![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
dead gods, persistent gods
Sep. 6th, 2006 01:00 pm"In the god business, it's not the death that matters. It's the opportunity for resurrection."
--Neil Gaiman, "American Gods" (Wednesday to Shadow, Chapter 14)
I had a funny dream last night. I was in a circle surrounding a bonfire, talking to several gods and god-figures whose claims to fame were that they had died and been resurrected within their cultures and religons. Odin was arguing with Jesus and Mithras that they prove that they weren't one and the same, because he said they were. The Horned God and the Green Man were drinking Guinness stout and lamenting that nobody paid much attention to trees anymore. Osiris was trying to get me to drink something that smelled like a weird blend of mead, absinthe, chartreuse, red wine, hops, honey, and human blood.
At one point, Odin stood up, went to a nearby tree and broke off a branch. It became a spear. He gestured for Mithras and Jesus to stand, and then turned to me and demanded that I stab all three of them in the sides with the spear. I looked at each of them in turn -- so similar with their flowing hair and beards and ancient piercing blue-gray eyes -- and I said, "You don't have to prove that you are all the same. You may have different names, and different people may pray to each of you in turn, but you are never ignored. You will never die. The faith flows too strongly, like the elixir in Osiris' cup. Humans will always believe in a god. For every god who dies, three more are born. So shut up and drink your beer, you crusty old men, and leave me alone."
I sat back down. Osiris shoved the golden cup into my hand. I raised it to my lips, tipped it, felt the first bizarre tang hit my tongue...
And then I woke up.
I wish I could remember what it tasted like.
They say that in Christianity, it's not Jesus' death that is so important, it is the fact that he was resurrected and lived again and thus became as a god.
It's essentially the same thing in the older religions and cultures with all the other resurrected gods.
Except the older ones whine about it more.
Striking parallels between Mithras and Jesus
List of Resurrected Gods
Dying and Resurrected Gods: Archetypal Manifestations of Psychological Need
--Neil Gaiman, "American Gods" (Wednesday to Shadow, Chapter 14)
I had a funny dream last night. I was in a circle surrounding a bonfire, talking to several gods and god-figures whose claims to fame were that they had died and been resurrected within their cultures and religons. Odin was arguing with Jesus and Mithras that they prove that they weren't one and the same, because he said they were. The Horned God and the Green Man were drinking Guinness stout and lamenting that nobody paid much attention to trees anymore. Osiris was trying to get me to drink something that smelled like a weird blend of mead, absinthe, chartreuse, red wine, hops, honey, and human blood.
At one point, Odin stood up, went to a nearby tree and broke off a branch. It became a spear. He gestured for Mithras and Jesus to stand, and then turned to me and demanded that I stab all three of them in the sides with the spear. I looked at each of them in turn -- so similar with their flowing hair and beards and ancient piercing blue-gray eyes -- and I said, "You don't have to prove that you are all the same. You may have different names, and different people may pray to each of you in turn, but you are never ignored. You will never die. The faith flows too strongly, like the elixir in Osiris' cup. Humans will always believe in a god. For every god who dies, three more are born. So shut up and drink your beer, you crusty old men, and leave me alone."
I sat back down. Osiris shoved the golden cup into my hand. I raised it to my lips, tipped it, felt the first bizarre tang hit my tongue...
And then I woke up.
I wish I could remember what it tasted like.
They say that in Christianity, it's not Jesus' death that is so important, it is the fact that he was resurrected and lived again and thus became as a god.
It's essentially the same thing in the older religions and cultures with all the other resurrected gods.
Except the older ones whine about it more.
Striking parallels between Mithras and Jesus
List of Resurrected Gods
Dying and Resurrected Gods: Archetypal Manifestations of Psychological Need
