For A Few Gods More!

[ecosophia]

I'm delighted to announce that one of my personal favorites among my books, A World Full of Gods, is back in print in a revised and expanded edition. When it first saw print in 2005, it was literally the Western world's first original work on the philosophy of religion in centuries to take polytheism seriously -- not as a metaphor, not as a mask under which some less challenging set of ideas could be found, but on its own terms, as a live religious option.  There have been several other books on the subject published since then, but I think A World Full of Gods still stands up very well among them, and the fan mail I've fielded from Heathens, Kemetics, and many other modern polytheists leads me to think that other people share that opinion.

Here's the publisher's blurb:

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An investigation into the underpinnings and superstructures of the Pagan world view

Pagan religions have tended to be more concerned with practice than with theory and in a system that has no dogma - no legislated doctrine - that is as it should be. Yet as the movement grows and matures, it is inevitable that we will begin to think in a more abstract way about our models and systems.

John Michael Greer provides a primer on the kinds of ideas and themes that must be included in any discussion of the theology and philosophy of Neo-pagan religions.  Much of the book takes shape in a dialogue with existing ideas in theology, philosophy, and comparative religion. It looks to find a comprehensible yet intellectually rigorous middle ground between too much and too little reference to the work of other scholars.

It aims to be part of a conversation, that stretches out over the centuries. Voices of polytheist spirituality have had little place in that conversation for many years, but much of value has been said in their absence. The rebirth of polytheism as a living religious tradition in the Western world will inevitably force a reassessment of much of that heritage, and pose challenges to some of its most cherished assumptions.Yet reassessment is not necessarily rejection, and the traditions of modern polytheism are deeply enough indebted to legacies from the past that an attentive ear to earlier phases of the conversation is not out of place.

*  *  *  *  *

Three additional notes:

First, the publisher has graciously provided a discount code for this title, good from now until the end of May.  Visit their website here and use the discount code JMG20 during checkout, and you get 20% off the cover price.

Second, longtime readers will be bemused -- to use no stronger word! -- to hear that Pagan blogger and podcaster Rhyd Wildermuth, with whom I've had some interesting history, had me on his podcast to talk about A World Full of Gods. We had a lovely conversation. As far as I know, it's only available to his subscribers so far, but it should be available to the general public in a few weeks.

Finally, why "For  A Few Gods More"? Back when I was originally working on this project, twenty years ago, it was a running joke among my friends to refer to it as "A Fistful of Gods," with reference to a certain classic spaghetti Western film starring Clint Eastwood. That inspired suggestions that a sequel or new edition should be "For A Few Gods More," and a third would of course be "The Good, The Bad, and the Godly"...

Comments

[robertmathiesen]

it's a splendid book, JMG! I preordered it some weeks ago, and it arrived on Monday. i'm reading it again with great delight, and enjoying the updates and revisions.

[ecosophia]

Thank you -- and thanks for your help in getting the problems with the first edition fixed.

[robertmathiesen]

You're quite welcome!

[(Anonymous)]

Congrats on the book release! I have the original edition, how much has been updated in this new edition, and is there much new content?

[ecosophia]

Thank you. I've included a discussion of the revisions and expansions below.

[arlie]

Woohoo! I'm glad to see it back, though it's already part of my (sadly, very small) collection of books on the general topic of polytheistic theology.

[ecosophia]

I'm glad to have it back out. It's one of my three favorites among my nonfiction books.

[(Anonymous)]

And the other two would be… ? ;-)

Milkyway

[ecosophia]

Inside a Magical Lodge and After Progress. To my mind those and A World Full of Gods all broke a great deal of new ground and said some things nobody else has said. Inevitably, of course, those are also three of my least commercially successful books!

excellent books

[slclaire]

I have all three and treasure them for their insights. Thank you for writing them!

[hwistle]

Yuss!! I've been waiting for this updated version to come out, so order on its way...

I listened to the podcast, I confess I had to check twice when I saw who the guest was... I enjoyed the podcast, particularly the fact that we can have two gentlemen of quite different opinions able to discuss matters in a respectful and civilised manner (even after you mentioned Sprengler ;-) )

Manuel

[ecosophia]

Thank you. The podcast came about in a slightly roundabout and distinctly funny way. The new publisher's publicity person, while contacting Pagan writers for cover blurbs, happened to get in touch with Rhyd. He sent back an email saying, "Er, does JMG know that you contacted me?" The publicity person emailed me, and I said, "Sure, I'd love to have a blurb from him." (I didn't mention that I was delighted by the thought of the kind of reaction I'd get in the Neopagan scene from a Rhyd Wildermuth blurb on one of my books!) So once the blurb was in, Rhyd contacted the publisher to find out if I would be willing to appear on his blog, and things proceeded from there. And then we went and had a perfectly friendly and very good conversation!

[(Anonymous)]

As a regular reader and a fan of you both, I'm very glad to see this. I think it speaks to the health of the Revival Druid tradition that you can have room for two Druids with such a difference in outlook and perspective, and in fact you're both a major inspiration for me slowly finding my own way into that tradition after a long and meandering path.

[athaia]

I have that book (liked it immensely), and am trying to decide if I should buy the new edition. May I ask what the differences are between the old and the new edition?

[ecosophia]

I've listed the changes in a comment below.

Great news!

[(Anonymous)]

Delighted to hear this, JMG. I have been wanting to buy this book for several years but had a strong feeling that you would release an updated version and so had been holding off. May the sales of the new version be lively!

I was joking with a relative the other day regarding news that a Ukie official told the Zee-man that they have been forced to delay their Spring Whatever because Putin has been using his evil weather-machine to make it rain so much in the east. I suggested an alternative: that Putin has the support of the god Indra: an alliance which was cemented once the Ukie military posted the offensive artwork showing Mother Kaali having an 'upskirt moment'. My joke was that the spokesgod of the Hindu Gods Alliance was quoted saying 'He who offends one of us offends ALL of us'.

Ron M

Re: Great news!

[ecosophia]

It would not surprise me at all if somebody was doing offerings to Indra with that in mind. Me, I would be very nervous about offending Kali -- not that it's wise to offend any of the gods and goddesses, but a goddess who likes to wear a garland of human heads just does not strike me as the kind you want to irritate!

Re: Great news!

[(Anonymous)]

Indeed, JMG. I guess the Hindu scripture “Devi Mahatmya” is not read much among the Ukie soldiers. Had they done so they may have thought twice about mocking an unconquerable goddess who gleefully flings entire armies into her all-consuming maw and gnashes them into paste.

Ron M

Re: Great news!

[ecosophia]

Maybe somebody needs to send a copy to Zelenskiy...

[(Anonymous)]

Excellent news, JMG.

A favourite of mine too. I read the original twice and it continues to influence how I think in this area. Quite taboo shattering for me it was, in fact (ex-Catholic who'd spent some time with Islamic Sufism).

Might I ask what the revisions and expansions cover?

Kudos to Wildermuth for reaching out to you. The more bridges built across the howling void(s) in politics right now, the better.

JH

[ecosophia]

I've discussed the revisions and expansions in a comment a little lower down. I'm glad the book has been of use to you!

[(Anonymous)]

Hurrah! Order sent for the updated edition!

--Sister Crow

[ecosophia]

Okay, as for the revisions, most of what's changed is that editing problems from the original edition were cleaned up. In that edition, some bibliographical entries got left out and some footnotes were inaccurate; to the best of my knowledge, those are all fixed. Some typos and clumsy phrasings were also repaired. In terms of expansions, I added a new foreword, included a brief discussion of some of the more recent literature on polytheism, and revised and expanded the discussion of the ontological proof of the existence of a god. It's mostly the same as before, though.

[brenainn]

I'm very glad to hear this, and I've submitted an order for a copy. Thanks for the discount code! This book was really life changing for me. I hadn't taken polytheism seriously before I read it, and now a few years since, I can't see how anything but polytheism could be correct. It has been an interesting journey so far, and this wonderful book helped to get it started.

[jprussell]

I just want to add to the chorus of "Hoorays" and testimonials - your old Well of Galabes posts on the three legs of the magical cauldron are what got me to give magical practice a go, but it was World Full of Gods that was the wedge that cracked open my atheistic materialism, and it's not much of an exaggeration to say that I owe most, if not all, of the blessings that have come from my spiritual practice to this earnest, thoughtful book.

So, my deepest thanks. Also, obviously, I've already ordered a copy, and I will keep pushing at anyone I suspect of being even slightly receptive to what it has to say (or even that seems willing to buy it and leave it sitting on their shelf).

Cheers,
Jeff

Good Timing

[(Anonymous)]

Splendid. We have this one scheduled for our book club later this fall. Its one of my personal favorites. Thanks for putting it out there.
-Thomas

[k_a_nitz]

After the Good, the Bad, and the Godly, you could consider Divine Harry ("Divine my day, punk") or Every Witch Way But Loose :-)

[ecosophia]

Funny. My concern is that if I wrote any more sequels I'd end up featuring Cleavon Little and Gene Wilder in Blazing Temples...

[sinners4diseasecontrol]

Fantastic! I'm going to order me a copy. I hope the publisher will ship to Japan. If not, there's good old Amazon, I guess.

[(Anonymous)]

Oh Good !
I've been waiting for this ever since you mentioned an update.
As I told you years ago the first edition "rippled me !" when you said it sank without a ripple.
I shudder to think what the new edition will do; sink me entirely :)
Thank you for the promo code.
Cheers
Lurksalong

[thinking_turtle]

You mention a discount code from your publisher, but I somehow missed the link to their website. Eventually figured out it was Aeon books. I've ordered a copy, and the discount code worked!

On a side note, my copy of The Witch of Criswell got misplaced by Amazon. They promised to send me a new copy. Because you write (or re-publish) faster than I read, my stack of books-to-read keeps growing :-)

[ecosophia]

Glad to hear it. Er, the link was in the same sentence as the discount code...

[(Anonymous)]

I've got the original, love it, but have found monotheists don't react well when I use the ideas from in it! The chapter on "Cat" is particularly memorable, useful and funny.

[ecosophia]

Thank you. That chapter was the seed from which the entire book unfolded; I was in a discussion about polytheism with a bunch of Druids, and was trying to clarify my sense that the logic that's typically used to justify monotheism and atheism alike is riddled with special pleading. I'd already tried to clear away some of the handwaving around the nature of gods by proposing what I then called "the chipmunk criterion" -- if a statement about a god is obviously absurd when applied to, say, a chipmunk, you had better be able to justify that. So I was already thinking about animal analogues, and the whole business around the One True Cat followed promptly.

[(Anonymous)]

I'm embarrassed to say I was not aware of this book, but it sounds wonderful! I just ordered a copy.