When I was a wee little
witchling, back in the very late 1980’s and early 1990’s, I primarily read
books by Wiccans for Wiccans (or would-be Wiccans), so my experience of the
Gods was very much colored by a Wiccan lens. Now, to be clear, I am not taking a swipe at Wicca or Wiccan
beliefs. I believe there is room in this great big Universe for all kinds of
beliefs and we are under no obligation to agree with one another. The only
thing we are obliged to do is be kind and patient with one another—or at the
very least to (as politely as possible) walk away from a discussion that is
going nowhere and/or devolving into an argument.
Wicca has a particular
view of Deity, which has, to one extent or another, been picked up by larger
sections of the neo-Pagan community. That belief is expressed in the idea that “All
Gods are One God, All Goddesses are One Goddess and Both come from the same
Source.” In other words, even though we call Her Isis, Astarte, Melusine, Brigid,
etc., we are really calling on a single Divine Feminine with many faces of
facets. Likewise, when we call on Pan, Poseidon, Cernuous, Mithras, Loki, or
Osiris, we are really calling on the same Divine Masculine. For that matter, it
wouldn’t matter if we were calling on Osiris or Set, we would be invoking
simply a different aspect of the same Divine Masculine.
Even back in my early
days, I would never have done that; I didn’t know a lot about Egyptian
mythology, but I knew enough to know that was a Very Bad Idea. Set is not
actually the Universal Villain He is typically portrayed as, but He and Osiris
are without a doubt rivals. Likewise, it always seemed unwise to me to “mix and
match” pantheons, i.e., to call Deities from different pantheons and cultures
into a single ritual (at least unless some very careful guidelines have been
set up before hand, or unless it’s a special sort of ritual with where each
person is encouraged to make contact with their Gods, regardless of those Gods’
origins—and in that case, the ritual team needs to be on its toes and there
need to be a lot of safeguards in place, because there are some Gods and
cultures who are known to not be overly fond of one another!)
So even though I had
been told that All Gods are One God, etc., I don’t think I fully absorbed the
idea, I simply didn’t question it until recently when it hit me that I am truly
a hard polytheist. I genuinely believe that the Gods are separate from one
another, and the each is as individual a being as you and I are individual beings
(actually, I have another layer to that thought that I’m still mulling over).
A couple of weeks before
FSG (the Freespirit Gather in Maryland), something came up in a conversation
online that got me thinking about some other aspects of the Wiccan (and to a lesser
extent neo-Pagan) mindset, but I was too busy to sit down and write about it.
I recall being taught
(although I have not consciously believed this in some years) that the Gods need us. They depend on us for energy,
for love, for worship, and that without those things, they fade and possibly
even die. I’m not sure where this idea comes from, but it puts we humans in a
very strange place of having power over the Gods. How could that possibly be?
(A very good counter-argument was put forth that what the Gods actually “need”
is to be remembered in this realm,
that without us remembering Them, They fade from
here—but They certain continue to exist and live out Their existences and
might even come back to us if They feel like it. Otherwise, our little world is
likely little more than a passing thought, an “oh yeah, I used to hang out in
that neighborhood…wonder what they’re up to these days?” I’m sure a few of Them
look at the mess we’ve made and are just as happy to not have worshippers here.)
I have no idea (in
other words, I haven’t done the research and I’m not quite sure where I’d start
anyway) where this idea that without us the Gods cease to exist (like truly
cease to exist, not simply move on from our little rock), but it smacks of
hubris. I can’t say with any absolute certainty what the nature of the Gods is,
other than They are bigger than we are and that by all accounts, They are
Eternal (at least in terms of being as old as our Universe; a few may even be
older). They are tremendously powerful and yet for some reason, They do take an
interest in us—and that is to our benefit,
not Theirs. Perhaps They are, even the Gods most vilified in history, more generous
than we give Them credit for (and yet, I do not think They are “perfect”; They
can be capricious and even dangerous, but to Their followers, Their “people” or
“tribe”, They can be amazingly loving. I do not think They are all-knowing, yet
They know far more than we do, if for no other reason than They can perceive and
understand so much more than we can.)
And so, I am a hard polytheist
who believes in an invisible realm and powerful Beings beyond my comprehension,
but whom I adore beyond words and feel loved by in return. For that, I am
grateful.
