Do Gods/Goddesses of different pantheons talk to each other?

[MidnightLetter]

I actually think some of us had a similar conversation recently, but I frequent a couple of other sites and I ran across this question that I thought might be fun for everyone to think about/answer...

Quote:

Do the deities from different pantheons ever talk, fight, work together or interact in any ways? If you were worshiping two deities that both covered the same area, would they get angry at each other or you? Do Zeus and Odin ever have chats on how hard running things are?

Do they even know each other exist? And since many mythologies have different gods who are responsible for creation how do they work that out? Maybe the deities just don't care?

Your thoughts?

source

 

[Sanguina Cruenta]

I tend not to think of creation myths as particularly literal wink so I don't feel as though they're all competing for credit for making the world.

I think they do know the others exist. After all, you have all these people calling them into the same rituals. You'd imagine that they'd know the other existed, even if they're just looking across the circle and thinking "who the hell is that?".

I don't know whether they have some sort of other-worldly meeting place where they go to catch up over a coffee or an ale or something. I imagine there would be some severe cultural problems, depending on pantheon. If they do interact, there are probably some unspoken rules if not established laws.

I reckon only a few of them would make many journeys to interact. It would be kinda neat if all the sort of "top gods" had diplomatic conversations. I can see Odin and Zeus having a sit-down over some wine and talking about Serious Matters for a while and complaining about others in their pantheon, before chatting about how many human girls they'd knocked up in the century since they last spoke, or something wink

I think they'd have some sort of diplomacy going on. I don't think, for e.g., Thor and Zeus would get in some sort of tiff simply because they both happened to have an penchant for lightning and thunder. People can like the same sorts of things. But, I do think there would be situations where the need for diplomacy of some description would arise, and issues where things would need to be talked out. Whether they'd fight I don't know, but better fighting than an all-out war. And would a significant Diplomatic Incident cause enough of a cultural misunderstanding that war would result?

Fun to muse over, certainly.

EDIT: Ha, Sweet, I remember you talking about your son writing a myth wherein Loki stole something from Poseidon, and how I thought it would cause some sort of major diplomatic incident. Now I wonder whether Odinn wouldn't just hand Loki over for a beating... although... overall it might end up at war or worse anyway, by the time it was done. xd  

[Morgandria]

Oh, I think so - not as in they make plans to go hang out and do stuff together, but there's contact in passing. My UPG certainly involves this sort of interaction. Since I'm a hard polytheist, my Gods are distinct individuals; they're just like people. It's very easy, with that, to think that some of them get on and some of them don't, if they've met one another in passing a few times.  

[Violet Song jat Shariff]

Ha, I remember discussing this on a thread with some other folks biggrin

I had a theory (and I'm sure it's probably bunk and totally wrong) that in Norse mythology, perhaps the Vanir tribe is actually a small group of tribal deities from one of the Celt tribes or from the Romans, since there's no Nordic myths (that have been recovered, at any rate) about the Vanic gods.

I mean, perhaps the Vanic gods (perhaps not called by the name "Vanir" there) came from a different tribe/culture/area that already had myths about them and even though the deity figures that make up the Vanir were absorbed by Nordic culture, the myths somehow were not...?

I don't know. I thought it was an interesting theory, but not likely xd Feel free to criticize.

But I do believe that the gods cross paths now and then.  

[Aryain Flames]

An intruiging question, indeed, one that I'd never really considered. I guess I always believed that all versions of the God and Goddess are just different faces of the 2 true divine beings. Like, for example, if you were to call Aphrodite into your circle you would be calling in the Goddess, and in saying "Aphrodite", she knows that you need her to focus her energies on love. I'm not sure I really explained that very well, but there you are. Feel free to comment.  

[Zagmek]

Aryain Flames

An intruiging question, indeed, one that I'd never really considered. I guess I always believed that all versions of the God and Goddess are just different faces of the 2 true divine beings. Like, for example, if you were to call Aphrodite into your circle you would be calling in the Goddess, and in saying "Aphrodite", she knows that you need her to focus her energies on love. I'm not sure I really explained that very well, but there you are. Feel free to comment.

I think i understand what your saying, because i believe the same or similar. The main focus of my faith is an unnamed god and goddess. I feel it's like each "named" god/goddess is just a different face/mask/aspect of the "ultimates"  

[Morgandria]

Aryain Flames

An intruiging question, indeed, one that I'd never really considered. I guess I always believed that all versions of the God and Goddess are just different faces of the 2 true divine beings. Like, for example, if you were to call Aphrodite into your circle you would be calling in the Goddess, and in saying "Aphrodite", she knows that you need her to focus her energies on love. I'm not sure I really explained that very well, but there you are. Feel free to comment.

That's soft polytheism - the belief that the individual deities are just aspects, facets, or archetypes, and are all a part of one respective God and Goddess. Hard polytheism is the belief that all Gods are distinct, separate individuals.

I'm a hard polytheist. It's never made any sense to me to assume otherwise, no matter how I tried. Luckily for me Wicca is very much a hard polytheistic religion.  

[Wrath of Ezekiel]

Considering the Egyptians made Set also into the God of Foreigners and gave random goddesses to be his wives (including Ishtar >..>), I'm definite in this belief that they interact.  

[raging-earth]

I think they do. I don't really have any reason for thinking so, to be honest. I just think that whatever separates one pantheon from another isn't solid, allowing communication and more between pantheons, whether that is the gods talking to each other or cultures blending their gods and goddesses together. So I think the potential for them to interact is definitely there.

 

[Furrie Princess Nala]

well it is quite possable since they all have 2 things in common.  

[Morgandria]

Furrie Princess Nala

well it is quite possable since they all have 2 things in common.

What two things do they have in common?