THE CELESTIAL GODS

The created offspring of the universal gods were known as the celestial gods. These represent the conscious forms of material existence that appear as the stars, solar systems, galaxies, and so forth—as those bodies that shine in the night sky.

Unlike the mortal human body, the body of a celestial god may persist for millions or billions of years. As compared to human beings on earth, then, the celestial gods were viewed as relatively immortal—though, in the final analysis, their bodies are mortal; they were created at some point in time, and they will dissolve at some point.

Although a given celestial god may have a body that displays the form of a luminous sphere composed of matter-energy, that sphere is not insentient; it represents a celestial “godhead” that is filled with pure knowledge and self-organizing power. Each such celestial godhead provides an operative basis, or a point of view, for the universal gods and their shaktis within the physical Cosmos. Ultimately, however, all the gods represent different aspects of God, the Supreme Being, who is the very self of them all, whether universal or celestial.