Worship and rituals in naturalistic/monist physical Pantheism.

[mycorrhiza]

As the God in naturalistic Pantheism is of the non-personal and non-sentient sort, is there a place for such a thing as worship and rituals? Is there a point in worshipping something non-sentient or performing rituals in a naturalistic religion?

Do you perform any rituals and do you worship Nature/God or just celebrate the existence itself?


To me, rituals hold a symbolic value and I "borrow" some elements from pagan religions in my worship of Nature and the very existence.

 

[Quintessence]

Wait a sec... let's back up.

How exactly is deity in pantheism not personal? How can it avoid being personal? It's in all of nature. It's in you. You're interacting with it in highly personal and intimate ways twenty-four seven, three-sixty five a year. You really can't get much more personal than it being in everywhere and everything. It's the deity-concepts that are transcendent that are impersonal; divine immanence is by its very nature extremely personal, isn't it?

Additionally, naturalistic pantheism is not necessarily incompatible with viewing all of the universe (or aspects within it) as "sentient." Sentient is a pretty nebulous term. To some, it can simply refer to the interconnectedness and communication that happens between the stuff of the universe and recognizing that communication breeds a sort of awareness. Certainly not everyone who considers themselves a naturalistic pantheist would take this view, but some do.

There's a few more thoughts I have, but I need to be getting to bed.

 

[mycorrhiza]

Wait a sec... let's back up.

How exactly is deity in pantheism not personal? How can it avoid being personal? It's in all of nature. It's in you. You're interacting with it in highly personal and intimate ways twenty-four seven, three-sixty five a year. You really can't get much more personal than it being in everywhere and everything. It's the deity-concepts that are transcendent that are impersonal; divine immanence is by its very nature extremely personal, isn't it?

Additionally, naturalistic pantheism is not necessarily incompatible with viewing all of the universe (or aspects within it) as "sentient." Sentient is a pretty nebulous term. To some, it can simply refer to the interconnectedness and communication that happens between the stuff of the universe and recognizing that communication breeds a sort of awareness. Certainly not everyone who considers themselves a naturalistic pantheist would take this view, but some do.

There's a few more thoughts I have, but I need to be getting to bed.

Haven't looked at it that way. But I would say that a personal God is a God that is like a person. The Pantheist God does include sentient beings, but it also includes non-sentient things like rocks. One could very well view the sentient life in the Universe as God's way of understanding itself, though. We do kind of work like one big body.

 

[Quintessence]

Ah, it's probably my bad on this topic too because I am not just a pantheist, I'm also an animist. Because of that, I see all things as "persons" with a spirit/essence/divinity/sentience in of themselves.

 

[Twig pentagram]

One could very well view the sentient life in the Universe as God's way of understanding itself.

I tend to view sentient life as god's way of experiencing and knowing itself.
Which is basically along the same lines as understanding.

 

[mycorrhiza]

Ah, it's probably my bad on this topic too because I am not just a pantheist, I'm also an animist. Because of that, I see all things as "persons" with a spirit/essence/divinity/sentience in of themselves.

I think you made a very good point that I did overlook!
Animism works very well together with dualist pantheism.