Polygamy itself is usually enough to give people pause, let alone putting it within the religious confines of Paganism, which for some reason is enough as it is for a lot of people. But when I think about the free love and emphasis of freedom I see many Pagans advocate, I wonder how well it would fare if put in the scope of polygamy. The practice itself is nothing new, something that is practiced the world over, though frowned upon by cultures such as American culture. The reasoning as far as I can see is because we root for monogamy, having only one partner in the mix and no one else. For many it works fine, but others see things a bit differently and are seen as promiscuous or sluts because of it. Its definately not for everyone, it takes a certain level of maturity to date more than one person; with many quickly getting jealous and accusations of favoritism, it leads to more trouble than its worth.
I put this in the realm of Pagandom and specifically nature oriented faiths because of its focus on doing things naturally and because of its views which are sometimes in conflict with "modern" society. Could polygamy become an accepted practice within the faith? Allowing people who would normally be in hiding about their sexuality to feel unrestrained in expressing their love for multiple people at once? Its a question I ask on a daily basis when considering such a thing. We already accept those who happen to be LGBT without much of an issue, hopefully this graciousness can be expanded to everyone.
I myself tried polygamy for a little while and it was weird at first, it soon became something that I actually liked. Both girls knew of course or it would be cheating and neither had an issue with it because they knew I would love them both in equal portions. The reason I wanted to try it was because I wanted to try something new and it was surely alien to me. But now that I think about it I probably will try it again sooner or later if I can find the right group of people. It takes some real open minded people to delineate from the monogomous realm and try it without thinking it gives them license to date as many people as they choose without restraint. Some groups do this, but I prefer a more restrained allowance of the amount of people I date and let others I date date. You don't just jump into it thinking you're going to get fabulous threesomes, foursomes, fivesomes, and six way pleasure schemes. If that's what you're in it for then of course more power to you but be safe and make sure all your partners know.
As an eco-Pagan with strong religious conviction I feel that multiple love is something fine in my spirituality. Consider the obvious fact that few animals stay purely monogomous for the duration of their life, having many partners by the draw of their last breath. Though we as humans like to think of ourselves as different, we're simply animals that have a special ability of exceptional thought. Of course its hard to see that special ability when you consider the idiocy of politicians, companies, and citizens who think they know what's best for everyone when they don't.
It can be both a blessing as well as a curse like any relationship, for me it gave me a sense of freedom from my culture, which has so many idiotic rules in my opinion about dating, love and what to do with it. It felt good to be with people who were free thinkers and saw things radically different from the rest of society. Though now the reasons for wanting to return to the polygamous lifestyle is different from how it was years ago, experiencing freedom is what still lasts.
In any case, I'd like to thank you for reading this post and hope that it stimulated your mind to think about different forms of relationships that are different from your own. If you happen to be Pagan or any sebsect of it, I hope it opens your mind to it and has you look into the practice further so you learn more about those who follow different lifestyles. Its a big world we live in, might as well get to know the family!!
