The Function of Deity

A deity¹ (or god) is an arbitrary visual, auditory or sensory image or representation, that is to say, a highlighted icon of a basic biological life support function projected upon one’s continuous system status monitoring function, called (hence iconised as) ‘everyday consciousness’. In other words, a deity is a personally meaningful icon (like on your desktop or mobile) that serves as a hyper-link to a pre-conscious, hence inaccessible life support sub-function (or program ≈ algorithm) operating in a (for humans meaningless) biological ‘machine’ environment (and language).

Note that all conscious experience is iconic.

A deity’s (i.e. a highlighted icon’s) function is to provide a clear (albeit non-rational) focus upon a particular inherent (or immanent) biological life support sub-system that needs to be activated, intensified or simply modified. The actual shape or name given to the deity (so that it becomes a personally meaningful visual, verbal or ‘feeling’ icon) is arbitrary (to wit, a fantasy), hence fundamentally empty (Sanskrit: sunja) of meaning.

A deity’s life story describes the potential functions range of a particular basic life support sub-function.

In short, a culture, indeed, an individual within a culture, can shape the access mode (i.e. the deity as icon, for instance as visual code) to a particular life support sub-function in a highly personalised, therefore affective and gratifying (hence as placebo) way. When a deity is invoked,¹ that is to say, when the icon (appearing in consciousness, so to speak upon the desk-top of consciousness as systems status simulator and monitor) is double (better still, treble) ‘clicked’ (to wit, when vocation happens three times), (indirect²) access to the life support sub-function is achieved and its operation activated or modulated to satisfy current need.³ Since all internal (and pre-conscious) biological life support sub-functions (meaning a biological system’s (automatic, i.e. self-regulating) Navigation System, short: Bio-Nav) are ‘blind’ in relation to the external world, so are the deities, i.e. the ‘gods’ or ‘powers’ (Hebrew: (the) elohim) that represent those life support functions.

1 … Angels are imagined (and indeed experienced when concentration is intensified) as (real, depending on the concentration intensity) messengers (or messages) from deities. Angels arrive, i.e. they call or are called, when an individual is in distress and doesn’t have the guts to call up the deity directly. In short, spontaneously active deities or their messengers are distress phenomena.

2 … Direct conscious access to a basic biological life support sub-function is not possible because consciousness (i.e. the accessible ‘folder’ that simulates one’s personal systems’ status and positioning monitoring screen) and the unconscious (i.e. the life support sub-systems ‘folder’) operate different communication media (i.e. languages). Consequently a hyper-link needs to be established to facilitate communication between the folders and their media. The icon (or deity as symbol) servers as (hyper-) link.

3 … Calling up (i.e. directly activating) a deity (idem an angel or ‘spirit’ from the ‘deep’ of the unconscious) can be extremely hazardous, as Dr Faustus experienced to his regret when he called up Mephistopheles (i.e. Lucifer, the Angel of Light), not to mention the trouble Aleister Crowley got himself into. After all, the purpose of deliberately calling up a deity (i.e. of deliberately activating (and, possibly, controlling) a (locked, for self-protection) biological sub-function is to get out of a jam by changing one’s self. However, having changed one’s self one can’t go back. Moreover, once a deity (angel or spirit) has been successfully invoked (i.e. once the genie is out of the bottle) it is difficult to get rid of the deity. Successful invocation of (i.e. active linking to) a deity ‘raises’ the deity (that is to say, the biological life support sub-function) from ‘the deep’ unconscious (and which is normally beyond access) to subliminal (and partly controllable) operation. The ‘raised’ deity (as previously unconscious now partially or wholly conscious basic function) is experienced as ever present and all pervading (and often threatening).

It is important to note that deities, being blind and automatic, have a life of their own. Once called up they tend, just like the human, to push their luck and take over. Recall the tale of ‘The Sorcerer’s Apprentice’.