Christian Supremacist culture is a lot like the other forms of supremacy: it is a system rather than an event. It is an invisible structure that normalizes and enforces Christian standards (of belief, behavior, morality, and more) over all other standards. And, as an invisible and ever-present system, it is subtle and gets into everything: an odorless, tasteless gas that we all breathe and internalize. Most of us who were raised in Christian Supremacist cultures (as here in the United States) carry deeply embedded behaviors, attitudes, and beliefs that need to be deprogrammed and dismantled in order to step further away from that harmful system.
One facet of internalized Christian Supremacist belief that has been coming up in conversation recently has to do with how Pagans envision, approach, and connect with spirits. The dominant forms of Christianity teach that there’s really only one spirit: a singular tripartite deity with a mythologically classic death and rebirth cycle. Some Christian traditions include demigods of varying types, but the Christianities that most influence Christian Supremacist culture are monotheisms, with a huge emphasis on the “mono.”
The upshot of this is that contemporary Pagans will blow right past their closest potential spiritual allies on their way to the gods. The pre-Christian cultures that many of us root our practices in could not be further from monotheism. Along with full, vibrant pantheons, all the pre-Christian cultures I know of included a vast web of spirits ranging from human ancestors to spirits of the land to spirits of the animals and birds on that land to spirits of homes and public buildings to spirits of wisdom and specific traditions…the list goes on and on and on.
Maybe it’s just the Marine Corps in me talking, but why are so many of us going straight to the General rather than talking to our own squad?
As in any other culture, the spirits that you live closest to and who are the most deeply connected to you are also the most likely to be interested in interceding on your behalf. In the mundane world, when disaster strikes a region, it is your closest physical neighbors who will determine how well you weather the challenge (a good argument for at least getting on speaking terms with the neighbors). In the spiritual world, it is the ancestors and local spirits you’ve cultivated a relationship with who will work the hardest to help you survive.
The gods love us. They really do. But they love us the way we love our pets: with the knowledge that our beloved pet has a limited life span, limited capabilities, and will ultimately be replaced after death by another adoption. Additionally, our deities do many things: they have goals and visions and plans that impact us, and that we may not like. For example, I don’t think my dogs appreciate that I work and am therefore gone from home or unavailable to them most afternoons. I’m aware of that, but I’m managing larger issues (trying to survive capitalism) they’re blissfully ignorant of and I’m not going to change my plans or behavior just because they want to go for a hike or snuggle on the couch.
Enter the spiritual polyculture. I first heard the term “spiritual polyculture” from author and teacher Trey Moonwood, and it’s a wonderfully succinct way of describing a healthy set of relationships with the spirits connected to us and living with us – a relationship that can include gods, but is vastly more complex than a dedicant relationship to a deity. If you’ve fallen into the Christian Supremacist habit of only relating to the gods (and don’t worry, it happens to a lot of Pagans – that’s what supremacist systems do), begin to think about your spiritual relationships as part of a greater, more diverse system.
In agriculture, a polyculture is a food or resource-producing system that simultaneously cultivates multiple varieties of plants and fungi. Polycultural food production results in a more adaptable, sustainable, diversity-boosting system that produces a wider variety of resources. Polycultural systems are more resistant to challenges like climate change and pest predation, and are much more sustainable and stable than monocultural food production.
(I promise this isn’t turning into a permaculture lecture.)
By building a spiritual polyculture, we’re contributing to the greater vitality of our local and personal spiritual world while also creating a more resilient, vibrant, rich spiritual practice. This well-supported and -connected spiritual practice has incredible benefits in terms of being able to access help, guidance, and nurture.
There are three good general starting points for building your spiritual polyculture. Spiritual relationships are like any other friendship – they require intentional cultivation and an exchange of generosity – so if you’re starting from scratch, I’d begin with one of these and then add on once your relationship is strong, stable, and settled into a healthy pattern.
Land spirits. Unless you’re reading this from the International Space Station, land spirits are all around you. They predate the existence of humans and will continue to exist whether we do or not. And, as land-bound beings who consume the fruits of the land and live upon and with the land, we are intimately tied to them. Acknowledging this connection and starting to cultivate a friendship with the land spirits we spend the most time with is a wonderful practice.
Land spirits come in different sizes from entire mountain ranges, to an individual flowing stream, to your backyard, to the single oak tree you pass every day on your way to work. Just as my body is part of and the dwelling space of my spirit, the physical land, plants, and fungi you see are the “body parts” of the land spirit in that area.
Begin to cultivate a relationship with your land spirits by making offerings that are good for their bodies (in my region, water, coffee and spent coffee grounds, worm tea, and finished compost are all good options). Then, dedicate time to talking to your land spirits. This can take the form of sitting outside and literally talking to them, then deep listening (my preferred method), but it can also include meditation, journeywork to visit the spirit in the spiritual realm, and using a divinatory tool as an intermediary.
House spirits. One of the fascinating things that happens to houses and buildings of all kinds over time is the emergence of a spirit. There are many hypotheses as to why this happens: all the energy that gets circulated in the structure builds up, the combined vitality of the small lives that end in or around the structure (like the mouse that dies while wintering by the foundation) transfer into the building and become unified, the human tendency to personify non-human structures eventually calls forth the potential for enspirited-ness (sometimes called megin in Norse magical practice), or even simply the process of the creation of the building itself: a birth that brings together human effort, natural resources, and the participation and witnessing of the land spirits.
House spirits can be interacted with as guardians of single detached buildings, but also as the beings associated with specific apartments or rooms. Indeed, some buildings have an entire colony of spirits that are part of different regions in the structure.
Begin to cultivate a relationship with your house spirit by introducing yourself and creating a small offering space for the house spirit. Many house spirit shrines are house-shaped in some way: wooden craft birdhouses one can purchase and paint from craft stores are very popular for this. However, any small dedicated space will work: a house spirit shrine can be as simple as a cup and a candle tucked somewhere safe. As with land spirits, begin making offerings and creating time for communicating with your house spirit. Build a friendship with a foundation of generosity.
Ancestors. The human species in the form we inhabit today is around 300,000 years old based on the most recent science. Every person on the planet has thousands of ancestors stretching back to the very earliest days of our species. And, if all of the people in your line were terrible, you simply wouldn’t be here. The line would have died out and you would not exist. Every line contains some incredibly good people, some total jerks, and an enormous number of people who were (and often still are) doing the best they can with what they have.
You are the living hope and embodiment of your ancestral line. You are the immortality of those who came before you, a descendant of thousands of lives, loves, and struggles alive and aware on our beautiful planet right now. The ancestors who care about their descendants are invested in you, and that number is far more than zero. Even if your most recent ancestors were jerks, your line includes many people who were not: spirits who love you and are trying to help you. Reach back further than the most recent hundred years, or even thousand years. Reach into the ancestral realm for ancestors who are wise, benevolent, and invested. They’re there. I know because once we get about 5,000 years back, we all have the same ancestors, and I’ve personally experienced the support and love of the holy dead.
Begin the relationship with your ancestors by specifically calling on the wise, benevolent, invested (or similar words of your choice) ancestors. Create a small offering space for them on your altar, or as part of a collection of old family photographs and ancestral objects. Make offerings to them and talk to them – the dead love it when we speak to them aloud. Tell them about your life. Express gratitude for all they survived, and all they continue to try to do to help. Build the relationship with your chosen ancestors on a foundation of respect, care, and generosity.
Diversity is how a garden thrives: growing ever more rich, productive, and interdependent as time passes. As beings who are working to reconnect with the sentience and spirits of our world, we need to dismantle Christian Supremacist thinking that was designed to keep people subservient to a singular power. As in all things, we are better together. Grow your polyculture. Diversify your connections. Make more friends and allies in the spirit world. And watch as your practice blossoms.
So, what does your spiritual polyculture include? How did those relationships begin? Hit me up in the comments. You never know when your ideas are exactly what another witch needs to read.
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