Quando in un bosco ne percepisci la bellezza e diventi tutt'uno con il bosco, allora, intuitivamente, sei in armonia e in pace con le Dee e con gli Dei. Essi sono parte della nostra vera natura, la nostra Natura Profonda, e quando siamo separati dalla nostra vera natura, viviamo nella paura. Percepire questa normalità vuol dire dare un senso reale al vivere che è insito in tutte le cose.

Intraprendere la Via Romana al Divino significa iniziare un percorso di risveglio: praticando l'attenzione e la consapevolezza continua ci incamminiamo lungo una strada sapendo che ciò che conta è il cammino per sè più che la destinazione.

When you, entering a forest, perceive the beauty of the forest and you feel to be in a complete harmony with it, then, intuitively, you are in peace with the Deities. They are an essential part of our real nature, our Deep Nature, and when we are separated by our real nature we live in the fear. Perceiving such normality means giving a real sense to our lives.

Undertaking the Roman Via to the Deities implies a path to awakening: with the practice of continuing consciousness and awareness we undertake our walking knowing that taking the path is more important than the destination itself
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giovedì 12 marzo 2015

Polytheism

Talking about Polytheism today is not a low profile issue. This is particularly relevant when thinking for example about the agony of the major monotheistic religions (now deprived of their spiritual, symbolic and mystical value) often resulting in a blind and violent fanaticism which highlights their inability to accept the plurality, to interpret World and their inherent weakness.

Polytheism presupposes a conceptual basis, also in this case according to a sacred and not profane perspective, much more complex than one might think at first observation.

This concept doesn't refer to a simplistic range of "functional" Deities (the God of War, the Goddess of love, the God of fire, the Goddess of health, etc...): polytheism results from a multifaceted perception of reality, Nature, the Universe.

It is important to note that polytheism is based on the idea of "different" and "multiple". This diversity and multiplicity of relations are described by continuous flowing, changing, movement. The continuous interactions of these multiplicities, with their movement, combination and alternation, are the representation of the Ultimate Unity at the base of the being and non-being.

This relationship between diversity and unity can be found in many sacred symbols such as the symbol of fire (male symbol) and water (female symbol).

sacred symbol of Fire


sacred symbol of Water


This symbolism can be also found in the tympanum of the Traditional Temple (having therefore something more than a sole and mere architectural function), in which (not coincidentally) were depicted important representations of the Deities.








The Ultimate Unity is materialized in the breath cycle that permeates all the reality, resulting from this ongoing relationship between "paradigms" in a continuously interdependent relationship.

This multiplicity is not in "hierarchical" opposition: a force is not hierarchically superior to its opposite. The Male does not prevail on Feminine. Each force depends on its opposite, it is completed by its opposite. Each polarity always reveals the presence of its opposite and its dependence on this. To be included in its unity, a force, an energy, thus requires further explanation through its opposite. This complementarity is symbolically described by the "double spiral"

All reality is permeated by these multiple, complementary forces, in a continuous movement, in a continuous flowing like a wave: they become the qualities inherent in the forms of Nature and the Universe (at the micro and macro level) that become therefore dynamic systems of relations and correspondences.

The creation, generation and destruction are components of a "cyclical rhythm", a sacred dance that can be found in all the manifestation of the being.

Paint in an Etruscan tomb

Male/Feminine, expansion/contraction, active/passive are symmetrical elements linked by a substantial identity and by relations: from these links the One derives.

Considering that the macrocosm and the microcosm are in a specular relation, a man or a woman (when achieving the necessary awareness) can become the "image" of the Universe (in a sacred sense). A man or woman are not elements "detached" from Nature: they not only are part of it, but they can reflect in their inner Temple the image of the Whole.

Polytheism, as vision and awareness of the diversity and multiplicity of complementary forces linked by relationships, not only is a key to understanding the nature and the universe, but it is also an instrument of interpretation of the universe within us. It is a way to cultivate a form of Inner polytheism.

For this reason, the Traditional Roman Spirituality, being an expression of Polytheism, does not condemn the reality of the world as a source of sin: indeed it is a practice to enjoy the reality of the world in all its forms because "being" and "becoming" coincide, the Absolute depends on the Relative.

All manifestations of the Divine, in the male and feminine polarities, are thus manifestations of absolute realities. Deepening the sense of the specific characteristics of a Deity means perceiving the facets of the same absolute Entity taking shape in that God/Goddess.

The Traditional Roman spirituality is therefore a "practice", a "path" to evidence this flow, this inner transformation, without absolute truths, without dogmas, based on a continuous questioning. The Traditional Roman Spirituality is a path of inner "growing", also enforcing our perception of the World because Gods and Goddesses are forms of revelation of the Absolute. Transcendent reality can be perceived here and now, in this life, awakening our inner conscience. The body and the senses are not instruments of sin: they can become vehicles of knowledge, tools to approach the Divine.

The Sacred Dimension is not a dogma, but it is something that must be experienced, independently from erudition and formalities, in order to perceive the deeper meaning of reality and its symbols.

5 commenti:

M' Sentia Figula (aka Freki) ha detto...

I agree with you. I especially like the line “polytheism results from a multifaceted perception of reality”. It seems to me that many people, even some people who call themselves polytheists, fail to understand this. There are preoccupations with wanting to confine oneself to a particular category – as if each category was genuinely distinct from others. There is talk about whether or not they are pagans or polytheists, or universalist polytheists, or tribal polytheists, or reconstructionist polytheists, or Roman polytheists, or Hellenic polytheists, or Germanic Heathens, or Buddhists, or New Age. I cannot see why we can’t be all of these things if we want, or none of them, or some of them. Being one of these things does not need to preclude you from being another. Sometimes people ask me my religion and I really don’t know what to say – because I don’t have just one religion (like a Christian would), for I am a polytheist and a Buddhist. For me, Roman polytheism is an embracing and expansive mindset, not a rejecting and narrow one. In the same way the ancient Roman attitude to sexuality did not concern itself with heterosexual or homosexual, as we often do toady, because there was not an obsession with wanting to categorise oneself in a limiting manner.

Carmelo Cannarella ha detto...

How you correctly state in your comment, an authentic polytheist feeling cannot be based on a discriminating mind. Polytheism remains a polychromatic vision of reality and nature. Different traditions, because polytheism affirms pluralism, can interact, even amalgamating, with each other. For this, as in the past, you can practice different religions simultaneously while remaining coherent to your own "Via". We must develop the ability to identify a common trait in diversity and this sensitivity has been often lost in many people. No faith, no religious institution can claim the monopoly of truth. This is the reason why in polytheism is not possible to use the term "religion" just to reject any "sectarian" approach to spirituality.

Carmelo Cannarella ha detto...

Ooops. I have noticed a mistake in my previous comment. Of course the correct expression is "you can practice different cults simultaneously...", Sorry...

M' Sentia Figula (aka Freki) ha detto...

Totally. On this theme I love the following quote by a Professor of Classics at the University of California:
'One of the most noble aspects of the Roman character was its ability to adopt the customs and beliefs of other cultures and to incorporate them into Roman culture. Many scholars, both ancient and modern, believe that this ability was the source of Rome’s greatness. And until the triumph of Christianity, which was fanatically intolerant and whose growth coincided with the sharp decline of Roman power, Roman open-mindedness had been rewarded by success in building and maintaining an empire [J Shelton, As the Romans Did at 417].'

Carmelo Cannarella ha detto...

I fully agree with this vision...