Page "Divinity" Paragraph 22

In its most direct form, the operation of transcendent power implies some form of divine intervention.

For pan-and polytheistic faiths this usually implies the direct action of one god or another on the course of human events.

In Greek legend, for instance, it was Poseidon ( god of the sea ) who raised the storms which blew Odysseus ' craft off course on his return journey, and Japanese tradition holds that a god-sent wind saved them from Mongol invasion.

Prayers or propitiations are often offered to specific gods of pantheisms to garner favorable interventions in particular enterprises: e. g. safe journeys, success in war, or a season of bountiful crops.

Many faiths around the world — from Japanese Shinto and Chinese traditional religion, to certain African practices and the faiths derived from those in the Caribbean, to Native American beliefs — hold that ancestral or household spirits offer daily protection and blessings.

In monotheistic religions, divine intervention may take very direct forms: miracles, visions, or intercessions by blessed figures.