passages suggesting this is more for one's own spiritual growth than something that the gods necessarily _need_ us to do for them. Think like the feral/neighbourhood cats that the old lady feeds: generally speaking, those cats can probably take care of themselves OK, but then the old lady puts food out and the cats are like "hey! Free food!" Maybe one or two will eventually let her pet and cuddle them but will rebuff her offers to be her housepet, and when she eventually dies? They'll be back to catching birds and mice and scavenging for scraps until the next old lady starts putting food out.
I'm over-simplifying, for sure, but the theology of Classical Hedonism is a topic that I've not just studied, but also discussed with people (both with my own "hard polytheist" background, and those of other theological backgrounds) at great lengths, found this is one of the easiest ways to describe it in a comments section where there will inevitably be people of mixed beliefs. 👍🏻
Interesting
Great video. It gave me more to think about when encountering polytheists.
When I think of a polytheistic viewpoint, my mind goes to Game of Thrones. Gods as roles who intercede or give strength to the individual as they focus on a particular role.
That little part explaining the Christian view of polytheism was so simple yet so accurate at the same time.
I can relate to this so much(Loved the Jordan Peterson crack too btw or stoned Joseph Campbell knock off as I call him). I started off in camp number 2 coming from wicca originally and now firmly in the 1st camp. And yeah that last position makes for some very confusing conversations with people. I have also hear a variation on the 3rd position that the gods are thoughtforms created by their believers which is an even crazier rabbit hole.
Polytheist, somewhere between Hard/Strict and Soft Polytheism. Some dieties we know are cross-cultural depictions of the same diety,or, at least, started that way(Ishtar becomes Spartan Aphrodite, who then softens for the rest of Greece,for example), but, at the same time,most dieties are unique.
Hellenic polytheist and new subscriber! 👋🏼
Im a kemetic pagan, i follow sobek :)
Hello fellow follower of Sobek!
@@jasminemarseilles5070 hi! :)
Kemetic Polytheist here. Really enjoy your content!
Hellenistic polytheism. 😊
A friend sent me your channeland I am liking very much. I don't understand a lot about pagan mindset in the 21th century and I am loving to lear more
I very much hold to the same belief as you, but i do understand the perspective of soft polytheism. I am quite eclectic in my practice (participating with norse, greek, and gaelic gods as I feel connected to each via my ancestry and overall belief) so I do understand the thought process around soft polytheism and how it might make for easier communication with polytheists who may not know much about the gods you worship so it can create a commonality because some pantheons definitely have an overlap, I can't speak to how universal that is because I am not as versed in different asian gods as I wish I was
I do like this video which explains your position so clearly and give insight into other positions. Please carry on making such talks. (Reluctant atheist here in that I would like to believe in some gods but cannot.)
Love this video! I’m Hellenic Polytheist - largely soft-polytheist.
It's been fun learning about the Shinto gods. So many nameless and fun ones. I was mostly exposed to buddha versions, but the couple times I could talk with a Fuent English Shinto priest was amazing. It made my appreciation for some of my favorite Japanese characters that much more amazing.
Also for about 3 months after my divorce I'd say I was a hellenistic soft polytheistic; definitely mostly because I WAS more interested in the mythology. Oddly, I as a weeb so staunchly i took a job over there, i never actually started believing in the Shinto/Buddhist stuff. Maybe because everyone there is so atheistic.
I kind of view myself as both a hellenst and a heathen I worship and give thanks to gods of both
Hellenic Polytheist
Heathen here! Fairly new and still learning!
Another great vid. I'm a hard polytheist myself. I can see arguments for soft polytheism and duotheism. But I've always seen the Gods as distinct individuals who can interact back n forth, even when they overlap in duties.
Been looking into Taoism, Hellenism and Heathenry mainly, been feeling a draw towards Taoism and Hellenism in particular
same! i feel very connected to all three pantheons and teachings but equally to all. I sometimes go through phases where i feel connected to one more than others and then the cycle continues
That’s the real trinity… same here.
How fit Taoism into this three pantheons?
(Btw it is fascinating how the heathens had 2 pantheons while mostly or all other polytheistic religions only had one pantheon)
Neil Gaiman’s novel American Gods really opened my eyes to other pantheons and deities from around the world. That being said I love this video. Keep ‘em comin
To answer your question, a year+ late because I've only just now found your channel, reconsctructionist Khemetic (for lack of a better term) specifically towards Sutekh. Which, while I thankfully don't have play whack-a-mole with nazis, has been tricky. Considering both the lack of accessible resources in the field of academia (half the good ones are out of print,) the adoption of deity in very satanist and by extension christian lens, and then all the Crowley+Ancient Aliens migraines.
Keep on keeping on man; I may not be a heathen but you're making me and many other pagans of other traditions feel very seen.
Gard Wiccan and multidenominational polytheist here. Your sources on heathenry and Nordic paganism have been extremely helpful. Lot more detailed than most channels.
This was a great video. My position as an atheist/agnostic, whatever I am, is that I don't care what people believe in. I have no evidence to dismiss personal claims of experience. I only look at harm done in the world I live in. Me beliefs should not be yours nor yours mine, for we have had two very different life experiences. Judging someone on what they believe, instead of the impact those beliefs have, I find to be highly bigoted and just as wrong as the behavior you are supposedly fighting against. In other words, a lot of Atheists act like Christians.
Thats so true
I'm formerly monotheist, currently agnostic, but I saw your video about Pascal's Wager, and I got curious enough to watch more.
Fellow pagans may enjoy Abdullah Öcalan, relabeling is a very clear example of violating autonomy and the analysis asserting of one's singular will, often in the form of a singular world view, whether it be economic and/or spiritual, over othersas the root cause of all the bad social issues we got. More and more I find my paganism and my anarchism entwined.
Based and Odinpilled
Polytheist, here! I come from a background in Hellenism, but this last some years, I'm not strictly adhering to any traditional tradition, and have also incorporated the philosophy of the Cyrenaics, Cynics, Atomists, and Extentialism, along with the deities and practices described in the _Grimoire Dehara_ - the latter being a not-insignificant reason that I've taken a hiatus from the polytheist blogosphere.
While _Grimoire Dehara_ uses the theories of Chaos Magick (and most of the Traditional Polytheists I've known just seem to have issues with those deep into Chaos Magick's "theology," and I'd agree that it's certainly not without reason), as its base, including their description of the origin of Deities - but given the conversations I've had and other writings observed of those who've also incorporated the _Grimoire Dehara,_ combined with my own experiences with Deities recognised thousands of years ago *_as well as the Dehara,_* I emphatically disagree with the idea that humankind is the "creator" of any of these Deities described as "new" (and not to mention Ancient), but simply that some Deities make Themselves known when they are meant to become known. How and why They come into existence is irrelevant, to me, but when I talk with people who've taken some influence from "Chaos Magick Theology," the different directions it can take certainly varies, and I find not all are _ultimately_ incompatible with practicing with a more-Traditional polytheist, though some certainly are.
Basically, I build and nurture relationships with the Deities and spirits I know. Right now, the major "traditional" shrine in my home is for my Household Protectors, Who want figures of black cats, though I certainly maintain ways of making the presence of other Entities feel welcomed.
I'm a heathen with 50/50 reconstruction and modernization practices. Though my beliefs are centered around the tribe, I actually practice around :(
That’s what I dig on. True tribalism. Doesn’t matter about anything accept if they are in my inner yard. Be nice to all but help your inner help first. Try to reconstruct ritual as much as possible but if it’s not working for your group change it to what the gods accept.
I am a Heathen polytheist who has spent time in all of those camps at some point over the last 20 years.
I'm a hellenic polytheist here, which a focus on just a couple of the gods for my main practice.
Great video. I completely agree that polytheism means actually believing in multiple gods. I use the stories of the gods and the rituals around them as inspiration in my own life but I don't belief that they exist (I take an agnostic atheist position on the matter). That's why I call myself an atheopagan of multiple traditions but not a polythiest. I've really learned a lot from your videos so far and I enjoy watching them, keep up the good work.
Still finding my footing in Celtic polytheism; right now mainly working with the Irish and Welsh branches with the Gaulish Cernunnos at the center of it.
Thats so cool do u have any recommendations of resources to learn about them?
@@angryunicornproductions2633 I highly recommend Lora O'Brien who has a RUclips channel that's updated regularly. :) She's a priestess of the Morrigan and knows her stuff. Definitely start with her.
I'm a Hellenistic Polytheist. I just happened stumbled upon your content. I'm loving your content because I love to learn about the other gods.
I'm an Umbandista, that is a Brazilian syncretic belief mainly between the orishas of the Yoruba and ritual practices of various Bantu peoples with some Catholicism "cosplay", with the orishas being represented with saints names and images sometimes and also some spiritsm word usage, to describe the rituals.
What I see happening in the European paganism today is something that has been happening in the religions of African matrices in Brazil for centuries. The cults are widely diverse, and there are those people that lean towards reconstructionism and those that lean towards syncretism, but most just do as it was passed onto them.
I personally am fascinated towards historiography and African religious systems in both their similarities and differences. I'm trying to learn more about the Bantu, specially the Mukongo religion, because I see that various principles in Umbanda come from there, but they are usually hidden by the orisha worship that proliferated after the 19th and 20th century.
Although there is veneration of the deities they are generally interceded with ancestor worship, as the spirits of the ancestors use the bodies of the mediums (people who can incorporate the ancestors) and the energies of the orishas to heal, cleanse and guide us.
As regarding my belief it already was all over the place. I came from a Christian background that didn't make sense to me, then turned atheist but I was always fascinated with the gods. When I started in Umbanda I was trying to rationalize everything still like a Atheopolytheist would do, but there was a point in that it became pointless to do so and I simply started to accept what I saw without looking for an answer.
I still don't believe in the concept of human-like gods creating things like the entire universe. But to understand that there are spiritual beings who can intercede on Earth and could be called gods that's something I can believe in. Now, to say how or by which way that occurs and what it means, that I won't ever know, and I'm okay with it.
You could call me a Polyagnostic then hehe, I believe in various gods, but I don't know nothing at all.
Asatru and Heil Odin haha! and also The Hellenic Gods and Goddessess are Amazing(Although they are not in my tradition haha) Love your video
Atheist here. Cool to hear your perspective and to have this stuff explained more. I kind of knew these concepts but didn’t know how they were typically classified/defined
Athiest. Just really interested in other people's religions and how it makes sense to them.
I'm subbed to several Christians as well.
I'm something of an omnist and am trying to figure out what feels right for me. Any information on any tradition will be useful.
I'm studying Wicca and I rlly wanna find a good way to be a hellenist with a hint of Wicca because I associate the most with the two
You presented some nice nuggets of information here.
Personally I've always assumed that "polytheist" means one who believes in many deities. Without the belief, someone using that word is lying, either to themselves or to others.
I am one of these 'Schrodinger's Atheist' as I go back and forth between being polytheistic as I was raised as (I was raised as a Hindu. Hinduism can be considered polytheistic, and anyways I only believe the polytheistic version when I do come back to it) and being an atheist. But yes, I do still consider myself Hindu so there is that. Oh, and I am also a big fan of mythology, even when I take the atheistic route.
I would have to put myself as a strict polytheist, though I have not had a calling to any particular deity or deities as of yet, I had an experience with Yahweh back during my LDS days of baptizing the dead, felt his presence and did not like the feeling of it (Dominate, smothering feeling) which drove me away from LDS as obviously Yahweh and I are not a compatible match, and began my journey bouncing around as agnostic for a good while diving into religious texts, till i found LaVey Satanism, based on philosophy i adopted their teachings into my life as they were just commonsense and a good foundation. Then eventually I ended up Fairly recently as I guess how i would have to put it a strict polytheist who follows the philosophy of LaVey Satanism.
I enjoy your channel a lot sense i stumbled on to it, been binge watching your debates (would love to see more in the future) as has helped me put my belief system into definable terms. Sense I'm commenting on an older video i don't know if your see this or not, but if you do keep up the good work.
I grew up Episcopalian, and am now Apatheist (thanks for teaching me that term).
im heathen lol XD thank u for your vids they've helped me 'ween' off of WoO's pretty basic vids, and onto new, heartier concepts. blessings to you
I am personally a hard heathen polytheist. With a mostly Taoist spirituality. So I’ll equate wyrd and the Norns as working with the Tao in a way. Although not quite. Plus a lot of other small things.
Although an interesting point that connects to the video is Henotheism. A belief in a single god while recognizing others. Which most scholars I’ve read believe the early Israelites believed. While they had different names and put other gods to it. But put their belief in one.
While also recognizing that even earlier that their god they choose was part of a larger pantheon of god’s that included those of other near cultures. Like Baal and the such.
i’m a hellenist, but i’m of germanic descent, and wish to connect with my ancestry! i’ve had experience with gods of multiple pantheons thus being the reason i’m expanding my horizons
Hi, I'm Hezeptaegist, which is a Monistic Polytheism (in means that The Gods are all related to One common source/essence but which is not personal, therefore not a divine being itself)
Definitely a kind of soft polytheism for me. I tend to hover between the Roman/Jungian approach and the belief that the gods are all distinct beings, although some may be very similar.
I'm a Wiccan, so I sort of subscribe to the 'avatar of the God/Goddess' concept. However, I must point out that the Wiccan belief is that the male/female duality itself emanates from a single Being who is both male and female, which explains to some extent the transgender aspects of deity.
I am not, however, hard line on the Wiccan concept and most (UK) Alexandrians at least tend not to be that pedantic on it. My thinking is shaped somewhat by a fractal based model of spiritual existence, which means that there is an ever expanding but never repeating similar pattern to Being that emanates from a single source. So we are connected to but different from the One, as are all the deities. And I combine this with the Roman concept of the Numinous, while holding to a personal gnosis that the products of the Numinous, while influenced by human imagination, are actually inhabited by specific individual beings, who choose to express themselves via those imaginings.
Hello I am interested, is there a video to like explain all gods and who created what? Thanks
I'm a general Pagan/Non Practicing Wiccan. The Norse, Celtic, and other general deities (the mother goddess, horned god, green man, etc.) are all part of my pantheon
I consider myself "Heathen", as I'm mostly a Germanic polytheist (I lean Anglo-Saxon), though there are Gaelic deities I worship also.
Aye a fellow Angelcynn