(Note: this is still very much under construction. Everything here is subject to heavy revision, and should be viewed merely as being a work in progress. Input and OPEN MINDED criticism are more than welcome - they will help in the creation of this essay, and be properly credited, if those offering them should desire. Simple assertions, however, will be ignored, as will arguments consisting purely of biblical quotations. The Bible is a text to be analysed, not a reference book to simply look things up in).

The first law of Science, one might say: observable reality trumps theory, every time. I had no choice but to try to make sense of what I had seen. On deeper reflection, I found that there was at least one possible "third religion", that would allow one to reconcile the two experiences. Once I let go of the very Jewish notion of perfect divinities working in perfect accord, much that was mystifying became easier to understand.

The conclusions seemed so strange, though, that I was sure that I was the only person who had come to them. I started going to church, and attending Pagan meetings, being very careful not to tell one group about the other. This turned out to be a good decision. I already knew that most Christians would be displeased by the thought of a polytheist in their midst. I discovered, before even speaking, that most "Pagans" were no more openminded. Soon, spiritually speaking, I found myself in a closet within a closet, and much to my ever growing astonishment, discovered that there were others in there with me.

"Fellow fence straddlers, you mean?", some of my "open-minded" New Age "friends" would say. This I knew, because I heard them talk disparagingly about a group of people that I had never heard of, before: "Christo-Pagans". No, not fence straddlers. Fence straddlers ignore reality in a vain attempt to make peace with two warring camps. We embrace reality, as we have experienced it, knowing that to do so, is to incur the hostility of both camps, Pagan and Standard Christian alike. Christo-Pagan Syncretism is the polar opposite of fence straddling, because politically, it is rarely an easy path.

In face of this hostility, the Christo-Pagan can only say "so be it". If we begin to believe that our respect of the gods should be put aside because of human prejudices, then aren't we putting the whims of our neighbors over the will of God? I was under the impression that religion, true religion, taught us to do things the other way around. If we pursue our faith, in order to connect to something greater than ourselves, and find guidance along the way, how can it be otherwise?

Christo-Paganism is even less a collection of set doctrines than is any branch of "Pure Paganism". It is a philosophical work-in-progress, and each Christo-Pagan will have his own unique perspective on how to pursue it. What follows, will give you a taste of mine, the one that I use to construct the tradition followed, when I preside at the Shrine. I hope that you find it of interest, even if you disagree with much of it, as I expect most visitors will.

Elsewhere on this site, we discuss ways of looking at the process of finding what one believes, theologically. By the very nature of the process, the beliefs that arise as a result of our approach are always tentative, and incomplete. The process is a living reality, to be experienced, not a body of doctrines, carved in stone. But it is in these beliefs that we root our rituals which, as a result, evolve in time, much as do our beliefs, and, we suspect, our dieties as well, though, of course, on a much different time scale.

Here, we begin with a statement of what the process, applied to our own personal experiences, has inclined some of us to believe. We will not tell you what those experiences are, as we feel that you should be seeking your own. But, if you are led to beliefs akin to those we find ourselves holding, the part that follows, in which we discuss ritual in the light of belief, will be of direct relevance to you. If not, again, we offer it to you as an example of how belief can lead to ritual, with the hope that it may spark a few ideas of your own in this area.

Our group and its site are probably different from those of the other American Christo-Pagans you've encountered online. Others will bring a Wiccan sensibility to the "Christic" mythos, often thinking of Christ and the Virgin Mary as the latest incarnation of the Wiccan lord and lady. By contrast, we are synchretists, here, offering our devotion to some of the Hellenic dieties as well. We are not Wiccan, and do not, as a group, engage in magical or occult practices in any form.

Upon study of the stories and writings that give meaning to the names, we find ourselves with a strong belief in and fondness for two dieties in particular - Jesus and Aphrodite. There is, naturally, nothing akin to the gospels coming to us in extent form, as a result of any revelations attributed to her. However, there is a very definite personality that we find suggested by the character development in the myths, and we find that in praying to her, we find a source of strength in the living of those values whose support seems to be suggested, and often find our prayers answered in other ways as well, when they are worthy ones. What is of significance to us, in the study of these stories, is not the vague hint of moral teaching. That, we seek in Philosophy, not Folklore. What is of significance is the understanding that the deity will stand for that which we would wish the strength to stand for ourselves.

Some points of explanation, for reference, from elsewhere on our site

1. "Constructing God". Some basic outlooks on the nature of the Divine, and our search for it. (Quasi-Empirical vs. Occult Spirituality). The title refers to the mental constructs that we all too prone to confuse with the reality they would model.



2. Some perspectives on myth - our view of its significance in general, in light of our conception of the nature of the Divine. Sifting the Divine from the human accretions, or at least making a credible effort to do so.



3. Jesus and Aphrodite. How the outwardly directed compassion of Christ, and the less universalist pre-Christian love of the other, as illustrated in the attached myth, serve as necessary complements to each other. Each of the two deities, in some sense, serving as the needed loyal opposition for the other.

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