Daimonologia: Exploring Divine Attributes Across Traditions
The Daimonologia provides a framework for understanding the diverse expressions of the divine—whether in the form of gods, daimons, or spirits—across various religious traditions. These figures are not seen as separate or isolated, but as manifestations of a singular divine principle, the One. Through a process known as Interpretatio Universalis, we seek to recognize the common ground between these divine personae, unveiling the shared essence, roots, and myths behind their many names and forms. This approach allows us to see the divine not as fragmented, but as expressed through multiple lenses, shaped by the cultures, times, and places that gave rise to them.
Undoing fragmented ethnocentrism and combating New Age misinformation
Today it is more important than ever to help people make sense of the many myths and legends that populate our collective psyche. Not only can a lack of context and understanding lead to ethnocentric and nationalist interpretations but also forms of viral fantasy. Today it is commonplace to encounter a marketplace of people perpetuating stories about ancient aliens, giants, and so forth, as part of contemporary New Age myth making. By using critical methods we can find the common myths woven through our collective history that have time and again appeared in our collective psyche and and expressed themselves in our religious culture and popular culture. Part of this process is tracing roots to the Proto-Indo-European culture (PIE) and neighboring civilizations. What is revealed are various traits and relationships that are repeated through the many pantheons extending from Northern Africa, Europe, the Middle East, and East Asia. What is also extraordinary is how these various mythic patterns are also found throughout the peoples of the Americas.
The Universality of Sun, Light, Sky, Lightning, and Supreme Beings
Throughout history, civilizations have personified the most fundamental forces of nature—light, sky, sun, lightning, and the supreme power of being—through their gods. Deities such as Helios in Greece, Vairocana in Mahayana Buddhism, Ra in Egypt, Surya in Hinduism, and Amaterasu in Shinto, all embody the light that illuminates the world and consciousness. This light is more than just physical; it symbolizes the divine presence, the awareness that shines through all of reality.
Similarly, sky gods like Zeus, Jupiter, Indra, Shiva, and Thor are not merely rulers of the heavens, but representations of cosmic order and the supreme forces that govern life and from which all creation was made. These deities, with their associations to lightning, thunder, and the sky, symbolize the dynamic power of the divine, the space within which all things arise and fall. In the Neoplatonic tradition, the sky represents the One—the infinite source from which all forms emerge, and to which they return.
Henotheism and the Unity of Divine Personae
Universal Panentheism offers a henotheistic model—one that acknowledges many divine personae but roots them all in a single, transcendent source. This understanding aligns with Neoplatonism and the philosophical aim of Emperor Julian, who sought to integrate various gods under the larger framework of The One. In this model, gods and spirits are understood as expressions of divine attributes, not as wholly independent beings. Just as light can be refracted into different colors through a crystal, deities reflect different aspects of the divine reality but remain connected to the same source.
This is not an advocacy for a neopagan revival or a literal Homeric reading of Greco-Roman deities. Instead, it’s a recognition that the gods are personae, ways in which the divine masks itself to express different aspects of reality—whether as a father, mother, friend, sun, or sky. These masks reveal the divine in a way that human consciousness can comprehend, offering us a glimpse of the whole through its parts.
Common Ground Across Civilizations
Historically, many great civilizations—including the Romans, Greeks, Etruscans, Egyptians, and Hindus—did not experience their deities as wholly ethnic artifacts. In their interactions they sought common ground between their gods, blending them in ways that reflected a shared understanding of the divine. The Romans, for instance, readily absorbed gods from other traditions, seeing them not as competitors to their own but as different personifications of divinities that are culturally specific.
This blending of gods was a function of reestablishing common cultural roots, syncretism—is a way to unite peoples and beliefs by recognizing the universality of divine attributes. This approach is echoed in Buddhism which was masterful in exporting many Buddhist and Vedic deities throughout Asia while assimilating local deities as Bodhisattvas.
The Pattern of Divine Attributes
The study of deities across cultures reveals a universal pattern. Whether we speak of gods associated with the sun, sky, or light, we see recurring themes: consciousness, creation, wisdom, life, and power. These deities embody the same fundamental forces, but are expressed differently depending on the cultural context. If we were to map these divine attributes, we would find that despite their names and stories, these deities represent similar forces—the light of consciousness, the order of the cosmos, and the living light of The One.
This shared essence does not erase the cultural nuances that make each tradition unique, but rather enhances our understanding of the unity behind the diversity. By seeing these deities as personae—each expressing a facet of the divine whole—we open ourselves to a more inclusive and universal spiritual framework.
Cultural Restoration and Responsibility of Names
In this process, we acknowledge that the names of gods are sacred inheritances rather than purely ethnic possessions or archaic artifacts. These names are gifts of the divine, given to humanity so that we may understand and engage with the divine in its many forms. Universal Panentheism seeks to restore these names, particularly in cases where cultural devastation has obscured, diminished, or erased them. This restoration is not an act of appropriation but of reverence, ensuring that the divine attributes embodied by these gods are recognized and respected across cultures as The Names of God—all names are His names. With particular interest we are restoring the names of the gods of Greco-Roman and Eurasian world. Additionally Egyptian, African, Central and South American, and other Indigenous names will be celebrated.
Current Projects
Current work is being done on the Daemonologia Universalis. Daemon does not mean Demon in the Judeo-Christian sense but as the original name for the general hierarchy of spiritual beings. During the early Christian era within the Roman Republic demon became a slur to connote malevalent entity.