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Author Topic: seeing gods in people  (Read 1657 times)

Vixen

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seeing gods in people
« on: January 18, 2017, 08:34:20 am »
Something Brian said in another thread tickled my interest

Quote from: njsquarebear;199326
I have on rare occasions seen Jesus (literally, I believe) in a few others - women and men - I've met... as well as (I believe) the god Cernunnos in 2 or 3 particular men.  

 
Do gods 'inhabit' humans? Are some humans not truly humans but gods in human form? Or are they humans who have been blessed with the gods presence for however long this god chooses? And how is one to interact with a person in whom one sees a god?

I mean. It's kind of embarrassing. I thought it was just my own weird way of looking for connections.
Cernunnos thumped me on the head last summer and kindly but firmly suggested I should finally get my ass over to the pagan path. He is a very important presence in my life now. At that same time I met a man who embodies just about everything I see in my god. The good and the bad. He has guided me through one of the most difficult times of my life. And even though he can be quite difficult (read dominating and strict) I feel safe and loved.
I have rejected the idea of seeing my god in him cause that just made me feel silly and, you know, romanticising things. But seeing Brians quote it somehow doesn't feel as strange anymore.

How does one deal with this? Is this really the god speaking through this person?  And how do you deal with that? Should I shy away from him? I mean, he cant be a living breathing god, can he? And what if he is not but is temporarily inhabited with the god, what will happen if he served his purpose and the god leaves him? Will he become a different person? Will he lose that spark? Or am I looking for things that are just not there?

I would like to hear from you. Have you ever met a person in whom you see a god? What purpose do you think they served? What happened when that god left that person. Is that person aware of a godly presence?
You're only given a little spark of madness, you mustn't lose it.

Faemon

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Re: seeing gods in people
« Reply #1 on: January 18, 2017, 12:36:45 pm »
Quote from: Vixen;201568
Do gods 'inhabit' humans? And how is one to interact with a person in whom one sees a god?

To the first question: Yes, I certainly believe so, though whenever I do sense that from a person then of course I keep it quiet because it's unusual, therefore automatically uncomfortable, and controversial even in the abstract.

One thing I'll throw out there are the various paradigms and metaphysics of the thing. I was taught that Jesus was fully human and fully divine, and emulation of this character was important because Christians with Christ-God in their hearts were the living gates to Heaven for non-Christians...whereas comparing Ancient Greek demigods, probably not the same underlying philosophy at all.

That said, I'm Persephone. This didn't come to me via meditation or auguries by clergymembers of a religion I'm not even a part of. My Persephone-ness is the result of a pen and paper exam based on Jean Shinofa Bolen's book about the Greek polytheistic gods as archetypes in Jungian psychology. I imagine some stricter reconstructionists would consider that interpretation hubristic.

So, even given shared stories, it's certainly a different culture.

I'd also read up a bit before, and remembered reading the odd magazine article or catching a documentary channel featurette...about kumari, corporeal vessels of the goddess Kali. As I recall, parents offer their very young daughters for selection, which the clergy do based on the kid's astrology and facial features primarily. Once the kumari has been selected, she fulfills ceremonial duties, has all sorts of dietary restrictions, and is relieved from that position if she doesn't keep up with all those—especially shedding blood, whether by injury or first menstruation. I remember they interviewed one girl who became a kumari at 12 and started menstruating a few months later, and she seemed to mostly find it more annoying than honorable because she'd had so much schoolwork to catch up on—having academic duties set aside for religious duties. I imagine it usually does provide prestige, though.

So...sometimes how to conduct oneself in the presence of—or even recognize—the divinity of a corporeal person can be very structured indeed.

Without that refuge of systemic formalities, though—as I said, I keep the specifics quiet. I get uncomfortable when a Christian calls me an angel just because I did something that let life be easier for them (because that's a human thing, damn it! ...But, ehh, it's a compliment, it's a nice thing to say, so...I don't pick a fight over that, either...I just don't tend to say out loud that someone is one of my gods and expect them to be flattered.) And I only admit to being Persephone because what that means to me came from a paradigm wherein everybody potentially is—as in, if you take that test and you're none of the gods, the first explanation is it's probably because you're depressed, because having any sort of vitality means that Bolen's god/archetypes live through you. (Although I think it could also be that some people's vitality doesn't gel with this particular mythos...but consider this thought of mine remains very much within a Jungian paradigm.)

So, what are the metaphysics? What are the courtesies? Is there any shared understanding of those underlying philosophies? It depends, infuriatingly enough, but I've noticed that more often these simply aren't there.

So second question: I interact improvisationally, which is freezing/shutting up and defaulting to grump. It's worked splendidly so far.
« Last Edit: January 18, 2017, 12:41:13 pm by Faemon »
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Faemon

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Re: seeing gods in people
« Reply #2 on: January 18, 2017, 12:45:32 pm »
Quote from: Faemon;201580
Shinofa

Shinoda, not -fa. Sorry, typing from my phone keys right next to each other 2 min to edit and didn't catch it in time. :p
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Darkhawk

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Re: seeing gods in people
« Reply #3 on: January 23, 2017, 02:03:27 pm »
Quote from: Vixen;201568
I would like to hear from you. Have you ever met a person in whom you see a god?


I... theologically speaking I would be rather alarmed to meet a person in whom I could not see a god.  I might not know which gods that person had, beyond of course themselves, but being unable to perceive that shape would be... unfortunate?  Wrong?

Quote
What purpose do you think they served?

 
I... don't... like asking about the functional utility of people.  Including people who are gods.  Living things exist because they are alive.

The gods write large and miniscule, and we write to our own scale, but we trace the same range of curves on the world, and when we can see a match in the shapes we make, then, well, humans are pattern-making creatures.  The purpose in doing this depends rather on who's doing it.
as the water grinds the stone
we rise and fall
as our ashes turn to dust
we shine like stars    - Covenant, "Bullet"

Jainarayan

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Re: seeing gods in people
« Reply #4 on: January 24, 2017, 10:56:51 am »
Quote from: Vixen;201568

Do gods 'inhabit' humans? Are some humans not truly humans but gods in human form? Or are they humans who have been blessed with the gods presence for however long this god chooses? And how is one to interact with a person in whom one sees a god?

 
Funny you mention this, because I've thought of it myself.

There is a burly, red-haired, red-bearded young guy at the gym, who told me he's overly fond of his beer, being German(ic). From the moment I saw him at the gym I knew who he had to actually be. We wave and chit-chat in passing. I'm almost afraid to ask his name and find out it's Don or Donny: Donar being the German form of the name Thor, and find out that this universe is not only stranger than we imagine, but stranger than we can imagine (apologies to J.B.S. Haldane).  :D:

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