Now that you've reworded it, I more or less believe your theory. I believe that almost all Gods are real and that they all want different things. I don't believe they seek worshipers for their own power, but to have more influence over the human world.
I agree with you seph , I think gods do get power from prayer I think they been livin with us from the beginning of time, there in nature, where the most advance creatures in the history' of earth how? Cause our ancestors embraced them, where we headed now? Our civilation going down the drain, we forgot our past.
Not so, Dragonsback! We don't really forget the past. We learn from the past. We even learn from the mistakes of the past. We know more than was known in the past!
Moses never made a telephone call! George Washington never saw a motor car!
Your theory is flawed because of your misunderstanding of the astral and spirit. The astral is ONLY the parallel existence of spirit to this physical world. The astral is also only one layer, that of thought and emotion. The etheric is much closer to the physical and where spirit manifests. The other worlds are not perceived as "spirit" nor are the gods "just spirits". How could gods that maintain our world be spirits only? We all have a spirit inside of us. Spirit is our life force or consciousness. When we project or have an out of body experience, we send out a little piece of our spirit and our consciousness takes control of it. When you work with a deity, you only experience a small piece of their spirit. ONLY in very rare cases have deities fully manifested and even then, they still only use a fraction of themselves.
Let's consider river gods as an example. They are physical as a river. That is their "body", their vessel. Hapi of Egypt is the god of the Nile. The Nile is his body. If you do a ritual calling on Hapi, will the Nile come to you? No. But that doesn't mean that his spirit will not come to you. Get it?
Well, first, we can't exactly know where gods came from, as well, what the theory purposes is, what if the belief in them was strong enough to push them beyond that of the astral plane, now this seems unlikely, however, when you think of it, they gods are prayed to and thought of throughout history more than most other figures. The best example of this is, again, the Hebrew derived God, who's followers are among the most widespread. My point, what if that collaborative belief in them made them strong enough to somehow defy the normal rules and become things greater than ordinary spirits. At this one would ask, "wouldn't many childhood story figures come to life then, as a good portion of the world's children would believe in them," to which I would answer that it wouldn't be the same. First off, few of those figures are ever prayed to, secondly, we lose belief in them as we grow up, whereas our beliefs in gods only change based upon religious preference. Take into account, most of the gods you speak of have been widely known at some point and where worshipped on a massive scale, think of all the spiritual energy even a portion of those people would have, not to mention throughout their entire lives. Of course, this belief doesn't allow them to physically come into this world, but what if that all that time of worship has made them powerful enough to go beyond the astral plane and allows them to somewhat influence this world. It could explain why none of them influence things on a much larger scale and much more straight forward ways.
Who says none of them influence things on a large scale? Do you expect oversized mystical looking humans to be walking around? You do realize that most deities are beyond solid form but instead manifest through that which they control. Yes, they can take human form to relate to a human just as we can bend down on all fours and play with our dog like a fellow canine friend. It doesn't mean they are human like nor that we are puppies.
People expect too much due to fiction--movies, books, etc.. Magick, spirit, and deities are not above and beyond the mundane world but rather integrated so deeply. There is no separation of physical and spirit, they are two sides of the same coin. This idea of separation is a modern concept forged by philosophers that over analyzed a simple thing.
What you are describing is an egigore. It's a theory surrounded by the psychology based theories surrounding the occult that rose in popularity when people still thought Freud knew what he was talking about. An egrigore is a group created thought form, and although they can be created, they are not capable of governing parts of creation throughout the universe. Egrigore "gods" are the equivalent of a Chaotes servitor created for a specific purpose. But they lack authority, independence, etc. Do some people that think they are working with a deity are actually creating their own thoughtform or an egrigore created through the erroneous information constantly circulating about various deities on the internet. That's when they think their deity is their lover, best friend, and side kick. Real deities don't act that way. Real deities will break you and rebuild you so that you are what they expect from someone dedicated to them. When you work with an authentic deity there is no doubt how old, powerful, and inhuman they really are.
But true deities are either the governing intelligences within planets, suns (stars), bodies of water, areas of land, etc -- this is animism and generally observed as local or lesser gods. OR true deities are primordial beings of creation and destruction that makes existence go round.
There is even a third form of deity, that of venerated humans that are believed to achieve god status due to their accomplishments in life. These are more understanding of human faults and flaws. These are the modern day saints of ancient times, the fallen heroes, the revered ancestor, the Buddha, and angels such as Metatron aka Enoch the Prophet. This is why people seek "enlightenment", "the great work", or other concepts of advancement of the spirit--to achieve the highest form of existence--divinity.
I didn't mean that I expect anything like the sort you pointed out, what it meant was that, there is that, although I have little doubt they affect our world greatly, I am simply questioning why they would do so, so discreetly, if they could. Many of them do not seem like ones who would change our world without leaving too much to let us know it was them. Why would they hide such a thing if they hold such great power over reality, this we can never know. I am just one of the many who would ask "Why? Why hide something that no human could question if we were to know it was you." Again, I would not expect anything extraordinary, but even than, something simple would do to convince the minds of this world of their existence. As well, if you would ask me, I would also think they actually attempt to hide it from all but those who attempt to communicate with them and actually have the knowledge to do so, at which I would also ask, "Why do such a thing, when the world can easily be convinced." A very simple sign, a dream to all humans, showing themselves and explaining who they are, a simple chain of occurrences, normally explained as bland luck, but in so much coordination with eachother, there is little to no coincedence, something. Some gods would seem the kind to be discreet, but from what is known of some gods, one would question why they would not act this way, to make their presence known, these are all things that would make the curious wonder, "Is there something they hide?" Again, all these things cannot be known, but there is a plethora of possible answers, it is almost too bad we possibly never get to know the truth.
When I was a boy at Catholic school, I asked that same question of a priest. "If God is all powerful, why did he speak only to Moses, and not to the whole Human Race?".
I got the usual answer,"You must have Faith!"
