Theon Philoi Homepage

Friends of the Gods Worldwide

The Best of the Old, the Best of the New

"It is true that I am of an older fashion; much that I love has been destroyed or sent into exile."

-Samuel Johnson

"Everything that flows from the Gods is full of divine Nature. Our Fate and fortune are not separate from Nature's creations, since they weave and link with the things made by Providence. Providence is the source from which all things flow; and allied to it is Necessity, and the welfare of the entire universe. As a part of the universe, you are also subject to whatever process is good for, and helps to maintain, the well-being of Nature. Paradoxically, the universe is preserved by constant change. Not just by changes in the basic elements, but also by changes in things compounded from these elements. Let these principles be enough for you to live by, and let them always be your guide. Lose your thirst for books so you don't die cursing your life, but cheerfully, truly, and from your heart be thankful to the Gods."

-Marcus Aurelius

Theon Philoi is not a religion;
It isn't a group with leaders or meetings or dues;
It isn't a reconstructionist team, a re-enactment group, or a charity.
Theon Philoi is a "free association", open to anyone
Who thinks that the Gods of the pre-Christian past are real
And still worthy of worship today.

Members of Theon Philoi have only one thing in common:
A desire to find and live by the "perennial wisdom"
Once enjoyed by their polytheist ancestors in ancient Europe.

Studying the polytheistic religions of the past,
Understanding what their common wisdom has to say to us now,
And adhering to it in a modern context
is the goal of Theon Philoi.

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The Community of Friends that Makes Theodosius Toss in his Coffin

On behalf of the Friends of the Gods worldwide, I welcome you to the "quick resource page" I've thrown up, and am busy building from day to day. I'm Robin Artisson- a semi-well known Pagan propagandist and troublemaker- and in tandem with some great-minded people out there, I've overseen the development of a modern philosophical and religious stream of thinking (I call it a "mind club") that gives modern people some useful perspectives and options for accessing some very old wisdom- the wisdom found in the world of ancient, pre-Christian religions.

Why in the world would anyone want to worship Gods that went out of style centuries ago? The answer to that is truly complex, but I can suggest a few things that might make it seem not so strange. We look to our Indo-European Pagan ancestors for so much: the roots of art, government, architecture, philosophy, science, poetry, theater, and epic fiction. Most of us can agree that we owe practically everything of value in modern Western culture to them- the ancient Germans, Greeks, Romans, Celts, Slavs, Hittites, and others.

So it is odd indeed that the ONE thing we think they were "really wrong" about was their religious beliefs: they believed in many Gods and Goddesses, and had ancient, powerful cultural systems in place for showing piety, respect, and worship to those immortal beings who stood behind all of their cultural achievements.

That really doesn't make sense- and when you study the history of how religious culture developed in the West, when you see how the world went from believing in many Gods to just one, you begin to see a scenario that reminds us, in a chillingly familiar way, of how fanatics and extremists today try to interfere with the lives of ordinary people and enforce absolutist religious and social views on them.

Europe and the West didn't drop what they were doing and convert to Christianity overnight; after the long process of the subversion of ancient Rome's government was done, and Emperor Theodosius became the first Christian emperor to make the ancient, traditional religions of Rome illegal (and prescribed the death penalty for all people- including children- caught associating with Pagan religious practices in any manner) Christian missionaries began a systematic campaign of cultural destruction and subversion all over Europe. Pierre Chuvin's work "A Chronicle of the Last Pagans" is an especially good place to start for any who want a scholarly treatment of the truth of Europe's conversion.

Europe was Christianized from the "top down": foolish monarchs all over Europe, hungry for new allies in their own conflicts with rivals in their local areas often converted to Christianity in exchange for money, new cultural innovations, and military support from Christian nations. The people ruled over by these Kings- the common Pagan people who make up the bulk of all of our great grandmothers and grandfathers- found that these rulers quickly passed laws that made practicing their ancient and ancestral religious traditions nearly impossible. This was the price that we all paid when bad rulers signed their souls over to bad allies.

If it Starts Bad, it Ends Bad

We are still paying that price today, in many ways: even in this post-Christian world, people have trouble finding spiritual solace or depth in Christianity, more and more everyday. Considering the single-minded violence and absolutism with which Islam spread all over the east, it is questionable how much solace that particular virulent strain of monotheism ever gave anyone- and as Christianity's chief competitor in the modern day, we can see in Islam another face of the same old fear and force that robbed our grandparents of their precious religious truths.

The conversions of the world from polytheism to monotheism began in corruption and fear; they replaced the truth of the Many Gods with the invention of the One God, and destroyed the native cultures of Old Europe, replacing the sacred myths of the people with the myths of a distant and foreign nation- ancient Israel. The only native European myths allowed to survive were those of the Greeks, seen as fashionable by academia, and told in a decidedly debased manner.

Today, the average person of Indo-European heritage (and, sadly, those of many other sorts of heritage) can tell you a lot about Moses or Abraham or Isaac, but nothing about Siegfried, Brunnhild, Cu Chulain, or Fionn. They can tell you blow-for-blow how Jesus was betrayed, crucified, and was buried, but nothing about the Twelve Labors of Herakles, and the spiritual significance of those things. Indo-Europeans today are (along with many others) a people whose cultural heritage has been stripped from them, and they have been turned into spiritual orphans in this world, relying on the spiritual traditions of other people, and knowing little about their own.

Most will tell you that Bible myths are "real", while the myths of other people were "just stories someone made up". This situation is as sad as it is unacceptable. There's nothing wrong with the myths of other people- we just want ours back. And we don't want to have to die or be stared at in funny ways when we take them back. We aren't here to fight with others or burn down churches; we aren't here to freak the "mundanes"; we just want real freedom of mind and real respect for diversity to be values that our cultures truly embrace. And we want "religion" in the secular West to be what it always should have been- a private and personal matter. Also, we think it proper that the true story of spirituality and culture in the west be told- including how the rise of modern mainstream religions actually happened. Freedom and Truth: these are the pillars of all greatness.

Homeward Bound Amidst the Madness

Complain all you like about what other people believe, engage them in debate or historical review if you like, but nothing, not even your great faith in your chosen religious message, justifies intolerance for others on the mere basis of their religion in a secular society. Nor does any "scripture" give anyone justification for war anywhere at any time, the harassment of others in the name of conversion, "chosen status" for certain people, or any means of coercing others into agreement with you.

I now address all religious people in the West: if you can't handle the full meaning of the words "secular", "diverse", and "equal", let me politely suggest that you move residence to another part of the world, where religious governments are in charge. And enjoy yourselves there. The rest of us have the business of living to do.

Our politicians, fully steeped in cultural Christianity, could care less about diversity in any way; they make policies and laws based on moral codes that we don't all share- all in the name of the tyranny of the majority, who are their next tickets into office. Society itself leans heavily on the assumptions of Judeo-Christian culture, and this simplistic culture permeates every aspect of life. That's fine if you're Baptist or Catholic, but quite painful if your heart leads you back to the majesty of older religious traditions, or to the other modern alternatives out there, like Buddhism.

Give it a try- go join some freaky religion that doesn't begin with "C" and end with "Hristianity". You can quickly find yourself on the outside, in the middle of cultures that ironically pay great lip-service to how "diverse" they are, and how all people have "freedom of conscience" and "choice". In most Western societies, "freedom of choice" in religion really means "freedom to choose which christian denomination you'll belong to"- and in Islamic countries, any hint of "choice" was bled to death long ago.

In reaction to the fading of the edifice of Christianity, Christian fundamentalism has risen up- the final death-throes and gasps of desperation on the parts of the most frightened individuals. Its partner, Islamic fundamentalism, is only a continuation of the same "convert by the sword" policies that Muslim governments have used since the seventh century.

Our world is burning- in preparation for a new rebirth from the ashes- and what many people feel they need is an alternative to the madness produced by the spiritual, mental, and cultural white-washing of monotheism. People need to feel connected to something real and authentic- and the true depths of our reality is found nowhere else but in the good soil from which the roots of our original Western cultures originally drew their life.

Becoming Friendly With the Gods Today

Were our polytheist ancestors brilliant on every point except religion? No, they were just brilliant all the way around. They knew the real and living Gods as clearly as they knew so many other essential things about this world, and their Gods are still with us, today. Gods don't have to worry about death like mortals do- so we mortals taking a 1700 year hiatus in our devotions to them means little. The Gods are ready to pick up where we left off, thanks to our cultural and religious divergence; immortal beings have immortal patience. The real question is: how can we become ready?

The Friends of the Gods want to go back to the roots- which in a way, makes us the ultimate "radicals"; but instead of getting radical about "the one truth" that we feel everyone needs to accept or die, we're getting radical about the idea that the unseen world, like this world of everyday life, is a world of mind-blowing diversity, with room for people to believe in countless different ways, and still be good, virtuous people. What truly stands in the way of the re-emergence of a polysphere of free thought, of multifaceted personal religious experience and a sober reconsideration of the nature of the divine? Only the insanity of fundamentalism and the calcified corpse-traditions of the monotheistic faiths, whose experiment in a "one world religion" has finally reached the final stage in its failure.

Yeah, I know that you're biting at the straps to join us now- so how can you? It's very easy. If you like what you've read here, in my "fire and brimstone heathen sermon", then read our "Constitution". If you're still in agreement, you're a member. That's it. We don't have leaders, we don't have official meetings anywhere, and there's no dues. If you agree, you're in. If you disagree later with something, then you go, or you just hang around and complain, or start your own little ranty website and association of friends. That's pretty simple- and no matter what happens, it beats most of the other high drama nonsense that passes for "religion" nowadays.

If you send me your name and email address (and tell me in what part of the world you're located) I'll add you to our e-mailing list, to our worldwide directory here, and you'll get more fun letters from me and the rest of us, and you'll have a chance to network with people like us from all over. We're growing! We're coming out... and going back to our roots.

If, on the other hand, you think I'm a raving maniac, and that we're idiots who are all heading to hell in a hand basket, that's fine. I don't think you'll make a very good member of the Friends of the Gods. But we still hope that the Gods treat you well. The war between the world of polytheism and monotheism, started so long ago, is over- it ended with a whimper that no one really noticed.

The monotheist world-experiment has failed, and the new world of secularism and information-access has given people, in more and more places, the safety and education they need to take control of their own spiritual destinies, and rediscover what governments and religions have for so long kept a tightly controlled secret: Alternative life-paths and religious views exist; they aren't creepy or stupid or shallow; great men and women from the past have embraced them, and the creation of modern religious and social institutions were not acts of anyone's "God", but (mostly) acts of politicians and fanatics.

You do not have to be bound or limited by history anymore. You do not have to "do it" or "believe it" just because most everyone else has. You can look for yourself and see the information that others didn't want you to see. You can make up your own mind.

Welcome to the future!

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Links You (Probably) Want To See

Theon Philoi (Friends of the Gods) Constitution

Friends of the Gods Worldwide Directory Under Construction

Theon Philoi Online Networking Group (through Yahoo!)
Join to receive "Uncommon Piety",
The monthly Chronicle of Theon Philoi

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Essays and Other Useful Things For Modern Polytheists
more to be added shortly

"Fate, Philosophy, and Peace"
Strength and Insight for Modern Pagans In a World Where the Gods are Largely Forgotten

"From Mortals Become Gods"
Commentary on the Sayings of Orpheus, Part One

"Pious Pouring"
Making Libations to the Gods in the Modern Day

"Hymn To Artemis, Protectress of Youth"
A hymn of praise in fulfillment of a vow

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Our Inspiration (Aside from the Gods)

The Julian Society
Peter Kingsley's Website

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Those Polytheists of Various Cultural Traditions
Who have Actually Gotten Organized

Germanic Reconstructions

The Troth

Hellenic and Roman Reconstructions

Supreme Council of Ethnikoi Hellenes
Hellenion
Temenos Theon
Nova Roma

Celtic Reconstructions

The Celtic Reconstructionist FAQ
(Beware the "childless women" (self-called) who wrote this FAQ-
it only reflects their singular view of the Celtic Recon world:
We'll add more links on this realm soon.)

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Until this is up and running in full, you may wish to contact me
So please do:

Howlet_Dark@Yahoo.com

And if you are a spambot, some idiot spam-mailer, or a salesman,
You will perish in flames for misusing my address.