kemetic reconstructionism
my spiritual home is in kemetic reconstructionism. our practices involve the analysis of egyptological texts in order to reconstruct a modern form of the traditional religion of ancient egypt. this looks a little different for each practitioner, as the religion had around 3000 years to develop and change, and each city had its own unique theologies. as a monastic and mostly solitary practitioner, i focus my attention on the remnants of the great city of hermopolis magna, known as ḫmnw (eight-town) in egyptian, shmoun in coptic, and el-ashmunein in arabic in the modern day. this was the cult center of Thoth, the scribe of the Netjeru, and His retinue.
post-reconstructionism
the reconstructionist movement as a whole has been, in my opinion, very good for modern polytheism. historical research and academic process have shaped how many of us relate to our Gods and spirits. there comes, however, a point in time and in community-building where the transmission of knowledge exclusively through strict academia is both unfeasible and undesirable. elaboration, dynamism, and new theology all begin to take shape as we exist in relationship with one another. in my opinion, the pathway into post-reconstructionism lies primarily in those communities where new developments incidentally change the tradition. we will write new myths and create new philosophies, not as solitary individuals but as groups, in which these works will hold unique and profound meaning.
teotecayotl
teotecayotl is my second spiritual home, and a unique tradition in and of itself. we follow a reconstructed and modernized form of the practices of the pre-conquest mexica, more colloquially known as the aztecs. our community consists of people of all sorts of ethnic backgrounds, but indigenous and chicane voices are centered, and decolonization is a deeply important part of our philosophy. we support the survival of, and refuse to appropriate, the living indigenous traditions of mexico. we're a small online community which we call a teochantli, a nahuatl word loosely meaning "house of the Gods."
teochan.org contains more information on our community.
religious non-hierarchy and theological pluralism
because of my anarchist and socialist principles, i believe strongly in horizontal organizational structures in all facets of life, and especially in religious spaces. no one belief is superior to another, and no one person has exclusive access to divine truth. combatting religious colonization means building pluralist spaces where people can learn from each other and see themselves in strangers. as per the paradox of tolerance, though, these spaces need to reject intolerant and anti-pluralist beliefs. i also believe in a more horizontal theology, where neither humans nor Deities are placed at the top of a hierarchy, but rather play different roles in the ever-moving web that is our world. here's
an article which greatly influenced my perspective on this topic.
devotional polytheism
when asking the question "why do you pray?", you'll hear many different answers from across our communities. pagans and polytheists pursue their respective traditions for various personal reasons, including cultivating personal spiritual growth, connecting with nature, and building a liberating and world-affirming spirituality. i practice devotional polytheism, a Deity-centered strain where the primary goal is building and maintaining relationships with Divinities out of religious devotion and reciprocity.
my own answer to the prayer question is complex. i pray because i love my Gods, i pray because i need help and support, i pray when an injustice takes place. prayer is communication, relationship, reciprocation, the marrow of a spiritual life.
divine web theology
dissatisfied with other traditions' rejection of the material world and learning more about dialectical materialism and indigenous north american philosophy, i've passively developed my own theological framework which i've taken to calling
divine web theology. in this framework, the material world is fundamentally neutral and contains more good and beautiful things than bad things, all manner of beings are functionally separate and yet interrelated and inherently connected to each other through the divine web (call it what you will), and the web itself contains no inherent hierarchies. i believe the Gods and spirits are all made of the same fundamental "stuff" just as we material beings are all made of matter clumped into cells, and there are inherently a lot of Them because no observable material species can exist with just one member, and why would the Divine not reflect measurable reality back at us? i also believe that no Gods are omnipotent, and omnibenevolence is a misunderstanding of Their function. to me, They are part of the web, and we can hold reciprocity with Them, but They are the building blocks of nature and abstract concepts like emotions. a volcano God will erupt to create new stone, a wind God will become a hurricane but will also provide a light summer breeze, and a God of war will cause both senseless death and the fall of cruel empires. this is simply Their nature. just as an ant and a whale have no hierarchy between them, there is no hierarchy between us and the Gods. ants are incredibly strong and effective in their own right, and they simply play a different role in the divine web than whales can.