{"id":1216,"date":"2017-05-29T06:54:42","date_gmt":"2017-05-28T20:54:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/hearthwitchdownunder\/?p=1216"},"modified":"2018-01-24T13:30:53","modified_gmt":"2018-01-24T03:30:53","slug":"comparing-gods-humans","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/hearthwitchdownunder\/2017\/05\/comparing-gods-humans.html","title":{"rendered":"On Comparing the Gods to Humans"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

In some of my posts, generally those that are about the nature of the Gods<\/a>, I inevitably end up comparing the Gods to humans<\/a>.\u00a0 I will use examples of human behaviour and motives to explain how the Gods might behave, and why They behave in these ways.<\/p>\n

But this sort of language is problematic to some people, as some have mentioned on my posts or elsewhere about my posts, but also I have seen similar comments in passing that have nothing to do with me.\u00a0 For many Pagans, especially Polytheists, the Gods are not human and cannot be judged by human standards or perceptions.\u00a0 Comparing Them to humans is simply wrong.<\/p>\n

So, why do I use such language when discussing the nature and actions of the Gods?<\/p>\n

\"There
Pierre Mignard [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Humans are Limited<\/h2>\n

There is no getting around this, we humans are limited in what we can see, what we can perceive and what we can understand.\u00a0 The best way for us to understand something is to put it into human terms \u2013 and even better, terms that match our levels of egocentricity.\u00a0 Pagans and Polytheists are no exception to this flaw in our nature.\u00a0 We see only so far, we understand only so much and the bulk of what we understand is only understood because we are able to translate it into human terms.<\/p>\n

Consider the things we just cannot imagine.\u00a0 Nothingness.\u00a0 What comes to mind when you consider the concept of nothingness? I bet it has some kind of colour or shade to it, is it light or dark?\u00a0 True nothingness should have no colour, no shade, no light and no dark \u2013 because there is nothing.\u00a0 This is beyond our ability to comprehend.<\/p>\n

That is not the only thing that we cannot comprehend fully, this is not the only thing that we must place certain human (or at least earthly) concepts onto in order to understand it in part.<\/p>\n

Life is Human and Earthly, Nothing Else<\/h2>\n

Life itself is one of the things that we cannot imagine in a way that is different to our own experience of life.\u00a0 I read a short story by Anne McCaffrey<\/a> once (more than once actually) about humans travelling to a planet, finding it covered in life\u00a0but no sentient\u00a0creatures.\u00a0 They used the planet to their own benefit, only feeling a little bad about using old and seemingly abandoned cities. \u00a0The velvet fields they used as fodder for cattle.<\/p>\n

A decade later the humans finally discovered that these plants in the velvet fields were living beings, going through various stages of life before finally awakening, fully conscious and aware \u2013 tortured, mutilated and decapitated because of our inability to recognise the existence of life if it isn\u2019t exactly like our earthly lives.\u00a0 No heart, no lungs, no brain waves?\u00a0 Then obviously it\u2019s not a living being, and certainly has no consciousness and as such can be used as we will.<\/p>\n

You might think, well Pagans are different! Many Pagans are animistic and believe (know!) that everything is alive, everything has a soul \u2013 even rocks!\u00a0 But consider what you imagine when you think of the life these things have.\u00a0 Sure, you know a rock has no heartbeat, lungs or brainwaves that we can perceive \u2013 but what human ideas are we placing upon these things?\u00a0 When you imagine them as being able to think, are you able to conceive of thought as anything different from how we think?\u00a0 Are you giving them human desires, emotions, ideals and even morals?<\/p>\n

We must treat these things with respect, honour, care etc because they are living beings.\u00a0 And as living beings they of course want to be honoured, respected and cared for\u2026.<\/p>\n

Just a bit presumptive and human-centric isn\u2019t it? Perhaps they care nothing for respect or honour or care.\u00a0 Do they feel emotions, and if they do, are those emotions anything we could even come close to understanding?<\/p>\n

You can say that you have experience with these entities, but having experience with them doesn\u2019t necessarily mean that your human perceptions have not coloured your view of these entities.\u00a0 What have you actually missed during these experiences because of your limited human understanding?\u00a0 What has your human mind showed you of these beings that isn\u2019t actually true?<\/p>\n

The Gods are Not Human, But We Are<\/h2>\n

And They know it.\u00a0 When we think of the Gods, when we envision Them and create images of Them we inevitably give Them some kind of human and\/or earthly visage.\u00a0 Biped most of the time, human or animal faces\/heads, human or animal limbs, and so on.\u00a0 Even the demonic looking being is still very human under the lumps and bumps and horns.<\/p>\n

Why do we anthropomorphise the Gods like this?<\/p>\n

It doesn\u2019t even matter what your beliefs are in this discussion.\u00a0 Either the Gods are literally beings that look extremely human-like.\u00a0 Or They are not human-like at all and our perceptions colour what we see.\u00a0 Now, how our perceptions do this is a matter of debate, but the two I think are most prevalent are as follows.\u00a0 First, we are so incapable of accepting and understanding the true physical form of the Gods (if They have a physical form) that our minds create an image for us that blocks out the reality.\u00a0 Or, the Gods know our limitations and They show us what They know we are able to handle.<\/p>\n

Not all of us see or envision the Gods in human form of course.\u00a0 The other way we often see Them is animistic.\u00a0 This is where you see Hermes as He was seen by humans so long ago \u2013 as an actual stone, or Zeus as literal lightning and of course Gaia is the Earth itself.\u00a0 But even this animistic view of the Gods is still very human \u2013 because we have an understanding of earthly objects and phenomena, this is what we can see.<\/p>\n

But also, our physical bodies limit our view as well.\u00a0 There are colours out there that we are incapable of seeing, sounds that are beyond our ability to hear.\u00a0 This means, that even if the Gods are literal lightning, stone or things like that \u2013 still there is much we cannot see and as such there is much we cannot understand.<\/p>\n

So the Human View is Necessary<\/h2>\n

When discussing the Gods, and indeed other beings that are very inhuman and rather unearthly, it is almost impossible to not place Them into little human-like boxes in order to understand Them.\u00a0 But doing this for the sake of discussion, dissemination or even education isn\u2019t necessarily the same as believing They are comparable to humans.<\/p>\n

And even if you are one of the rare birds who can imagine Them in a way that is very inhuman, that doesn\u2019t mean very much to everyone else.\u00a0 Because just like I believe the Gods show Themselves to us in ways They know we can handle \u2013 so I also discuss things in ways I know most people will be able to understand.\u00a0 Because what is the point of talking (writing) about all of this, if no one can understand what I am talking about?<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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