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Author Topic: How Do You Recognize the Presense of Deities?  (Read 2894 times)

Wyrst

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How Do You Recognize the Presense of Deities?
« on: June 18, 2013, 05:57:04 am »
How do you recognize, or rather experience,  the presence or attention of deities and their likes?

Now, I know this is a rather tricky question and that if I were to ask ten people, I'd get eleven diffrent answers but I still found it worth asking T'is something I've been trying to get my mind around. As it stands, I probably wouldn't recognize anything even if it hit me. Repeatedly. In the face. With a chair.

Okay, well maybe I'd notice the chair... But you get the point, right?
« Last Edit: June 18, 2013, 08:03:14 am by RandallS »

Dark Midnight

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Re: So yeah, I was wondering...
« Reply #1 on: June 18, 2013, 06:37:44 am »
Quote from: Wyrst;112892
How do you recognize, or rather experience,  the presence or attention of deities and their likes?

Now, I know this is a rather tricky question and that if I were to ask ten people, I'd get eleven diffrent answers but I still found it worth asking T'is something I've been trying to get my mind around. As it stands, I probably wouldn't recognize anything even if it hit me. Repeatedly. In the face. With a chair.

Okay, well maybe I'd notice the chair... But you get the point, right?

 
Personally, it was the feeling. Ok, the feeling and the 2 by 4 around the ear. I was only 12 when I had my first conversation with Hades, and at first I was scared to death, I will admit. But that part passed very quickly.

I think that, once you know that feeling, you can never mistake it for anything else, or anything else for that feeling.
"No matter how dark the fur, the bunny is still fluffy." (Melamphoros)
AKA Thundercougarfalconbird..... (Thanks Nyktipolos!)

CalamityJane

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Re: How Do You Recognize the Presense of Deities?
« Reply #2 on: June 18, 2013, 09:48:23 am »
Quote from: Wyrst;112892
How do you recognize, or rather experience,  the presence or attention of deities and their likes?

Now, I know this is a rather tricky question and that if I were to ask ten people, I'd get eleven diffrent answers but I still found it worth asking T'is something I've been trying to get my mind around. As it stands, I probably wouldn't recognize anything even if it hit me. Repeatedly. In the face. With a chair.

Okay, well maybe I'd notice the chair... But you get the point, right?

 

I'm mostly headblind. Unless I get hit with a chair. In a couple of decades I've only felt or experienced deity presence twice, when I was around 18 and around 29 and both times through dreams. I know it was a real experience because they were SO different from normal dreams and it was so intense it was difficult to ignore. One had a foretelling of a life changing event that happened a couple of weeks later and the other was like the deity was trying hard to be noticed and had come to his last resource...so maybe he did try to be noticed before, but I don't know really.
But in the end, even though I am glad I got to have those experiences I reckon it doesn't matter if I'm headblind or not. If I want to worship I will until "Someone" tells me in very obvious "chair in the face" terms that it's no longer necessary. Because I don't think I'll get the message any other way.
Although it can be frustrating at times to not be able to feel or experience their presence I'd rather have this than an open channel. It's already a messy brain as it is.

ALiteraryLady

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Re: How Do You Recognize the Presense of Deities?
« Reply #3 on: June 18, 2013, 08:39:04 pm »
Quote from: Wyrst;112892
How do you recognize, or rather experience,  the presence or attention of deities and their likes?

Now, I know this is a rather tricky question and that if I were to ask ten people, I'd get eleven diffrent answers but I still found it worth asking T'is something I've been trying to get my mind around. As it stands, I probably wouldn't recognize anything even if it hit me. Repeatedly. In the face. With a chair.

Okay, well maybe I'd notice the chair... But you get the point, right?

 
For me, in a way I'm still searching and currently building a connection with Frigg. I keep trying to reach out and I stop due to being insecure because I don't have a very obvious sign. She keeps creeping back into my thoughts; I'll see symbols and aspects associated with her and I'm back on the proverbial hunt to try and get her attention. I have also started connecting with her 12 handmaidens, and I can't help but think I'm going somewhere good since I've read that Lofn's symbolism is golden keys and I bought one last year for my altar. I use it whenever I'm speaking to any of them.

Like you said, it's different for each and every one of us, but I like to think that there is a deity for all of us (yes, there is going to be some overlap :D) Good luck!

Atreides

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Re: How Do You Recognize the Presense of Deities?
« Reply #4 on: June 19, 2013, 10:33:10 am »
Quote from: ALiteraryLady;112983
For me, in a way I'm still searching and currently building a connection with Frigg. I keep trying to reach out and I stop due to being insecure because I don't have a very obvious sign. She keeps creeping back into my thoughts; I'll see symbols and aspects associated with her and I'm back on the proverbial hunt to try and get her attention. I have also started connecting with her 12 handmaidens, and I can't help but think I'm going somewhere good since I've read that Lofn's symbolism is golden keys and I bought one last year for my altar. I use it whenever I'm speaking to any of them.

Like you said, it's different for each and every one of us, but I like to think that there is a deity for all of us (yes, there is going to be some overlap :D) Good luck!

 
I'm not sure if this counts as a deity's presence, but I've started feeling a very strong connection to Aphrodite lately, a goddess who  I never had a strong affinity for before.  Whenever I'm in an amorous or erotic mood, I feel really connected to her.  It goes beyond mere biological impulses...it's like I'm entering her domain, and she's making it known very clearly that this is her turf, and I'd best be respectful. It isn't like anything I've experienced before, and I have the feeling that these feelings have been there all along, I've just been blind to them.  

Like everyone has said though, it varies from person to person.  About a month ago, when I first started getting interested in Hellenismos, I felt a strong attraction to Athena, a goddess I've been interested in since childhood.  I still feel the need to honor her, but her presence isn't as strong.  So maybe it waxes and wanes.

KayeMacArthur

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Re: How Do You Recognize the Presense of Deities?
« Reply #5 on: June 19, 2013, 10:38:49 am »
Quote from: Wyrst;112892
How do you recognize, or rather experience,  the presence or attention of deities and their likes?

 
Anubis tends to come with a sense of heaviness to the air. Sometimes I've felt him standing behind me or with his hands on my shoulders. It's like the air there suddenly became rather dense, to the point where I can feel its heaviness.

Hekate has come to me as sudden winds that have literally pushed me towards a crossroads I associate with her.

I tend to utilize cryptomancy (divination via omens) in order to figure out who wants my attention or who's in the neighborhood. Like, right now, I'm starting to see hawks everywhere. Not all the time, but in random situations that catch my attention, such as a few weeks ago as I was driving through a construction site, a hawk flew right in front of my car, at eye level. It was random enough and surprising enough that it caught my attention and I made a note of it. A similar thing happened a week or so ago.

If you're having trouble seeing if anything is trying to contact you, perhaps start to keep a record of "weirdness." Vibes you get, random encounters, snippets of a song that seem to carry a weight behind them, etc. But try not to go looking for them. I've found that, personally, if I go looking for signs, I don't get them. The whole point of a sign, to me, is that they are so out of the ordinary that it has to catch your attention, else it's just a normal occurrence.
Kaye | Pagan | Witch | Folklore Fiend
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Leafwalker

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Re: How Do You Recognize the Presense of Deities?
« Reply #6 on: June 19, 2013, 03:59:00 pm »
Quote from: KayeMacArthur;113021

If you're having trouble seeing if anything is trying to contact you, perhaps start to keep a record of "weirdness." Vibes you get, random encounters, snippets of a song that seem to carry a weight behind them, etc. But try not to go looking for them. I've found that, personally, if I go looking for signs, I don't get them. The whole point of a sign, to me, is that they are so out of the ordinary that it has to catch your attention, else it's just a normal occurrence.


This is something I've been struggling with, and I think an observation journal is a brilliant idea. Thank you for the suggestion.

When I encounter a sign, it makes me open my eyes to the possibility that someone is trying to contact me. I start seeing potential signs everywhere, so I get confused by what is really a message and what I want to be a message. I've never been good at following these signs or figuring out their origins.

Sometimes I'll be mulling over a problem and another "voice" will interrupt me with a competing thought. I'm almost certain that this voice is a deity. It's not the contrary voice in the back of my head, but powerful and certain in a way that I am not. If I attempt to reply and continue the conversation, the other voice goes silent. I wish I knew who it was that gets into my head like that. It's very strange.

ALiteraryLady

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Re: How Do You Recognize the Presense of Deities?
« Reply #7 on: June 19, 2013, 04:14:35 pm »
Quote from: Atreides;113020
I'm not sure if this counts as a deity's presence, but I've started feeling a very strong connection to Aphrodite lately, a goddess who  I never had a strong affinity for before.  Whenever I'm in an amorous or erotic mood, I feel really connected to her.  It goes beyond mere biological impulses...it's like I'm entering her domain, and she's making it known very clearly that this is her turf, and I'd best be respectful. It isn't like anything I've experienced before, and I have the feeling that these feelings have been there all along, I've just been blind to them.  

Like everyone has said though, it varies from person to person.  About a month ago, when I first started getting interested in Hellenismos, I felt a strong attraction to Athena, a goddess I've been interested in since childhood.  I still feel the need to honor her, but her presence isn't as strong.  So maybe it waxes and wanes.

 
I can see that its not her actual presence, but I guess I'm curious as to why there is still that pull for me with her. I actually was discussing this with my boyfriend and he made a good point that feeds into your statement about having the feelings that you do for Aphrodite. He said that a possible reason why I keep coming back to Frigg is that I'm a strong woman and that she is a strong Goddess who takes care of business.

Cabal

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Re: How Do You Recognize the Presense of Deities?
« Reply #8 on: June 19, 2013, 04:19:53 pm »
Quote from: Wyrst;112892
How do you recognize, or rather experience,  the presence or attention of deities and their likes?

Now, I know this is a rather tricky question and that if I were to ask ten people, I'd get eleven diffrent answers but I still found it worth asking T'is something I've been trying to get my mind around. As it stands, I probably wouldn't recognize anything even if it hit me. Repeatedly. In the face. With a chair.

Okay, well maybe I'd notice the chair... But you get the point, right?
For me it just a feeling that i get when they are in my presence. With Belenus, everything is bright and I get a warm feeling. He makes himself well known!
"In Hell, everybody loves popcorn."

Wyrst

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Re: How Do You Recognize the Presense of Deities?
« Reply #9 on: June 19, 2013, 04:25:56 pm »
Quote from: CalamityJane;112910
I'm mostly headblind...

 
You know, I think I can relate to that which is a bit reassuring and inspiring too. I take it that you just do as you see fit in terms of worship then, unless told diffrently, like you wrote? It does seem preferrable over a hotline-like connection to me at least.

 
Quote from: Atreides;113020
I'm not sure if...


That's pretty interesting too. Have you, since you made the connection to Aphrodite, noticed any change in severity or frequency? Or even just a generel sense or feeling that you've taken the hint?

Aphrodite sounds like she's a fun  (given the lack of better wording) godess to have 'around'. I picture her being a bit quirky but but very comfortable too.

Quote from: KayeMacArthur;113021
Anubis tends to...


Personally, I like the way you describe it. It seems so tangible and in a way, comforting too, I imagine.

Now that you mention cryptomancy, I probably should look into that myself as well sometime soon. It's funny how I didn't think too much of it before but I just realized that I've been seeing more and more crows-- be it sitting, flying, eating or outright killing eachother in a gutter as you pass by-- over the past months. Need to look into that, especially with me having a natural attracting to the Morrigan for more than a year now. Maybe things aren't as one-sided as I first imagined.

 Great advice there too regarding keeping track of these occurences. Definately going to work on that.

Atreides

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Re: How Do You Recognize the Presense of Deities?
« Reply #10 on: June 19, 2013, 05:55:04 pm »
Quote from: ALiteraryLady;113031
I can see that its not her actual presence, but I guess I'm curious as to why there is still that pull for me with her. I actually was discussing this with my boyfriend and he made a good point that feeds into your statement about having the feelings that you do for Aphrodite. He said that a possible reason why I keep coming back to Frigg is that I'm a strong woman and that she is a strong Goddess who takes care of business.

 
Well, for me, as a typical blockheaded guy;), I always thought of Aphrodite as being too "girly" for my interests.  Back when I was studying Greek mythology in junior high, I was way more interested in Athene, Apollon, Demeter, even Zeus and Hera.  Aphrodite was the Goddess of Beauty, which to me equaled "girls stuff". Now, the more I learn about her, the more impressive a figure she cuts. Actually, all the gods and goddesses are more impressive the more I learn their respective myths and histories.  Also, I've always been a very amorous and sensual person, and with Aphrodite I get the feeling that as long as I respect this side of myself, it's a good idea to let her help me explore it, rather than repress it as I feel I have for so long.  Lately, it's been more of a trinity I've been attracted to - Aphrodite, Athene, and Apollon, because each seems to rule over the domains I consider most important in my life.

ALiteraryLady

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Re: How Do You Recognize the Presense of Deities?
« Reply #11 on: June 19, 2013, 10:53:57 pm »
Quote from: Atreides;113037
...Lately, it's been more of a trinity I've been attracted to - Aphrodite, Athene, and Apollon, because each seems to rule over the domains I consider most important in my life.


Nothing wrong with a trinity and I think that as long as you are not repressing yourself, you're headed in the right direction. Best of luck to you.

CalamityJane

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Re: How Do You Recognize the Presense of Deities?
« Reply #12 on: June 20, 2013, 04:10:43 am »
Quote from: Wyrst;113035
You know, I think I can relate to that which is a bit reassuring and inspiring too. I take it that you just do as you see fit in terms of worship then, unless told diffrently, like you wrote? It does seem preferrable over a hotline-like connection to me at least.


Well, yes. I do as I seem fit unless I get a really obvious warning I'm going in a wrong direction. Ofc I also tend to get clues from other followers, lore and books since that is possibily the best way to make sure I'm not doing anything too stupid. Sometimes I do get hints or signs but its rare and I have to trust I'm doing ok because I just can't feel deity presences or energy as many people around this forum can, let alone have an actual conversation or phrases being uttered directly to me. But as I said, that's ok. I do it because I want to.
Someday that might change, but right now it's enough.

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