thedeadone.net » beliefs

(g|G)od(s)

Mark Cunningham — Thu, 24 Aug 2006 07:43:12 +0000

I was working on COG and I was doing some writing about what I think “mythic” is and I was considering the nature of “gods” (that’s with lower case g and pural). I wrote, “It is not that the gods exist it. It is which gods you worship.” Hmm. That made me pause. It makes sense of course, but where did that thought come from? What was the logic (if any) to get there?

As I see it, the myth creators used the gods to describe the world greater than them. They used them to simplify the cosmic to the trivial, or more importantly man’s relationship with the “bigger picture”. Elements of human existence became personalities i.e. gods. The various gods of war, for example, are cruel and brutal, enjoying bloodshed and laughing in slaughter. This is because ordinary folk saw war as cruel and brutal and that war itself seemed to enjoy the unending slaughter it caused. It was something in their lives that was simply beyond the scope of most peasant folk to really understand.

Descendants then let other elements of life gravitate to existing personifications, extending the mythos of these gods. These formed symbolic links and made sense to the people of the time. Stories built up about these links as way of explaining them and sometimes justifying them because it may not be obvious. The mistake came, and probably quite early on even as the mythos was expanding, that people believed that the gods really did exist. It begs the question then, why bother with gods if not to believe them? Well, because it allows people to understand a world on a subconscious/intuitive level, giving them a place within the cosmos and in a sense, by personifying it, allows control (or the illusion of control) of it.

The greater world is one that causes awe (or horror depending on your perspective). Giving someone the belief they have some control over that, is psychologically powerful. As an example, a warrior that “invokes” the god of war will become cruel and brutal, able to ignore pain for long periods and willing to bring slaughter as required (or feared). This was required for battle and these were the qualities of the war god. It could give them a ferocity that might give them an edge.

I think in part that is why I’m drawn to Chaos Magic because it reflects this attitude. The idea of “paradigm shifting” (I term I’ve only ever seen on Wikipedia), accepting completely a different belief system to achieve a goal, is a powerful psychological tool. Useful in today’s world as it was back then, however it’s not to battle and war but to art, writing, business, relationships and a whole host of trivial and human matters.

It’s not that the gods exist. It is what they represent. The ancients, though trapped by their own dogma, were still wise enough to not forget the other elements of the world. Many temples dedicated to one god, also contained small shrines to the other gods so they wouldn’t be offended. The gods represented a way to approach life and to become part of the cycle of life. Understanding one god is to attempt to understand humans’ relationship to the things that that god represents. It is also stating that this one element is the reason for existence (or at least their existence). But doing that to the exclusion of everything else is a dire mistake, the path to self-destruction.

Which, in a roundabout way, brings me to an answer to the question: Does God Exist? It is irrelevant. To understand God is an attempt to understand the whole world and humanity’s place in it. Some see God as being “out there”, separate from reality, a supernatural entity. Maybe, maybe. But I think it’s more practical to see God as being the universe, a cosmic spirit of everything if you will. It doesn’t matter if God really exists, only that we try to understand the world and our relationship to it. If that involves being a philosopher, a scientist, an artist or just living life, so be it.

Anyone who argues dogma or fact should really make sure they don’t offend the other gods.

Project Free Brick?

Mark Cunningham — Wed, 15 Feb 2006 13:01:51 +0000

Nearly a year ago (maybe even longer) I had a discussion with another Redbrick member: Duke. Even though we had completely different view points, we still wanted to talk about certain topics without having to defend our opinions. I mean he is a scientist very much so, while I’ve been called a “New Age Freak” by my own wife.

I guess I’m getting old because I’m not as willing to talk about my beliefs in public, especially not with work-mates and ironically not on my webpage either. In the last few years I’ve even found the Redbrick Boards a tiresome place for such discussion. Actually there is no discussion of these kinds of topics because it always boils down to having to defend your beliefs from the “scientific right”. It’s not that I have a problem with Science(tm), in fact I don’t. I would even defend science. Nor is it that I feel my beliefs are threatened because of some scientific-based belief. It just gets wearisome. Perhaps I’m misreading the ‘tone’ of some posters but I do sense a certain “zealousness” when I read replies to posts I make on several specific topics. I guess I should kilfile such folk but I rarely do, I like to see what others are saying even if I think the worse of them

So Duke and I brainstormed a bit and came up with an idea for a trusted redbrick member’s forum. Basically invite only. A place where you could discuss Wicca, Religion, Astral Project, Supernatural, Magick etc. without having to account for the chemical reactions in your brain. For some reason I felt the urge this year to set it up: Project Free Brick [www.redbrick.dcu.ie/~cammy/thefreebrick].

Unfortunately it’s seems to have flop so immediately. Next to nobody I contacted seemed interested. These kind of things need a ‘critical mass’ (evil business-speak.. *spit*) of people. Just look at the Redbrick Wiki I manage, which has a healthy number of contributors. Then see what happened to the occult wiki which ended up with me being the sole contributor. Three people do not make a forum.

If there is anyone out in the ether wilds of Redbrick who might be interested, feel free to sign up (use your Redbrick username so we know who you are).

I ain’t sorry…

Mark Cunningham — Fri, 08 Apr 2005 07:41:42 +0000

I kinda lassed out on the redbrick boards yesterday. I’m sorry I got angry but I’m not sorry about why I did it. Now that I’ve cooled a bit I think I should explain it.

We were discussing the controversial topic of Homeopathy. While the majority of posters were dismissing it or claiming it was disproved, I kept throwing counter points in there (which I’m not going to reiterate here). Not that I actually believe in Homeopathy (I don’t) but you’ve got question. I prefaced all my initial responses (or as many times in the conversation as was reasonable) with “I don’t believe in Homeopathy but…”

Yet for the fourth time, somebody reacted to me as if I was defending or that I believed in Homeopathy!

They believed I was saying “because you can’t prove it wrong, it is therefore true”, while I was trying to say that “there is evidence but the scientific evidence is inconclusive in that there are open questions”.

Or, worse they assumed I believed in Homeopathy because of my points or because of previous posts I’ve made about unreleated but similar genre topics (i.e. the mystical, religious, etc.).

It drove me up the wall, this assumation about my beliefs. The last person said he (paraphrasing here) was amazed that I would accept something without any physical belief even though I was a computer programming, but he wasn’t taking a dig at me… hello? Did he read my posts? Did he not see my “I do not believe in Homeopathy” statements? And so what? If I believe in say God or the human spirit… is that really so weird?

I guess sometimes I probaly do it but I hope that when someone is simply making a point I don’t automatically get personal and bring in my personal opinions about that person.

The Conscious Universe

Mark Cunningham — Tue, 05 Apr 2005 09:22:40 +0000

I wrote up a review for Redbrick.books of “The Conscious Universe” by Dean Radin. I wonder will it provoke any discussion on the boards though?

thedeadone.net » beliefs

(g|G)od(s)

Related Posts:

Project Free Brick?

Related Posts:

I ain’t sorry…

Related Posts:

The Conscious Universe

Related Posts: