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| Author: Posted: Nov. 17, 2002 | This Page Viewed: 3,838,196 |
Question of the Week: 39 - 4/30/2001 Who Are Your Gods? Who are your Gods/Old Ones/Ancestors? Did you choose Them or did They choose you? Do you believe/perceive Them as merely evolved Beings-or are They indeed the all-powerful Masters of the Universe? Do you believe/perceive that Gods/Goddesses/Ancestors/Old Ones are extensions of your higher self, separate and distinct Beings of personality or 'all Gods and Goddesses are One'? In your times of need, do you believe that They can overturn the Laws of Karma/The Fates/The Norns for you? Why do you suppose that some prayers/pleas/invocations are seemingly ignored while others may be answered? Do you feel that the Gods/Ancestors/Old Ones may sometimes 'use' you to accomplish some greater plan than you may be humanly aware of? How do you feel about that? What has been your most powerful, meaningful or life-altering encounter with Them? |
| Reponses: There are 55 responses posted to this question. | Reverse Sort |
| I'm Still Searching Myself For The Answer, I Have Been For About... | Apr 30th. at 12:35:10 am EDT |
| Amanda S. (Anoka, Minnesota US) | Age: 16 |
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I'm still searching myself for the answer, I have been for about a year now. I have come to the conclusion, and stayed with the belief that there is an all. In this great mass, which is the universe itself, there is the masculine, and the feminine. The God and the Goddess. I believe they themselves are a greater force, rather than simple deities. We see the Goddess in each of us, in the moon above our heads, in the grass beneath our feet. We see the God in all men..and yes, women too, the Sun above, and the wind that sweeps by us. (Don't ask why, I've always seen the wind as a masculine force) THrough the ages, different cultures have taken portions of the Lord and the Lady, and broken them down into separate deities. And, it has always seemed to me, easier to ask of a small part of the Lord or the Lady, a smaller deity, such as Bast or Apollo. I identify most with the goddess Bast, if I must choose a deity. For years, she's captivated me, I never quite knew the reason. But, I feel dedicated to her, and Her statue sits on my small, rather unused altar. ^^ |
| My Gods Are All The Gods (except For A Few Who I... | Apr 29th. at 11:28:45 pm EDT |
| suicidal angel (Porirua, Wellington, New Zealand) | Age: 13 - Email |
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My gods are all the gods (except for a few who I really find evil), but I have a few that I dedicate myself to regularly, sometimes in a sub-consious way. They are Venus, Persephone, and although many pagans may disagree on whether or not she is a godess also Eve, the mother of humanity. As you can see I tend to favour the female's over the males. For a while I tried being both sexes, but It really wasn't working because I seemed to connect far better to the females. As for whether they chose me or the other way around, neither. I believe that the god/ess that we worship are already within us. All of them are, but some are stronger than others. It really boils down to who you are inside, and whether who you are inside connects more toward one diety or another. I beleive that the gods are not the supreme rulers of the universe, but the embodiements of our belief. The different energies that we have created ourselves. The outward manifestations of daily life. Some prayers and invocations are ignored most likely because that is the best thing to happen right then. It may be that when the prayer was offered it wasn't offered from the depths of the heart & soul, or that the intentions weren't altogether *good* even if they outwardly appeared so. The hidden concious grabs the prayer and doesn't release it. The other reason may be that the diety you call upon may have a tendency to ignore plea's. If the god/ess is said to do just that it may well have decided to remind us that he/she isn't here just for us. The Lord and the Lady are both equall to me, but I tend to connect with the godess more because Im female. The Lord however is still strong within me in my spirit, for I am a warrior at heart, and that is a *generally* masculine thing. The gods are different for everyone, so we each need to look within ourselves to find them before we can find them outside. |
| Generally, One Can Have A Particular God Or Goddess Who Seems To... | Apr 29th. at 10:53:14 pm EDT |
| Tarostar (Toronto, Ontario CA) | Age: 59 - Email |
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Generally, one can have a particular God or Goddess who seems to embody one's own ideals and attitudes. That Deity is the one who seems to push him or herself into your waking consciousness all through your life at various times. Mine is Athena. I approach Witchcraft/Magic/Paganism through a cerebral mode of action and understanding. I honor the Olympians as archetypes of a healthy Pagan community, but I do not "worship" in the sense most seem to apply from an xtian Past. Gods need no worship for being Gods; doing their job. I would rather apply my own mind and occult abilities in the Universe for problems than ask the Gods for help. A Witch should be able to work the warp and woof of metaphysical Time and Space on his/her own, not so? |
| I've Been Pondering This Question Lately. And The Only Answer I Can... | Apr 29th. at 9:42:18 pm EDT |
| L. (New York, New York US) | Age: 20 - Email |
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I've been pondering this question lately. And the only answer I can come up with is that my deity is an androgynous One. This sounds monotheistic and I am a bit worried about that sometimes, but I find the polarization of supposedly "male" and supposedly "female" energies and deities just as troubling. I would like to work towards working with a pair of androgynous beings, or perhaps to be able to somehow "fragment" that One and work with its many facets, but I'm not there yet. I used to use "Lord" and "Lady, " as opposed to any specific deity names, but even that has become too gender-oriented for this young queer feminist witch. :-) There are many ways to bring the energy we call "spirit" or "deity" or "God/dess" into your rituals and into your life. I simply haven't found the exactly right way yet. I'm getting there, but because I can't accept the way we tend to define "male" and "female" I can't take the distinction in my works. There are different energies out there, but there are more than two, and they reside in all of us. |
| I've Recently Done Some Soul Searching, And Realised That I Recognize No... | Apr 29th. at 1:29:26 pm EDT |
| Artemis Moonshadow (Kfar Saba, Israel) | Age: 15 - Email |
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I've recently done some soul searching, and realised that I recognize no Deity. I'm an Atheist. Nature herself puts me in Awe, I see the Earth as my home and sacred place. I don't believe any one needs a deity if one truly believes in oneslef. I don't see the Forces of nature and diving, they're just the forces of nature and they're powerful and should be respected, but worshiped, I don't think so. Everything has a soul or spirit and we are all unifies in the oness of the Universe, but the universe is not God. As I Witch, I recognize the flowings and movements of nature herslef and I use those movements for my own workings. But now when I do rituals I realise I don't need to invite Deity becasue there is no Deity and all you need are the elemnts and your own mind in the words of Granny Weatherwax "Headology". Many Pagans would disagree with me and that's fine, I would probably disagree with many other Pagans. Any way the way I view my path in life is as an Atheist Witch, I'm probably still considered Pagan becasue of going according to the movements of Nature. As for Karma, my life motto has always been whatever goes around comes around eqally. Blessed Be. |
| Who Are Your Gods? They Are The Ones You Should Believe In... | Apr 29th. at 12:09:29 am EDT |
| Perrin (Denver, Colorado US) | Age: 24 |
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Who Are Your Gods? They are the ones you should believe in, as I follow the black goat, I realize that are a multitude of spiritual beings, that much I think Catholicism has right. I dislike being used for "Good" purposes, as the gods that do this frequently have their own agenda, which does not usually include my well being. As to why some prayers are answered & some not, we will never know the answer to that one, & I can personally vouch that it has nothing to do with how high up you are, I live in mile high Denver, & if altitude had anything to do with it the whole city would have thousands of major miracles every day. Perhaps the answering lies in 2 areas, the person asking, & what type of god the person is praying to. If you pray to an almighty being for something small, or petty, then don't be suprised when He/She ignores you, but if you pray to a God for a specific reason, & that God is able to help, then usually they do, but in either case be careful what you wish for. The classic example of not guarding your tounge is the Leprechaun. Wish for a pot of gold, & you will get one, so the old legends say, but if you don't tell the little guy where you want it, & how much, you might have serious prohlems. I do think that humanity has chased away a lot of the Gods, mostly because a large portion of us don't keep our word, and the rest may not like the overhead power lines we use on a daily basis. We must be wary of being considered fanatics, there are a few amoung those ranks that disturb me, which takes a bit of doing. No one should ever follow a God or a leader blindly, & yet millions do. Personally I think chance determines fate, fate determines deestiny, and humanities destiny has not been achieved yet, despite 2, 000 years of our shooting for it. |
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