Q: Did you really mean that? About Eris being all Gods and Goddesses?

A: Yes...

And no.

Pretty discordant answer, huh?

You see, I do believe in the Unity of the Divine: that at the most fundamental level, in a place that makes quarks look like whole solar systems of complexity, there is a basic reason for things. (What that reason is I have no idea: I'm not prepared to stipulate that a human being could know it.) While the Aspect of the Divine that appeals to me is the Greco-Roman Goddess of Chaos known as Eris or Discord(ia,) I don't necessarily believe that the Goddess is the first or primary incarnation or embodiment of the Divine. I don't know that there is a first or primary incarnation of the Divine. It doesn't make sense to talk about the "real" or underlying nature of something that is Reality itself. It's whatever it is: it's whatever it needs to be. Sometimes, I think, what it needs to be is what we want it to be - because we are part of it. Hence my assertation that all Gods and Goddesses are real - sometimes.

Keep in mind that at the fundamental level of Reality, the past and the future are no more and no less real than the present: changing the present may force the past to change as well. Do you really think that every single person who ever claimed to have seen magic work, felt the power of the Gods, or seen angels and monsters in real life was either lying or insane? I don't. I think that despite the evidence of science, the way things worked yesterday is not necessarily the way things work today or the way things will work tomorrow. The history of science itself contains hidden evidence of this. One good example is Mendelev and the Periodic Table. What happened after he formulated it, and why it was so odd, is left as a research exercise for the student. So, anyway, even if there is a primary or fundamental incarnation of the Divine, it doesn't necessarily follow that there always was, that there always be, or that if there was and will be, that it was and will be the same incarnation.

(Yes, I do read M:tA books. They did not invent this concept.)

Specifically addressing my thesis as to the idea that Eris emulates other Divinities, my reasoning is as follows. Because of the nature of Chaos, Eris, despite Her fairly minor status amongst the Hellenistic pantheon, has a truly awesome level of power. (Awesome in both its modern sense, "inspiring awe," and awesome in its classical sense: "Awful.") She can manipulate probability and, if you believe the myth of the Golden Apple, can cause pretty much anything She wants to happen to happen with barely a thought. Any scientist will tell you that that kind of power is far more impressive than thunder and lightning: human beings can generate thunder and lightning, and a billion times worse, but they can't predict which unstable atom in a sample will decay first. The Butterfly Effect is very real: suppose you could not only solve Mandelbrot's equation for a pretty picture, but for X? She can: She can be the butterfly. She is the Deus in the deus ex machina, and the world is Her machina.

Randomness is the basic nature of the physical universe and Eris can control it. I therefore find Her a very appropriate Aspect of the Divine to give credit for whatever it is that I'm giving credit for at the moment. Also, given this power, She could in fact imitate *any* God or Goddess. Want her to look like Zeus? She drops a gum wrapper in such a way that a bolt of lightning smacks something. Instant thunderbolt. Whatever power, aspect of knowledge, or area of control you expect any given Aspect of the Divine to manifest, She could produce. So, even if the Aspect of the Divine you were expecting doesn't come along, She, if it amused Her, could fill in, so to speak.

So yes, I meant it.

Except where I didn't.

Q: Aren't you afraid you're going to burn in Hell for that?

A: No. Read it again.

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