What exactly are gods?

I've been wondering that for a while, what exactly are gods and goddess? Religion and Myths say beings from the past who created this world and ruled it, but Science suggests that the world was created by natural means. Not supernatural. Also, I see in this forums that not only one religion is "correct." There aren't gods and goddess from one religion, but all.

I don't mean disrespect, just understanding.

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Why must spirits or gods be considered "super"natural? They are just as natural as everything else in this world. There is no separation in my eyes. Science does not have an explaination because it is beyond their comprehension, but tell me why is it that most scientists believe in a god? Because the detail of this world, this universe, is far more complex and balanced than anything that could have been done by chaos. There is order and where there is order there must be a mind that shaped it. I believe in the Big Bang. But who is to say that the Divine didn't cause it to happen? Higher spirits are far more important than us, they don't need to prove to us anything.

My apologese for multiple posts. I'm a little tired today, but don't worry, the coffee has brewed and I'm waking up. =)

There can only be one truth right? Well...sort of. There is only one spiritual world--now THIS is truth. People from around the world have various "ideas" of what the spiritual world and the beings within are like because we, as humans, naturally associate everything with ourselves and our own perspectives. So our culture, the times, and our ideals will be the filter that all spiritual information must first pass through before we can perceive it. Why? Because our minds naturally MUST have answers. Things MUST make sense. The only way we can bypass this is by opening our minds and striving for enlightenment. But that's for another topic...

Going on,
If a spirit comes to you, you are going to see him as your race, speaking your language, wearing clothes from your time period, and every other detail will be centered around your mind's interpretation of what this spirit is like.
But there are details that cannot be explained so easily. How the spirit acts, his personality, and what he says and does is less likely to be tampered with by our subconscious. So the same being could visit various people from different parts of the world and be given different names and appear in different forms, but have a similar story, the same personality, and have the same job description. This is what we call "universal truths". These are details that span the ages from faiths around the world. These particular details parallel each other in such a way that is shocking. Now yes, some are actually "borrowed" from culture to culture, but then when you begin researching aboriginal tribes that have had no contact and see the SAME details...it's pretty incredible and absolutely amazing.

But going back, many of it has been borrowed by neighbors or through wars when one people conquered land around them. You can find historical ties throughout many religions.

I highly recommend the book Parallel Myths by J.F. Bierlein
You will never look at myths the same again after reading this, I guarantee it.

When I said "super" natural I wasn't really separating the physical term but the commutative term. People tend to place science and magic apart, so I was playing with that idea in hopes of getting more people to talk. In reality, magick is part of all things, and science is just a way to figure out the rules in the universe. (the way I see it.) Sorry, didn't mean to annoy you.

@WhiteRav3n What your saying is that these spirits are really a single being that shared their knowledge to separate cultures (For the lack of a better allusion much like how for the Percy Jackson second series gods where like? Same gods different personalities to suit each culture?) In that sense, it seems to me that they tried really hard to communicate with humans.

About what you've said about the big bang. There are many possible scientific reasons (ex. Bounce theory, M-theory, Muti-verse), but I do agree with you gods could do the same.

I've never read Percy Jackson so I am unfamiliar with his works, although I've heard his name mentioned when a movie of his came out. I always say, fiction is never a good place to understand magick and spirituality but real ideas and facts of magick and spirituality tend to be used (and then twisted) by fiction writers as a way to make their stories more believable. For instance, J.R. Tolken's Lord of the Ring book series includes inhuman characters that were based off of the European elves/fae myths, legends, etc.

I know, it's difficult to trust anything nowadays. Which is why when I read, I take the basic idea and compare it with other ideas and logic. If it fits, than it fits. If not than no. Though really right now I have more question than answers on anything.

The idea that I'm trying to show is that gods are spirits that talk to different cultures all around the world with different names.

"The idea that I'm trying to show is that gods are spirits that talk to different cultures all around the world with different names."

Precisely. However, deities are stronger more powerful spirits, ones that exist closer to our plane of existence than your average spirit, which is why they are believed to be more influencial.

Most believe they are something physical within our universe, so as we can project ourselves and cast magick that manifests physically, so can they. This is where anamism and nature and planetary (sun, moon, earth etc) honoring/worship comes into play. Each culture has their own names for these, but each has a name. Then you have the children of these that take on a specific job under their parent. For instance Surya (Hindu), Apollo/Helios (Greek), and Sunna (Norse) all pull the sun across the sky with a chariot. Ra pulled it on a boat. And the Navajo sun bearer carried it on his back.

A really interesting fact I found out that I'd like to share to demonstrate this belief. Fathom this

"The Dogon are a West African tribe who have known about, and worshipped, Sirius A and its twin the invisible star Sirius B, for the past 5,000 years. They are have also been aware of the planets circle the sun in elliptical orbits, the four moons of Jupiter and the rings of Saturn.

They say that Sirius B is immensely heavy, invisible, very small, yet extremely powerful. Their understanding of the two stars' orbits coincides exactly with modern astronomical findings, yet was arrived at thousands of years before it was scientifically proven"

Source: http://www.crystalinks.com/sirius.html
I've found this fact from many sources, that's just the one I had bookmarked.

Jupiter has around 64 confirmed moons. It's strange though. How could ancient civilization tell the difference between two stars light years away and not count more than 4 moons of Jupiter? Well at least that we know they know about. From what your telling me. Either someone told them, or they figure out how to create something similar to a telescope 5,000 years ago.

Raising more questions as answers starts to appear. Thank you for sharing your knowledge.

This part is a theory, I care more about making the theory than getting it right, though I like to make it as logical and correct as possible so I'm open to fixing it.

From what I understand, and what your telling me it seems like deities are powerful spiritual beings who create connects with humans through out our history. They have knowledge our side our current understandings, enjoy being honored and are somehow connected to this plane through symbolic objects.

The most interesting part for me is the fact that they want to connect with the human race. I wonder if they require us to fuel their magic? or not.

There are more parts to this I want to write, but it's starting to go into another more broader topic and it's getting late. Getting off for now. Thank you for being so patient with me.

You're welcome.

And I believe the four moons referred to are the four large moons of Jupiter.
http://solarsystem.nasa.gov/planets/profile.cfm?Object=Jupiter&Display=Sats

What's sad is that people take and twist the Sumerian, Dogon, and Egyptian stories and interpretations, making them seem like their gods were aliens and therefore support the idea of aliens. So you'll find a lot of that unfortunately. But when Christians talk about beings descending from the heavens, they're not aliens, they're spiritual. And if RedChiron now posts a link here about Jesus being an extraterrestrial, it would be typical =p

Bottom line.
Pick your sources carefully. A lot of nutcases out there. And the skeptics tear apart the crazies, which in turn, makes these old beliefs appear as a joke. Its a brutal war between conspiracy theorists and the skeptics. Then you have us in the middle shaking our heads and sighing.

I do not personally follow any path nor worship or honor deities however in my misadventures I have found the divine to be if you will echos of energy that have been around for a long time, shapeless focal points of energy, wisdom and that sort of thing from beyond. many faiths deities are often related to or infact the same being from another faith and the same in reverse. It is a touchy subject to say the least as it is a good way to get into a powerful argument by saying such things, just keep an open mind, an honest heart and at least a willingness to entertain an Idea

-Grigori