[Cro Dreoilin] Up for discussion: Do the Gods still walk amongst us?

[Greyhart]

I think the whole "worthless before God" thing comes from the "God Fearing
Christians". Because they believe in Original Sin, they also believe that
one must somehow prove their worthiness to God. In the same breath they
claim that Christ died to absolve them of those sins, yet they are still
taught to believe that they will never be good enough to gain their God's
favor.

 

Many bring that baggage to their Pagan Path, and in an attempt to prove
their worthiness, they mistake respect for cowering. I do not cower before
my Gods, but I always meet them on bended knee as a show of respect. 

 

Not on the actual topic, but something I wanted to put forth.

 

Greyhart

 

From: community-bounces at crodreoilin.org
[mailto:community-bounces at crodreoilin.org] On Behalf Of Corc Hamr
Sent: Wednesday, February 15, 2012 2:01 PM
To: community at crodreoilin.org
Subject: Re: [Cro Dreoilin] Up for discussion: Do the Gods still walk
amongst us?

 

Wow, It's been silent after that question! Well, I've got a minute, figure
I'll answer this one.

 

The answers to these questions are largely what prompted our practice in the
Springs to split with ADF. I can't really speak for Tannim, so I'll just
speak for myself (speaking of which, is there a possibility of adding Tannim
to this list?). For me, the Gods are the best and the brightest of the
Spirits. You can alter that to "most powerful", "greatest", or however you
interpret it - I see it pretty much in all those ways and more. The Gods are
still spirits, though, and that is how I approach them, as individual
spirits that have their own needs, wants, desires, agendas, and so forth.
For me, this can make the line between "God", "Ancestor", "Land Wight",
"Fae", and other types of spirits rather blurry at times. 

 

It is in this way that I also look at pantheons. I see the different
pantheons as different "houses" of spirits, different groups that deal with
their own. They are not, in my estimation, expressions of each other, or
archetypes, or anything like that. So when I approach them, I tend to do so
as one from the house of the Norse spirits, even though I work closely with
a couple of Celtic Gods, as well. I mostly feel like the visitor when
dealing with the majority of the Celts. 

 

That said, I hear the Gods and Spirits more than see them. A vision often
forms in my mind based on their voice, or the sounds that accompany them. It
is very rare I will get the vision first, and these only with those I would
consider "patrons", Gods I have an extremely close working relationship
with. Often enough, spirits will identify themselves when asked, or I simply
do not deal with them - I've learned the hard way not to from some
less-than-pleasant experiences. 

 

In ecstatic state (trance, journey work, that sort of thing), it is much
easier to meet with, see, and interact with the Spirits, as I think should
be obvious for most people. This is much more active on my part than the
previous, which might happen in prayer, or just in a quiet time. Here, the
images are much more clear, the directives and insights, as well. Depending
on the type of state, it may seem that they are next to me, or that I have
come to see them. Most often, I find the imagery of the World Tree or
mountain or the Well of Wisdom is best used to reach them, depending on who
I am wanting to find and speak with. Sometimes, I get hijacked and don't
need to go anywhere, though. I believe the Gods and Spirits do seek us out
as much as we seek them out, and being spirits, have an easier time of
seeking out more than one of us at once. Multitasking: it's not just for
human guys. *grin*

 

One of my approaches to the Gods is worship. I think worship gets a bad rap
in our community. I hear too many self-proclaimed heathens say that they
don't bend the knee to their Gods, and yet quote Teutonic Mythology by Jacob
Grimm as a central inspiration to their practice. If a warrior would bend
the knee to one's liege lord, who might be also one's father, why would one
NOT also bend the knee to Thor, to Odin? I imagine that Celtic worship may
have been similar in some respects, in that power was acknowledged with
gestures, and that obeisance was given to one's liege, even to death.
Worship doesn't need to be an acknowledgement of self-worthlessness - the
Gods don't call the worthless - but at the same time, I approach them from
the standpoint that they have a power that I do not, and I therefore show my
respect for that. I try to approach all spirits with respect, according to
the stations they acknowledge, because I don't think they quite subscribe to
our way of government and class in the States. "Here there be dragons" is
not an idle statement in my practice, either in race or in action. 

 

So, to answer the overarching question, yes, I think the Gods do walk among
us, as any Spirit does. 

 

Just my two bits.

 

-G

 

On Sun, Feb 12, 2012 at 8:00 PM, Chris and Kelley
<chris.n.kelley at astronomytower.net> wrote:

It's been a bit quiet; let's have another discussion topic. :-)

In our stories, the Gods walk amongst men, interact with them face to face,
and speak with them.

What are your relationships with our Gods? In what ways do you interact with
them? Have you seen them?  Spoken to them? In what ways do you seek them
out?


-- Chris and Kelley


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