#personal devotion

It’s so easy to treat God as our personal servant or butler; as someone we call on when we need something, and then ignore when once we get it. But that is not how God designed our relationship with Him to be. Our relationship with God is meant to be personal, intimate, and full of love for Him. He desires to be our Father, the first love of our hearts. This is much deeper than most of us are willing to go, but for those who are, He promises a life fuller with His grace and mercy, as well as an eternity with Him in the next life.

If you start to view God as someone to go to into when you need something, rather than the lover of your soul, then it may be time to examine your heart, and what exactly it’s filled with. Your heart is meant to belong to the Lord first and foremost, desiring only what is in His will and what is pleasing to Him. Treating God as your servant, rather than viewing yourself as His, is a sign that you aren’t fully giving yourself away to God as Jesus commands us. Rather, your heart is filled with the things of this world, honoring God with your lips rather than your heart.

If this sounds like you and your current spiritual situation, it’s time to return to your first love. Scripture says that today is the day of salvation, now is the time to give your life to the Lord. Tomorrow is never guaranteed, and we are called to make the most of our time because the days are evil. So I urge you, give your entire heart God, because He has given all of His to you in Christ Jesus.

an epithet is another name for a god or goddess that shows a specific part of who they are.

Aphrodite has many names, or epithets, each highlighting a different aspect of her energy. you can choose one that resonates with you, or rotate through a few depending on what you want to call her for that day.

for example:

i’m a curly-haired girl, and sometimes i carry a lot of insecurity with my hair.

so i call to Aphrodite Eratoplocamus when i brush, style, or care for my hair. (“she who has lovely locks of hair”)

connecting with her this way is purposeful, she knows exactly what i am calling her for.

my hair care becomes a devotion. a prayer. an offering.

you can find epithets that reflect:

— your body, hair, or appearance

— love, desire, or beauty

— the sea, roses, or nature

— any part of life you want her to bless

Article by Eirynth Vinterdóttir Abstract Norse Paganism, rooted in the Eddas and sagas, weaves a profound cosmology of gods, giants, and ancestral fates into living spiritual practice. This article delves into its mythic architecture, ritual mechanics, runic esoterica, and modern revival, emphasizing personal experiential gnosis as the heart of Heathen devotion. Through scholarly synthesis and…

This verse speaks deeply to the heavy burdens I’ve been carrying. Despite being a Christian and knowing God’s promises, the mental and emotional weight I feel is overwhelming. Grieving, battling low self-esteem, and feeling left behind in life often leave me crying at night. During the day, I wear a mask, pretending I’m okay, but inside, I feel like everything is slowly eating away at me.

In John 8, Jesus speaks of true freedom to the Jews who believed in Him, saying, “If the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed” (John 8:36). The context of this statement is profound: Jesus was teaching that freedom is not merely political or physical but spiritual. The people thought they were already free because they were descendants of Abraham, but Jesus pointed out that sin enslaves us, and only He can break that bondage. This freedom extends to every area of life, including the emotional and mental burdens we carry.

Reflecting on this passage reminds me that I cannot free myself from the burdens of grief, insecurity, and doubt. Only Jesus has the power to release me from the chains of pain and fear that weigh me down. He understands my struggles even better than I do and invites me to bring them to Him.

This verse also encourages me to believe that God doesn’t waste pain. He promises to use even my brokenness to strengthen me for the future. While I don’t always see it in the moment, I am reminded to trust Him and rely on the freedom and healing that only He can provide.

a maiden, a very tall and confident woman, with an undiscernible face, dressed in Her hunting tunic and that dawns a golden bow and arrows. She often crosses Her arms, standing broad and athletic, watching over me from Her height. She is stern yet caring, amused yet reprimanding, generous yet knows how to tell me if i make mistakes.

but also — a beast. from time to time, i felt like i was looking right into the eyes of a huge and wild animal, one that has no intentions of harming me. one that looks at me with the knowledge of the woods, the wild, the forest. one that is ready to both protect me and to reprimand me. i can’t see its body. only its eyes, which glow like the candles on my altar. i do not feel threatened; in fact, i felt mesmerized and safe.

slipping languidly beneath the waves, feeling the boundaries of your self fade away

It's all given away in the eyes

one look and everyone knows how ready I am to let go

I want to contain a feeling bigger than me and if that means letting out the seams a bit so be it

Day 4: Favorite Myth

There are no surviving myths, or even written documents, concerning Cernunnos. We only know His name from the one written source, the Pillar of the Boatmen, which has an image of a man’s head with antlers and the single word “[C]ernunnos”. 

This is Not A Lot.

In fact, it is an underwhelming, overwhelming, intimidating lack of information, myth, description. Conflation with other Gods and Spirits and Beings gives possible myths: The Wild Hunt, various and sundry myths of Pan and Dionysos, Wiccan myths and stories about the Hunter/Father/King, but nothing certain. Coming as I do from Roman Catholicism, where there are stories and set rituals, liturgy and rules, this absence of instruction or precedent is terrifying. It sparks in me a benign jealousy of Hellenism, for example. And while I am a Heathen and also worship Norse deities, who have their own sets of myths where I sometimes see Cernunnos fitting in, the lack of material on my God is disheartening...

...and so very, very apt. Cernunnos is liminal. He is Hard To Know. He is Hidden in the Forest and in Our Wild Selves. It is through dedication and practice and reverence and acceptance, or rather acknowledgement, of Unknowing that we can Know Him.

That said, I do associate Him with His own Wild Hunt. And I’ll end with a description of how I See Him.