Gods as humans, humans as gods

World building exercise. I found a very interesting concept I’m developing and thought it would be awesome if you guys shared your thoughts and ideas about it.<br><br>Idea: In a world where magic is based on worship and the worship of a deity confers its powers to the worshiper, zealous humans have become gods, and deities have become oblivious humans.<br><br>Once the world was ruled by gods. Then a cataclysmic event occurred which opened up a conduit for magic and introduced humanity to a new pantheon of worshipers. What humans did not understand at first were the consequences of worship. Worship did not make gods stronger. It made them weaker. A deity’s power was not proportional to the number of worshipers, but inversely proportional to the number of people who had faith in them. <br><br>In other words, the fewer the number of worshipers, the stronger the deity and vice versa. The gods had no idea of this and were very excited to be worshiped. Theoretically, the number of worshipers a god might have would be endless, and that level of weakness would have been unfathomable. <br><br>In reality, however, worshipers were not infinite, and deities quickly learned the value of exclusivity. To be worshiped by a select few, not millions. Why worship one deity when you can worship several, each with different powers? What was once considered blasphemy became the norm. <br><br>Gods found it difficult to adjust. They had always been sensitive to their egos, and when humans stopped worshiping them, they became as weak as humans. They tried to fight their former worshipers. They were defeated as humans. Their former worshipers now worshiped other gods and had their powers. <br><br>And so, a cycle began. When humans worshiped a god, that god became weaker and weaker until it was just as weak as a human. Those who worshiped the god became as strong as the god. But then they would not worship the god anymore. They would worship other gods, who would become weaker and weaker until they were no more than women or men.<br><br>Now, zealous humans were worshiped by other zealous humans, who were worshiped in turn by other zealous humans. These men and women were worshiped because of their actions. They could be heroes or saints. What mattered was their actions. Their power was proportional to the number of worshipers they had. <br><br>But on the other side of the coin, there was the other side. The archetypal gods of the pantheon. They had become weak and powerless mortals. No one worshiped them anymore. They had no power. They were humans, just like everyone else.<br><br>This was the world in which I lived. Where gods were humans and zealous humans were gods.