OK, Ierne - shall we give it a shot? The terms that have been used and abused in the thread so far:
...fictionsuit, self/selves, god, godform, godhead, avatar, alias, mask, pseudonym, id, ego, am, egoplex, memetic shield, character, role-play, personality, handle, invocation, embodiment, mindset, identity, Multiple Personality Disorder, Dissociative Identity Disorder, ritual self, ideal self, being rode, face, name, deity, aspect, envisionable abstract...
Starting things off is Rex City Zen's definition of "avatar:"
AVATAR
NOUN: 1. The incarnation of a Hindu deity, especially Vishnu, in human or animal form.
2. An embodiment, as of a quality or concept; an archetype: the very avatar of cunning.
3. A temporary manifestation or aspect of a continuing entity: occultism in its present avatar.
ETYMOLOGY: Sanskrit avatra, descent (of a deity from heaven), avatar : ava, down + tarati, he crosses
Then Lothar's comment after his helpful quotes on "godforms:"
All of the above examples seem to indicate that 'God Form' is a new-fangled term for god or deity or entity etc. It's also a term that relegates the entity in question to a status of almost a programmed robot. They are no longer gods, they are god forms... If a magician actually 'creates' a 'god-form' it starts off as a servitor and it'll take a lot of work for it to get as powerful as someone/thing that has been worshipped, in one way or another, by lots of people.
Persephone's pleading question:
Are we agreed that we are going to use "godform" to mean an entity, and "fictionsuit" to mean an outfit, so to speak?
Ierne's clarification:
You know...I thought a "god-form" was an assumed personality that DIVINITY wears in order to communicate with different folks who believe in different ways. The essence is whatever it is, but will express itself differently depending on the frame of mind of whoever is trying to get in touch with it. We don't create it, we just reinforce it. (Have I upped the ante in terms of confusion here? Hope not...)
Logos:
I seem to recall someone saying that the word "godform" originally came from the Thelemic or Enochian tradition, and meant an actual body position the magician took in the course of a ritual, meant to imitate a particular (Egyptian) god or goddess. In more recent usage, it seems to be related to the Tibetan idea of a tulpa ("thoughtform"), where you essentially are dealing with a comprehensible representation of an incomprehensible entity (e.g. Jehovah as an old man with a long white beard, sitting on a throne on a cloud).
Lothar's attempt at a definition of "fictionsuit:"
...and of course the way that Morrison originally used it in the Invisibles to represent the illusion of our psyche and PHYSICAL lives as his way of recapping and adding a new twist to the concepts of reincarnation and Maya. As well as his other possible intentions of the term such as entering a fictional world through your characters so you can interact with them by 'descending' like a god becoming an avatar.
For the braver among you: pick any five terms from the list in bold at the top of this post, and define the terms as best you can. If you don't want to define terms, explain why not. It'd be nice if as many as possible contribute, so that we can come to some kind of resolution. Then someone can take the results away, chip away with a hammer and chisel, and come up with an article for the 'zine.
You have your orders... |
If anyone did that within a five-mile radius of a game I was playing in, I'd walk out. 
)