Real or symbolic?

[SqueezetheShaman]

Do your beliefs say that your gods/goddesses are real or symbolic? Do you believe they actually existed, then died, or have always been in spirit form?? Or are they just symbols of what you find poweful, divine, etc...new to the forums and want to get a grasp on others beliefs... thanks :)

[xblue420x]

welcome to the community!
well me personally, everything is symbolic. alot of pantheons dont say whether or not the gods and goddesses were actually human at some point...i think alot of the egyption deities have stories about how they were human and became gods. wasn't osiris human when he was torn up and thrown in the river? i dont remember which greeks were which...the titans and olympians, i think it was the titans that came from the mountain? haha i dont remember. i think most of the pantheons have like 1 or 2-maybe more-gods/esses that were born human and then became gods and the rest of the gods came from them..
and then theres always the ones there never became deities, like pandora-she was always human right? but then again you never see any stories about how she died...
okay well im done ranting now

[SqueezetheShaman]

No that is okay, ranting is good!! There is so much to learn. I wish i had paid attention in mythology class now :D

[xblue420x]

too much to learn..the only time we talked about mythology in school was in my 6th grade english class...i should have known then-i just couldnt get enough of it! haha

but yeah, imo most of them are spirits. or myths if you will lol
i think alot of them were created to have some sort of explination-bed time stories for children and what not. also when strange things started happening or miracles occured people needed an explination for them so instead of just accepting it they made up the bad or evil gods and the good and loving ones.
you know i was looking up slavic deities and myths...i swear they are the meanest gods ive ver heard of--just some food for thought hehe

[asamananara]

I hate the term "symbolic". The world, to me, is the living
embodiment of the divine spirit- vital, potent and present.
The manifest world is literally woven upon the loom of time
and space, the divine virtues flowing through each finite point.
Every pattern upon this tapestry, such as you and I, this keyboard,
even ideas and emotions, is the crystalization of the divine,
each a testament to god and the process of creation. Therefore,
deeming something "symbolic" deprives us of an appreciation
of it's spiritual integrity and vital nature.

[lunachic420]

I sorta believe in everything. I believe that god is everything AND everything is god. Life is god and god is life. As such, we are all god and we all take part in creation every day in an eternal dance (but there is no eternity but only NOW...time is merely the space between two objects). Consciously and unconsciously we are collectively (yet, individually as well) creating our existence. All the gods are just everyone's version of events. That said, I feel that divinity is expressed to us in the way we are best suited to and it is our job to embrace it/them. And I am very pleased with a god/goddess (heavy on the goddess these days as she has been ignored) to worship. Science and magic are the same idea made in to matter/form. I am very into earth magic and energy work. Whew...thanks for asking.


Blessed Be!

[SylverStar]

Well I use the divine as metaphors, symbolic ideas as which to focus on.

[SqueezetheShaman]

I hate the term "symbolic". The world, to me, is the living
embodiment of the divine spirit- vital, potent and present.
The manifest world is literally woven upon the loom of time
and space, the divine virtues flowing through each finite point.
Every pattern upon this tapestry, such as you and I, this keyboard,
even ideas and emotions, is the crystalization of the divine,
each a testament to god and the process of creation. Therefore,
deeming something "symbolic" deprives us of an appreciation
of it's spiritual integrity and vital nature.
wonderful answer, thanks!

[SqueezetheShaman]

Science and magic are the same idea made in to matter/form. I am very into earth magic and energy work. Whew...thanks for asking.


Blessed Be!
and thank you for answering! As for the science/magic comment, it remids me of a quote I have always liked from crowley, just repeated it to another today...We place no reliance on virgin or pigeon. Our method is science, our aim, religion...I am a firm believer that eventually science will explain to us what God is, it is just a lond time away, and we need magic and people like us to give them direction :D

[TornadoAli]

I think God just IS.
The gods and goddesses to me are just personifications of the qualities I see in God. It kind of makes it easier to wrap my meagre little human brain around the huge idea that is God. I don't think the gods were ever actual people, or were down here on earth, or anything...

[Xentor]

My beliefs are mixed about this question.

On one side, there's a dead god, who created the universe and gave up their individual existence to spark life, divining the universe itself. There will be another god, at some point, who will do pretty much the same, with a new universe. There's no symbolism here.

On the other side, I believe everything that lives, is energy, and specific dots of energy can make planets, humans, coffee-cups, thoughts, angels and gods. Everything that lives influences its environment. Those bubbles that yield the most influence, I think of as deities. Then, the use of a deity is more or less symbolic, as it tends to stand not for the deity as a being, but for the influence it yields.

Enjoy your stay at MysticWicks!

[mothwench]

hi there! that's a cute username!
so yeah, i view the gods as symbolic of the forces of nature, and the demi-gods as symbolic of our and animals' personality traits, virtues and flaws. (demi-gods as in creatures, like fae and such.)

[Yasmine Galenorn]

Do your beliefs say that your gods/goddesses are real or symbolic? Do you believe they actually existed, then died, or have always been in spirit form?? Or are they just symbols of what you find poweful, divine, etc...new to the forums and want to get a grasp on others beliefs... thanks :)

I believe in their existence as much as I believe in my own. I don't think they were ever human, though, but that they are actual entitites that embody the energies and spheres they represent. I talk to my gods and they talk back. They called me into their service, I didn't seek them out specifically.

I do not, however, believe that there is one omniscient, omnipotent being/God that rules the universe or created it. I see the universe as being made up of parallel dimensions, and we can reach through and touch these other realms at times--and to me, most of the gods live in these other realms (with a few exceptions like Pele, who I see as rooted to this world since she is connected with a specific land--and I've worked with her off and on for years). As far as the universe/creation/etc., I tend toward a more scientific view of how it came into being, and accept the theory of evolution as valid. Okay, I'm rambling now.

Welcome to the forums, btw...there are some nice folks here.
Yasmine

[Ben Trismegistus]

I believe that the gods and goddesses are somewhere between real and symbolic, or rather, a little of both.

I believe that the gods existed before us in some form, albeit not in the form we currently recognize them. I would say that before human worship, the individual gods were simply sections or aspects of a singular deific force. As human civilization progressed, we began to see and recognize certain aspects of deities, and we ascribed names and faces and personalities to those aspects. That which we perceived as Zeus became Zeus, that which we perceived as Brigid became Brigid, etc. So I believe that the names and the faces and (to a lesser extent) the mythologies were human inventions, if subconscious ones. But I also believe that the gods were there, waiting to be recognized.

Clear as mud?

[Aominay]

What a great question, and wow, the synchronicity I'm feeling right now. I've been undertaking the effort of writing down just exactly what it is that I believe with regard to the Gods. Not that this will never change, I'm just defining it for myself as it is at this time.

I believe in a Universe filled with energy, and that this energy comes together in different ways depending on how we call it to us. This is how I think of the Gods. I believe they exist because we call them into existance. There are so many Gods throughout the many cultures, and they have come about through the calling of their people. The reasons are many, and each God/dess has her own special qualities.

The theory of Yin & Yang is a big part of my spirituality and how I view the world and the Cosmos. Everything is a combination of feminine and masculine energies. At this time I have no special yearning or affiliation for any God/dess in particular, therefore I work with The Goddess and The God as an embodiment of all that is. They provide blessings, epiphanies, guidance, butt-kicking (and I mean my own butt, not anyone else's!), etc.

I do believe that when calling on a particular God/dess, you are calling on the specific energies that shape that God/dess into being. For example, Athena is a Goddess who is highly intelligent, practical and extraverted. She's happiest in an urban setting, is unafraid of conflict, and her respect is won through the use of intellect. When calling upon her, one would be calling upon those types of energies for assistance, guidance, etc.

So, that said, I don't personally feel that the Gods are otherworldly beings so much as the culminations of energy we have formed through time and culture. And Energy is powerful stuff ....

[Alexandra Asinine]

I believe they are real. However, their human forms are symbolic.

[Heathen Dawn]

What Ben and Alexandra said.

[SacredWithin]

Yes, I too see the Gods and Goddesses as symbolic for the different forces of nature and the phases of life. I believe that everything is made of pure energy intelligently manifested into the various physical and spiritual beings we know today. :)

[corsai]

I think God just IS.
The gods and goddesses to me are just personifications of the qualities I see in God. It kind of makes it easier to wrap my meagre little human brain around the huge idea that is God. I don't think the gods were ever actual people, or were down here on earth, or anything...

wow! that was nice talking, good for you, i think as you do, blessings