Are Gods and Goddesses Real?

[Anka]

Greetings; I just wanted to clarify this for my own understanding. Are Gods and Goddesses considered to be actual beings according to Wiccans; much like how Christians believe that God is an actual individual?

This varies on the individual since Wicca is more about right practice than right belief. There is no canon about the gods. Asking different Wiccans yields different answers. (It's similar to Hinduism, in this regard.) It'll range from hard polytheism to soft monotheism.

I'm under the impression that the Gods and Goddesses of the Craft are more symbolic and/or allegorical; a tool of sorts simply meant to help focus one's energy; the real magick is coming from the witch; not the God or Goddess; the symbolism that those characters represent simply helps enhance the power that's already within one's self.

But I could be mistaken, so I decided I'd just ask others to see what the general consensus is in this regard; thank you very much for your time.

This is a common perception. Gods can be both literal and symbolic, or they can be a combination. None of this is exclusive. But generally, myths and such are not taking literally.

To answer the title question, which is a different one, we can philosophize it. From a purely objective standpoint, gods are ideas. They exist as ideas in people's minds. How they exists outside of being ideas is merely perspective. It will garner different belief systems this way.

Since reality is, for us, on a individual level, entirely subjective and we may/may not have an accurate synopsis of it depending on our brains we can never really know or prove they exist. This is why many people have different perceptions of reality and with that comes beliefs on what/how gods are and if they exist.

Really wonderfull questions and answers. Thanks both.