How did you first meet your deity/deities?

[Rhyshadow]

1. I think it's not a good idea if you go into this looking for a patron. Personal experience aside, it leaves you closed to any manner of new and wonderful opportunities if you become focused on the act of finding a god or pantheon to celebrate.

Sat speaks good here, don't go searching for that one, investigate, read, learn - but don't set your heart on one specifically

2. Sekhmet came to me (repeatedly). It took me a long time to realize she was talking to me... and by a long time, by my last calculation, I mean something in the range of ten years or more.

 
Mine wasn't quite that bad - felt like I got hit upside the head with a hammer, a little while later found the right place and went into light trance and talked.  Second one was introduced to me by the first - so They chose you, not the other way around

[Maps]

1. I think it's not a good idea if you go into this looking for a patron. Personal experience aside, it leaves you closed to any manner of new and wonderful opportunities if you become focused on the act of finding a god or pantheon to celebrate.

Enh, I disagree. Also, I think your advice--really, as with much of the advice here on TC--disregards the circumstance of and/or belief in not experiencing deity on such a microcosmic, personal level. Not everybody's going to get singled out by a god if they sit around and wait long enough (I didn't). To me, spiritual connections sometimes need to be deliberately sought; a bit like that famous quote about going after inspiration with a club.

Also, not everyone is eclectically-minded, and sticking to a particular pantheon/worldview is just what they're looking for.

Anyways, OP, just keep your options open and know there isn't any one right way to go about doing any of this. Cheers~

[SunflowerP]

Enh, I disagree. Also, I think your advice--really, as with much of the advice here on TC--disregards the circumstance of and/or belief in not experiencing deity on such a microcosmic, personal level. Not everybody's going to get singled out by a god if they sit around and wait long enough (I didn't). To me, spiritual connections sometimes need to be deliberately sought; a bit like that famous quote about going after inspiration with a club.

 
OTOH, not everyone is going to get singled out, period; some (most, really) people never do have that microcosmic, personal experience.  I'm pretty sure SatSekhem was thinking about how many people get really caught up in the (common, but false) idea that everyone gets a personal deity (with the appallingly blame-y corollary that if you don't, you're a bad pagan/person), and leave other aspects of their practice/system undeveloped.  We get quite a few novice pagans who think "find your deity" is always the first step.

IMO, neither sitting around waiting for a deity-relationship to come to (generic) you nor putting all your attention on deity-questing is the ideal approach; it's usually most productive to consider how to develop your practice/spiritual connections as a whole, with the question of deities just one of the aspects of that.

Sunflower

[SunflowerP]

OTOH, not everyone is going to get singled out, period; some (most, really) people never do have that microcosmic, personal experience.

 
And now I notice that you mentioned that yourself earlier in the thread, Maps.

Sunflower

[SunflowerP]

... so They chose you, not the other way around

 
That mostly applies to the kind of direct personal connection that not everybody will have (see above).  Even then, it's not that we have no agency or choice, it's that deities also have agency/choice, so all the offerings and petitionary prayer in the world can't make a deity enter into a personal relationship with you if s/he doesn't want to - not unlike choosing a spouse/partner.

Honoring a deity as a patron without being thwapped, OTOH, is more like joining their guild, or their fan club - you might get clear indications that the deity isn't interested in your devotions, but most often they're accepted (or there's no indication that they aren't) without any other interaction.

Sunflower

[monsnoleedra]

.. So, I was wondering how you all did it? I know some of you had the gods come up to you basically going "wassup! so, you're mine now, let's get going shall we?" but still, I'm sure all of you at some point had to decide which deity you wanted to approach and how to go about approaching them. How did you do this? Any tips for me? Please and thank you.

For me initially it was Artemis just showed up in my youth and said I was her's.  A young boy on a mountain trail and come around a bend then face to face with a deer.  Almost nose to nose and the voice that filled my head telling me I was hers.

Hekate / Hecate was somewhat similiar except for the longest I did not know who she was.  I just knew when the time was right i'd find her name and know her ever after from that point.  Took many years actually to figure out who she was and have her acknowledge who she was.  When I say many years I'm speaking in the order of 20 plus from the time I first saw her till I finally knew who she was and the many dreams, visions and encounters with her in the interveining years till then.

Bast and Pahket were quite different.  I discovered them actually from being directed by Artemis to seek south for her.  The more I sought her out the closer I came to Bast and Pahket.  I had actually left the area once known as Sparta and an encounter with Artemis Orthia and sailed to the coast of Africa when I had Bast appear to me.  I was on deck and the moon was full and bright and then it was a Cat headed woman shimmering before my eyes.  Later that day the sun was burning in teh sky at mid-day and again the shimmering image of a cat head woman.  After that Bast was in everything and anything and almost every instance of my seeking on Artemis directed me to Bast.

Months later I was seeing another cat headed woman I couldn't identify and knew she was like Bast but not Bast.  I asked Artemis to help and I was suddenly finding pages about Spiro de Artemis or the Valley of Artemis which housed the only known temple to Pahket.  While Pahket is not a very dominating or presenting goddess she is always about none the less though at times I have to look real close to seperate her from Bast.

The god I only know as the Huntsman really showed up about the same time as Hekate / Hecate first showed herself.  Very much active through the 23 years I served in the military then stepping away as I transitioned back into civilian life.  He's still he though not nearly as projecting as he once was.  Still will not tell me his name though I've tried to find out who he is thousands of times.  Yet each time he simply says no when I ask is he this or that person or god.  I know he's not Herne, I know he's not Cernunos, I know he's not Hermes, heck he's not even the Green Man nor anything like him.  So I simply call him the Huntsman and he seem's content with that though I ever seek to identify him.

Sekor is the most elusive of them all.  I saw images of him and knew he was part of a trilogy of gods (usually Sekor, Ptah and Osiris at times).  He made me think of my love of geology and working with my hands and building things.  The most ironic thing about Sekor is I actually discovered his name through the old AD&D game as I played clerics and Rangers in the game and almost everytime I had a god figure assigned it was him.

One thing I would advise is to be seeking can be the very reason you do not hear or see whomever is speaking to you.  Artemis once informed me she had been there many years though I couldn't hear her for I was to busy looking for her.  In essence I couldn't see the forest because of the tree's in my face.  I couldn't hear her because of my own conceived idea's of how I though she would speak and appear to me.  For me part of that misconception was to constanly see her as the Agrotera facet or the huntress only.  I was so sure of that and had heard so many say that was how she appeared to them that I missed the other face's she had.  Yet she sort of sorted that out by making me see as many faces of her's as possible and never again accepting just a singular apperance or looking for it.

In many ways I still hold to the idea that when one's god / goddess is ready to speak to them they shall appear or reveal themselves.  Somewhat like the old notion that when the student is ready the teacher shall arrive.

I can't answer about seeking other gods / goddesses for truthfully I was never encouraged to do so.  I had no desire to seek another out for my life was filled with Artemis and Hekate / Hecate and yes even Bast and Pahket though it took Artemis to guide me to them and recognize them.

In approaching i'd suggest you at least have an idea of which pantheon your going to deal with and research how the ancients honored and make offerings and libations to them.  Even look into not only how but also when.  For instance you'll see many make reference to Artemis getting cakes as an offering but historically I have only found one instance of that and that done every six years as a remberance of occurance that affected / effected the city.  Yes Selene had cakes offered to her frequently so some see Artemis in that as she was equated to the full moon but in most references I've found it was to Selene only.  Even Hekate / Hecate had cakes offered to her but they were more fish cakes not honey or other sweet cakes in the few instances I've found descriptions of them.

Some things are sort of natural offerings, for instance Honey is a primary offering to many of the Mediterrian area gods / goddesses.  It never spoils and lasts forever so had many equations to the longevity of the gods / goddesses themselves.  Even to the golden hue and its equation to the golden hue of the celestial gods / goddesses.  Chthonic gods / goddesses are a bit harder though honey, beans and eggs were especially associated to them and the dead.

Though none of this means that everyone has to have an identified god / goddess as a patron / matron to them.  Some will go through life and never have any singular patron / matron but may hold an attachment to an entire pantheon or segment of one.  Heck for some the right practice and manner of living is more important than any singular god / goddess within the pantheon.  As such they may never call a specific god / goddess other than for what purpose they held within the greater pantheon.  For instance using Greek one might call upon Demeter for growing and family issues, upon Hera for wifely and womanly issues, upon Artemis for pre-maritial issues and / or childbirth issues.  Granted those are all feminine facets but they are just examples.  Transportation issues over deep sea's calling upon Poseidon for instance though he is also equated to equsterian (sp) things as he is often seen with horses.  Hekate / Hecate and Artemis for shallow water issues and transportation or fishing type things as they are both equated to that area.  Hermes for the traveller as his Herne's littered the countryside and were found at cross-roads just as Hekate / Hecate's were to guide the traveller.

Hopefully this helps though in the end I think the highest truth is that one has to learn to listen and look without their pre-conceived notions or assumptions coloring what they think they shall hear or see.

[SatSekhem]

...I'm pretty sure SatSekhem was thinking about how many people get really caught up in the (common, but false) idea that everyone gets a personal deity (with the appallingly blame-y corollary that if you don't, you're a bad pagan/person), and leave other aspects of their practice/system undeveloped.  We get quite a few novice pagans who think "find your deity" is always the first step.

Sunflower

 
Yep. That's what I was thinking.

[Maps]

And now I notice that you mentioned that yourself earlier in the thread, Maps.

Sunflower

 
Yeah, sorry. It's just a subject that's important to me seeing as how it was such an intense source of stress for me for a number of years, and I don't think anyone should have to go through that. :]

[monsnoleedra]

Yeah, sorry. It's just a subject that's important to me seeing as how it was such an intense source of stress for me for a number of years, and I don't think anyone should have to go through that. :]

Over the years i've probably encountered 4 people that follow the gods / goddesses of South and / or Centeral America.  Yet one thing all of them seemed to have in common is that none of them had a patron / matron that choose them or spoke to them and acknowledged thier presence.  Yet from my understanding that seemed to be common in those areas and that seldom was one choosen beyond being a sacrifice to a given god / goddess.

Even for many Native American nations I have not heard of a person having a matron / patron from their respective culture's.  Most simpkly acknowledging something along the lines of "Spirit", "Gitchi Manitou", "Wakan Tanka, etc that was the great unknowable and very animistic in nature.   Perhaps at best something along the lines of Grandfather Mountain, Father Sky, Mother Earth.

Yet I think many who try to incorporate or lift practices from those area's try to do so based upon European concepts of how divinity works.  Yet it causes many problems, especially in the context of there being no individualized matron / patron who calls to them.  Yet all the books and 101 courses are based upon that same european paradyn and state they will get a matron / patron if they pray and study what ever pantheon they are drawn to.

[Darkhawk]

Honoring a deity as a patron without being thwapped, OTOH, is more like joining their guild, or their fan club - you might get clear indications that the deity isn't interested in your devotions, but most often they're accepted (or there's no indication that they aren't) without any other interaction.

 
Or even honoring a deity not as a patron.  I had a period in my life where I really needed the help of one particular god, so I set up a shrine to Him.  I maintained the shrine regularly for several years, with prayers for the help I needed, without more than the one-way interaction.  I trusted that He appreciated what I did for Him, and I felt that I received the help that I needed in time.

[Celtag]

Yep. That's what I was thinking.

I have to agree with that, because when I started out I was way to focused on getting a Patron and not focusing on what really matter and that was my practice. After I got over trying to get my personal deity things started working out a lot better. I did in fact get contact with the Gods, but not the ones I had searched for. Amaethon contacted me when I least expected it and others have come through to. But I think when starting out one should focus on their practice and honoring of the Gods, and not worry so much about getting their very own God or Gods.

[Maps]

Over the years i've probably encountered 4 people that follow the gods / goddesses of South and / or Centeral America.  Yet one thing all of them seemed to have in common is that none of them had a patron / matron that choose them or spoke to them and acknowledged thier presence.  Yet from my understanding that seemed to be common in those areas and that seldom was one choosen beyond being a sacrifice to a given god / goddess.

Even for many Native American nations I have not heard of a person having a matron / patron from their respective culture's.  Most simpkly acknowledging something along the lines of "Spirit", "Gitchi Manitou", "Wakan Tanka, etc that was the great unknowable and very animistic in nature.   Perhaps at best something along the lines of Grandfather Mountain, Father Sky, Mother Earth.

Yet I think many who try to incorporate or lift practices from those area's try to do so based upon European concepts of how divinity works.  Yet it causes many problems, especially in the context of there being no individualized matron / patron who calls to them.  Yet all the books and 101 courses are based upon that same european paradyn and state they will get a matron / patron if they pray and study what ever pantheon they are drawn to.

 
Hmm, you've set my mind a-buzzing... I think I'll write a blog post about this instead of replying here, if you don't mind.

[monsnoleedra]

Hmm, you've set my mind a-buzzing... I think I'll write a blog post about this instead of replying here, if you don't mind.

I don't mind.  All I would ask is that you leave a link connection here to it or at least reference it if it is on this site.  I peek in on the blogs here but normally unless I know it's there I tend to forget about it.  Having a link here would re-direct people to it I think.  I personally would be interested in reading it.

[SunflowerP]

Or even honoring a deity not as a patron.  I had a period in my life where I really needed the help of one particular god, so I set up a shrine to Him.  I maintained the shrine regularly for several years, with prayers for the help I needed, without more than the one-way interaction.  I trusted that He appreciated what I did for Him, and I felt that I received the help that I needed in time.

 
Good point, and one I should have thought of, since I don't consider all of those I work with to be patrons (with some of these non-patrons, they initiated contact, some I did).  Just goes to show how easy it is to get fixated on a particular angle of something as being especially relevant in a thread, and speak in a way that unintentionally misleads because I'm just not thinking about the other angles.

Sunflower

[Athe]

So, as some of you may know I'm new to the paganism bandwagon. I have no idea how to approach the gods, or which ones I really want to approach for that matter. So, I was wondering how you all did it? I know some of you had the gods come up to you basically going "wassup! so, you're mine now, let's get going shall we?" but still, I'm sure all of you at some point had to decide which deity you wanted to approach and how to go about approaching them. How did you do this? Any tips for me? Please and thank you.

Hey Aine!

For me, my first deity approached me kinda in the manner you described in your post (bolding mine)!!  I was never terribly religious as a child, although we did go to church regularly.  When I started thinking about getting back into religion/finding one that worked for me, I had been thinking deeply about what I wanted from religion/spirituality, and woke up one morning with an image of a place in my head, and one word echoing.  The word?  Hestia.
I'd not really heard of her before, so I did some exploring, and said "Oh, that's what I'm looking for!"
Since then I have approached other deities in the Greek pantheon, generally because I require their help rather than Hestia's.  A couple actually got brought in by Hestia, as in she could see that I needed more/different help than I was getting so "here's who you need to speak to".
Hestia has currently distanced herself from me, but very much in the way that currently I need others, therefore although she is my primary deity, she is not relevant therefore doesn't need to hang around.  She'll drop in every so often to check on me, and will be around if I need her, just not prominently.
However, I think I have a different experience with my deities than most who follow them do.  For me, the way they come to me and thus the way I go to them is very much like a sibling relationship i.e. sometimes I need help, sometimes they want me to do something, and sometimes we just meet up for coffee and chat.

Athe