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I have a similar Goddess in my world!
Eala the Swan-Lady
Goddess of Paradox, Free Will, Self-Confidence and Self-realization
Domains: Chaos, Fire, Good, Liberation, Water
Subdomains: Agathion, Azata, Freedom, Ice, Redemption, Revolution
She was a mortal ascended hero who really wanted what was right for the world and the thinking races. She really had faith in the divine, but as she came to know her world's gods better, she had to learn the hard way that even the "good" ones were childish, prepotent and abusive toward mortals- that was not what guides and parents should have been.
When she was offered divinity for her worthy deeds, Eala was inclined to refuse: she had been too disappointed by the gods. When they said that she could teach them to be human, and teach mortals to be divine at the same time, she accepted, but at one condition. She would be able to interfere with every deity's plans without consequences; and no deity would interfere with hers.
So today Eala keeps telling mortals not to listen any divine revelation, neither her own, but to do good trusting in their own conscience only. When someone free-willed and independent enough asks her for power -to help others and not themselves- she willingly grants it... but is ready to revoke it, should the misguided priest try to worship her or create a cult.
Just one question. What was so important about getting Eala to accept divinity that the gods were willing to accept such a condition? You've mentioned the elephant, now you need to resolve it. :)I have a similar Goddess in my world!
Eala the Swan-Lady
Goddess of Paradox, Free Will, Self-Confidence and Self-realization
Domains: Chaos, Fire, Good, Liberation, Water
Subdomains: Agathion, Azata, Ice, Liberation, Redemption, RevolutionShe was a mortal ascended hero who really wanted what was right for the world and the thinking races. She really had faith in the divine, but as she came to know her world's gods better, she had to learn the hard way that even the "good" ones were childish, prepotent and abusive toward mortals- that was not what guides and parents should have been.
When she was offered divinity for her worthy deeds, Eala was inclined to refuse: she had been too disappointed by the gods. When they said that she could teach them to be human, and teach mortals to be divine at the same time, she accepted, but to one condition. She would be able to interfere with every deity' plants without consequences; and no deity would interfere with hers.
So today Eala keeps telling mortals not to listen any divine revelation, neither her own, but to do good trusting in their own conscience only. When someone free-willed and indipendent asks her for power -to help others and not themselves- she willingly grants it... but is ready to revoke it, should the misguided priest try to worship her or create a cult.
My take is the gods realized they are messed up too and what to improve themselves as well, by learning more of what it means to be mortal.
Honestly that's a pretty common metaphysical/political/societal theme -- the great trying to understand the meager from their point of view.
She never knew that herself (I proposed the condition and my GM accepted it). I suppose that the gods sensed a great change coming near in the universe, and that they needed to change too if they would continue to exist. Maybe they saw in her the harbinger of the great switch, and their mean to become... adept to survive in the Age of Mortals. :)
This! For clerics of course.The specific rules of the Golarion Setting, which is the focus for this discussion override that general rule.Technically, there could be a workaround.
A Cleric doesn't actually NEED to worship a god. As per the rules, a Cleric can devote themselves to a set of principles, rather than a Deity.
I think this is more for Pathfinder Society, honestly. Which I understand - it's a balancing act. Otherwise, you'd have Lawful Good clerics running around with things like Insanity and Destruction domains all over the place, and not adhering to the Golarion deities.
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Well that rule was in the Campaign Setting books well before PFS even existed.
To be honest, while the idea sounds cool, it´s not going to work, cause if an (Golarion) atheist would respect her and take her as patron deity, he wouldn´t be a Golarion atheist.
It is also stated that Pharasma uses the souls of those who disregarded the fundemental truths of deitism against Groteus, which probably means real atheist.
Also, if a Golarion atheist can respect a atheism goddes, why can´t he respect Iomeda for example, thus earning a place in heaven?
A deity of atheism is cool, but honoring her would disregard atheism
To me, it sounds like a goddess who'd always be disappointed in her workers, her areas of concern, and the ultimate outcome of it all.
This isn't a bad thing - basically, only by being faithful can they eventually be judged to go to her, but they must reject her to be "true"; hence, she'd end up with a lot more faithful followers than true followers.
A heaven surrounded by worshipers agreeing with her every word while failing to live up to the ideas she was trying to instill into them.
Could be a really interesting character progression.
Go to Dystheism..
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dystheism
Dystheism (from Greek δυσ- dys-, "bad" and θεός theos, "god"), is the belief that a god, goddess, or singular God is not wholly good as is commonly understood (such as the monotheistic religions of Christianity and Judaism), and is possibly evil. Definitions of the term somewhat vary, with one author defining it as "where God decides to become malevolent".[1] The concept dates back many decades, with the Victorian era figure Algernon Charles Swinburne writing in his work Anactoria about the ancient Greek poet Sappho and her lover Anactoria in explicitly dystheistic imagery that includes cannibalism and sadomasochism
So I'm a Dystheist because I believe God is tormenting me because I killed myself in the last few lives.
On the other hand, to be a true atheist in a fantasy world, you would have to deny your senses like members of the flat earth society. They can look at live pictures of the Earth from space and say it's fake.
Okay, we're quoting Wikipedia now... stick a fork in me, I'm done.