There's something I've wondered for a while about what theistic pagans believe. Pagans can differ in opinion on whether deities are all just different facets of Spirit, or actual separate supernatural beings, as far as I can recall. Archetypes, I think I remember reading (a long time ago now) was the way deities were described as part of a greater divine whole, I suppose in a way that's sort of comparable to God the father, the son, and the holy spirit being the same entity in Christianity. But there are a great number of pagans that believe that all deities are separate from each other and exist independently, too. While I can get my head around mixing the abrahamic Lillith with Norse heathenry if all are facets of the same divine power, I would struggle to reconcile it considering the other theological position. Actually, going back twenty years to when I first dipped my toe into alternative spirituality, I'm sure I read in a book that pantheons should not be mixed in spiritual workings, because their energies do not work together, or something along those lines. I try to think what my answer to this quandary would have been back when I practiced Wicca, but I don't think I would have been able to answer. I hope I haven't come across as disrespectful, I have a lot of respect for Pagans/Heathens as fellow adherents to a religion that is mistaken for being "evil". I'm genuinely interested to hear thoughts on it. Hail Lillith! 🤘💜
What I love about this is that all the answers work equally well. I've friends that believe that our gods and goddesses are archetypes. I'm inclined to believe that deities and spirits of place are egregores and develop power because we give it to them and then they can feed energy back to us. I think it's a beautiful system or ideal, but regardless of what the truth is, whether deities are beings that lived complex lives before humanity; whether they are egregores created by the belief and energies of humanity; or whether they are archetypes, the system still works. So, for me, I think that they were created by humanity and we feed our energies back and forth to each other, but there is no wrong answer :)
