There always was and always will be an Essence which you cannot see or understand.  Therefore It can be called Dark i.e. hidden (as in "I’m telling you this confidentially, so keep it dark.") 

It has dreams or plans which It "keeps in the dark."  But when it so desires, It creates - brings a cosmos, new star, new species, new concept, new anything into manifestation when the time is right and where we can see it, into the "light of day."  Ah, here we see the meaning of "light" - not so much radiating light as we see from a sun or lamp, but "out in the open for all to see."  The Essence’s dreams/plans have become physical reality through its negative and positive poles - what are usually given such terms as Lady and Lord or primordial Goddess and God.  We assume this as the whole of Nature is pervaded by bipolarity - female and male/matter and energy (although we now understand that matter is energy persisting in  unique patterns).  Nevertheless, fertility and creation are the issues at the noumenal as well as material level.

It also permeates and maintains the whole of creation and every structure therein and, at the end of any structure's useful life, It withdraws, allowing the energy of that structure to degrade in order that it be removed from manifestation (This process is known as Entropy - vide the Second Law of Thermodynamics).  But often in the ensuing chaos, as when a star goes supernova, new order appears - cosmic dust clouds which become stellar nurseries incubating new stars.  Evolution, therefore, is very often on account of chaos not despite chaos.

This Essence can create, fashion and mould BUT It can also be moulded.  Sit in the dark with your eyes closed and make a mental picture of anything.  You want a ball for one of your children but you cannot afford to buy one.  So make a ball.  See it grow to the size you want - volley-ball size.  What’s your child's favourite colour?  Blue?  Then colour it blue.  Lastly, make the mental picture into a movie where your child is playing happily with the ball you’ve visualized on the beach.  You have just worked magic!  Don’t be surprised in a week or so if a blue ball comes into your child’s possession.  You moulded or manipulated a portion of The Essence. 

The ancients did the same and moulded/created the Old Gods and Goddesses.  They looked around and saw everything from mountains, forests, oceans and living things to these strange lights in the sky 
(stars) that seemed to go on for ever.  Someone must have made them.  Now they knew that we all came from mothers for they saw births regularly.  Everything, therefore, must have come from a Great Mother. So they visualised a suitable image of immense proportion and gave Her a name depending on their language. 

Later on, when they realised that man impregnated woman and the secret of fatherhood was common knowledge, they felt that there must be an All Father Who sired everything.  So again they made an image of this concept and gave Him a name. 

They looked to other areas of human needs:- air to breathe, fire to keep warm, water to drink (or you die) and earth on which to live; lastly, food which the earth provides (a case of eat or you die), - grain, animals etc.  Ah but the sea also provides food - fish. 

So they eventually created the idea and image of the Ruler of the airy time of the day, i.e. night - The Moon Goddess and the image of the Ruler of the Fiery time of day, the hours around noon - The Sun God.  The great seas inspired their Sea God and  Earth, The Earth Goddess who was the Mother of all physical forms - humans, animals and food of all types.  Other ideas linked these Deities - the sun ripened the grain, so the Sun God was the mate of the Earth Mother.  The Moon ruled the tides, so she must be the mate of the Sea God. 

So too do you find the idea of a Corn God and Fish God arising.  An inland tribe would have a Corn God and planting/harvest festivals and thanksgivings.  People living by the sea would be more inclined to have a Fish God with the invocation of a blessing on the canoes and prayers for calm seas.  Both of these Gods died that their people might live but Their spirits continued on to provide a never ending supply of food, week by week, month by month and year by year. 

Is the next door tribe looking like turning nasty?  Then we’d all better make an image and invent a War God to protect us!  Need a god or goddess of healing?  Need a goddess of childbirth?  Need a god of the wild herds?  Need a goddess of love to bless a marriage?  Need a god/goddess of anything else?  Then - MAKE ONE!  That was the answer.  It is still the answer. 

Eventually legends were created to explain how their family of Deities were connected and how they functioned.  These were used to pass information about simple cosmic truths down the generations.  They would be in the form of an epic and often in poetry so that they could be remembered easily. 

So YOU decide what is logical and what you need.  (This is where race memories, traditions and old tales may help in providing a starting point.)  Should you no longer live in the land of your forefathers and are unsure of whether to seek your ancestors’ spiritual contacts or seek the contacts of the land you now occupy, forget if you wish the forms and names of existing gods and goddesses.  What Deities do YOU want and what will YOU name Them?  You can even make up your own legends and stories about YOUR deities to help give Them a stronger living existence in your mind and within the great cosmic Essence or sea of power . 

That’s what the ancients did - and they could not write books, chapters, paragraphs, sentences, phrases or even words.  But they had an INNER understanding of how to make magic work. 

In Britain we use Keltic or Gaelic names because we are Keltic and Gaelic peoples.  Jehovah is a Jewish name, Jupiter is a Roman name, Pan is a Greek name as is Aphrodite and Odin is a Norse name.  So let's keep things relative to your place in the world, conforming to YOUR language, life style and needs for survival.  Do you wish to model your image on a great hero of reality or from fiction?  Why not?  Perhaps the physical form of Superman could be the basis of a Protecting Deity or the ferocity of Conan the Destroyer your inspiration for a Lord of Battle.  The possibilities are endless.  (The Ancient Greeks took  Alexander The Great as a model for a 'god' concept while he was still alive.)

(Once you have finished this page, it is strongly recommended that you read "Letter from Australia" which has excellent practical advice based on the personal experiences of Kyr, the writer.)

But in looking for a Deity (which is simply a lens fashioned to concentrate natural power -  like a magnifying glass which, when focusing the sun’s rays, sets grass alight), simple people have always been guided by Nature and life as they found and saw it.  So really The Essence which is Nature and permeates Nature is the Great Teacher.  All ancient non-technological societies accepted this - and IT WORKS! 

I have been asked about all the intellectual exercises in Metaphysics and whether or not it is a specialist subject for academics.  Certainly the academic or analytical side of the subject is a speciality but, in the final analysis, it is the practical aspect which is important and which affects one’s life and which is not academic.  It is all about ability sincerity, dedication and aptitude. 

The answer then is this: out of all the great Amerindian medicine men, Siberian shamans and shamankas, the great Indian gurus and all the wise women of the ancient tribes world-wide - how many had a degree or high intellectual ability?  The answer is NONE!  The Divine Dark Essence within, their indwelling spirit, provided the necessary inspiration and teaching.