Generally when someone uses the word Pantheon, they are referring to a specific set of Deities from one people/ culture, such as the Romans or the Norse. Even within some of the larger groupings such as Celtic, there are smaller more specific Pantheons such as Welsh and Irish.
The idea of a Pantheon in itself, just means a collection of Gods. The Greek translation of the word means “(a temple) of all Gods” . Most people will look at it in the sense of the example above, but I find more often it is a blending of different Deities, from different pantheons, creating what I call the Personal Pantheon.
The Personal Pantheon
Everyone finds and connects to Deities in their own way. With this in mind, I am only going to be speaking from a place of self and experiences that others have shared with me. It may not encompass everyone’s experience, so just keep that in mind.
We are a people of blended backgrounds and cultures spread out through time. So it does not surprise me that the most common thing I seem to encounter are people with a blending of Deities from different cultures. Meaning they may be working with or honoring The Morrigan (Irish), Arnakuagsak (Greenland), Anubis (Egyptian), and Dionysos (Greek) all at the same time. This blending creates what I call the Personal Pantheon.
These Personal Pantheons may be created based upon our ancestral backgrounds, but we also live in a world of blended cultures. This means they can also be made of Deities that we have no cultural ties to but instead have been drawn to. I have found there are no rules to Deities in this sense. Deities may be associated with a specific people, culture, or even religion, but Deity is also its own. They have Their own agency and Sovereignty. That means They will choose who They choose, and it is not for us to say anything about it.
The Structure of a Pantheon
In the standard thinking of a pantheon, one who is all from one culture or religion, you have a collection of Gods but each God holds its own domain. They govern over certain domains and aspects of our living life, and the collection covers every aspect of life and death.
For example: They have a Deity that is in charge of Fertility and Birth, one for the Hearth/ Home, one for Battle, one for Love, one the dying and Death, and so forth. Some Deities may rule over a few areas that are interrelated such as Fertility, Love, and Hearth.
For the old-school way of looking at pantheons, it gives a person all the Deities they would need in their life within one pantheon. They also incorporate the cultural contexts and nuances of those specific people. The way the view and interact with each other and with the larger world. Their customs and ways of honoring Them reflected by the people themselves.
A Personal Pantheon works in a similar way. Generally a person will have multiple Deities that cover different life domains. The only difference is that They come from various different backgrounds. It requires more work than the standard pantheons as well. Because each one comes from different cultures it requires understanding them in those contexts and working with and honoring each of Them in different ways.
Deities for Your Path
In standard thinking, a pantheon holds Deities for all aspects of life, broke down into specific domains, all in one convenient place. That has not been my personal experience. I am a Death Worker, also healer in that sense, but the domain I work in is Death and Rebirth. In a sense you can say that pattern holds all the others within it, which it does in my opinion, but my Deities are directly connected to those domains in that sense.
The Morrigan has aspects of the reaper, the psychopomp, but She also held all the aspects of foundations and building personal foundations. Hel is the Keeper of the dead, but She also taught me about the ancestral soul, the living soul within me and that I am adding to with my life. So the lessons also include living aspects and what I do in them. This is just the tip of the iceberg for Them and the depth of the lessons They held for me, but this is an article not a book.
When teach or working with others I see very similar themes. They may have a much broader scope then me, and work with Deities in even more specialized in Domains, such as one for the home, one for love, and so forth, but the Deities are all related to their path and life challenges.
To Choose or Be Chosen
Some Deities are ones the person sought out and perused a relationship with. I find more often than not though, the Deity chose them.
When people say “the Deity chose me” others have a vision of a Deity appearing to them, very clearing stating who They are and why They are there. It would be nice if this was true, but that kind of straightforwardness is very rare. It does happen, but not as clear or often as the above idea.
For many, there is a struggle in figuring out who it is appearing or calling to them. This is because the Deities of different pantheons, but over the same domain, are very similar. They are each Their own face of that domain. They have subtle differences, different lessons, different approaches, but They deal in the same work and energy. This can make it difficult for people to pin down who it is that is reaching out.
It can take time and asking questions. For some, they may get a strong feeling of who it is and follow that feeling to see how it works out. Sometimes a name just stands out or resonates with them, an inner knowing. Then there is the labyrinth that some must travel – Where they start with one that they think it is, and over time the Deity seems to morph and change until the person finally comes to the realization of the true Deity they are working with.
I think the labyrinth journey is an interesting one, and one I have experienced. In each form my Goddess took, there was a piece of information, and understanding I needed that I would not have seen or encountered if I immediately connected with the real name of the Deity first.
Many tend to look at this kind of labyrinth journey as wasted time or being “unknowing” but I don’t. If I did not take that journey, if I did not allow Her to shape-shift through these different faces, I would have missed out on so much knowledge, lessons, and subsequent wisdom I needed. I would have boxed myself into the dogma others placed upon my Goddess, and never known the true depth of Her.
The journey itself taught me my perspective of Deities and the Patterns They are connected to. Each one is a face for that pattern, a layer of it. Each individual, each holding Their own lessons and ways of guiding us, yet Their core energy is the core energy of the pattern (domain) itself. The deeper you go, the closer to touching the core you get.
Challenges Both Ways
There are challenges either way you choose to look and work in pantheons.
For the standard idea of a pantheon, you get all the Domains in one place. It makes it easier in a sense. If you need to work in the pattern of Love, you just go to the Deity in that pantheon that has that association. There is a simplicity in that. There is also an aspect of boxing you in, or limiting your perspective if you are not conscious of understanding the layers and depth of Them beyond the dogma of the cultural context.
Deities are more than just the culture we associate them with today. They evolved from earlier aspects and people of that culture, which we do have information for and may not even know that they existed. There stories are older than the ones we have written today, and can be very different from the ones that became theirs in more recent incarnations. Boxing yourself into just one version of Them can make you miss out on the totality of Them. – Note, this goes for either way view or build pantheons.
In a Personal Pantheon there is more work involved. You need to learn and research the cultures, people, history, and evolution of the people for each Deity. To understand how they viewed the Deity, worked with Them, and honored Them. In some cases you need to take into account that some of the energies may not mix well together. Thus you have to make separate time and space for them, where as a cohesive pantheon generally does not have that issue.
Closing Thoughts
In the end, if we are truly connecting to our Deities and allowing Them the freedom to show us who They are at the core, I think that is the best approach. For at the core – the face, the name, the culture all tends to fall away and what we gain is the knowledge, experience, and then wisdom of the Pattern itself – the core energy of the domain and all the power it holds within it.
I also want to point out I am not talking monotheism here either. It is possible that all the domains link back into one, yes – but I still believe we are dealing with multiple domains/patterns, and various guides within that pattern. At least that is my experience and how I work.
The Morrigan once said “What you call Divine doesn’t matter – only the connection.” The deeper understanding of this statement changed and shaped my views of Deities. Some will agree and some will not – and that is fine, because in the end we are not here to follow each other – we are here to discover and follow our own path in this life.
Pantheons are very much like family. The ones who are bound together by a cultural tie – and the ones we create. Which way we go, really is up to us.
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