The Nature of the Gods
From both Catholicism and the Neopagan scene, I've been surrounded by the idea of personal gods, and even entertained the notion for a while out of curiosity. Yet for most of that time, that idea never made sense to me, nor was it really experienced (I don't consider Grandmother Spider to be a deity like how Athena or Yahweh would typically be portrayed as, she's more like a land spirit). Delving into reconstructionist materials, I'm confronted once more with the idea of gods and worship.
Interestingly enough though, it was Hellenistic influence that allowed Snorri Sturluson to create the Nordic pantheon, with Odin at the top of the hierarchy, rather than what the people actually believed, pre-conversion. The gods were much closer to home than that, literally being in the mountains, forests, and storms rather than some far-off world. Which makes more sense, especially with regards to different "pantheons" appearing in different tribes of various locations, despite all of them being considered Germanic (Loki and Skadi aren't found on the continent, for example, being restricted mainly to Scandinavia, and Wodan vs Odin seem to have different characteristics from being found in different locations, despite often being considered the same guy).
Then, for my own situation, there's also the lists of Hungarian and Slavic deities to look into, plus spirits unique to the Alpine region. So not only are there no neatly traced and categorized pantheons, there's many different tribal recognitions to look into as well. All with the influence of Catholicism too.
So here are all these deities that my pre-Christian ancestors supposedly worshiped, with plenty of overlapping characteristics and attributed roles. Both Donar and Perkunos are said to be thunder gods from different regions, and Perkunos's wife, Dodola, has similarities with Thor's mother of Icelandic lore. So what's going on here....are they the same? Two different workers of the same role in different areas? Is Perkunos, the thunder god, the father of the one who hammers out lightening?
Personally, I say fuck all that shit, and this is where opinions/UPGs are gonna take over for me.
I may desire to call the storm rolling in as Perkunos, but I have no way to determine if the storm is literally Perkunos, and in all respects, it probably isn't. "Perkunos" becomes an attachment to the storm's spirit, a way for me to personalize it for lack of a better term, for there was a name once for the storm in this particular area I live in. I would consider that to be the storm's "true" name, and likewise, if I found myself in Poland or Slovakia, Perkunos would then be the literal being of that storm.
The storms over in Europe are going to (hypothetically) be different than the ones I experience, because different environments affect the weather in various ways (and vice versa). If they're physically not the same, then it shouldn't be too much of a leap to suggest that they're spiritually different as well. Only way to know for sure is to actually visit Europe myself and see...and someday it will happen.
Each god has different justifications though. While I may not be able to honor Perkunos as directly based on where I live, if I was of Scandinavian blood I could (hypothetically) honor Ing-Frey directly because he's considered the "Father of the Northern Tribes" apparently. So an ancestral connection would allow a more direct link to the "actual" Ing-Frey deity. There's some other spirits too that are said to be ancestral to some Germanic tribes, according to Tacitus, and there's probably many more unnamed ones lost in the dirt of human history and migrations.
In other words, it's probably easier to be a Neo-Wiccan and think all gods are just aspects of the One or of the Lord and Lady, etc.
Seriously though, in digging through (am still digging through, matter of fact) all these lists of deities found in ancestral locations, I'm realizing that some may not have a place in my life at all based on the fact that I don't live where my pre-America ancestors lived, or the fact that my life is a little different from them. Others may also not be connected to me through that fact, but do have a connection through my ancestors and the idea of families and clans, rather than being location-based. Still others are outside of man and community anyway, so their place in my worldview isn't going to matter.
Most of which takes a back seat in my life anyway. I may honor a deity here and there when the time is appropriate, but I'm not bound to any of them in a personal way (and I still don't actually follow the deity vs land vs other spirit categories; they're all just spirits). Historically, that's how it was too; worship was a community and family affair for people in general, because the effects of the worship were for community and family needs. Personal needs were fulfilled through one's own actions and luck, not usually from the powers of a high deity taking them under their wing (in the context of pre-Christian Central and Northern Europe at least).
So, long post short, the idea of deities is something I'm more comfortable with now, and willing to let into my life, but still won't be a huge aspect. They're going to be a part of the ancestor worship, and some seasonal celebrations, rather than their own "thing". The local spirits are the most important ones to me, and both Grandmother Spider/spiders and Grim have the greatest priority.
Interestingly enough though, it was Hellenistic influence that allowed Snorri Sturluson to create the Nordic pantheon, with Odin at the top of the hierarchy, rather than what the people actually believed, pre-conversion. The gods were much closer to home than that, literally being in the mountains, forests, and storms rather than some far-off world. Which makes more sense, especially with regards to different "pantheons" appearing in different tribes of various locations, despite all of them being considered Germanic (Loki and Skadi aren't found on the continent, for example, being restricted mainly to Scandinavia, and Wodan vs Odin seem to have different characteristics from being found in different locations, despite often being considered the same guy).
Then, for my own situation, there's also the lists of Hungarian and Slavic deities to look into, plus spirits unique to the Alpine region. So not only are there no neatly traced and categorized pantheons, there's many different tribal recognitions to look into as well. All with the influence of Catholicism too.
So here are all these deities that my pre-Christian ancestors supposedly worshiped, with plenty of overlapping characteristics and attributed roles. Both Donar and Perkunos are said to be thunder gods from different regions, and Perkunos's wife, Dodola, has similarities with Thor's mother of Icelandic lore. So what's going on here....are they the same? Two different workers of the same role in different areas? Is Perkunos, the thunder god, the father of the one who hammers out lightening?
Personally, I say fuck all that shit, and this is where opinions/UPGs are gonna take over for me.
I may desire to call the storm rolling in as Perkunos, but I have no way to determine if the storm is literally Perkunos, and in all respects, it probably isn't. "Perkunos" becomes an attachment to the storm's spirit, a way for me to personalize it for lack of a better term, for there was a name once for the storm in this particular area I live in. I would consider that to be the storm's "true" name, and likewise, if I found myself in Poland or Slovakia, Perkunos would then be the literal being of that storm.
The storms over in Europe are going to (hypothetically) be different than the ones I experience, because different environments affect the weather in various ways (and vice versa). If they're physically not the same, then it shouldn't be too much of a leap to suggest that they're spiritually different as well. Only way to know for sure is to actually visit Europe myself and see...and someday it will happen.
Each god has different justifications though. While I may not be able to honor Perkunos as directly based on where I live, if I was of Scandinavian blood I could (hypothetically) honor Ing-Frey directly because he's considered the "Father of the Northern Tribes" apparently. So an ancestral connection would allow a more direct link to the "actual" Ing-Frey deity. There's some other spirits too that are said to be ancestral to some Germanic tribes, according to Tacitus, and there's probably many more unnamed ones lost in the dirt of human history and migrations.
In other words, it's probably easier to be a Neo-Wiccan and think all gods are just aspects of the One or of the Lord and Lady, etc.
Seriously though, in digging through (am still digging through, matter of fact) all these lists of deities found in ancestral locations, I'm realizing that some may not have a place in my life at all based on the fact that I don't live where my pre-America ancestors lived, or the fact that my life is a little different from them. Others may also not be connected to me through that fact, but do have a connection through my ancestors and the idea of families and clans, rather than being location-based. Still others are outside of man and community anyway, so their place in my worldview isn't going to matter.
Most of which takes a back seat in my life anyway. I may honor a deity here and there when the time is appropriate, but I'm not bound to any of them in a personal way (and I still don't actually follow the deity vs land vs other spirit categories; they're all just spirits). Historically, that's how it was too; worship was a community and family affair for people in general, because the effects of the worship were for community and family needs. Personal needs were fulfilled through one's own actions and luck, not usually from the powers of a high deity taking them under their wing (in the context of pre-Christian Central and Northern Europe at least).
So, long post short, the idea of deities is something I'm more comfortable with now, and willing to let into my life, but still won't be a huge aspect. They're going to be a part of the ancestor worship, and some seasonal celebrations, rather than their own "thing". The local spirits are the most important ones to me, and both Grandmother Spider/spiders and Grim have the greatest priority.