There are different beliefs, and much debate, surrounding who the Gods are and how they work, operate and exist. I have philosophized about this as well, and have even been at war with myself at times trying to figure out how one belief can be compatible with another that is equally true in my view. But now, I have arrived at my conclusion, and I think it's very important that each of us who worship the old Gods come to peace with ourselves in the assurance and logic of our own beliefs. Before reading on, please keep in mind that these are my own personal beliefs, and they do not exist to challenge, change or disprove the beliefs of anyone else.
I think the important thing to remember is that the Gods, while we commonly see them in their common images, are not bound to one body. They can move through space, time and existence at their own will in any form they choose. As evidence of this, we need only look at some of the Greek myths. We see that the Gods were able to change themselves into other forms, such as animals, and for this point I am about to make, it's also important to remember that the Gods turned things into other forms. For example, Athene turned Arachne into a spider, and this is the myth as to the creation and life path of the spider. So we have established here that the Gods, one, do not have one body, that they can move through space, time and existence as they choose and become what they want, and that they can also transform the very existence they see before them. To that end, it seems to me that the only reasonable conclusion is that the Gods exist, at least in one of the many forms, as the consciousness of the Universe and existence.
However, we should not allow this belief to bind us solely to the view of strict Pantheism, as in that we think the Gods are simply nature and that is it. They are far more. We must conclude that the Gods can separate themselves from nature and the realms over which they rule, for if they are not bound to a single body, then no single body can force them to remain in one place, as we have just discussed. Therefore, the Gods cannot be just nature, because to say that they are only nature, is to say they are bound to one form and one body. Poseidon is not merely the sea, nor Artemis the forest, or Zeus the sky. They rule over these, they move through them, manifest in them, and change them at their own will, and in those ways, they are part of those. But, at any second, they can leave these places, because they are not bound to them and are not the places themselves. As an example, Artemis is the Goddess of Forests, and while She can exist within and hold a connection with them, the forest does not hold Her in place. She is not trapped. She can leave and still be present within the universe. Another way to see that the Gods are not merely nature itself, nor merely the things over which they rule, we only need to ask ourselves, "If a river dried up, would Poseidon dry up as well? If a forest burned down, would Artemis also burn? Etc." The logical answer would be "no," because the Gods are immortal, deathless, and living forever.
In conclusion, the Gods are everything, they are existence itself and maintain the ruling and divine powers over it, which extend into our world and even far beyond it into other worlds and realms that we will probably never see, such as other planets, solar systems, and time and space everywhere and anywhere. In all truth, the existence and being of the Gods is probably something that we, as mortals, will never fully comprehend. Throughout history, we have established groups and people devoted to the Gods, and still continue such establishments, yet even today, we consider ourselves to be wise to admit that we know nothing.
In the Goodness of the Gods,
Chris.