#beginner deity work

If you don’t work with your body and see how it responds to things, how will you know whether or not a Deity is trying to communicate with you if you can’t figure out whether another human is attacking you or not? Especially online when I see several people act as though they have been absolutely scorned by the wicked people on here just because they doubt who they think they are.

Don’t you think if you were actually far enough along to claim the role of priestess/priest or spouse, you wouldn’t care whether or not someone on Tumblr thinks you are or not? You shouldn’t feel the need to shove it in everyone’s faces because you feel like you need to prove something to people.

I can tell you right now that people will know who you are without you needing to tell them if those two things are legitimate. The Gods make things absolutely and irrefutably clear when They lay claim on someone like that. Even those who don’t know the Gods can tell who you are without you even needing to say so.

It is primal human instinct when a God’s energy surrounds someone or something that demands a sort of response to that effect. It then becomes a chain reaction of events that spiral down until something else comes to light as a result of people’s nervous system perceiving the Deity around something or someone else. You don’t really have to prove anything if that was the case - it just happens naturally on its own without the person needing to tell people that’s the case.

All in all, when properly manifested, the Gods become extremely obvious and unquestionably real for humans when They can or want to be. Otherwise, you’re too closed off to tell Who it is that is contacting you let alone that you’re a priestess or spouse. You would need to do a bit more work with your nervous system regulation before you can start touting that you have any executive role as a priestess or spouse - or let alone claiming enough that you’re contacting said Deity in the first place.

What you perceive as energy is a response of your nervous system. Same reason you may get chills while listening to music or cry without realizing it. The Gods’ energy is the same way. That is why Eastern religions and practices all involve different physical and mental activities that are meant to calm and regulate the nervous system to be closer to the Divine (I.e. yoga, meditation, trance-like movement or dance).

Most people in our society do not have regulated nervous systems. In fact, I’d say the majority of Western culture has built up enough of a culture that it is completely rewired to be naturally deregulated given the advent of technology, transportation, and all the things that make your body respond in more hyper-aware states.

Coming into Deity work, it is a given that you are also unregulated regardless of how much trauma you have worked through unless you have also gone through excessive and rigorous work that regulated your nervous system in the first place. These people tend to have an easier time hearing and perceiving the Gods, not because they’re special, but because they’re more in tune with themselves enough. That is the base level.

Once you start venturing into more advanced territory, a certain kind of rewiring takes place that builds up that core foundation. Essentially, once you perceive the Deity, They also activate more of a nervous system response because the moment you attribute that to Them, They are able to manifest more properly and you can more easily determine at the very least What is contacting you and perhaps even Who while you’re at it.

The further along you go, the more the Deity manifests and responds to you, the more you yourself have to adapt to Them and They to you. This can take a lot of time in this day and age. Until you’re properly adapted to be able to sense when a Deity is around regardless of what you’re doing. Whether you’re at work or doing a meditation session, the Deity will likely try to do anything They can to get through to you in whatever way They can. Even if it is just a moment where you let down your defenses enough for Them to be able to throw in a word or two or three. This on its own is not enough for Them to build a relationship with you as it takes too much effort and labor for Them to have to fight tooth and nail with your anxiety or fear or other cognitive functions that work against Their very essence.

Otherwise, this is the reason it takes years - not months or days - of training in order to become a priest/priestess. It can take even longer to become a Spouse because that actually takes a sort of death/rebirth, literal sickness and health, and you must be fully aligned with the Deity to be able to have your nervous system agree with Them long enough that They can be with you all of the time (thus the word marriage), rather than just on a random Tuesday that you’re aware of having Them near enough again.

A Spouse is essentially a permanently wired vessel for the Deity’s energy to live in. Not all Deities want vessels let alone to be chained to a human for the rest of the human lifespan and beyond. I’d say most Deities don’t want that, and, if They did, that’s an awful lot of work to have dozens of people say that They are married to them. At the same time, for the human, you will never function at a normal human capacity again until your time on this earth has finished. The people who go into this want this because they cannot exist without it being so as it is extremely harmful for them to not.

There is no undoing this kind of rewiring - once it is done, it is finished. The human wouldn’t be able to survive being separated for the Deity because the Deity essentially makes a home within the human that is a permanent residence. Like a living shrine. Taking that away for any reason would be unspeakable to both parties. Not to mention the level of boundaries, communication, and endurance both sides need to have in order to maintain a healthy relationship.

(You don’t have to answer all of these, I love you’re posts and take yourself seriously, you’re really important!!)

Why thank you! I appreciate your kind words.

These questions are very difficult to give simple answers, and honestly I don’t know if I can.

I can definitely tell you my experience and theories on deity worship, but speaking for what is the “right” way to anything is very subjective depending upon what your personal practice will look like.

Here’s my personal take on beginner Deity worship.

Firstly, a disclaimer, this applies to OPEN practices / deities. Working with closed practices is not only disrespectful to the community, culture, and tradition of that practice but incredibly disrespectful to the deities and spirits.

Okay now to break it down!

Finding a Deity

The biggest thing to ask yourself when starting deity work is “why?”.

What are you looking for?

Why is a deity necessary?

Once you can address these there’s definitely a direction for a specific deity as a result. Is there a particular open practice you’ve been drawn to? If so, definitely try to grow friendly with it. You don’t need to be an expert, but you should be able to answer the following questions.

Can you guarantee that it is an open practice?

Country of origin and timeframe.

Monotheistic or Polytheistic religion?

Do you have at least three reliable sources to reference if you need to find more information? (Avoid sources of those who are racist, antisemitic, etc. It’s sadly common.)

When beginning remember you have a team already that may have deities but more likely there are guardians, ancestors, and guides. Always ask for protection and approval when beginning to work with a deity so you are aimed in the right direction.

A portion of everything you do with deities is faith, trusting in something that is unproven.

Ultimately though “choosing” a deity is intuitive. What feels right?

How to “speak” to Deities

This is done using divination. Basically there are tools like tarot, bones, dice, and several other ways to communicate with deities but it’s a learning process that can take a bit. Can’t afford a tarot deck? Labyrinthos is a free app that teaches you tarot, lets you pull cards that have their meanings shown with the cards, and save readings. (Yes it pulls reversals.)

I personally don’t think anyone needs any “special abilities” in order to do divination, mainly because we all have intuition, but you definitely need to learn how to use the tools.

Always protect yourself when you’re divining. Only invite beings with good intentions for you within your space (“circle”) and dismiss their energy when you’re done.

Signs

Signs from deities can be things associated with them but several deities can have similar signs. For example Athena and Loki can use spiders as signs. You can ask for specific signs when you pray once you have your suspicions.

The best way to know it’s a sign is reoccurrence. Once is an instance, twice is a coincidence, three times is a sign. Use your divination to confirm the signs and who they’re from. There’s nothing wrong with getting a confirmation from someone who has open readings to confirm if you’re not confident enough to do it. Please pay them accordingly for their time and effort.

Once you’ve either chosen a deity or have one you suspect is interested, pray.

It sounds incredibly simple but that’s the best way to start. Remember it’s faith, putting your trust in something unproven.

You don’t NEED an altar, it was a false belief I had that really prevented me from starting. You ultimately don’t need anything besides yourself and a divination tool. I highly recommend a journal to keep track of your relationship, and a special location that you associate with prayer so it becomes easier to get into the proper headspace. Other recommendations include showering before divining, spraying perfume, playing non distracting music, or anything that helps you feel connected to yourself.

Some might ask about trickster spirits impersonating a deity. I personally don’t think that happens. If anything I think sometimes people think a deity is one when really it was another. We’re human, we mess up, they understand. If anything deities have a sense of humor and might impersonate each other but that’s very uncommon when you are just starting.

Otherwise be patient with yourself. If it is meant to be, it will happen. All relationships with deities are different per person, you may share some experiences and you might have unique experiences. Some don’t end up working with deities, some do for a time then change their mind, both are just as valid.

Thank you for trusting me with your questions but I am definitely not an “expert” and everything I told you should be treated as just one take on a very subjective topic.

My biggest advice? Respect them, but don’t fear them. They’re gods, yes, but they enjoy being worshiped with love. Not because you have to but because you want to. They’re patient, understanding, caring, and loving.

The reason that I write on this blog is mostly because I’m trying to gain traction with my own ideas to eventually write a beginner-level book about Deity work. Unfortunately, as noble of a cause that this is, I am still working through figuring out and remembering what it was like to work with Deities at the beginning and what I would have wanted my sources to provide given the proper context and knowledge I have now.

My AuDHD brain also doesn’t know the difference between cause and effect sometimes so what I think happens now for me as an advanced practitioner is the way that this has always been even when it’s different and has been different. The ridiculousness of object permanence issues and memory issues and all of that nonsense that happens on the daily for me which can leave significant blindspots when trying to appeal to a broader spectrum of people.

Needless to say, I am looking for people’s opinions on what they would have liked to see in beginner-level pagan texts that they didn’t get and would have found to be helpful when pursuing a devotional relationship with a Deity. This request doesn’t have to be for people who were previously a beginner and feel as though they have progressed now. You can also be a beginner and give me ideas.

Also, as a disclaimer, I work strictly with the Norse pantheon. The principles that I have with Deity work may or may not apply to your pantheon given cultural and practical differences. The book I’m writing is not going to be applicable to all pantheons, just the Norse. This doesn’t limit the type of people I’d like to hear from, just informs me to how the Norse gods might differ.

Regardless of who you are, other people’s perspectives, even when I don’t agree with them, give me inspiration to form ideas and ask more questions of my Deities and myself so I can get a bigger picture of the nuances.

So this is my invitation to submit ideas to me and thoughts about working with the Gods and what kinds of resources you think would better inform your practice.

Examples of ideas:

- How different processes could be presented (giving offerings, etc.)

- What you think pagan resources and authors could do better to help those who are not neurotypical.

- What you wish you knew at the beginning of your practice

- What you wish you know now that you can’t find any reasonable information for

- Anything else you don’t see talked about enough either online or otherwise that would be helpful for those starting out.

This post is going to be delving into the things that we can expect from the Divine at the beginning of our relationships and what we can do to prevent miscommunication and misjudgment. 

There is a kind of desperation that is felt when most people start working with Deities. It becomes a novelty in this day and age and we get excited – and we should be excited. This sort of work is nothing short of amazing and beautiful. The Divine being among us is a cause for celebration and joy rather than to be mocked and disgraced. However, this does leave room for error and I will get to that in a moment.

The stigma around working with a Deity seems to change depending on who you are talking to and what circles you run in. We tend to both have a lot more control where it comes to the Divine than we think we do and also a lot less control in other places where we don’t realize. It equals itself in every dynamic you have with a Deity, but it won’t ever be such that you know everything there is to know about Them. 

You can read the rest of this post here:

Spiritual and “mundane” life are not two separate things. If this is not apparent, it tends to become an escape mechanism rather than something that is found to be real and palpable.

If it’s an escape, you can use it to justify why you do certain things that are harmful to you. You might believe your Gods support you in whatever you do no matter what even if it’s used to destroy yourself and your sanity.

You may have already started to think “oh, this isn’t me” but take a look closer.

Do you hold the Gods away from your life? Is there stuff you don’t like Them to see? Did stuff happen to you that made you feel like there is no purpose in life or that you’re scared to trust in the beyond? If the answer is “yes” you could be using spirituality as an escape. And here’s why:

You can read the rest of it here: