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This is a first draft of an essay that I intend to possibly flesh out further at some point. It was inspired by a recent conversation with a friend, and I hope that the result of that conversation and my further musings on the subject is something he will find entertaining and perhaps even a useful way of looking at things. I'm certainly looking forward to the critques. :)
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Doorways to Light and Dark
by Jarandhel Dreamsinger
Gods are dangerous things. They walk among us like giants wading through an ocean of humanity, crushing some beneath their feet while sending waves rippling outward from their slightest touch. Heroes have died for them, works of art profoundly beautiful have been created because of them, songs sung to praise their works... and men have murdered in their name, destroyed nations, and raised choruses of screams to shake the heavens as they torture other men in their gods names. Even those who do not believe in these gods are shaken by their passing, for no man is so isolated as to have no contact with those who do believe in some divinity.
It is important to remember, however, that most of these beings are not necessarily evil or destructive. Many are known primarily for their good works and benign natures. Other, "darker" beings may be known for less light-hearted things such as old age or death or war, but even these are generally seen as necessary evils and part of larger cycle which includes aspects both light and dark to encompass the wholeness of it all.
But entities of this sort, while not entirely inimicable, may still be quite harmful for mortals to interact with. In certain circumstances these figures may affect the stability of a mortal's psyche, or find themselves affected by the needs and desires of the mortals who invoke them. It is when this happens that their terrible nature becomes manifest.
From observation, there seem to be at least two main criteria which together trigger these dangerous reactions. The first is the state of being of imbalance... perhaps best thought of by western thinkers by the less dualistic term disharmony. Perhaps they have been pulled from their path by fear... by anger... by jealousy... by hubris. These broken individuals who often do not realize, or at least do not acknowledge, that anything is wrong with them often feel drawn to the entity. They believe that it can help them in some way, by facing their enemies for them or granting their wishes. Perhaps simply giving them validation and the emotional gratification of being able to claim that they are backed by a higher authority.
The second trigger is the one which really starts the trouble though, though it would not to so without the first being present. The god's attention must be aroused. Perhaps the being is invoked, purposefully called upon to aid the mortal being. Perhaps the god is challenged, a word which can in and of itself mean "summoned to action, effort, or use", a meaning which should be remembered when dealing with beings more powerful than oneself, no matter what hubris you may be given to. Perhaps most dangerously the god can be suppressed or ignored... for who can forget the folk tales of even the somewhat diminished goddesses, the faeries, some of whom were slighted and ignored when all their fellows had been invited to a royal christening; who can forget the dark gifts they gave thereafter to those children when they came to the christenings uninvited?
From there, two things can happen, either seperately or together. The imbalance of the mortal being can be enhanced, energized by association with the divinity... fears and anger can become fixations... love and hopes can become obsessions. The mortal is spurred, goaded, driven headlong down a path which will lead them to a cusp... a threshold... a point at which they MUST change or suffer some sort of consequences. Perhaps even be destroyed or cast out. It is violently transformative, alchemically catalytic.
But even as the gods touch us, they are touched in return. For gods embody both the good and the bad sides in all things, and contact with a fixated individual can cast them into imbalance as well. Then the gods themselves become dangerous, and even "evil". They manifest their aspects dischordantly, and both the boons and the necessary evils can become harmful things. Love can launch the ships of war... war can linger on for years and claim the heroes and youth and leaders of nations leaving them poorer and weaker and in turmoil, prolonging conflict rather than bringing peace.
So in dealing with Gods, remember that even the brightest god of the sun can burn as well, the gentlest god of the river can still drown. Remember that you can be swept up in their currents, or divert them into more dangerous means of expression. Remember the cusp, the threshold, and remember that you can choose to change rather than be swept through it. The same energy which drives you towards destruction can be turned towards a new path. And these forces do not enter your life without being summoned to action in some way, even if that summoning is through suppressing them.
Most of all, remember that all beings have a spark of the divine within them, and may act as the conduits for such divine contact in your life whether or not either side realizes it. It may be an unexpected face which the god wears as a mask in your living passion play.
Maybe even the one you least expected it to be.
Doorways to Light and Dark
by Jarandhel Dreamsinger
Gods are dangerous things. They walk among us like giants wading through an ocean of humanity, crushing some beneath their feet while sending waves rippling outward from their slightest touch. Heroes have died for them, works of art profoundly beautiful have been created because of them, songs sung to praise their works... and men have murdered in their name, destroyed nations, and raised choruses of screams to shake the heavens as they torture other men in their gods names. Even those who do not believe in these gods are shaken by their passing, for no man is so isolated as to have no contact with those who do believe in some divinity.
It is important to remember, however, that most of these beings are not necessarily evil or destructive. Many are known primarily for their good works and benign natures. Other, "darker" beings may be known for less light-hearted things such as old age or death or war, but even these are generally seen as necessary evils and part of larger cycle which includes aspects both light and dark to encompass the wholeness of it all.
But entities of this sort, while not entirely inimicable, may still be quite harmful for mortals to interact with. In certain circumstances these figures may affect the stability of a mortal's psyche, or find themselves affected by the needs and desires of the mortals who invoke them. It is when this happens that their terrible nature becomes manifest.
From observation, there seem to be at least two main criteria which together trigger these dangerous reactions. The first is the state of being of imbalance... perhaps best thought of by western thinkers by the less dualistic term disharmony. Perhaps they have been pulled from their path by fear... by anger... by jealousy... by hubris. These broken individuals who often do not realize, or at least do not acknowledge, that anything is wrong with them often feel drawn to the entity. They believe that it can help them in some way, by facing their enemies for them or granting their wishes. Perhaps simply giving them validation and the emotional gratification of being able to claim that they are backed by a higher authority.
The second trigger is the one which really starts the trouble though, though it would not to so without the first being present. The god's attention must be aroused. Perhaps the being is invoked, purposefully called upon to aid the mortal being. Perhaps the god is challenged, a word which can in and of itself mean "summoned to action, effort, or use", a meaning which should be remembered when dealing with beings more powerful than oneself, no matter what hubris you may be given to. Perhaps most dangerously the god can be suppressed or ignored... for who can forget the folk tales of even the somewhat diminished goddesses, the faeries, some of whom were slighted and ignored when all their fellows had been invited to a royal christening; who can forget the dark gifts they gave thereafter to those children when they came to the christenings uninvited?
From there, two things can happen, either seperately or together. The imbalance of the mortal being can be enhanced, energized by association with the divinity... fears and anger can become fixations... love and hopes can become obsessions. The mortal is spurred, goaded, driven headlong down a path which will lead them to a cusp... a threshold... a point at which they MUST change or suffer some sort of consequences. Perhaps even be destroyed or cast out. It is violently transformative, alchemically catalytic.
But even as the gods touch us, they are touched in return. For gods embody both the good and the bad sides in all things, and contact with a fixated individual can cast them into imbalance as well. Then the gods themselves become dangerous, and even "evil". They manifest their aspects dischordantly, and both the boons and the necessary evils can become harmful things. Love can launch the ships of war... war can linger on for years and claim the heroes and youth and leaders of nations leaving them poorer and weaker and in turmoil, prolonging conflict rather than bringing peace.
So in dealing with Gods, remember that even the brightest god of the sun can burn as well, the gentlest god of the river can still drown. Remember that you can be swept up in their currents, or divert them into more dangerous means of expression. Remember the cusp, the threshold, and remember that you can choose to change rather than be swept through it. The same energy which drives you towards destruction can be turned towards a new path. And these forces do not enter your life without being summoned to action in some way, even if that summoning is through suppressing them.
Most of all, remember that all beings have a spark of the divine within them, and may act as the conduits for such divine contact in your life whether or not either side realizes it. It may be an unexpected face which the god wears as a mask in your living passion play.
Maybe even the one you least expected it to be.
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I think it quite interesting you've taken the concept further. I also would definitely agree about how people colour their gods and mold them, just as gods mold their followers, so to speak. People have expectations of you, and you get molded to that...if Cthulhu was originally Octopus (or some other world's Octopus-equivalent) at one point, people now have molded him to "mind-eating tentacle god thing" and poor Cthulhu prolly has had to bend himself to that. Not a happy situation in any case. :p
*has memories of, well...worlds where I was worshipped as a spirit, and in some ways knows too well the fact that being a god is very, very confining in many contexts*