Any thoughts of the old deities and such like?

[Kimberly]

A recent comment has got me wondering. Does anyone worship or believe or even just think about some of the old deities of times past? Like the God of the Old Testament or Zeus or Athena, Ishtar, Isis, Shukra and so on?

All in all we are a pretty diverse group and I have to wonder, so I thought I would ask

[whatsername]

A recent comment has got me wondering. Does anyone worship or believe or even just think about some of the old deities of times past? Like the God of the Old Testament or Zeus or Athena, Ishtar, Isis, Shukra and so on?

All in all we are a pretty diverse group and I have to wonder, so I thought I would ask

I can't believe I missed this thread! 

Yah, I'm a Neo-Pagan, so I've spent a lot of time thinking about the Old Ones; if they exist, how they could exist, what part belief plays in their existence, what amount of influence did/could they have on our existence...  I know there's some sort of Universal Spirit out there, I've felt it, but does it have a name?  Or many names?  Is it composed of individuals?

I am somewhat dually of the belief that a) the gods are aspects of a larger spirit and b) the gods are individuals just like us.

The stories of the gods is an area I would very much like to explore more, and I have hopes to become initiated onto some sort of path at some point in my life.  School is my life at the moment though, so that is a back burner wish.

I can say I rather firmly believe in Brigid, the mother goddess of Ireland.  When I'm afraid or need help I generally call on the Mother, who is a figure with meshed attributes of a few goddesses that have meaning for me.  Kali is another goddess I definitely believe in, though I have an entirely different respect and "relationship" with her than I do with Brigid.  Inanna also is a favorite, and Cerridwen is one I'm becoming more familiar with.

I don't have much of a relationship to the male part of the spectrum.  I think Pan is fairly cool but I can't really relate, same goes for Jesus for that matter, although given years of service to him in Christianity I do have some sort of relationship with the guy.  I guess I'm just not in touch with my masculine side or something, I'm not sure, it's something I want to explore further down the road.

[Sephirah]

As deities go, I am rather drawn to the old Norse: Odin, Freya, Thor, Loki etc. I kinda like that whole mythos. I wouldn't say I go so far as to form a belief system around it, but I do tend to view literature about it with a certain degree of affection.

[Constance]

I, too, am a Neo-Pagan. My matron is Pele and my patron is Perkunas. A bit diverse, I know, but it's not like I chose them.

[whatsername]

I sort of feel the same way about Brigid and Kali, Shades.  It's more like they called to me to learn about them than the other way around.

[Kate]

Deities and I, we... well, we're like the old ex-couple that accidentally ends up at the same party and both pretend to not notice one another all night.

~Kate~

[Fox]

when it comes to belief then yes I believe in all the old dieties because whos to say they where never there beside a polythiestic belief system makes more since to me than just being one single being of energy although I do hold a belief in a origonal source of energy to everything a great creator or spirit if you will.

[whatsername]

That sounds similar to my own perspective Fox.  Like there is one energy source we and the gods come from and return to at death and can connect to with effort during life, which has dispersed itself into individuals, mortal and divine. ^.^

[NicholeW.]

That sounds similar to my own perspective Fox.  Like there is one energy source we and the gods come from and return to at death and can connect to with effort during life, which has dispersed itself into individuals, mortal and divine. ^.^

Both of you guys have a very interesting perspective on that. It's quite endemic in India. Deities and people are the same energy at different vibrational levels. Thus, if you're in a particular state-of-being you might actually get to a stage of deity. Just not in this life.

And besides, it's also opined there that the deities get that level-of-being by dint of their obsessions with those various powers they control. It's not a place, however, that one reaches Union with Brahman. That can only come about through one's use of her humanity.

I rather am fond of Brigid/Artemis and Gwydion: Fire/protection/strength and poetry.

Nichole

[tekla]

I must be kind of sad there in Valhalla or the Elysian Fields, or the Quick-ie Mart or wherever old gods hang out, to be a god no one believes in anymore.

[whatsername]

Both of you guys have a very interesting perspective on that. It's quite endemic in India. Deities and people are the same energy at different vibrational levels. Thus, if you're in a particular state-of-being you might actually get to a stage of deity. Just not in this life.

That's really interesting!  I didn't know that!  I wish there was a class on Indian spirituality at my University, I would be all over that. 

I must be kind of sad there in Valhalla or the Elysian Fields, or the Quick-ie Mart or wherever old gods hang out, to be a god no one believes in anymore.

I've started wondering about that more and more.  It's interesting because the most powerful experiences I've had with deity is through a Christian context.  When I've had experiences at pagan gatherings the energy is quite different feeling.  This is one of the things that's led me to consider the gods being individuals.  But also, as you said, to consider belief.  Does a god draw power from the belief we have in them, are they bolstered by the energy we send to them in acknowledgment, respect or worship?  If so it would make sense that Jesus is able to make his presence more powerfully felt than Brigid, which has been my experience. 

I too feel bad for those gods who have been forgotten by their followers.  There is this chant from the Reclaiming tradition that goes "She's been waiting, waiting/Waiting so long/For her children to remember, to return" I wonder how literal that is...

[NicholeW.]

There is this chant from the Reclaiming tradition that goes "She's been waiting, waiting/Waiting so long/For her children to remember, to return" I wonder how literal that is...

Hate to enter the absurd alongside the sublime, but didn't the original Star Trek have a version of that back when a lot of us still didn't have color tv? What are gods w/out belief? Exiled to some lifeless planet, or maybe the Quickie-Mart or at one of Kate's cocktail parties?

Has She been awaiting our return? I would imagine so, not that I know a lot about Mother's interior workings. Just this feeling I have and that very likely as we come toward Her She regains strength formerly lost. Perhaps in the way a depression can sap one's strength until it begins to lift? Rather mundane comparison, but hey, this isn't something I think about daily!

Does the Moon shine brighter when we behold Her and appreciate Her? Well, that's a question we can understand, eh? Like trees falling in a forest where there is no person to hear them?

Nichole

[Fox]

You bring up another interesting topic belief. I personaly believe that belief in of its self is a force of energy, just like collective disbelif is an opposite or absence of that force. The more people believe in something the more energy it will have and the more likely it will come into being. Now am i saying that all gods are brought baout through belief no human human mental energy is merely one form out of many that enrgy can take in this universe. So their is high chance that many dieties where around prior to humanity and continue to exist without an active following although there likely to have much less energy to work with than before. As for Indian belief in rising to a diety stauts im not denying this as I don't believe dieties are perfect beings anyway. They are merely sentient entities made of pure energy what type I don't know maybe the base source of all energy. Also another interesting question is the human soul also formed of this same type of energy.

[whatsername]

Sounds like we have a lot in common on this topic, Fox!

Also another interesting question is the human soul also formed of this same type of energy.

I think so.  As I see it the universe is made of up three elements; matter, energy and spirit.  They are all three tied together, and work in conjunction with eachother to create our existence.  Science just hasn't thought of a way to measure spirit yet.

Does the Moon shine brighter when we behold Her and appreciate Her?

It seems like she does, doesn't it??

[Fox]

Hmm matter, spirit, and energy. I hold these three to be classifications and degrees of a type of energy. Matter is made up of atmos. Atoms are made up of protons, neutrons, and electrons but what are these things really maybe just forms of a concentrated mass of energy that is postively charged negatively charged and balanced. thus theoritcaly all matter and energy can be reduced to a basic force. What if that force was the spirit.

[whatsername]

*nods*  It very well could be!

[Fox]

If I had to say anyone particular diety I feel any draw towards it would be Inari although I don't prescribe to pray to her

[Janet_Girl]

I believe that some people still believe in the old gods.  I had a teacher in high school that believed in the old Greek gods.  With alters and everything.  And this in the mid-sixties.

Like many I too am a neo-pagan.  With Egyptian leanings.  My Goddess is Isis and my God is Osiris.

Human beings have the need to believe in a higher power, no matter what or how that may be.

It was once said that even Atheists believe in God.  They say things like "Oh my god don't let me die".   

[Alexis R]

A recent comment has got me wondering. Does anyone worship or believe or even just think about some of the old deities of times past? Like the God of the Old Testament or Zeus or Athena, Ishtar, Isis, Shukra and so on?

All in all we are a pretty diverse group and I have to wonder, so I thought I would ask

I am not a Hellenic Reconstructionist, but I worship Athena. I also mix in elements of the buddha-dharma, as well.

Angela
Athena's Own

[lady amarant]

I'm an eclectic Wiccan and regard all the old goddesses and gods as avatars of the Great Mother and the Horned God. I suppose in this I'm also very vedic in my views, that they are all incarnations of the same principle, the same archetype.

~Simone.