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    Pantheists:Describe your practice

    I'm curious about what daily practices/rituals/etc. fellow pantheists and/or non-theistic folks have.

    Do you meditate? pray? do magick? practice shamanism etc?

    Do you celebrate the solstice?

    I'm interested to see where this goes.

    #2
    Re: Pantheistsescribe your practice

    Anyone? Anyone?

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      #3
      Re: Pantheistsescribe your practice

      My pantheism is more of the philosophical bent. My practices look exactly like those a polytheist.

      I pray to deities, I meditate, I have rituals to celebrate various holidays, I do spell work, I practice medicinal and magical herbalist...
      Wonderful Life: The Burgess Shale and the Nature of HistoryPagan Devotionals, because the wind and the rain is our Bible
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        #4
        Re: Pantheistsescribe your practice

        Pantheism is just my opinion on the nature of god. It really has very little to do with my craft, practically speaking.
        A human being is part of the whole, called by us 'Universe,' limited in time and space. He experiences himself...as something separated from the rest--a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness. This delusion is a prison for us... Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the of whole nature in its beauty...
        --Albert Einstein

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          #5
          Re: Pantheistsescribe your practice

          I've only recently come to consider myself a pantheist, after wondering if I might even be atheist for a while, but like Thal above, my practices haven't changed all that much from when I was a polytheist. I still speak to individual spirits and deities as though they are separate sentient beings, because while I might not believe they are individual sentient beings, my experience of them has shown that they appear as such if they're approached as such.

          I also consider myself a shamanist these days on account of most of my work being 'inner work', including my spellcasting style. Describing this will be a useful exercise for myself too, saying as this is all a recent change. So, here it is then..

          My main deity is 'Brigantia' originally a Goddess from Brythonic mythology, I see her as the largely genderless spirit of the island I live on; Great Britain. This is further broken down into more local deities. Most vital of all for me, as I've mentioned a lot lately, are the gods of the Pow Burn. Now mostly submerged, the Pow Burn was once large enough for ships to sail up, and its source is roughly under my flat. It surfaces briefly at a beautiful Victorian park 10 minutes from my home, so this park has become a spiritual hotspot for me. I pray by the exposed Pow Burn and there is a small secluded area on what would have been the river bank when the river was at its largest. This area is off the main path, and has a collection of large weathered stones. JP took me to it, because he used to visit it often as a child. I knew at once that this was the right place, and JP suggested we 'swear it in' by declaring my intention to the gods. I did, and then we kissed. As we did so it started to rain, and everything felt so calm and still. On our way back out of the park, JP pointed out that the rain had stopped as soon as we left the area with the stones, and that was the only rain shower that entire day. That felt pretty special.

          Although I'm going to be helping to look after parts of the park (mainly the herb garden and butterfly garden, although I may also be helping with an archaeological dig when it gets going), I only intend to visit the stones physically on festivals, or significant times. I start all my inner journeys from a visualisation of the stones, in the area as I imagine it would have been. Knowing it in reality really helps to see it clearly in my mind.

          My spellwork all uses what I call 'the inner flame' meditation, which is a combination of a few different techniques, but works on the imagery that there is a single non-sentient 'god energy', that flows through everything, myself included. I see this energy within me as a flame, and visualise it blending with the energy that is outside of me. I also make use of local plants, in particular the 9 woods, but also herbs and wildflowers make it into my work. Sometimes I collect parts of these plants to use, but I also often simply speak to them via visualisation. I started cataloguing the local flora and uses many years ago, and have picked up where this left off, so getting to know them is a work in progress. Spellwork is often followed (or sometimes preceded) by a ritual I call 'the mother's milk' which I adapted to use water, as it reflects my idea of 'the land as goddess', and the spiritual importance of the river, more than using actual cow's milk, as the original called for. There are a few other prayers that I use, but the mother's milk is the most ritualised of them, as it uses props (well, a cup of water) and visualisation. I also sometimes use the ritual alone, especially during quiet time at work. I don't cast a circle, set the wards or use an altar any more, but I still sometimes use my chalice and pentacle.

          I also anoint my forehead with water from the Pow Burn before any spell or ritual, unless I don't have any to hand, when regular water will do. It's still technically from the local area after all.

          My inner work currently focuses on knowing myself and healing my mind. I don't think it's work that can ever be completed in a single lifetime, but it feels important for me. I will consider journeying on behalf of others eventually, but not until I feel pretty secure in myself first. I do active visualisation in two separate inner worlds, one which I've visited for 15 years, and another that's only a few months old, however I also place a large amount of emphasis on my dreams. My dreams are usually vivid, often lucid, somewhat related in theme and character and I have varying degrees of control in dreams. It seemed like too significant a part of me to ignore. My worlds and dreams all come with a large family of imaginary friends, or spirit guides if you prefer! Oh and I acknowledge the fae too. I consider them to be smaller gods.. the god of a single tree, or blade of grass, for example, rather than a whole river or island.

          That's all I can think of right now.
          夕方に急なにわか雨は「夕立」と呼ばれるなら、なぜ朝ににわか雨は「朝立ち」と呼ばれないの? ^^If a sudden rain shower in the evening is referred to as an 'evening stand', then why isn't a shower in the morning called 'morning stand'?

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            #6
            Re: Pantheistsescribe your practice

            Originally posted by Jembru
            I also anoint my forehead with water from the Pow Burn before any spell or ritual, unless I don't have any to hand, when regular water will do. It's still technically from the local area after all.
            I love this kind of rituals! Must do them more often I guess.

            A lot of my practice is about prayer and words. I write a lot and quite often I realise that the things I write (those I'm not likely publishing on the internet) have caught something that has spiritual meaning for me. It was never planned to become a practice and even now it's more like scribbling down poems and little snippets that might stick with me as a part of my personal mythologies. I intend to make this a more structured practice, perhaps even working on my own creation myths as we have that inspiring thread on the S.A.F.E. Zone!

            Prayer is something I do even without noticing. I just talk, whine and sort of chant "please please please" (or sometimes even a little "thank you") even though I don't belief in a sentient being pulling our strings up in the heavens. But the - forgive me for the hazy words - energy and the act of surrender can be quite healing. Giving up the control over things that simply cannot be controlled. I guess this is also the place where the gods come in. Sometimes I need to put a face on the divine. (C'mon, I can't pour all my whining over the poor mortal souls. Some divine patience needed there!)

            I don't have a regular meditation practice, though I try to stay aware every now and then and also listen to some guided imagery meditations before going to sleep (some prayers or self-reflection might be included here). Going to nature, to wide open places and just walking until my legs get sore is a spiritual practice to me. Whenever I get to a body of water I dip my fingers and/or feet in it as an act of greeting. The same goes with snow and stones. It's a bit cheesy perhaps, but for me it's about getting connected, acknowledging that I'm made of water and dust and a silly little human brain that wants to float up to the stars instead of staying grounded on the earth. (Well, there's no problem including stars to pantheism as well! One of the guided meditations I do before sleep is just about that!)

            I do observe the solstices to some extent but quite often I don't really celebrate. It's more about contemplation for me. And many of the Wiccan-based (?) sabbats I don't observe at all, I prefer smaller and more local things like the first appearance of birch leaves in the spring, the first snow and so on. Something that is tangible for me. I guess a lot of my practices are formed in a similar manner: they're small and simple, yet they "speak" to me.

            I'm still going through the process of constructing my practices, they're still changing (and probably they'll remain that way).
            baah.

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              #7
              Re: Pantheistsescribe your practice

              Walking in nature is a big part of my practice as well. I live on the New England coast so I like to walk by the beach, and watch the tidal changes, the cranes and herons and occasional osprey. I also enjoy our piece of property in vermont as it's raw, untouched woods for the most part, and it's been a part of my life since I was 3. We call it the "old friend" and I feel like it knows and loves my family and I because we've taken care of it for so long. I hope to go up in a few weeks and cut a sapling for my staff that I want to carve as my summer crafty project.

              I lucid dream too-thought I have trouble directing my dreams onto getting insights lately-not sure what the block is there. I have this disembodied voice that always talks to me in beautiful sunsets or other sun imagery for some reason, and sometimes gives me guidance. I also have a Buddhist temple that I sometimes can find in my dreams, and on a few occasions my Nichiren Shu sensei shows up there, and we talk about stuff in my life and she chants for me. One time I was meditating in the zendo of that temple and realized the 2 "monks" meditating there with me were Bodhidharma and Huineng, the Zen patriarchs! Across from this dream temple is a great Chinese restaurant on top of a big rock, with golden foo dogs by the doors!

              I practice a lot of intention related things that are I suppose *cringe* a tad fluffy woo woo, like setting out intentions at 11:11. I am interested in sigils and chaos magick though I view them more as psychological reality hacks then as actual magick/witchcraft. I also use the I Ching for guidance as I find it uncannily accurate in the insights it gives me. I'm also interested in learning more about dreamwork and perhaps journeying techniques.

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                #8
                Re: Pantheistsescribe your practice

                There is a Japanese concept I love called "shinrin yoku" or "forest bathing" that involves simply immersing yourself in the woods-forest therapy, if you like.

                I have done this since I was a child. I could spend hours walking through the forest.

                Interestingly, shinrin yoku is actively promoted by Japan's version of the Forest Service, and is considered a way to improve health and reduce stress and may actually improve your immune system.

                I also have been reading the bioregional animism blog (Thalassa that's similar to what you practice, right?) and am finding that resonates with me, as like I said I sometimes consider the land a being, not like a human being, but a living being with which I can interact, even if it can't "talk" to me in a a traditional sense. I will admit though I am very hesitant of anything like "shamanism" because I hate cultural appropriation and white people stealing native practices and using them without the understanding that you don't just call yourself a shaman or medicine man/woman-that's not how native cultures do that.

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                  #9
                  Re: Pantheistsescribe your practice

                  Originally posted by Spiral Arms View Post
                  I also have been reading the bioregional animism blog (Thalassa that's similar to what you practice, right?) and am finding that resonates with me, as like I said I sometimes consider the land a being, not like a human being, but a living being with which I can interact, even if it can't "talk" to me in a a traditional sense. I will admit though I am very hesitant of anything like "shamanism" because I hate cultural appropriation and white people stealing native practices and using them without the understanding that you don't just call yourself a shaman or medicine man/woman-that's not how native cultures do that.

                  I wouldn't consider myself an animist per se, but there's a lot of overlap between what I do and what they do. If I had to pick a word to describe my view here, I'm sort of fond of hylozoism.

                  And interestingly, I've an unfinished blog post that mentions shinrin yoku, and also friluftsliv....English needs a word that combined these two ideas. Something that adds to the idea of ecosophy the idea that you actually have to go outside and be in nature.
                  Last edited by thalassa; 22 Jun 2015, 09:12.
                  Wonderful Life: The Burgess Shale and the Nature of HistoryPagan Devotionals, because the wind and the rain is our Bible
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                    #10
                    Re: Pantheistsescribe your practice

                    Thalassa, I'm curious how deity fits in your practice, since I've seen you say before that you don't have literal belief in deities?

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                      #11
                      Re: Pantheistsescribe your practice

                      Originally posted by Spiral Arms View Post
                      I will admit though I am very hesitant of anything like "shamanism" because I hate cultural appropriation and white people stealing native practices and using them without the understanding that you don't just call yourself a shaman or medicine man/woman-that's not how native cultures do that.
                      Hmm.. I consider myself shamanist and have nothing to do with Native American cultures. We just don't have a good enough word in English for someone who works with sprits and the spirit world. My practice is just what came to me. I am loosely inspired by local Celtic civilizations, which I AM directly descended from, and many reconstructionists seem to feel that shamanism had a place in Celtic sprituality too, so it conveniently fits. I don't see how having no better word for my practices than 'shamanism' has anything to do with culteral (mis)appropriation. I realise that calling myself a shamanist isn't the same as calling myself a shaman though, and I think the sensitivities about the terminology could be different here in the UK. To me, it's a word. Of course, I also heard that Native Americans don't even use the word 'shaman' themselves. So I don't fully understand the situation.
                      夕方に急なにわか雨は「夕立」と呼ばれるなら、なぜ朝ににわか雨は「朝立ち」と呼ばれないの? ^^If a sudden rain shower in the evening is referred to as an 'evening stand', then why isn't a shower in the morning called 'morning stand'?

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                        #12
                        Re: Pantheistsescribe your practice

                        Originally posted by Spiral Arms View Post
                        Thalassa, I'm curious how deity fits in your practice, since I've seen you say before that you don't have literal belief in deities?
                        No, I don't have a belief in dieties as a literal contruct--as in an independently thinking and acting "physical" and discrete entity that takes interest in humanity (what most people would call a deity or god). But, I do believe in deities as a cultural construct, concieved as an interface with aspects of nature (including humanity). Unlike many contemporary Pagans, I don't expect (or really desire) a personal relationship with the gods and I don't consider worship to be a quid pro quo event. Traditionally religious practice has been about agency....I've talked about this before in regard to witchcraft, that it is a reaction to the problems of the society where its practitioners practice and a a social response to powerlessness, in which the practitioner can reclaim agency to that which they are powerless against (or conversely, in the case of some religious practices to give up agency as a way to give up blame--this is a relatively modern idea that comes form Christianity and has trickled down into some contemporary Paganisms).

                        As such, I worship deities as a means to worshipping nature (and by worship, I mean to show reverence for as a means of connection and communion). Practically speaking, my worship looks the same (from the outside) as any polytheist. The difference is how I think about what I am doing after the fact.
                        Wonderful Life: The Burgess Shale and the Nature of HistoryPagan Devotionals, because the wind and the rain is our Bible
                        sigpic

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                          #13
                          Re: Pantheistsescribe your practice

                          I'm a Pantheist, practicing intentionally for about 25 yrs...before that I didn't know it was a "thing" lol.

                          I don't believe in any personal deity, but I do worship the Sun. The Sun itself, not as a symbol of anything. Can't help it, just do, always have...my natural response to it.

                          I keep an altar...usually a main one in the living area of the home and a smaller one in my bedroom. (I've moved a vast number of times and am just settling into MY OWN home!)

                          I use the Equinoxes, Solstice and cross quarters as holy days/holidays. I redress the altar for each, usually seasonally based, and also choose a spiritual focus for the following six weeks. This is sometimes based on the natural seasons and how they relate to live, but often it's me recognizing some area in my life that would benefit from mindfulness.

                          I often do rituals on the holy days. I used to have big bonfires and invite people and feast and ritual...but life has gotten smaller the last several years so I do solo rituals, or with my boyfriend or pets. Sometimes I use other people's or guided meditations that they post online, a way of benefitting from, and sharing the event with others, even if we are not together in body.

                          I write prayers, usually about the Sun, sometimes about the Universe...or what I call the Divine Cooperation...because everything in the Universe cooperates to create the event that is the Universe.

                          I don't believe in the supernatural...BUT...I've had some things happen that I have no explanation for and that others would attribute to supernatural. For instance, I don't do empty the mind type of meditations, but I often do walking ones, and sometimes during them I begin to chant or speak in tongues sort of thing. I don't usually have a literal word for word translation of what I am chanting or saying, but I understand the gist of it. This happens spontaneously, pretty neat!

                          I also have a journal where I write down my beliefs, understandings of my role in the Universe etc...how I experience things. I go back and read it and get regrounded when I've gone astray.

                          My faith and practice are extremely important to me. If there is one thing I identify as, unfailingly, it's pantheism, and Sun worship. I'm an artist and I create a LOT of art that stems from and/or expresses my pantheism.

                          As another poster described, I like to go to a place where I can connect to all the "elements" at once. Like stand on a rock in a creek and turn towards the Sun, or even just stand on a rock on the ground on my bare feet.

                          That being said, I'm a Pantheist and I recognize that everything is cooperating to create this event we call the Universe. So I am not anti human, nor do I "distance" myself from man made things and urbanized places. It's all a marvel. Same with experiences....even the ones I REALLY don't like and wish to avoid..when they happen...I go with it. Not always happily but it's my practice to go with it just the same.

                          Again, I cannot state strongly enough how important my faith is to me. Without it nothing makes sense. When I get confused, resentful, joyful, hungry, cold, sleepy...my faith makes it all make sense...helps me understand myself as a function of the Universe.

                          My altar is the main focus of the living area. It's front and center and usually very beautiful. It draws people to it, people often bring me things for it. It's what a fireplace or hearth would be in days past. I don't have a tv or entertainment center, the altar is in the space that would be in some people's homes. It's really important to me to have it so available and so beautiful, tending it, as one would tend the hearth, having my cocoa in front of it, sitting and reading with my rabbit beside me.

                          There are various spiritual practices that I make use of in my daily life. They are not necessarily pantheistic, but I find they enhance my life and do help me stay aware and on track.

                          One thing that I am very vigilant about is NOT ever engaging in anthropomorphism of the Sun. People tend to fall in love with their metaphors...and I know I am WAY vulnerable to this. The Sun is the Sun, not a god, not a personality. I won't have any images of the Sun with a face in my home. I have a friend who teases me that I'm a fundie conservative Sun worshiper. I just know once I start referring to the Sun as "he" or "she" etc...and allowing myself to imagine a personality etc...that I will get sidetracked and go to the bad place. Falling all kinds of in love with my idealization and missing reality in the process.

                          That's my individual vulnerability, other's mileage may vary.

                          - - - Updated - - -

                          Gah, don't know how I forgot to add this. When I do ritual (and I do like and benefit from ritual) there is NEVER any making a circle to keep something out or something else in. One, because I don't believe in the supernatural and two...that is antithetical to pantheism, which is recognition of "we're all in this together".

                          I understand why others do it, and respect it, but like I said earlier...I have to be very careful of my personal tendencies to get caught up in certain ideas etc. I need to consistently bring myself back to center, to experiencing myself as a function of the Universe.

                          I think making protective circles etc is basic human nature, gather round the fire, circle the wagons, secret passwords etc. But I need to be very intentional about not closing myself off from things and engaging in anything like magical thinking...that has gotten me into SO MUCH TROUBLE in my life.

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                            #14
                            Re: Pantheistsescribe your practice

                            Threshold,

                            Very inspiring...I think you and I think very similarly.

                            I would like to develop a practice similar to what you've outlined.

                            I would probably incorporate some elements from my Buddhist practices, like the Heart Sutra which I see as a cosmological AND pantheistic statement "Form is no other than emptiness, emptiness no other than form." There are also things from the tradition such as the 4 Limitless Ones Chant and the Bodhisattva Vow, which is to protect and cherish ALL beings, so to me that means ALL beings, tree beings, human beings, animal beings, water beings, etc. (I'm not anthropomorphizing here, I am saying all living beings/systems ought to be cherished and protected).

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                              #15
                              Re: Pantheistsescribe your practice

                              I am a PanENtheist but I guess I could fit in this topic.

                              As we have a physicial body, organs, cells ect. but also a consciousness, I think the Universe is God's body but that It's -Consciousness- nonetheless transcend the physical world and vice versa. So to me, God is the Universe but also more than the Universe. In a small-scale comparison, we are living beings of flesh and blood but I believe we are also more than human beings of flesh and blood.

                              I am into science, paranormal, esotericism, occultism ect. These topics are of great interests to me.

                              I practice mindfulness meditation, magick and I would like to get into Yoga at some point. I am considering it seriously.

                              I love exploring world religions (and I see lots of panentheistic ideas in many of them).
                              Last edited by Wonder; 28 Jun 2015, 16:26.

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