Devoured by Flame

I saw a post going around online regarding how generative AI is not an offering for the Gods.

Now, I am not entirely certain about my own feelings regarding AI. I do think that it perhaps can be helpful to humans but as all things, it must be put into balance in order to be at our benefit. When it makes already rich people richer and it creates irreversible disturbances in our natural environment, I can see how it all adds up to not be in our direct benefit at this time. I don’t believe we need to have so much of it at this time. I especially don’t think we need to see it in every single website and every search engine, ever. 

I am, however, in support of human progress and development. I feel that it is important to continue to work alongside technological advances rather than resist and see how it might benefit us. For example, I used AI to assist in generating titles for my blogs. Titling things is like, my least favorite thing to do. I don’t enjoy creating titles nor summaries or anything of the sort because my ideas feel reductive. WordPress has the AI feature included on their engine to assist with much more and I do take advantage of it to some degree especially with grammar and sentence structure. I am not aware of how often I repeat words or when my sentence might seem unclear especially when I have an idea I want to get across and it’s complicated.

I don’t use it to write things for me nor do I allow it to take content from my blog for its own use. Those things tend to not come from me but rather what I feel compelled to do. I tend to not know what I’m about to write until I’m already writing and the only thing pulling me forward is the knowledge that I’ll know what to do once I get there.

It is important that the act of human creation remains unassisted and that humans develop the means to create in their own unique ways. The gods have inspired me not just to write but also to get into drawing and painting and doing things I would not normally do. I also do several varying fiber arts. For a time, I wrote music and created music with a group of other musicians. Creation is the way in which we can approach the Gods because the Gods are creation Themselves.

There’s a reason why so many people feel compelled to do various forms of artistic expression when they are in touch with the Divine. Creating things as an offering and building up that energy in the act of doing so is the only way in which it can become an offering. It is intimate and relational and extremely important when creating and building a foundational understanding of the Gods. There is no “right” way to be inspired by the Gods just as there’s no “right” way to build a relationship. Creativity allows for all outcomes – not just the ones which you think would best suit a narrative.

AI takes that creativity and destroys it by also taking from other people. What kind of energetic implication would that possibly mean? The Gods do not have eyes to see what you create and so perfection and perfect artistry do not need to happen for it to be an offering to Them. They only see energy and the amount of effort you put into it. If you put no effort into it and then give it to a Deity, then what does that say to Them about you? It would essentially be invisible and not worth Their time. If you do so few things with little effort or meaning behind them and wonder why the Gods are not reaching out to you or being helpful at all? That would be why.

This all could potentially create blockages and result in more problems than you could potentially want as a devotee. I would not say it is lazy – as I said, I use AI to assist in brainstorming – but more times than not, I rearrange whatever it thinks I need to do to suit me and my own creative process. Just like how I would program a calculator with certain functions, I choose to use generative AI to give ideas that I can use to then create for myself rather than letting the computer do the entire process for me.

I think if you feel compelled to use AI as an offering for the Gods, perhaps consider why you feel like they need to be given something not of your own heart or energy but from that of a computer? Why do you think offerings are good for in the first place? At that point, it just feels as though people relate it to being a task they must do in order to be a good devotee, a box they must check off rather than a drive to actually build a relationship with the Deity they chose to give the offering to.

It feels like commercialized Christianity or mass-produced worship manuals where Christians have the same buzz words over and over again and say the same fucking things about their religion. The pastor at the church I was forced to attend as a child actually had been fired because he was using sermons that he did not write. He relied on an external company to do so so he could get away with saying that he did these 1-2 hour sermons and look good doing so. That’s kind of the same energy I feel would be done if you were to give an offering with little to no effort. Just to say that you tried to give an offering but then nothing came of it and wonder why the Gods never reach back.

Polytheism would be destroyed should capitalism get its filthy hands on it. Polytheism is of the earth and is organic in the way that it is natural to work with the Divine and alongside Them in the ways that They also inspire us as we inspire Them. It is perfectly and naturally human for us to long to be with Them. It is natural and important that we do make these relationships as meaningful as possible in the little time we have on this earth to celebrate Their gifts.

We take only what we can give and nothing more. If you’re allowing AI to create whatever you are wanting to offer, you should not expect the Gods to reciprocate in any form or fashion.

If an offering is merely a tool to say you did something obligatory and “good” and moved on with your life – ever, not just with AI – then you certainly need to reevaluate why you’re doing this in the first place. If your own creative expression is not “good enough” for the Gods, then that is something you need to understand in yourself rather than allowing a third party – or a computer – to do it for you.