The “ɑ” which appears in “pantheɑns” and other EarthCircle blurbs is not a mistake, and it is not the letter “a.” It is a special International Phonetic Alphabet symbol that indicates the actual sound voiced in American English when pronouncing the word.

EarthSpirit Circle honors deities of many genders and no genders at all. This “ɑ” is the same IPA symbol used to indicate the sound of both the letters “o” and “a” in the words “odd” and “father” – ah.

The “ɑ” (ah) is used in the word “pantheɑns” as a gender neutral / gender all-inclusive alternative to the male-centric “o” usually found in the spelling of the word “pantheon” (but not in its pronunciation).

Interestingly, the same “ɑ” symbol is also used to indicate the American English pronunciation of the word “theɑlogy,” again, providing a gender neutral / gender all-inclusive alternative to the masculine “theology” and the feminine “thealogy.”

Click the links to see and hear the “ɑ” in the IPA guides for both the words “pantheɑn” and “theɑlogy” in the MacMillan Dictionary online.