What if some of the so called dieties actual ecisted at one

[draon9]

For those of you who believe in ghost, God and demons and voodoo and all that other stuff. Could it be possible that Zeus, Athena and other greek creatures actually existed.
Remember demons can come in the form of humans same thing with angels. If they existed, by biblical standards, they will be considered demons pretending to be gods or fallen angels.
If you heard about all these mythical stories, then there might be some behind these tails.

 

[Doctor Cringelord]

I've pondered it.

I've also speculated that a lot of similar or shared 'myths' such as the flood story, which appears in several ancient cultures, may be based in factual events that predate our current or existing recorded history.

It might be off topic from your question, but Graham Hancock wrote an interesting book called Underworld speculating on the "great flood" and suggesting the flood stories are based on the shared experience of coastal cultures affected by the changing sea levels toward the end of the last major ice age. Over time, as the story was passed from generation to generation, likely by spoken word, it's reasonable to then assume the details would have been obscured or changed over a great deal of time.

To work it back to your question, It is very interesting to speculate on a similar relation between god as we are familiar with via religious stories and some possible prehistoric visitors or "demi-gods" who may have provided a basis for religious writings/stories on God(s).

I'm pretty firmly in the agnostic camp but I think there are also at least grains of truth in the creation stories of many religions. There may also be grains of truth in the idea of the existence of god(s).

 

[Totenkindly]

I believe there was probably a large Flood at one point, because it shows up in the legends of multiple cultures, although realistically it doesn't seem that it encircled the whole planet. I hadn't heard the "changing sea level" speculation before though.

My personal opinion is that it was a backtracking process -- people wanted explanations for why things were the way they were, and how they got to be that way, so that there could be some sense made out of them so that they could be controlled to some degree and anxiety lessened or so that people could be encouraged that they were not alone. So gods that in many case were just like human beings but with greater power were used to explain how things worked. It still tends to be how we use deity -- in order to explain evil/suffering in the world and create a sense of what one's purpose is in the world. To me, that seems more likely than having the actual Greek gods (for example) -- or some version of them -- having been real.




... I definitely would like to have a boon from the Diet-ies but I have a hard time sticking with them.

 

[Passacaglia]

What if they still exist, and we are being judged as lazy immoral mortals bound for the shady parts of Hades?

 

[Abendrot]

It's an interesting thought that the Greek gods were demons or fallen angels, but is a very old idea. For example, in Dante's Divine Comedy from the 14th century, many figures of Greek mythology are featured as demons of hell. Even the rivers of Hades are featured as existing within a portion of hell. This kind of synthesis of Greek mythology into Christianity is not surprising, given that Christianity had to replace preexisting religions in the Roman Empire.

On a side note, there is a book called "American Gods" by Neil Gaiman. In this story all the gods of myth exist, and they draw their existence and strength from peoples' belief and worship. Gods like Odin feature in the story, but they have been consigned to a pretty sordid and pathetic state because very few people believe in them.

 

[Coriolis]

For those of you who believe in ghost, God and demons and voodoo and all that other stuff. Could it be possible that Zeus, Athena and other greek creatures actually existed.
Remember demons can come in the form of humans same thing with angels. If they existed, by biblical standards, they will be considered demons pretending to be gods or fallen angels.
If you heard about all these mythical stories, then there might be some behind these tails.

In my personal spirituality, they all do exist. Every one. My view, though, is that there is one single divine entity, and what are often presented as a multitude of gods and goddesses are simply various aspects or facets of that one entity.

 

[Tilt]

In my personal spirituality, they all do exist. Every one. My view, though, is that there is one single divine entity, and what are often presented as a multitude of gods and goddesses are simply various aspects or facets of that one entity.

Would that be considered monism?

 

[Coriolis]

Would that be considered monism?

No idea. I never worried about what to call it, just work with the idea in my spiritual doings.

 

[Tilt]

No idea. I never worried about what to call it, just work with the idea in my spiritual doings.

ahhh...cool. I just remembered reading about similar lines of thoughts concerning religion and philosophy: pantheistic monism. No need to define it... just always found the idea to be an interesting interpretation.

 

[Kanra Jest]

In my personal spirituality, they all do exist. Every one. My view, though, is that there is one single divine entity, and what are often presented as a multitude of gods and goddesses are simply various aspects or facets of that one entity.

Interesting. I've considered that very same idea you have, as well. Everyone either seems to believe there is none, there is one, or many. What if it was more complicated than that? Though I don't believe nor disbelieve in an entity but if something was out there, I thought to this. Like a source and what we see would be different manifestations of it based off cultures. But all being intertwined.

 

[Coriolis]

Interesting. I've considered that very same idea you have, as well. Everyone either seems to believe there is none, there is one, or many. What if it was more complicated than that? Though I don't believe nor disbelieve in an entity but if something was out there, I thought to this. Like a source and what we see would be different manifestations of it based off cultures. But all being intertwined.

It is a bit like how all of our languages are just different manifestations of the human ability to communicate through language. They all serve the same purpose, in their different ways.

Even if there isn't really a divine entity, the many gods and goddesses that humans revere all serve a similar purpose in our lives, and might simpy be reflective of some fundamental human tendency to imagine something greater than ourselves.

 

[LovecraftianMonstrosity]

Don't place your hopes in a "what if...". By the way, I find your signature charming

 

[Typh0n]

Don't place your hopes in a "what if...". By the way, I find your signature charming

Are pagan deities really about giving people hope though? "Hope" sounds like a Christian idea, mostly.