The Nature of My Beliefs and Practice

When I was a child, I was not particularly pious, but I loved the idea of shrines. They seemed beautiful. I was given a book of Greek mythology stories, and invented my own gods in response. They were named and modeled after various Hebrew figures (Mordechai and Miriam in particular), as well as Disney characters. (I imagined a god of food who resembled Ursula from the Little Mermaid).

I was indoctrinated with the idea that idolatry was the "wrong" way to worship God, and when I asked what was wrong with pagan religion I was told that it "involved human sacrifice".

Eventually I abandoned my "pagan" ideas, becoming an agnostic with monotheist leanings. My mother responded to my arguments about the universe having more more than one energy by giving kabbalistic arguments about them all emerging from a single root. After reading some of "God and the Big Bang" I was convinced.

Later on, I read about atheist and agnostic forms of polytheism that viewed gods as "archetypes". I was delighted to find such a place for polytheism in modern times, however, these "archetypes" seemed to me more like culture-bound symbols, which I later learned they were according to Jung's theories.

Actually the difference between a symbol and an archetype is a bit blurry in my research, possibly because human cultures influence the forces of human psychology to behave in a certain culture-bound manner (you are more likely to find a woman "influenced by the Hera archetype" in a society that privileges married women over single women). I view the difference between archetypes and symbols as follows: A mythological character is a symbol, inextricably tied to the culture that created it. A "role", such as "the trickster" or "the warrior" is a more universal archetype.

However, to me, gods are more than "universal" archetypes of "static" symbols. They are meaningful fictional characters.

To me, fictional characters are more meaningful than they are to most people. One reason is their meaning as symbols of archetypes, but it isn't just that. I find their stories and personalities very meaningful, beautiful, and entertaining in their own right. So much so, that I include some fictional characters in my ritual practice. Since mythological gods are probably fictional anyway, I don't see why not.

Since a god can be defined so many different ways, I have created a "map" of the different "parts" of a god. One that lists the parts as follows: The "symbol" (the god's name), the "archetype" (the god's role(s)), and its "character" (the god's mythology). This map works for outright fictions, legends of ambiguous reality, and deified historical figures.

My ritual practice is to put an oracle card or tarot card representing a deity on an altar every day. I put on a different card each day in a 28-day cycle. On April 1st, I may switch to a cycle conforming to the calendar, with 30 and 31 day cycles, since this 28 day cycle forces me to honor multiple gods on the same days.

My main response to arguments that non-theistic polytheist practice is pointless is this: There are religious views that involve honoring the idea of a god even if you do not believe in that god. I got this view from the monotheistic religion of my upbringing (Judaism), but I don't see why it can't apply to polytheist practice as well.