Polytheism question

[shunyadragon]

Also the primary mode of being sane, whereas those who believe insensible nonsense are considered what?

You're now pulling away the dark cloak and expressing your views in a more blunt, aggressive and biased manner that those who do not believe as you do are insane and believe in insensible nonsense. Problematic sense you advocate belief in polytheism as reasonable.

 

[Erebus]

That is very cool. Any suggestions on how to learn more about the aspects of different gods/goddesses?

There are a couple of ways you can go about this. The first is the academic approach: read up on whichever mythology interests you. The gods of pre-Christian Europe (my own area of interest) were generally described as having influence over certain things. In Greek mythology, Artemis is a virgin huntress who also helps ease the pain of women in labour. She's the goddess of the wilderness, wild animals and the moon. Deer are sacred to her.
How much information you'll find on a god/goddess depends on the culture, how important they were considered to that culture and how much of that information has survived over the years. We have a lot more information about the gods of ancient Greece than we do about the gods of Celtic Ireland.

The second option is the hands on approach: go out into nature. I'm a big proponent of the idea that going for a walk in the hills and forests is a good way to experience the gods firsthand. Find a lonely spot to soak in your surroundings. The gods are the sky, the stones, the rivers and the trees. They are also corpses, disease and the hunger of predators. They're beautiful, hideous, wonderful and cruel all at the same time.

 

[The Reverend Bob]

You're now pulling away the dark cloak and expressing your views in a more blunt, aggressive and biased manner that those who do not believe as you do are insane and believe in insensible nonsense. Problematic sense you advocate belief in polytheism as reasonable.

I don't advocate polytheism or any sort of theism at all. Both are insensible to me. I might as well believe in that teapot orbiting Jupiter

 

[Workman]

I like the idea of many gods, but as an agnostic, I can't make myself believe again. Polytheists of any sort, do you believe in literal gods/goddesses, or just as aspects of nature, or aspects of a universal soul, etc? Basically, what do you believe in and how do you carry that belief out?

IMO...
There is only 1 True God, but being ‘True’ is the main problem for us humans to ‘understand’ in, through the choices are makings in our beliefs from (knowledge).. So for shall God being Perfect of the ‘Work’..has made from one(God) and divide its knowledge for many different understandings(Religions), this way not only one religion is saved but the all majority of them together are to be saved..through their different understandings of ‘The God’. This way is of a better measurement of rather having a one whole religion against those whom don’t believe( a 2 sided world). and be if the worse case scenario happened with this one whole Religion under the same belief go against the enemy, it’ll create ‘havoc’. I believe with that situation, this world would not be like how it is today. Therefore having the multi different understandings of God will evolve minimising beliefs for war..saving a lot of life’s. Including non-believers..

But there be an disadvantage with creating the many different religions..but yet! Disadvantage of any will not match the blood spilling of a 2 sided world.

 

[The Reverend Bob]

Over the top sarcasm will get you nowhere quick.

I just made simple request for you to describe and define this apophatic and unknowable God, so that I may know him and give him adulation.

 

[Saint Frankenstein]

I view the gods as real living beings. This goes hand in hand with animism, to me. Everything is viewed as having an inherent spirit or soul, a lifeforce. When I worship Sunna ir Thor, I'm essentially worshipping the spirit of the Sun or of storms, rain and fertility. Regardless, I view the Divine as a plurality as nature obviously favors multiplicity over singularness. We can observe a multitude of forces at play in our daily lives. It's all experiential in polytheism. You're not required to believe anything besides what you have sensed or experienced. It's a primal worldview and self-evident.

As to how I worship, I pray and contemplate. I don't do rituals at the moment but I plan to start soon as reciprocity is central to my religion. I need to build an altar. Besides that, I try to live a life in harmony with the flow of nature, to be grateful and to make my loved ones proud.

 

[The Hammer]

Words and phrases have definitions, we can look them up. Faces and events can be described, we record them in various media. This unknowable apophatic God seems to elude definition and all attempts at description.

Yes, but what I was describing was an experience. The act or experience itself of not knowing. But if you've never not known anything (or forgotten anything), you are better than I.

 

[Aupmanyav]

Hindu polytheists view Gods and Goddesses as loving persons with their own families observing the laws common to society. Since I am an atheist Hindu, I take them to be ideal representations of what society desires and not as deities.

I cant make myself believe enougn to stop The sun from setting.

Sun never sets. It sets only in one's horizon, otherwise, Earth revolves around it. That some beliefs and scriptures took Earth to be flat, did not make Earth flat. They make God (and the paraphernalia) to exist, does not make God exist in reality.

 

[Road Less Traveled]

I like the idea of many gods, but as an agnostic, I can't make myself believe again. Polytheists of any sort, do you believe in literal gods/goddesses, or just as aspects of nature, or aspects of a universal soul, etc? Basically, what do you believe in and how do you carry that belief out?

‘If’ legitimate in reality: ‘if’ something inspired humans to redundantly claim it was the only god with threats and use of fear: chances are there would likely be something more sensible than it.

So then, perhaps Jehovah is one god but a wanker of a god.

 

[Neutral Name]

I like the idea of many gods, but as an agnostic, I can't make myself believe again. Polytheists of any sort, do you believe in literal gods/goddesses, or just as aspects of nature, or aspects of a universal soul, etc? Basically, what do you believe in and how do you carry that belief out?

That is such a difficult question. I believe in one God. I think, maybe, I believe that it only takes one God to create and that if several gods were acting at the same time, things could get confusing or become disordered if they acted in opposite ways. I think there has to be a leader. Even in polytheistic religions there is always a main god. So, I suppose there could be a main god and minor gods. No one can really know. We aren't yet capable of proving either way scientifically and religions differ in opinions.

 

[Aupmanyav]

Even in polytheistic religions there is always a main god. So, I suppose there could be a main god and minor gods.

Hindus actually have three main deities Vishnu, Shiva and Mother Goddess Durga. The creator God is Brahma, but not really in the same league, because he creates at the instance of one of the three main deities. Who really ordered the creation is a matter of personal belief. That may be the belief but we know that universe was not created in this way but by the Big Bang 13.75 billion years ago.

 

[Quintessence]

I like the idea of many gods, but as an agnostic, I can't make myself believe again. Polytheists of any sort, do you believe in literal gods/goddesses, or just as aspects of nature, or aspects of a universal soul, etc? Basically, what do you believe in and how do you carry that belief out?

Important thing to remember about polytheistic religions - by and large, they do not focus on what is "believed in." In other words, what you "believe" about the gods is irrelevant compared to honoring and worshiping the gods. We care a lot less about what you believe the gods are than paying due respects. That's part of why you are seeing varying responses from resident polytheists. And it's part of why directly experiencing the gods and developing relationships with them for yourself is such an integral component of polytheism as well.

That said, I find it very important to understand that in polytheism, the gods are distinct from one another, full stop. If someone is telling the story of "the gods are really just aspects of one god," that's not polytheism, it's something else.

 

[syo]

do you believe in literal gods/goddesses,

yes.

what do you believe in and how do you carry that belief out?

something made the oceans and something made the mountains. the ocean is different than a mountain. so we have two gods. polytheism.

 

[Sand Dancer]

yes.


something made the oceans and something made the mountains. the ocean is different than a mountain. so we have two gods. polytheism.

That's cool.

 

[Aupmanyav]

yes. something made the oceans and something made the mountains. the ocean is different than a mountain. so we have two gods. polytheism.

Yes, the Goddesses of learning, material prosperity, family welfare and succor are different (Saraswati, Laxmi, Parvati, Durga). So also is with the Gods. Better organization, makes the work of deities easier.

Just consider the situation in case of monotheistic religions, where billions of souls will descend in the great hall to be judged on one day. There would be complete pandemonium and many wrong judgments will be made. In Hinduism, this is done promptly on day-to-day, moment-to-moment basis - no delay, no confusion. That department (headed by Yama) has only one thing to look after.

 

[syo]

Yes, the Goddesses of learning, material prosperity, family welfare and succor are different (Saraswati, Laxmi, Parvati, Durga). So also is with the Gods. Better organization, makes the work of deities easier.

Just consider the situation in case of monotheistic religions, where billions of souls will descend in the great hall to be judged on one day. There would be complete pandemonium and many wrong judgments will be made. In Hinduism, this is done promptly on day-to-day, moment-to moment basis - no delay, no confusion. That department (headed by Yama) has only one thing to look after.

In my opinion, if someone wants to be a theist, the plurality of the world will lead them to polytheism. Because polytheism connects Gods with us.

 

[wellwisher]

The late Psychologist, Carl Jung, developed the thesis of the archetypes of the collective unconscious. In more modern computer terms, the archetypes are genetic based personality firmware of the brain, which underly human nature. These are common to all humans and define us as a species. All humans, regardless of culture, are basically the same in terms of human nature. Human nature is deeper than culture.

For example, we all fall in love at one time or another. When active, this firmware is projected onto the beloved, to make the beloved appear better than real.These dynamics, were conscious in ancient times and were attributed to a goddess, such as Aphrodite. Polytheism essentially was an ancient way of mapping out the ancient personality firmware, through projection.

Monotheism is more concerned with the center of the collective unconscious. This center is called the inner self by Jung. The inner self controls all the firmware; masks of the inner self. While polytheism breaks down the firmware into its individual specially components, some of which are blends of more that one firmware. The Centaur, is half horse and half man or part instinct and part a product of culture.

The characters of mythology were real, in a sense that they were a projection of something that was inside the human psyche. The mythology projection was like of a cultural mask, given to a real thing that was similar to software-firmware code of the brain.

As an analogy, you can feel your heart beat, to know there is a heart in your chest. However, if you never saw a real heart up close, you might try to image what the heart looks like. Someone, in our group may come up with an imaginary image of the heart, that appeals to the group. This image is not real; in terms of anatomy, but it is based on something that is real, that we all can sense, by the beat and location of the beat. This paradox of real, but not real, is why we have these debates, since both sides are part of the truth.

Worship of the goddess Aphrodite, to use an example, was essentially using time proven cultural command lines, to help trigger this particular firmware. Falling in love is not something you can do by will or by choice. It happens on its own, time to time. This is because the firmware lies deeper in the psyche, than the ego, and is triggered by the inner self, as needed.

The command lines of worship were a way to induce the firmware; hoping the goddess would appear; so we can induce or amplify the love. This is no different from the athlete, doing his ritual before the game, so he has a good game. It seeks the help of the gods; unconscious, which control the outcome of sports and allows amazing shots for the fans.

Modern humans, as a whole, do not all collectively personify the firmware, as in the days of old. However, we still do the same thing. Each person may have their personal ritual of worship for firmware induction. The correct command line is like a coin, we put in the juke box of the firmware, so the inner self will play the song we need. The old couple may renew their vows of marriage, so the goddess will intercede. Deep inside the operating system of the brain, this ritual triggers the jukebox to play once again. Personification or reinforcing old memory, helps one to focus and push play. It is all good.

 

[Maponos]

I am a polytheist. I am what some might call a 'hard polytheist'.

What does this mean? A hard polytheist believes in the gods as distinct, individual beings with their own personalities, wants and desires, agency, and their own destinies.

This is in comparison to a 'soft polytheist', who may believe the gods are 'aspects' of something or a 'whole being'.

Then there are those archetypal polytheists who want the poly without the theism.

Neither of the last two are true polytheism. This may grate against some, but it is the truth.

What do I believe in particular?

I believe the gods are physical and metaphysical beings who are born with the highest qualities conscious can have. I believe that much of the mythology human history has recorded is based on actual events in an older time when the gods still walked among us openly. I don't believe every myth is 100% true and infallible, but through comparative religion and mythology, there are far too many similarities for it to be a coincidence (and I don't really believe in those to begin with).

I believe that many gods throughout the different cultural spheres are the same, but with different names and myths attributed to them. One of the most famous of these is the great goddess of Venus, Ishtar. She has been through much of the ancient world, beginning as Inanna, then to Ishtar, to Ashtoreth/Astarte, to Aphrodite, to Venus, to even Freja.

I combine my belief in polytheism with the practice of Vedic Astrology. When one begins to understand the stars, what their energies birth, you begin to understand the gods.

When I observe the world, I perceive endless plurality. I have taken to calling this 'harmonious fission', as I perceive existence an infinite spiral of creation, for lack of a better term.

I believe the best way to experience the gods is to, essentially, be 'open' to them. I would suggest to be open to possibilities and to not be afraid of believing.

 

[Aupmanyav]

Though the star Venus represented Sage Shukra, the son of Sage VedaVyasa, in Indian mythology; the word "Vena" is related to "Venus" and denoted love, longing, etc. "Shukra" means clear, pure, resplendent, white, bright, etc.
Sanskrit Dictionary for Spoken Sanskrit, Sanskrit Dictionary for Spoken Sanskrit

 

[Saint Frankenstein]

I am a polytheist. I am what some might call a 'hard polytheist'.

What does this mean? A hard polytheist believes in the gods as distinct, individual beings with their own personalities, wants and desires, agency, and their own destinies.

This is in comparison to a 'soft polytheist', who may believe the gods are 'aspects' of something or a 'whole being'.

Then there are those archetypal polytheists who want the poly without the theism.

Neither of the last two are true polytheism. This may grate against some, but it is the truth.

What do I believe in particular?

I believe the gods are physical and metaphysical beings who are born with the highest qualities conscious can have. I believe that much of the mythology human history has recorded is based on actual events in an older time when the gods still walked among us openly. I don't believe every myth is 100% true and infallible, but through comparative religion and mythology, there are far too many similarities for it to be a coincidence (and I don't really believe in those to begin with).

I believe that many gods throughout the different cultural spheres are the same, but with different names and myths attributed to them. One of the most famous of these is the great goddess of Venus, Ishtar. She has been through much of the ancient world, beginning as Inanna, then to Ishtar, to Ashtoreth/Astarte, to Aphrodite, to Venus, to even Freja.

I combine my belief in polytheism with the practice of Vedic Astrology. When one begins to understand the stars, what their energies birth, you begin to understand the gods.

When I observe the world, I perceive endless plurality. I have taken to calling this 'harmonious fission', as I perceive existence an infinite spiral of creation, for lack of a better term.

I believe the best way to experience the gods is to, essentially, be 'open' to them. I would suggest to be open to possibilities and to not be afraid of believing.

Great post!