I have been something of an "armchair philosopher" all of my life, but in the past few years it has become an integral part of my life as I sought to define my beliefs in a Higher Power.  A number of my close friends are Pagan, as well a couple who are Catholic, so the discussion has certainly been interesting.  For now, however, I like to concentrate on the "bigger picture" of agnosticism and paganism, especially given the sheer amount of history they're involved in.

In a world where it is increasingly easy to find information on the spirituality of any number of cultures, past or present, the term "Pagan" has become as all-enveloping a term as "Christian."  There are any number of different 'denominations', from groups views to individual theologies — and in essence all of them are right.

Indeed, this seems quite fitting since the origin of the term "Pagan" is from the Latin  paganus, which meant no more or less than "country-dweller," someone who continued to follow the Old Ways instead of the new, classy metropolitan theologies.

So now that we live in a world where we have access to the histories of more and more of these country-dwellers, from all over the world, the modern Pagan (or philosopher) has his/her choice of theologies and pantheons to choose from. And s/he doesn't have to stick to just one, either!

My personal belief has always been that the Divine presents itself to each culture as they are/were best able to perceive and comprehend it. The Divine created the world, with all its little daily miracles, and is manifest in everything  around us, including our own souls.  Living in an age of science does not, in my opinion, make this any less true. (For example, someone may ask herself, "But what came before the Big Bang?  What created that ball of matter?" or "What gave each new life-form that little nudge that started its next mutation/evolution?")

Analyst and psychologist Carl Jung refers to the old 'myths' as archetypes of human experience, the personification of a culture's psychological beliefs. While in the distant past, the gods were certainly not viewed in such a light by their relative cultures, it is actually safe nowadays to regard them as such.  This is not to say that the gods, or any form of Deity, do not exist — rather, this is to say that in a world where phenomena are usually explained by science, we can look deeper than the original purpose of their given identities.

In the olden days, people relied on the myth-stories they created to answer questions of existence that they otherwise had no explanations for.  The identity of the Divine in the form of gods and spirits evolved as much from that need for an explanation as from the presence of the Divine.  Now that we know the scientific answers, however, we are free to find the hidden facets of the gods, sometimes even blending them together to form a more comprehensive picture of the Divine whole.

This process of blending together the faces, dimensions, and/or attributes of different gods (sometimes even different pantheons!) is, I believe, similar to what children go through.  As infants start to grow into early childhood, they begin to see their parents as more than just That Big Person Who Takes Care of Me.  As they gain more experience, children begin to add to their list of names for their parents: Provider of Food and Shelter, Caregiver, Storyteller, Confidante, Advisor…

This process of growth and finding new 'faces' for one's parents goes on until the child becomes an adult -- which for the sake of this analogy would mean the passage of an individual into the Afterlife --when s/he sees only a somewhat idealized version of the parent.  Essentially, I think that in the world we live in we have moved past infancy (ancient cultures) into early childhood, where we can see different faces of the Divine and begin to incorporate them into what, for now, is a clearer picture of the whole.

What this means in practical terms is that the modern Pagan doesn't have to stay with one particular culture from which to choose her/his view of the Divine.  Nowadays, especially with the number of books, websites, and internet articles on cultures from literally all around the world, and almost every recorded period of time.  An altar, let alone a theology, may hold icons or symbols of deities from the 'mythologies' of Hindu, Greco-Roman, Egyptian, Celtic and/or many other societies -- and every one of them is valid.

To give an example out of my own life — the most personal faces of the Divine Force to me come from the ancient Greek, Egyptian, and Yoruban/Afro-Brazilian cultures, primarily focusing on the feminine.  Athena, Greek Goddess of Wisdom; Diana, Roman Virgin Goddess of the Hunt and of Childbirth; Isis, Egyptian Mother/Queen Goddess; Bastet, Goddess of Fertility, Dance and Joy (and cats); and Iemanjá, the Y/A-B Mother Goddess of the Sea.  To me, these manifestations of Goddess provide the comfort of wisdom, strength, compassion, warmth, and trust.

While my favorite pendant is a small owl in homage to Athena, my altar at home consists of symbols of the other goddesses: a statuette of Goddess in her form as Mary, another of her form as Bastet, a peacock-feather which is the symbol for Roman Juno, and a sea-carried twig in homage to Iemanjá.  I feel perfectly at ease with all of these faces, and because of that, I always feel a palpable sense of peace and contentment when I pray or just light a candle with a request (Catholic habits are hard to break ;-)).

Yet, recently, I have started reading about other cultures and other stories of God and Goddess — including Hindu, Celtic, and Native American cultures — and in the future I will no doubt incorporate those as well.  And in the same way as I feel connected to the aspects represented by my current "personal pantheon", I am sure that in the future I will feel a connection to those and any others I will find.

Since the Divine, in essence, is all around and within us, I feel that seeing these different faces to God and Goddess is very similar to the different faces we ourselves present to the world.  Child, Sibling, Friend, Lover, Boss, Worker, Priest/ess, Counselor, Parent… All of these faces are true, depending on what is needed or called for at the time.  So why should the pure essence of the Divine be any different?

To paraphrase a line from the (in my opinion) fabulous movie,  Dogma: it's not important  what you have faith in, just that you have faith. In the case of modern Pagans I think this is all the truer — or at least more easily accepted and displayed.