[UA] God Gauge

Wed Feb 28 08:58:32 PST 2007

I didn't think of any specific gods.  I thought of pantheons.  Maybe I'm just different, but my mind went holistic and just conjured up groups of gods instead of anything individual.  As such, I don't exactly have a Top Ten.  I also started reading the responses before I could get to 10, so I stopped counting, since my later choices were influenced.  I probably shouldn't have done that.

So, here are my Top Not-Ten:

1.  Greek gods (Zeus, Apollo, et al.)
2.  Norse gods (Odin, Thor, et al.)
3.  Egyptian gods (Ra, Bast, et al.)
4.  Judeo-Christian gods (Jehovah, Satan)
5.  American Indian gods (Quetzalcoatl, Coyote, et al.)

I think that the first two came to mind so quickly because of the influences they had on our language.  So many of our words are derived from Greek.  There is a company near here called Argus, after all.  And the Norse had their impact with the names of the week.  Aside from that, I don't see that much influence (except for Thor and Loki in Marvel comics).  

The Egyptian gods come to mind fairly quickly because of the mystique of the culture, especially with the pyramids.  While I don't see a lot of Egyptian mythology pervading western culture, the pantheon still stands out in the minds of the populace.

I'm not sure why the Judeo-Christian pantheon came so late in the game.  I suppose it's because I take those gods for granted.  I live in America where the majority of people worship one and fear the other.  Sometimes they worship and fear the same one!  It's so ingrained in western culture, that I just don't think of them as gods.  Of course, the fact that many people firmly believe in these gods nowadays while the other pantheons are dismissed as fairy tales nearly universally may make a difference.  When I think about gods, I think about dead gods.

The American Indian pantheon stuck me, as well.  Oddly enough, I don't think that much about the gods in general.  I couldn't name you half a dozen off the top of my head.  Mostly, what sticks in my mind is the violence of the Aztecs.  No other tribe sticks out in my head (though the Mayans come pretty close).  And I think it is because of memories of school where I learned about the blood sacrifices the Aztecs were fond of offering.  

I did also think of "American Gods" where the gods of old have been replaced with the Internet and Credit.  To be honest, I didn't think of them as gods.  They came to mind simply because I did read the book, so the book came to mind, which then brings to mind the modern gods of America.  You can kind of count that as #6, since I thought of that before reading the responses.  

Hope that helps.  Maybe my thought process makes sense.  Maybe not.

Kevin

----- Original Message ----
From: Simon RJB <psi.breaker at yahoo.co.uk>
To: The Unknown Armies RPG Mailing List <ua at lists.unknown-armies.com>
Sent: Wednesday, February 28, 2007 7:47:40 AM
Subject: [UA] God Gauge

I'm working on a story backdrop that is based on human
belief and mythology. So i thought I'd tap into the
collective subconsious to see what immediately springs
to mind.

If I were to say the word 'GODS', which Gods (from
modern day or ancient mythology) would be top-most in
your mind? Feel free to add your favourite gods to the
list, even gods or 'icons' from more recent fiction,
but write a list of the TOP 10 that spring to mind, in
order that they come to you.

Thanks in advance!

Si

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