Other ways to view deities rather that father/mother figure?

[SeekingTruth]

I simply cannot accept that a divine being would care about humans enough to see us as its children. How else have gods and goddesses been viewed throughout history?

 

[Riverwolf]

"Throughout history" is kind of an incomplete way of thinking about it. You also have to account for variations based on geography, with all of a given region's history to take into account. That can sometimes reach back thousands of years.

As a result, it would probably take a dictionary's worth of information to fully catalogue the various ways Gods have been viewed throughout history and the world.

Doesn't help that defining exactly what a God "is" is itself a tricky question.

However, sticking within Gods from European cultures, they have been variously viewed as:

Friends
Fundamental Forces
Personification of cause-and-effect
Masters/Overlords
Teachers

And even this is hardly exhaustive.

 

[SeekingTruth]

"Fundamental forces" do you know of any examples of cultures that saw gods in this way. I think that sums up how I view theology.

 

[Riverwolf]

"Fundamental forces" do you know of any examples of cultures that saw gods in this way. I think that sums up how I view theology.

It can be tricky to say for certain which cultures, exactly. In hindsight, "fundamental forces" is perhaps too vague a term to be of much use, as it can mean different things depending on who you talk to.

Rather, what I was getting at was the idea that the Gods were deifications of things seen in the world, whether ordinary or extraordinary. For example, the Old English name for the God now commonly known as Thor, was Thunor. Over time, even long after the God's worship had ceased in England, the word morphed into the modern word "thunder". To me, this implies that the Anglo-Saxons, along with the other Germanic-speaking Tribes, saw the Thundergod and the phenomena of lightning and thunder (and probably thunderstorms as a whole) as wholly one and the same. This type of thinking informs a lot of my own polytheism.

 

[Aupmanyav]

I simply cannot accept that a divine being would care about humans enough to see us as its children. How else have gods and goddesses been viewed throughout history?

Traditional Hinduism speaks of five different bhāvas (emotions) or "affective essences". In this sense, bhāvas are different attitudes that a devotee takes according to his individual temperament to express his devotion towards God in some form. The different bhāvas are:

Shānta, placid love for God; Dāsya, the attitude of a servant; Sakhya, the attitude of a friend; Vātsalya, the attitude of a mother towards her child;
Madhura, the attitude of a woman towards her lover.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bhakti#Bhavas

"Fundamental forces" do you know of any examples of cultures that saw gods in this way. I think that sums up how I view theology.

In Hinduism, Brahman is understood as what constitutes all things in the universe, right from humans to stones. The 'fundamental force' is worshiped in female form as Mother Goddess "Adi Para Shakti' (Primeval Absolute Power).

Adi Parashakti

 

[SeekingTruth]

That seems very similar to how I view Gaia and Pan. The two deity's I believe in as the All personified.

 

[SeekingTruth]

I really don't think that I can be placed under one of the five bhāvas. My attitude towards god is that I feel it is there. I suppose that eventually the two faces of the universe will become friends to me, but as of right now I cant say.

 

[bain-druie]

The way we see the gods, if we believe at all, is entirely subjective and I've always felt it's a mistake to expect everyone to perceive them in a way that's even similar. Speaking for myself, I have very vague, nebulous ideas of the Creatrix; I feel that it's the source of life, that it goes beyond my current capacity for understanding, and that's totally fine for where I am in my journey as a soul.

Those I tend to refer to as 'the gods' I perceive more as teachers or guides; they are more advanced by far than I am, but they are also created beings. The way I perceive each of them depends entirely on my relationship with them (or lack thereof). Morrighan and Brighid are maternal figures to me, while the Daghda and Manannan mac Lir are paternal to me. On the other hand, Herne the Hunter and Arianrhod the Moon Goddess strike me very erotically. I've never liked Taranis, the celtic storm god, so I prefer to talk to Thor, who is pretty easygoing and someone I see more as a casual friend who is in a much higher position than I am, or a much higher grade. In anime terms, 'senpai'. [Sorry, but I've got kids who love anime and a husband from Japan who also watches it a lot, so it can't be helped lol] Ceridwyn is a goddess I come close to fearing at times, though as I grow she becomes more understandable to me.

The point being, I don't think there's a particular way in which to view the gods, and I think it's supposed to be that way. We are subjective creatures and spirituality is too important to be secondhand. We each create our own path with our own understanding of the ways of spirit (or lack thereof).

 

[Ralphg]

If I understand correct your looking for Non-human Supreme Beings that were once worshipped.
- In Norse Culture you had Yggdrasil
- Egyptians worshipped Ra/Horus (kinda half-human)

 

[Thief]

asking about the history of perceptions might not be all that...
I watch the news and have more concern what people think now.....
seems there is a 'faded' photo....so to speak

 

[LuisDantas]

I simply cannot accept that a divine being would care about humans enough to see us as its children. How else have gods and goddesses been viewed throughout history?

As I understand it, deities are at their absolute best, most constructive when they are viewed as mythological, symbolic constructs personifying certain virtues.

Any and every other use is a deviation of some form or another.

In short, gods and goddesses are somewhat like idealized friends, except that we people should take the full responsibility for both creating them, keeping them well behaved, and destroying them if it comes to that.

 

[MMarcoe]

I simply cannot accept that a divine being would care about humans enough to see us as its children. How else have gods and goddesses been viewed throughout history?

One common view has been that of a grand unified substance of some sort.

In that sense, we really would be God's children.