No, The Gods Didn't Used To Be Humans

The more I learn about Orphism, the more I distance myself from it. Of course, in ancient times, Orphism was not a major movement. No City declared it as their State religion. In fact, it was only one of the many cults out there, and there is no historical evidence to even construct a coherent Orphic religion. It was a minority movement at best, based on the teachings of Orpheus. 

Nevertheless, there are still people in modern Hellenism and Paganism who subscribe to it. Which, at the end of the day, is their own choice and right. I'm not here to tell them that their beliefs are invalid, as it were. So one should not take this post as an attack on Orphism. My only point of opposition is a disagreement, and an explanation as to why, as I enjoy discussing different beliefs and philosophies. If you believe in Orphism, that's fine! I just don't agree with this significant theology of it.

One of the most disagreeable things about Orphism is their belief in general and inherent infinite ascension. In other words, they believed that the soul starts at the most basic level, such as animals, and evolves to humans, then to levels of Divinity, even to the Olympian Gods themselves. In short, they believe the Gods used to be humans who have now completed their journeys. 

We must first look at the fact that Gods were here before humans, because Greek religion says that Gods created them. Prometheus shaped the human body and Athena breathed life into the human. Even if you don't believe the Gods directly created humans, there's no denying that the Gods preceded them. Ouranos and Gaia came first, and gave birth to Titans, who then gave birth to the Olympian Gods. There's no way the Gods, therefore, can be the reincarnation of humans because humans did not exist when they did.

Second, The Olympian Gods are the highest of all Gods, you can't go any higher. So if humans evolved into Olympians, don't you think there would be trillions of Olympians by now? Even in ancient times, wouldn't there have eventually been at least thousands? But there has always been 12 in the theology of Greek religion. And there is logically nothing beyond Olympos because it's the sum of all the universe. How could there be anything higher than the universe itself?

Some people will point to Gods like Psyche who used to be human before they became Gods, but what you have to understand is that they were granted Godhood by other Gods. They didn't become one on their own. Secondly, humans who became Gods did so after accomplishing near impossible tasks, things that made them more than the average human, before the Gods would grant them ascension. In other words, a human doesn't become a God simply by existing. It has to be extraordinarily earned. It's not inherent. And it's something that happens to the exception, not the rule. 

In my view, logically everything has its own individual course of direction. The course of Immortal Life is Immortal, while that of mortality is mortality. The Gods were, are, and always will be, and therefore they cannot be changed by humans. Gods are Gods and that is all.

In the Goodness of the Gods,

I'll see you at the next Herm down the road,

Chris Aldridge. 

Why Do The Gods Appear Mostly In Human Form?

I was asked this very intriguing question by someone on social media who had read my post about the Gods having biological genders. I found it fascinating that I had never given the topic a lot of thought before. Nevertheless, I thought it would make an excellent post topic, as it would be far too long for a social media comment section.

I think it's first important to note that the Gods, in the myths, sometimes changed into other lifeforms before returning to their original manifestations. Sometimes they even turned people or objects into different things. This is one reason I believe that the Gods are, at least in one respect, the consciousness of the universe.

But as far as human manifestation is concerned, I have always said and believe that it is we who look like them, not the other way around. We did not create Gods. They created us. But let us say that we are looking at this in terms of the Gods being the consciousness of the universe, at least for a moment. The Gods are actually beyond any comprehension humans can imagine, but we can at least take a theory and speculate on it.

We must conclude that the Gods can be whatever they want, and are therefore not bound to any one body or form. So the Gods come to us in a human form because that's how we, as humans, can best understand and interact with them. Not to mention that humans are the most blessed mortal beings on Earth, because we are the smartest and create the most love and beauty. So why wouldn't the Gods adore us enough to not only prefer the manifestation of the most blessed on the planet, but the ones that they themselves have blessed to be such? After all, as we are told, the Gods love to have relationships with us. Humanity is clearly chosen.

On the other hand, maybe the Gods really do look like that. Perhaps they gave the most blessed beings on Earth their own appearance. As a philosopher, I have always thought that sometimes the wisest thing I can say is, I don't know. But in order to hold onto my belief that it is we who look like the Gods, and not the Gods who look like us, I would have to say that the Gods gave us their most common images.

So perhaps what the Gods appear in is not human form, but their own entirely. 

In the Goodness of the Gods,

I'll see you at the next Herm down the road,

Chris Aldridge.