Pagans, do you believe your god/dess/es are real beings, or symbolic beings only?

I can only answer for myself, but I do believe in the fact that my Goddess is real.

I have a patron Goddess that has been guiding me for most of my life, even before I knew she was there. When I got to a certain point in my life I was able to look back over it and there were so many clues as to her being there...it was very reassuring.

As far as the horned God? Yes, he is very real as well. I hope that all these answers have helped you, even if there are alot of pagans who seems to be a bit confused. Please understand that there aren't alot of places that pagans can turn to for help or answers. Most books just tend to leave people with more questions then they had in the first place.

Because we give different answers doesn't mean we all have flimsy beliefs. Many of us have very strong beliefs that just happen to contradict the beliefs of other people. And so what? You're judging all Pagans as if they were following the same belief system, and they're not. Not even close. We're a community of many religion and systems of belief. There's no reason why I should agree with another person just because they call themselves Pagan.

For the record, I very much believe the gods are real beings. If they weren't real, I wouldn't be worshipping them or seeking a relationship with them.

I do believe that the Gods and Goddesses are real beings, just as we are. Ancient Pagans also believed this. Many contemporary Pagans agree. You live on the Earth. She is real, therefore Gaia (the Goddess who is the Earth) is real.

As for Pagans being unsure of what we believe, I've never met any Pagans, except a few who were just beginning their studies, who were not absolutely sure of their beliefs and practices. They always seem more well-informed and more articulate about their own Pagan beliefs than Christians and others are about theirs.

I believe my deities are real as are the deities of other pantheons. I don't believe they are aspects of a divine force. They are individuals with distinct personalities and talents.

Heathenism is a reconstruction religion - in that the movement is to rebuild the ancient religions and cultures, not just "guess" at how they did it. Archaeology, reviewing old documents, visiting place name sites, etc. Theories are constantly put to the test and verified or dismissed.

Can I prove they exist? No. The Eddas the lore say they do. Rock and wood carvings show a long history of worship. Place names show widespread worship and influence but is that proof, not conclusive. That's why I accept my religion is faith based with a continuing strive towards proof.

I think you'll find more honesty in pagans when they say "I'm not sure if the deities are EXACTLY as the myths tell us, but I believe they exist." That doesn't make them fluffy, it means there isn't absolute evidence to be 100% certain about ANY religion, most pagans just admit it, unlike mainstream religions.

As "paganism" is a blanket term to encorperate all faiths that are not Abrahamic in origin you will find a variety in beliefs from pantheistic, panantheistic, polytheistic, duotheistic and animistic. Since this includes such a broad base of beliefs, and since anyone can claim ownership of these beliefs without any education then it only stands to reason that you will find many flimsy answers. I can assure you that this is not the case for everyone. As a heathen (reconstructionist pagan of a germanic bent) I am a hard polytheist, I believe that the gods are real individuals, I believe this to be true not only because of the experiences I have had with the faith including UPG, but because I see their works in my daily life. I do not believe that they are merely symbolic "aspects" or archtypes.

You'll probaby get as many different answers as there are pagans ;). I know some believe them to be symbolic and some believe they exist. I've even heard other theories, like all gods/goddesses are aspects of one overall deity.

Me, I'm still undecided. The reason I'm undecided is that I'm fairly new to Paganism and am examining my views with complete honesty. I don't, however, believe that the deities are only symbolic.

Edit: I wouldn't call it flimsiness. It's that we don't have the arrogance to assume we're inherently right.

P.S. You seem to have quite the chip on your shoulder about Paganism. If you hate it so much, why are you wasting your breath?

the term Pagan refers to anyone who follows any one of literally thousands of different belief systems.

Some of those systems are hard poly theists...believe that the deities are real individual beings. Others are holotheists, that the deities are simply different faces of one supreme deity. Others are soft poly theists...the deities are symbols or archetypes but not real individual beings. There are also non theistic pagans, that do not believe the Divine manifests as a being, some believe it is a force or set of forces, or all of the universe itself. There are also atheistic pagans, who do not believe in any deity or supernatural force, nor recognize anything as Divine.

so, pagans know what their own faith believes...but there is no single belief that covers all the thousands of faiths that are lumped together as paganism.

If you are interested in what followers of a particular path believe, word your question as being directed toward that path.

I am a pantheist, it is a non theistic faith. The whole of the universe IS the Divine, there are no deities, except as constructs of the human psyche.

Yes. They are Ancient, Eternal, and Terrible.

They it was whom the first shamen called upon in the cold and

dark before fire was captured...to aid in filling that horrible

void in the tribe's bellies.

They it was whom the first shamen called upon in their anxiety

when the flesh of some were too hot...or too cold, and others

before them had died.

They it was whom the first shamen called upon when too much

water fell from the skies, or not enough, and made sacrifice

to Them to appease Their Displeasure.

Perhaps your angst is well founded...perhaps not. For it is

difficult to be one's own priest/priestess (as many are). And

there is no formal course for any to follow (unlike that of

Religion Major in most universities). Thus the "course work"

is self-directed and depends all too much on the motivation

of the individual involved.

There was some issues raised a few years ago about "Immanence"

regarding the Gods by a Wiccan Priestess who was touring the

US for the purpose of raising awareness. I had no oppurtunity

to attend any of those gatherings/events...and so have no information on how that was presented.

But yes, those of us who have been "around for a while" try

(many times in vain) to get the "youngsters" to study their

mythology more.

Actually myself and most of the pagans I know believe that there is one god/goddess. The various names are representations of the various aspects. The god/goddess is a spiritual being that exist in and outside of everything and everyone. I like to look at it as a energy that exists in all aspects of this world and the spiritual world. As for the Summerlands and consciousness after death. I have experienced short term death and then being revived, a couple of times. After years, I still cannot fully communicate the experience in physical world terms. I had full awareness as to my situation. I have seen this world along with my body laying beneath me on occasion, but at other times I was in a totally different place of existence. Although I did not want to return to this world, I was told that I must because there are things that I must do. When I was returned to the body, my first word on two occasions was, "sh*t". I am handicapped, disabled U.S.Veteran and outside of the body, there was no pain, but then, I had no body. It just felt good. If that is your interpretation of the Summerlands, then yes. Blessed Be & Bright Blessings

I follow a Celtic Reconstructionist (neo-pagan) path. I'm a polytheist. Yes, my deities are real individual entities. They are not symbols although there are symbols that are associated with them. They are just as real and dear to me as my family members.

Although there are many different kinds of pagan religions with varying belief systems, Reconstructionist Pagan faiths seek to learn about the deities of a specific culture and then try to incorporate what we learn into our modern lives. I don't know of any Reconstructionist who considers their Gods as merely symbols or archetypes.