It's fair to say that many, and maybe
most, polytheists have one or two deities they consider their special
patrons. These are gods who we believe have sought us out, or
responded well to our seeking them, to whom we give frequent
devotions and offerings, and from whom we expect more regular
attention and favor than the other gods we may honor now and then.
Before any of that happened to me, when
I was new to polytheism and still trying it on, I approached the gods
of the British Isles, especially Ireland. I can't actually trace any
of my family tree back to Europe, but based on family names, England
and Ireland are good guesses. But I did not feel any particular
interest from those gods at the time.
A little while later – just last
year, really – I began to intuit that Odin/Woden was trying to get
my attention. I had felt his presence at CedarLight's Yule ritual in
2011, and then I began to notice crows or ravens (I'm still not sure
I can tell the difference). I am sure crows and/or ravens are always
around, but it's the noticing of them that makes them omens.
Anyway, after a period of hesitation
(Woden is not necessarily a comforting presence), I began to make
offerings to him. Some months down the road now, I can call him a
patron, although I still one whom I prefer to interact with only
occasionally. I get the impression that this suits him just fine.
More recently, another god has come
into my consciousness – Hermes, the Hellenic messenger of the gods,
fleet-footed and quick-witted. That began with a book coming to my
attention, “The Gods of Reason” by Timothy Jay Alexander, which
turned my attention in general to the hearth cultures I'd never given
a second look to before, Greek and Roman. The more I read and
contemplated, the more the Greeks began to appeal. I started making
offerings to Hermes because I had a specific request that he seemed
to be the right one for, but I quickly found myself liking his energy
and presence. Now I'm giving him a brief morning devotional and
incense almost daily, just because I want him to be welcome and stick
around.
As I near the end of Dedicant Program,
I find that the year and a half of study it has entailed – much
required, some on my own – has really changed my outlook. At the
beginning, I was approaching the gods tentatively and with very
little understanding of what was going on and without even any
confidence that polytheism made any sense. Now it just seems to be a
given.
I find that the Celtic deities still do
hold some appeal, especially as I spend more time with my grovies who
are more immersed in that culture than I am. And I would like to
expand my interactions with the gods of Olympus as well. Among the
gods and the hearth cultures, even when confining myself to ADF's
Indo-European focus, I find elements that appeal to reason and logic
(the Greeks with their history of rich philosophy, in particular) and
elements that appeal to primal energies and earthiness. It's a good
mix.
The rule of thumb I was taught for distinguishing crows from ravens: If you find yourself thinking, 'Is that a crow or a raven?', it's a crow. If you think, 'What the f*ck is that?', it's a raven ;-)
ReplyDeleteGreat that you've found a rich mix that works for you. I'm finding the DP really useful so far as well.