Patron Deity

[Anonymous No.6816360]

I feel my life has been without a real role model. Literature is full of anti-heroes, even in its earliest incarnation. I want a role model that is a hero in the eastern sense, an actual personage to be emulated. If one is to juxtapose a metaphysical being as a fatherly figure, what would be a decent pick?

I'm already at odds with the Allfather for his epistemological pessimism, so let's restrict this discussion from Class A Gods, and keep it AA or lower.

[Anonymous No.6816366]

Why don't you just invent one?

[Anonymous No.6816374]

I've considered Demotheism. The Invisible Hand of Smith given agency by the biobrain of humanity.

But, that's an aggregate not a true role model. Cmon people, I thought yall niggas was individualistic.

[Anonymous No.6816473]

An easy pick is a one about a leader of one of the ancient greek philosophy schools

[Anonymous No.6816481]

Jesus

[Anonymous No.6816577]

>>6816481
I said no Class A's. Anyone who claims omnipotence is compensating for something. Big time.

[Anonymous No.6816585]

>>6816577
Jesus is pretty interesting from an atheistic perspective as well.

[Anonymous No.6816602]

>>6816585
But in no way a role model, since he was by all accounts either mad or a self-destructive liar.

[Anonymous No.6816615]

>>6816360
I have an off/on thing going with pic related.

"She is represented as a woman wearing a skirt of writhing snakes and a necklace made of human hearts, hands, and skulls. Her feet and hands are adorned with claws and her breasts are depicted as hanging flaccid from pregnancy. Her face is formed by two facing serpents (after her head was cut off and the blood spurt forth from her neck in the form of two gigantic serpents), referring to the myth that she was sacrificed during the beginning of the present creation.

Most Aztec artistic representations of this goddess emphasize her deadly side, because Earth, as well as loving mother, is the insatiable monster that consumes everything that lives. She represents the devouring mother, in whom both the womb and the grave exist."

[Anonymous No.6816648]

Cmon guise. This board talks about religion so much but we can't even name a god we'd think of as a role model? That's some basic shit man.

[Anonymous No.6816650]

>>6816360
EMIYA
M
I
Y
A

[Anonymous No.6816674]

>>6816360
Thoth is probably your best bet since he was literally the god of /lit/.

[Carpocrates No.6816681]

>>6816648
I'm quite fond of Lilith but I'm not sure she counts and there's not much "canon" about her to speak of. How about Bacchus?

[Anonymous No.6816683]

>>6816674
thoth/mercury are both tricky fucks though. can't trust hardly anything they come out with.

[Carpocrates No.6816689]

Artemis is pretty based, too. If you're not a misogynist she'd be a good candidate.

[Anonymous No.6816706]

>>6816681
>bacchus
>not dionysus

plebe

Dio would make a decent jesus substitute though, born of the father and all that biz, except he could get down with a wicked rager unlike stuffy old hayzeus

[Carpocrates No.6816714]

>>6816706
I was thinking of Dionysus but wrote Bacchus instead. High-school error, whoops.

[Anonymous No.6816909]

>>6816360
Worship Selardi, OP.

>older than the Abrahamic God
>origin of her cult is unknown; pre-dates recorded history
>every culture that incorporates her cult goes into decline and collapses
>no holy book to memorize
>no commandments to obey
>animal sacrifice during the full moon, yay!
>major hipster cred for worshiping a goddess with almost no wikipedia presence
>basically just a qt3.14 to pray to so you don't count as a fedora-tipper

[Anonymous No.6816930]

>>6816909
>basically just a qt3.14 to pray to so you don't count as a fedora-tipper
Worshiping a deity nobody outside of a doctoral-level anthropology department has heard of isn't meaningfully different from being an atheist in terms of your interaction with the outside world.

Everyone will still think you're a dick.

[Anonymous No.6816981]

>>6816930

Really? I honestly get by with worshiping sports heroes and the like. Chug beer and time your "yeaah!"s and your "booooo"s.

[Anonymous No.6816995]

>>6816981
>>6816930
I'm starting to enjoy the non-ironic literal worship of money as seen in rap videos and such. feels pretty smug. can't mention it really in public without revealing my powerlevel though.

[Anonymous No.6817090]

>>6816909
Never heard of her. Tell me more.

[Anonymous No.6817125]

[Anonymous No.6817277]

>>6816360

Lord of beginnings

Remover of obstacles

Patron saint of writers

Best choice imo

[Anonymous No.6817630]

>>6817090
Selardi is a moon goddess who originated in an unknown civilization either in the Caucasus or in central Asia. Following the collapse of this civilization, her cult was absorbed by the Urartu civilization (located in modern day Georgia/Armenia) about 3,000 years ago and she was integrated into their pantheon. Over the next few centuries, the Urartu fell into decline, They were ultimately defeated in wars with their neighbors and worship of Selardi ceased about 2,400 years ago.

There are no known religious texts associated with this goddess, and it appears that there was never any formal theology or religious doctrine surrounding her cult. Worship of her seems to have been purely devotional, related to her domain over the moon and its associated attributes of night and perhaps wisdom and death as well, particularly prior to full absorption into the Urartu pantheon.

There are no surviving idols or works of art depicting her.

[Anonymous No.6817972]

>>6817277
Do you ever just take a step back and look at that four-armed elephant head motherfucker and think maybe this whole religion thing is a bit silly?

>>6817630
>There are no surviving idols or works of art depicting her.
So why worship her? As a rule, my interest in classical pagan goddesses is proportional to the number of nude statues of them. Tits or GTFO.

[Anonymous No.6818015]

God of Cuties

[Anonymous No.6818037]

Easy choice OP

[Anonymous No.6818169]

>>6817972
>le contrarian atheists strikes again

[« Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ » No.6818257]

>>6816689
This. I like Artemis. She's an obvious lesbian.
Also Athena.

But Demeter too. Can't help but love her for the Eleusinian Mysteries.

>>6817125
>Minerva
Friggin Latins

>>6817630
Integrated as in associated with Shivini or Anahit?
Or something like a lesser subservient?

>>6817972
Nobody's really worshiping ITT (I don't think)

[Anonymous No.6818265]

>>6817972

Never

Om Gam Ganapataye Namaha

[Anonymous No.6818308]

>>6817277
ganesha is interesting because even before i had any real interest in hinduism the first time i smoked dmt ganesha came down from the sky and hung out with me.

after that, every time i was on a psychedelic, i'd often see energy links in open space formed from elephants.

[Anonymous No.6818323]

>>6816360
You might be sad to know that when you die, you aren't greeted by a deity, but rather you are greeted by the highest form of yourself -- your soul.

What's more -- it doesn't care if you fucked up or succeeded. If you succeeded, awesome. If you fucked up, don't sweat it; you were brave for trying. We'll get it next time. It's all good.

It loves you with a greater capacity than can ever be understood by a human, because nothing loves anything as truly or as unconditionally.

The role model for life -- the patron deity -- that you are looking for is the truest you that you can be. If you have daily longings that go unfulfilled, that is your soul nagging you. Your own desires in this lifetime are slipping away from you due to the lethargy of human life. The feeling of your soul's task in this lifetime being unfulfilled

Not positive, uplifting bullshit, just the truth. I'm guilty of it myself

Sincerely, dude who has had a NDE

[« Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ » No.6818344]

>>6818323
>rather you are greeted by the highest form of yourself -- your soul.
Which promptly dies with you in this final dream

>It loves you with a greater capacity than can ever be understood by a human
Unless you're some kind of cynic or guilt ridden person.

>NDE: Near death experience.
Came close, but nope.

[Anonymous No.6818409]

Eris, obviously.
>doesn't take shit from any other gods
>doesn't claim omnipotence, omniscience, or even a superior position over the other gods
>fucks shit up on the regular for the sake of keeping others in line
>is effortlessly immune to all forms of suffering purely through mental will

[Anonymous No.6818486]

>>6816602
How's that?

[Anonymous No.6818559]

Dionysians know how to party. I'm also considering bathing my junk in the Asopus.

Is there a mystical tradition that jives with modern life? Like a Church of the Higgs Boson.

None of this would be necessary if 4chan hadn't experienced iconoclasm and destroyed the proto-religious meme icons.

[Anonymous No.6819490]

>>6816689
Artemis scares the hell out of me.


I've been seeing owls everywhere and begun into Pallas Athena, the wonderful. Previously I have into Eris because of Discordianism (which does not really worship her, along with most Discordians, I'd wager). There's an abundance of interesting gods and goddesses and other forms of archetypal personalities. A good question, OP.

I remember listening to Alan Moore the comic book writer talk about the occasion of his choosing a Roman snake god with long hair like Iggy Pop as his house god.

[Anonymous No.6819523]

Read this:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/V%C3%B6lusp%C3%A1

Then accept that Thor is the ultimate role model. He fights to protect earth, and sacrificed himself to bring about a new, better world for us. This teaches us to never give up, and that there's no dishonor in failure, as it will improve the world

Now, assert the Wisdom of Odin, the Strength of Thor, the Fertility of Freya and the Chaos of Loki

All hail

[Anonymous No.6820228]

>>6818257
Integrated in the sense that they wrote Selardi into their religion as the sister to their sun god Shivini.

Which is interesting in that it differs from the usual mode of pagan syncretism, in which foreign gods were usually depicted as clearly subservient to the domestic gods (as a bride or child of a major domestic god) or remained visibly foreign and distinct from the rest of the pantheon (as with Cybele in Greece). By setting things up the way they did, the Urartu culture was basically placing a foreign goddess on the same level as their own gods both in terms of status and in terms of a common origin myth. I can't say I've ever heard of another civilization that was this open to absorbing the religious practices of conquered neighbors.

[Anonymous No.6820241]

Krishna in the Mahabharata

[Anonymous No.6820252]

>>6820241
>>6817277
How do you get into Hindu lore? It seems so overwhelmingly complicated compared to other religions.

Where's a good place to start?

[Anonymous No.6820260]

father dude from "the road" - mccarthy

[Anonymous No.6821170]

>>6820252

Wikipedia/Google is a good starting point, and you can follow on whatever interests you. The main gods you should know are Shiva, Brahma, Vishnu, Ganesha, Durga and their various incarnations, consorts, associated symbols etc..

For books Ka: Stories of the Mind and Gods of India by Roberto Calasso is very good, he's also written about Greek mythology and Kafka but I haven't read those.

If you want to get into the mythology the best starting points are Jaya by Devdutt Pattanaik which is about The Mahabharatha and RK Narayan's version of Ramayana. Both are short compared to other versions but still cover most of the content. Eknath Easwaran's Bhagavad Gita is also very good.

If you want an overview of philosophy the Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy has some good articles. Juan Mascaro's translation of The Upanishads is quite short and covers the 10 most important Upanishads.

You should also keep in mind that Hinduism isn't a cohesive religion with a neat cosmology and there are dozens of creation myths that all contradict each other.

[Anonymous No.6822168]

>>6816360
The proper role model is Ogami Ittō.

[« Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ » No.6822880]

>>6820228
That's kind of how they did things politically too. I believe Chahin (from book pictured) says they were something like a united kingdoms. The surrounding tribes got to keep their rulers if they would submit to the central ruler. They of course did this to unite against Assyrian aggression.

[Anonymous No.6824627]

>>6822880
>someone on 4chan is interested in the ancient Caucasus civilizations
I'm honestly surprised.

Material on that area in that time is pretty hard to come by.

[Anonymous No.6825263]

>>6816602
>denies the positive effects of Christianity on all aspects of his life
>2k15

[Anonymous No.6825340]

>>6825263
I just don't feel like a moslem prophet is a decent role model. I mean WWJD is kind of an oxymoron. Jesus would get crucified. Stigmata doesn't exist as a disease outside of the Christian world.

It has all that going for it and I still hate it.


Let me be clear. I won't accept a patron deity that does not give an example to emulate. Someone like Yu the Great, fulfills the criteria, but let's not be cliche.

I mean I could just go into ancestor worship, but I was hoping for something more explainable you know, like a deity I could point to and say, look I wanna be like that guy.

[Anonymous No.6825343]

A T T I C U S
T
T
I
C
U
S
FINCH

In To Kill A Mockingbird, not in the new prequel/draft