“Are you scared?’ asked Mr. Ibis. ‘Not really.’ ‘Well, try to cultivate the emotions of true awe and spiritual terror, as we walk. They are the appropriate feelings for the situation at hand.” ― Neil Gaiman, American Gods
“Gods are great,” said Atsula, slowly, as if she were imparting a great secret. “But the heart is greater. For it is from our hearts they come, and to our hearts they shall return…” ― Neil Gaiman, American Gods
I cannot even imagine what spiritual terror would feel like. I think my spirituality must be more in tune with the second quote as arising and departing through the heart.
The first quote is from the same book, Neil Gaiman, a unique take on how the gods of the ancient world(s) came to America and how they adapted there. Mr Ibis is kind of a version of Anubis, the god of the dead of the old Egyptians.
Those lines from American Gods carry their own hush. Spiritual currency isn’t about transactions—it’s about how the heart carries value, not gods or doctrines. Cultivating awe and that trembling edge—what you call “spiritual terror”—isn’t about fear. It’s about opening the field just enough to sense what matters most beneath the noise.
Thank you for lifting that subtle distinction: not worship of the divine, but heartfelt attention as its own kind of currency.
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I cannot even imagine what spiritual terror would feel like. I think my spirituality must be more in tune with the second quote as arising and departing through the heart.
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The first quote is from the same book, Neil Gaiman, a unique take on how the gods of the ancient world(s) came to America and how they adapted there. Mr Ibis is kind of a version of Anubis, the god of the dead of the old Egyptians.
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Interesting quotes.
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It’s Neil Gaiman’s take on what happened to the old gods when their worshippers came to the new world.
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I haven’t read him at all though I have at least one of his books on my nightstand.
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Those lines from American Gods carry their own hush. Spiritual currency isn’t about transactions—it’s about how the heart carries value, not gods or doctrines. Cultivating awe and that trembling edge—what you call “spiritual terror”—isn’t about fear. It’s about opening the field just enough to sense what matters most beneath the noise.
Thank you for lifting that subtle distinction: not worship of the divine, but heartfelt attention as its own kind of currency.
LikeLiked by 1 person