Thoughts on Gods
I wrote this as part of my response to this survey for Thorn magazine. I like it, so I thought I'd put it here for your comment and my future reference.
Most ancient pagan mythologies do not represent the gods as having existed forever. The Olympians, for example, were the third generation of divine beings in Greek mythology. The stories of the births of the various gods take up a significant chunk of the mythic stories we have. And when you factor in the mortals who ascended to goodhood, as well as the syncretic dieties (such as those of the Graeco-Egyptian crowd), it's obvious that gods begin somewhere.
It's my UPG that the faces, voices, and forms through which we experience the gods exist in the human imagination. Through seeking and devotion, these are built out of symbols and dreams and poetic inspiration, just like physical idols are an artists creation out of wood or stone. And just as it was believed that the spirit of the god would enter into and dwell in the physical idol, these imaginary idols are animated by intelligences outside of us.
It's another manifestation of the "as above, so below" principle. The microcosmic Dionysos who lives in my head and talks to me there is not the macrocosmic Dionysos that existed before I was even born. It is, if you will, a terminal, an avatar of that greater force within me, that allows such communication as I'm lucky to experience.
Beyond that, I'd argue that the macrocosmic Dionysos I just described is to Greek culture and those cultures influenced by the pagan Greeks, what the microcosmic Dionysos in my head is to me.
So, assuming I'm even close to the truth of it, there's no reason why new gods cannot be created. After all, the old gods were.
There is, also, an entity that I'm pretty sure I invented: Jack-in-the-Heap, the compost god. For quite a while, whenever I would take the scraps out to the compost heap, I'd chant:
"All hail Jack-in-the-Heap, lord of decay, who brings life from corruption"
This interaction, though brief and simple, felt as strong to me as many a high-ritual practice. It wasn't worship, exaclty, and I wasn't asking for any favors. However, it did feel like I was more intimately connected to the cycle of life.