Aidonian's blog

The last couple of weeks i had various kind of discussions on social media on religion.

One person came up to me and stated that I had to read Plotinus or Iamblichus before engaging in religion. This is really arrogant to say. To say that you need to read philosophy before you can engage in religion, is like saying that you need to be born in that religion. Its equally ridiculous if you ask me. Its good that you engage in philosophy to enhance your religious beliefs, but you don’t need it. The ancient Christians used the philosophy of platonists to gain credibility with the higher classes because up and till then the higher classes thought of Christianity as a religion for peasants. When I have time, I try to read Plotinus, Plato, Parmenides, etc.. but my focus is on my worship of the Gods.in my opinion, you aren’t really worshipping the Gods if your focus lies on philosophy instead of worship. The worship comes first, the rest later.

Do you need philosophy to worship the Gods?

No, you don’t. The ancient Romans and Greek developed various kinds of philosophical schools Christianity and Islam were heavily influenced by Neoplatonism. This does not mean that all Roman and Hellenic polytheists were also philosophers. They weren’t.

Does that mean you shouldn’t think about the nature of worship, the Gods?

No, of course not. As a modern polytheist it is good to think about it, question your own beliefs and do research. Religion is always evolving so change in beliefs in inevitable.

Moreover this sort of critique is more meant out of spite than anything else. Same as to suggest that the polytheistic religions are dead. They aren’t. Asatru is officially recognized in Iceland where it is the biggest religion next to Christianity. In Hellas (Greece) Hellenic polytheism is officially recognized. So these are not dead. In US, Hellenion is officially recognized as a church. as polytheism gains more acceptance, we will face more critiques from monotheists who don’t like that their religions are in decline.

Do you need to be part of the culture where your Gods come from to worship them?

The answer is no. you don’t. Its folkist and racist to suggest that. while one have to keep in mind to not engage in cultural appropiation. That is a issue with Hellenic polytheism. The ancient Greeks didnt felt the need to name their religion which was so integral part of their daily lives that we as modern humans have a problem. We tend to come up with names for everything that we are stuck in this. Some Hellenic polytheists do have a point that Hellenic polytheism only can apply to people living in Hellas (modern day Greece) it is hard to claim the name “Hellenic polytheism” for their own while its the closest we have to a name. Its a topic certainly worthy of a debate, but we have to be honest here. Hellenic polytheism now function as an umbrella term for anyone worship the Hellenic Gods. Reconstructionists and non-reconstructionists alike.