The religion of the Other People – the Otherfaith – began in 2010 with a small group of Pagan teens. They wanted something different than the witchcraft and religious traditions they had read about. They wanted something new.
They felt a connection to fairies, beings within and outside of our own world that had their own morality. They felt connected to the so-called ‘other people’, the ‘little people’, the ‘Good Neighbors’.
The group wanted a witchcraft tradition. They wanted a religious tradition. They desired and dreamed of many things for this newly-conceived practice.
The Otherfaith today is different from those dreams. The group that brainstormed its existence has long since faded away, members parting ways as life took them to new places. But the dreams and ideas that founded the ‘faith inspire it to this day.
The Otherfaith today is a religio-magical tradition worshiping the Four+ Gods. The name is a misnomer; there are eight deities the People revere, all tied together by the shared symbol of the compass rose. Assign the gods to the compass points and one has a sacred symbol in the Otherfaith.
Founded seven years ago, the tradition is very modern. We embrace technology and the internet. Our gods are robotic and blend magic with machine. For the Other People, our religion cannot be separated from the technology of humankind. Our gods are intertwined with it, as are we.
The Otherfaith is polytheist and animist. Our theology includes our Four+ Gods and our myriad of spirits. These spirits sometimes inhabit our own world. Sometimes they remain exclusively in their own realm. They may be spirits of plants and mountains or they may be spirits unto themselves.
We interact with these spirits through devotions. We pray to them, and we speak with them. We also make stories for them. The truth of these stories is less important than the creation itself. The spirits latch onto those stories which serve them. The People cultivate an open canon, one constantly being innovated and re-imagined.
There is a core of stories surrounding the gods, known as Seasons. Powerful spirits appear in these stories, giving us context for their role in our lives. The Seasons focus on the the origins of the gods, how and why they came to be as they are. The Seasons are only a rough outline of the stories.The People build many versions of the Seasons as they write and create for the gods.
Our gods are new. They do not have lore from centuries or millennia ago. This is a boon – we are more encouraged to explore the gods directly. It is also a hindrance – we must discern the ‘reality’ of our gods. We can innovate and create, but we must also pursue the gods themselves, not only our mind’s fancy.
We are also a magical tradition. Practitioners learn through our spirits how to manipulate and modify energy. We learn how to use and alter our spirit bodies, our energetic forms that the People divide into three sections. Such practices are important to those who wish to journey and interact more directly with our gods and spirits.
Put most simply, the Otherfaith is a young polytheist tradition. We revere a group of new gods, the Four+ Gods, and their spirits. We were founded by an online group and remain one to this day; there are no current offline Otherfaith groups. Our tradition emphasizes innovation, storytelling, and experiencing the divinities through whatever means work best. This may include prayer, stories, meditation, art, music, and many more methods.
You can learn about the terms we use frequently on this site by reading the ‘Common Terms’ FAQ here. You can learn more about the Otherfaith itself by reading our ‘General Otherfaith’ FAQ.
Aine Llewellyn, the spokesperson for the Otherfaith, maintains this website. They write the majority of the content for the Other People.