by Lady Majyk Myst, HPS

Immanence is a religious and philosophical concept. It is derived from the Latin words, in and manere, the original meaning being 'to exist or remain within'.

When I think of Immanent Deities, I think of the deity that speaks to me in whispers within my mind. The one that appears to me in meditation and dreamtime. This is the Deity that I see within everything...a flower..the trees, sky, the one that is within and without.

Immanent Deities are the ones you can have a personal relationship with...the ones you talk to ..and you feel you really know them. Your "personal" goddess...or "personal" god. One way I think of it is "In Man" or in-man -ent (ity)(or having bodies that we can identify with as we do in statuary...etc.)

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Transcendent deity is one that is unknown...or beyond our knowledge...like that unknown source that you know is "out there" somewhere ...I think of it as "trans-porter" ... as in "beam me up, Scotty"...you know the transporter works and that it beams somewere beyond the world...but you cannot explain where it beams from or how it works...but, it is there, never the less...in other words..the "Transcendent deity" is unknowable. A higher existance than we can know as human beings is how you can think of it. This deity has no hands , no feet, no body...and is not confined to a time and space continuum.  It is the thought that God is not like us. He is Spirit.

Transcendence means literally, "to climb across." It is defined as "exceeding the usual limits." When we speak of the transcendence of God we are talking about that sense in which God is above and beyond us. He is higher than the world. He has absolute power over the world. The world has no power over Him. Transcendence describes God in His consuming majesty, His exalted loftiness. He is an infinite cut above everything else.

One way I guess I could describe the difference is in the christian terms...in their eyes..God is unknowing and the one that is never seen but is the ultimate power behind everything...he is the one "above earthly domain...so he would be transcendent...where as "Jesus" came to earth...and was known and is still known...He is immanent.

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Personally, I think of my deities as both immanent and transcendent in that they are both in all things and close to me, but also transends to the whole universe and is so complete that they are unknowable in ever understanding all they can do and are..There are times I need a personal one-on-one Goddess that I can sit with...there are other times that I need spirit that I know that is so emence that the very thought encompases all that is in existance...this is how I think of my deity...and together  in both forms...I know I am taken care of as is all that I know.