Hathor's another Egyptian deity who I've drawn, though it was for a gift for a friend in the UK.
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Other People's Gods
- Thread starter JustGeorge
- Start date
Hathor's another Egyptian deity who I've drawn, though it was for a gift for a friend in the UK.
Aštra’el
Aštara, Blade of Aštoreth
Who knows. My hopes and dreams, my fears and pain, my human nature, my memories, and everything in between, can be divided into categories, and those categories are my gods. I give life to them, I give them voice, I can even animate them in my mind, and what I feel is like something reaching out from the cosmos and touching those thoughtforms to reach me. To inspire me. Motivate me. Pushing me in a direction. It is like wind, and I can feel it, and the direction it blows is the direction of destiny. Winds of purpose. Winds of True will.
Others have imagined their gods, and what they want, or would want. Do the winds I feel and the winds they feel have a common origin? Is it “just” a way for the human brain to guide us towards our dreams, or is it that combined with some outside force from the cosmos touching our minds to inspire us and call us to action? If an outside force were involved, would it be one singular outside force reaching out, or a multitude of outside forces?
Does it even matter?
For some it is like the wind blows in a single direction. For others, the winds blow in many directions, branching off into many different futures. Navigating this windy maze of the soul to reach one’s destiny, for me is the greatest adventure... regardless of the wind’s source. Perhaps I am the wind, or perhaps it comes from some far away place beyond my comprehension.
How do I feel about others’ gods? I think their gods are awesome. Embrace them as you will.
Others have imagined their gods, and what they want, or would want. Do the winds I feel and the winds they feel have a common origin? Is it “just” a way for the human brain to guide us towards our dreams, or is it that combined with some outside force from the cosmos touching our minds to inspire us and call us to action? If an outside force were involved, would it be one singular outside force reaching out, or a multitude of outside forces?
Does it even matter?
For some it is like the wind blows in a single direction. For others, the winds blow in many directions, branching off into many different futures. Navigating this windy maze of the soul to reach one’s destiny, for me is the greatest adventure... regardless of the wind’s source. Perhaps I am the wind, or perhaps it comes from some far away place beyond my comprehension.
How do I feel about others’ gods? I think their gods are awesome. Embrace them as you will.
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The Gods who talk to me (voices in my head) tell me that I shouldn't talk about other Gods because they would be jealous. Some say that I'm crazy, but my many personalities outvoted them. However, if I writhe around on the floor, talking in tongues (which sounds like nonsense to most people), I can tell you what God has told me. Except that God doesn't want me to take credit for speaking to God because he is a jealous God who wants to retain all of the credit (so I can't tell you anything...God made it classified).
So, though I can tell you nothing, I have at least proven the existence of God(s) with sound arguments, hard facts, and logic.
It does seem a bit windy. It reminds me of the Western movie "Break the Wind."
Hathor was the Egyptian Goddess of sky, love, women, and fertility. Most often depicted with a cow horn hat (she'd be a good fan of the Texas Longhorns), or a cow, she is sometimes depicted as a lioness, cobra, or sycamore tree, or a beaded necklace known as a menat. She was the mother of Horus, Ihy, and Neferhotep. She stood for motherhood and nourishment. In India, cows are also holy (even in America they have a phrase...."holy cow.") Bart Simpson says "Don't have a cow, man." Often the red disk of the son (of Horus) is depicted between her horn hat.Hathor's another Egyptian deity who I've drawn, though it was for a gift for a friend in the UK.
In Egyptian mythology, Hathor and Atum (creator God) made everything, including humans. It seems to me that Adam (not Atum) was also the first human who made more humans with Eve. Could it be the same person?
Some say that Hathor was the daughter of Re (perhaps also known as Ra) the sun God. Her brother would have been a son of a sun.
Hathor was replaced by Mut and Isis.
Mirrors were often associated with Hathor because they reflect beauty. I must have a defective mirror, because it doesn't.
Hathor, sometimes pronounced Hwt Har, is symbolized as a bird.
Hathor - Wikipedia
From 2686 BC to 2181, Hathor was an important Goddess if Egypt.
Thor was a Norse God, previously known as Thunner (like thunder). I wonder if Thor and Hathor are related.
I'm curious can you give an example about someone's Gods they worship, showing a bit about their inner character and what they value?
When thinking about God you can ask "What is the essence behind all things, and what can or can't it be?" but its an abstract, empty question. I'll explain that, but then I will explain the two major moral implications and the true reasons why people embrace the idea of God. It is not typically out of a love of abstraction.
First the abstraction: Momentarily think of God as the essence of divinity, but then let go of that thought and don't pin God down as the essence of divinity. Just imagine if there were a general divinity not tied to being a god or godhead. What would it be? Now in your mind keep wondering what the essence of divinity would be if all things depended upon a hidden connection, like the wheels behind a clockface. What would the wheels be? God is not that thing, however you have begun to seek in abstraction God. God is not something we define but rather is an impossible object to define, so we seek and never define God. We do make exclusions about what God isn't. None of this is the motivation to seek God or to be interested in God. Its not why people do it.
Why we do this is that it is for moral purposes or immoral purposes. I think God has been detected multiple times for different reasons, but God is never defined successfully. Is God a reaction against and rebellion against the faults of polytheistic monarchs and their bloody ravings? No, but God has been detected that way. You could mistake God as a rebellion against such. Another way God has been detected is in the Jewish search in their laws trying to find the right balance of laws. I think it is a search which has revealed God to them though they believe God is revealed to them by Moses. (I only think so because of my limited understanding of history and archeology.) Is God something like Entropy, discovered in different ways by different people? I think so, yes, multiple ways but the reason is some kind of moral search. They find God when seeking an elusive moral center. The concept of God just pops up when they do that. They don't begin with abstraction, but they are drawn into it because of the difficulty of defining what they are detecting.
Defining God is analogous to studying a tiny particle and the way physicists have to describe it approximately with math terms and theorize about it. Its also analogous to trying to pinch a wet watermelon seed.
The gods sometimes also have mysteries associated with them and in that they share some things in common with God.
I've never studied either Krishna nor the Norse beliefs, but I've heard about them. Hare Krishnas have a lot in common with those who worship Jesus. In that case its easy for me to find virtue, but there are cases of gods where its not so plain for me. I can't always identify with what people value, some like to keep things mysterious to outsiders. I value the courage in the Norse religion. Some things in it are not so easy for me to value, like I've heard that hate is part of it. If that's correct its difficult; but I think hate can be a virtue in the right situation. What I guess is that Norse religionists value courage a lot, and Hare Krishnas value adoration a lot.
I can't say I've noticed a lot of hate within the Norse cosmology (unless we get into white supremacist.ideology, which is separate). But there is a lot of fighting and warfare, that was the modus operandi of the day.
I'll give you my line up.
Odin - Wisdom and Magic
Freya - Love, Compassion and Magic
Freyr - Leadership, Fertility
Thor - Protection of the commoner, Courage and Strength
Loki - Trickery, Sleight of hand, Humor, Mischievous
I do mimic these things in my daily life.
Vinidra
Jai Mata Di!
Ok, so ultimately, I think all Gods and Goddesses of all pantheons are facets of the Mother of the Universe.
That being said, in a practical sense, I treat them as if they are separate entities. In addition to the Hindu Goddesses Durga, Kali, Lakshmi, and Saraswati, I also worship the Hellenic Goddesses Aphrodite, Athena, and Hera. I worship each one separately, but when I pray, I just pray to "Mother" (if that makes sense at all).
So as far as other people's Gods and Goddesses are concerned, I am happy to treat them as separate entities, like I do with my own. But on a cosmic level, I think they're all the same.
That being said, in a practical sense, I treat them as if they are separate entities. In addition to the Hindu Goddesses Durga, Kali, Lakshmi, and Saraswati, I also worship the Hellenic Goddesses Aphrodite, Athena, and Hera. I worship each one separately, but when I pray, I just pray to "Mother" (if that makes sense at all).
So as far as other people's Gods and Goddesses are concerned, I am happy to treat them as separate entities, like I do with my own. But on a cosmic level, I think they're all the same.
amorphous_constellation
Well-Known Member
I'm curious what you'd think of page 33 and 34 of the 'gylfaginning,' which in the prose edda. This idea of the amorphous nature of a father god is right there, he the god that no one can quite define, and you can see how that might dovetail straight into christian thinking on god, like you show here. And that is, namely this idea that god has a plurality of names. It appears in the old testament, but it must have been a staple of the christian world as well. And as well, the word god is of course thought to be a word that came straight from odin. The angles, saxons, and jutes came from that area of course, where odin was a primary god.
I have not read the story about King Gylfy, however I watched a presentation on the Etruscans and their gods which seem to have strong ties to the Norse. The 9 main Etruscan gods begin very formless having no particular form, and I suspect that the Norse 9 inherit this same quality. I'm not the person to ask about it and am just mentioning it in case you become interested.
To me a plurality of names is essentially 'No name' or 'Just call me whatever you like', but the early formless nature of these Etruscan 9 gods (and of Odin, Thor etc.) suggests a fluid nature, perhaps a mysterious nature or non-personal nature. Its not something I can do more than guess about.
amorphous_constellation
Well-Known Member
Well, it's the shape-shifter quality and more than that. That it is tells of the fluid nature of the definition is actually extremely important, and I think this comes out in the bible as well, mostly in the new testament. Of course, this is where god shifts into a man form. And the norse, and probably other pagan systems I haven't looked into as much, seem like they dovetail right into that as well.
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amorphous_constellation
Well-Known Member
Well there's a spell for breaking the hate between men in the poetic edda, and advice on how to avoid being hated. There is also some content in the havamal, that reads just like 'eye for an eye' almost. Some of it is just comments on why Odin thinks men fight each other, which is neither here nor there, in a sense. Really I don't think it need be read in a 'barbaric' way, if you apply some amount of modern scrutiny. If someone assaults you, you can get even by suing them. That is essentially all you might read into it. And so then you get even that way
And overall, I think that in Norse mythology and culture, it was more about individual choice and judgement. Again, like in the new testament. In my reading of all the material, I can't recall reading anything quite as severe at Deuteronomy chapter 13 for example, where people are judged as collectives, for individual choice. Christian historians from a 1000 years ago pointed this out too, that they found it remarkable that norse groups operated by the democratic choice of individuals
In recent centuries, Christians have found individuality once again in their popular philosophy
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I feel indifferent about other peoples' deities.
I think some were probably made up by ancient rulers and priestly classes to maintain social harmony, explain natural phenomena, and have someone to please in order for something to occur or otherwise.
My opinion is that this is a grey area.
Ignoring them and focusing on Indian deities is what I do because I do not find any reason to worship them. That might change if I ever move to Taiwan where Chinese folk religion is popular. Worshiping a local deity there might be a good thing.
Hey! No one tells Bart Simpson what to do!
The Crimson Universe
Active Member
When you say "Ra at midday is associated with Horu" do you mean Ra is associated with Horus? Just curious. I've always wondered why Ra and Horus looks almost the same.
The Crimson Universe
Active Member
I'm not very familiar with the pantheon of Egyptian, Mesopotamian or Roman Gods/Goddesses but I do believe that they exist. I believe in the existence of multiple Gods. IMO, they are simply manifestations of the Infinite Spirit Brahman. Some of those forms i believe came into existence during the creation of the universe, before mankind were created. The rest of them are probably the result of our imagination.
I worship Yahweh, aka Jehovah, and accept Jesus as His Messiah. So I follow & appreciate the Greek Scriptures, as well as the Hebrew Scriptures…. To me, they both have the same importance. (That’s why I rarely refer to them as O[ld] T[estament] vs N[ew] T[estament]; I don’t want to make it seem as if the OT, called old, is obsolete. Or that the ‘New’ one supersedes the usefulness of the Old, or is better. That’s just me…)
That being said, Exodus 15:11 & 1 Corinthians 8 5,6 reflects my view; while I acknowledge the existence of “many gods,” (and a few may only exist in some people’s minds), there is only “one God” I worship & love.
Since the Bible reveals that Yahweh wants all people to come to Him (Psalms 86:9), these other gods work against Jehovah’s will. They certainly don’t lead people to Jehovah!
I wish all my fellow RF’ers a great day! Good night.
That being said, Exodus 15:11 & 1 Corinthians 8 5,6 reflects my view; while I acknowledge the existence of “many gods,” (and a few may only exist in some people’s minds), there is only “one God” I worship & love.
Since the Bible reveals that Yahweh wants all people to come to Him (Psalms 86:9), these other gods work against Jehovah’s will. They certainly don’t lead people to Jehovah!
I wish all my fellow RF’ers a great day! Good night.
Jedster
Well-Known Member
Not a theist, however I was a strong theist for over 20 years.
So, morphing back to being a theist, I 'knew' that my god was the one true god and saw all other beliefs as being on the road to truth. So I accepted others' gods/belief systems as real, because the god I believed in was very compassionate and accepted devotion from anyone, whatever the form.
Horu is the Egyptian form of the name.
And no, it doesn't work like that really. Sokar and Montu also have falcon heads.