English Polytheism & Franciscan Druidry
What is it?
A new religious system & magical egregore for druidic worship and magic that draws on the cultural heritage of England, acknowledge Christianity as the primary vessel of religious heritage, engaging with the pre-christian background of the peoples who became English and the way they shaped it, and acknowledging post christian movements as ongoing expressions of the evolving spiritual landscape of people with heritage from england.
It's a system that focuses on the immanence of God in people and the natural world. One of the strongest symbols of that available in the English religious heritage is the incarnation of God in the world, especially prized by the franciscan tradition.
It engages (dual-aspect) monism, pantheism, panentheism, animism, polytheism, polycentrism and arguably monotheism as different viewpoints on a complex spiritual ecology that we are constantly engaging in.
It's also by and for queer people. Its gender politics differ from and oppose the patriachal structure of mainstream christianity and the hetero-normativity of most neopagan spirituality.
Why Polytheism?
It is useful in maintaining a balanced spiritual outlook to have different aspects of divinity represented. It is functional for magic to be able to invoke different aspects in ritual. It's also true to my experience of the divine.
Traditionally English ceremonial magicians used Kabbalah and the emanations of the tree of life for this purpose. I think Christian appropriation of Jewish mysticism ends up exacerbating the negative aspects of Christianity, especially as it often downplays the Incarnation
Cunning-folk and other folk magicians used saints and angels and we will partly continue this tradition.
Why Christianity?
Many reasons could be brought forward, for this post we will focus on one. As the primary cultural heritage of many people it has a strong spiritual resonance - for good or for ill. Also as the primary religious system for more than a thousand years there are vast riches hiding in it's overgrown garden. If you are fluent in interpreting these resources you unlock your heritage. It also has the strongest community support to access worship and devotional space in your day to day life.
Re-expressing a new Christian egregore allows for the strength of this to be brought into dialect with new ideas. There are already Many Jesuses out there with different values and expressions of spirituality. This is another. This one found me and offers strong support to queer people, nature mysticism, and poor people.
Calling on the divine in the faces of it you worship seems to help increase the potency of magical workings. While mixed pantheons can work, I at least find that a network of symbols expressed inside one set of myths expresses itself more clearly.
Why franciscan?
Franciscan theologies distinctive emphases have long included a view that the incarnation is central to the whole relationship of God and the world. They de-emphasize concepts of original sin. They focus on gospel as action in service to those harmed not as adherence to dogmatic beliefs or obedience to the church. Plus St Francis most famous writing is the deeply animistic canticle of the creatures.
Some modern franciscans (e.g. Richard Rohr) explore the unity of divine and "created" thigs explicitly and self-label as panentheist.