If you haven’t watched American Gods yet, go do so! It not only is seeping with wisdom, but the drama and characters will make you ache to be in their world. It is filled with stories that will make you think deeper about your life and laugh your ass off. It is hard to begin explaining all the layers that reside throughout the episodes. We could get into archetypes. We could discuss the magic Shadow Moon encounters and resists to be true. The predominant theme though is about the Gods and Goddesses that humans worship.
Gods & Goddesses In American Gods
Now Gods are not merely just God-like figures from religions we worship. Nope, as you begin to see throughout the show anything we worship and give value to is a God.
The new Gods are animations of things like corporations, technology, pop culture, and media, who seduce us in various ways. We give much value to them in our day to day lives, and by giving them value, we give them power – to influence and control our days.
The old gods vary widely. In pre-Christian times there are Gods and Goddess that control nature, bring luck into our lives, and play trickster roles. Some old Gods are connected with religions — the Jesuses,
By believing something has value, we give it power in our lives. We animate its force—bringing it to life. Thinking of Gods this way can make you question what came first – the Gods or people believing in the Gods?
It is all quite ironic because in modern society we don’t believe much in magic. We like to think rationality and science are far on the other side of the spectrum from magic. But the power we give to modern things like technology and media in our lives, do they not in a way work their own magic? The definition of magic from Google is “the power of apparently influencing the course of events by using mysterious or supernatural forces.” If you don’t think technology, money or media influences your life, you are in denial!
So magic does exist
I believe this show is relevant today because the main plot of a war between the old Gods and the new Gods is symbolic for the war on meaning. The old Gods provided meaning in our everyday lives. The new ones merely distract us, at least this is what Mr. Wednesday (the old wise God) believes in the show…
I don’t think the point is who will win?
The point is for each of us to see how we all want
This makes me think of the two scientific and social theories that often bump up against each other: Cooperation vs. Competition
5 Life Lessons From The Show American Gods
- “The world is either crazy, or you are. They’re both solid options, take your pick.”
Wednesday said this in one of the early episodes of season 1. I love it because it teaches us something so essential. We will be able to find reasons to support any belief, might as well choose a belief that will sustain and assist us! - “There are bigger sacrifices one may be asked to make than going a little mad.”
Wednesday is always dropping wisdom (I did some research and found out he is the God of Wisdom and War). When we are “going mad” it really is just us breaking out of a structure of beliefs. Our grounding, core beliefs we have about the world begin to cave in. When this happens we don’t really know how we relate to the world, we kind of lose it. BUT… There are bigger sacrifices than keeping our cool (maintaining our sense of control in a set pattern of beliefs). The world does not revolve around us and what we believe to be true about it. - Your life only has meaning, if you believe it does.
We can see, through the character Laura Moon (Shadow’s wife), that believing there is no meaning in life creates a dull and meaningless life. She doesn’t believe in God, even though she was raised reading scriptures and attending church. She didn’t even really believe in love, causing her to find no comfort or contentment in her relationship with Shadow. Then she is brought back to life, with the help of a lucky coin. She now believes Shadow is her shining star, giving her hope and something to hold onto. - The terrible things that happen to us are not necessarily “bad.”
Inmodern culture in America, we strive to eradicate all negativity and “bad” things out of our life. Honestly, this just puts us in denial, because we can’t possibly eradicate all of it and who is the one saying it is bad anyway? Often times it is through terrible suffering that our lives have meaning. Instead of “fixing” things, move through them. - You are what you worship.
What you believe is valuable and what you think is true defines how you see yourself and the world, and this determines how you live your life.
I leave you with the question,
What do you want to give power to in your life and what would shift if you believed it was powerful?
Much Love,
Kristina Ann
Photo bySharon McCutcheon