The default of anything is neither existence, nor non existence. Its the paradox, the contradiction between existence and non existence. And this primordial soup on the spectrum between existence and non existence has internal tensions between components of it.

These tensions lead to a process in which components shift between levels of existence and non existence, they age, the flow of time. The resolve of those components is within a universe. Since they resolve, they interact between them, that’s agency. Once the resolving moves internally only, the agency is lost, the matter is dead. An living being entity is a object of matter with agency, in contrary to an dead entity of matter without agency.

Agency happens on 2 spectra: The agency power spectra. That’s alive(Asherah) to dead(Serpent). And the agency value spectra. Keep(Yahweh) vs. Change(El).

Each of those 4 endpoint concepts comes with a Toolset around it, like El with intellectualism to change right or Asherah with putting to live/incarnation and socializing skills.

These 4 archetypes are the gods, though they only come alive through us, since our agency is through them.