A World with Many Gods
One of the greatest stumbling blocks for those who would
return to the way of our ancestors is the whole question of monotheism
versus polytheism. Since we live in a larger society that believes overwhelmingly
in only one God, it is a large step for most of us to even consider
that there might in fact be many Gods - and Goddesses, too.
Much of the rest of the world, by the way, considers it perfectly natural
that there should be many Gods and Goddeses. In the paragraphs that
follow we will examine some arguments in favor of this idea.
Our own science has opened the door to the polytheist proposition, though
we have hardly noticed. For decades, our physicists and philosophers
have been tugging at the Establishment coat tails, trying to tell us
that the world of predictability, linearity, and monolithic materialism
has disappeared into a sea of uncertainty. The world is not the interplay
of matter and energy described by Newtonian mechanics and Marxist dogma
- it is, as one thinker has said, more like a vast thought than a vast
machine. Einstein, too, failed to grasp the nature of things: God not
only "plays dice with the universe" but he isn't the only
player! Many dice, many Gods, a multiverse of profound and wondrous
mystery...
It is this sense of mystery that pervades the new physics, and it amounts
to nothing less than a reawakening of religious awe in a world which
has become jaded, boring, and pointless. This time, we are all priests
rather than peasants - not content to accept dogma mindlessly, but rather
free and happy to pull and tug at the mysteries, to fathom the quantum
enigmas and seek the truhts that underlie existence. The sense of the
miraculous remains, even as we plumb the deepest secrets of the wonder
around us.
The
Improbability of Monotheism
Looking at history objectively, we have to wonder why monotheism captured
men's minds in the first place. Does our observation of nature support
it? Consider nature: storm and calm, ice and fire, plants and animals,
life and death, sky and earth, all in endless combinations and complexities.
The world around us is characterized by a multiplicity of forms and
phenomena of very different kinds. It is perhaps more likely to ascribe
this wide range of forces, things, and events not to one cause - one
spirit or mover or God - but to many. The natural world does not encourage
us to believe in a single deity, but in numerous ones.
Is the nature of human populations consistent with monotheism? Just
as the world of natural phenomena is complex and varied, so is the array
of nations and tribes that make up the human race. The way of Asia is
not the way of Africa, which is not the way of Europe - is it logical
that one supernatural Power can be the only true God for all of mankind?
Is it not more reasonable to assume (as in fact each tribe and nation
insisted until convinced otherwise by fire and sword) that each group
has a set of Gods that expresses divinity in accordance with its own
vision?
Does the direct spiritual experience of mankind, as witnessed by shamans,
mystics, and holy men, support the contentions of monotheism? On the
contrary, countless cultures assert that the multiverse is teeming with
non-human entities, many of which can be categorized as Gods and Goddesses
both major and minor. The claim that there is only one God is by no
means the only view. Indeed, the existence of Thor, Odin, and the other
Norse Gods was acknowledged by Christian missionaries and chroniclers,
while the idea that they are fictional is a more recent development.
Of course, the position of the Church was that the old Gods and Goddesses
were demons - but the self-serving nature of this claim makes it transparent
to all but terrorized peasants.
In summary, monotheism is contradicted by our observation of nature's
manifold and differing phenomena, by the widely diverse peoples that
make up humanity, by the direct experience of those in every culture
who deal with the Otherworld, and even by the testimony of men who claim
to follow the One God!
The
Effects of Monotheism
Around the world, the rise of the monotheism was accompanied by intolerance
and persecution. In a world where it was accepted that there were many
Gods and Goddesses, religious wars were hardly possible. It was assumed
that each pantheon had a special relationship with a particular tribe,
race, or nation. No single deity or collection of deities demanded the
right to rule all mankind; Gods and Goddesses were not particularly
transferable from one group to another.
Monotheism changed all that. If there was only one God, the Gods of
the tribe across the river became demons, usurping the devotion that
should go to the One True God. The followers of those Gods were now
devil worshippers, and they must be killed for their heresy. Conquest,
previously justified by greed, now had a new motivation - righteousness!
It was the beginning of a bloody phase of human history that continues
down to the present.
Anywhere monotheism met polytheism, the followers of the One God went
on the offensive. Horrible things were done in the name of religion.
Monotheism was accepted peacefully in only a very few cases. More typically,
the confrontation of belief systems meant wars lasting for years or
generations. Only after about a thousand years of conflict did the tribes
of Europe officially surrender their native ways - and even then, remnants
of the old faiths survived in the remote regions beyond the reach of
"law and order."
Looking at this record of intolerance and outright genocide, it is hard
to claim that monotheism, in and of itself, has bestowed any blessing
on mankind. We cannot help but contrast this with societies where many
Gods and Goddesses were known: Although polytheistic cultures waged
wars of greed and conquest, at least they felt no need to convert their
neighbors. Religious war was unknown in Europe until the coming of monotheism
- and since that time, sectarian strife has not ceased - as the Irish
can testify.
Polytheism
and Liberty
Another way in which polytheism differs from monotheism is in regard
to political freedom. By its very nature, polytheism promotes real freedom
of choice. Monotheism offers only one option for worship, and it historically
enforced that option with a social structure in which authority flows
from the top downward. One God, one ruler - the idea of the "divine
right of kings" came only after monotheism took control of society.
Without exception, our concepts of freedom can be traced to the polytheistic
tribes of Europe. Representative government in Europe and America derives
from the Germanic tribal assemblies. Centuries before the British parliament
was founded, Iceland was governed by a nation-wide legislative and judicial
assembly called the Althing; the same is true of the Isle of Man. Tribal
leaders were generally chosen by the leading families or by the entire
assembly of freemen. Some tribes did not even have a real leader, except
in time of war.
Our deepest ideas of law derive from the Germanic world, through the
Norse and the Anglo-Saxons (Hence "Anglo-Saxon Common Law").
Indeed, the very word "law" comes from Old Norse, not from
Roman, Greek, or Hebrew. Indigenous European law applied to all freemen,
and the king was not above it; defiance of tyrannical rulers is a common
thread running through the old sagas of Europe. Iceland was colonized
in the ninth century to provide escape from the dictatorial edicts of
Olaf Tryggvason, the law-breaking king who forced his countrymen to
accept monotheism or die.
Many of the individual freedoms we take for granted in the West today
had their counterparts in our ancient tribes. Women in traditional Germanic
culture had many more rights than did their sisters in later centuries.
Similarly, the right to bear arms belonged to all freemen in Germanic
society - a right that eroded after the triumph of monotheism.
The list can go on and on, but the essence is this: Northern Europe,
under its traditional, ancestral religion was dominated by republics
with built-in safeguards to protect the rights of the free folk. After
the destruction of that religion, royal power was centralized at the
expense of the ancient checks and balances, and human freedom was drastically
lessened. These rights were painfully regained through the centuries,
with the Magna Charta, the American Declaration of Independence, and
the Constitution of the United States.
In summary,
freedom is a birthright from our polytheistic ancestors in Europe, not
something we imported from monotheists!
.
A Summary: Monotheism and Polytheism in the Balance
The variety of natural phenomena and the multiplicity of human races
and cultures all argue for polytheism and against monotheism. The truth
of polytheism is attested by thousands of years of observations by holy
men and wise women, mystics, and shamans.
Monotheism has been the main cause of religious warfare, which began
in ancient times and has continued to this morning's news. Our political
freedoms are rooted in native, polytheistic belief - and those freedoms
have typically diminished when monotheism has gained control.
Luckily for us, the Way of our ancestors remains open to us. And to
find ourselves, to serve our kin and to attain our destiny, we must
stride boldly through that door. It is, after all, the front door to
our own home - the spiritual home that served us well for countless
millennia and still offers us comfort, dignity and freedom today.
