Finding Your Deity
Some tips about this and further reading
Coloring page by me, depicting the Norse god Odin
Some days ago, I got asked by a newbie in the witchcraft/pagan/occult/magick community how one can find their deity. That got me thinking. In this blog, I am quoting some other people from the community or link to their content. At the end of this blog, there are some footnotes, followed by recommendable furter reading.
Here is what I wrote to the newbie:
First, I'd like to say, this is mostly a very individual experience, everyone experiences this search and forming a relationship with a deity in a different way. So there is no “one size fits all”.
There are several interesting videos on YouTube about this.
I can recommend these, both are not long:
”How I Found my Deities║Witchcraft” by Hearth Witch
“Let's talk: Signs || How to tell if a deity is reaching out to you” by The Norse Witch:
Kelly-Ann Maddox has a whole playlist for this topic, for instance the videos "Finding and bonding with deity" and "Confused About Working With Deity?! Troubleshooting and Inspiration"
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLH1DuMfxSE8jF_l9PFbe7wm0gQQzTSLR-
Some basic tipps
Ask yourself the following - you can also write this down, if you like and find answers to it.
Do you need to work with a deity?
Why do you want to do this? What is your motivation?
What are topics in your life or other fields of interests that would benefit from working with/worshipping/venerating a deity? Are there any?
Is there any deity who interests you especially?
If the latter is the case, read more about Them, research them. Maybe then you will feel "called" … or maybe not.
By the way, you do not need to wait until a deity "calls" you or reaches out to you. You can reach out to them, too to try to find out more. You can also ask the deity to send you a sign in your everyday life or to come to you in a dream, if They are interested to form a relationship with you/work with you or how you want to call it.
How to communicate with deities
Many people use forms of divination to communicate indirectly with deities. If you like the Tarot or Oracle cards, you could use them to find out more about a deity and what They are (maybe) trying to tell or show you. Other methods of divination, like scrying, runes, a pendulum or else can of course be used too.
photo: Mira Cosic, Pixabay
And more …
There are lots of different ways to view divine beings. Let’s focus on the ones most common in paganism.
Pantheism
»Pantheism is the belief that reality, the universe and the cosmos are identical with divinity and a supreme supernatural being or entity, pointing to the universe as being an immanent creator deity still expanding and creating, which has existed since the beginning of time, or that all things compose an all-encompassing, immanent god or goddess and regards the universe as a manifestation of a deity. This includes all astronomical objects being viewed as part of a sole deity.« (1)
Hard or Soft Polytheism?
Megan Black has written a good blog about this:
https://roundthecauldron.com/2022/01/19/hard-polytheism-and-soft-polytheism-whats-the-difference/
I recommend to read her blog and think about what resonates more with you. You can think about this for a while or try to find your answer intuitively. Or maybe Pantheism resonates even more with you?
Discernment
Quoting from another blog of mine: »But let’s talk about discernment for a while. If you have an UPG [unverified personal gnosis, for instance an experience with a deity], how can you be sure it is not something you have made up on your own? A fantasy? An ego-trip?
One way is to ask the respective deity for a clear sign in your everyday life. (Bente, »The Norse Witch« talked about this in one of their videos on YouTube.) I have tried that and it worked well.
Find like-minded people, other devotees of your deity. If they feel comfortable sharing some of their experiences with the deity, you may discover similarities. Which could lead to shared personal gnosis. On the other hand, some experiences may be quite different from your own.« (2)
Some people are scared that they might attract some sort of trickster demon who pretends to be a deity, when they reach out to divine beings. Is that common? In her video »Deity Work is Dangerous.. Should You Really Fear the Gods?« (3), Kelly Ann Maddox says, it’s not a strong consensus in the community that such things happen often and pose a real threat to devotees.
I agree with this. I have read lots of witchcraft/pagan books over the past few years and hundreds of texts in social media, blogs and more, many of which about working with deities, getting to know deities etc. I have not once read anything by someone who got into contact with a nasty demon who tried to ruin their lifes in the mask of a deity. I am not saying this never happens, but I am quite sure it is extremely rare.
Working with? Praying?
Several pagans I know say that they “work with” deities, instead of worshipping or venerating them. This is a personal choice and it depends very much on the relationship you form with a deity. What terms you use for describing this relationship is completely up to you and the deity. Some people are uncomfortable with the term “prayer”, for instance when they used to be in an oppressive religious community or cult or have bad memories about praying for other reasons. In that case, use a term that feels good for you. Or maybe praying is not your main focus when you work with your deity and you feel more drawn to other activities. That is fine, too.
Patron/Matron Deities?
Some pagans wish to have a patron/matron deity. This means that they form a very deep bond to the specific deity. This depends a bit on the tradition you follow. In some, this is highly recommended. In Heathenry/Norse paganism, many people also take an oath to a specific deity. Personally, I think if you are just starting out on this path, you should leave this question for later. It’s more recommendable to form a relationship with a deity and see where that leads you and then decide later about a deeper bond by oath or other means.
Research
If you want to read books about a specific deity, I have created a list with books about pagan deities and other spiritual entities (mainly Norse, Greek, Roman, Egyptian). The link leads to a google doc: https://bit.ly/books_pagan_deities
I wish you all the best for finding and working with/worshipping your deity.
Footnotes
(1) quoted from: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pantheism
(2)
(3)
at 16:47 »Is it common for nasty spirits to pretend to be gods?«
Recommendable reading
“Paganism for Beginners - Controversies” by Yvonne Aburrow.
https://www.patheos.com/blogs/sermonsfromthemound/2015/07/paganism-for-beginners-controversies/
“Worshipping Gods from different Pantheons” by John Beckett
https://www.patheos.com/blogs/johnbeckett/2022/01/worshipping-gods-from-different-pantheons.html
"Mix-n-Match Deities: History & Insights" by Jason Mankey
https://www.patheos.com/blogs/panmankey/2021/02/mix-n-match-deities-history-insights/
"Sorry, No. Goddess Worship Won’t Solve the World’s Problems (And it’s Kinda Sexist, Too)." by Courtney Weber
https://www.patheos.com/blogs/doubletoilandresist/2019/02/goddessworship/
“The Greatest Offerings to a Deity” by Mat Auryn
https://www.patheos.com/blogs/matauryn/2020/08/03/greatest-offering-to-a-deity/
“The Gods call Who They Call” by John Beckett
https://www.patheos.com/blogs/johnbeckett/2019/07/the-gods-call-who-they-call.html
“When Gods want to talk” Part One and Two by Lodestonewytch:
https://lodestonewytch.wordpress.com/2019/10/26/when-gods-want-to-talk-part-one/
https://lodestonewytch.wordpress.com/2019/11/14/when-gods-want-to-talk-part-2/
"DNA is Not Religion and UPG Can Be Misinterpreted" by John Beckett
https://www.patheos.com/blogs/johnbeckett/2019/11/dna-is-not-religion-and-upg-can-be-misinterpreted.html
© Andrea Grünbaum