A lot of beginners have asked me in the past about how witchcraft works, if the mechanics behind spell would work, which pantheon to work with, which deity to follow, and what they should believe. I believe that religion is ultimately a very personal experience, as we each have different ways to reach towards something beyond us. I think that telling someone else what to believe or how to practice is not just robbing someone of the spiritual experience of discovering their own beliefs, but also flat-out dangerous and controlling. I strongly believe that one shouldn't find an established practice and try to force their beliefs to align with it, but instead should self-reflect upon their naturally-held beliefs and find a practice that aligns with them. So instead, I like to provide a list of questions that scratch just the tip of the iceberg of establishing a foundation for your belief system. I don't think that reflection should end at this short list of questions, and that you should continue to reflect upon your belief systems beyond this. I do also want to emphasize that your foundational belief system is allowed to change over time with new experiences.
How does magic/witchcraft work? Is it through spirits and the agency of the materials you're working with? Is it through symbolic recreation? Or something else?
Is magical power internal or external to you? Or in other words, does the ability of magic to work come from the strength of an individual, or outside forces?
Why does spoken word have power? Why do materials have correspondences, where do they come from, and how do they perform work? Do thoughts/intentions have power, and why?
If you believe in deities, how do you think they exist? Representations of forces of nature? Thoughtforms/created by people's beliefs in them? Independent spirits that are inherently divine? Local spirits that have been elevated through belief/relationships? Something else?
Do you believe that there's one true religion? That religions can coexist? If you believe that they can coexist, do you intend to follow more than one? If so, how would could you practice those multiple religions while remaining culturally sensitive to both? Are different gods faces of each other, or entirely separate? How do those belief systems compliment each other? Where are there differences, and how do you understand those differences?
Outside of deities, do you believe in spirits? Do you believe that spirits can impact the world around us? Do you have interest in interacting with spirits? Why would motivate a person to work with spirits?
How involved are spirits v. deities in our lives? Would you turn to one over the other for various things? How might different types of beings be interacted with differently in your practice?
Do you believe that the world around you is inherently alive, beyond things/beings understand to be biologically living? How do you define life? What determines what has a spirit or soul?
What's motivating you to pursue polytheism and/or a magical practice? What's important to you when finding a path? Ancestral or cultural re/connection? Pre-existing related interests? Are there certain values you want your practice to align with? Is there something you don't want your practice to look like?
Where do you already find divinity and/or magic around you? What makes you feel the most connected to divinity/magic?
something that I've noticed in neo-pagan/polytheist spaces is this focus on one or a few deities. while this is a valid approach and seems to be working amazingly for many people, i wanted to write a short defence of a different form of polytheism that, while maybe less visible on social media, is equally viable.
the poly in polytheism necessitates the belief in multiple gods however modern forms of worship take many different forms on top of that. from my years being in pagan spaces on social media I have noticed that to many, being a polytheist means worshipping one or a handful of gods and having very close relationships with them. which deities someone chooses to have this kind of relationship with stems from multiple possible sources, for example, personal interest, the deity's domain being somehow related to a person's life or an inexplicable draw to them.
to me, this seems to be the dominant view on social media of the form that neo-paganism takes, however, after years of exploring my spirituality and practice, I have come to the conclusion that this is not how I want to worship. I am writing this post for more people like me, who are interested in exploring this often less mainstream approach.
an ancient template
reading about Ancient Greek and Roman civilisations I was always struck by the number of minor deities with hyper-specific domains and associations. as a modern pagan, I could not understand the appeal of worshipping such a deity, ie. using so much time and resources to build a relationship for only a handful of niche issues that you could approach them with.
but as I kept reading and exploring, I realised that I was approaching polytheism completely differently than the ancients did. they truly did live in a world full of gods and they did not require a relationship built over days, if not weeks or more, to approach a deity and ask for their aid.
as long as you followed the rules of reciprocity, you could approach any deity that was relevant to your situation because they were the best equipped to help you with your problem. now this is not true for all of the population all the time, there were definitely also for example, people devoted to one deity, but from my understanding, this seemed to be the general form that polytheism took in those ancient civilisations.
the influence of monotheism
I think another feature of online neo-paganism is this expansion of the major deities' domains which then removes the need to worship the smaller deities. now, don't get me wrong, I'm all for expanding the domains of deities, especially if this is done from a revivalist perspective in order to modernise them for the contemporary worshipper. but sometimes I feel like completely unrelated domains are added for the sake of convenience more than anything else, ie. so that someone can keep worshipping the same deity(ies) without approaching others.
this, in my opinion, goes against one of the core aspects of polytheism which is the idea that different gods rule over different domains and have power over them. following this idea, it would make very little sense to pray to Neptune during air travel as he has no influence over the skies. yet, I sometimes see the deities be treated more like monotheistic gods which are all-powerful and can influence anything in the world.
if this is your view of how the gods work, that's fine, but I feel like sometimes people accept it without questioning it much or thinking about their view of theology at all. after mulling this idea over for some time, I realised it made much more sense to approach those specific deities, even if they are much less known or minor because this fits into my beliefs about polytheism much better.
a poly-practice
so, how would a poly-polytheistic practice look like in the modern day? well, there are many ways to go about it but I will just share bits from my own experience.
what I have ended up doing is focusing on different deities as they become relevant in my life - I focused on worshipping Janus at the beginning of the year while also taking the time to pray to Fortuna in moment when I needed her aid. I then did some extra reading on Jupiter, but didn't forget to thank Mars every time I went to the gym. I no longer felt the pressure to have some sort of special "connection" to every deity or "feel their presence", just trusting that they are there and then catching glimpses of divinity in my daily life.
looking into which Roman festivals I wanted to celebrate also opened my perspectives to more deities I would not have otherwise worshipped on my own. like this, I feel like I am building an arsenal of deities I can turn to when I need and of course, it is also vital to remember that I can call on multiple ones at the same time, just like the Romans saw the gods aiding one another in their tasks.
I only have one altar, which is practical and thus quite minimalistic, but there is space for my prayer notebook as well as other supplies that I need for my rituals.
conclusion
of course, this kind of practice results in a much more "impersonal" relationship with the gods, but I never really felt the need to communicate with them directly or things like that, so it fits me well. I find comfort in imagining a world full of gods, who may only know me in passing but who look out for me nevertheless.
in the end, the goal of this post is not to change anyone's mind about how they worship, but to present an alternate perspective which you can learn from but also completely disregard. in the end I am just happy that you were interested enough to reach until the end of this post. thank you for reading!!
Friction: A Reading List on Why Inconvenience Can Be Meaningful
We prize convenience and efficiency, almost to a fault. Sometimes, though, we’re missing out on surprise, serendipity, and anticipation when we avoid friction. Courtney E. Martin brings us five reads that examine the pros and cons of life’s little hurdles.
Without getting too nostalgic about it, these readings will make you revisit the forgotten, sometimes wonderful feelings that go with friction. We don’t have to throw away our cell phones to bring spontaneity back into our lives. We can be intentional and collective. In fact, we must be intentional and collective; it’s the only way to live expansive lives connected by slow and messy delight. And that is an aim far more worthy of our finite time than productivity, no matter what the false gods of Silicon Valley and late-stage capitalism say.
germansingergirl
turnnoffyourmind
titsay
yousharknotpass
gummygunk
vaporwave
stormborns
