Modern Pagans and Heathens often refer to Gods and Goddesses, or in some cases THE God and THE Goddess. 

Traditionalist Heathens understand the Gods and Goddesses in a variety of ways.

 Essentially, Traditionalist Heathens are PolyTheistic.

 This means that they believe in a range of Gods and Goddesses who are individuals in their own right. This is incompatible with the modern concept of Pantheism which is prevalent in the Neo-Pagan and Wiccan community which maintains that all Gods are one God(THE God), and all Goddesses are one Goddess (The Goddess).

Traditionalists are seeking to capture and internalise the spirituality of their Ancestral Heathen and Pagan Traditions and thus adopt the understandings of the Nature of God and Goddess prevailing in those traditions.

Pretty much all Indigenous European spiritual Tradition was strongly polytheistic.

 How did the concept of God and Goddess arise in the first place? Here we have a range of views within Traditionalist Circles, all of which are acceptable.

The Natural Force/Role perspective

This understanding of the nature of Gods and Goddesses understands them as personifications of natural forces or social roles. Thus we have Thunder and Lightning associated with Thunar, Harvest with Sif, Fertility and prosperity with Frey, Shamanism and Warriorhood with Othinn, Sex and Warriorhood with Freyja, Home and Hearth with Frigga, Order with Tyr and Othinn, Chaos with Loki and the Thurses and Etins and many other associations. Many of the Gods and Goddesses have multiple roles and associations that are consistent with the interactions of nature. This perspective personalises nature and its forces that we are all a part of. It recognises that indeed, the Gods and Goddesses are a part of us and that we interact with all other parts of nature.

The Archetypal perspective

 Jung championed the archetypal perspective. Basically, it postulates that we create our own Gods and Goddesses in explanation of events going on around us, and reflecting our own needs and aspirations. Once created, the Gods and Goddesses take on a life and being of their own, and are nurtured by our belief and faith in them. They become part of the Folk soul of a people and travel with us wherever we go.

The Extraordinary Individual perspective

 This perspective postulates that the Gods and Goddesses were once extraordinary individuals, Deified by their folk and by their acts and their greatness. Thus some suggest that Ingvi Frey was in fact once a great Swedish king who brought untold prosperity to his people. Othinn is believed by some to have once been the great tribal leader who brought the tribe of the Aesir into Western Europe from the Indo-European Homeland.

The Traditionalist perspective

This perspective postulates the Gods and Goddesses as individuals existing in their own right, outside of the realm of humankind. The Gods and Goddesses interact with and are generally benevolent toward humankind but have their own agendas and own battles. They exist separately with their own very real if transcendent realms of which Middle Garth is but one. They created humankind rather than the Archetypal position that humankind created them. They are perceived as having areas of influence in the affairs of the world based on Tribe/Tribes and alliances. Thus the Gods of the American Indians are perceived as integrally bound with and inseparable from the American Indians as a Tribal Grouping.

 Does it matter?

 Yes and no. Most of these perspectives and understandings are bound up with and perceived as inseparable from the peoples that are associated with those Gods and Goddesses.  They allow for recognition and respect of other tribal pantheons and their spheres of influence. However they do not allow for an eclectic approach. Whilst tribes from time to time absorbed “new” Gods or Goddesses into their existing structure, they never mixed and matched. This is because their understanding of the universe (cosmology) involved a “framework” which described how things worked and indeed was part of their cultural identity and their identity as Tribe and People.

The “Framework” perspective allowed for comprehensive systems of understanding, and magic and shamanism based on world perspective and understanding.

 With regard to which understanding of the Gods and Goddesses people believe, it is largely irrelevant and a subject of academic discussion rather than argument or dispute.

 Why?

The Elder indigenous traditions are far more focussed on what you DO in your life. This focus is on Individual empowerment and responsibility, not solely on “faith” in the Gods and Goddesses who are never considered to be “All Powerful” but are rather considered to be ‘part’ of the tribe..

The individual creates his or her own Wyrd and is responsible for his or her own ACTS.

In a spirituality of Doing and Acts, the Gods and Goddesses do not dominate, dictate, and control us, but rather guide and empower us.

Do I have to honour all of the God and Goddesses?

Most tribes within the greater framework had a special relationship with only a few of the Gods and Goddesses (The ones they identified most with) but respected and honoured the others even though that ‘special’ relationship was not there. Indeed some of the Gods and Goddesses were either unknown to distant tribes or were called by different names. For example “Ostara” Goddess of Dawn and Spring of Germany seems to have been unknown in Scandinavia. The Anglo Saxon ‘Thunar’ was known as ‘Perun’ in the Baltics. Most people develop a special relationship with several of many Gods and Goddesses but give due honour to the others as it is due. This honour is also afforded to the Ancestral spirits and to the Land Spirits. Some peoples principal focus appears to have been on the Ancestral and Land Spirits.

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Leif