im still thinking abt this question a white man asked online which is “why do people worship gods of chaos like loki and eris. why do they INVITE chaos and discord into their lives? is ‘chaos’ the only way you know how to change anything in your life? because that doesnt sound healthy” and i feel like the question fundamentally misses the roles they fulfill in their mythologies and why they are “chaos”
most of the gods listed are not primordial concepts of uncreation or even creation. the gods are mirrors to human society and roles, though are not often paragons like we assume they are in modern day. they are mirrors that reflect strengths and flaws and different parts of a society. that is how people interpret them, how they figure out what a god will help them with, and so on. but these “chaos” gods sow discord and strife and create knots and problems through one common way: they reject common societal roles.
they reject concepts of marriage, gender roles, gender itself, the role of fathers having dominion over their daughters, what it even means to be a person. the discord they sow is because they are rejected from society–from parties, celebrations, marriages. even when society says they rightfully belonged, it breaks their oaths. and the type of discord and chaos is things that shake up the power structures that disenfranchises them. it weaponizes the insults hurled at them or their roles themselves (see lokis insults at the other gods being things also said to him, or eris weaponizing femininity with the apple vs the other goddesses). their very existence is a threat to the delicate authority and rule of the existing power structures in society.
the “chaos” oppressed people, who i find are most drawn to chaos gods for a reason, experience is not the same as what privileged people experience, but is constantly ever present and painful. their existence is a threat to power structures just like the chaos gods, which means they are crushed and minimized by society. they experience violence, abuse, and lack of opportunities. and then you are asking them “why would you invite a being that seeks to destroy what is doing this to you? who knows your experience as intimately as you do? can’t you just make your life better in a way that doesn’t challenge the status quo?” without actually meaning to.
working with chaos with these gods means you learn to change your conceptions of why society is good or bad. why people are on the fringes or in the spotlight. how to take up space in a place that minimizes you. how to weaponize the chains society shackles you with.
i already know chaos and i will gladly welcome another form. the rules of society that only serve to hurt me don’t matter to me, and i am willing to destroy things that even benefit me, because they crush someone else. discord, suffering, and strife are as natural to me as breathing air is. if you have to ask “why invite chaos” i kind of just gawk in response because suffering is already here, i just refuse to be the one constantly suffering under it for someone else’s benefit. i refuse to grown and change only in ways comfortable for you. i refuse to be complacent in reaffirming oppressive structures in our society because it is too difficult for you right now to reject them. my existence is a threat to your comfort in society, and i outright refuse to stop existing.
“chaos” in this sense is the justice for people who are unseen, pushed to the fringes, told they don’t matter. i have no choice BUT to welcome it at some point. you questioning this only tells me you dont understand those gods at all, what they want, their purpose, etc. and i dont know how to describe it any clearer.
areudirty
stormborns
gummygunk
blakekathryn
romaincrisis
germansingergirl
kianamaiart
