I do not believe you are an atheist. I've dwelt among physicists, the most godless of Scientists; I know atheism.
My own ideas about what gods are is wrapped up in what little gleanings of Jungian psychology I have, together with what I'll loosely call "mystical experiences" -- visions and such that have no explanation beyond the purely psychological.
However, aware of homeopathy and other such "voodoo" science, I know that what the mind believes can be made manifest in the body. Just because an effect is called psychosomatic does not invalidate its healing power.
This aside, my idea of gods is tied up with Jungian archetypes; symbols of a very specific kind. There is a reason the "old" religions have painted their gods in the image of man.
Your idea of Odin touches on this. You know the Darkness Within; therefore you wish to personify this force. You know about the Protector, too: all faces of the gods, of ourselves. Light, Dark, Male, Female. I have many theories about this myself, and I tend to divide things in this way.
Symbols (like the Runes for example) tap into levels of our psyche that are normally subconscious. While the idea that our unconscious mind can shape events externally may be suspicious, the fact that our thoughts are shaped by our unconscious cannot be debated; what a symbol means to you may not be the same to me. However, the fact is that if you give credence to a set of symbols or beliefs -- for example, that the rune Kano < means fire, or truth -- then you give power to that belief. Regardless of whatever "reality" exists behind that symbol, you give it meaning.
Scientists believe there is no inherent meaning in anything; all phenomena are ultimately explainable according to certain rules.
It is our arrogance that we claim these rules are knowable.
We barely understand the functioning of our own psyches: how many scientists will admit that they have Darkness in the depths of their being? How many will admit that they are born of cosmic fire?
Science is a tool; as is religion. Every single being on this planet perceives the world differently; consequently, there are an infinite number of ways the world *is*. Choose, and you change the way you perceive.
The unconscious mind talks in symbols. It understands blood and fire, sacrifice and power. It understands peace, beauty and tranquility, even if we ourselves never know these things. I'm not sure I buy completely into past lives or racial memory, but I do know that some things have resonance within me.
So what I call gods or goddesses are only things made manifest in myself, or in those around me. These can be called upon, and can change lives.
Psychological state? Maybe. It has power, and as such must be respected.
I find strength and peace in the forest, in the green and growing. I know that all living things are interconnected, and that the oxygen I breathe in is given off by trees which inhale the carbon dioxide I expel. I know that the Sun is the source of all energy on this planet (ultimately, gravity and the atomic properties of hydrogen), and that Earth is delicately placed to allow liquid water and hence all biological processes that make up our world possible. This may not mean I have to sacrifice a goat to ensure the sun will rise tomorrow -- but it does mean that I honour and cherish the life it gives.
God? It's just a word. I choose to label the forces that shape my life as gods -- whether they be heavenly bodies or voices in my head.
Whether you honour or distain such things; they exist.
no subject
My own ideas about what gods are is wrapped up in what little gleanings of Jungian psychology I have, together with what I'll loosely call "mystical experiences" -- visions and such that have no explanation beyond the purely psychological.
However, aware of homeopathy and other such "voodoo" science, I know that what the mind believes can be made manifest in the body. Just because an effect is called psychosomatic does not invalidate its healing power.
This aside, my idea of gods is tied up with Jungian archetypes; symbols of a very specific kind. There is a reason the "old" religions have painted their gods in the image of man.
Your idea of Odin touches on this. You know the Darkness Within; therefore you wish to personify this force. You know about the Protector, too: all faces of the gods, of ourselves. Light, Dark, Male, Female. I have many theories about this myself, and I tend to divide things in this way.
Symbols (like the Runes for example) tap into levels of our psyche that are normally subconscious. While the idea that our unconscious mind can shape events externally may be suspicious, the fact that our thoughts are shaped by our unconscious cannot be debated; what a symbol means to you may not be the same to me.
However, the fact is that if you give credence to a set of symbols or beliefs -- for example, that the rune Kano < means fire, or truth -- then you give power to that belief. Regardless of whatever "reality" exists behind that symbol, you give it meaning.
Scientists believe there is no inherent meaning in anything; all phenomena are ultimately explainable according to certain rules.
It is our arrogance that we claim these rules are knowable.
We barely understand the functioning of our own psyches: how many scientists will admit that they have Darkness in the depths of their being? How many will admit that they are born of cosmic fire?
Science is a tool; as is religion. Every single being on this planet perceives the world differently; consequently, there are an infinite number of ways the world *is*. Choose, and you change the way you perceive.
The unconscious mind talks in symbols. It understands blood and fire, sacrifice and power. It understands peace, beauty and tranquility, even if we ourselves never know these things. I'm not sure I buy completely into past lives or racial memory, but I do know that some things have resonance within me.
So what I call gods or goddesses are only things made manifest in myself, or in those around me. These can be called upon, and can change lives.
Psychological state? Maybe. It has power, and as such must be respected.
I find strength and peace in the forest, in the green and growing. I know that all living things are interconnected, and that the oxygen I breathe in is given off by trees which inhale the carbon dioxide I expel. I know that the Sun is the source of all energy on this planet (ultimately, gravity and the atomic properties of hydrogen), and that Earth is delicately placed to allow liquid water and hence all biological processes that make up our world possible. This may not mean I have to sacrifice a goat to ensure the sun will rise tomorrow -- but it does mean that I honour and cherish the life it gives.
God? It's just a word. I choose to label the forces that shape my life as gods -- whether they be heavenly bodies or voices in my head.
Whether you honour or distain such things; they exist.