Arriving at my current set of beliefs proved to be a challenging journey, particularly considering my previous stance as an atheist. Initially, grappling with the idea of ethereal beings governing nature and residing in the sky posed a significant hurdle. My struggle stemmed from a primitive misconception of polytheism, envisioning gods with specialized departments, such as a rain god solely managing atmospheric moisture, rainfall, and orchestrating minions to manipulate clouds.
However, a profound shift occurred as I delved deeper into the intricacies of polytheistic concepts. Rather than adhering to the notion of deities micromanaging specific natural elements, I've come to the conclusion that gods symbolize various facets of nature, human ideals, or a fusion of both. In this perspective, ancient civilizations sought to understand, domesticate, and align themselves with these powerful forces. The gods, therefore, became metaphors or embodiments of certain aspects of the world, making them more comprehensible and perhaps more accessible for influence in favor of humanity.
"YOU WORSHIP ANIMAL HYBRIDS!"
The gods, contrary to literal interpretations as humanoid entities adorned with animal features, superhuman powers, immortality and such were instead symbolic representations that physically manifested people's understanding of them. These depictions served as tangible expressions of the abstract qualities and forces that these deities were believed to embody. Rather than viewing the gods as anthropomorphic beings with animalistic attributes, it becomes apparent that such figurative representations were a creative and tangible way for ancient cultures to capture the essence of these divine entities in a form that resonated with their comprehension and conceptualization of the sacred.
Indeed, the representations of gods ascribed with names, shapes, and personalities are only partial glimpses into the broader, formless, and nameless reality that encompasses these divine entities. It is inherently impossible to encapsulate the entirety of a god within the confines of human language, imagery, or conceptual frameworks. The named attributes, shapes, and personalities assigned to gods serve as mere facets, symbolic attempts by humanity to grasp and relate to the profound and boundless nature of these divine forces. For example: Ptah is not really named Ptah, He is not green-skinned, mummiform man with a weird scepter. He is our idea of the creative force itself, personified and identified with a name. His head bears a blue skullcap because it embodies the sky, the sea and all of the expanse of creation. His skin is green because he is life itself. He wears a mummy's shroud, not because he is dead, but because he symbolizes an eternity of unchanging perfection - something also emphasized by the Djed-pillar he is depicted holding. He wears the tripartite scepter of life, power, and stability because that's what the creative force of the cosmos encompasses. He stands on a base called Ma'at - balance, justice, truth because he is the lord over those things as an absolute creator. What he speaks into existence IS TRUE. This is a depiction of an incomprehensible force that the Egyptians managed to give a name to and imaginatively describe with these symbols.
In all truth, the essence of these gods transcends human attempts at categorization, residing in an expansive, ineffable realm that defies complete understanding or representation.
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