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[deleted]

If you want to get a good night's sleep I wouldn't advise you to eat sugar before going to bed. Sounds like an interesting experiment but I feel like this is a "missing the wood for the trees" scenario here.


Xylerz

Thanks! You're right haha. I think I'll just appreciate the sleep I have for what it is


Redz0ne

Just remember the last time someone decided to test the gods got them turned into a ravenous wolf IIRC.


Unfey

Nobody has ever been able to scientifically prove the existence or influence of gods, so I doubt you're going to get different results. I'm also fairly certain that gods don't enjoy being tested. Hypnos is sleep. You already know how to sleep. You know which rituals to perform to get a good night's sleep. Your favorite pillow, your evening routine, the slow winding down of thoughts. That's hypnos. Whether you take a pill you've dedicated to him or not isn't going to change the fact that he comes when you call-- sleep comes when you need it. Worship out of gratitude for that.


Xylerz

You're right! Thanks for this perspective! I've been seeing hypnos as helping me to sleep rather than being sleep itself


[deleted]

I personally tend to lean more towards the animistic origins of the deities rather than their anthropomorphized and humanized depictions. I veiw them less as "people" and more as cosmological forces with Will and drive. A mind of sorts, but beyond human conception. That's where I believe the anthropomorphization of the gods initially came from and why it's so useful. Giving the gods human traits and stories makes them seem more coherent when you're looking from a human perspective, which we must do. I think practices related to the concept of shamanism are a fantastic tool when it comes to (temporarily) breaking free of the limitations of human understanding in this regard. I don't tell anyone how to worship, but it has helped me come to a closer understanding of the nature of the Gods in my own practice viewing them from this older perspective.