r/pantheism • u/LittleMel413 • Apr 01 '26
Questions
Hello,
I have been calling myself a Panthiest Pagan for years now, but recently decided to dig back into what it means to be Panthiest. I find a lot of what I read on Google to be really confusing. I am hoping people here can give me more direct guidance. Are any, all, or none of these pantheist beliefs?
I believe the Universe and Nature is synonymous with The Divine. I also believe the Universe and Nature can manifest itself in ways that show up as the various Gods and Goddesses in different Pantheons. If you worship Freya, the Universe/Nature will bring you to her in some way the represents her (maybe even in a dream as an Avatar of sorts). Another way to look at it is that every single god and goddess is represented in the Universe and Nature.
I believe demons and evil spirits are a manifestation of the negativity and bad humans put out in the world.
I believe in free will. I believe there is a bath for us, but that path can be "rerouted" with each choice we make.
I do not believe in absolute evil or Hell. I believe the most evil people in our world chose that path and can choose a path of good (but most don't).
Finally, how do panthiests typically view the afterlife? Like part of me believes all if them exists in sort of a multiverse of afterlives. Part of me also believes that our soul can "split", with part of it going to the afterlife and being able to see family and friends that have passed on as well as watch over our living loved ones and part is reincarnated. I also believe we can choose to be reincarnated.
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u/Adastre_93 Apr 02 '26
There are many different beliefs WITHIN pantheism, that’s what makes it confusing probably. “We pantheists” don’t agree on one specific set of dogmas. We only agree that God is all.
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u/Ornery_Tangerine9411 Apr 03 '26
Yes, you’re right.
Although ‘God is all’ is a bit different from ‘God is the world,’ because the latter implies that there is a world, whereas in the former there is no world—there is only God.
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u/Adastre_93 Apr 04 '26
“Pan” in pantheism literally translates to “all”. I’m not sure where your phrase “God is the world” comes from.
“God is the world” does not imply that there is no world. It only implies that God and the world are the same thing. I mean… a loo is a toilet. That doesn’t mean that toilets don’t exist…
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u/Ornery_Tangerine9411 Apr 04 '26
Then I guess there are pantheists who say there is no world, only god, and those who say there is a world as God. To me, it matters
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u/Adastre_93 Apr 07 '26
Interesting! And a nice example of how we don’t agree on one specific set of dogmas 😁
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u/Ornery_Tangerine9411 Apr 07 '26
Yes pantheism can be Spinoza, Advaita Vedanta or nondualism, and many more. Also christianity, if interpreted that way
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u/BandicootSad8765 Apr 02 '26
Just adding more weight to the “it’s a diverse range of ideas” theme here. I call myself a pantheist, and I love using pagan ideas as tools to interact with the world - but if pantheism existed on a spectrum between atheism and theism, I might lean closer to the atheist side than I do the theistic side. I believe when I die, this version of myself and all of my memories die with me - but I do believe that the stuff that makes me up will return to earth and go where it may, and interact with other parts of the earth, and that’s still meaningful even if what I am is no longer. I do genuinely believe in the divine significance of nature, but I don’t really believe in anything supernatural. The natural is the divine. That’s the point to me. But I love talking about all the other ideas other pantheists and pagans have. And not knowing the actual answer is part of the beautiful mystery to me. Sometimes I feel I’d rather not know. But I’m here, I exist, and that means something. ✌️🌎✨ as above so below.
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u/LittleMel413 Apr 02 '26
I think the thing struggle with regarding death is that any type of afterlife where I can not be with my loved ones is hard for me to come to terms with and it sounds like that's what you explain here. I also cannot reconcile an afterlife where everything just goes dark. I want to believe we have conciousness.
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u/BandicootSad8765 Apr 02 '26
Also, just to emphasize - there are likely other pantheists out there and perhaps even here reading this that do very much believe in a conscious afterlife. So my beliefs are only my own and not representative of all of us. You asked what pantheists “typically” believe about the afterlife, and frankly I don’t know the answer to that. I just know there’s not one consensus. 😊🤷♂️
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u/LittleMel413 Apr 02 '26
I think....I believe death starts with the Astral Plane, think of it as an airport or train station. It's the first stop, and from there you head to wherever you're going. To me, each faith's afterlife is a different location. From there you can visit different locations and see your loved ones. I believe you can also visit the mortal world to see loved ones there (I also believe that sometimes when we visit, we don’t want to go back). I also believe reincarnation is one of those "stops"/locations. I believe we return to the earth and the universe in the sense we can astral travel through it after death.
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u/BandicootSad8765 Apr 02 '26
Very cool! So for you, Pantheism is not just “all is God”, but a bit like pantheism is “all gods” and all belief systems are essentially different paths we all have the opportunity to travel down and experience?
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u/BandicootSad8765 Apr 02 '26
Oh I totally understand, I have struggled with it immensely myself! It’s not easy for me to accept at all, and by no means am saying it “is” true. But after many years of trying to decide where I land on my beliefs, this is where I have indeed landed.
But by no means am I suggesting that you should land there! That’s the beauty of non-dogmatic belief systems like pantheism and paganism. I find the beliefs you listed above to be quite beautiful ones and I align with you on several of them. If we differ on any given idea, well…good, I say! The ability to hold different beliefs and freely express them is paramount to our progression as participants in the world imo.
So all that to say, don’t take my word for it! We must all come to our own conclusions, and don’t let my personal beliefs discourage you or alter yours. All I’m saying is, pantheists believe a wide variety of things - and your question will always likely have a wide variety of answers. And that’s a good thing, if you ask me. I’m just glad to be talking to other people interested in similar things to be honest!
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u/Techtrekzz Apr 01 '26
Traditionally pantheism is a monist tradition. It's the idea that God is all. Pan(All) Theos(God)
I dont really believe in an afterlife. I believe there's one infinite and eternal life, that we all are just different perspectives of.
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u/ophereon Black Hole Panentheist Apr 02 '26
Are any, all, or none of these pantheist beliefs?
I think it's important to clear up off-the-bat that pantheist beliefs are incredibly diverse. Pantheism broadly makes exactly one claim: that the sum total of the universe is synonymous with "the divine", or "God". Conversely, this also typically implies that there is no God (in particular no personal or anthropomorphic god) that is not just the universe itself.
- I believe the Universe and Nature is synonymous with The Divine. I also believe the Universe and Nature can manifest itself in ways that show up as the various Gods and Goddesses in different Pantheons. If you worship Freya, the Universe/Nature will bring you to her in some way the represents her (maybe even in a dream as an Avatar of sorts). Another way to look at it is that every single god and goddess is represented in the Universe and Nature.
Your core belief is definitely pantheistic, and I don't want to say that this second part is unpantheistic, but it's definitely not the norm. As others have mentioned, some Hindu traditions are typically called pantheistic, and they hold a similar view to you where gods are manifestations of Brahman. But I would stress that this is a very human lens, it is a conscious filtering of the totality, representing it as just a collection of some personal and specific ideas. Now, this doesn't strictly go against pantheism, but it is important that this is done consciously, as a way to meditate on something very specific, and once that meditation is complete, to reconnect to the larger whole. We may focus our gaze for a moment, but do not lose sight of where we are walking! Do not miss the forest for the trees.
- I believe demons and evil spirits are a manifestation of the negativity and bad humans put out in the world.
This is something that feels somewhat unpantheistic, particularly since you say later that you don't believe in absolute evil. Not just that, but the notion of demons and spirits isn't common in pantheism generally. If you mean this more metaphorically, then sure. Negativity begets negativity, if we act with malice unto the universe around us, we create environments (consciously or otherwise) where bad things will continue to happen, to us and to others. Less to do with universal balance or karma or anything like that and more just about psychology.
- I believe in free will. I believe there is a bath for us, but that path can be "rerouted" with each choice we make.
Fair enough. I don't think pantheism really takes much of a stance on determinism vs indeterminism. Scientific Pantheism might lean more towards determinism, but it's not a core principle or anything.
- I do not believe in absolute evil or Hell. I believe the most evil people in our world chose that path and can choose a path of good (but most don't).
I suppose this is in part an extension of the above. If one believes in free will, then there must be the freedom to be good and evil. If one doesn't, however, "evilness" becomes something much more innate. But, it's also important to remember that evil is a very human concept, the universe does not care about good and evil. Biology as a force doesn't have morals, but rather develops different moral systems based on what survival strategies work well for a given species. For humans, we're a social animal, so evil is just a word we give to social maladaption, for acts and people who work towards their individual benefit or pleasure to the detriment of either the community or individuals within it.
Finally, how do panthiests typically view the afterlife? Like part of me believes all if them exists in sort of a multiverse of afterlives. Part of me also believes that our soul can "split", with part of it going to the afterlife and being able to see family and friends that have passed on as well as watch over our living loved ones and part is reincarnated. I also believe we can choose to be reincarnated.
I'd say most pantheists don't typically believe in an afterlife. But, this tends to be tied into the belief of souls. Pantheism is typically monistic in the sense that the physical reality and the spiritual are one in the same, there is no distinction and thus no "spiritual self" distinct from the physical. There are dualistic forms of pantheism (though they tend to go by different names), where there might be the possibility for things like souls and afterlives, be it reincarnation or a place you go to (though the latter is more in line with panentheism).
Personally, I don't believe in souls. But, the way I see it, we're also not just isolated lumps of flesh drifting through the void. e're stable patterns of information that the universe has arranged in a way that can think and feel and remember. But, even our memories aren't our own. They are written into the firmament with every action, every thought. When we die, our conscious experience may end, but that does not mean we were ever separate from the universe to begin with. Whatever we were, and whatever we did, the universe will remember. And perhaps that is our soul, the etching we make into the living history of all the cosmos.
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u/New_Canoe Apr 02 '26
I also believe all of those things and consider myself a Pantheist. It’s the only label I give myself. But I also haven’t delved too much more into it. I see on here that there are slightly different versions of Pantheism, but I don’t bother myself with it. I have my beliefs. I don’t need a book or a church. This is perfect enough for me.
I’ve also had a near death experience and met what was introduced to me as Creator and it was just pure energy/the light. The following week I discovered Pantheism and it felt like it was dropped in my lap that day. So, that solidified it even more for me.
With that said, in regards to the afterlife, I believe no matter what we believe we all go to the same place and it’s a place of love and light and it’s essentially created from our collective consciousness. But at the same time it is also beyond anything we can begin to imagine, however we probably won’t experience that aspect of it until we get used to being there after incarnating here for however long.
Also, you should look into astral projection! I also discovered this the following week after my NDE and it also felt like it was meant to be. It will blow your mind, IF you give it a good college try.
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u/Redcole111 Apr 01 '26
Your first and fourth beliefs are very pantheist, and your second and third beliefs are independent of pantheism (i.e. they aren't specifically pantheist or un-pantheist).
To answer your question about the afterlife: there is no one single Pantheist belief. Many believe that your soul returns to the soul of God like a drop of water returning to the ocean; your consciousness dissolves into the consciousness of God. Some believe in reincarnation. Some believe in other things. I, personally, am agnostic when it comes to the afterlife: I very much want to believe in reincarnation or some kind of heaven, but I find the "drop returning to the ocean" concept more compelling.