Editor's note: This piece was originally published on the Polytheist Monastic discussion forum co-founded by Danica Swanson and Roger Finney. This forum was online from May 2019-Oct. 2020.
The Cloister, a newer online forum for monastics in polytheist revival contexts, launched in Sep. 2022 and is still thriving as of this writing.
Unfortunately, the original discussion forum was only partially preserved through the Wayback Machine at the Internet Archive. Many of the most important basic documents, such as the FAQ and About Us page, were lost when the site went offline. So with long-term preservation in mind, the Scriptorium at Black Stone Sanctuary is working to dig up the originals and re-publish them onchain.
Q: Why would polytheists and animists in a modern religious movement need monasteries?
A: Good question! Here are a few reasons to consider. These reasons need not apply to all monastics, of course; they’re provided as food for further thought and discussion.
1. Monasteries create dedicated, stable, intentionally designed space to concentrate on religious matters.
In "Why monasticism?" Rev. Haryo Young writes:
"If properly run, it [a monastery] is a setting that facilitates the intentions of those who have chosen to forgo a variety of normal human endeavors in order to concentrate on and fulfill certain religious aspirations."
These words are significant. Let's break it down and comment on each section in turn.
First: chosen. Monastics make a choice to discern and follow a calling. While not all monastics experience a clear sense of personal agency in relation to receiving or identifying a calling, they choose to accept the responsibilities of a commitment to monastic life.
Second: Forgo a variety of normal human endeavors. Many monastics (but not all) forgo certain norms such as parenthood, dating, marriage, consumption of certain intoxicants, and/or certain kinds of entertainment.
Third: In order to concentrate on…certain religious aspirations. Monastics are specialists. They center their lives around their religious practices.
Fourth: fulfill. Monastics are driven to deliver on their vows, even when they face daunting obstacles.
Fifth: if properly run… a setting that facilitates intentions. Good design is paramount. Well-designed monastic environments, including appropriate buildings and land, enable monastics to practice in such a way that daily prayer, devotion, service, etc., can become the default state rather than something largely confined to weekends, festivals, and days off.
In the right environment, daily structured practice becomes habitual and self-reinforcing, meaning that monastics don’t have to rely solely on their own (fallible) personal willpower to resist distractions and stay focused. The proper environment employs design elements such as spatial, architectural, tactile, and olfactory cues to shape behavior and reinforce the monastic's commitment to contemplative practice.
2. Most polytheists and animists recognize the limits of the DIY individualist approach to religion.
Many monastics in polytheistic revival movements have become well aware of the pitfalls of a countercultural do-your-own-thing approach to religion, especially after years in loosely organized Pagan and Heathen communities. Monasticism provides a framework to support more structured practices that may stand a better chance of lasting more than one or two generations.
3. Monasteries can contribute to community cohesion and offer a basis for religious longevity.
Monasteries structured around distinct and clearly defined religious practices can offer a strong foundation for longevity. They can set responsible expectations, educate the public about polytheism and animism, and help lay the groundwork for future would-be monastics.
4. Monasteries can help facilitate a shift in consciousness.
In monasteries, tasks such as sweeping the floor or caring for health needs, for example, can be recognized as a form of service to the divine. Devotional practices, too, can take on heightened significance when structured. A suitable structure can shift awareness in ways that might otherwise be inaccessible, or only sporadically accessible. Outer forms of asceticism, renunciation, and discipline can provide containers that facilitate meditation and corresponding inner shifts.
5. Monasteries can simplify life by reducing the burden of too many choices, distractions, and outside pressures.
Environments that support structured collective practices can free monastics from the burden of having to handle all daily planning and decision-making as individuals. Reducing distractions, attention fatigue, and other outside pressures helps create more space for deepened contemplative practice.
6. Monasteries can provide a place of dedicated religious community service and a sense of belonging outside conventional career and family frameworks.
Every religion has mystics and contemplatives who are more drawn to religious community service than conventional career and family structures, but polytheist-animist mystics and contemplatives currently have next to no organized spaces to carry out these forms of service. Monastic orders in the modern polytheist revival can help to change that.
There are many more reasons! This short list is only a start. Most religions have some form of monasticism. The time has come to develop monasteries to support monastic practice in animist and polytheistic revival movements.
The Wayback Machine hosts the previous version of this post, first published Mar. 29, 2021, on Substack.
Image: Canterbury Cloister by Malcom Lightbody via Unsplash.
