Are demonized pagan gods of the Goetia their own being or apart of the original deity?

[Ohana]

Gordon is not advocating for the 20th-century psychological magic "model" - he's mocking it a little here for still toodling along its merry little clueless way, not aware that the late 1990's to 2016 Grimpore Revival happened, and we necomancers brought animism back from the dead. His dates are spot on. Post 2016 it all got commodified and WitchTokified.

But yeah it was considered "safe" at the time (I was there) because it kept you from looking insane. It helped you avoid the medical personnel in white lab coats, who would carry you off to a nice padded cell to be "safe" with steady injections of Thorazine.

So, when someone asks with a concerned look on their face if you "really believe in all those silly, old, and disproved primitive ideas, like God, angels, or demons?" - without having to unpack what "belief" even is - you can just go sideways-meta and frame all magic as psychodrama. It’s a way to ensure you aren't seen as one of those "stupid primitives" - like those people over there - or someone who has gone off the deep end.

Yeah. I kind of assumed he was mocking it given the context. I was more just criticizing how corperations can sometimes sanitize the occult in order to sell something because sometimes it does sound like that. Especially when they take away cultural context.

But that is a good point how people did have to pretend this was all just imaginary. I don't really get why though since people are allowed freedom of religion or to believe what you want to believe.

If someone wants to believe that deities or egregores or rune working and doesn't cause any harm. Who really cares? It's a shame the occult/magical practices became so stigmatized over time.