#devotion journal

Dedication: to Athena, my patron

Devotional journals are tools used to compile information about a deity (not necessarily a patron deity) and become closer to them. They can be physical or digital and there are pros and cons to each, but it’s really about what works best for you. This is to give you some ideas of what you can add to them.

You can add titles, epithets, names, and aspects of the deity. You can add things like the various translations of their names, similar deities, and specific names and epithets for specific aspects of the deity.

You could also add their family or other relationships with deities, like flings/romances, marriage, siblings, cousins, syncretism, overlap, and so forth.

Another idea is to research the deity and their historical worship (or lack thereof) and the sources that you found certain information in. You can add unverified personal gnosis (UPG) if it’s something that resonates with you and how you perceive the deity.

Connected to these, you can also list their domains, jobs, and things they’ve created. Some people who have devotional journals also add a section for offerings, sacred things, signs, and so forth.

Hymns, invocations, prayers, petitions, poetry, and quotes are often added to devotional journals by people who lean more into the writing side. You could also write letters or journal entries to your deity to tell them about your day or what’s been bothering you lately.

More artistically inclined people will make or add aesthetic boards or mood boards, art, sigils, pictures, and symbols to their devotional journal that remind them of their deity.

I took some time today, throughout the chaos, to pause. I stopped what I was doing and went on a walk to enjoy the sunshine, which had not been seen in a few weeks.

It was healing, to walk through the flattened corn field, and hear the gentle crunch of the dried husks beneath my feet.

I found myself at a small pond; guided there by the sounds of birds and frogs. So I sat by the edge and took everything in. Multiple nests could be found - each starting a new family. They were silent and still when I first arrived, but quickly went back to their business when they realized I meant no harm.

I invited Áine and Brigid into this beautiful space. It needed to be shared. In return, I was asked to tilt my head to the sun. I absorbed its warm rays, finally getting some vitamin D after many weeks of staying indoors.

A few pages from my devotion journal