Self-deification
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Self-deification is the belief that oneself is a deity or the striving for personal apotheosis. The term autotheism can be used in the same sense (first attested in 1619),¹ but it should be noted that the term has an unrelated meaning as a technical term in Christology.

Self-deification can either involve the expectation of worship by other people, as in the case of divine kingship in imperial cults, or it can be the mystical notion of identity of the soul or the self with God (Unio Mystica, Advaita).

Modern instances of purported self-deification include:

• Father Divine (d. 1965)
• Lou de Palingboer (d. 1968)
• Juanita García Peraza (d. 1970)
• Yahweh ben Yahweh (d. 2007)
• Kim Il-sung

living:

• Jehovah Wanyonyi (b. c. 1924)
• Sathya Sai Baba (b. c. 1927)
• Mitsuo Matayoshi (b. 1944)
• Mother Meera (b. 1960)
• Vissarion (b. 1961)
• Grigory Grabovoy (b. 1963
• Kim Jong-il b. 1941

See also

• Cult of personality
• Divine king
• Divinization
• Godman (Hindu ascetic)
• Hubris
• Imperial cult
• List of people who have been considered deities
• List of people who have claimed to be Jesus Christ
• Messianic complex

References