Yes, it's an interesting question isn't it to ponder on - What is God.
The accepted archtype/general consensus is image on a bearded old man in a white robe, sitting on a cloud watching us mortals, constantly judging who
is gonna join him in the Heavens, and who is going to be cast into the firey cauldrons of Hell for all eternity.
This image, one presumes, comes to us direct from
Zeus, the leader of the Greek gods (Roman equivalent,
Jupiter). I guess this image was ported over to Christianity, and it's the one that is
still used to this day.
There is a certain Universal archtype of the wise old, white bearded, man - the universal father figure of knowledge - from the Incan creator God,
Viracocha to
Father Time, and even, the timely,
Mr. Claus himself.
I think this post above is a great theory about how religion began:
Originally posted by rodie
my opinion is that a loooong time ago, a farmer had a good crop year. the next year, the rains didn't come. something bigger than him must control
the rains, so he needs to find out how to please the controller...henceforth, early religion...
later, as the farmer tried to convince people how to insure good crop yield, had to portray a figure to make other people comfortable with his idea,
hence: man created god in his own image...this could be expanded to include more gods/goddeses, but at the root seems feasible to me...
my experience in various studies and tinkerings is that most external things (candles, incense, knives, music, chanting, praying, etc.) are all tools
to put you in a state of mind as to achieve focus of energy toward a goal...in all my experiences, the god(s) changed, the rituals changed, but the
energy was the most real aspect, and there in each successful working...i feel that we contain the powers of "gods", if we want something badly
enough...
some people need an external figure for support, and there's nothing wrong with that. but i feel we are all capable "magicians" in our own right...
I think that's spot on. I read a quote recently, I can't recall by whom, but I'll paraphrase, it was something like 'there are some people who are
intelligent/aware enough to decide there own destiny, for most others, they need someone else to do it for them'.
I think this is a little cruel, I believe everyone has the right to equality and freedom to access of information, but clearly not everyone thinks
that way, including those who began and upheld established religions. Look at the history of Christianity, how the Roman Empire took it on board and
tried to violently exterminate any other version of Christianity that deviated from it's own ideas of what it considered part of the faith. Then the
Crusades and in-fighting between Catholicism and Protestantism. That's a whole lot of killing, money and power involved in trying to impose a belief
system on a mass population of people - it's tantamount to propaganda and mass mind-control. Religion tells people what to think about their own life
and morality. It doesn't often ask a person to question for themselves whether something is moral or not, it tells them what to think, and hammers
the point in my giving them a clear reward/punishment ultimatum - blissful Heaven for those who unquestioning follow their rules, eternal torture in
Hell for those who don't follow the rules.
It's the classic carrot on a stick - Do as I say, and you will achieve the goal, but when it's time to achieve the goal (death), it's too late to
tell anyone else it was a load of hooey (or not as the case maybe).
There does seem to be some sort of Solar allegory behind many religions and belief systems - The Sun as a representation of God, the Moon as the
woman/female deity or energy.
The Sun is the power strong giver of light, the female is the smaller, less imposing protector through the dark night - it's really quite logical.
The idea that Jesus is the Sun/Son, and he dies and is reborn every day, and also annually. The equinoxes and solstices are important religion
days/events in most religions and beliefs systems - a lot of religious festivals and holy-days align roughly with these astronomical events.
The point about some people being able to decide their own morality and others being deemed not worthy of this, this inequality of belief, may be the
origins behind the allegories in religions. I'm of the opinion that most religions are two-tiered: The initiated know the rules of the allegory, the
uninitiated (the masses) are taught the allegory as fact. One need not know the information behind the allegory, for the information to be broadcast
and understood, that's why the allegory is an effective medium - it communicates many things, to many audiences, depending on their understanding (or
lack of) of the information encoded within it.
I don't know what God is, and I'm not sure I would believe anyone who told me they knew what it was either - it would raise my suspicions, just like
organised religions do. I would be open to the idea that God is simply a personification of creation, and that in fact, there is a sort of collective
consciousness or Oneness behind the illusion of reality.