HOW DO YOU UNDERSTAND DEITY?

[Wolfwalker]

Like is often said, ask a druid a question and you're bound to get at least three distinct answers from them...
Peter

[Ravensdaughter]

Only three? Sheesh, Wolfwalker...don't be such a gloomy gus!

Say...check out my art in the Visual Arts and Multimedia forum. Really.

Peace and Glad Tidings of Great Joy, now that the chocolate has been found,
Ravensdaughter the Unruly

[Nineflowers]

Pantheist, absolutely.

The gods are everywhere; natural, supernatural, preternatural one the plane we can easily perceive and also on those we have to try harder to experience.

I think I became a pantheist years ago when I was a teenager with a crush on Shelley the Romantic poet. Read that he was a pantheist and I wondered what it was, looked it up, and thought 'That makes sense'. And it never really left me.

The visionary poets I love like Shelley, Blake and even the nominally christian Emily Bronte all seem to see 'god' everywhere and that's always struck me as the most sensible option.

9F x

[Wolfwalker]

Rave luv, I did say "at least...."!

[Phyto]

I voted other. I do not accept the existence of deities.

[Zilandra]

I voted for 'other'

They tried to raise me a catholic, which lead me to have an 'allergy' to deities. I see our Mother Earth and her energy as my Deity although i do have respect for the deities included in Druidry. I see them more as mythical figures though. I didn't want to vote for monotheistic cause if i think about our Ancient Mother i see her as such, the word Deity to me is more of a name given to the unexplained phenomena than someone or something that listens to our prayers. Also deities to me are, like in christianity, too personified to my liking.

Just my 2 cents

[Lassara]

ok since ya dragged me here:p
I believe that there is creation , life , nature..... the source of all that is and from where we all flow...whatever name is your choice...

I believe that this source is the combined intellect and thoughts of all life but also its own but im not certain it is sentience as we would define it.....

I do however also believe in gods . in my beliefe the gods are biengs who have transcended or become enlightened or simply learned all they needed in our many lives, something we'll all have the option to become eventually. I also believe we can return to the source but the gods are there to lead us and help us achieve this higher state.

welll thats my oversimplified definition
thank you

[Moira]

I believe that the Divine is infinite and uncreated and that in Its essence It is "One". But since It is infinite It is at the same time everywhere.

The Divine is formless and conceptless. In order to enable the human mind (which is used to form and concept) to approach the Divine, the images of the gods have been created to personify aspects of the Divine. The gods are also personifications of natural forces and of aspects of our inner selves (unconscious mind). At the same time the gods are not only factors and aspects, but intelligent and purposive forces who show an independent will.

We can't exactly understand the nature of the Divine and of the gods, but to say it with Dion Fortune, "we know that by doing certain things we get certain results."

I wish all of you a blessed and inspired Samhain!

Eilthireach /|\

I think exactly the same. All the names we have for the Gods...to me are just a way man found to get some answers to his doubts. They are simply different aspetcs of the same energies that rule everything existing today.

Anyway my way to feel this energies in mostly duotheistic...I hope you all understand my english.

[wyldwych]

I suppose I consider myself a Panthe-Polyist.

I certainly perceive deity in all aspects of each and every atom that exists, ever did exist and ever will exist.

As a representation of my beliefs I choose to personalise that into patron deities, ones that I figure represent particular aspects of what work it is that I'm doing, and in that case tend to lean towards the dual aspects of deity.. In some respects I perceive deity much like the Taoists view the Tao. That the Universe is made up of polarities, and within the heart of each polarity is an essence of its opposite. Of course, thats a very simplistic view of the Tao, but I think it gets my message across.

Hope I've made sense..

Good luck with the Book, I'm sure we all look forward to its arrival in the mundane world

[raibeartboid]

Hi philip, i voted pantheistic, (spelling)
Good luck with the book.

Gentle Breezes,
Rai

[starspawned]

The ONE source of all, the Creator of possibility, beyond - space, time, form, male, female, human thought. That Divine Truth which can be seen as male or female in whatever aspect, etc., but stands above and is the source of all Love. In the words of Robin Williamson - "Whatever you think, it's more than that".[/img]

[Ki No Ronin]

Konnichi Wa to All:

I found this Thread through a Link provided by Spanish Moss-San.

Philip wrote: "Pantheists believe that Deity does not exist as one or more personal gods, but is instead present in all things, and IS everything. The term Pantheist was coined during the Druid Revival period by John Toland, author of 'The History of the Druids."


I voted for Pantheist.

I have Three Major Forms of Deity that I Worship:

#1: The Green Man, which represents the Power of all Plant Life, and since my Primary Patron Deity is the Hiroshima Survivor Eucalyptus Tree, I decided that the Green Man God (whilst adorned with Eucalyptus Leaves instead of Oak) is best representative of my Patron Deity.

#2: The Solar God, the Sun. For the same reasons as set down by Akhenaton, the great Pharoah of Egypt who I feel correctly pointed out that all Life on Earth would not even exist without the Solar God.

#3: The Egyptian Goddess Basteth, who is representative of all Feline Lifeforms. I have reverence for Basteth out of respect for my Personal Feline Familiar Twowhitesocks.

KNR

[Lady Nimue]

I would say that my view would best be described as mono, duo and pantheistic. Becasue I see Deity in all things, at the same time all things reflect the One and the One is a combination of female/male polarities.

Awen,
Lady Nimue

[bowerbird]

I've voted "other"..... simply cannot get my head around the believing in the concept of deities, & firmly believe that we(as a species) have had the most incredible luck in evolving on such a beautiful planet. The rest (spiritual beliefs - including the new age etc) are a man/female made "crutch" to assist us through the scarey times & dark nights. Most of the concepts involved with Druidry happen to fit me like a glove, & I'm allowing these ideas to be my personal "crutch".

The "god/s" is/are in all of us.

[Arwydd]

Dear Philip,

After years of contemplation, investigation of the mind, and the sciences, my theology is undoubtedly Polytheistic. To me this is completely logical and follows String Theory.

What or who are the gods/goddesses? Oftentimes they were real people as noted in the Irish Cycles, who are no longer incarnate and have taken the skills they learned in this life into the next. How many planes are there and how far can this knowledge which they acquired go?

Oftentimes people say "I wish (whoever) was around, they could help me with (whatever)" Then they go onto ‘pray’ to them saying "Oh (whomever) I wish you could help me." To me this is no different than what happened thousands of years ago. People were remembered for their insights, abilities, or courageous deeds. Their memories turned into legends and then into myths.

Many today chuck all these formerly living people into a barrel and forget they were real people. They see them merely as literature or blended spirits etc. (That is one of the issues I have with Wicca. I do love it as an initiatory mystery school but that isn’t the way it is in the USA anymore. I won’t say more on that however.) The Celts and Teutons saw their gods & goddesses as their ancestors, not just composites.


Sincerely,

Arwydd /|\

[CloeCat]

Well, I pick other....I love and honor Mother Earth, though I some times use or work with the archtype/energy Bastet or Pasht for focus, for she is a protector, healer, lover of all animals (particularlly cats, but not just). But that really is to give Mother Earth a from I can connect with. I think I am more of Animist and Pantheist, cause I know every thing has and is spirit.
I do not connect with the deity-god/dess stuff. I feel Mother Earth, I feel the spirits/energy of animals, plants, rocks, water, guides, fairies, ectra. I do believe in having balance male and female energy, I just do not feel that what I 've been shown so far represents it well. Still working some of this out
Anyway, that is where I'm at so far.
Many Purrrs,
CloeCat

[Druidgirl]

I believe that there are no supreme and perfect gods, but "gods" (I use this term in the loosest sense) of power and and strength but not as strong as the theistic tradition lends. The "gods" can be thought of more as Spiritual guradians and guides.

[GothGirl]

Greetings! This is not meant to contrudict anyone or their opinions and i hope nobody takes offence to this.
I am sort of a cross between a Panthiest and Athiest. I am currently still searching for a conclusion on this topic and first thought that i was athiest and the theory of a diety or a surpeme being is only symbolic and kind of went a little over board with prayer and full throttle worship, etc. But after reading all the post on this topic, I discovered what a Panthiest was, I had never heard of the difinition being described as one word before so I might be that...I also think it is just plainly impossible for any human even begin to understand the concept of a deity, as it is kinda a non-euclidean thought.

Blessed Be and good luck on ur book,
gothgirl

[Nyst]

Pantheist
..and it is even more clear now, after just finshing studying gwers #7 of the bardic grade. A divine core is in everybody and everything, it's the centre of the circle. We can feel its presence but we can see and understand it only if we are able to leave our own circle to be our divine centre.

[Prairie_Kestrel]

Hello!

I am PanENtheistic. Here is a brief deffinition I pulled off a website:

"Panentheism is the view of Reality according to which the Godhead or Absolute not only includes and is the Cosmos (as in Pantheism) but also transcends it (as in Acosmism). The Godhead does not reside dualistically or even holistically in the universe as a soul in the body, but rather monistically as the universe itself. Therefore the Cosmos is absolutely real and and of the essnce of the Supreme, as it is the real (not illusory) transformation of the Godhead. But the Godhead in its transcendent absolute nature is infinite, eternal, unchanging, etc, and hence it is also beyond the Cosmos. That is the paradox of reality, that the one and same Reality can be both and equally unchanging, infinite, eternal, etc and also changing, finite etc. This paradox is reconciled through the fact of emanation - the one transforms itself into the Many, while not diminishing its status as the One. "

http://www.kheper.net/topics/worldviews ... heism.html

I believe Deity is beyond the world (trancendent), and yet is contained wholy in everything. Bigger than the biggest, smaller than the smallest. One, but also the Many. Each of the many Gods and Goddesses that are worshipped around the world, past or present, are encompased by the One Deity, and yet the One Deity is wholly contained within each of the Gods or Goddesses. Confused yet?

Erin {Kestrel}