Centre for Polytheism Studies CPS promotes a renaissance in polytheisms and indigenous traditions which honour the divinity in all beings and the inexhaustible multiplicity of the divine.
At CPS, we seek to help practitioners of these traditions in tending their legacies and fostering creativity within them. We seek to promote interdisciplinary research, including affirming the inherent value of direct experience of the Gods, spirits and divine forces both in antiquity and today.
CPS organises talks, seminars, conferences and festivals.
Started in March 2021, the Center for Global Polytheist and Indigenous Traditions was later renamed the Center for Polytheism Studies. It offered the first round of three research fellowships in May 2021 to Oluwo Olawole Olakunle, a babalawo (priest of Ifá), for his Ifá Podcast; Justin Shaffner, an anthropologist, for his fieldwork with the Boazi-Anim of Papua New Guinea; and Stefanos Spanopoulos of Greece for his project on reconstructing and reviving the Arcadian Mysteries of Hekate-Despoina. A second round of short-term research fellowships was later announced, this time focusing on Indian candidates. Two research fellowships were awarded, one to Swetha Raghunathan for an African-themed children’s book, and one to Rohith Krishnan of the Vivekananda International Foundation for a policy paper on African Traditional Religions.
In 2021, the Center headed by Dr Edward Butler, held an online conference on “Polytheisms Today and Tomorrow”. We announced the first course – “Introduction to Polytheism.”
Dr Butler published an article, “Polytheism as Methodology in the Study of Religions” in the online journal Oscillations, the editors of which, Justin Shaffner and Adam Louis-Klein, also gave papers at the conference. “The Polemic Against Polytheism” by him was published in Indic Today. (This piece was subsequently translated into Portuguese and published in Anãnsi: Revista de Filosofia.)
Dr Butler represented INDICA at the Parliament of the World’s Religions at a panel hosted by the ICHRRF titled “Indigenous Religious Traditions and a Polycentric Worldview ”. In November 2021, the IndicaPolytheist platform for writing, videos and interviews was launched.
We conducted an event with fellowship recipient Oluwo Olakunle Olawole, “The Future of Nigeria’s Indigenous Religions: Conversation with an Ifá Priest .” A webinar was held with Rhyd Wildermuth, “The Polytheist Revival: Present Issues and Future Prospects”.
Dr Butler conducted a joint course with Dr. Vishwa Adluri, “Transcivilizational Dialogues: Plato’s Republic and Vyasa’s Mahabharata”. The City of the Gods was published based on his lectures on this course. He published an excerpt from a forthcoming book based on his lectures – “Introduction to Polytheism” in Oscillations, and taught the course “Introduction to Western Civilization,” which ran till May 2023. The Way of Being is the book based on the lectures from “Introduction to Western Civilization”.
“Polytheism in Greek Philosophy I,” the first module in a three course series, was conducted in 2023. The second module of “Polytheism in Greek Philosophy” course is currently underway. Dr Butler has been invited to give a paper in May of this year at Harvard’s Center for the Study of World Religions as part of a conference on “Platonism as a Living Tradition”.
The Center for Polytheism Studies, led by Dr. Butler, is reshaping the discourse on polytheism, particularly in the context of Hindu decolonial revival and global human rights. We advocate for the recognition of polytheism as an international human rights issue, aiming to unite indigenous and revivalist polytheistic traditions globally. This initiative seeks to empower marginalised religious communities and challenge dominant narratives, with potential alliances spanning from post-Christian Pagans in the West to indigenous groups in India and East Asia.
