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Author Topic: Finding a goddess to worship?  (Read 2031 times)

UrsaJune

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Finding a goddess to worship?
« on: January 28, 2017, 10:26:42 am »
On my new path to find a religion that suits me I know one thing for sure I want to worship deity. Preferably a goddess, someone who is connected to nature.

I have so many questions though.  I have heard of guided meditation can help you find  a deity but how do I know who it is and when they are there? Will I just know or is there something I should be looking out for, maybe a feeling?  I know everyone's experience is different but I would like to know where to start so maybe if someone can give me their experience I could know what I'm looking out for?

Also there are so many deities and Pantheons so I have a hard time with my research. I thought I was drawn to the Celtic Pantheon but  now I feel like I might have interest in the Greek pantheon but I have read the Percy Jackson series and I feel like that has clouded my judgment and view on the Greek gods and goddesses. Is there anyone who could clarify the Greek pantheon for me and what they're really like?

 Also no matter how much  research I do I cannot seem to get any clarity on the whole triple goddess thing I know there are multiple triple goddesses and each goddess has a different role but beyond that I don't know much and it doesn't make any sense so if anyone could clarify that for me that would be great

On a slightly different note is there any place I should go to find guided meditation  like YouTube or maybe some kind of other place?  I don't know much about meditation to begin with so if anyone could give me some pointers that would be very helpful?

Thank you for your time.

Sorcha

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Re: Finding a goddess to worship?
« Reply #1 on: January 28, 2017, 10:44:15 am »
Quote from: JuniperLennah;201984
On my new path to find a religion that suits me I know one thing for sure I want to worship deity. Preferably a goddess, someone who is connected to nature.

I have so many questions though.  I have heard of guided meditation can help you find  a deity but how do I know who it is and when they are there? Will I just know or is there something I should be looking out for, maybe a feeling?  I know everyone's experience is different but I would like to know where to start so maybe if someone can give me their experience I could know what I'm looking out for?

Also there are so many deities and Pantheons so I have a hard time with my research. I thought I was drawn to the Celtic Pantheon but  now I feel like I might have interest in the Greek pantheon but I have read the Percy Jackson series and I feel like that has clouded my judgment and view on the Greek gods and goddesses. Is there anyone who could clarify the Greek pantheon for me and what they're really like?

 Also no matter how much  research I do I cannot seem to get any clarity on the whole triple goddess thing I know there are multiple triple goddesses and each goddess has a different role but beyond that I don't know much and it doesn't make any sense so if anyone could clarify that for me that would be great

On a slightly different note is there any place I should go to find guided meditation  like YouTube or maybe some kind of other place?  I don't know much about meditation to begin with so if anyone could give me some pointers that would be very helpful?

Thank you for your time.

 
Re: triple goddesses

The most common way to explain the triple goddess is a goddess with three "aspects", usually the maiden, mother, and crone. I don't personally worship a triple goddess, although the goddesses I do worship could certainly embody these aspects (Cerridwen first popped up in meditation as a crone, but she's usually a mother. Why I experienced her differently, I don't know). The triple goddess is often depicted as the waxing, full, and waning moon, and moon imagery is often important in triple goddess worship.

I think you'll realize as you research more that while triple goddesses did exist, they're not nearly as common as some people would have you believe, and dealing with the triple aspect is certainly not a necessity.

My strong recommendation is to read about some of the major goddesses that people honor: mine are Brigid (who has many forms and manifestations) and Cerridwen, if you want to start there. Read books. The Book of Celtic Magic helped me a lot in figuring out which deities I wanted to honor.

My path is druidry/Celtic spirituality, and that may not end up being yours, but one thing that I found interesting was a meditation in which you visualize being in a forest and ask for a guide to come help you. The guide may or may not pop up the first time, and they may or may not tell you who they are. They may not materialize in your mediation, but you might get some clarity on what sort of goddess you're looking for. Cerridwen came to me as a crone goddess stirring a cauldron; I read about her a couple days later in one of my books and was like "oh......."

As to what sort of goddess might be calling to you, what are you looking for? A guide? A powerful patron? A gentle mother? A goddess of healing? Magic? A goddess to teach you acceptance or to stir you to action? Perhaps write down what exactly draws you to the idea of goddess worship and meditate on that.

Just remember there's no wrong way, and everyone figures it out differently.

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Re: Finding a goddess to worship?
« Reply #2 on: January 28, 2017, 02:01:58 pm »
Quote from: JuniperLennah;201984
Also no matter how much  research I do I cannot seem to get any clarity on the whole triple goddess thing I know there are multiple triple goddesses and each goddess has a different role but beyond that I don't know much and it doesn't make any sense so if anyone could clarify that for me that would be great

 
The "triple goddess thing" as commonly described - a lunar power with maiden/mother/crone aspects - is 100% modern invention, constructed by Robert Graves and later popularised.  You will find no ancient goddesses who fill that bill.  You may indeed find ancient triple forms, which do exist, but they do not have those traits; their triplicity is not based on the use status of the presumed uterus, they are not lunar, etc.

As to how to find a power to venerate or worship, there are a couple of different ways of going at that.

  • Find a theological structure or set of practices that are sustaining to you, and look to the powers, gods, spirits, or whatever who are part of that structure;
  • Look at the entire rolodex of gods out there (or the smaller sets of pantheons you find personally intriguing for whatever reason) and see if you can find one that has the traits you're looking for, while keeping in mind that this is a rolodex search, and people, including divine people, can't be ordered off a menu and you may not find what you want;
  • Pursue a personal mystical discipline, seeking a personal connection with someone/something, and work from what you find, which may or may not be what you thought you were looking for.


I list those in what I consider a roughly descending order of practicality for someone starting from scratch.  It is a whole lot easier to test "all" (in scare quotes because there are arbitrarily many everything) possible systems and see what helps sustain and support you, and then look within those structures for particular powers to honor, than it is to go through every god or goddess out there (especially since one can find that within systems the powers are a lot more complicated than 'god of X' lists would lead you to believe); it's a lot easier to find a god or goddess to venerate and who suits what you want to honor and build from there than it is to develop a viable mystical practice that produces a clear, identifiable relationship.

Now, very few people are starting from scratch: people have vague impressions of a Power that they're trying to chase down all the time, or pick a name or three from the rolodex that seem right for whatever reason and go from there.  At the same time I know that I made absolutely zero progress on my mystical wibbling or my rolodexing before I found a system that worked and said, "Okay, are you in that system or not?  I guess I'm going to dig and see if I find a match."
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Re: Finding a goddess to worship?
« Reply #3 on: January 28, 2017, 02:48:19 pm »
Quote from: JuniperLennah;201984

I have so many questions though.  I have heard of guided meditation can help you find  a deity but how do I know who it is and when they are there? Will I just know or is there something I should be looking out for, maybe a feeling?


Both Sorcha and Darkhawk have some great advice.

That's one method of exploring possible deity interactions. As Sorcha says, a common approach is a meditation where you move into a space in the meditation with intentions of meeting a deity or guide. This doesn't commit you to anything, just like you could meet someone at a coffee shop to talk about a project or a job or whatever.

That works for some people. Darkhawk's post does a great job of pointing out that's not the only way.

Some people do research, and read, and think, and sort out a deity they'd like to honour without that. Sometimes this is a deity that's related to what they do for a job, or what they value or a thing that's a big part of their life.

(And historically, some deities were associated with different places, or different stages of life, or different needs, so people in many cultures might honour a deity for a period of time, or because they lived in that city, or whatever, and then if that thing changed, they might focus on honouring a different deity.)

A lot of people have more than one thing: I have a long-term relationship with one particular deity who showed up in part due to one of those 'meet a deity' meditations (though I'd already had a dream about her at that point), but I also have ongoing interactions with about half a dozen other deities for different reasons, most of which are more "This is a thing you care about, this is a thing I care about here, can we do a thing together?"

That's the same way I have a few really close friends, but I also have people in my life I do only some specific things with, or only see and talk to occasionally (but like when we get the chance), and some people like my doctor who I like but who I only see when I need to see my doctor.

You might find a couple of pages on my website useful (and other parts might be useful for other questions you have). Specifically, the Relationships with deities, Learning about a deity, and Deepening interactions with a deity.)

Quote
Is there anyone who could clarify the Greek pantheon for me and what they're really like?


One of the things to remember about Greek deities is that they have very strong personalities. The Greeks didn't see their deities as perfect - they have flaws, they do selfish things not in their best long-term interests sometimes.

Greece is one of the cultures I mentioned where it was pretty common for people to focus on a few deities most relevant to them and be polite to the others, but it's also good to remember that a lot of the material we have about what people in ancient Greek thought about religion comes mostly from one city (Athens, but we know people did things differently other places.)

There's a great website called Theoi.com which has a huge amount of information, including references from surviving texts about the Greek deities. It can be a little overwhelming if you don't know anything about them to start, but it's a great source of information.

If you want something a little more general, I'd suggest asking your local library for a good general mythology book, rather than looking for something from within the Pagan community to start. You'll get a good range of stories without some of the oversimplification a lot of "Here's a paragraph about X deity" gets into.

Quote
Also no matter how much  research I do I cannot seem to get any clarity on the whole triple goddess thing I know there are multiple triple goddesses and each goddess has a different role but beyond that I don't know much and it doesn't make any sense so if anyone could clarify that for me that would be great


Sorcha gave you a great overview. Honestly, it's a thing that comes up a lot in books, but where tons of people don' use that model or find it useful. If you do (and especially if you're aware of some of the issues with simplification about deities and their roles) then great! If it doesn't work for you, that's fine too.

If you're interested in exploring the idea a bit more, there's a book that just came out from Lasara Firefox, called Jailbreaking the Goddess which uses a five-goddess model, and which has some great questions about different kinds of roles and mindsets and approaches, and how that might play into deity work.

Quote

On a slightly different note is there any place I should go to find guided meditation  like YouTube or maybe some kind of other place?  I don't know much about meditation to begin with so if anyone could give me some pointers that would be very helpful?

 
My favourite resource on meditation is a book by Diana Paxson called Trance-Portation (sort of silly title, but lots of great material.) She includes a meditaton of the 'find a being who would be willing to help you' type, and also has advice on other meditations, how to do trance work in general, etc.

I've also got some information (and an example meditation that isn't for that, but would give you an idea how to structure one) on my website.
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UrsaJune

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Re: Finding a goddess to worship?
« Reply #4 on: January 28, 2017, 06:53:56 pm »
Quote from: JuniperLennah;201984

Thank you for your time.

 

Thank you for your guys's help. Its very appreciated. Sorry if I did the quoting thing wrong, havnt gotten the hang out of it yet.

troll maiden

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Re: Finding a goddess to worship?
« Reply #5 on: January 29, 2017, 04:24:53 pm »
Quote from: JuniperLennah;201984
Also there are so many deities and Pantheons so I have a hard time with my research. I thought I was drawn to the Celtic Pantheon but  now I feel like I might have interest in the Greek pantheon but I have read the Percy Jackson series and I feel like that has clouded my judgment and view on the Greek gods and goddesses. Is there anyone who could clarify the Greek pantheon for me and what they're really like?


There's so many pantheons, it can seem really daunting. Do you have a journel? If not, I thoroughly recommend keeping one. If you're interested in the Greek pantheon I totally suggest reading The Greek and Roman Myths by Philip Matyszak. My only niggle being that Mr Matyszak neglects to mention the agricultural aspect of Ares. But other than that, it's very informative. Not too heavy either.

The deities I work with are: Demeter, Athena, Apollo and Dionysus. Demeter is the mother hen of the group, but She can be fierce. Athena is quite calm and level headed. She encourages me to pick my battles, and to stay silent when necessary. Apollo is trickier to explain. But He's there to pray to whenever I feel overwhelmed. Last but not least, Dionysus. He's the crass, sassy friend who's always telling me to lighten up. ;)

Of course everyone's experiences will be vastly different.

This was probably a load of waffle but hopefully it was somewhat useful.

Sorcha

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Re: Finding a goddess to worship?
« Reply #6 on: January 29, 2017, 07:53:03 pm »
Quote from: troll maiden;202047
There's so many pantheons, it can seem really daunting. Do you have a journel? If not, I thoroughly recommend keeping one. If you're interested in the Greek pantheon I totally suggest reading The Greek and Roman Myths by Philip Matyszak. My only niggle being that Mr Matyszak neglects to mention the agricultural aspect of Ares. But other than that, it's very informative. Not too heavy either.

The deities I work with are: Demeter, Athena, Apollo and Dionysus. Demeter is the mother hen of the group, but She can be fierce. Athena is quite calm and level headed. She encourages me to pick my battles, and to stay silent when necessary. Apollo is trickier to explain. But He's there to pray to whenever I feel overwhelmed. Last but not least, Dionysus. He's the crass, sassy friend who's always telling me to lighten up. ;)

Of course everyone's experiences will be vastly different.

This was probably a load of waffle but hopefully it was somewhat useful.

 
I've found journaling immensely helpful, although a lot of times it's just notes from my reading, copying down spells, and journaling tarot spreads. Definitely second that suggestion.


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Lumpino

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Re: Finding a goddess to worship?
« Reply #7 on: January 30, 2017, 01:20:10 am »
Quote from: JuniperLennah;201984
On my new path to find a religion that suits me I know one thing for sure I want to worship deity. Preferably a goddess, someone who is connected to nature.

I have so many questions though.  I have heard of guided meditation can help you find  a deity but how do I know who it is and when they are there? .....................
On a slightly different note is there any place I should go to find guided meditation  like YouTube or maybe some kind of other place?  I don't know much about meditation to begin with so if anyone could give me some pointers that would be very helpful?

Thank you for your time.


I think, you could try meditation about a name of a goddess. Like it done for example bhaktiyogis, see Ramakrishna and his vision of Kali (Try google).
But take it a time. In ancient Greece and Egypt was used meditation before sleep for accelerate the achievement of the vision. See magical papyri.

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Re: Finding a goddess to worship?
« Reply #8 on: January 30, 2017, 05:10:13 pm »
Quote from: troll maiden;202047
If you're interested in the Greek pantheon I totally suggest reading The Greek and Roman Myths by Philip Matyszak. My only niggle being that Mr Matyszak neglects to mention the agricultural aspect of Ares.

 
Neither does Theoi.com; are you sure you're not thinking about Mars' agricultural aspects, rather than Ares'? (If Mr Matyszak neglected to mention them for Mars, too, that's definitely a major gap, since Mars is very much an agricultural deity as well as a war deity.)

My own favorite quick reference, The Meridian Handbook of Classical Mythology by Edward Tripp (also available in hardcover as Crowell's Handbook of Classical Mythology, and in the UK as Collins Dictionary of Classical Mythology - the varying names are a matter of publisher/imprint) touches briefly on those things that hint at a possible agricultural connection for Ares, but it seems to be quite a tenuous/speculative connection.

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Re: Finding a goddess to worship?
« Reply #9 on: February 07, 2017, 01:30:19 am »
Quote from: Darkhawk;201992
The "triple goddess thing" as commonly described - a lunar power with maiden/mother/crone aspects - is 100% modern invention, constructed by Robert Graves and later popularised.  You will find no ancient goddesses who fill that bill.

While this is true, and I highly recommend this post for the succinctness and directness with which it addresses that subject, I would append it with one thing. That is, while no ancient goddess fit to it, that doesn't mean it isn't real. New gods were discovered in polytheistic Hellenistic antiquity up through the end of its existence; I don't see any reason that would necessarily stop happening. Certainly, the idea is a highly modern construction; but that does not mean--and I know this is veering into UPG and things like that--that the modernists who constructed it weren't tapping into the presence of a real goddess and just didn't know it. The construct is, on the other hand, rather coloured by their worldview and the synthesising tendency in Modernism; on the other other hand, our snapshots of Zeus, for instance, is just as much coloured by the worldview of a Classical Greek and the chauvinistic tendency in their culture.

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Re: Finding a goddess to worship?
« Reply #10 on: February 07, 2017, 01:25:33 pm »
Quote from: Louisvillian;202414
While this is true, and I highly recommend this post for the succinctness and directness with which it addresses that subject, I would append it with one thing. That is, while no ancient goddess fit to it, that doesn't mean it isn't real. New gods were discovered in polytheistic Hellenistic antiquity up through the end of its existence; I don't see any reason that would necessarily stop happening. Certainly, the idea is a highly modern construction; but that does not mean--and I know this is veering into UPG and things like that--that the modernists who constructed it weren't tapping into the presence of a real goddess and just didn't know it. The construct is, on the other hand, rather coloured by their worldview and the synthesising tendency in Modernism; on the other other hand, our snapshots of Zeus, for instance, is just as much coloured by the worldview of a Classical Greek and the chauvinistic tendency in their culture.

 
These are all good points. Frankly I think the gods could benefit from a bit of a modern take at times (the Romans were depicting their gods in modern Roman dress, not ancient pre-Roman garb). I think it's important to recognize the way the gods were seen historically because, unless, say, Zeus comes round for tea and a chat, those our our best sources for context, but if we're claiming to be having direct experience of gods, then those sources should not be our sole frame of reference.

I'm comfortable with the triple goddess as a helpful archetype; I just think it's also helpful for people new to pagan gods to understand it's not a must and they can do what resonates with them.


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troll maiden

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Re: Finding a goddess to worship?
« Reply #11 on: February 09, 2017, 11:25:57 am »
Quote from: SunflowerP;202097
Neither does Theoi.com; are you sure you're not thinking about Mars' agricultural aspects, rather than Ares'? (If Mr Matyszak neglected to mention them for Mars, too, that's definitely a major gap, since Mars is very much an agricultural deity as well as a war deity.)

My own favorite quick reference, The Meridian Handbook of Classical Mythology by Edward Tripp (also available in hardcover as Crowell's Handbook of Classical Mythology, and in the UK as Collins Dictionary of Classical Mythology - the varying names are a matter of publisher/imprint) touches briefly on those things that hint at a possible agricultural connection for Ares, but it seems to be quite a tenuous/speculative connection.

Sunflower


My mistake! I was getting the two confused. I had a re-read of the section on Ares/Mars and nope, no mention of Mars' agricultural aspect.

Ooh another book for my wishlist. That's interesting, I might have to do some more reading up about the ol' sword-swinging firebrand.

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