There’s a rather nice picture page 161 of the guide. It shows what Dragon Pass looks like in the four worlds: Middle, Essence, God and Spirit.
In the Middle World we we a giant mountain (Kero Fin), a river and the sun and moon in the sky. The Middle Air is above and the Earth below.
In the Essential World, we see groups of runes connected by a network of pathways. For example, wee see the Earth and Mastery Runes together in one node (those are the runes of Kero Fin), connected to a node containing above containing Air, Air , Movement and Mastery (Orlanth) above and Earth, Earth, Life and Harmony (Ernalda) below. Orlanth is connected the the sun and moon as well, those gods represented by nodes with the appropriate runes.
In the Gods Worlds, we see the gods of Dragon Pass as stars. We see Kero Fin, Orlanth, Elmal and the Red Goddess.
In the Spirit World, we see the same gods represented as primal spirits. Enerlda is a pre historic fertility sketch – a pregnant women with wide hips and great breasts. Orlanth is a raging wind – the Storm King. And so on.
While the text stresses that the three worlds are separate, it seems to me they are three different ways of looking at the same thing or perhaps three shadows cast by something beyond understanding.
Different ways of looking have advantages for different tasks. Looking at the Gods in the Essential World shows that as runes. From this ways to manipulate them can be worked out. In the Gods World, we see them as discrete beings, making worship easier.
Does that mean we’ve lost the essence/spirit/god divide? Perhaps to some extent but whether an entity is primarily approached via wizardy, worship or shamanism can still be important. Some beings will have natures which respond better to one mode or another – image these Beings are shapes and each method allows you to look at them from a specific angle. One angle might show a lot more than the others and hence be more useful.
Likewise, if you have a thousand years of tradition approaching an Entity from a single method, you will have built up a large stock of law. Starting fresh from a new approach will be doing all the groundwork again. An entity which has be solely approached through one method might also become angry and confused if suddenly approached in an alien way.
