Uchronia as tool in the search of religious identity in modern paganism and smth else

[Kaio]

By what I've read about contemporary pagans individuals seem to have different axes that inform their religion path like:

• "idiocentric"/self-centered sense of individuality, self-knowledge and/or personal development;

 

• deep ecology and/or bioregionalism;

• tradition/community/collective identity;

• search for (universal) truth(s) and/or mysticism.

 Obviously each of these axes is like a Weberian Idealtypus; in real life people can have more than one, like it seems the majority does.

 One of the reasons I currently practice no religion is that to this very day I couldn't find neither balance between the above-mentioned axes that I am interpellated by nor a definite, functional and satisfying religion.
 
 I'm sure I need to feel I belong to a religious group. I don't necessarily want to do group rituals but I like the idea of having a socially recognizable/intelligible religion even if my nearest co-religionist lives far away from me. This need prevents me from developing a too idiosyncratic religious practice. OTOH the experience of americanness - related to people whose ancestors came from several ethnic origins/displacement/diaspora, modern times, Christianity, new land (to Europeans and Africans) and new countries/societies - makes all this more difficult.

 I left ásatrú and Germanic contemporary paganism in general partly because not only of ancestry (that is an issue from my point of view and I'm not sure whether my non-apparent and partial North Italian ancestry includes any Germanic ancestor, even a Continental Germanic one), but also because it wouldn't have anything to do with Brazilian history if Rome had never adopted Christianity; in Portugal/Lusitania it possibly would continue to be practiced some form of Romanized local religion (that had Celtic, Phoenician and other influences) and it's this religion that would be brought to Brazil. What I'm saying here is that I don't like very much, at least not in paganism, the idea of practicing a religion completely unrelated to one's social context. Pre-christianization paganism seems to have to do with localizing religion and a relatively high degree of social, shared religious meaning and pratice. And, for this reason, I feel it would be necessary to include specific Deities associated with Native American peoples that inhabited Brazil - or at least my area - when the first Europeans set foot here, even if by interpretatio. One problem with it, though, is that I think few Brazilians, pagan or otherwise, would take seriously or respect anyone that took seriously the idea of worshiping Deities associated with our folklore, let alone embedding Their worship in an European religion (that would be, in this case, the Romanized Portuguese/Lusitanian one) even if by means of an European (poly)theological tool, that is, interpretatio.

 Sorry for the long post.
 I'd appreciate any comments.

[Faemon]

By what I've read about contemporary pagans individuals seem to have different axes that inform their religion

What I'm saying here is that I don't like very much, at least not in paganism, the idea of practicing a religion completely unrelated to one's social context.

I feel it would be necessary to include specific Deities associated with Native American peoples that inhabited Brazil - or at least my area - when the first Europeans set foot here, even if by interpretatio. One problem with it, though, is that I think few Brazilians, pagan or otherwise, would take seriously or respect anyone that took seriously the idea of worshiping Deities associated with our folklore, let alone embedding Their worship in an European religion

 
It is indeed difficult to find a spiritual path that fulfills a personal ideology...but isn't supported by the community, or doesn't get much consideration or respect. Fortunately, we have communication and information technology, which make it easier to seek out like-minded spiritualists...but it's just not going to be as easy as taking to a religion already established by the immediate offline society, given that one's inner spiritual self finds fulfillment in that.

I think of it as strings between the axes that you mentioned, creating a simplex or something, and there's going to be some push and pull and fray.