what is a "god" to you?

[The Kilted Heathen]

"Gods are that which are deemed worthy of worship by a particular person or culture.

That's generally the definition I use, as well, as that's the etymological root for the word "god"; that which is worshiped.

For me, gods are the absolute essence of a given element. This is called Слово (Slovo). While слово is Russian for "word", in a spiritual sense it is the absolute essence of given things. For example, everything that is about a thunderstorm - the high winds, the torrential rain, the thunder and lightning - all are the slovo of the storm. Its slovo differs from that of a rainshower or plains winds, its thunder and lightning different from heat lightning or arcing electricity. But who speaks this slovo? Thor-Perun - the God of Thunder - is the voice that speaks the thunderstorm into being. He is the Slovo, the prime origin, of a thunderstorm's existence. It's presence is his presence, and his creation in this physical world as he interacts with it. And so it is with other Gods, and their Words that they speak into this reality.

They are more than this reality, and thus cannot interact with it directly. Rather, they come to us through the elements, or through virtues and vices. When they come to us in dreams or visions, it is as humans or beasts so that we might recognize them, as well as when they visit Midgard in their physical forms.

 

[Quintessence]

Wow, I really like the idea behind that term slovo! It sounds remarkably similar to how I approach the gods, but me being stuck with using English language words, I've tended to just use the word "spirit" for what you are referring to.

 

[beenherebeforeagain]

That's generally the definition I use, as well, as that's the etymological root for the word "god"; that which is worshiped.

For me, gods are the absolute essence of a given element. This is called Слово (Slovo). While слово is Russian for "word", in a spiritual sense it is the absolute essence of given things. For example, everything that is about a thunderstorm - the high winds, the torrential rain, the thunder and lightning - all are the slovo of the storm. Its slovo differs from that of a rainshower or plains winds, its thunder and lightning different from heat lightning or arcing electricity. But who speaks this slovo? Thor-Perun - the God of Thunder - is the voice that speaks the thunderstorm into being. He is the Slovo, the prime origin, of a thunderstorm's existence. It's presence is his presence, and his creation in this physical world as he interacts with it. And so it is with other Gods, and their Words that they speak into this reality.

They are more than this reality, and thus cannot interact with it directly. Rather, they come to us through the elements, or through virtues and vices. When they come to us in dreams or visions, it is as humans or beasts so that we might recognize them, as well as when they visit Midgard in their physical forms.

I think one of the most difficult things for English speakers and others who are caught in Western Enlightenment/post enlightenment thinking is the idea that a deity or its actions can be temporary. Wind is wind, clouds are clouds, rain in rain, etc....but it takes the cooperation of them all to come together--perhaps called by someone/thing we might call Thor/Perun, to speak thunder and show lightning along with the other traits.
Personally, I like to watch the little wind spirits run up and down our yard, pushing the leaves, shaking the branches, and sometimes getting together to make a whirlwind...

 

[The Kilted Heathen]

I think one of the most difficult things for English speakers and others who are caught in Western Enlightenment/post enlightenment thinking is the idea that a deity or its actions can be temporary.

For some, perhaps. But it's a common theme with Heathens - even in the Viking Age - that even our Gods will die; that nothing lasts forever. Actually, come to think of it, this theme is also shared with a good many other Pagan faiths. Gods and goddesses die and are reborn throughout the year, their presence on the Earth temporary. The only god that really is claimed to be omnipresent - everywhere all the time - is the Abrahamic god.

 

[Saint Frankenstein]

That's generally the definition I use, as well, as that's the etymological root for the word "god"; that which is worshiped.

For me, gods are the absolute essence of a given element. This is called Слово (Slovo). While слово is Russian for "word", in a spiritual sense it is the absolute essence of given things. For example, everything that is about a thunderstorm - the high winds, the torrential rain, the thunder and lightning - all are the slovo of the storm. Its slovo differs from that of a rainshower or plains winds, its thunder and lightning different from heat lightning or arcing electricity. But who speaks this slovo? Thor-Perun - the God of Thunder - is the voice that speaks the thunderstorm into being. He is the Slovo, the prime origin, of a thunderstorm's existence. It's presence is his presence, and his creation in this physical world as he interacts with it. And so it is with other Gods, and their Words that they speak into this reality.

They are more than this reality, and thus cannot interact with it directly. Rather, they come to us through the elements, or through virtues and vices. When they come to us in dreams or visions, it is as humans or beasts so that we might recognize them, as well as when they visit Midgard in their physical forms.

^What he said.

 

[Saint Frankenstein]

For some, perhaps. But it's a common theme with Heathens - even in the Viking Age - that even our Gods will die; that nothing lasts forever. Actually, come to think of it, this theme is also shared with a good many other Pagan faiths. Gods and goddesses die and are reborn throughout the year, their presence on the Earth temporary. The only god that really is claimed to be omnipresent - everywhere all the time - is the Abrahamic god.

Yeah, that's something that it doesn't hold in common with Hellenism, which holds that the Gods are immortal, just as our souls are immortal. They may change and transform, but never die. Hence, Them being referred to as the Deathless Ones. They are not subject to the cycle of birth/death/rebirth, being exalted Beings.

 

[VioletVortex]

A god is a personification of an idea, an element of nature, or both. For example, Odin is the personification of wisdom, sentience, intelligence, and the wind. Thor is the personification of strength, courage, gravity, and storms.

By referring to deities as "personifications", I don't deny that they are real, I am just saying that they are not literal.

 

[The Kilted Heathen]

What do you mean by "not literal"?

 

[Serpent Child]

"God" is a code word for "Higher Consciouness" in my faith. Satan and the Gods of Hell are just on much more higher levels of consciouness and spirituality than us. Its believed Humanity are sleeping Gods/Goddesses..

 

[VioletVortex]

What do you mean by "not literal"?

They are not "beings" in the traditional sense, rather they are energies brought about by various physical and psychological circumstances.

 

[The Kilted Heathen]

Well, I can respect that as your view. But for the Norse Gods themselves - theologically - they're not just aspects of wisdom/intelligence, or storms and strengths. The Greek gods are big with archetypal constraints, but the Norse Gods are a bit more fluid and undefined. For instance there are many attributed with war. Thor is attributed with thunderstorms, but then so are many Jotnar. Loki is sometimes associated with fire, yet so is Logi. Odin is wisdom, but so also is Frigga, Mimnir, and the Norns.

 

[Toten]

Well, I can respect that as your view. But for the Norse Gods themselves - theologically - they're not just aspects of wisdom/intelligence, or storms and strengths. The Greek gods are big with archetypal constraints, but the Norse Gods are a bit more fluid and undefined. For instance there are many attributed with war. Thor is attributed with thunderstorms, but then so are many Jotnar. Loki is sometimes associated with fire, yet so is Logi. Odin is wisdom, but so also is Frigga, Mimnir, and the Norns.

I think what he meant was they are archetypes of those ideas - War, Fire, Storms, etc. Not JUST the things he listed.