Have you read the book American Gods? If not, it’s a great summer read!

The “American Gods Affect” is how belief influences reality, or creates and maintains entities, as in the Tibetan tulpa tradition. Are the gods eternal as well as immortal, or do the change as they move through time. Does our belief change what gods, or fae, or other beings are?

Panelists will discuss how the power of belief influences reality, how made-up things become real, for example: the Tooth Faerie, or Santa Claus. They’ll also explore whether anything can become a “god” (how we’d define that in this context), given the time, space, and control over our lives.

Another fun exploration of the idea was seen in the Hell House episode of Supernatural, in which it was community belief- driven by social media- that created the entity. (Another, even sillier is in the episode of the Librarians where Bruce Campbell plays Santa Claus, discussing the trials of one’s persona being at the mercy of public conception.) When considering what’s real, what makes it real is a good follow up question. Fiction is a great non-threatening way to introduce a new concept to people unfamiliar with it. How do you feel about participating in creation? Creation of entities?