Conceptualizing Deity in Paganism
"It's not difficult to find statements made by both Pagans and non-Pagans that Pagans are polytheistic. This can be true, but it isn't necessarily true. What is true for Paganism on the whole is that Pagans may believe anything they wish about deity." - Joyce and River Higginbotham's Paganism: An Introduction to Earth-Centered Religions
This post is based off of a very informative chapter in the aforementioned book above. It's a very beginner type book but nevertheless helpful and informative.
Pagan divinity belief systems:
-A monotheist believes in only one deity. Its essence may be split across multiple forms, but it still sources back to one deity.
-A polytheist believes in multiple separate deities that share divine power.
-A pantheist believes that all created world is deity, that divinity is collective in all things. Deity may or may not be conceptualized as a being or a personality.
-An animist believes everything to have divinity or a soul. Where a pantheist believed deity is everywhere in different amounts, an animist believes deity is everywhere in equal amounts. Again deity may or may not be conceptualized as a being or personality.
Now that we've addressed belief systems, allow me to introduce you to Joyce & River's handy visualization they've dubbed the God Map.
The map consists of two continuums, two axes on which deity can be conceptualized.
On the vertical axis we have transcendence and permeance. A deity that is separate, removed from creation above humanity, and generally considered unreachable would be absolutely transcendent (eg the Christian concept of God). A deity that is immanent, that is intrinsically imbued in our reality, that is not removed from creation would be absolutely permeating (eg pantheism and animism).
"Another way to describe transcendence and permeating is with the terms "without" and "within". A transcendent deity is visualized generally as living outside of you, or "without". Those who want to talk to a transcendent deity address themselves to a being or energy "out there". A permeating deity, in contrast, can be visualized as living inside you, or "within". Those who want to communicate with this sort of deity address themselves to the energies they feel most intimately connect with."
Someone who believes deity is equally transcendent and permeating could be described at a panentheist, or that deity is smack dab in the middle of the vertical continuum of the God Map.
The horizontal continuum of the God Map addresses the concepts of being concrete or abstract.
A deity visualized as concrete commonly takes form in that of a human (eg the Christian god having long grey hair and a beard, being male, wearing robes) or even animals (eg ancient Egyptian deities). These deities are visualized as moving, talking, and acting in "concrete" ways. This visualization is also classically considered anthropomorphic.
At the other end of the spectrum, an abstract deity will not be visualized with physical characteristics or emotions. A person who uses this type of conceptualization may have a difficult time describing deity, as it tends to be personal and unique to the practitioner. Some see deity simply as energy alone or spiritual force, for lack of a better term.
Just as panentheism is the blend between the extremes on the vertical continuum of the God Map, there exists blends of the extremes on the horizontal continuum.
These ideas include aspects of deity being both a being and also an energy form. Ideas such as archetypes, numinous energies, the collective unconscious, thought forms, and morphogenetic fields sit on the middle of the horizontal axis.
The concept of archetype sources to psychoanalyst Carl Jung; "an archetype is an essence of lived experience that has recurred so frequently in human history that it develops a "signature" or "presence", and it may act as a blueprint for behavior."
Archetypes could be considered to be an aspect of the collective unconsciousness, which is described by Jung as a memory bank of lived experience that exists in everyone's unconscious minds. Archetypes are commonly conceptualized as data banks of information within our collective unconscious. When archetypes are fed so much energy over time, they are thought to have an energy or independence of their own - these super charged archetypes are referred to as numinous energy.
The form of conceptualization encompassing archetypes, the collective unconscious, and numinous energy is referred to as the morphogenetic field. This term was coined by physicist Rupert Sheldrake, who theorized that living matter is all connected through energy fields that transcend space and time.
The intentional creation or manipulation of an energy field is said to be a thought form. It is commonly theorized that deity exists simply because of thought forms, simply because humanity has willed them to be, consciously or otherwise.
Within Pagan traditions all across the board, you will see deity conceptualized in many, many different ways, as conceptualizing deities very much exists on a spectrum! Hopefully this condensed and edited take on Joyce & River Higginbotham's conceptualization of deity will help you in your own journey.☄
