Throughout history people have taken their gods with them whenever they've travelled. Certainly, the Christians are well known for doing this, but what about the norse gods, who appeared to have travelled far and wide, too? In Iceland they seemed to take a firm grip, and they even influenced some of the natives of England and Scotland.
And what about the acquisition of new gods? Didn't the Romans sometimes adopt the local gods when they travelled to new lands in order to gain favour for their endeavours, even incorporating some into their personal pantheon? And wasn't it the Romans who first equated the Greeks gods with their own? I understood archaeology had borne out examples of similar practices here in the British Isles and throughout the former Roman empire. Is it solely a Christian idea: travelling gods?So, when the Europeans left for America and the other new worlds, did their gods go with them? Or, were they booted back by the local deities? I just wonder, because there are so many modern pagans in the new worlds working with the gods of their ancestral countries. Are they deluding themselves? Are they working with their ancestral gods or the native ones in disguise? Do the gods really travel? Or are they firmly fixed to the landscape?
There was also some question as to the gods recognising those living in foreign lands, mainly why the gods would even bother to acknowledge the descendants of their people, several generations removed? But, if the gods have travelled to new worlds, surely they would be able to identify the descendants of their homelands through the ancestors, who could guide them to their own? Or, do the gods ignore those who would connect with them away from their natural landscape altogether?
I would be interested to read the thoughts of others on these points. As someone who was born in one of the new worlds, I am not sure I could have connected to my gods except on their home ground.
