Worship and Change

There is so much to discuss concerning gods and other divine beings. Most of which goes beyond the scope of a blog. There are two issues concerning gods that I want to address before I move to different topics in future blog posts.

Should We Worship Gods? 

It’s common among those who self-identify as being on the Left-Hand Path (LHP) to oppose the worship of gods. This makes sense if we define “worship” as the abandonment of autonomy and groveling to another. If that was the only meaning of worship, we shouldn’t practice that with any entity, even to a god. You should never surrender your self-respect or autonomy to anyone. This includes gods.

However, many contemporary Pagans see worship not as groveling but as “extravagant respect,” as defined by Merriam-Webster. All entities, physical and spiritual, inherently deserve respect. Unfortunately, universal respect is not considered a virtue by many. A god deserves special respect if for no other reason than the greatness they possess. So, “extravagant respect” is appropriate for a god.

Being in a relationship adds something to respect. For example, I consider all senior citizens to be due great respect. However, I believe my father deserves greater respect from me because of our relationship. Applying this to the gods, if one is lucky enough to have a close relationship with a particular god, it takes respect to a higher level than other gods.

The Norse goddess Hel.

Birth and Change

Can new gods come into being? Also, can gods change? The answer to both of these questions is found in the physical world. 

Change is a part of life. Each of us must and will change as we get older. Plus, new species are originating all the time. The Hermetic Principle, “As Above, So Below,” therefore demands that new gods are born and existing gods change.

We need to remember that gods are spirits. And according to Judika Illes, new spirits are constantly coming into being. There’s every reason to think that some of these new spirits are gods. So, yes, there are new gods that didn't exist in antiquity.

Also, gods can change. Just as humans can and do change during their lifetime, gods can and do change over time. Therefore, there’s no reason to think that the gods of old are the same today as when they were worshiped 3,000 years ago.