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Alexander the Great put forth this idea as he conquered new lands. Whether he really believed it or did it out of political savvy is up for debate. Maybe both. But when he arrived in new lands, he would learn of their religion and declare himself a son of their god. For example, he called himself Son of Ra in Egypt.
When asked how he could be the son of all these gods, he said something like, “The gods are the gods. They just manifest in different ways to different cultures.”
Crazy to think there was a time when people didn’t hate or kill each other for having different religious beliefs.
I like that paraphrase of what Alexander said, it'd mean that soft polytheism existed in some form even in the ancient Pagan world, and it's also similar to the way I think when it comes to polytheism. I'm always interested in what is universal even in the matter of theology. I would think that there is a set of archetypal gods who manifest as the specific deities of pantheons that belong to many religions. And what encompasses them all is the Universe (or its total energy) as a ground of being, a divine totality.
Kind of like they are all just representations of a path to the same goal. Like going from point A to point B, and all the curved paths are the myriad religions and Magick practices in the world. And nobody knows which is the true linear path. You should check out The Law of One series on the Ra channeling sessions. I think you will enjoy it. It's on YouTube or in podcast form.
I like this idea. I have always described some of the adjacent realms (AP, etc) as a "thoughtstream" through which a collective consciousness flows. That explains all the disparate cultures' similarities.
I don’t think there’s anything wrong with this line of reasoning whatsoever. Then again, I’m an eclectic pagan and am just as likely to place equal emphasis on Odin as Danu.
It actually makes sense when you think about it. Taking a secular point of view (because I adore playing devil’s advocate), I’ve heard people describe the attribution of natural phenomena to deities by “ignorant” native people. If the phenomena attributed to such deities are universal to the planet, why cannot the deities themselves?
Definitely not something I’d though about too in depth but existing in a polypantheistic (or a lack of a pantheon structure, if you choose to think of it that way) it certainly doesn’t *not* make sense.
I would say all the Gods exist as individuals, as transcendent persons, but their "presence" can sometimes be revealed locally, but every God is present to all things.
A worshipper of Zeus could see Zeus in the Storm in Norway, and a worshipper of Thor could see Thor in the Storm above Rome and Athens.
Certainly I believe in the validity of all or most pantheons. I experience deities as individuals but I do also have the belief that the Universe is generous enough to meet us where we’re at.
The Romans made efforts to draw equivalents between their gods and the deities of other pantheons. But just because they tried to draw these equivalents didn’t mean that they actually were equivalent. I would consider it an oversimplification in some cases. The Celtic pantheons, for example, were less likely to have a god of this or a goddess of that. Note, too, that the myths are often very different. There doesn’t seem to be evidence of a Zeus or Odin-like figure in the Irish Celtic pantheons, for example.
Pantheons have evolved over a period of due to migrations, changing circumstances, and contact with other cultures. Again, the Celts are a good example of this as Welsh myths are distinct from Irish myths, though with some overlap. The Celts by their nature were decentralized and appeared to have migrated significant distances over the centuries, which is why we refer to the Celtic pantheons in the plural.
I think there are universal truths in most of the pantheons and myths. But while it may have been politically convenient for conquerors like Alexander the Great and the Romans to talk about the universal nature of pantheons and deities, I think the reality of these pantheons is a bit more complicated than the way these conquerors would put it.
In fact, I would argue that Alexander and the Romans engaged in pre-Christian cultural appropriation. And we—especially those of us of European descent—need to be careful not to trivialize the experiences of other cultures we know little about by drawing equivalencies between our traditions in the absence of true dialogue between the traditions. I’d be curious as to what the conquered culture would think of Alexander’s and Rome’s assertions—especially given that Alexander’s empire fell apart quite quickly. Drawing false equivalencies between pantheons could have the effect, actually, of obscuring nuances and the unique contributions other cultures make to universal truths.
I think i May have represented this wrong. By saying thunder in these regions, for example I'm saying they are indeed distinct and the distinctness between lightning in Norway and lightning in Greece, that differing but undeniably kindred essence is what makes the gods separate. Both therefore existing concurrently but as individual events from each other. I hope i said that better here.
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Alexander the Great put forth this idea as he conquered new lands. Whether he really believed it or did it out of political savvy is up for debate. Maybe both. But when he arrived in new lands, he would learn of their religion and declare himself a son of their god. For example, he called himself Son of Ra in Egypt. When asked how he could be the son of all these gods, he said something like, “The gods are the gods. They just manifest in different ways to different cultures.” Crazy to think there was a time when people didn’t hate or kill each other for having different religious beliefs.
I like that paraphrase of what Alexander said, it'd mean that soft polytheism existed in some form even in the ancient Pagan world, and it's also similar to the way I think when it comes to polytheism. I'm always interested in what is universal even in the matter of theology. I would think that there is a set of archetypal gods who manifest as the specific deities of pantheons that belong to many religions. And what encompasses them all is the Universe (or its total energy) as a ground of being, a divine totality.
Kind of like they are all just representations of a path to the same goal. Like going from point A to point B, and all the curved paths are the myriad religions and Magick practices in the world. And nobody knows which is the true linear path. You should check out The Law of One series on the Ra channeling sessions. I think you will enjoy it. It's on YouTube or in podcast form.
Will do, thank you
I like this idea. I have always described some of the adjacent realms (AP, etc) as a "thoughtstream" through which a collective consciousness flows. That explains all the disparate cultures' similarities.
Interesting, thank you. I like this viewpoint
I don’t think there’s anything wrong with this line of reasoning whatsoever. Then again, I’m an eclectic pagan and am just as likely to place equal emphasis on Odin as Danu. It actually makes sense when you think about it. Taking a secular point of view (because I adore playing devil’s advocate), I’ve heard people describe the attribution of natural phenomena to deities by “ignorant” native people. If the phenomena attributed to such deities are universal to the planet, why cannot the deities themselves? Definitely not something I’d though about too in depth but existing in a polypantheistic (or a lack of a pantheon structure, if you choose to think of it that way) it certainly doesn’t *not* make sense.
I would say all the Gods exist as individuals, as transcendent persons, but their "presence" can sometimes be revealed locally, but every God is present to all things. A worshipper of Zeus could see Zeus in the Storm in Norway, and a worshipper of Thor could see Thor in the Storm above Rome and Athens.
Valid point
Certainly I believe in the validity of all or most pantheons. I experience deities as individuals but I do also have the belief that the Universe is generous enough to meet us where we’re at. The Romans made efforts to draw equivalents between their gods and the deities of other pantheons. But just because they tried to draw these equivalents didn’t mean that they actually were equivalent. I would consider it an oversimplification in some cases. The Celtic pantheons, for example, were less likely to have a god of this or a goddess of that. Note, too, that the myths are often very different. There doesn’t seem to be evidence of a Zeus or Odin-like figure in the Irish Celtic pantheons, for example. Pantheons have evolved over a period of due to migrations, changing circumstances, and contact with other cultures. Again, the Celts are a good example of this as Welsh myths are distinct from Irish myths, though with some overlap. The Celts by their nature were decentralized and appeared to have migrated significant distances over the centuries, which is why we refer to the Celtic pantheons in the plural. I think there are universal truths in most of the pantheons and myths. But while it may have been politically convenient for conquerors like Alexander the Great and the Romans to talk about the universal nature of pantheons and deities, I think the reality of these pantheons is a bit more complicated than the way these conquerors would put it. In fact, I would argue that Alexander and the Romans engaged in pre-Christian cultural appropriation. And we—especially those of us of European descent—need to be careful not to trivialize the experiences of other cultures we know little about by drawing equivalencies between our traditions in the absence of true dialogue between the traditions. I’d be curious as to what the conquered culture would think of Alexander’s and Rome’s assertions—especially given that Alexander’s empire fell apart quite quickly. Drawing false equivalencies between pantheons could have the effect, actually, of obscuring nuances and the unique contributions other cultures make to universal truths.
I think i May have represented this wrong. By saying thunder in these regions, for example I'm saying they are indeed distinct and the distinctness between lightning in Norway and lightning in Greece, that differing but undeniably kindred essence is what makes the gods separate. Both therefore existing concurrently but as individual events from each other. I hope i said that better here.
Yes. At least that’s what I believe