Deities Are Many

Jordan Paper is Professor Emeritus of Humanities (Religious Studies, East Asian Studies) at York University. He is also an Associate Fellow at the Centre for Studies in Religion and Society and Adjunct Professor in the Indigenous Governance Program at the University of Victoria. He is the author of several books, including The Mystic Experience: A Descriptive and Comparative Analysis and The Spirits Are Drunk: Comparative Approaches to Chinese Religion, both published by SUNY Press, as well as Through the Earth Darkly: Female Spirituality in Comparative Perspective and Offering Smoke: The Sacred Pipe and Native American Religion.

• Preface Acknowledgments 1. Introduction Why a Polytheistic Theology? Whose Theology? The Varieties of Polytheism: The Structure of This Book A Few Caveats 2. The Cosmic Couple: Mother Earth and Father Sky Sky and Earth Circumpolar Rebirth Rituals Chinese Imperial Sacrifices to Sky and Earth Sun and Moon The Four Directions Morning Star / Evening Star Sun and Earth Stars and Planets Mountains and Streams Personal Relationships with Cosmic Powers 3. Numinous Nature: Animal, Plant, and Mineral Spirits Introduction Natural Plants Animals in the Wild Rocks and Minerals Domesticated Plants Domesticated Animals Modes of Interaction 4. The Family Deified: Ancestral Spirits Ancestral Spirits China Modes of Communication 5. Divine Ghosts: Functional Deities The Anthropomorphizing of the Divine Modes of Interaction 6. The Seminuminous: Culture Heroes and Tricksters Numinous Beings Unconnected to Rituals Trickster and Humorous Divinities Culture Hero Quasi Deities Re-creation of the World versus Creation Implications 7. One or Many: Monotheists' Misperceptions of Polytheism Polytheism Is Defined by Monotheism Ur-monotheism The Native American "Great Spirit"The "Master of Heaven"Theological Effects of Western Colonialism on Non-Western Traditions The "Creator"Taiping Religion and the Unification Church Contemporary Versions of Monotheistic Assumptions 8. Diversity and Accommodation: Human Life in a Polytheistic Milieu The One in the Many, The Many in the One A Polytheistic View of Monotheism Living Polytheism Conclusions Further Readings Index