Polytheism for Beginners

"For Karin's Name Day" by Larsson (1899)

After over a decade of being consciously polytheistic I think perhaps it is possible that I may have some useful advice for people new to polytheism. All of the advice below comes from years of studying mostly Roman and Germanic sources, as well as some others (such as Celtic polytheism, Buddhism and Hinduism), as well as my lived experience.

There is no one and true way

The first and most important piece of advice I can give is to completely ignore anything that follows if it does not resonate for you. I am not a guru, and I suggest you be wary of anyone else who holds that they have discovered the one and true way to be a polytheist. Polytheism does not just imply a plethora of Gods but also a plethora of approaches to the divine.

There are no texts which are the polytheistic equivalent to the Bible

Polytheism predates literacy and flowered in an age of limited literacy. Therefore there are no texts that should be regarded as absolutely authoritative. The closest you can get to this in Germanic polytheism is the Havamal, which is part of the Elder Edda (also known as the Poetic Edda). If you are new to Germanic polytheism I suggest reading The Saga of the Volsungs, then the Elder Edda (because many of the poems relate to the story of the Saga of the Volsungs). If you want something really easy to read then the Prose Edda is a great starting point, though fallible. 

In Roman polytheism there is nothing quite like the Havamal, in terms of spiritual guidance, but if you can get a handle on Ovid’s Fasti and Cicero’s On the Nature of the Gods you will learn a great deal - though neither of these texts are particularly easy to read for beginners. A good beginners text is Beard, North and Price’s Religions of Rome: A Sourcebook, and to get an overview of the Roman mindset Shelton’s As the Romans Did is great. There are a number of good scholarly books dealing with Roman polytheism but they tend to focus on Roman polytheism as a State religion, with only glimpses of how polytheism would have been experienced by ordinary Romans. Of ancient texts Ovid’s Metamorphoses is perhaps the easiest bridge to understanding Roman polytheism, as well as Apuleius’ The Golden Ass. 

The Gods are not necessarily present everywhere, nor are they omnipotent

The Christian God is conceived of as ubiquitous and omnipresent, hence you can theoretically pray to him anywhere and for anything. Whereas polytheistic Gods have varying degrees of power, influence and presence. Shrines and other sacred locations exist as ... well kind of like portals through which we hope we can access the divine. That doesn’t mean the Gods are only present in these locations, but we shouldn’t assume that they can hear every prayer that we utter in any old location. Likewise, they cannot necessarily answer every prayer because their powers are somewhat delineated.

The Gods are not necessarily entirely benevolent ... or interested

The polytheistic world (as I understand it) is not really one of good versus evil, although divine beings are more likely than humans to be virtuous, wise, compassionate and powerful. Some Gods are more likely than others to be well disposed towards us; many Gods (I suspect) are fairly indifferent to us. This means that the Gods are not in some manner obliged to answer our prayers. Arguably, if we have made some awesome offerings, and conducted ourselves properly during the ritual, then a God is more likely to take an interest in us and then answer our prayers, but that is not quite the same as a binding quid pro quo.

You do not need to worship every God that exists

In my experience there are particular Gods that really resonate for individuals, and while we might be respectful of all Gods it is not necessary, or even possible, to venerate every one of them. Beginners sometimes seem to think they need to create a shrine with every one of the major Gods of a particular pantheon represented. A more realistic approach is to recognise the God or Gods who seem somehow close. You could think of them as patron Gods. For example, if you are a woman who is greatly interested in looking good, being sexually alluring and attracting love then Venus (or Freyja) is probably (1) going to strongly resonate, and / or (2) is a Goddess you may wish to venerate.

Shrines and offerings form the basis of polytheistic practice

If you are lucky you live near a temple or a grove, spring or other natural location that is sacred to a particular God, but many of us don’t and so we either need to identify places that are likely to be sacred to a God (eg, the ocean to Neptune or Njord) and go there to conduct our prayers and offerings, or we create shrines where we reside, as we need to work with what we have. If you set up a shrine in the home don’t forget to include the household Gods (Lares, Penates and possibly Manes for Roman polytheists, and Tomten / Nissen / Elves for Germanic polytheists).

Note as well that making offerings is generally thought to be important. Christians pray to God and offer only their obeisance, and sometimes their servitude. Polytheists tend to have a more reciprocal approach. Friendship and family loyalty is often glued together by the exchange of gifts (on birthdays or at Christmas). Likewise, if you want to form a good relationship with a deity then offering a gift is generally a good start.

Lit candles, incense and tasty beverages are generally good offerings

The most basic practice is to find a secluded place in nature that is sacred to the God one wishes to venerate. Go there, light a candle and make a prayer. If you want to up the ante then make a more substantial offering, eg, incense, or wine, ale or honey poured onto the ground or in sacred water. If you want to go further then you could create a kind of altar, eg, pile up stones in a sacred grove and pour wine over them, or light incense upon them; or dig a hole and place offerings in there. Make sure you invoke the name of the God, and descriptions of the God (eg, “hail Venus, Goddess of beauty, love and sexual passion”), and perhaps place something known to be sacred to them on, or near, the altar (eg, a statue representing the God, or something known to be associated with them). 

If you can make an offering known to be specifically pleasing to a God then that may be even better. For more on what that might be see my earlier post on Pagan Offerings to the Gods.

Polytheism is generally compatible with other belief systems

Polytheism tends to embrace, whereas monotheism tends to restrict. Thus you can be a polytheist as well as an adherent of any other religion, philosophy or ideology, so long as that does not conflict with the notion of the existence of multiple deities. You don’t have to pick one religion (unless that religion is intolerant of all other religions). Likewise, you can venerate Gods from multiple pantheons, or just one particular patron God. Just as the basics of atheism is disbelief in God, so the basics of polytheism is belief in multiple Gods, it is that simple. You don’t have to subscribe to a particular moral code just because you revere Freyr or Diana, or any other God. You don’t have to try to be a faux Viking because you revere a Germanic God; though you might study Viking era sources to try to better relate to, or understand, that God. You don’t have to become a Stoic, or an Epicurean or a Neo-Platonist just because they were the dominant philosophies in the Roman period, though studying their beliefs may help you to better understand the Roman approach to the divine. You can be a crypto-fascist, a right wing patriot, a political centrist, someone who is totally indifferent to ideologies, a feminist who loves drinking male tears, a socialist, a share-trading globalist, a monarchist, a republican and anything in between; it is all compatible with polytheism. Because, just to reiterate, polytheism is simply the belief in (and perhaps the reverence of) multiple Gods. Whether any of the Gods adopt a particular political ideology, philosophy or moral code, well honestly that I could not say. Although as certain Gods are associated with certain qualities, it would be only natural if Gods tend to favour people with qualities and behaviour aligned with their own. For example, it is written in the Havamal that we should not be a “fool in the belly”, it may follow then that Odin is not particularly fond of the obese, but who knows?

Written ad lib.

Written by M' Sentia Figula (aka Freki), find me at neo polytheist and romanpagan.wordpress.com