Attributes of the Goddess and God

[Mairwen]

originally posted by: Lynnaea
moved here by: Mairwen


I am preparing to teach a class on the God and Goddess to my coven, so I am interested in the comments on this thread. Can you all help me with this? I see the comments on how you "see" your dieties are mostly a physical discription.

Do you have personality attributes to go along with your view?

Do you see qualities that you limit as being associated with the god or the goddess? Nurturing or protective qualities for an example.

Do you think we make our dieties in our own image? Or do you think they are entities we should strive to be like?

I really appreciate any thoughts, and remember there are no right or wrong answers, I just need different opinions.
thanks

Lynnaea
__________________
Bright Blessings
Lynnaea
http://moonglade.hypermart.net

[Edited by Mairwen on 02-11-2001 at 11:03 AM]

[Lynnaea]

OK, since no one has any comments, how about this?
Does this make sense? By whatever name you call it, the "Deity", "the All-Mighty", or "that Great Big Power Plant of the Universe" is soooooo vast we humans can't begin to understand its complete nature. It is called Ain Soph by Kabbalists, meaning "unlimited light".

So to understand we take small portions, attributes that we can relate to and make them into a "thought form" perceived to us as a God or a Goddess. So in effect, are we creating our own gods in our image? Are we forming super-human aspects into a god we can relate to? Or do you think I am spouting utter nonsense?
What do you think "Deity" is?

[eaglewolf]

I think you are right...

We only percieve what our minds will allow, no matter how deep. It is different for each of us, but no less enlightened for any of us.

~ew

[mol]

I have posted before about physical qualities...but these are just something I use to visualize. I actually know (my Path) that there is no way to visualize Deity. We break down bits and pieces of Deity and call it God and Goddess, etc. But on my Path I cant even comprehend the concept of seeing or "knowing" anything about Deity. Does this mean I don't "know" Deity. Nope. It means I couldnt give a personality to a Deity that is far more advanced than anything I will ever know.

Did that make any sense at all?

[Lynnaea]

That makes sense to me, Mol. There are no right or wrong answers when it comes to perceiving "Deity", our understanding of "Deity" is our own private reality.

And Eaglewolf if it is our minds that allow the view; do the gods show us their nature out of grace by appearing in a form they know we can understand? Or is it like a bunch of blind people trying to figure out what an elephant is by touch? One person feels the feet, one feels the trunk, one the ears or tusks and all have a different opinion of what an elephant is. They are all right, they just don't all have the whole picture.

Are there any attributes that you give the small portions you can understand?

I appreciate your comments, I have to teach the class next Saturday.

[eaglewolf]

I don't think Deity appears to us in a form It thinks we can understand, but rather a form It feels we are ready to understand at this point in our existance. And, as I said before, it is different for each of us. No view is wrong, it is simply our view.

We express this through what our tradition calls the "comfort zone." The universe is revealed to each of us at different times and in different ways. It appears on a level at which we are most comfortable with. Comfort allows for a more smooth and effective response, giving us the opportunity to absorb as much from the experience as possible.

Just a thought...

~ew

[Niamh]

I like what EW has to say about Deity coming to us or manifesting his/herself to us in a form we are ready to understand.
We definitely all have different perspectives of Deity, and this perspective does change over time for people.
I don't visualize any images or personification when I think about Deities. I consider various aspects of The One, not unlike Maiden, Mother, Crone; Hunter, King... etc.
Like you say, we all have different feelings, and none are wrong!
-Niamh

[Lynnaea]

It is such a breathe of fresh air to follow a path where people don't tell you what to believe, isn't it?
The concept of Deity is a personal feeling. Thanks for your comments, I had a great class tonight.

Besides our personal feelings of Deity, we discussed the archetype of the Great Mother of ancient Europe and how her name has permeated into many languages and places. Through the names of the God/desses and linguistics we can understand how our ancestors perceived Deity. For an example Dana, Danu, or Don was an ancient Great Mother Goddess of Europe, the root of her name "don" is in our word "donate" and means giving or generosity. With time new Gods sprung, or the same Gods were given different names, the new names reflected the peoples concepts of Deity. Cool stuff!