The gods are not dead!

[Gnostic Seeker]

This is kind of a tie-in thread with other threads that have popped up on the forum as of late. It has been suggested the gods somehow died with their worship, or that the original gods are dead because their old worship has been replaced.

I would counter that the gods are immortal. They're long livers. They're not going to die out from a decrease in veneration. They've never truly died out in the western mind with our continued fascination for their rites and stories. How could they be dead?

Further to argue they're dead because their worship is different would be like arguing the Egyptian gods died because the Macedonians and Romans changed their worship. The gods don't just die. They're made of stronger stuff than our flesh for sure.

How is it argued the gods have died?

 

[dgirl1986]

I think some people say they are dead in terms of the idea of them is dead rather than literal life and death.

 

[Thana]

I think people mean it in the sense of a dead language, The language isn't dead really, It's eternal. It'll always be and have been. Same with those Gods. They're dead in the sense that they aren't popular or mainstream or widely acknowledged anymore. I don't think people mean they literally died in some manner.

 

[Gnostic Seeker]

I think some people say they are dead in terms of the idea of them is dead rather than literal life and death.

How is the idea of them dead?

I think people mean it in the sense of a dead language, The language isn't dead really, It's eternal. It'll always be and have been. Same with those Gods. They're dead in the sense that they aren't popular or mainstream or widely acknowledged anymore. I don't think people mean they literally died in some manner.

Than what do they mean by the gods being dead?

 

[dgirl1986]

How is the idea of them dead?

They forget, or do not know, that there are people today who worship them. They think the idea is dead because of the christianization of nations.

 

[Gnostic Seeker]

They forget, or do not know, that there are people today who worship them. They think the idea is dead because of the christianization of nations.

Ah, so they only think the idea is dead

As for the christianization of nations, its questionable how effective they were, given they had to allow for the peasantry to keep many of the old customs in new garb. Late into the Middle Ages royals were still claiming descent from gods.

 

[Sees]

Some reasons and methods are more subtle and less hurtful in intent but basically remains, one way or the other, boxing them in as mental constructs, ideas, concepts which do not live outside of the human mind. Not seeing the names, prayers, offerings, visions, etc. as a pointing finger towards a part of reality but a pieces of imagination, ignorance, superstition, etc.

Of course it's generally seen in a better light by folks who see it this way themselves.

 

[Sees]

Some reasons and methods are more subtle and less hurtful in intent but basically remains, one way or the other, boxing them in as mental constructs, ideas, concepts which do not live outside of the human mind. Not seeing the names, prayers, offerings, visions, etc. as a pointing finger towards a part of reality but a pieces of imagination, ignorance, superstition, etc.

Of course it's generally seen in a better light by folks who see it this way themselves.

 

[Quintessence]

There does seem to be this... quaint gimmick used in the treatment of polytheisms that suggests the power of the gods is related to the number of worshipers, and that if there are no worshipers, the gods die. This is rubbish of course, but it's a popular idea in mundane society.

However, the general idea of various gods/spirits/ancestors passing out of being and into another state is not at all unknown. While classical monotheism demands an eternal and unchanging singular deity, Paganisms did not demand this. There are plenty of tales of gods "dying" or transforming in dramatic ways. This is probably because many Pagan gods are essentially mythopoetic representations of various aspects of reality. Saying the gods must be unchanging would be like saying the seasons must never change, which is at odds with how reality actually is.

There are some other thoughts I have on this, but they wax into zone of zany that I don't think we want to wallow down. In closing I suppose I'll say that many if not most of my gods are understood as non-immortal with respect to the plane of reality humans can know. Sun Spirit is effectively immortal as far as humanity is concerned, but we know that the sun will burn out eventually. The rule of the universe is that everything changes.

 

[psychoslice]

They are only immortal to the mind, the mind of you and everyone else who believes in these gods, is what keeps them immortal. No mind no gods, for where could they be ?.

 

[Sees]

They are only immortal to the mind, the mind of you and everyone else who believes in these gods, is what keeps them immortal. No mind no gods, for where could they be ?.

I wish that worked with bills, taxes, dirty dishes

 

[Gnostic Seeker]

They are only immortal to the mind, the mind of you and everyone else who believes in these gods, is what keeps them immortal. No mind no gods, for where could they be ?.

You could say that about anything in existence and you'd be demonstrably wrong. Our belief no more makes the gods immortal than belief would change a table being wood.