chronically pessimistic

Deity work, as well as most spiritual and witchy things, is a very personal and individual practice. So anything I talk about here are suggestions and common ways I have seen deity work be done, as well as my own experiences sprinkled in.

There is no one way to work with deities, but hopefully this post will help you find a starting place so that you can move forward on your own and learn, experience, and grow with deity work as an individual.

What is Deity Work?

Essentially deity work is exactly what it sounds like, you are working with deities. It is the act of initiating and then cultivating a relationship with a deity.

Why say "Deity" and Not “God” or “Goddess”?

This is for a few reasons, at least in my mind; One, not every deity is a male or female therefore the gendered terms of God and Goddess don’t apply to them. Two, because some deities don’t fit into the transcendent idea of gods and goddesses. In many cultures the deities are more like spirits or elements, so calling them by god or goddess.

How Do You Do It?

That’s a loaded question, actually! There are so many ways you can practice working with a deity. First let’s talk about the difference between deity worship and deity work.

Deity Worship

You worship the deity, give them offerings, praise them, pray to them, but you don’t really expect responses or feedback from them. This is a great option for those who are hesitant to work directly with a deity.

Deity Work

Working with a deity is different because of the dynamic between you and your chosen deity. There is a lot more getting to know each other and relationship building involved in this. This involves speaking with the deity, which can mean speaking through ways of divination, like tarot, pendulums, runes, etc., or you can try and speak with them through meditation.

Working with Deities

First let me say that you do not need to choose one or even a few deities to work with. You can be like my sibling (and many other witches) and work with deities in a casual way.

This means that you do not work with specific deities, you work with whatever deity you need help or support from with whatever magic you’re doing.

You can also follow a specific deity (or a few specific deities) and still causally interact with other deities. Very rarely will you find a deity that bans you from speaking with other spirits and gods and such. If you do find that your deity doesn’t want you speaking to any others, ask them why. Maybe you’re not ready to speak to this other deity you had in mind, or maybe you need to set some boundaries with the deity you’re speaking to.

Regardless, always, always do research on a deity before working with them. This whole blog is about researching witchcraft and magic and asking you to do so as well. Research is key in any path in life that you decide to take. So please make sure you look into a deity before working with them.

How to tell if a Deity is Reaching Out

Honestly, if you ask yourself this, you’ll find the answer pretty quickly. Do you feel like a deity is reaching out to you? If so, then maybe they are! Of course, some of us have anxiety or imposter syndrome and think that there is no way a deity could be reaching out to us; I say this from experience.

Often the deities won’t show themselves to you right away, not many are that blunt (some are though!) but they will still try to show themself to you through other means.

If you think a deity is reaching out to you, or if you’re not sure, here are a few ways you can try to discern if it’s a deity or not.

Synchronicity, are there a lot of instances where you are faced with the same symbol or sign? Does it happen to the point of it being far too uncanny to be a coincidence?

Dreams, are you often having dreams about the same signs, animals, or objects?

Divination, are you pulling the same cards or tossing the same runes all the time?

If you said yes to any of these, check to see if it correlates to a deity.

It may also be a sign or omen from another source, if that’s the case then don’t be disheartened, it’s still something you need to know, so pay attention!

The best way that I have personally found to see if I am being contacted is to ask a form of divination in which I am the strongest at. In my case I am really connected to my tarot cards, so I will ask them. There are deity identification and communication spreads that you can find online, but be sure a deity is what you’re talking to before doing these so that things don’t get muddled.

If you want to be really sure you can try asking them to send you a specific sign. I usually ask for something uncommon but not difficult.

Example: you could ask to be sent a yellow heart three times or maybe a picture of a purple snake randomly.

How to Reach Out to a Deity

It’s ok if a deity isn’t reaching out to you and sending you signs, this could be because you hadn’t opened yourself up to the opportunity yet.

If you would like to work with a certain deity it is okay to reach out to them first. Do research on them, ask other people who work with that deity about them, see what they like, and maybe start with worship.

If you feel like you have started feeling a stronger connection, see if they are willing to work with you. You can do this by asking forms of divination like tarot cards, runes, or focused meditation; or you could ask for a specific sign as mentioned earlier.

Example: If you’re willing to work with me, please send me a (insert chosen sign here).

Contracts

You don’t need to make a contract with a deity if you don’t want to. Honestly, I don’t know of many witches that actually make a formal contract with any deity or spirit or anything of the like.

With that being said, if you would like to make a contract of some sort with the deity you interact with then please feel free to do so.

Regardless of if you do a contract or not, I suggest you let the prospective deity know of your boundaries and ask them about theirs. This goes with any relationship, really.

Altars

You don’t have to have an altar for any specific deity, or even have one at all. If you have the space, however, and you feel moved to create one then go ahead! Decorate this space with things that you have found that the deity likes, maybe they like fire so you put matches and candles on it. Perhaps they like water so you put a shell or stone you found in a river on the altar, and so on.

If you’re curious as to what I put on my altars, here are a few ideas:

Cup, bowl, or other container for liquid offerings

Candle

Incense holder

Herbs and rocks associated with the deity

Artwork you’ve created for the deity

Offerings

There are many types of offerings that you could do

Herbs, rocks, and other things from nature (make sure it’s ok to take these items if you’re gathering them from nature!)

Beverages, especially alcoholic beverages for some deities (Lugh seems to like Cider in my experience and The Morrigan like red wine)

Food

Artwork, even better if you made it yourself!

Sing or play a song that reminds you of them

Devotional act, what you do here really depends on what deity you’re devoting the act to.

Honestly if you can, ask the deity what they would like to be offered. The two I follow don’t really like receiving a lot of physical gifts, they prefer to see me get stuff done and better myself.

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