Public Spirits
The Greeks of yore had twelve all-purpose deities, as do all PolyCultures have some number of public Spirits, as well as individual or private Spirits, as public/private partnerships. Public Spirits are generally employed as some agents of the state, usually as guardians of geographical or municipality features, and the general welfare, and if of government, therefore socialists.
They were such as Zeus : as law, order and justice, or Office of the Mayor.
Hera : of marriage, women, childbirth and family or Department of Health and Human Services.
Posedon : as seas, water, storms, hurricanes or Maritime Administration.
Demeter : as harvest, fertility, agriculture, nature and the seasons or Agriculture Department.
Hermes : of travel, commerce, communication, borders, Department of Transportation.
Athena : as wisdom, handicraft, and warfare as Department of Defense.
Ares : of war, violence, bloodshed and manly virtues as Department of War.
Appolo : as philosophy, truth, inspiration, poetry, music, arts, medicine, healing and plague, as Department of Health and Education
Aphrodite : as Goddess of love, pleasure, passion, procreation, fertility, beauty and desire as Department of Arts and Culture.
Hephaestus : of fire, anvil, axe, hammer, tongs, as City Building Commission.
Dionysus : of wine, the grapevine, fertility, festivity, ecstasy, resurrection and theater of Arts and Entertainment.
Hestia : of hearth, fire and of the right ordering of domesticity and the family as Department of Home Affairs.
Actually, seems it was a monarchy, and all these department heads were related, and their jobs were permanent and seemingly without retirement, which saved the citizenry a bundle in pension funding. These government department heads can be - a too big for their britches bunch, and sometimes go outside the mandates of their particular department functions. Private Spirits of the realm of the material world, would probably be that, which would deal with the bureaucracy, perhaps apply for this or that license, fees, taxes, in what form?
Of course, in a one god autocracy, there are no public Spirits. There are no private Spirits, which are called demons, phantoms, ogres or evil spirits, by the one-god authorities. No democracy there. One can appeal to God called prayer, or one can hire a lawyer to defend one, against crimes never committed, and take out heaven insurance. Yep - one is all alone, with no other sidedness.
Metaphysics (24 of x) Next Page