The word ‘god or goddess’ represents different things to different people depending on their mythological beliefs and religious affiliation. Some folks build their lives around these gods and others view these form of practices as forbidden. The worshippers have different ways of showing their allegiance to whatever they worship, and many are tangible objects like crosses, Wall-hangings, statues, wood-burned plaques, cross-stitched designs, framed images or posters, spears, hammers, axes, a single gloved-hand, an ornately painted shield, banners…really, the options are limitless. These carves are sources of inspiration and strength to their worshipers in those times when they need it. I know few writers and artists with tattoos of Apollo: The god of writing, music, painting and creativity. People have many ways of paying homage to different gods they believe in. Even in the 21st century, we have celebrities and sport superstars who are being worshipped as gods by some people even while they are still very much alive. Howbeit, I will dwell more on deities that have lasted some centuries.
I personally believe in the existence of these deities and I have so much respect for them as brands. It takes greatness to be relevant even millenniums after departure.
Before I continue, here are my convictions:
I believe gods and goddesses are not in the same level of operation with GOD and I do not advocate the worship of any of these wonderful creatures. In fact, I believe God almighty created them ( Zeus, Ares, Aral, Hades, Ogun and sango and so on and so forth) and empowered them to operate in such level of high performance . The same power was made available in every human being today irrespective of your religious beliefs. In fact, we are supposed to even operate in a more sophisticated level of mastery than these guys and that is the purpose of this piece.
These gods and goddesses were human beings just like us . However, they chose to live exceptional lives and that is what makes them different. They had strength, flaws, negative emotions and families. They had humanity just like us! Here are some of them:
Poseidon was one of three sons of the Titan kronus. His kid brother Zeus gets a lot of the cred for overthrowing the Titans, which occurred only with Poseidon’s help. Shiva was known to be always high(drunk) and he was known to be a crazy dancer(not for fun but for destruction). If you are from the part of the globe where I belong you will understand that Sango (god of thunder and fire) got engaged and married to Oya (goddesses of fertility, wind and victory). These guys were all ripped off by death and they were born by feminine beings. Only Shiva has no evidence of his birth neither death (unfortunately, it was not recorded).
Many writers refer to them as super human or Immortals and other human beings as lesser human but I totally disagree…. If they were immortal why did they die like mortal men? Quetzalcoatl tricked by Tezcatlipoca to over-drink and then burns himself to death out of remorse for his own shameful deeds — I know that feeling. Pan :The god of nature, the wild and Shepherds died immediately Christ was born because people stopped worshipping him and start worshipping Christ and Asclepius; God of Medicine, Healing, and Rejuvenation is said to have been killed by Zeus as Asclepius had brought back Hippolytus back from the dead in exchange for gold. This angered Hades who asked Zeus to kill him. Zeus killed him with his thunderbolt. If you could die at all then are mere mortal, however, if your name can remain relevant millenniums after your death then you are huge. A friend of mine once said, “Your greatness is measured by how long your name rings a bell after your death… How much your name, impact and legacy live on earth.”
I believe they were all human beings with access to the divine power and so are we…This is the reason I do not subscribe to worshipping any of these folks. I do believe, we can all be great and ‘immortal’. It’s a matter of choice and sacrifice.
I hope you would agree with me that we are not lesser humans and those gods and goddesses are not immortal either… if we are all humans with divine access then we can all be immortals . The question is ‘how shall that be ?’ `Why don’t we have the same power?’ In my own opinion, these are the few things that made them extraordinary beings:
1. THEY EMBRACE THEIR UNIQUENESS AND SPECIALIZATION: “Specialization, concentration and consistency is the key to outstanding performance… Love your zone!”
― Israelmore Ayivor
These exceptional folks have their areas of specialization and they are contented with that. They do not compete with people outside their territory. Zeus did not try to compete with Poseidon over the oceans and the seas. They were not everywhere at every time… They were deliberate about their lives. Poseidon represents the oceans, seas and everything around that sphere. Ares is the god of war… Bloodshed, bloodlust you think of Ares. Thor is a specialist when it comes to sky and thunderstorms and Ra is the god of the sun.
If you want to be great, you must represent something. You must specialize. You have to be cool with being yourself ,you have to excited ‘doing you!’ “Be faithful to that which exists nowhere but in yourself- and thus make yourself indispensable.”
― André Gide
What do your friends know you to represent? What comes easily to you?
When I need anything I think of a friend who function best at that area of need. What do men think that I am? What you think that I am? And what you I know that I am?
2. THEY ARE DEDICATED : Gods and goddesses do not take their assignment as vocations or hobbies… They take their assignments as their lives . They protected their territories. They understood, they would go out of relevance if they are careless with their domains and kingdoms. Poseidon made sure the sea and ocean gets more attention from the people else his existence becomes unsure. No attention no relevance. They kept on getting attention in their different areas of influence.
Do you have anything you are ready to protect with your life? Do you do anything good enough to get people’s attention? If your answer is yes, then you are on your way to becoming a god.
3. THEY HAVE RESTRICTIONS: They have things they do not do. Some do not eat a particular food, some are celibates, some do not drink wine. They live a restricted lifestyle. Restrictions and greatness are in separable.
4. THEY UNDERSTAND SYNERGY:
“Individually, we are one drop. Together, we are an ocean” — Ryunosuke Satoro
History is filled with records of combined efforts to secure victories. Zeus was known to be one of the greatest Greek’s gods. However, I think his strength was built on relationship with other gods like Hades, Thor and Poseidon. When he needed to destroy his father Kronos he won because of the help of Poseidon and when Hades needed to wipe out Asclepius he spoke to Zeus about it and he delivered. Relational skills are one of the most important skills on our path to greatness. You have got to learn it.
Finally, being a god or goddess is nothing but a higher realm of greatness. Which is attainable even in this generation. We have some football stars and other superstars with their statues in different museum and strategic places all over the world. We have people who have done extraordinary things with their gifts and talents and their names will not be forgotten in the years to come. In as much I disagree with being worshipped, I think it is honorable to maximize our potential on this planets before we cross to the other side of eternity. You might not be Zeus or Thor but make sure you are you! You might not be the God of nature or flowers, you might not be the god of football like Cristano Ronaldo and Zlatan Ibramovic, you might not be the goddess of the screen like Oprah Winfery but you can leave your mark in the area of influence you have been created to rule.
