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The Cube God (and the many Others)
Jun. 27th, 2022 01:52 pmI thought I'd paste in a little snippet from a friendly exchange I had with someone on another platform. Regarding the Abrahamic concept of Divinity, whom he refers to as "the Cube God."
My response:
Yeah I agree, the Cube God is not the same thing as his/its followers. Though I do believe YHWH is a ritual formula rather than a person. Probably at least 4 divinities rolled into one invocation.
I do believe the time of deity-homogenization (which started up long before Abrahamism, I might add) has come to pass, and that the older wisdom stands firm: that for the average person, divinity is best venerated in plural form. This way, all the various aspects of mundane existence are effectively made sacred again if each of these aspects is represented by a divine personality. Homogenization has proven to be the primary force which has "disenchanted" the world we live in and has thus rendered it an inanimate "it" to be plundered and desecrated with impunity. The age-old practice of setting up a shrine (and making offerings to) your local river, lake, or mountain, is seen as anathema according to the dogmas of Monotheism.
I think the healthy way moving forward is for one to have a soft spot (if they are so inclined) for the Cube Formula, while at the same time recognizing that he/it is not the only game in town. I'm of the belief that the gods of monotheism are a lot more tolerant than their human followers. (as JMG has put it many times)
This goes to show that only real tolerance of various religious and spiritual traditions comes from a pluralistic approach. Though of course that tolerance must be a two way street.
***
A bit off topic, but my (very rough) working hypothesis that YHWH is an amalgamation of:
-An/Anu
-Enlil
-Enki
-Inana (Isthar/Astarte)
In the Canaanite/Levantine version of the Mesopotamian religion, An and Enlil were already homogenized into El. And by the Late Bronze Age, the younger god Baal (Marduk in Babylon, Assur in Assyria) was starting to absorb/usurp the functions of the older gods An-Enlil/El; we see a parallel development in the Greek religion with Zeus supplanting Kronos-Ouranos. So really, the development of YHWH is simply a further development of this same process, though the Judeans took things too far IMO by expunging the feminine entirely from their own peculiar conception of Divinity that eventually morphed into the Monotheism we all know and love/loathe today.
I have a soft spot for the cube God, even if 90% of its followers are insufferable twats
Im thinking that Abrahamic lore was designed to be a religion specifically accessible to the less intellectual masses (lower caste sudras). And thats not necessarily a bad thing
My response:
Yeah I agree, the Cube God is not the same thing as his/its followers. Though I do believe YHWH is a ritual formula rather than a person. Probably at least 4 divinities rolled into one invocation.
I do believe the time of deity-homogenization (which started up long before Abrahamism, I might add) has come to pass, and that the older wisdom stands firm: that for the average person, divinity is best venerated in plural form. This way, all the various aspects of mundane existence are effectively made sacred again if each of these aspects is represented by a divine personality. Homogenization has proven to be the primary force which has "disenchanted" the world we live in and has thus rendered it an inanimate "it" to be plundered and desecrated with impunity. The age-old practice of setting up a shrine (and making offerings to) your local river, lake, or mountain, is seen as anathema according to the dogmas of Monotheism.
I think the healthy way moving forward is for one to have a soft spot (if they are so inclined) for the Cube Formula, while at the same time recognizing that he/it is not the only game in town. I'm of the belief that the gods of monotheism are a lot more tolerant than their human followers. (as JMG has put it many times)
This goes to show that only real tolerance of various religious and spiritual traditions comes from a pluralistic approach. Though of course that tolerance must be a two way street.
***
A bit off topic, but my (very rough) working hypothesis that YHWH is an amalgamation of:
-An/Anu
-Enlil
-Enki
-Inana (Isthar/Astarte)
In the Canaanite/Levantine version of the Mesopotamian religion, An and Enlil were already homogenized into El. And by the Late Bronze Age, the younger god Baal (Marduk in Babylon, Assur in Assyria) was starting to absorb/usurp the functions of the older gods An-Enlil/El; we see a parallel development in the Greek religion with Zeus supplanting Kronos-Ouranos. So really, the development of YHWH is simply a further development of this same process, though the Judeans took things too far IMO by expunging the feminine entirely from their own peculiar conception of Divinity that eventually morphed into the Monotheism we all know and love/loathe today.
