Pantheon

*Pantheon* literally means "all deities" and is used to indicate the collective spirits of a particular spiritual tradition, mythic cycle, religion, or culture. Thus the Olympian Spirits comprise one pantheon; their competitors, the Titans, form another. Titans and Olympians also belong to the greater Greek pantheon, alongside various unaffiliated spirits.

In terms of practical spirit working, various issues arise regarding pantheons. First, is it permissible to blend pantheons, or is that just being sloppy and all over the place?

Pantheons have never been graven in stone; they evolve and change. They are only static to those who perceive them solely as historical matter reflecting the past. In other words, there may be no such thing as a "pure" pantheon. As people interact with each other, their spirits come into contact with each other, too. Spirits negotiate, form alliances, or have conflicts with each other in the same manner as people.

Pantheons reflect relationships between spirits and also between spirits and people. The very existence of a clearly demarcated pantheon may indicate a group of spirits venerated by a specific group of people and an attempt by those people to create a cohesive mythic cycle involving these spirits. In other words, the pantheon is already a blend of previously individual spirits.

Sometimes pantheons reflect the natural order of spirits and relationships between them, but sometimes pantheons more accurately reflect the needs of people. Pantheons are sometimes cobbled together in an attempt to form a coherent mythic cycle incorporating deities of different traditions or attempts to find a place for new spirits. People tend to like order, but spirits tend to be disorderly. Pantheons are frequently attempts by people to create divine order and clarity.

Mythic descriptions of wars between pantheons may obliquely describe conflict between nations, each possessing its own religious beliefs and pantheons of spirits. Tales of one pantheon conquering another (as, for example, the defeat of the Titans by the Olympians in Greece) may reflect human political or social realities.

As many human societies became increasingly male-dominated (as in Greece, for instance), women were identified, not as individuals, but as some man's wife, daughter, or sister. Likewise, previously autonomous goddesses followed suit, formally incorporated into pantheons in relation to male deities: Hera became Zeus' wife; Artemis and Athena his daughters. Amphitrite became Poseidon's wife. The most significant surviving myths of Thetis detail her marriage to a mortal and her role as Achilles' mother, although she is a very great goddess on her own.

Historically, people have always blended pantheons, especially in urban areas. The Bible is filled with complaints regarding "whoring after" foreign spirits. The Magical Papyri of Alexandria, Egypt, which document spiritual practices from the early centuries of the early Common Era, record magic spells that simultaneously address spirits of Greece, Egypt, Mesopotamia, and elsewhere. One ritual recorded in the Magical Papyri simultaneously invokes Adonis, Anubis, Ereshkigal, and Hermes. Each of those spirits derives from different pantheon: Canaanite, Egyptian, Sumerian, and Greek, respectively.

*The Kaleidoscopic Path Wiki* contains spirits from all over the world. Must an individual work exclusively with spirits deriving from their own religious or ethnic background? That's completely up to you. Some people feel especially close to spirits reflecting their own background or feel safer with them. However, historically, veneration tends to be cross-cultural. Spirits may or may not recognize distinctions that are so important to some people.

Another thing to consider is that spirits may know more about you and your ancestral, genetic history than you do. As with pantheons, it is possible that there is no such thing as a "pure-bred" human being. Each individual's ancestry goes back to the drawing of human life on Earth; family trees and DNA are full of surprises. Spirits may recognize ancient ancestry, history, or loyalties that we no longer recall or recognize. The spirits responding to your call may reveal mysteries of your own deep ancestral roots. Or maybe they just like you or feel protective toward you for reasons having nothing to do with ancestry.

Can you place spirits from different traditions and pantheons on one single altar? Again, that is up to you, whatever you feel is appropriate. An altar is a reflection of your own spiritual journey. It can serve as the crossroads where your spirits meet. They are already interacting in your life. If you can envision them all hovering around you, then they know each other and can safely be placed on an altar together. If, however, you feel that this is awkward or somehow wrong, then follow your spiritual instincts and create individual altar space as you deem most appropriate.

## Information Source

Encyclopedia of Spirits: The Ultimate Guide to the Magic of Fairies, Genies, Demons, Ghosts, Gods & Goddesses by Judika Illes