Walking with the Gods

An ethnographic survey of the polytheist religions that are emerging in contemporary Western societies.. In spring of 2011 Dr. Wilkerson began interviewing contemporary Western polytheists about their religious practices. The point of her research was to discover how “faith” is defined in a polytheist context and to demonstrate how the experiences of polytheists constitute a unique type of religiosity that deserves to be taken seriously. It was anticipated that there would be between 20-30 interviews but before the three years of research and writing were finished over 120 people participated in this large-scale ethnographic study of emerging polytheist religiosity. As the research demonstrates contemporary Western polytheists are intimately concerned with the business of connection: actively and deeply engaging with their Deities ancestors land and community and living a whole and fulfilled life within that nexus of connection. This theology differs significantly and substantially from the concerns of the pervasively monotheist culture in which they are immersed. More importantly these differences raise important theological questions about our culture’s assumptions regarding Deity faith religion nature and humanity’s relationship with each.