Deity

Examples of representations of deities in different cultures. In time sense from the upper left corner: Hinduism, Buddhism, Yoruba, Roman, Maya, Inca.

A deity, or god, is a being to whom supernatural powers are attributed (although some deities are not attributed any power at all). He may be worshipped, conceived as holy, divine, sacred, or immortal, held in high esteem, respected, or feared by his adherents and followers. Deities are represented in a variety of forms, but often in human or animal form; they are assigned personalities and consciousness, intellect, desires and emotions like humans. Natural phenomena such as lightning, floods and storms are attributed to him, as well as miracles.

Deities can be thought of as the authorities or controllers of every aspect of human life (such as birth, death, or the afterlife). Some deities are considered the directors of time and destiny, the givers of morality and human laws, the ultimate judges of human value and behavior, and the designers and creators of the Earth and/or Universe. The deities are generally benevolent, but have their counterparts such as devils or demons.

Etymology

The Spanish word "deity" comes from the Latin deitas, 'divine nature'. Like the Sanskrit deva, 'celestial being' or 'god', it comes from the Proto-Indo-European root *deiwos, 'to shine'. Several words derive from this same root related to the sky: dies, 'day' or divum, 'open sky'.

Relationship with humanity

Some deities are thought to be invisible or inaccessible to humans (dwelling mainly in supernatural, remote or secluded and sacred places, such as Heaven, Hell, the firmament, the underworld, under the sea, on top of high mountains, in deep forests or in a supernatural plane or celestial sphere; or even in the human mind and/or subconscious), revealing or manifesting itself in rare but chosen times to humans and making itself known mainly by its effects.

In monotheism, it is often believed that a single god who dwells in Heaven is also omnipresent and invisible.

In polytheism, the gods are conceived as a counterpoint to humans. In the reconstructed and hypothetical Proto-Indo-European humans were described as tkonion, 'earthly', as opposed to the gods, who were deivos, 'heavenly'. This almost symbiotic relationship is present in many later cultures: humans are defined by their position as subjects to the gods, whom they nurture with sacrifices, and the gods are defined by their sovereignty over humans, punishing and rewarding them, but also dependent on them. of their worship and sometimes people treat their god as someone who serves them.

The boundary between human and divine is by no means absolute in most cultures. Demigods are the offspring of a union between a human and a deity, and most ancient royal houses claimed divine ancestry. Beginning with Neferirkara (25th century BC), the pharaohs of Ancient Egypt called themselves "Sons of Ra." Some human rulers, such as the Middle Kingdom pharaohs, Japanese emperors, and some Roman emperors, have been deities worshiped by their subjects even in life. The earliest ruler known to have claimed divinity from him is Naram-Sin (22nd century BCE). In many cultures rulers and other prominent people or saints are believed to become deities after their death (see Osiris and canonization).

It is also highlighted that the pantheons of various cultures have both beneficent and mundane deities.

Religions

Religions can be classified according to the number of deities they worship; monotheistic religions accept a single multifunctional God, while polytheistic religions accept several gods with specific functions. Henotheistic religions accept one supreme God but do not deny other gods, considering them to be aspects of the same divine principle. Non-theistic religions deny any eternal supreme deity, but can accept a pantheon of deities who live, die, and can be reborn like any other being.

Various cultures have conceptualized their deities differently, monotheistic religions typically refer to a male deity, while other religions refer to their deities in a variety of ways: male, female, hermaphrodite, or genderless.