i need a bit of clarification here. ok. a lot.

[TeaDidikai]

Just to let you know, what you are currently describing looks very close to Soft Polytheism, the only hesitation is that your phrasing reads as having a mild contradiction in that you used the plural of deity- suggesting there might be more than one, and which point if there is more then one, how many are there?  

[Recursive Paradox]

AvalonAuggie

oooh. That reminds me somewhat of Ayurvedic doshas meets elementary particles.

I'm not familiar with Ayurvedic doshas.  

[AvalonAuggie]

Recursive Paradox

AvalonAuggie

oooh. That reminds me somewhat of Ayurvedic doshas meets elementary particles.

I'm not familiar with Ayurvedic doshas.

I'm not terribly familiar either, I did a little research after receiving some Ayurvedic fasting tea in a gift bag and I wanted to make sure it wasn't going to a) make me physically ill or b) upset my emotional balance. In this system of medicine the doshas are apparently three different dynamic forces that influence people of different physical/emotional/spiritual types, each person has a primary dosha that influences their overall health, and there are foods that are good for one dosha and bad for the others, etc, and illnesses are combated by bringing a person's energy back into alignment with the correct dosha. Like humours, but with more of a spiritual impact, I think.

And the tea wasn't terribly tasty, for what it's worth, but it did help keep my appetite down when I was fasting over Halloween. 3nodding  

[Recursive Paradox]

AvalonAuggie

Recursive Paradox

AvalonAuggie

oooh. That reminds me somewhat of Ayurvedic doshas meets elementary particles.

I'm not familiar with Ayurvedic doshas.

I'm not terribly familiar either, I did a little research after receiving some Ayurvedic fasting tea in a gift bag and I wanted to make sure it wasn't going to a) make me physically ill or b) upset my emotional balance. In this system of medicine the doshas are apparently three different dynamic forces that influence people of different physical/emotional/spiritual types, each person has a primary dosha that influences their overall health, and there are foods that are good for one dosha and bad for the others, etc, and illnesses are combated by bringing a person's energy back into alignment with the correct dosha. Like humours, but with more of a spiritual impact, I think.

And the tea wasn't terribly tasty, for what it's worth, but it did help keep my appetite down when I was fasting over Halloween. 3nodding

Interesting.

There is a certain amount of balancing required for affinities and resonance. Certain things require different balances. A being that lives off of chaos and decay would have a powerful affinity for Void and Entropy. Changing that being's resonance would actually cause difficulties and problems for it, because of where it is best suited to be. Humans are living things, we require a certain level of Order in our complex chemical systems to survive and exist. So our resonance and affinity should not be shifted away from Order, Life, Warmth and the other Aspects that we depend on to survive.

One could shift one's affinity towards Void, as a human being, but doing so would be deeply harmful to one and likely even result in death or worse. Shifting affinities has many dangers... but it is also the primary component of Channeling anything but your own energies. Touching an Aspect (or an Essence) and drawing on its power requires affinity adjustment, which is why people should find Aspects close to them in affinity so that the adjustment is minimal and the risk lower.

I can't go into how affinity adjustment is done, as it is a part of the mysteries of Etherism.  

[AvalonAuggie]

Recursive Paradox

Interesting.

There is a certain amount of balancing required for affinities and resonance. Certain things require different balances. A being that lives off of chaos and decay would have a powerful affinity for Void and Entropy. Changing that being's resonance would actually cause difficulties and problems for it, because of where it is best suited to be. Humans are living things, we require a certain level of Order in our complex chemical systems to survive and exist. So our resonance and affinity should not be shifted away from Order, Life, Warmth and the other Aspects that we depend on to survive.

One could shift one's affinity towards Void, as a human being, but doing so would be deeply harmful to one and likely even result in death or worse. Shifting affinities has many dangers... but it is also the primary component of Channeling anything but your own energies. Touching an Aspect (or an Essence) and drawing on its power requires affinity adjustment, which is why people should find Aspects close to them in affinity so that the adjustment is minimal and the risk lower.

I can't go into how affinity adjustment is done, as it is a part of the mysteries of Etherism.

Thank you for the information! I'd seen you mention your path in other threads but this is very clarifying.  

[TeaDidikai]

Takozu

TeaDidikai

I like your example, because I'm about to turn it on it's head.

In your analogy, the word for dragonfly may (and I emphasize may for a reason) be analogous to the word deity.

Sure, the indigenous peoples had a name for dragonfly. But is it the same species? Is an Aeshna affinis the same as a Calopteryx aequabilis? Hell, if I catch two dragonflies even of the same species at the same time, are they the same being?

(Also, I learned something today. Common American Dragonfly names are better than the Common European Dragonfly names.)

The different species being symbolic of what? Different Gods and Goddesses throughout the different cultures, for example, Hera and Aphrodite?

The different species would be symbolic of different cultures, the different individual dragonflies members within those cultures.

For example, Aeshna affinis = Kemetic Pantheon, Calopteryx aequabilis = The pantheon amongst the Gael.
The analogy I am using focuses on taxonomic rank.
(There are some holes in this, based on different natures of beings that English tends to homogenize).

Deity would be akin to the genus. The specific species is akin to the culture and individual members of the species would be like individual deities.  

[TeaDidikai]

Celeblin Galadeneryn

Given my IE connection love, this is kind of how I view things. I generally describe Gods as being of the same species or genus, not that there is a universal one deity and they're parts of it, but that there is a commonality between them, and perhaps a common source. I generally tend to stick to IE cultures when thinking on these terms though, because I simply do not know enough about other super groups or even isolates to make that call.

That's why I was leaving a bit of room. For example, would Kami be in the same genus as say... the AEsir?
Are the AEsir and Vanir the same species?  

[TeaDidikai]

Celeblin Galadeneryn

TeaDidikai

Celeblin Galadeneryn

Given my IE connection love, this is kind of how I view things. I generally describe Gods as being of the same species or genus, not that there is a universal one deity and they're parts of it, but that there is a commonality between them, and perhaps a common source. I generally tend to stick to IE cultures when thinking on these terms though, because I simply do not know enough about other super groups or even isolates to make that call.

That's why I was leaving a bit of room. For example, would Kami be in the same genus as say... the AEsir?
Are the AEsir and Vanir the same species?

It's hard to make clear divisions, and I don't know if I would use the taxonomical terms necessarily. It's more that the top is a single tier of Divinity, but I don't mean that in such a way that I believe in a soft polytheistic universal deity that all others facet from, just that there is some sort of commonality at the most basic sense.

Yeah. Remind me, are you from an overarching emanation cosmology?  

[TeaDidikai]

Takozu

you lost me completely with the different species, IE, and such. sorry i left, i had a bit of a winter vacation.

No problem.

Basically I'm suggesting that deity can be an overarching super group, while different beings that share the definition of the super group, but not all of the same characteristics of each other are sub groups.

Dragon Fly = Divinity, specific kinds of dragon fly = specific cultures' deities.