Are the Gods individual Beings or Cosmic Forces or Psychological Archetypes? Or are we just sticking Them in Boxes?

There are interesting if contentious discussions amongst Pagans of the hard polytheist vs. ‘soft’(?) variety, vs. the atheist and humanist varieties, about the nature and place of the Gods. It is a sign of our maturity that we are having the conversation, and a sign of our immaturity and the pervasive lack of historical and philosophical training, that it is so contentious. On top of this is fear of the other and an inability to sit still while someone disagrees with you. We will need to get over this…

First, we need to realize that Paganism is big enough to embrace all of these positions, and while debate is fine and traditional, in no case do we need to denigrate our contrary interlocutors. One reason for this is that these positions can be found in the ancient world and they all got along without religious warfare.

In ancient Rome, thoughtful persons debated the existence of the Gods on the way to and from temple to make offerings. Their ‘belief’ or lack thereof was no impediment to worshipful acts. I think the epitome of this kind of thinking can be found in Marcus Aurelius’ Meditations:

“Live a good life. If there are gods and they are just, then they will not care how devout you have been, but will welcome you based on the virtues you have lived by. If there are gods, but unjust, then you should not want to worship them. If there are no gods, then you will be gone, but will have lived a noble life that will live on in the memories of your loved ones.”

With a little analysis you can get hard and soft polytheism, as well as atheism and humanism, out of this one quote.  The fact that it is from one writer also shows a lot of agnosticism, or perhaps some humility in the face of the Divine. While we can apply logic and common sense, we can even collect and analyze our experiences, can we ever really say we know the whole of the Divine? The ancient Egyptians, it is said, present their Gods in profile so that with every revelation we know there is at least as much hidden.

While we go through this process of ‘speciation’, becoming all the varieties of Paganism that we will, we need to maintain comity amongst our kind so that we have the solidarity to face what is coming. Ritual is our great tool for doing this. In traditional ritualizing societies the meaning of the rite is left to the individual and not enforced as dogma. One of the great values of ritual is that it does not ask what we believe, but lets us engage in Divine labor together.

Over time our philosophies, our theologies, will develop. We have much to learn from our elder siblings and our own deep past. Indeed, they have developed notions of non-dualism, that slice through the either/or thinking we are wrapped in, yet do not fit well in linear words. We will get there, if we sit still with each other, continue to practice, and challenge our thinking to go beyond the limits of our inheritance.