{"id":2751,"date":"2024-06-27T21:02:24","date_gmt":"2024-06-28T01:02:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/spiritualnaturalist\/?p=2751"},"modified":"2024-06-27T21:02:24","modified_gmt":"2024-06-28T01:02:24","slug":"notes-on-poetic-faith","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/spiritualnaturalist\/2024\/06\/notes-on-poetic-faith\/","title":{"rendered":"Notes on Poetic Faith"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

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by\u00a0

SNS Guest<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n<\/header>\n<\/head>

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Source: Wikimedia Commons Artist: Piet Mondrian<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

(Today\u2019s article is by guest writer Tony Wolf. For a brief bio, see below.)<\/p>\n

Poetic Faiths are those new religions that based on a skeptical, scientific worldview, but go on to ask \u201cnow what?\u201d They tend towards:<\/p>\n

• \nRationalism\/naturalism<\/li>\nCreativity\/artistry<\/li>\nAn open-source ethos<\/li>\n

• Anti-authoritarianism<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

  They are, in various permutations, simultaneously post-theistic and post-atheistic; beginning with the premise that there is no literal supernatural and then honoring the actual power of myth, symbolism, etc. in the human psyche, and therefore in the real world. It\u2019s\u00a0Tolkien\u2019s theory of mythopoeia<\/a>\u00a0applied to the creation of embodied philosophies.<\/p>\n

  \u201cPoetic Faith\u201d is a positive descriptor (nontheistic religion being a negative descriptor) and, I think, rather more elegant than the academic terms that have been offered so far (\u201cinvented religion\u201d \u2013 again, all religions are invented \u2013 \u201chyperreal religion\u201d \u2013 say what? \u2013 etc.)<\/p>\n

  \u201cFaith\u201d is both colloquial and an accurate description of what one might actually have faith in; not supernaturalism, but in those unquantifiable human ideals identified as being worthy of devotion. The fact that the faith is \u201cpoetic\u201d \u2013 i.e., the subject of artistic invention \u2013 is built right into the term.<\/p>\n

  Essentially, it\u2019s just a matter of applying Coleridge\u2019s original insight \u2013 procuring \u201cfor these shadows of imagination that willing suspension of disbelief for the moment, which constitutes poetic faith\u201d \u2013 to the matter of religion, understanding, again, that all religions are works of fiction (art).<\/p>\n

  There were individual outliers in the late 19th century \u2013 notably\u00a0Oscar Wilde\u2019s speculations about the \u201cConfraternity of the Faithless\u201d<\/a>\u00a0\u2013 and later some relevant \u201cspiritual experiments\u201d by early 20th century occultists and utopian counter-culturalists (Austin Osman Spare, Order of Woodcraft Chivalry, Kindred of the Kibbo Kift et al) but for most practical purposes Poetic Faith is a post-\u201960s phenomenon.<\/p>\n

  The most obvious examples would be various branches of (or at least individual approaches to) neoPaganism; basically, those that see gods, magic etc. in psychological and artistic terms rather than as literally supernatural forces, a perspective that can be specifically traced back at least as far as the early 1970s (see Margot Adler\u2019s\u00a0Drawing Down the Moon<\/em>).<\/p>\n

  The Poetic Faith perspective is that religions are inherently fictional, it\u2019s just that some fictions are worth taking far more seriously than others. When one suspends disbelief and enters a state of Poetic Faith, via ritual or other means, one is seeking to experience a conscious, actually meaningful symbolic action; a deep sense of immersion within\/communion with a signification, towards inspiring positive change within oneself and\/or in the wider world.<\/p>\n

  Thus, a Poetic Faith is an embodied and aestheticized worldview\u00a0in action<\/em>. When the ritual becomes rote, you change the ritual.<\/p>\n

  __________<\/em><\/strong>
  \nLearn about Membership in the Spiritual Naturalist Society<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

  The Spiritual Naturalist Society works to spread awareness of spiritual naturalism as a way of life, develop its thought and practice, and help bring together like-minded practitioners in fellowship.<\/em><\/p>\n

  SNS strives to include diverse voices within the spectrum of naturalistic spirituality. Authors will vary in their opinions, terms, and outlook. The views of no single author therefore necessarily reflect those of all Spiritual Naturalists or of SNS.<\/em>*
  *\n__________<\/em><\/p>\n

  Bio:<\/strong>\u00a0Tony Wolf (Council Member) is a New Zealand citizen and US resident.\u00a0 He is an author, producer, teacher, antiquarian and creator. A born and raised atheist, he developed a strong intellectual interest in the phenomenon of belief as a young teenager and began creating experimental, artistic \u201cpoetic faiths\u201d during the late 1980s. Tony served as the Cultural Fighting Styles Designer for the\u00a0Lord of the Rings<\/i>\u00a0feature film trilogy (2001-2003) and has taught performance masterclasses throughout Europe, North America and Australasia. His novels include the popular\u00a0Suffrajitsu<\/i>\u00a0trilogy (2015) and\u00a0The Life and Fantastical \u201cCrimes\u201d of Spring Heeled Jack<\/i>\u00a0(2020) and he co-produced and directed the independent documentaries\u00a0Bartitsu: the Lost Martial Art of Sherlock Holmes<\/i>\u00a0(2011) and\u00a0No Man Shall Protect Us: The Hidden History of the Suffragette Bodyguards<\/i>\u00a0(2018). \u00a0In recent years, Tony\u2019s essays, lectures and online courses on the themes of poetic faith, secular ritual and \u201chidden history\u201d have been featured via Morbid Anatomy, Atlas Obscura, OnlySky Media and Reimagine.<\/p>\n

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  \u00a0by\u00a0SNS Guest Source: Wikimedia Commons Artist: Piet Mondrian (Today\u2019s article is by guest writer Tony Wolf. For a brief bio, see below.) Poetic Faiths are those new religions that based on a skeptical, scientific worldview, but go on to ask \u201cnow what?\u201d They tend towards: Rationalism\/naturalism Creativity\/artistry An open-source ethos Anti-authoritarianism They are, in various […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1269,"featured_media":2754,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[92],"class_list":["post-2751","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-spiritual-naturalism","tag-poetry"],"yoast_head":"\nNotes on Poetic Faith<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"\u00a0by\u00a0SNS Guest Source: Wikimedia Commons Artist: Piet Mondrian (Today\u2019s article is by guest writer Tony Wolf. 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