A Bunch of Pans and Polys
It seems there’s a bit of confusion going on in the non-pagan world regarding the use of the following words, all of which were derived from the Ancient Greek words pan, meaning “all,” and poly, meaning “many.”
First up is the word pantheism. This word is being misconstrued as meaning that neo-pagans worship more than one God. From Wikipedia, pantheism (Greek: πάν (pan) = all + θεός (theos) = God, literally “God is all”-ism) is the view that everything is part of an all-encompassing immanent God. In pantheism, the Universe (Nature) and God are equivalent.
Pantheism (and pantheistic) are apparently being confused with the word pantheon, which is a set of all the gods of a particular polytheistic religion or mythology (again from Wikipedia, Greek: πᾶν (pan) = all + θείος (theios) = of or for the Gods).
Indeed, most (if not all) neo-pagans are polytheistic and practice polytheism (Greek: πολύς (polús) = many + θεός (theos) = god, literally “many is God”-ism) which Wikipedia tells us is the belief in or worship of multiple deities, such as Gods and Goddesses.
What is more interesting, however, is that neo-pagans, witches and Wiccans are, on the whole, more panantheistic than pantheistic, and that the distinction between the two is important, something that doesn’t seem to be quite clear either inside or outside our community. Note that I did not say we are panantheistic; I said we are more one than the other. Check out this post; it’s what got me going on this linguistic dissertation.
Panantheism is (Greek: πᾶν (pân) = all + ἐν (en) = in + θεός (theós) = God, literally “all in God”-ism) a belief system which posits that God exists and interpenetrates every part of nature, and timelessly extends beyond as well.
In a nut shell, in pantheism, “the God/dess is in the whole;” in panentheism, “the whole is in the God/dess.”
In panentheism, the God/dess is not viewed as the creator or autonomous power, but the eternal animating force behind the universe, with the universe as nothing more than the manifest part of the God/dess. The cosmos exists within the God/dess, who in turn “pervades” or is “in” the cosmos, is in us. While pantheism asserts that the God/dess and the universe share the same area, panentheism believes the God/dess is greater than the universe and that the universe is contained within the God/dess. (Once again, thanks go to Wikipedia.)
Gosh, how I love the etymology (Greek: ἔτυμον (etumon) = true sense + λογία (logia) = study of, literally “the study of true sense”) of words.
Truly, how many people do you think will actually comprehend what you just said..? Doing the job I do, I am daily exposed to a large segment of the population – both from the ghetto & The “right” side of the tracks. Daily, my opinion of the intelligence of the general population is lowered.
But you know, if it was just the people I deal with at work, it might not be so bad, but it isn’t…Have you tried to make your change “easier” lately? You know, your total is, say $3.57, and you give the cashier $4.02, so you get back two dimes and a quarter, rather than three pennies, a nickel, a dime and a quarter..? Try it. Even if you do it BEFORE the cashier enters the amount tendered in the register so it pops up the total – even then, you will see serious confusion in their eyes. If you do it after..? You’ll be there an extra 15 minutes trying to explain. The worst..? We did quite a dance to get ourselves into a home that is in the school district we’re in – supposedly one of the best in the STATE. Yet we have received communications from the school – note, that is PLURAL, this has happened several times – with misspellings & punctuation errors. FROM THE SCHOOL. Can I just say GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR….It’s sad but true – my 6 year speaks more properly then most adults. I loved the post! But then, I also understood it…LOL
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dawtch
I know…being literate in today’s society has nearly become a handicap!
However, I can’t stop thinking that some effort to educate is better than
no effort at all. I agree the effort is most likely hopeless, but if I
interest just one person in what words mean and why they mean what they do,
I’ll be happy (surprised and shocked, but extremely happy).
I like math, too; numbers are so fascinating. And taking tests; they’re
like playing a game against yourself, against the teachers, against the
test itself. I was always a bundle of nerves just before taking a test;
not nervous afraid, nervous excited. I like a lot of the things a “girl”
is supposed to hate.
I know, you don’t have to say it: I’m doomed.
Are you my twin in a different body..? My boy has been known to correct adults for speaking improperly…myself included LOL. Hopefully it’ll rub off on his friends and start a revolution! (What!?! It’s my fantasy and it can be whatever I want…)
In school, I got in more trouble the the “bad kids” – until I became one, but that’s a different story.The teachers could never figure out what I’d done when I “showed my work” in math…I add from left to right…I had a teacher send home a report card with Ds & Fs, despite all As in homework and tests – the only time I can remember my Mom coming to my defense. Apparently, since I did all work in class, and didn’t have to take anything home, I couldn’t have all As on the report card, because then the other kids would think they could “not take work home” and get As. Mom said they can – if they do it at school & get As on everything, and made the school change my record.
Tests..? I LOVE tests. I love your description – playing a game against yourself. Taking tests is how I spend my free time. Whenever someone breaks out a crossword or one of those “How Many Words Can You Find In This Word” thingys for a prize, I almost feel like I’m cheating…LOL. Have you found http://www.queendom.com..? If not, go check it out, you’ll love it!
bb
dawtch
I have a girl friend who has been a card-carrying member of Mensa for years
and, after her divorce, I agreed to take their test so I could accompany
her to their meetings in a supportive role while she got back on her
“singles” feet. Taking their tests was some of the most fun I’d had in
years! It was then that I realized that IQ tests don’t really measure
intelligence, but how well you take tests. Some people who are very
learned simply do not do well in a test environment, while others who may
know nothing about a particular subject but have superior test-reasoning
skills and can deduce from the test structure the appropriate response will
appear to know more than they really do (which was my case on some of the
different types of IQ tests — they give you more than one type — some are
more scientific/mathematical, some are more artistic/intuitive). I scored
extremely high on all types, but I know I’m not GIFTED in every area! I’m
just an exceptional test taker because I love to take tests.
I didn’t have to do my “home work” at home, either. And my father, who was
a computer scientist and taught me both how to count in binary and
calculate from left to right when I was in the fifth grade, gave me the
ability to frustrate the teachers, too. When I was in junior and senior
high school, I used to cut classes because I was bored and, because I was
shuttled between divorced parents, I was always ahead of my class. I was a
handful! I refused to hand in “proofs,” just the correct answers, and that
really drove them bonkers. I didn’t have any “proofs,” because I was doing
it all in my head! Today, I need a calculator or spreadsheet to multiply
two digit numbers!
I enjoyed (and understood) this post and I love etymology as well. I actually got hooked on the origins of words back in highschool when I stumbled upon the history of the word ’story’, referring to the different floors of a building. I’ve never forgotten that and have developed a talent for finding the best names for things because of this early teaching.
Dawtch, you had me laughing pretty hard with your comment… I can’t tell you the number of times I have gotten those blank stares myself when I attempt to minimize my change in the manner in which you described!
One of my favorite words is “homunculus.” It just sounds dirty, don’t you
think? And it’s disturbing how few people know what it means.
Since I rarely HAVE cash any more, I now get the confused (nay, indignant)
fish-eye when I hand my plastic to the automaton standing at the cash
register. I do believe they have been programmed that all rectangles of
plastic that appear at the end of any humanoid’s digital appendage has been
coated with flesh eating bacteria, given the way they practically reel away
in horror when I have the temerity to provide my card to be swiped.
Apparently, while I was “sleeping” off my life threatening illness, someone
decided that customers would now have to do all of their own swiping — and
that every card swiping machine would be different — the card would insert
differently, some would produce paper, some not, some would have touch
screens, some not, some you sign on the screen, some not, there would never
be any instructions other than a tiny depiction of the ass-side of a
generic card, and the cashier would be totally ignorant and unhelpful. I
would pay good money to go back to the way it was! When cashiers actually
DID something, other than act like the customer was there to answer THEIR
questions: “Where did you find this? Were there any others like it?
Well, how much did the other ones cost? Would you go get one of the other
ones, because there’s no price on this one. God, I hate this effing job.”
Yeah, that’s because you’re a effing homunculus.
*snert!*
Yeah, what she said.
I can translate that into early Martian if needed, my little green sweetie
pie.
I, apparently, am one of the many… I looked it up and it meant pretty much the opposite of what I guessed its definition to be. Oh well, I can’t claim thriving intelligence on every subject!
Think of it this way…you are now just that more intelligent and have
added one more neat word to your repertoire!