An American Pantheon. by Terry McCombs |
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In every culture there is in it's past a collection of myths recounting the tales of a pantheon of gods,
goddesses, heroes and monsters. Tales that stand both as answers to why things are as they are, and as personifications of the `essence´ of that nation, people, and culture. The Greek mythos, the Roman mythos, the Chinese mythos, and the detailed listing of angels and demons along with the legends of saints that made up the Christian mythos of the middle-ages are all examples where a culture generated a mythos that stood as the spirit where the people and land were the body and mind. But what about America? I don't mean the rich and varied mythos of the Native Americans. I mean the United States of America. Where are the American mythos? Jung said that you need to get in touch with the myths and beliefs of the land where you are. That no matter what your religion or belief system (or lack of same) might be the place where you are has a power that can not be denied. That being the case, again where is the American mythos? Here are my guesses. I am basing my ideas on themes that seem to keep cropping up in this culture year after year often changing, but always cropping up. I am just guessing what the names of this or that `deity´ might be, for the most part if a particular character has been around long enough to count I will give their name, but if there have been to many `avatars´ of that particular diety I will just give an outline of them and forgo placing a set name on it for now. Below you will find my theory as to who and what might be part of the American Pantheon of Gods & Goddesses. |
Lady Liberty |
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LADY LIBERTY:
(Earth Mother, mother of the gods, goddess of freedom, light & sanctuary.) Lady Liberty. The mother Goddess of the American pantheon, wife of Uncle Sam. She Holds a position similar to that of Hera in Greek mythos, or Isis in the Egyptian. She is the mother who births both America bounty and her peoples, as well as welcoming those who were not born here but are adopted into the family. The image that came to be Lady Liberty took a long and winding road, the first female image of America was Pocahontas. It was she who was used for a long time on stamps and state seals and on in other places as a symbol for the American land, over the years this image evolved into an unnamed indian woman, and later ironically enough as a goddess pointing the way of so called `manifest destiny´ later she would be set in the image that has become Lady Liberty, made up in part of a Native American woman, the Lux Mundi of the Romans, and a Frenchman's mother. To note the divine quality that this image has taken on, think back to the `Goddess of Freedom' constructed in China during the student demonstrations. If only more people here had. For more on Lady Libery go to: http://community-2.webtv.net/TerMcC/Liberty/ |
Uncle Sam & Santa Claus. |
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UNCLE SAM:
(Sky Father, Father of the gods, forger of weapons and wealth) Even though he was based on a real person he has moved far away from him and become his own being. The first symbol for American was a short lived character, a rube in a beaver top hat called Brother Jonathan. As America became more powerful and more coherent he disappeared and Uncle Sam came into being. Like many male deities at the top of the pecking order he tends, like others of his kind such as Zeus, Woden, or Yahweh, to be rather remote, or even cold. The father as harsh demander of success or else. He also manifest as the American Eagle, and the Flag. SANTA CLAUS: (God of children, gifts, Winter Solstice and chunky twin brother of Uncle Sam) Where Uncle Sam is the harsh father, Santa Claus is the father as the kind and bountiful good father. Brothers Where Uncle Sam's rule starts in the summer on the forth of July Santa rules at the other end of the year during winter. Formed from a mix of a Gnostic Saint who became a Catholic one and was then kicked out, Thor the Norse God of Thunder, and Father Winter; Santa Claus has become a very American symbol. While born in Europe, where he was most often depicted as an elf, sometimes shown standing no more then 6 inches tall. In America (where by the way he was depicted by the same artist who first visualized Sam.) he was turned into a virtual superhero by the Coca-Cola company (the nectar of the American mythos.) |
The Great God Science |
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THE GREAT GOD SCIENCE:
(God of knowledge, power, travel, communication, war, medicine, & new shiny things.) Claude Bernard said that "Art is I; science is we." The Great God Science is the I of science in the American pantheon. If and how this deity is related to the others is a mystery because of his rare (for this pantheon) insistence on not just monotheism but mono no theism, declaring that there are no gods and he is the only one. If not a jealous god he is at least a stuck-up one. Cold eyed and powerful it was the Great God Science who laid the railroad tracks across the nation that the Indian's called the Iron Snake. Built for his `perhaps' mother Manifest Destiny they ended up in truth serving his needs of conquest, industry and information. It was as the 20th century was born that the G. G. S. truly came into his own and started to reformulate the world into his well measured, calibrated and cataloged image. As he grew in the last century, so too did his avatars multiply and spread. At first showing up as nameless everymen in the works of H. G. Wells he later gained many other names and images for himself from mythalized shadows of real people and avataric "fictional" manifestations such as Charles Darwin, Sherlock Holmes, Thomas Edison, Tom Swift, Tom Swift Jr, Crag Kennedy, Doctor Thorndike, Adam Link, Doc Savage, Albert Einstein, Captain Future, Mr. Spock, Dexter, Bill Nye the Science Guy, Technological Boy. As well as the thousands of interchangeable heroes and advocates of the G. G. S. who appeared in his personal sacred texts that, while called science fiction, was in fact one of the purest founts of his true worship. The Great God Science has transformed the 20th century with his webs of communication from the telegraph to the radio to the Web as his bolts of power have changed war and dentistry has never been better. Though it should be noted that his rise has not been without it's detractors, just look at the derision that so many hold his priests the Nerds in. For more on The Great God Science go to: http://community-2.webtv.net/TheObsidianMask/GGS/ |
The Man In Black. |
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THE MAN IN BLACK:
(God of Harsh Justice, the Night, Revenge, the Gun.) The Man in Black is so prominent in the American psyche that I would say that he is the dark brother of Uncle Sam and Santa Claus, much as Hades or Pluto was to Zeus / Posiedon and Jupiter / Neptune. As America has never been comfortable thinking and talking about any sort of here-after (that would lead to needing to think about consequences.) The Man in Black tends to stay in the shadows of the public mind, but he does keep bubbling up. From time to time there appears in one form or another a character that while different in minor aspects is really pretty much the same in the important ones, so that this idea seems to have flowed through the American psyche for over a century, when he appears he is always popular. He first appeared as The Man In Black in New Yorker Weekly a penny dreadful of the 1890's. He was a member of a cult that killed him and tossed him into the Hudson, later he returned dressed in the cults hooded black cloak with a bullseye lantern in his left hand and a gun in his right. Other manifestations down through the years have been The Shadow, The Black Bat, The Spider, The Avenger, The Batman, The Black Terror, Paladin, Mack Bolan (the Executioner), Shaft, The Punisher, and any number of lesser lights along these lines. He is the diety as avenger, who hunts the hunters of the culture, more often then not outside the law and under the cover of darkness. CONTINUED NEXT PAGE. . . . . . . . |
To the rest of the gods: | ||
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