#polyeverie
Essay by Mercury Gentry
It’s been about seven years since I renounced Christianity, or as I like to say, Jesus and I mutually broke up. After growing up in a Baptist church—even though I was christened as a Methodist, I finally confessed to myself that it wasn’t for me anymore. My principles were changing along with my ideas and space. Calling myself a Christian seemed foreign to me, now that I think of it; I always felt out of place. The final straw, after years of feeling discontent, was when I was chastised by a group of church buddies for asking a biblical question. I don’t like feeling shut down, and that was the last time we talked.
In the summer of 2017, I made a bad decision that resulted in me fighting for my life in the hospital. Strangely, I heard my late grandmother say you only have one life while I was unconscious. After that, my spirituality was reawakened, but not without struggle. I cut my dreadlocks after nine years of growing them out, and my depression reached a new height. The next summer was a turning point when I visited New Orleans for the first time since I was a baby, reeling in the culture and history made me seek a new faith.
I was learning IseseIfa in my hometown along with other spiritual outlets. The former is a traditional religion of the Yoruba tribe primarily based in Benin and Nigeria. While doing so, I was confiding with a co-worker and friend, who’s Wiccan, about how I struggled with my faith over the years. She was telling me how she took what she learned from various practices and blended them. Although I’m still navigating my path, I knew I had no desire to blendbecause I didn’t consider myself eclectic. What sucked was there was no word to describe how I was feeling. Until I finally coined something up, polyeverie.
What is a Polyeverie, and how does it differ from being an eclectic? An eclectic is someone who combines elements from various faiths to construct a belief system of their own. Whereas a polyeverie is someone who identifies with many religions but practices them in the tradition they adhere to without blending the faiths. I coined the term after discovering the word Dvoeverie, which means double faith. When Christianity was making its mark in Eastern Europe, the Slavs saw this as a way to embrace the new faith and keep the traditions of their old one, according to Emily Die Katze.
As I said, I’m still learning new things and growing every day. Who knows what I want to learn next, but I’m excited about this journey I’m about to embark on.
Mercury Gentry is an intuitive-empath and Jyotish enthusiast who likes finding the practically within spirituality. When she’s not roller skating or surfing the web, you can catch her blogging at Saturn Says. Or doing oracle readings in her home town in southern Nevada.
