"No Mediators in Zevism" - Explained, Misconception Debunked

[Khem Nefermed]

To this day, many misinterpret the words of our High Priestess Pythia.
Her task was of a titanic magnitude, and she did not have the ability or time to think about how her words would be misinterpreted or twisted by people decades later. One of these misinterpreted (and, to put it bluntly, maliciously twisted at times) messages is that there are "no mediators in Zevism".

This has been corrected, explained, clarified, etc. before, including on the main site. And yet, I still see people invoking it as a justification for their ignorance, or for their various traumas when it comes to organized religion. Let's first unpack where this term is used, and figure out what it doesn't mean.

People claim "no mediators" when they:

- disagree with Clergy decisions. Not out of misunderstanding or having a nuanced opinion, but rather by simply throwing a tantrum and saying "we don't need to listen to anyone, it's me and the Gods!"
- are doing something ignorant or bad for their advancement, invoking arguments that are basically just the christian "only God can judge me!"
- are promoting ignorant ideas that have already been thoroughly debunked, not listening to arguments meant to correct and guide, under the guise of "it's MY path, not yours!"

These situations come not from "misunderstanding" this notion of no mediators. No, they come from petty ignorance or trauma about authority, with the "no mediators" quote being simply used as a defense and as a thought terminating cliche.

It's a very useful trick. Of course, nobody would disagree with the words of our Founder, so it's a great technique to shut people up. And of course, this also shuts up the mind of the one saying it, so they do not have to do any self reflection about their attitude towards Clergy, their view of Zevism as a religion, their decisions and beliefs, and so on.

And yet, it's cheap, and an incorrect way to see the quote.

"No mediators" does NOT mean "no guidance" or "no authority". Authority EXISTS. We have not pulled this notion out of thin air either.
HPS Pythia, and the Temple in general, have always been against faux ideas of excessive equality, and have always argued for a hierarchical anthropology and an aristocratic view of leadership.
This was stated, but insufficiently enforced. It should and will be enforced more.

Those with real results, real wisdom, and those with "skin in the game" as far as our Temple is concerned, do genuinely have a more valuable opinion that will be given more credence, sorry to say.

Sorry to also burst another bubble, this journey that is Zevism is not only your personal journey with the Gods in your basement.
It is part of a community, part of a living body of the Temple, a living body that has guides and authorities.

Authority, power and influence is both seized by, and granted to, those who deserve it. More worthiness = more power, authority and influence. This should be a very sensible and reasonable take.

Zevism touts the idea of hierarchy.
It acknowledges many ancient Priesthoods and mystery cults that had hierarchy and authority figures as valid.
These alone break the idea of "it is only me and the Gods". If it is only you and the Gods, why need a Temple in the first place, why was HPS Pythia building a religion at all? Just ask "God" to guide you to who He is and what He wants you to do, all the way to the Magnum Opus. Oh, wait, many of us have asked "God" to guide us, and were led here. Oops. Turns out this whole Temple thing and this whole Clergy thing has value.

Since we have clarified what "no mediators" isn't, let's clarify what it is.

Let us first look at Her quotes, to see:

"There are no mediators in Zevism. You don’t need any human beings to intercede for you."

The context here is that the Temple was under attack and communication was difficult. You do not need a Priest in order to advance spiritually all the time. This does not debunk the need for guidance.

"“Leaders throughout history, dating back to ancient times, have claimed to have the power of God, or to speak on behalf of God in order to control their people and maintain their power and authority." (...) there are NO mediators in Zevism! [then, Zevism]”"

The context here is a critique of Communism and other totalitarian ideologies. There are no mediators = there are no people that can claim exclusive ownership of God's decrees or communication.

“No mediators” means the rejection of Kagoim, the exclusion of beings from the Divine.

Kagoim, in the Liturgical Terms, is the condition of restricting access to the Gods, whether through supremacist doctrine or claims of exclusivity.

Thus, “no mediators” does not mean “no authority, no Clergy, no one to judge me” but rather:

- that no one has exclusive access to the Gods that nobody else can earn with enough effort
- that no one should gatekeep divine contact or the tools to obtain it over time
- that no structure, ideological or otherwise, should restrict who can approach the Divine

Any system that claims otherwise creates Kagoim, and that is what we are trying to avoid.
In this, Clergy isn't abolished or made useless, it acts as an important compass, just as the site's own article says (can be searched for).

"No mediators" is meant to be against monpolization of the Divine, not meant to create ascetics that don't take into account the statements of figures that have long since proven they are worth listening to.