It always struck me as a bit odd that God was described as a jealous God. Doesn't that smack of insecurity? What could God possibly have to be jealous about?
Somewhere in the back of my head, there's the concept that there is only one God, and he goes by many different names. It's the classic all roads lead to the top of the mountain. So whatever name you call him, it's the same reality.
Except the Bible assumes the existence of other gods. Why else does God warn against having no other gods before Him if they don't exist? (Note, this doesn't have to mean they are as powerful).
But what Jarred said about some Pagans being eclectic got me thinking. Do Pagans believe in their gods as separate entities, or as human constructs? And if they are independent entities, then are they happy to share a believer with another god?
Suddenly the idea of God not being prepared to share believers with another god makes more sense to me.
Unexpected November Knitting Challenge
4 hours ago
Ah, what Pagans believe about the Divine....This is one of those "ask twelve Pagans, get thirteen answers" kinds of questions. Some Pagans view gods as human constructs or something like Carl Jung's archetypes. Other Pagans see the different gods as manifestations or different forms of a single Divine Being. (This is generally called "soft polytheism." Others see each god as a separate, distinct entity with it's own existence. ("Hard polytheism.") My personal understanding is that my gods are separate beings with their own individual existence, but are not "gods" in the monotheistic sense. That is, they're not omnipotent, omniscient, or omnipresent. They're more like very powerful spirits, similar to the loa of voodoo or the Orishas of Santeria. Gerald Gardner appeared to see his gods in this light as he wrote in "Witchcraft Today" that the gods of the witches wanted mankind to be happy, but needed man's help to bring it about.
ReplyDeleteI'll also note that Gardner noted that many witches believed in an all-powerful Creator God, but felt that such a god could not be interacted with in any meaningful way, so they chose to interact with the "little gods." Personally, I tend to believe that "Great Divine" is more pantheistic and that "God" on that level is really the very universe, of which we are all a part.
And yes, Pagan gods are generally happy to "share" believers. Of course, there are some caveats, but the general principle is that certain gods expect certain things from their followers and serving more than one god only becomes a problem when meeting your obligations to one comes into conflict with meeting your obligations to another.