Deities

While I'm not a particular variety of pagan or have much background in it, lately I've been thinking of adding to my fiance's altar, or making one of my own, containing bits and pieces related to my own pantheon of gods I hold to. Tyr and Prometheus are two such gods.

I have two questions; what materials could I use to learn more about the gods, and what gods do you hold to?

Learning about deities and religion is an interesting thing. There are several resources available and it would all depend on what you were looking for or looking into. Personally, I would suggest going to the local library and making a day of it. Also, depending on your comfort level, speaking with a Father of one of the catholic churches would be a good place to get one particular point of view. Even though they are Christian, to be ordained they have to go through rigorous training and learn about a lot of different things.

The deities of the different religions are as varied as the religions themselves. Where many religions the “Gods” look after their people; some are just the opposite. In ancient Ireland, the deities were mischievous and caused troubles for man.

I believe in balance, unity in all things, the Force and the expression of that in all nature. I have always been fond of natural objects which draw me closer to nature and the universe as I understand it to be. But for each individual you have to come to you own understanding built on your own personal experience.

I wish you well in your endeavors and if I can help any more let me know.

Prometheus was a titan, not a god. As such, question: what qualifies a person, place or thing for your worship?

ugh, i loathe myself sometimes. wiki says that the titans 'were a primeval race of powerful deities, descendants of Gaia (Earth) and Uranus (Ouranos) (Sky), that ruled during the legendary Golden Age. They were immortal beings of incredible strength and stamina and were also the first pantheon of Greek gods and goddesses.'

however, i modify my question somewhat based on this. if the titans were overthrown by the upstart olympians, with prometheus in particular 'sentenced (by zeus) to eternal torment for his transgression' of giving fire to mankind, why not worship the obvious victor within that pantheon here, zeus, and have done?

Williamkaede wrote: I have two questions; what materials could I use to learn more about the gods, and what gods do you hold to?

Answer for question 1:

The God Delusion by Richard Dawkins
and
God is not Great by Christopher Hitchens

Answer for question 2:

I have a personal portrait of myself on my altar. You can download my image from this website, and I even have an extra frame if you need one.

My personal belief is that paganism's place today should not be as a religion, but rather, as an ideology (read the "Paganism" series on Burzum.org for clarification on this. However, there is still a very solid religious place for paganism, provided that you do not already have another religion (which I'm assuming you don't.

Which gods? My answer to you would be to look at yourself. What is your ethnicity and where did your ancestors come from? If you are Germanic, then the Norse/Germanic gods. If you are Greek, then the Greek gods, Slavic, then the Slavic gods, Celtic, then the Celtic, et cetera (forgive me that I am ignorant of gods outside of European paganism). All the European gods correspond to each other, for instance the god that originally singularly known as "Belus" is now known as Heimdall/Byelobog/Yarilo/Apollo, and so on.

Williamkaede wrote: what gods do you hold to?

I do not hold to any conventional type of gods. Do I believe that there is a god? Yes I do, but god to me is more than what the bible says or the koran says or any other religious text.

God to me is the underlying FORCE of all that is.
God to me is the source of all that is.
God to me is the fountain head of life.
God to me is the reason for consciousness.
God to me is the reason for ___fill_in_blank__.
God is the all.
God should not be but is.
God is a paradox.
God is everything that is, and everything that is not.

But to say God is only what the bible says. No I do not believe that.
Or that God is only what the Koran says. No I do not believe that either.
God is so much more that it would take volumes to just begin
to explain why there has to be a god, let alone who god is more volumes,
and then what god is even more volumes.


That is my opinion.

Hello fellow Jedi,

I hold to my God in faith. Sure it's okay to have different views on faith, it's what makes life so important. The big problem with any form of 'faith' is society itself. Society says that if we as an individual does not have some form of faith then we are a no body. I disagree! we are our own special person just because we are alive. That in itself is faith enough. Just because some stranger next to me might not believe in a god or deity doesn't make that person any less important than I myself. Another point is I do not believe in ramming my faith down anyone's throat. Why? We have inside us the gift and ability of 'free choice'. It is our choice who and what we believe in. But does this make us lesser a human?, absolutely not. It simply means they choose not to believe in something or anything and that is okay. We as humans, when we hear of some person being an atheist, and atheism is a faith of not believing; we automatically believe we have the right, because we " follow God"; to ram our faith down that persons throat believing he will change. what will happen is that atheist will become angry. The point here is this: weather we believe or not it's the individuals choice. We are to respect that choice and not interfere with it. In doing so we earn that person(s) respect.

may the Force be with you all.

Having had a pagan influence growing up I've always had an awareness of the idea of multiple deities, though never made the worship of any (including the Christian God) a part of my spiritual practise, and regardless of their religious origin, I tend to think of them less as "gods" than I do as a combination of either spiritually active people whos lives were spun out of proportion by years of retelling the stories, or simply a percieved personification of different aspects of the "divine" or any other unexplainable experience. Simply put I dont believe there are deities or gods that in "reality" are as the mythology depicts them.

Though, that said, I do have a certain respect for the mythologies of Morrighan and Achtland, the Goddess' my great grandmother revered.

I believe that there is a divine essence to everything, in every person, in all places and at all times. I refer to this essence as the Force. I do not hold to the concept of a 'divine singular'. I see the awesome complexity of the world around me through human eyes, understanding an infinitesimal amount of the true complexity of it. Right now, I don't feel that I am, or anyone else is, meant to know the whole truth behind everything. I understand that which I need to know, looking a step at a time into the vastness of whole truth. I don't often look for more than that, and maybe I should.

As a Jedi I believe in the Force, which is as close to divinity as I understand it. I pray to the Force from time to time, though it could be said that "May the Force Be With You" is an invocation or prayer as well. The Force is a comfort to me, knowing that there is always something close when things are at their darkest.