gods of? For exampleI rarely associate Thor with thunder. I see the qualities he brings, but not the "mythological" interpretation of him. I always find it sort of funny when some one says the gods "explain nature". I never think of them in those terms. Anyone else do this?
2007-09-09 09:57:24 · 6 answers · asked by ~Heathen Princess~ 7 in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
LOL Yes Ymmo that is more of what I meant. I see his strength and weaknesses but not him being in charge of thunder. It always makes me laugh that some people do...
2007-09-09 10:07:45 · update #1
Ahh Hestia I see no contradiction with Freya either. :)
2007-09-09 10:09:20 · update #2
Well, with the Norse gods especially, it's important to realize that "god of..." is a modern invention. You can't really pigeon-hole the gods into types like that.
2007-09-09 16:29:16 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
As far as "using the gods to "explain nature"" I believe it is the other way around. The gods do what they do, and that causes nature to act as it does. In our current times, we tend to label the gods with things out of nature - such as Thor and his thunder. Nature produces thunder which we attribute to Thor. The people old were the opposite. The gods caused nature. Thor does his "thing" and one of the outcomes would be thunder. No, he doesn't go about and throw lightning around, but he does cause it to happen in nature.
2007-09-09 17:54:50 · answer #2 · answered by Heathen Mage 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Ugh, hard to explain. Well, I certainly don't think that Thor sits on a cloud and throws lightning bolts at trees, no.
But I do believe that some gods are more familiar with certain aspects. For example, if you're a farmer, you won't go asking help of a god of sea voyage.
That's the beauty of pagan gods - specialisation. They don't try to pretend that they're allmighty and get into the "evil or powerless" paradox, like some other god does.
They have their own fields of manifestation, their own strengths and weaknesses and you have to refer to different gods for different things.
To continue your example, yes, i WOULD ask Thor for stuff like strength, or in the case of weather, to PLEASE hold off that damn storm until I get my gear out of the rain and if you don't mind, try not to get any lightning hit me while I'm wearing full armour and helmet. ;)
2007-09-09 17:06:25 · answer #3 · answered by Ymmo the Heathen 7 · 5⤊ 0⤋
There are so many descriptions in ancient texts of the Gods, with various epithets (descriptive names) associated with them that I can find attributes of my Gods that people rarely think of in relation to them.
Athena is "Goddess of Wisdom" but she is also a "Goddess of War" and a "Goddess of Craftspeople". These things seem contradictory at first glance. That is why I tend to look at them in terms of having personalities as opposed to the strict mythological construction of them that seems to be favored by those who do not understand them in the context of a LIVING religion.
2007-09-09 17:06:52 · answer #4 · answered by Anne Hatzakis 6 · 4⤊ 0⤋
They are individuals, so they have individual personalities, and to me, they like to frequent certain types of places, so Elen and Cernunnos are both easier to connect with in forests and have a close affinity with wild animals.
2007-09-09 17:10:40 · answer #5 · answered by Diane 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
they are potential energies in the universe to help us if God takes long to answer your prayers. you can turn to them temporarily.
2007-09-09 17:06:50 · answer #6 · answered by stevie 3 · 0⤊ 2⤋