Gods

After this diversion, let us return to the real gods. The deified ancestors that were recalled by a psychic medium to assist the family in its earthly straggles became a family god, worshiped by all members of the family, and the family medium became the family priest. As the family expanded into a tribe, the god increased in influence to become a tribal god. If the tribe extended its influence by conquering neighboring tribes and absorbing the conquered, the prestige or mana of the god increased with the temporal power of its worshipers. Hence by a process of evolution, a god commencing as a family god could rise with its increasing number of worshipers into a tribal god and ultimately into a major god, worshiped over an island or an island group. The spiritual power of a god depended on the temporal power of its worshipers, consolidated and retained by success in war.