Gods and Where To Look For Them
There have been a lot of Joseph Campbell quotes that have landed with me. But, one of the landiest was:
“All the gods, all the heavens, all the hells, are within you.” — Joseph Campbell
And I think it makes for a pretty compelling cosmology when you’re trying to reconcile all of the similarities between all of the religions that have existed since the beginning of time. The idea that these myths, these stories, these parables point to something inside us, makes a lot of sense.
But a myth doesn’t exist to just shine the light on our inner world — they also exist to shine the light on our outer world — to explain how stuff works. Joseph Campbell actually believed there were four purposes to mythology, but that’s a Medium article for another time.
We can see the gods of old in ourselves — but we can also see them, projected from inside us, onto the world. Where should you look for gods? Well, wherever you want to see them. But, here are a few of the places I most often see them:
- Crows. Crows carry a lot of the world’s mythology on their back. Some people get wigged out when they see a crow because they interpret it as a portent of death. But, as anyone who reads Tarot knows, death doesn’t always have a negative connotation. Death can represent the end of old habits, coming change, and new life. That’s what I choose to imagine when I see a crow. So, crows can be a harbinger of the death god of your choice: Hades, Hel, Pluto, or Mara. Or, if the whole death/rebirth thing is lost on you, they’re also heavily connected with Odin — he specifically had two crows who attended him: Hugin and Muggin, or thought and memory. Using Odin as a template, the appearance of crows can be a reminder to pay attention to your thoughts or to search your memories for meaning.
2. The Moon. Like crows, the moon has a deep mythological pedigree. Every culture tells stories about and attaches a deep significance to the moon. And the meaning you choose to attach can depend on the phase of the moon. A waxing moon can indicate growth or new beginnings, a waning moon can point to endings. A full moon is a good time to set intentions and call on higher powers. Gods and goddesses who are connected with the moon include Artemis, Diane, Hecate, and Selene. When you see the moon you are seeing the embodiment of deep feminine energy that calls us to be receptive and creative in the world around us.
3. Dreams. Campbell said something else (well, a lot something elses) that I love. To paraphrase, “Myths are public dreams and dreams are private myths.” the point he was making, I believe, was that myths and dreams speak the same language. They come from the same place. They’re born in some old archetypal place inside us and bubble to the surface as we’re trying to wrestle problems and new situations to the ground. So it only makes sense, to me, that if Gods regularly inhabit myths, they would also regularly inhabit dreams. But, like Odin, in a lot of the stories about him, they come in disguise. They dress as our dog, or our fifth-grade teacher, even as us. But, if we watch what they do, and we familiarize ourselves with their actions in mythology — we’ll learn to recognize them every time.
Crows, the moon, and dreams. Not exactly going deep into the bench, was I? I think that’s okay, though. I think these things seem typical and almost cliche to these kinds of discussions because of their deep archetypal nature. We return to them again and again as mystical talismans because they loom so large, in our minds, as harbingers of secrets and deep wisdom. And, the more you awaken your abilities to think like a mystic, to see the things below that mirror the things above, the more your ability to “see” will deepen — the more you’ll see gods everywhere - in teacups, and parked cars, and blowing leaves.
Gods are everywhere see, you just have to look.
