How Do You View the Gods?

[X-Yami-no-Ko-X]

So interesting discussion that I found while lurking the HoN forum a while back. Didn't think about starting a discussion on it until I was in the shower today.

So the first question is how do you view the gods? Soft/Hard Poly, Mono, ect.
Second, if you follow a specific pantheon, how do you view gods outside of that pantheon? Like are all the sun gods the same god but just different faces of the one you follow? Are they all still different entities?
Also, if you can, explain why you think that for both questions.

I forgot the other one I wanted to ask but I'll ask it when I remember it again.  

[Sanguina Cruenta]

I'm definitely a hard polytheist. I don't really understand the view that they are all variations of the same deity or deities given how distinct their personalities appear to be to me.

I do think different gods across pantheons are still distinct gods; I can't see myself how Ra and Sunna can be the same, or Thor and Zeus, or Odin and Mercury... they are all so different, and occupy different places within their pantheons and so on. I have often thought about a storm and wondered whether both Thor and Zeus are in the same storm, or how that works.... and I don't know. I'm not sure. But there we are.  

[X-Yami-no-Ko-X]

Sanguina Cruenta

I have often thought about a storm and wondered whether both Thor and Zeus are in the same storm, or how that works.... and I don't know. I'm not sure. But there we are.

That's what I was forgetting. But still not quite sure how I would word that as a question. cat_sweatdrop  

[Esiris]

I'm mostly a hard polytheist- but I think some gods were cribbed from other cultures, and that some spirits are viewed as gods by some people even though they aren't, and that some of these spirits were associated with other beings, like how the Loa are represented by Saints.  

[X-Yami-no-Ko-X]

Esiris

but I think some gods were cribbed from other cultures,

What exactly do you mean by this?  

[Esiris]

X-Yami-no-Ko-X

Esiris

but I think some gods were cribbed from other cultures,

What exactly do you mean by this?

Some cultures lifted gods directly from cultures they came into contact with- no changes, no revelations, just copypasta.  

[X-Yami-no-Ko-X]

Esiris

Some cultures lifted gods directly from cultures they came into contact with- no changes, no revelations, just copypasta.

Alright. I didn't know if you meant like someone saying god X felt the same as god Y and that's why.  

[Esiris]

X-Yami-no-Ko-X

Esiris

Some cultures lifted gods directly from cultures they came into contact with- no changes, no revelations, just copypasta.

Alright. I didn't know if you meant like someone saying god X felt the same as god Y and that's why.

I don't have a whole lot of experiences with gods- I have the ones that started me Seeking Wicca, and some spirits and maybe another couple gods and goddesses in really powerful rituals, but for the most part I don't go looking for them or anything. sweatdrop

I kind of just, stumbled onto things I couldn't ignore but couldn't fully understand either.  

[X-Yami-no-Ko-X]

Esiris

I don't have a whole lot of experiences with gods- I have the ones that started me Seeking Wicca, and some spirits and maybe another couple gods and goddesses in really powerful rituals, but for the most part I don't go looking for them or anything. sweatdrop

I kind of just, stumbled onto things I couldn't ignore but couldn't fully understand either.

Alright. It was just something I read somewhere.  

[le chevalier etoile]

I am definitely a hard polytheist.

I think that finding differences and sameness across pantheons is difficult. . . Some may be obviously copied and pasted from one culture to another, and I also think that some deities- especially primordial ones- may be the same god, goddess, or spiritual force filtered through different cultural understandings.

For the most part, though, I believe that gods and goddesses from different pantheons are different. I have often wondered if different god and goddesses of love collaborate on ventures or if deities of the sun only shine on their "part" of the world, and I'm not sure. It is something I will have to think about more.  

[Morgandria]

le chevalier etoile

For the most part, though, I believe that gods and goddesses from different pantheons are different. I have often wondered if different god and goddesses of love collaborate on ventures or if deities of the sun only shine on their "part" of the world, and I'm not sure. It is something I will have to think about more.

Like you, I am a hard polytheist. I think of the Gods as unique, distinct individuals. I am also a panentheist - I tend to think of the lifeforce of the universe as 'the Source'. This overarching energy is itself transcendant, and yet immanent in all things. We're all little bits of the Source, spun out into individual pieces so it may experience existence in all possible ways and forms - different sizes but still made of the same essential material. We come from the Source, and in the end our energy returns to the Source, carrying our experience back to the whole.

I can see why people might be a soft polytheist, thinking that so many Gods have things in common or seeing connections. What I don't understand is how they jump from 'similar' to 'must be the same'. We have people who represent certain concepts, careers, skills, etc. to the rest of us - whether they're the face of a sport, a religious body, a government, etc. And many people are all able to connect to certain concepts, ideas, and images, at once. More than one person can feel that they're represented, for example, by the image of a lion. But that doesn't mean all people in the same career around the world are in fact the same person. Or that all people who identify with lions are all part of the same gestalt personality.

I think when it comes to Gods representing certain concepts to their respective pantheons and cultures, it's not much different. Some Gods are born relating to, or having an affinity for, a particular sort of energy, or skill. The Sun is a massive body in space - we can fit tens of millions of Earths into it. It isn't a stretch, in my mind, that we have many Gods from around our little planet who can tap into and manifest its' energies, and that they're still individual entities doing their thing. We're a vast and diverse species over a large geography of wildly divergent climate. Why on Earth would we have just one God and one Goddess...or one deity, at all, that is 'One Size Fits All'? Nothing else about our species works that way - it seems illogical that our concept of Divinity should, at least to me.

I don't know how much different deities would collaborate, but I do certainly believe, through my own experiences, that they do sometimes come into contact with one another, and there is a level of interaction there.  

[Talesofbiro]

Hard polytheist, always have been. Even before I identified myself with being pagan. Learning about different pantheons and gods in school I always thought of them as separate entities. The idea of soft polytheism didn't even occur to me until I started looking into paganism.

Sanguina Cruenta

I have often thought about a storm and wondered whether both Thor and Zeus are in the same storm, or how that works.... and I don't know. I'm not sure. But there we are.

That's something I've always wondered too. It's an interesting thought.  

[kyndryana3]

I consider myself a hard polytheist. My thoughts on different gods being related to different things is along the lines of people and professions. I might know two people, who are both doctors, but that doesn't mean the people are the same. They might not even be the same type of doctor, although a basic question about health or medicine might be easily answered by both.  

[RedHairjoe]

I believe hardly in an entity void of physical nature that started it all! I call it the Energies, this was what started the Big Bang and everything else. Its kinda like the Holy Spirit or the Force in Star Wars. It permeates all things and is apart of everything. People have worshiped it in many ways under many names depending on culture etc. etc.


I also believe that through the Energies the God and Goddess were formed, symbolizing the Duality in life. Male Female, Summer winter etc. etc. etc.

I'm agnostic with the God and Goddess, that's why I don't give them definite names or the like. But I do believe greatly in Energies and their power.  

[Esiris]

caesar821

I believe hardly in an entity void of physical nature that started it all! I call it the Energies, this was what started the Big Bang and everything else. Its kinda like the Holy Spirit or the Force in Star Wars. It permeates all things and is apart of everything. People have worshiped it in many ways under many names depending on culture etc. etc.

I think that's called Pantheism.

Quote:

I also believe that through the Energies the God and Goddess were formed, symbolizing the Duality in life. Male Female, Summer winter etc. etc. etc.

What about things that fall outside of binaries- like people who are 3rd gendered or intersexed, or agendered?