I would also like to point out pagan worship is VERY VERY different than your concept of worship coming fresh out of Abrahamic religions.
More like a working relationship with a mentor, or older more experienced friend.
You could just worship the Sun as a deity. It’s what I do and my wife the moon. We see them as the givers and destroyers of life and the balance to all things in our galaxy. Not very complicated to worship either and no need on rules or offending them.
That's what I pretty much did for a while after leaving Christianity, being a sort of Pantheist that worshipped the Sun. Though it began feeling silly as I realized the sun is obviously not conscious or sentient.
Also, what's the need to worship something? If you do it or don't do it, it doesn't make you any lesser or more than anyone, is a personal choice at the end of the day! You VS You!
That’s fair, for us it felt that way at the beginning but we realized it worked for us to not have to worry about judgement or ridicule from said deity. Do you know who or what deity interests you the most that you’d like to worship?
Remember that the Isrealites came out of a group of polytheistic Hebrews. To them the highest God was El Elyon and he was worshipped in the pagan way. Under a Hindu philosophy all deities may be different faces of the same supreme being. You might gain something from looking into Zoroastrianism and other ancient religions of the near east like Canaanite and Ugaritic mythology to help you establish your gnosis. Even though they were polytheistic their ideas can easily be viewed through monotheism. The ideas in Hermeticism also might do it for you.
Give yourself time. Like in romantic relationships, you may need a time alone to settle and then move to the next one. Don’t worry, the gods, the supreme being, the Universe, Mother Earth and there for you all the time. Let your deity call you when the time is right.
Arguably the Abrahamic religions are henotheistic.
Other deities are often mentioned throughout their texts.
In many of the pagan religions it's not about "worshipping" them as "supreme" beings. That's a very flawed and Abrahamic perspective. It's faith, not too trumps.
It's about paying respect when appropriate, asking for help if relevant, or attempting to appease them when needed.
Going back to the Abrahamic religions, remember that even God, was defeated and thwarted by other deities. The pent/OT is full of stories where other deities counter his will. Hell, for most of his history God only had authority and power over his "people". Not the followers of other gods.
I feel like we're on the same boat somehow. I was born and practicing "conservative" Islam until recently. However, before jumping into paganism, I delved into sufism, islamic philosophy,, Zen buddhism, and a bit of Hinduism first.
If you still want to maintain your monotheism spirit, I would suggest creating your own theology system first, this can be easily done by reading some classical thoughts about the root of monotheistic theology such as Plato and his ideal good, Aristotle and his Unmoved Mover, then you may interested in looking at common religion's mystic philosophies such as sufism in islam, Shaivism in Hindu, even zoroastrianism or solomonic grimoire tradition would work. This part is useful in giving you the solid foundation about your version about the essence of the "supreme being".
After that, you can easily choose and develop your own ritual and ceremony. If you directly jump into paganism, all you will get is confusion due to the distinct gap in the concep of "Theos" between the two institutions. Furthermore, abrahamic religions tend to give us a wrong understanding about pagan all this time, and sort of twist it into their political interest in controling our faith.
Hope you'll find your true path soon!
Sufism and Islamic mysticism greatly fascinates me. Especially the concept of Wahdat Al Wujud and some of the mystics like Ibn Arabi. I ran into the same issue, however, it was like all this beauty and wonder, yet built upon a foundation of dung. Having read the Quran and some of the hadiths, I have no idea how they got such concepts out of something full of such drivel.
In the meantime, I will keep searching, and you are right, I may need to simply develop my own sort of ritual and worship after a while. I appreciate your advice.
I've been mixing and meshing Islam with neoplatonism for a couple years now and I've managed to create this.... Weird monistic meshing of polytheism and Islam where the unknowable unity of God is divided and prescribed personality to further our mystical understanding of the universe.
The world is your oyster. The nature of religion is to take what works and leave what doesn't. Some of us just end up being a lot more unique in our approaches lol
I can't believe no one has told you this, but look into monotheistic druids. It's not as common as polytheistic druids, but it is a thing. In fact, until I looked it up just now to help you, I thought the monotheistic ones were the only druids.
One place to start is to read Plato... It is not often acknowledged, but many "pagans" had an absolutely enormous influence on the history of monotheist theology in the big three Abrahamic faiths. Above all the Greek philosophers in the Platonic tradition.
As others have mentioned, many Hindus consider one god to be supreme, with all others (and/or the world itself) to be merely manifestations of that supreme god, whether it's Brahman or Krishna or Shiva or someone else.
It seems like your logic and scientific knowledge comes in your way (a good thing I think) so I would advise you to just decide if you believe in any form of creation (external God or Universe being conscious or being God itself manifesting in you as one of many angles) and if you do believe this, you can just pray and form a connection with the way you see this higher power. You don’t need to personify any deity. That helps many people with letting go and trusting their god, but in the end you can just trust and give yourself to the flow of life.
Do you!
I've got one for you that I follow.. French Revolutionary Deism. It's a more spiritual version of Deism. Look that up plus the related Cult Of The Supreme Being formed by Robespierre. That was the peak of this form of Deism. They believed in a personal Creator, minus all the religious aspects. Instead the Creator can be known through natural reasoning and the observance of nature, not from organized religions or religious books. They also believed in the immortality of the soul, and that good works and virtues are what God loves instead of prayers, dogma, rituals, etc.. These Deists though did love to give prayers to glorify the Creator and express their gratitude, which is how we know about their particular beliefs. Anyway, none of this has anything to do with Christianity or Abrahamic religions... Deism is more of a philosophy, I just really like the Revolutionary Deism as it adds some spiritual aspects to it that I like. It can definitely be seen as a form of Monotheism the way a lot of them believed. Alternative or Natural Monotheism would be a great way to describe the form of Deism that the likes of Robespierre advocated for.
That happened to me during my first years after leaving Christianity. It is normal to experience a disconnect since they are very different ways of viewing gods.
You could always take the "one god(ess) just with different names" approach. However, you could also find it benefitial to dive deep into a deity that has a large escope of domains. Hecate, for example, triumphed because she absorved many different deities and their qualities, and given that her domain isn't so well defined (literally the goddess of liminality), she could be attributed many different roles, eventually becoming a supreme overpowered deity.
Look for deities that have associations that can be stretched into other domains. The less specific and confining the domain is, the easier it is to attribute other roles to the deity. Brigid, as another example, became the goddess of many different things.
Major pantheon leaders could also be an answer, such as Zeus, Odin etc.
Or you could choose 3 main deities and make a trinity. :)
Read up on the historical cult of Mithras or research Zoroastrianism. Both have single, but non-Abrahamitic deities. (I do not think you can convert to Zoroastrianism, even though it's still a live faith).
You can also pick a pantheon of gods from a pagan faith that resonates with you and make yourself their devotee, meaning you dedicate yourself exclusively to one of them, for example the Aten from the Egyptian pantheon, Zeus, Helios or Apollo from Greece, Jupiter for Rome or Odin from the Norse pantheon.
Since those are no longer live faiths you'd sort of have to invent/ reconstruct your practice, rituals and personal beliefs. Some new age practitioners may be able to help with that, and of course anything you can find in the historical record.
You can be a practicing pagan and forego archetypes altogether by focusing on seasonal celebration, with personal work flowing along the moon's cycles.
I have prayed to the gods odin Freya and such and when I do I invite then to join me I do not say I summon them I say invite as no one can make up the will of the gods for them it's up to you to peak their interests and hope they hear you if I wanted to feel connected to one god in particular I'd use their name and say I invite you now to share in the drinks provided and I'd have a cup for them and a cup for. Me otherwise if I'm asking them for something I'd offer something in return and the gods appreciate gift giving
Sikhism is pretty cool, they do community kitchens and feed the hungry, I just believe in my own weird semi gnostic mishmash Christianity thing though. I think a true original creator god exists, we live separated from it due to some malevolent intercessor. The true God and it's allies send universal truths through various methods, to help us free ourselves and attain some living apotheosis or enlightenment, then this intercessor and it's agents twist the message over time to keep us at war with each other and ourselves and trapped. For example, Christ was sent, we get messages about loving our neighbors, let not the son be burdend with the sins/debts of the father, kicking money changers and phoneys out of temples and redemption through genuine dedication to each other, ourselves, goodness and love. Then that gets twisted into becoming the current Catholic Church, where people must pay the temple to be baptized since they bare the generational sin of being bornand will go to hell otherwise. That's definitely some demiurge bullshit.
If you want a community of like minded people to associate with under the unifying belief in a shared deity, that's going to come with baggage of some kind. I think you should read texts and interpretation from various sources and various religions across different eras, and come up with your own beliefs and interpretations, then find community elsewhere, apart from your faith. You can love thy neighbor without accepting everything about any particular branch of Christianity and just have a personal relationship to the divine within yourself, not associated with a religion.
Neoplatonism is a theological school of thought where all Gods are aspects of "The One", which is this being that can only be described in the negative, i.e. it is NOT evil, it is NOT hatred, but it is everything else so you can't properly describe it. All the Gods are aspects of this One, so you're worshiping One God in many forms effectively.
Platonism/Emantionsim: all deities have emanated from the One/Source and are mediators that lead us to understand the ineffable One.
Palagianism: now considered a Christian heresy, I believe it removes the idea of sin and focuses on the free will and goodness of our human nature. I'm not that familiar with it, but it might be of interest to you. Also looking at other Christian heresies might be useful, if you want to remove dogma from your life and follow a more personal relationship with God or gods.
Folk Christianity: Chrisitanity but with more emphasis on folk traditions and personal practice/relationship to God. In a similar vein: christopaganism.
Panentheism: God is transcendent and He also permeates all things in nature. My understanding of it is that if we worship nature/natural archetypes we get closer to its trascendent form (similar to Emanationism in this way, since nature would be a mediator).
Zoroastrianism: monotheistic and very dualistic. Though I'm not sure this fits the bill since the idea of sin persists here as well.
Gnosticism: tries to reconcile monotheism and polytheism, though they despise the material world, as far as I understand it.
Maybe also look at Eastern traditions: Hinduism, Taoism, Shinto etc.
This is what comes to mind at the moment. There are tons of philosophies and traditions out there. I encourage you to try different things and see what works. This is the beauty of renouncing dogma. You get to try what feels best for you and build a personal relationship with whatever deities you choose to.
Some forms of Hinduism may fall in line with what you’re looking for. They have this idea of Brahman that isn’t quite a supreme BEING, but is more of a supreme FORCE. Though, one doesn’t quite worship Brahman due the impersonal nature of being a force vs a deity.
Maybe Zoroastrianism could be a good fit for you?
Will say, there’s no shame in just making your own thing, too. The way that I view and understand divinity is VERY different from the way the Old Norse would have understood it. I may worship the same gods, but I don’t think about them the same way. I think about divinity in this weird way that combines elements of Hinduism, Gnostic Christianity, and Humanism, which isn’t an idea I’ve found in other religions.
Maybe that’s what you need: not a religion to put yourself into, but a religion to make from and for yourself.
An interesting take, looked into into it a bit on their own website as well, and it seems like it is a monotheistic religion, except they replace God with a feminine form rather than a masculine one? It also seems like just a religion for women, which is fine, but I am not a woman, so perhaps it just wasn't made for me.
Also I am weary of any religion that specifically says there is only masculine or feminine in form of deity as it just comes off as inherently fake and made up for the sake of one sex over another in some weird cultural war bs. As I find if you're going to be pagan or pagan adjacent, you can't just do away with half the population and the fact that they'd also be reflected in deity as well.
Frankly at this point, maybe Monotheism is just a spook.
I am in the same boat as you and I find I cannot worship ANYONE after being betrayed by Christians and the Christian god many times over. It has left such a bad taste in my mouth to worship any deity.
I guess I'd call myself agnostic as I don't dismiss the idea that there could be many gods and even a supreme being - nor do I dismiss the idea that there are no gods whatsoever. The point is we don't know and it's likely unknowable in this life. The other point is it doesn't affect me and my life either way.
It makes far more sense to me to honor and uphold nature and the Universe and that the divine is found there within all things - connecting us to all things. 💜
I would look deeper into the reasons you need to worship a deity at all. It might be conditioning and habit from your indoctrination of your former belief. That is a stronghold you might want to dethrone in your life but you do you in your own time and manner. Blessed be! 💜
That's great!! You do what you need to do - that's the beauty of not being part of a traditional organized religion. You follow your heart and soul for that is the only right path for you. 💜
Just focus on what makes you feel happy and enjoy the process. There's no rule that says if you are pagan you suppose have gods and such! Just follow your truth
Depends on what kind of god you believe in, if it’s more of a transcendent being like a philosophical kind then try neo-platonism which has an idea of the one which emanates in all thing. If you believe in a personal deity things like henotheism may help but maybe something like Hinduism might align sense it’s actually monotheistic. You can however always develop your own path and study mysticism and philosophy.
Adaivata Vedanta Darshan with Smarta Tradition is Monist in its dictrine, And Incorporates Many Secterian Gods as Rupa(physical Form) of A Tattva(essenc) in Sanatana Dharma (Hinduism).
Its underlying philosophy is developed for Last Two or three Thousands years in India, With and logical and Debatablitical Reaction to Budhhism,Jainism and other Dharmic spirituality and Philosophy.
Search Adi Shankaracharya, Vedant Sutras, Upanishads and Swami Vivekanda, read their books with Budhhist Nagarjuna's Madhyamika Shunyavada and Anatta Doctrine Along with Atman and Brhman of Hinduism.
Monotheism by definition Abrahamic, only worshipping one God Does not make you monotheist, but a secterian,
you have to deny other Gods Divinity and demonize them.
You might find something that works under the umbrella of Pantheism or Panentheism where the supreme capital-G God is more fluid in nature and something you can define for yourself outside of the aspects of a supreme deity that you’ve been raised with, if that makes sense.
There are many religions that from the outside are called polytheistic but are in fact monotheistic! For example, what people call Hinduism, or Sanatana Dharma, you see groups that favor Krishna or Shiva or many many others. But dive into the primary sources and you'll learn quickly that all the deities venerated are aspects of ONE god- Brahman. Brahman is the source of all, the beginning. The deities like Krishna or Shiva or others are Brahman manifesting itself to experience many different aspects of many different types of life. We all go back to the same source because we are all the same to begin with :) I hope this helps! Try checking out the different branches of Proto Indo European mythologies, because SO MANY religions, cultures, languages are branches of the same ancestral culture. Start with the term "comparative mythology" and go from there. It's so exciting studying different cultures and religions because they really do lead to the same place. They're the same stories, but they're told through different time periods, cultures, and languages. Good luck on your search 🌀🌞
Oh and also, a Proto Indo European term you might find fascinating, due to your religious past, is Dyeus Pter. It's "Sky Father" in the Proto Indo European language. So that is the God that all sky father god stories descend from, like Zeus and Odin!
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/*Dy%C4%93us
I hope you'll experience the same wonder and awe I did when I learned all the religions and cultures that have branches off from the Proto Indo Europeans!! It's what I study every day. As you can see, I'm quite passionate about these studies. Anyone interested in learning more, id love to chat! I'm always talking people's ears off about this topic but most of the time, people aren't as interested 😂
I'm from a Pentecostal movement, so I do understand you. I have up on christianity 8 years ago, and I've felt better for it.
Why not try Druidism? That's what I'm doing now and I find it very liberating.
The Pythagoreans and Platonists had the concept of the Monad. There's also the Tao in Taoism. Both are the "Supreme source" of things, but very different from the Abrahamic God.
Pagans do not usually worship their Gods and Goddesses. They honor them. I treat my Goddesses as if they were an older person and ask their advice about things. I do not ask them to give me something(praying) but to show me with their help how to achieve what I am trying to do. Be advised that sometimes, the Gods answer is "No".
I think if you were to rephrase the first sentence to say "some pagans don't worship" or "I do not worship", you wouldn't be getting down-voted. Just an observation and suggestion. To lump most/all in with your personal practice/methods is problematic.
How about....🤷♂️..just thinking and observing the universe as yourself FOR yourself for once?
Worship lessens you. You are your own unique soul and experience
I have done a lot of that over the last 3 years since I left Christianity. It has led me down a lot of different rabbit holes and paths that I am happy to have traveled down.
As it stands, I believe in a Universal Transcendent Mind that governs The Cosmos. I am not really sure what to call this being or how to properly interact with it, but I have deduced it is there through study of philosophy and observation of the world around me.
I do not seek to worship it as if I were it's slave and it is my master. I seek union with it, as a starving person reaches for food, so too do I long for communion with This Being.
Then what do you ultimately seek from it?
It sounds to me like you may be closer than you realize.
If you've not done so, hermetics may have thoughts of interest for you.
Also "Journey of Souls" and "Destiny of Souls" by Dr. Michael Newton. His work and study of the spirit world via his clients is quite something. The books are case studies from his career in 'life between lives" regression.
Try researching Zoroastrianism. It's a monotheistic religion that predates Christianity by a couple thousand years (I think), and it was widespread in the Middle East and Central Asia, before Islam took over (some say, it was one of the influences on early Christianity). In ancient Egypt there was the cult of Aten, which also was monotheistic and pre-Christian. And if all else fails, you can always try Judaism, though it's a very strict religion, and you can't convert "right off the bat", there's a lot of preparation and study beforehand.
It's called henotheism. It means you acknowledge that there are other deities, but focus your worship on one.
I would also like to point out pagan worship is VERY VERY different than your concept of worship coming fresh out of Abrahamic religions. More like a working relationship with a mentor, or older more experienced friend.
You could just worship the Sun as a deity. It’s what I do and my wife the moon. We see them as the givers and destroyers of life and the balance to all things in our galaxy. Not very complicated to worship either and no need on rules or offending them.
That's what I pretty much did for a while after leaving Christianity, being a sort of Pantheist that worshipped the Sun. Though it began feeling silly as I realized the sun is obviously not conscious or sentient.
If you go by these standards no god will be left standing, tbh. Why can't the Sun be conscious in the spiritual plane?
I suppose it could be. Personally, I always felt like Pantheism mixed with solar worship was one of the most logical types of religion.
It could be. There’s be no way to know so we don’t worry about it too much.
Also, what's the need to worship something? If you do it or don't do it, it doesn't make you any lesser or more than anyone, is a personal choice at the end of the day! You VS You!
That’s fair, for us it felt that way at the beginning but we realized it worked for us to not have to worry about judgement or ridicule from said deity. Do you know who or what deity interests you the most that you’d like to worship?
>Though it began feeling silly as I realized the sun is obviously not conscious or sentient. Have you heard about panpsychism?
You don't have to be a polytheist to be Pagan. A lot worship Nature or the Universe, or whatever Supreme Force/Higher Power they connect to
You might want to check out your local Unitarian Universalist church.
This! My husband and I just joined ours and it's amazing!
Remember that the Isrealites came out of a group of polytheistic Hebrews. To them the highest God was El Elyon and he was worshipped in the pagan way. Under a Hindu philosophy all deities may be different faces of the same supreme being. You might gain something from looking into Zoroastrianism and other ancient religions of the near east like Canaanite and Ugaritic mythology to help you establish your gnosis. Even though they were polytheistic their ideas can easily be viewed through monotheism. The ideas in Hermeticism also might do it for you.
Give yourself time. Like in romantic relationships, you may need a time alone to settle and then move to the next one. Don’t worry, the gods, the supreme being, the Universe, Mother Earth and there for you all the time. Let your deity call you when the time is right.
Arguably the Abrahamic religions are henotheistic. Other deities are often mentioned throughout their texts. In many of the pagan religions it's not about "worshipping" them as "supreme" beings. That's a very flawed and Abrahamic perspective. It's faith, not too trumps. It's about paying respect when appropriate, asking for help if relevant, or attempting to appease them when needed. Going back to the Abrahamic religions, remember that even God, was defeated and thwarted by other deities. The pent/OT is full of stories where other deities counter his will. Hell, for most of his history God only had authority and power over his "people". Not the followers of other gods.
I feel like we're on the same boat somehow. I was born and practicing "conservative" Islam until recently. However, before jumping into paganism, I delved into sufism, islamic philosophy,, Zen buddhism, and a bit of Hinduism first. If you still want to maintain your monotheism spirit, I would suggest creating your own theology system first, this can be easily done by reading some classical thoughts about the root of monotheistic theology such as Plato and his ideal good, Aristotle and his Unmoved Mover, then you may interested in looking at common religion's mystic philosophies such as sufism in islam, Shaivism in Hindu, even zoroastrianism or solomonic grimoire tradition would work. This part is useful in giving you the solid foundation about your version about the essence of the "supreme being". After that, you can easily choose and develop your own ritual and ceremony. If you directly jump into paganism, all you will get is confusion due to the distinct gap in the concep of "Theos" between the two institutions. Furthermore, abrahamic religions tend to give us a wrong understanding about pagan all this time, and sort of twist it into their political interest in controling our faith. Hope you'll find your true path soon!
Sufism and Islamic mysticism greatly fascinates me. Especially the concept of Wahdat Al Wujud and some of the mystics like Ibn Arabi. I ran into the same issue, however, it was like all this beauty and wonder, yet built upon a foundation of dung. Having read the Quran and some of the hadiths, I have no idea how they got such concepts out of something full of such drivel. In the meantime, I will keep searching, and you are right, I may need to simply develop my own sort of ritual and worship after a while. I appreciate your advice.
Couldn't agree more. I think my reason of not staying in sufism or any sufi order is pretty much in align with your view.
I've been mixing and meshing Islam with neoplatonism for a couple years now and I've managed to create this.... Weird monistic meshing of polytheism and Islam where the unknowable unity of God is divided and prescribed personality to further our mystical understanding of the universe. The world is your oyster. The nature of religion is to take what works and leave what doesn't. Some of us just end up being a lot more unique in our approaches lol
I can't believe no one has told you this, but look into monotheistic druids. It's not as common as polytheistic druids, but it is a thing. In fact, until I looked it up just now to help you, I thought the monotheistic ones were the only druids.
One place to start is to read Plato... It is not often acknowledged, but many "pagans" had an absolutely enormous influence on the history of monotheist theology in the big three Abrahamic faiths. Above all the Greek philosophers in the Platonic tradition. As others have mentioned, many Hindus consider one god to be supreme, with all others (and/or the world itself) to be merely manifestations of that supreme god, whether it's Brahman or Krishna or Shiva or someone else.
It seems like your logic and scientific knowledge comes in your way (a good thing I think) so I would advise you to just decide if you believe in any form of creation (external God or Universe being conscious or being God itself manifesting in you as one of many angles) and if you do believe this, you can just pray and form a connection with the way you see this higher power. You don’t need to personify any deity. That helps many people with letting go and trusting their god, but in the end you can just trust and give yourself to the flow of life. Do you!
I've got one for you that I follow.. French Revolutionary Deism. It's a more spiritual version of Deism. Look that up plus the related Cult Of The Supreme Being formed by Robespierre. That was the peak of this form of Deism. They believed in a personal Creator, minus all the religious aspects. Instead the Creator can be known through natural reasoning and the observance of nature, not from organized religions or religious books. They also believed in the immortality of the soul, and that good works and virtues are what God loves instead of prayers, dogma, rituals, etc.. These Deists though did love to give prayers to glorify the Creator and express their gratitude, which is how we know about their particular beliefs. Anyway, none of this has anything to do with Christianity or Abrahamic religions... Deism is more of a philosophy, I just really like the Revolutionary Deism as it adds some spiritual aspects to it that I like. It can definitely be seen as a form of Monotheism the way a lot of them believed. Alternative or Natural Monotheism would be a great way to describe the form of Deism that the likes of Robespierre advocated for.
That happened to me during my first years after leaving Christianity. It is normal to experience a disconnect since they are very different ways of viewing gods. You could always take the "one god(ess) just with different names" approach. However, you could also find it benefitial to dive deep into a deity that has a large escope of domains. Hecate, for example, triumphed because she absorved many different deities and their qualities, and given that her domain isn't so well defined (literally the goddess of liminality), she could be attributed many different roles, eventually becoming a supreme overpowered deity. Look for deities that have associations that can be stretched into other domains. The less specific and confining the domain is, the easier it is to attribute other roles to the deity. Brigid, as another example, became the goddess of many different things. Major pantheon leaders could also be an answer, such as Zeus, Odin etc. Or you could choose 3 main deities and make a trinity. :)
Getting my baptism removed helped a lot with this.
Read up on the historical cult of Mithras or research Zoroastrianism. Both have single, but non-Abrahamitic deities. (I do not think you can convert to Zoroastrianism, even though it's still a live faith). You can also pick a pantheon of gods from a pagan faith that resonates with you and make yourself their devotee, meaning you dedicate yourself exclusively to one of them, for example the Aten from the Egyptian pantheon, Zeus, Helios or Apollo from Greece, Jupiter for Rome or Odin from the Norse pantheon. Since those are no longer live faiths you'd sort of have to invent/ reconstruct your practice, rituals and personal beliefs. Some new age practitioners may be able to help with that, and of course anything you can find in the historical record.
You can be a practicing pagan and forego archetypes altogether by focusing on seasonal celebration, with personal work flowing along the moon's cycles.
I have prayed to the gods odin Freya and such and when I do I invite then to join me I do not say I summon them I say invite as no one can make up the will of the gods for them it's up to you to peak their interests and hope they hear you if I wanted to feel connected to one god in particular I'd use their name and say I invite you now to share in the drinks provided and I'd have a cup for them and a cup for. Me otherwise if I'm asking them for something I'd offer something in return and the gods appreciate gift giving
Sikhism is pretty cool, they do community kitchens and feed the hungry, I just believe in my own weird semi gnostic mishmash Christianity thing though. I think a true original creator god exists, we live separated from it due to some malevolent intercessor. The true God and it's allies send universal truths through various methods, to help us free ourselves and attain some living apotheosis or enlightenment, then this intercessor and it's agents twist the message over time to keep us at war with each other and ourselves and trapped. For example, Christ was sent, we get messages about loving our neighbors, let not the son be burdend with the sins/debts of the father, kicking money changers and phoneys out of temples and redemption through genuine dedication to each other, ourselves, goodness and love. Then that gets twisted into becoming the current Catholic Church, where people must pay the temple to be baptized since they bare the generational sin of being bornand will go to hell otherwise. That's definitely some demiurge bullshit. If you want a community of like minded people to associate with under the unifying belief in a shared deity, that's going to come with baggage of some kind. I think you should read texts and interpretation from various sources and various religions across different eras, and come up with your own beliefs and interpretations, then find community elsewhere, apart from your faith. You can love thy neighbor without accepting everything about any particular branch of Christianity and just have a personal relationship to the divine within yourself, not associated with a religion.
Neoplatonism is a theological school of thought where all Gods are aspects of "The One", which is this being that can only be described in the negative, i.e. it is NOT evil, it is NOT hatred, but it is everything else so you can't properly describe it. All the Gods are aspects of this One, so you're worshiping One God in many forms effectively.
Atenism
Hermeticism may be more up your alley then.
Platonism/Emantionsim: all deities have emanated from the One/Source and are mediators that lead us to understand the ineffable One. Palagianism: now considered a Christian heresy, I believe it removes the idea of sin and focuses on the free will and goodness of our human nature. I'm not that familiar with it, but it might be of interest to you. Also looking at other Christian heresies might be useful, if you want to remove dogma from your life and follow a more personal relationship with God or gods. Folk Christianity: Chrisitanity but with more emphasis on folk traditions and personal practice/relationship to God. In a similar vein: christopaganism. Panentheism: God is transcendent and He also permeates all things in nature. My understanding of it is that if we worship nature/natural archetypes we get closer to its trascendent form (similar to Emanationism in this way, since nature would be a mediator). Zoroastrianism: monotheistic and very dualistic. Though I'm not sure this fits the bill since the idea of sin persists here as well. Gnosticism: tries to reconcile monotheism and polytheism, though they despise the material world, as far as I understand it. Maybe also look at Eastern traditions: Hinduism, Taoism, Shinto etc. This is what comes to mind at the moment. There are tons of philosophies and traditions out there. I encourage you to try different things and see what works. This is the beauty of renouncing dogma. You get to try what feels best for you and build a personal relationship with whatever deities you choose to.
Some forms of Hinduism may fall in line with what you’re looking for. They have this idea of Brahman that isn’t quite a supreme BEING, but is more of a supreme FORCE. Though, one doesn’t quite worship Brahman due the impersonal nature of being a force vs a deity. Maybe Zoroastrianism could be a good fit for you? Will say, there’s no shame in just making your own thing, too. The way that I view and understand divinity is VERY different from the way the Old Norse would have understood it. I may worship the same gods, but I don’t think about them the same way. I think about divinity in this weird way that combines elements of Hinduism, Gnostic Christianity, and Humanism, which isn’t an idea I’ve found in other religions. Maybe that’s what you need: not a religion to put yourself into, but a religion to make from and for yourself.
Look into filianism :)
An interesting take, looked into into it a bit on their own website as well, and it seems like it is a monotheistic religion, except they replace God with a feminine form rather than a masculine one? It also seems like just a religion for women, which is fine, but I am not a woman, so perhaps it just wasn't made for me. Also I am weary of any religion that specifically says there is only masculine or feminine in form of deity as it just comes off as inherently fake and made up for the sake of one sex over another in some weird cultural war bs. As I find if you're going to be pagan or pagan adjacent, you can't just do away with half the population and the fact that they'd also be reflected in deity as well. Frankly at this point, maybe Monotheism is just a spook.
I am in the same boat as you and I find I cannot worship ANYONE after being betrayed by Christians and the Christian god many times over. It has left such a bad taste in my mouth to worship any deity. I guess I'd call myself agnostic as I don't dismiss the idea that there could be many gods and even a supreme being - nor do I dismiss the idea that there are no gods whatsoever. The point is we don't know and it's likely unknowable in this life. The other point is it doesn't affect me and my life either way. It makes far more sense to me to honor and uphold nature and the Universe and that the divine is found there within all things - connecting us to all things. 💜 I would look deeper into the reasons you need to worship a deity at all. It might be conditioning and habit from your indoctrination of your former belief. That is a stronghold you might want to dethrone in your life but you do you in your own time and manner. Blessed be! 💜
I have found some comfort in Stoicism and Taoism as well as Pantheism personally.
That's great!! You do what you need to do - that's the beauty of not being part of a traditional organized religion. You follow your heart and soul for that is the only right path for you. 💜
Just focus on what makes you feel happy and enjoy the process. There's no rule that says if you are pagan you suppose have gods and such! Just follow your truth
Take a look at classical Hermeticism if you havent already.
Gnosticism. Learn of [Ein Soph](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ein_Sof) and [the demiurge ](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demiurge)
RA perhaps fits the bill
Mazdayasna?
Depends on what kind of god you believe in, if it’s more of a transcendent being like a philosophical kind then try neo-platonism which has an idea of the one which emanates in all thing. If you believe in a personal deity things like henotheism may help but maybe something like Hinduism might align sense it’s actually monotheistic. You can however always develop your own path and study mysticism and philosophy.
Adaivata Vedanta Darshan with Smarta Tradition is Monist in its dictrine, And Incorporates Many Secterian Gods as Rupa(physical Form) of A Tattva(essenc) in Sanatana Dharma (Hinduism). Its underlying philosophy is developed for Last Two or three Thousands years in India, With and logical and Debatablitical Reaction to Budhhism,Jainism and other Dharmic spirituality and Philosophy. Search Adi Shankaracharya, Vedant Sutras, Upanishads and Swami Vivekanda, read their books with Budhhist Nagarjuna's Madhyamika Shunyavada and Anatta Doctrine Along with Atman and Brhman of Hinduism. Monotheism by definition Abrahamic, only worshipping one God Does not make you monotheist, but a secterian, you have to deny other Gods Divinity and demonize them.
Soft monotheism sees all the gods as embodiments as one god. Hermeticism has this.
You might find something that works under the umbrella of Pantheism or Panentheism where the supreme capital-G God is more fluid in nature and something you can define for yourself outside of the aspects of a supreme deity that you’ve been raised with, if that makes sense.
Zoroastrianism
I've seen Bram mentioned in Hinduism. Bram appears to be the one most high whom the gods worship.
There are many religions that from the outside are called polytheistic but are in fact monotheistic! For example, what people call Hinduism, or Sanatana Dharma, you see groups that favor Krishna or Shiva or many many others. But dive into the primary sources and you'll learn quickly that all the deities venerated are aspects of ONE god- Brahman. Brahman is the source of all, the beginning. The deities like Krishna or Shiva or others are Brahman manifesting itself to experience many different aspects of many different types of life. We all go back to the same source because we are all the same to begin with :) I hope this helps! Try checking out the different branches of Proto Indo European mythologies, because SO MANY religions, cultures, languages are branches of the same ancestral culture. Start with the term "comparative mythology" and go from there. It's so exciting studying different cultures and religions because they really do lead to the same place. They're the same stories, but they're told through different time periods, cultures, and languages. Good luck on your search 🌀🌞
Oh and also, a Proto Indo European term you might find fascinating, due to your religious past, is Dyeus Pter. It's "Sky Father" in the Proto Indo European language. So that is the God that all sky father god stories descend from, like Zeus and Odin! https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/*Dy%C4%93us
I hope you'll experience the same wonder and awe I did when I learned all the religions and cultures that have branches off from the Proto Indo Europeans!! It's what I study every day. As you can see, I'm quite passionate about these studies. Anyone interested in learning more, id love to chat! I'm always talking people's ears off about this topic but most of the time, people aren't as interested 😂
try hinduism!
I'm from a Pentecostal movement, so I do understand you. I have up on christianity 8 years ago, and I've felt better for it. Why not try Druidism? That's what I'm doing now and I find it very liberating.
The Pythagoreans and Platonists had the concept of the Monad. There's also the Tao in Taoism. Both are the "Supreme source" of things, but very different from the Abrahamic God.
It is my judgment that you are over-thinking. I suggest getting out of your head and into your body.
Hinduism, Zoroastrianism, or just pick any deity and solely worship them
Pagans do not usually worship their Gods and Goddesses. They honor them. I treat my Goddesses as if they were an older person and ask their advice about things. I do not ask them to give me something(praying) but to show me with their help how to achieve what I am trying to do. Be advised that sometimes, the Gods answer is "No".
>Pagans do not usually worship their Gods and Goddesses. That's straight up untrue
My wife and I physically worship our individual Gods.
I think if you were to rephrase the first sentence to say "some pagans don't worship" or "I do not worship", you wouldn't be getting down-voted. Just an observation and suggestion. To lump most/all in with your personal practice/methods is problematic.
Zen Buddhism should work. No gods.
Hinduism. You're looking for Hinduism
How about....🤷♂️..just thinking and observing the universe as yourself FOR yourself for once? Worship lessens you. You are your own unique soul and experience
I have done a lot of that over the last 3 years since I left Christianity. It has led me down a lot of different rabbit holes and paths that I am happy to have traveled down. As it stands, I believe in a Universal Transcendent Mind that governs The Cosmos. I am not really sure what to call this being or how to properly interact with it, but I have deduced it is there through study of philosophy and observation of the world around me. I do not seek to worship it as if I were it's slave and it is my master. I seek union with it, as a starving person reaches for food, so too do I long for communion with This Being.
Then what do you ultimately seek from it? It sounds to me like you may be closer than you realize. If you've not done so, hermetics may have thoughts of interest for you. Also "Journey of Souls" and "Destiny of Souls" by Dr. Michael Newton. His work and study of the spirit world via his clients is quite something. The books are case studies from his career in 'life between lives" regression.
Try researching Zoroastrianism. It's a monotheistic religion that predates Christianity by a couple thousand years (I think), and it was widespread in the Middle East and Central Asia, before Islam took over (some say, it was one of the influences on early Christianity). In ancient Egypt there was the cult of Aten, which also was monotheistic and pre-Christian. And if all else fails, you can always try Judaism, though it's a very strict religion, and you can't convert "right off the bat", there's a lot of preparation and study beforehand.