Divine power: worship, training and the things a god can take away

Divine power: worship, training and the things a god can take away There's a useful difference between Goddess Inc and Absolute Wonder Woman when it comes to where power comes from, because both stories get more specific than just saying somebody is a god. Venus's plan in Goddess Inc is built around restoring divine supremacy. She talks about the worship she lost, gathers the gods and prepares a ritual intended to raise her position. The observatory scene has participants, offerings and a human sacrifice being prepared. Her ambition has a procedure. She can't just announce that she's in charge and have the world rearrange itself around her. I would be careful about turning that into a neat mathematical rule that worship always produces a certain amount of power. The comic gives us her desire, the ritual and its effects. It doesn't hand us an equation for what every prayer contributes. But it does make the relationship between gods and mortals part of the struggle over power. Absolute Wonder Woman's Annual separates power in another way. Diana offers Athena her god-gifted abilities temporarily so that she can withstand Medusa's gaze. Athena asks about her magic. Diana keeps it because it is something she learned, and Athena accepts that distinction. That is a pretty big difference. Diana becomes physically vulnerable. She has trouble with the climb, needs the equipment she brought and can be hurt badly. Yet the knowledge Circe taught her doesn't disappear with her divine advantages. She still has the skill needed to use Thysia to help Medusa. Those two stories let us look at different foundations of supernatural power. Venus is trying to change her place in the divine order through a ritual involving other people. Diana can surrender a set of gifts and still retain something built through teaching and practice. It also changes what a setback means. Take Diana's strength and flight away and she has lost a lot, but she hasn't lost everything that makes her capable. Circe's work as her teacher survives the bargain. That's a detail I like keeping in view when the conversation gets dominated by which god has the biggest attack.