Pagans, how do you view the gods?

Question

I saw a response to a question today from a pagan who said that we don't believe in the gods literally.. they are just symbolic. Now, I realize we have different pagan paths.. I'm just interested in how you, personally view them.

Thanks!
And, Many blessings on your path :)

I'll leave this up to you all to vote on a best answer. Thank you for participating :)
May the gods and ancestors be with you in blessing..Kallan

Answer 1

I believe the Gods and Goddesses are real and true. I reject the belief that all Gods and Goddesses are merely aspects of one another or that they are are just natural forces, or just mere archetypes.

They are much like us; they have different manifestations in many dimensions. They transcend our physical world and are wise beyond our ability to comprehend. They may be a force or power, and have certain qualities of personality. They may take on human like forms that are an expression of aspects of their nature. And like us, the totality of their being is very difficult to describe, or to understand.

Answer 2

That is actually the way in which I regard them as well. I see them as personifications of natural phenomenon. I am a pagan because I honor nature, and the turning of the year. I recognize the heritage in paganism of worshiping gods and goddesses, but I am an atheist and prefer symbolic offering.

But I never claim to speak for all pagans and I respect their paths as I ask them to respect mine.

Blessed Be, Kallan. I always enjoy your questions and answers.

.

Answer 3

Well, there are a wide variety of views, which vary from Pagan religion to Pagan religion and sometimes from individual to individual.

Animism is one common belief, which is essentially that there is a spirit in everything. Shinto belief would fit into this category. A number of Native American beliefs would too, though some of them are dualistic animism, which is essentially that there are two conflicting spirits in everything/everyone.

Then you have the earth worshippers. Many believe worship the earth as a giant divine organism.

There are those who believe in a bunch of deities (Egyptian, Greek, Roman, etc. are good example). Some believe that they are in the heavens and going about their own business, not really interacting with us, others believe in anthropomorphic deities, those who appear in human form and interact with us.

There are of course monotheists and dualists too (Mithraists, Zoroastrians, Santerians, etc.).

Personally, I believe that the divine are more like unseen energies or forces. I do not know how many there are, but it does not seem logical that there is only one (very rarely do things occur in isolation in the universe). I believe that most of our deity stories are made up, but sometimes have small amounts of basis in fact. A deity may have helped somebody, but probably not by giving them a spear. The spear in a story is more likely human interpretation or symbolism.

Answer 4

I am a "soft polytheist" -- I believe that the Gods that human beings honor are projections of the human psyche onto the universe, and that all are aspects of a fundamentally incomprehensible Source. (What can I say? I was trained Alexandrian...)

This does not mean that the Gods are not accessible, or do not resonate, or are not effective. They are all of those things. However, as a Greek philosopher once said, "The God of the horses would have four legs". ;-) In my opinion, our ability to understand the Divine is determined and limited by our current mode of existence.

Answer 5

I view gods as impersonal forces of nature that are sentient with a universal consciousness. Impersonal meaning they aren't using humans or other creatures as pawns in some grand game of good vs. evil. At the same time they are personal in that they are just as much a part of us as we are them. In many ways they are symbolic mostly because their exact nature is beyond our limited comprehension. We are bound by a physical body, after all, and are limited to that viewpoint. I also believe that all gods, as well as all living things, all come from the same source, or the highest god. So we are divine as well. That's pretty much my view in a nutshell. :)

Answer 6

Some do the see the gods as actual entities...

As for me, and my broad spectrum of point of view, every god, son of god, and anything thing of the sort is a representative of the Divine...

Since there are several processes of the Universe, some choose to give a name to each process...the rain, the snow, the planets, etc.

All gods are the same god, just different names..

Answer 7

pagan deities are just faces painted on the forces of nature to humanize them and make them more user-friendly--at least the pagan gods are real in a sense because actual forces of nature are real and back them up, but the difference between, say, venus and aphrodite is just personal taste and mythology preference

Answer 8

Er, you will could study what faith. "Paganism" includes any faith that's no longer christianity/judaism/islam and "Goth" is a manner of existence, no longer a faith. Are you basically looking up those religions via fact which you prefer to positioned on black? I did that too, an prolonged time in the past, so i'm no longer calling you out on it or something, yet you're ridiculed with the aid of people who're rather severe approximately those religions. just to furnish you with a warning. in case you reside in New England, the Unitarian Universalist church is the closest. Very liberal, all encompassing church with a impressive style of pagans and agnostics. And open-minded christians. once you're looking into wiccanism, you would be wanting to discover a Coven. they at the instant are not ordinary to discover, attempt googling "covens in my section." there are multiple different pagan religions, yet they are very uncommon, much extra so than wiccanism. you probable won't have the means to style a collection. They carry fairs nonetheless, rather for Samhain, Solstice, etc. once you're searching for Satanism, i prefer to propose putting around your interior of sight warm subject rely.