I've gone to great lengths to avoid being yet another narrow-minded man of faith over the years. I've gained at least superficial knowledge about most of the various polytheistic cultures of the ancient world, and I've retained most of what I learned about Christianity and Judaism from my time in Catholic school. I've looked into Islam and Hinduism, Buddhism and Taoist Animism, and several of the Pacific Islander traditions as well. It's easy to become highly specialized when you're drawn to philosophy, and I've tried to avoid becoming so specialized that I can't see the forest for the trees. While I do hold certain. . . antagonistic views toward the Catholic church for the actions of the organization over the centuries since its formation, I have little issue with the religion and certainly no issue with the vast majority of its faithful.
For the most part, I associate myself with the Celtic and Druidic traditions. I place tremendous value in the pentacle as a symbol of protection and elemental balance -- as it should be viewed, rather than the symbol of "the devil" that the media (and the Roman Church) has chosen to slap onto it. I place value in the Triquetra (trinity knot), not as a symbol of the Holy Trinity of the Catholics, but as a symbol of the various triumvirates found in the natural world -- youth, adulthood, old age; life, death, rebirth; mind, body, spirit; I could go on. Both symbols are present in multiple cultures with a few variations, and both typically take on a cyclical or protective aspect, quite similar in effect to what the cross has become for Christians.
However, this eclectic study has left me with a few theological differences from many other neo-Celts/neo-Druids. For one, I don't adhere to a strictly Celtic divinity. When you expand your horizons, you're bound to pick up aspects that suit you well enough to incorporate into your perspective, and my expanded studies has certainly led to that. I've grown to think it incredibly short-sighted to think that a single pantheon is the entirety of divinity when you've already taken the step into polytheism. If there's room for an entire pantheon of gods and goddesses, who are you to say that the others aren't every bit as relevant? My personal theory is that all pantheons are co-existent, if separate; the Celts and the Norse, the Greeks and the Egyptians, the Summerians and the Aztecs can all have equal validity when you look at it the right way. In my view, they are ultimately just different "families" (in a more general sense than the ancient myth structure already presents) descended from the greater source of creation (be it Chaos, some ancient titan figure, or even string theory). That goes for the angelic figures of the Abrahamic faiths, too; after all, what's the real difference between figures such as Michael and Thor?
I've adopted a more hybridized form of the Celtic pantheon. While the Morrigan and Cernunnos feature prominently in my worship, I've incorporated several Norse elements into the core of what I do. Odin, in particular, has become a mainstay, as has the use of runecasting as a form of meditative divination (I don't believe that I can tell the future, let me make that clear -- but I do believe that drawing out runes and using the key concept of those runes as a starting point to study a situation can be incredibly useful). There's a lot of overlap between the two, and there rightly should be -- the Celts and Vikings stand as two of the most enduring of the ancient cultures, and certainly held similar values, not to mention the overlap and mingling of their traditions that occurred during Norman invasions of the future British Isles. I think I'll save the why and how of a lot of the incorporation for another post, though, since it really is a long explanation and worthy of its own entry.
Diversity is the key to finding balance in anything. If you're only looking at a situation from one angle, then you're seeing next to nothing. You need those different perspectives to enable you to truly understand what you're looking at. When it comes to diversifying your understanding of polytheism and how pantheons function, you can really find an enlightening blend; what one pantheon may lack, another will likely provide in spades, and if the core themes of one pantheon aren't right for you but one deity speaks so intensely to what you hold dear, there's nothing wrong with incorporating that into your personal philosophy. Remember: the modern world has become a melting pot; where some might wish to remove impurities, they forget that pure metals are weak, and it is only through blending in carbon and other metals that it becomes strong. Forge yourself from diverse sources, wander the world's collective conscious, and find what fits -- that's the key to an enduring sense of faith.
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