Gods and Goddess: The Mystery

[Cosmo]

Well, in mythology, there are tales of Gods and Goddesses doing many things. Helping, destroying, healing, falling in love, dying, transforming.......

Did they really do all these things? Did Apollo really let his son fly his sun chariot? Did Odin really sacricice himself to himself to gain ultimate knowledge? Did Cronus really eat his children? Did Ra really cross the sky in his boat? Is the sky really a Goddess called Nut? Or is the sky something Atlantis held up?

And some times, if they really did do these things, it kinda has a little mystery. If Apollo really did cross the sky in his chariot, how did Ra cross the sky in a boat? We don't have 2 suns! And not only that, but there's also a Norse myth that says that the sun is being dragged by horses! (Or something like horses...)

There are so many myths that they sometimes contradict or argue with each other. They may be from different pantheons and religions, but we wiccans or pagans usually worship gods and goddesses from many pantheons.

So my question is, did gods and goddesses really do the things that the myths say they did. And how do we believe in many pantheons if they themselves contradict other pantheons. I"m confused.

[Cosmo]

oh, and the attachement is just a cute picture of one of my fav anime. I thought it would be cute for a witch....

[Avena]

Originally posted by Cosmo
Well, in mythology, there are tales of Gods and Goddesses doing many things. Helping, destroying, healing, falling in love, dying, transforming.......

Did they really do all these things? Did Apollo really let his son fly his sun chariot? Did Odin really sacricice himself to himself to gain ultimate knowledge? Did Cronus really eat his children? Did Ra really cross the sky in his boat? Is the sky really a Goddess called Nut? Or is the sky something Atlantis held up?

Well, questions like "Did Apollo really let his son fly his sun chariot (wasn't it Helios btw?)?" or "Did Odin really sacrifice himself to himself?" are of the same gender as the question "Are there any gods?" I'm afraid you'll never get an answer...
But all these myths of Gods doing things, like dragging the sun across the sky, can be also seen as metaphors to get to understand what's actually happening when the sun is leaving the sky at night. Today we have the proper information to explain these things on a scientific way, but there are still so many things we can't explain at all. I see the gods as forces, energies, spirits, that are responsable for all this to happen. I don't necessarily imagine Ra carrying the sun in his boat, when it is a sunny day, but I believe in a force that makes the sun move, whether I call it Apollo, Ra, Sunna, Amaterasu (...) depends on my daily mood ;)


Originally posted by Cosmo

And some times, if they really did do these things, it kinda has a little mystery. If Apollo really did cross the sky in his chariot, how did Ra cross the sky in a boat? We don't have 2 suns! And not only that, but there's also a Norse myth that says that the sun is being dragged by horses! (Or something like horses...)


Even the ancient people did recognise similarities between the different pantheons. The Romans for example associated all the deities of other folks with their own gods. Aphrodite, Freya, Inanna and Hathor were associated with Venus, Zeus and Odin with Jupiter, Athena with Minnerva, Isis with Athena or Hera and so on. Maybe Zeus and Jupiter are just two different names for one and the same deity.


Originally posted by Cosmo
And how do we believe in many pantheons if they themselves contradict other pantheons. I"m confused.

Wow, now I'm confused myself. I actually never thought about that one....... But you don't necessarily have to believe in a god's myths if you worship him. And then again the gods of different pantheons aren't completely the same. For me it is a big difference whether I call Odin or Zeus, whether Athena or Minerva, no matter if those deities may have been declared the same by historians or ancient people.

I'm afraid I couldn't really answer your questions...

cute picture btw! :p

[Shadowulfe]

I myself follow the Celtic Pantheons. I come from an Irish bloodline and wish to honor my ties to my ancestors.

[Theres]

i think you have to let the left brain go and see this kind of stuff through the right side. many different tales to explain otherwise unexplainable phenomena. Apollo is obviously Ra (or Bel, or Helios). likewise Crones are Crones whatever any particular culture chooses to name them. the concept of ancient wisdom and the secrets of the mysteries of life, death and rebirth are universal to all who would know them.

btw, i think it was Atlas who held up the sky.

[Cosmo]

Atlas, yeah that's it! Whoops...!

[Euphoria]

hey .... u dont have to actually believe every myth u hear ... after all if u actually look into gods and goddesses u will find that a lot of myths were developed after their original time of worship

[Aengus McTeague]

Originally posted by Cosmo
There are so many myths that they sometimes contradict or argue with each other. They may be from different pantheons and religions, but we wiccans or pagans usually worship gods and goddesses from many pantheons.

So my question is, did gods and goddesses really do the things that the myths say they did. And how do we believe in many pantheons if they themselves contradict other pantheons. I"m confused.

I view the pantheons with their individual Gods and Goddesses as metaphors. A poetic way to make sense of our universe. Ra and his skyboat don't contradict astronomical science at all for me. It's viewing the world through two different viewpoints. Mathematics doesn't invalidate poetry, physics doesn't negate prayer.

As to the differences between pantheons? I love and honor more than one author, more than one musician. Why not love and honor more than one pantheon? Although, I think it's good to work with one primary pantheon, for me it's Celtic. The same way that musicians and authors usually have a particular genre that they do most of their work in. It gives cohesion and focus.

BB,
Aengus

[Avena]

I voted Greek because my present Matron is Greek.

[Kadynas]

I voted Roman, but I would say Greek and Celtic as well. As far as Greek and Roman goes, they're pretty much the same, except the Romans took them over and changed the names and added some details to the stories! :lol:

[Wyrdsister]

I voted "other" as there was no "all of the above" option. :D

I don't follow a particular pantheon of Goddesses/Gods, so I really couldn't pick one. I study Goddesses from around the world, and the ones I invoke are either the one's I feel closest to or the ones who are patrons of certain aspects I want to capture in my work.

For example, I have strong affinities for Hecate, Kali-Ma and Kuan Yin. That's 3 different pantheons! :D Other Goddesses I like to work with are Lakshmi and Spider Woman, and just recently Freyja has been making herself known to me (I'm just getting up the guts to answer :nyah: :D).

My 2 cents... :)

Wyrdsister

[lucidfire]

I tend to focus on the Goddess more in general, though Dionysis and Danu are my favorite invocations. I don't see different names as THAT different though..

[Raindancer]

Isis, because its always been Isis, even when I was a kid.

The different pantheons came from different cultures. There are many similarities especially among those from cultures descended from Indo-European stock. They represent one big migration that splintered in different directions, but come from one origin.

I agree with Greenman on the idea of turning off the left brain on this. Religion/beliefs are not a logical thing, they're intuitive. Logic says that anything you can't see, touch, smell, hear, or in general prove scientifically, is hooey.

The pantheons represent different Cultural "truths" separated by maybe thousands of miles and years. There may be one cosmic truth, but we will never know that, all we have are our subjective takes on that, and its the best we can do, and in a sense, they are all true.

I saw a locally made program on the paranormal the other day, and in one part, a Sceptic ( who I happen to know) , posing as a palm reade used clues from a woman's dress, questions, and other clues to give a good reading. This was to prove that you don't have to be psychic to give a good reading. Thing is, in my opinion, like "magic"tricks and so on, just because some people are skilled in faking it, doesn't mean that some people can't do it for real. I have. Not everything is able to be "proven"scientifically.
Blessings, Raindancer

[maidenmoon]

I mostly follow the Celtic path since I am Irish, but other times I go for another path such as Egyptian...depending upon my mood. Myths are just that, myths. THey are symbolism for the forces contained in a God or Goddess. When I call upon a certain deity, I like to imagine the myth behind the deity. It adds to the kind of power I need. After many years of humans worshipping a deity, it sort of takes upon a life of it's own. The same as if you directed positive energy towards an object, the energy gets embodied into the object. The same goes towards Gods and Goddesses. I usually don't follow the myths, the stories intrigue me though. I usually just call upon the 'God ' or the 'Goddess' as masculine and feminine energy, imagining the moon as the Goddess symbol and The sun as the God's symbol. Imagining the myths also add atmosphere for the sort of power you are trying to invoke.

Embrace your inner Goddess no matter what name she may possess.

What it all boils down to are the simple truths, the most powerful of all being LOVE.

[lucidfire]

Very well said, Maidenmoon! :bubbles:

[maidenmoon]

Thank you, I tried!........lol

[mato]

Sticken with my ancestors as well, I am mainly working in native american pantheons, or they are working with me... though this is a broad catagory...

[Old Witch]

I voted other also. I pick and choose from all pantheons. Some purists have said this could be dangerous, but it has worked for me for a long time.;)

[Raindancer]

Old Witch said: " I voted other also. I pick and choose from all pantheons. Some purists have said this could be dangerous, but it has worked for me for a long time."

I think problems arise when we think they will. I believe we create our own obstacles. If we believe it will work, it will.
What we need to be clear on before starting is just what it is we want to see happen.
Blessings
Raindancer

[clef0628]

I follow the Celtic path, but I do pray to others as well. I also think Sakura makea a cute witch :cutie: , that's why shes my avatar.

[LadyEpona]

I voted other.

I feel drawn to the Hindu pantheon, Tibetan Buddhist gods and the Bodhasatvas. I have in the past been drawn to the Celtic and Greek.

Bast is our house Goddess.
My husband is a devoted Bastian.

[Sequoia]

I usually use a combination of different things. . . . ^^; hehe I use the Variety-Pak-Pantheon!!!

[Mnemosyne]

True, if you study the different pantheons, you will notice that they contradict one another. However, this contradiction should not discourage you from following one or more different pantheons. After all, certain ancient groups realized this, but theys still embraced the pantheons of different cultures. For example, the Romans "borrowed" many of their ideas for their gods and goddesses from the Greeks, because of their close interaction with that culture, particularly after they conquered the Greeks. Even in some of the Roman literature, the Roman author will use the "Greek" name for a god and not the Latin. These ancient people and we today believe in these myths, since they help explain natural phenomenens and help give our life meaning. For instance, why do we have cold winter weather now? Oh Persephone must be visiting Hades in the underworld, and her mother Demeter is mourning for her. Or why is there thunder in the sky? Zeus must be feeling some rage.
Thunder, barren fields, cold weather etc. the gods control these things; they are so powerful. Nevertheless, they have flaws. They fight with one another; they enter wars; they intermix with mortals. Thus, they do not always have ideal times. Although they may not be perfect, they give us something to believe in. If you need help in love, motherhood, career choices, health, or whatever, there is a god or goddess to help you. So no matter what pantheon you look to for guidance, you will find solace in your gods and goddesses.

[Raindancer]

The ancients were very aware of the different pantheons and in Late Antiquity, there were many efforts to reconcile them. Isis was known as Isis of the Myriad Names, because She was known by different names in different places. They decided that She was known as Isis in Egypt, Artemis, in Greece, etc.

So our ancestors tried to correlate them not in the sense of one being true and others being false, but as being the same God or Goddess, but known by various names in various places. There were certain rough bits and inconsistencies they couldn't reconcile, so often glossed over them.

I wonder what might have eventually resulted if Christianity hadn't existed or crushed the other beliefs upon getting hold of the temporal power in the Roman Empire. Perhaps we might have seen some kind of ecumenical pantheon that would have found some kind of synthesis. I think something like that was evolving, before Christianity snuffed them.

Personally, I think it would have been a more flexible and accepting religious expression, integrating peoples beliefs instead of sueezing them into the same mold. What I've read of the worship of Isis seems to bear this out. She was not a jealous Goddess, equally happy in Her own temple, or sharing or visiting the temples of other deities.

Raindancer

[manstranger]

I'm another all of the above. Sorta.

And i think that most myths where, as stated, created so common peoples could understand things that where considered to complex or sacrilige in their time period.

One of my favorite is the myth about the Goddess controling the tides. Does she really? Depends on what you think about the moon, and if its the Goddess or not. But the fact that the Moon is associated with the Goddess, and there are myths that the Goddess controls the tides, and that the moon controls the tides is a little more than i'm willing to pass off as coinky dink.

So, I guess IMO, its not to be taken literally, but there is some reason thats prolly true behind it.

[Raindancer]

I think its interesting that they made the correlation between the moon and the tides, instead of just saying that the tides are just these things that happen because the God/dess make them happen. Given all the things they worked out about the universe, astronomical knowledge, and all of the other amazing accomplishments of the ancient and prehistoric world, our ancestors were a lot smarter than we often give them credit for.

As a corellary, I raise the question as to whether or not the Gods and Goddesses were always symbolic of natural forces and so on, or if at the core of some of the myths and legends, there wasn't the hard core of a real, historic being who lived and was the basis of the myth.

I refer in part to the story of Isis and Osiris. Unlike the Greek Pantheon with its Olympian Gods, killling time playing with mortals in their detached careless sort of way, Isis knew joy, pain, fear, grief, suffering, love.... the whole range of emotions that humanity experiences. It was one thing that made Her so accessible to people, rich or poor, of the time. Its just so untypical of the usual Gods and Goddess stories of the time and so human in many ways, that I wonder if there is more than just symbolism here. Its interesting to speculate, anyway.
Blessings
Raindancer

[CoolJ]

ummm silly question but how come i can't vote?!... ermm... hmmm!?!?!?... it says invalid action... grrr this board's programming doesn't like me lol... i was going to say Greek...

[CoolJ]

well i do stray between each but i feel drawn to the greek now

[Raindancer]

CoolJ quote: ummm silly question but how come i can't vote?!... ermm... hmmm!?!?!?... it says invalid action... grrr this board's programming doesn't like me lol... i was going to say Greek...
******************************************
Happens to me all the time and I said Egyptian LOL, just keep trying Athena will thank you for it :-)
Raindancer

[CoolJ]

well it worked i restarted it and the cookies were all in order again... weird thing is i restarted it 5 times and then the 6th time it actually worked.... hmm, odd.... i didn't do ne thing else... oh well...

next time i'll just use my proven procedure to repair any computer program:
:smash:

;)

[Ganga]

Why couldn't the Gods do all the things that we're told? Obviously, some stories must have got distorted over time - bits and pieces added, others removed - and some stories may be purely symbolical. But I see no problem in accepting the fact that personalities far greater than us had/have a way of doing amazing things. If someone had told my great-great-grandmother about Internet and computers, she would have called it mythology (that is not to say that I am far greater than her, of course!).

By the way, I'm new here - just registered. I find this site really great!

[aquinnah]

Welcome to MW, Ganga! I was drawn to Kwan Yin early on my path, and have done some work with the Goddesses Brigid and Cerridwen. My ancestry is Celtic, but I also feel drawn to archetypes that aren't Celtic. And I don't know what my past incarnations ancestry was, so... I use Artemis for protection for my dog and Juno for wisdom and strength. Recently I have been studying Kwan Yin again and learning about Green Tara, her Tibetan equivalent. Most of my work has been with a generic "Goddess", though, I have been more specific as of late. My understanding of Kwan Yin is that she is actually a Boddhisatva, not a Goddess in the traditional sense.

[nehelia]

yeh, there shoulda been a "more than one pantheon" option, as i too switch back and forth from time to time. most often i deal with one or two goddesses from a pantheon, but my mainstays are Norse and Hindu, which, if ya look at the descriptions of the Norse giants, might just be immigrants from Hinduism. . .

to me, the myths are not just metaphors explaining what the deities do. . . i feel that it can be a proper description of how their Divine energies interact with astral and physical planes, put in a concrete way.

[Ganga]

Norse and Hindu - that's an interesting combination. I've heard that after the war of Kurukshetra in India 5000 years ago, some warriors were led by Skanda to what is now Scandinavia. Norse mythology is full of warrior-spirit, so that would make sense. (This, by the way, is not based on any archeological findings, but is a common belief among many Hindus.)

[Mnemosyne]

Fabulous information, Ganga. I had no idea that the Hindu and Norse mythologies could be related. I would love to hear more about the mix of the two pantheons, Nehelia.

[nehelia]

its quite, quite interesting. i find that though each pantheon has specific natures in part derived from the different views of the world and also the region in which the deities ran around, they work very well together. it also happens that my matron and my honey's matron are Hindu and Norse, respectively, and that for a fire-oriented goddess and an ice-oriented goddess they harmonize pretty well. the warrior aspects of both paths fall into synch with each other very well, and i feel the endless cycles of Hinduism form a natural counterpart to the ones of Norse/Teutonic. (side note--i know it may not be exactly correct to interchange these labels but the deities i cheifly work with are present in both of them and dont make much differentiation to me on what i am to call them. . . my honey uses the term Norse but i lean towards Teutonic, mostly because of my German ancestry.)

its always complex to describe how two religious systems relate to each other, so i wont really try here, but to me it often seems like Teutonic and Hindu concepts are polarities of each other. Many of their aspects, from the way the material world is viewed to the way things manifest from more divine levels work together in this sort of opposing way, as if each one takes care of one side of the issue and the other goes the other way. but that's just my feeling of the essence of the way they work together. and i also tend to work with similar death and earth-oriented deities from both sides, and don't work much with the more "front" deities of either pantheon, like Thorr, Freyja, Lakshmi, Brahma, or Visnu. . .

[Twilight Garden]

I work with the Greek pantheon. I'm Italian and find myself much closer to their energy than Roman. ??? I work with Hekate and Zeus, more Hekate than Zeus.

I wanted to make a note about calling deities of different pantheons. While I work with Greek, my best friend works with Celtic. We have been in circle and called our matrons (Hekate and Morrigan) together with absolutely no problems. It was quite powerful and our energies bonded well. We both highly respect and understand the power of each other's matron. To us deity is an energy, not a person with petty problems like where they were worshipped or which mythology they were born from.

[Raindancer]

The Romans worked out the different pantheons by deciding that they were the same God or Goddess but travelled and were called other names in other places, and as they did different things while they were there, had other stories attached to them. They might say for example that Hekate travelled to Ireland where She was known as Morrigan, and it would settle the differences for them.
Raindancer

[Mystic Wolf]

I had to vote for other. I believe there is one Goddess and one God and all the different names and pantheons are just aspects and personifications of those two. Things that allowed people to equate them with human existance.

In our practices we use different names throughout. Often times referring to the Goddess and God by different names in the same ritual depending on the need of the spell being cast at that moment. By using specific names we can hone into certain aspects of the Divine and draw specific power.

Anyway, that is my opinion.

[chocochu]

I just observe the fact that there is a Goddess and God. I don't honor any one pantheon or group of pantheons. In the end, they are all the same to me. o.o

[Mnemosyne]

True, the pantheons are quite similar to one another. For example, the gods and goddesses have similar attributes if you compare two or more pantheons. Perhaps, I should have voted differently, since the ideas of the gods and goddesses are similar in so many cultures. However, I have to admit that I feel a closer connection with the Greek pantheon. Go figure! I try to be open-minded, but I stay set in my old ways.

[Run_With_Wolvez]

I usually call apon Native American (Indian) god/desses and Egyptian god/desses. Can't have one with out the other.. for me, at least. :)

[Grey]

I voted norse for my ancestry (northern scottland) but as for did the legends really happen? I think the did in some form or another say as a mutated oral history by people unable to always comprehend the world. ( of course others are probable pure metaphor)

[Ganga]

Did the legends really happen? Why not? Does magick really happen? I do agree that some legends/myths are probably fictional, but I see no reason not to view at least some of them as historical events.

[Mithrea]

I voted Greek :)

[Asherah]

I voted other. I am culturally, traditionally Jewish. I follow the ancient Canaanite pantheon.

I also have a major affinity to all thing Native American. Changing woman is dear to my heart.

[Armitage]

I picked other because I've found my own names and faces for Gods. And...


So my question is, did gods and goddesses really do the things that the myths say they did. And how do we believe in many pantheons if they themselves contradict other pantheons. I"m confused.

Yes they are metaphors, and yes they did these things, IMO. On a level, Apollo drives the sun chariot, and on another it's a way to understand something much larger than us. Either way it's about perception. And leaving room for both in that perception is a good way to keep from making things dogmatic.

[Journeyman]

Asherah, your namesake is my Goddess of focus. I am also of Jewish origin and culture and still am proudly a Jew, just not religiously.
I wonder how many of us have been swelling the rolls of Ashera's followers in recent years?
In your worship, do you consider El to be her partner? I'd love to hear more about your ritual practices and theology. PM me if you'd like.

----

Anyway, regarding the 'conflicting' mythologies and pantheons, I believe that all of the myths that have been handed down to us have all seen the shaping influence of human hands, minds, and desires.
As I see it, the difference between monotheists and us Pagans is that we Pagans don't feel a need to insist and prove that our myth(s) are the only correct one(s) ever in the history of the world.
I believe that the gods exist and I do not personally believe that "all gods are one god and all goddesses one goddess."
I believe that they each have unique characteristics. But their stories have been molded by each culture and each storyteller, not in an effort to decieve, but just in the natural way that stories change over time in the same natural way that societies change over time.

For instance, I believe that the Jesus of the American Evangelical community is quite a different animal than the Jesus worshipped in different parts of Europe 300 years ago. His story have been subtly molded, within the confines of the Christian Scriptures, to speak directly to the needs of a multicultural, industrialist America.

Well, anyway, that's my fifty cents. :)


bb,
jm

[Mnemosyne]

If you study stories from all over the world, the myths have similar themes. Each culture has altered these myths to fit their own needs and characteristics. True, time changes these myths. It is kind of like playing telephone. A person hears the story but subtly alters it while passing it along to the next person. Thus, over time, the stories gradually change. The attributes of the gods and goddesses even change. For example, I was just reading in a book that Athena can be a goddess of the computer, since one uses the computer for learning and knowledge. Someone has given Athena a new role to fit into our technological world.

[Journeyman]

Has anyone here read Neil Gaiman's American Gods?
Wonderful book! And it discusses some of these issues, though not always directly.
Excellent storytelling and mythmaking, and you get to meet old friends and new friends/foes?).

Excellent. Excellent. Excellent.

BB,
jm



(http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0380789035/qid=1031610397/sr=1-1/ref=sr_1_1/104-6574954-5641555?v=glance&s=books)

[Mnemosyne]

Thanks for the recommendation! I'll check it out when I have the time. So the book discusses various pantheons?

I'm impressed that so many of you are into more than one pantheon. I feel so at home with the Greek pantheon that I really haven't looked into other pantheons. I've studied them; however, it's not the same as really understanding and knowing the deities from other pantheons. Maybe one day. But like I said, I feel so content with the Greek pantheon.

[Mnemosyne]

:boing:

Take a look at this thread, xblue420x! You will see that many people work with more than one pantheon.

[MaddyBlue]

You state that the different Pantheons contradict eachother, yet the example you use proves you wrong.

And some times, if they really did do these things, it kinda has a little mystery. If Apollo really did cross the sky in his chariot, how did Ra cross the sky in a boat? We don't have 2 suns! And not only that, but there's also a Norse myth that says that the sun is being dragged by horses! (Or something like horses...)
Have you ever played the game telephone? Notice how one sentence gets distorted over time and space? The sentence gets distorted, yet often times the idea gets through. Now imagine this game played in a room of people who all spoke two different languages. So, not only is it being passed from person to person, but it is being translated from language to language. Good luck ending up with anything even remotely reltated to the sentence you started out with. To me it is a phenomena and a validation that three seemingly separate cultures have basically the same myth about how the sun is moved through the sky. Apollo is the sun being pulled by his horses, just as in the norse myth. And the boat? When you live in Egypt, on the river nile...there aren't chariots...there are boats. There weren't chariots until the romans came in. Have you ever tried to move wooden wheels over dessert sand.....not a pretty sight. So the translation is slightly different, but the idea is the same. The sun is both a god and represented by a god all at once. And the sun is travelling across the sky by some ordinary mode of transportation in an extrordinary way. The greeks are a little confusing about this in there mythology because it is apollo's chariot and horses, but it is helios who drives them.

A little side note: Apollo did not let his sun drive the chariot, his sun did so without his fathers permission.

To me the reason i believe what i believe is because it has a common thread through so much of the worlds religions. IE. the creation story that comes from many myths is all very similar...even today in the christian world, the story merely has been slimmed down to one god. The story of the flooding of the earth is another sotry found in many religions across the world. Though nnot christian i am forced to believe not only that christ existed, but that he was someone of import since he appears not only in the christian beliefs originating in greece and rome, but in south american and north american beliefs (pre-columbus) also.

For me, I subscribe primarily to the Greek Pantheon as I am of Greek descent and was raised strongly in Greek tradition. I also mesh into this the Celtic Pantheon (if you can call it a Pantheon) which I also feel a strong tie to, probably due to my Scottish heritage. I have found no contradictions to speak of yet. Just dual support for my beliefs.
Zeus or Jupiter or Thor....a rose by any other name would still smell as sweet....so to speak.

Well that's my two cents. ;)

[Mnemosyne]

Hi Maddy Blue! You bring up many good points. You brought up the same point that I brought up at an earlier date. The stories have been passed just like sentences are passed to one another when playing the game telephone.
Each culture uses the stories of the gods to teach lessons and explain events for the natural world. These cultures change the stories to fit the values of their own distinct culture. Since I am really into study various cultures, I respect all the pantheons. I believe that many of you respect all these cultures too and are able to relate for the changes in the myths. :)

[Moon Daughter]

i voted for Norse- because of the beautiful Freya.
but i'm of Slavic origin ( this time around, in this life), and so Slavic Deities mean a lot to me.
also, every other thursday i attend this writing group in Toronto led by 3 Native American ( tradition of twisted hair if i'm not mistaken) pipeholders. there, mostly the Native Deities are invoked.

[Rahul]

I request moderators to include the Vedic Pantheon so that I may also vote.

[AmbivalentMirage]

I worship the Jewish "pantheon", if that's what you care to call it.

The Torah states "You shall have no other gods before Me." To me, that means that the Divine revealed itself to the Jewish people in a way that they would understand and called them to follow that specific "facet". This is much in the way that the Greeks and Romans were "called" by their gods and goddesses.

I don't feel the need to worship Celtic, Egyptian, Greek, etc. deities... I'm perfectly happy with the God, Goddess, and Child I know. :)

[lovepoet]

I voted Greek too, which is hardly surprising!

[MystIc_WolF]

I voted other simply because I have a belief that is so unlike what anyone else probably thinks. To me there was a creation force (call it the Tao or whatever you like) at the beginning of time, and this spawned a number of Deities that gave birth to deities from all pantheons if that makes any sense. A perfect example of this (since this is the "deity set", for lack of a better term)that I use is The Greenman. At the beginning of time I believe that the Greenman was one of the group form deities that spawned Pan, Cernunnos, The Holly and Oak Kings, and other similar gods from all pantheons.

[Loreley]

I voted other.

As a Canaanite, I naturally work with the Canaanite pantheon.

[Cheshire_Cat]

I voted Egyptian.

[Kalika]

Hindu (Kali Ma), Greek (Athena), Egyptian (Bast)

Blessings,

Kalika

[morrigen]

I'm one of those "mixed pantheon" types. Anubis is my patron, and the Morrigan is my matron. Still, they both seem to get along just fine :)

[Cerulean]

Mostly the legends are all true. But how they can all be true, that takes years and years to understand.

[argento_occhi]

i voted egyptian. the deities i am drawn to are Aset, Djehuti and Sobek. As for whether panteons contradict or conincide, well, I know what I call Them, and to me, that is the aspect I am calling. Yet to me, they are all separate entities. Zeus and Jupiter and Isis and Heru are all separate entities in my eyes. The mythologies don't matter to me, cos i am only concerned with one: the egyptian mythos. if this comes out all sharp and snappy, i apologise, it isn't supposed to be. I'm tired, its late, and i'll disappear to bed in a while. I'm not snapping at anyone. i have just written in short, concise sentences. I'm only adding this cos i reread it and thoiught it sounded snappy.
eh, i'll go to bed now,
bright blessings
argento_occhi

[Eowyn]

Normally I take the Greek but I've started to get interest for the Egyptian and Celtic one as well... But those arent in "use" for me yet

[Mnemosyne]

It's time to bring this thread back to life so newer members can vote on which pantheon that they feel close. :)

[savannahrose44]

I don't call on any one set of Gods specifically. I call upon them all. Does that make sense?

[CaitrionaMorgaine]

I agree with much of what has been said here. The God and their mythos were created/accepted so that we could have an understanding of the daily events of our world, that would normally be beyond our comprehension. I think that it is all for our peace of mind, and our need for understanding. Those things are, to me, a universal need. That is why there are so many overlapping themes in the mythos of many cultures.

As for myself, I voted Celtic. That's the general and easy way to say that my pantheon includes Rhiannon, Airmid, Brighid, Lugh, Cernunnos and I'm learning about the Morrigan.

Blessings, ~Rhiannon

[HorseCrow]

Mainly Greek, but also at times, Celtic and Norse (I'm Scandinavian- go figure :) )

[IvyWitch]

I work with the Shinto (Japanese) pantheon.

I see I am not as lonely as I thought...who's the other person who voted Japanese? ^_^ We probably have a lot to talk about.

[Convallaria]

Definately greek, though I tend to identify more with celtic mythology.. go figure.

[rhinoa]

I voted Greek as that is the tradition my coven follows.

[colusaskye]

I picked the Chinese because that's what I am and I just seem to naturally gravitate towards them. Sometimes I just call on a higher power in general. Lately I've been thinking of Athena a lot though...I mean, she just pops up in my head at random times so I guess I'll look into it :).

[Fideal]

With the Irish Gods, I find I have no problems believeing what they did really happend. Honestly, it all makes sense to me. There isn't a creation myth (surviving at least), but there is a vague sense that people came from the sea, which is true when you consider all life on earth began in the sea!

And I also believe that a real long time ago, when the Men of Dea lived in Ireland and not beneath the mounds, the otherworld and this world were closer and more intertwined, makeing acts of great magic more likely. There isn't really anything in the irish mythos that doesn't fit with my sense of logic!

[Seren_]

I believe that myths are allegorical, with perhaps a grain of truth (well, reality) in places. So they don't always have to make sense or agree; for me it can be more the message than the detail that's important.

[~Anamorata~]

Egyptian..Osiris(Patron Deity)...I belong to The Temple of Osiris.

[TaysatWesir]

Egyptian Maihes (Maahes my patron deity) I am affiliated with Per Ankh.

[Raintreewolf]

Greek Pantheon is very real for me....always has.....they are the guises of my psyche. I know them best, they have been easiest for me to remember and relate to.

Though, I'm learning about Kemet because of my newly found love for Hathor or Het-Hert, though I'm actually very limited here in a full over view of the Egytian pantheon.

[Toki Wartooth]

I voted 'other' because I do both Roman and Greek, though I'm also into the Egyptian. So, I'm relatively mixed.

Well, many stories were made up to explain the natural world before science started popping up. Other stories are told to express morals. Sometimes one God from pantheon is related to another God from another pantheon. They may have different names and maybe even a different appearance, but it's the same expression of the divine.

e.g. Athena and Minerva. Athena is Greek; Minerva is Roman. Different names, slightly different themselves, but still both manifestations of the divine.

[Ishtara]

I follow a Kemetic path and pray exclusively to the Egyptian pantheon.

I see all the Kemetic Gods as being facets, expressions, or "Names" of Netjer, which in turn is the very concept of divinity. So it is not much of a stretch for me to see all the deities from all pantheons as expressions of that same concept.

Many Kemetic Gods and Goddesses have been likened to deities from other pantheons: Djehuty (Thoth) to Hermes, for instance. And the ancient Egyptian religion itself was fairly syncretic anyway, adopting deities from the Nubian pantheon, for example.

I also happen to be very interested in Jung's and Joseph Campbell's works, so yes, the notions of archetypes and recurring myths definitely make sense to me :)

[Sins_Under_The_Halo]

It's awkward for me because I've got my own f**ked up manifestation of a Godess that I believe in! :whatgives

[Luminessence]

I don't believe that the myths are true. I believe that the Gods, and the stories told about them, were created by humans in an effort to make the Divine make more sense to them. But the archetypes are so firmly entrenched now that they might as well exist.

As for what pantheon I worship, I chose "other" because I don't generally work with specific Gods and Goddesses. I usually worship God as a whole.

[Nantonos]

Its unfortunate that these are presented as exclusive choices.

[Faelon_Moon_Hawk]

I selected Norse, but Egyptian too. I usually call on Bast and Ullr for help, seeing as theya re my patrons...most of the time Bast, but it really depends on the situation.

[Pure Ahimsa]

Most myths are just ways to explain things. I believe in the Gods because I believe that since Divinity is infinite, their are infinite aspects of Divinity. I don't necesarily believe in all the myths, but I keep an open mind, you never know! Heh

[Nimtrix]

I think the difference is between "truth" and "facts" Mythologies paints a mental picture based on perspectives and levels of knowledge. The truth is the sun "appears to be "pulled" through the sky. The "fact" is, it's the earth that's really moving. I believe the gods are archtyple ideas and they help me focus my mind on what I want. gods there are many and lords there are many.

[PropheticMonkey]

I usually invoke the Sumerian gods....I dont know why but I feel attracted to them and I dont think its a very common parthenon to deal with

[Happy Shrew]

A perspective that I've heard elsewhere and that I really like to refer to is the difference between mythical truth and literal truth.

Literal truth would be just the facts. The car is blue. Its headlights are on. It has a Virginia license plate. We can pass these facts along pretty easily, but for the sake of reliability most would opt to experience it directly.

Mythical truth contains information, but instead of facts you get people's derivation of facts. It's sort of like the proverbial grapevine or a game of Telephone you play with your friends. You know the end result isn't true in the literal sense, but rather in its being a distillation of what many people perceived and passed along.

In the case of Apollo/Ra/other sun gods, it works like this:

Literal truth - the sun rises in the east and travels through the sky until it sets in the west. It does this every day without fail, and it moves pretty fast considering how high up it is.
Mythical truth - the end result of people passing along their perceptions of the sun's behavior varied from place to place. In Greece, the sun was a chariot, being a common method of getting around. In Egypt, the sun was a boat, also being a common method of getting around. And so on.

I don't see any contradiction because I know that a lot of what I learn and act on as a regular ol' human being falls into the mythical truth category, and therefore my world is highly mutable and potentially contradictory. That's just how it goes.

[akewa]

I voted egyptian for they have been with me from the start. I have worked with many different patheons including druid, celtic, norse and Goddess only. As one get more into there religous studies one tends to lean one way more than others.

Learning the religion that your diety comes from helps alot when calling on them. One can say that the dieties are cross culturer but that is really not the case. Over time they changed a we did and as people conqured certain areas and incorprated them into their system. Learning about their foundation place and mths helps being able to work with them. There is alot of misinformation out there. Sometimes you have to dig deep to find the real information, for it is not mainstream. Many new age books are wrong in the diety information and yet most except these books as fact till they learn differnt.

Ignorance might be bliss but knowledge is power.

[AlAskendir]

Well, in mythology, there are tales of Gods and Goddesses doing many things. Helping, destroying, healing, falling in love, dying, transforming.......

Did they really do all these things? Did Apollo really let his son fly his sun chariot? Did Odin really sacricice himself to himself to gain ultimate knowledge? Did Cronus really eat his children? Did Ra really cross the sky in his boat? Is the sky really a Goddess called Nut? Or is the sky something Atlantis held up?

And some times, if they really did do these things, it kinda has a little mystery. If Apollo really did cross the sky in his chariot, how did Ra cross the sky in a boat? We don't have 2 suns! And not only that, but there's also a Norse myth that says that the sun is being dragged by horses! (Or something like horses...)

There are so many myths that they sometimes contradict or argue with each other. They may be from different pantheons and religions, but we wiccans or pagans usually worship gods and goddesses from many pantheons.

So my question is, did gods and goddesses really do the things that the myths say they did. And how do we believe in many pantheons if they themselves contradict other pantheons. I"m confused.

Existence is not entirely physical, part of existence can be seen as been Astral or Mythical or Allegorical, or combinations of these. Different peoples had access to the Mythical part of existence thru dreams, and used it to explain portions of physcial life that they found puzzling. The same person can dream into the Mythic Layer at different times and see similar vision with different persons or different names involved. Different persons are definately going to do so, and if these different persons are in different cultures, at different times, the differences are going to be even more intense - - - but that doesn't mean that any of them is 'wrong', just a different limited view of a largely unlimited 'thing'.

Furthermore, some cultures inherited their religious myths from other cultures - - - the Romans from the Greeks from the Egyptians from the Assyrians from the Sumerians - - - but they are generally in different climates, terrains, and conditions so what each culture emphasizes is different, so they each change the vision-stories they inherited a little bit....

[David19]

I voted other because i'm drawn to different deities like right now i looking into middle eastern ones but i'm also drawn to Greek gods like Apollo, Athene, etc, some celtic ones, Italien/Roman ones and Aztec but hopefully soon i will have an idea of which ones are my patrons and which ones to follow. Also i think i might research Isis too.

[Rayzer]

I said other because my dieties all come from different cultures so there's not one specific culture

[Duwayitheru]

I concern myself mainly with the Egyptian pantheon.

I do not believe in any of the stories as literal truth. No, I do not believe Ra is going across the sky in His boat daily (the sun doesn't even really move we know now, we're the ones moving). No, the sky is not really Nut, the earth not really Geb laying beneath her, nor is Shu seperating them as the atmosphere.

The stories are ways for people to explain how things worked, the stories remind us of the Deities, their connection of nature, the importance of it. How we could not live without the sun, air, earth, water etc - and as I see it, how we would equally not survive without the Gods, though that's only my opinion. I think we can at least all agree without any more air we'd be in trouble. ;)
They show things like creation.. The Egyptians themselves had many and sometimes conflicting creation stories. In my opinion, they all show a detail, a part of something we will never fully understand.

They're also lessons, or show beliefs of the cultures. Egyptians thought names were very important, there is a myth detailing this when Aset(Isis) tricked Ra into giving Her His name. In the contendings of Heru(Horus) and Set we see the establishment of kingship, the unification of Egypt, ma'at prevailing, etc. In the death of Wesir(Osiris), we're shown a world truth - we all die, somehow. And it shows us what was believed to happen when we did die.

I don't really worship from too many pantheons, and only really pay attention to the stories of one. (What I mean to say is, I know stories from many other cultures, but only really focus on the spiritual side from one.. as that's where my personal interests lie.) Even if I did follow many stories, it seems as though with the attitude I have about them, different cultures explaining things of their Gods and world, since I do not see them as literal there would not be much conflict. I'm not taking them as science lessons, or fact, just as ways people explained things, or showing wordly or spiritual truths. Some may have more truth than others, but I'm not one to take any of them as 100% literal truth.