Yes. Or have they always been there? Yes. Are they reflections of us, or are we a mirror of them? Yes. Are our Gods external to us, or an internal representation of our own essence. Yes. Do we worship the Gods, or recognize that they are but a complex anthropomorphization we use to give meaning to our lives? Yes. All of the above. Every race of humankind views God/dess in their own image; racial features, social behaviors, etc.. And each race chooses how they will view the Gods. Those who must analyze their world into component parts will find more technical answers. Those who are content to enjoy the mysteries in our lives, simply use the magick inherent in the belief system. There is no conflict in saying that we worship the Gods, even though we are also scientifically based in our world. A rational individual can choose what they intend to do, even if that chosen behavior is irrational. So long as you know it, you acknowledge it and you accept the consequences, there is no conflict. The ability to explore your world rationally, only provides greater meaning to the method you implement in its exploration. There is always a structure, a paradigm through which we make decisions. And the pagan paradigm, which honors each individual as their own best authority, brings honor to all of us, and provides a base culture which works by recognizing everything and everyone's potential: everything and everyone's right to their own path and decisions.
d. Physiological changes based on magick use. Use of magick has other effects besides those not tangible or measurable by the average person. Training in magick has high demands on our mental and intellectual capacities. Earlier I mentioned that magick is weak unless your goal, ritual, and behavior all reinforce each other. That internal consistency is the product of a mind that has learned to examine itself and make rational, reasoned decisions on what its thoughts and behaviors will be. Recent scientific studies have shown that not only is this considered a plus for your in your social interactions, but it also has a physical effect on how your physical mind works. They did studies of individuals involved in Rational Emotive Therapy - a branch of psychology which teaches this internal decision making and consistency - and discovered that with time (three months, I think) the chemical makeup of the brain changed. There was more efficiency and different brain functions were enhance in information takeup. So magick is not only a great way to express your interaction with the divine, but it will literally change you.
e. Psychological changes based on magick use. The way you choose to view your world also has monumental effects on how successful and happy you will be within it. I worked for a very nice lady, named Rose. She had an odd tendency to go from an isolated negative incident to an assumption that everything was bad. If one person was five minutes late to work, she would dress us all down at staff meetings, cautioning everyone to be on time. Any isolated misbehavior became the model and assumption for future speeches. I tried to talk to her about it a couple time, but she just did not seem to understand, that it was only one person, one time. To her each incident was everyone, all the time. She - as I later discovered - was Catholic. The Catholic belief system is based on the idea that we are all horrible sinners, and without direct and frequent intervention and supervision, we would all tumble down that long hill to indulge in the very worst of our natures. With those beliefs as a starting place, it was a normal progression to believe that someone else was just about to demonstrate even worse behavior unless she was responsible enough to intercede now.
My view was very different. With a belief that each of us is a mirror of the Gods and much as they are a reflections of us, I believed the best of each person, unless it became necessary and obvious that their behavior was going to effect others. So, I might mention to the single offending individual that their behavior was not acceptable in this environment, but it would never occur to me to offend everyone else by assuming their behavior would also be negative.
How does this effect our daily lives? I like to illustrate it this way: if you were expecting your significant other to show up, and they not only don't show, but they don't call - ALL NIGHT! - you would very likely go past unhappy, concerned and worried, and proceed over to becoming really angry! If your view of the world is that we are all just bad behaviors waiting to get loose on the world, then it is not hard to see how you would easily assume that your significant other was rude, thoughtless and probably not worth your time.
Now, what if the next morning, you discovered that your SO's mother had a heart attack, your SO had to go to the hospital with her, and was the only family member available to give blood - since Mom had a rare blood type - so your SO had to stay overnight, and was tanked out on drugs to increase blood production and not coherent.
Now, what would your assumption be? Most of us would understand under those circumstances. Now let's look at the Pagan paradigm and review this incident. Same instigating factors, of course. No SO, no call. Now you are worried and concerned. But since you know that your SO is a responsible person, who would not deliberately inflict harm, and who values you as a person innately divine, there has to be something else going on. See, with an assumption that this person is innately divine and a reflection of the Gods, it takes more for you to assume that they are rude and scummy people. It would take actual proof.
So, from the wiccan paradigm, you are more likely to treat others, their decisions, and behaviors with respect. And you will incur that level of respect in their reactions to you. A definite Win-Win situation.
Books You Might Enjoy:
Sir William Stirling Maxwell - The Canon
Aleister Crowley - The Book Of Lies
Max Heindel - The Message Of The Stars
Phil Hine - Oven Ready Chaos
Ea Wallis Budge - Legends Of The Gods
