Shepherds and Stray Sheep: A Guide to Evolution of Belief

We now have a general understanding of the three basic styles of belief; animism, polytheism, and monotheism. But what have those led to in terms of the evolution of belief?

Animism

Animism led to simpler practices that were predominantly personal or locally communal in nature. The example given earlier was the “umbrella” term of shamanism. But animism is also the style that fostered the growth of folk traditions, Gaelic Fae traditions, Celtic Druidry, witchcraft, etc. Each of these practices took on specific aspects from animism and grew organically of their own accord. Some would claim that among these there could be “religions.” The problem with that argument is that each practitioner of a tradition that branched from Animism practices in their own way. They have their own rules and boundaries and reasoning behind why they do what they do. Practitioners would be integral to their communities but utilized for their various specialties. A healer wouldn’t be called on if a hunter wanted to learn of coming weather conditions. And each practitioner within a community would respect each  of the others’ different methods. This is displayed often in media where you see tribal communities having a group of elders come together to discuss major events affecting their communities.  

A lot of animistic practices have been watered down in today’s society focusing more on imitation rather than innovation. We live in a society of instant gratification and that doesn’t just mean getting the results we want immediately. We want things to also be spelled out step by step and follow those directives without question because, “it worked for them so it will work for me.” And, sadly, that can work in certain instances but it’s not going to last. Also it undercuts the personal power that people innately have.  If you only do what is laid out in a rubric and never take the time to create for yourself then you limit yourself to only attaining what others say you can attain. 

Animistic practices are diverse, preserving the essence of what Animism taught millennia ago. Again, Animism is the predecessor to all spiritual beliefs and styles and what all styles will eventually return to. Animism puts personal connection, freedom, and expression above rules, dogma, and structure. Which is the shift we are seeing in society as a whole right now. Everything goes through cycles though.

Polytheism

Polytheism, while it could be personal, was much more of a communal style as I explained in its post. As communities grew around the various deities and people sought the assistance of these “gods” you gained the earliest versions of priesthoods. Expanding more on that, the “priests/priestesses” of the gods were less all knowing leaders of the people and more volunteers in service to their gods. Some of them were only working on behalf of a god as an offering in and of itself. If you don’t have much to give, being of service can go a long long way. 

And they weren’t originally called priests either. They were simply devotees who tended to communal temples. Kept the places clean or gathered herbs and resins to make incense believed to be sacred to the specific deity. They very seldom intervened in the happenings of other petitioners because they lacked any authority to do so. As religion grew though this began to shift. 

During this period, the term “priest” became more commonly associated with polytheistic practices. However, these were not formal religions as we define them today but rather cults. And please let me explain before we go into the big icky feelings surrounding that word. When we think of cults today we think of brainwashing, harmful behavior, radical ideals, and recruitment. Cults of the past, of polytheistic practices, were very different. To start with, they were usually termed “the cult of (deity’s name)” not “The Fellowship of the Purple Sun and Red Oceans,” or whatever gibberish modern cult leaders come up with. The naming is important because The Cult of Artemis or The Cult of Isis (two very prominent cults of the past) were a group of devotees to whichever god/goddess was being named. Members of polytheistic cults were apt worshippers of that deity and that deity only. They would choose to live in service to their deity and act as:

• Intermediaries:  Aiding in relaying prayers of petitioners to the deity or interpreting signs and dreams of the petitioner to aid in understanding the messages of the gods to mortals. Daniel in the Bible was an intermediary in this way. 

• Vessels:  Holding power of the gods and using that power to heal or divine portents when petitioners came seeking assistance. The Oracles of Delphi who would enter trances to gain visions from the Greek god Apollo.

• Stewards:  Maintaining the temples and sacred places of their deities. As such, they took a cue from religion and offerings were no longer left alone but now taken on as a way to sustain the priests/priestesses of the cult. 

• Elders:  They learned and taught the stories of their gods to preserve and continue the veneration of their deities. 

These are a few examples of the roles members of the cults would fill. There were also secret cults of course. These were more for devotees of deities with dark but sometimes necessary connotations. The Cult of Sobek would have been an example of this. Sobek was the guardian of mysteries in the depths of the Nile. As such, devotees would often go to Sobek seeking his aid in revealing the secrets of another person. It was the Cult of Sobek who would hear these pleas in the shadows and then act as spies to see if Sobek had sided with the petitioner. They would then deliver the news to the petitioner. 

The difference between “not secret” and “secret” cults is that the priests of the “not secret” cults were prominent in their communities. The “secret” cult priests would keep their identities hidden for the most part. This led to ideas that “secret” cults carried out nefarious deeds in the community as well. Some of those rumors could have held true but this is more a narrative development brought on by the rise of religion and the concepts of “good vs. evil.”

Overall, the cults of Polytheism were a more organized and dedicated priesthood to the various deities being honored. There were no major doctrines or dogmas for the petitioners to follow or observe to petition the gods. It was more of a dedicated team working on behalf of the gods. The priests and priestesses would have rules or rituals to follow. But those were not as written in stone and could change as needed by the will of the gods. 

Monotheism

In contrast to the cults of polytheism, Monotheism gave rise to religion. The commonality shared between religion and cultism is in the priesthoods. But the priests of religions took a more authoritative role in their communities. They were seen as not just intermediaries but as conduits of the divinity they represented. 

After the priesthoods, the differences really pile up. Firstly, there were dogmas and rules. Petitioners had to follow these in order to be “eligible” for communion with the supreme deity of said religion. Petitioners also were indoctrinated into the religion and under that religion were expected to cut ties to any other faiths or beliefs outside of the teachings on the religion. 

Religions are highly organized and structured with classist hierarchies. Priests/priestesses were not just readily accepted or as easily accepted as in the cults of polytheism. Rather, applicants had to undergo vetting and strict training around the strictures of the religion. Training, it should be said, happens in animistic and polytheistic practices too. The cults would train acolytes in how to serve in their capacity. Animism would select apprentices who either proved themselves or exhibited gifts towards the work. Training in religion was more of a breaking down of who the person was. A sacrifice of self to serve only. 

Hard rules, scriptures, and lack of individuality make religions more rigid in practice. In a religious setting, there is very little innovation and upward movement for the organization or the faithful. And when movement does occur it is often accompanied by a level of politics. Which gives religions more of a controlling air rather than a freedom of expression and experience. 

The oldest three religions in the world today are Judaism, Hinduism, and Zoroastrianism. Scholars cannot pinpoint which is the actual oldest. An artifact could be found this year that points to one and then in two more years a new artifact could surface supporting one of the other two. Buddhism, another very old religion, is a little different being based on a philosophical ideal rather than a supreme deity. But spirits are still honored in Buddhism as it has grown and evolved over the centuries. 

And practices I put as examples in animism have also had religious versions evolve as well, such as Wicca and, this is gonna be controversial, Reiki. It’s pretty well known about how Wicca is the religious version of witchcraft with rules and hierarchies. Rarely does someone equate Reiki with religion but it has rules, hierarchies, levels, dogmatic training, etc that turn the practice into a religion rather than animistic.

There are a few subsets that we need to address before we go any further. Because next is the history of how we got to where we are today.

Paganism

This is a hot topic among people and is often relegated to just animistic based practices such as witchcraft. The term originally was used to describe rustic village people. Later it was adopted specifically by the Catholic Church as the Romans spread across Europe and used as a slur against any non-Christian believers. It was then later used to describe anyone who was not of the three Abrahamic faiths:  Christianity, Judaism, and Islam. If you are not Jewish, Christian, or Muslim you are a pagan. Hindu? Pagan. Buddhist? Pagan. Onmyoji? Pagan. Witch? Pagan. Cult of Isis? Pagan. Folk Practice? Pagan. If you are anything outside of Judaism, Christianity, or Islam, you are a pagan. 

New Age

New Age refers to a new societal model of spirituality. Wherein people find power within themselves without looking externally for spirits, nature, etc. This movement was propelled by figures such as Eckhart Tolle, Ram Dass, Deepak Chopra, etc. That “fame” based backing made the New Age movement gain so much momentum as quickly as it did. It focuses mostly on the power of positive thinking. There are a lot of different books that reskinned the movement as the authors capitalized on it such as The Secret, The Sophia Code, Becoming Supernatural, etc. I would place the New Age movement as a sort of cultish movement but not like the cults of polytheism. More like what we think about cults in modern terms. Just a lot less damaging or dangerous. And somewhat agnostic in style really focused on personal power and independent mentality.

There is some truth in the New Age philosophy but the movement sprang up so quickly that there are a lot of fragile philosophies that don’t hold up to scrutiny. While the information can be a launching point of sorts to beginning to walk a spiritual life there is a lot of unhealthy rhetoric. Some of which pushes the idea of rejecting medical professionals or even developing unhealthy isolationist beliefs which hinder mental health care as well.

Modern Cults

I’m gonna sum this up quickly. A charismatic person starts talking. People resonate with the pretty words. A following starts to grow surrounding the charismatic person. Maybe a commune gets started. And then someone passes out the Kool-Aid. 

Not all modern cults end in that extreme of a tragic scenario. But poison can be both literal and figurative. Most today end up in more legal trouble from fraud and theft rather than murder. Which is probably a better outcome overall…I guess. 

Basically a Bard rolled a natural 20 multiple times and crashed hard at a natural 1.

This post already went much longer than I wanted. There are so many topics to cover just from the information I gave but we really do need to be moving on. This is one of those times where if you have questions or want to go deeper on any of this information please comment or email me. We can have a discussion or I can do a Q&A section in the blog to post in-depth answers to questions this may have brought up. 

We can now move forward with discussing historical events and understand how we got where we are spiritually in modern society. The next post will be about the Roman Empire and the consequences we are still experiencing from their actions. 

The information in this post and the following will most likely challenge a lot of perceptions and perspectives despite historical accuracy. Before moving on, I have an experiment for you to help you get a feel of those coming challenges. Get some paint swatch cards from a hardware store. All in shades of blue and multiple sets. Take a few days and hold each up to the sky to get a match and put a mark on the back of that card. Put that entire set in a box and use a fresh set for the next day. After a few days, tally your marks and see how many times you marked the same cards. Simple practice but it is very effective at challenging perspective. And sometimes we need to challenge our own perspective because we should always be in the flow rather than stagnate into hard rules. 

Have a safe and wonderful day.