We explain what deities are, how they differ from a god and how they emerged in history. Also, the origin of the term.
What is a deity?
When we talk about a deity, we are referring in very general terms to any form of god, divinity or mystical, spiritual or supernatural entity to which some role is attributed within the cosmic order and to which, therefore, some form of tribute or devotion is paid. It is a term similar to “god”, but much broader and more encompassing, since it refers to the gods of any monotheistic or polytheistic religion.
Deities of various types have accompanied human beings throughout the history of civilization, They embodied different values and played different roles in his imaginary order of things. Many of them represented ideals of justice, order and abundance, while others had more gloomy roles, such as destroyers of the world, responsible for chaos and death, or rulers of the afterlife.
In fact, some of The first known deities were linked to the world of agriculture and the fertility of the land or with natural phenomena such as day and night, the path of the sun in the sky, etc. For example, the ancient Egyptians called the sun god Ra, and imagined him as a man with the head of a falcon, traveling through the sky in his chariot, along with his daughter Maat, who embodied cosmic order.
The term “deity” comes from Latin deitasmore or less comparable with “divinity”, although sources such as Saint Augustine (354-430 AD) assure that it is a term created by ancient Christians to differentiate their god from those venerated by pagans. Similarly, other authors distinguish between “deity” and “divinity,” in this case stating that the first term refers to the god and the second to his supernatural powers or faculties.
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References
- “Deity” in Wikipedia.
- “Deity” in the Dictionary of the language of the Royal Spanish Academy.
- “Deity” in the Online Catholic Dictionary.
- “Deity” in The Cambridge Dictionary.
