Pagan Gods

So, having briefly reviewed the abstract principles of the Myth, let us discuss its concrete content.

We have already understood that any action, any event, and any phenomenon the pagan Myth describes as the result of a will’s action. Each such will is regarded as arising from a specific and somewhat personal source.

Consequently, the Myth organizes wills into a hierarchy, beginning with the will behind minerals’ existence, the will behind plant life, the will behind animal reproduction, the will behind human transformation, and the gods’ creative will.

The Myth, of course, devotes less attention to minerals, plants, and animals than to humans and gods; therefore it is these levels of will that we will discuss.

Since any will that surpasses the human is considered divine, it is clear that the word “gods” designates a very large and diverse group of beings by their nature.

It is commonly believed that gods are personifications of the forces of nature or of its laws. But that view reflects, even if only partially, the structured theology of the Greeks and Romans; it is entirely at odds with the conceptions of Slavic, Germanic, or Celtic.

In these mythologies, gods are considered beings whose expressions of will are seen as causes of phenomena in the world around humans. Moreover, these manifestations are perceived as a creative process unfolding over time — that is, the continual ordering of chaos into the cosmos.

Again, note that gods are not viewed as mere functionaries (that is, simply personifications of natural forces and laws); they are regarded as, to some extent, independent and free beings, whose manifestations of will we perceive as natural phenomena.