Speaking with Gods/Godesses.

This is on my mind a fair bit and I'd love to see any thoughts.

Who/what is your god/goddess and why?

Do you speak (communicate in any way) with anything you could consider a god or a goddess of any kind?

How do you go about that? Do you use any tools (cards, runes, whatever) of any kind?

How do you know which god(ess) you're speaking to? What makes you certain?

Why do you communicate with said god(ess)?

Anything else to add?

Miniar Wrote:Who/what is your god/goddess and why?

Nearly everyone in the system is Heathen in some way. Degree of lore-following varies. Following the nagging question of what if anything is beyond those gods, we came to the belief, fully shared among the system's core group (the system's changed a bit in ways we haven't explained here yet), that everything is made up of a transcendent essence that we call Source (or "the One" in the words of Nonny's aspect Witchblade). This essence could be seen as a supreme God, if one defines that in the right way - we don't think it has a mind in the way that humans and gods such as the Aesir/Vanir/Rokkr (Jotun-gods) do, but we do think it's a living being.

As far as patrons go, Val's is Odhinn, Rhun's is Freyja. I think I belonged to Sigyn in a past life but I'm not certain and it doesn't seem to have carried over.

Miniar Wrote:Do you speak (communicate in any way) with anything you could consider a god or a goddess of any kind?

Sometimes we chat with the Aesir, Vanir, and Rokkr of our acquaintance.

Miniar Wrote:How do you go about that? Do you use any tools (cards, runes, whatever) of any kind?

No tools - we use those for divination and spellwork, but see that more in terms of pushing subtle energy around and/or trying to sense the currents of that energy (including connections to people, thoughts, etc. where divination is concerned). When we converse with a god, we talk in head-voice with the intent of directing it toward that entity. If said entity answers, or if one of them decides to contact us, we hear it in head-voice but it's clear that it isn't coming from inside the system's space.

Miniar Wrote:How do you know which god(ess) you're speaking to? What makes you certain?

The way it feels and sounds. It's not enough to be dead sure, no, but the messages, tone, and intentions square up pretty well with what we know of the gods in question. Some spirits we can identify as soon as we feel their presence, such as our tree-spirit friends in the local park; this is the same thing, just with bigger, badder entities and higher stakes if we misidentify one that doesn't have our best interests at heart.

Miniar Wrote:Why do you communicate with said god(ess)?

We consider most of them our friends and allies. Some put themselves in our life and it's at least important for us to be on civil terms so as to not start a feud. Those we respect, we may look to for advice; in return, if they ask us to do something reasonable, we generally do. It always involves repayment of some sort because that's how the Teutonic gods roll ("a gift for a gift") and we generally negotiate that. Some gods, for all we may like them, are willing to use loopholes to get more out of us. (Case in point: Odhinn.)

When all's said and done, they're still people; they're just people who are a bit different and in some ways more powerful.

-Shainin

that’s actually a pretty big question …

The short answer is yeah I talk to god …sometimes its just a simple chat , other times it’s a tirade of complaints…god’s pretty used to me moaning by now *nods*

And yeah I ask for things like all people do …though I know they wont happen , just a force of habit I supposed as things don’t work like that .

On occasion I’ll get a heads up …which I’m always thankful for , though its still a sort of strained relationship and I’m trying to mend fences so to speak , we had a falling out many years ago .

For me I always refer to the male aspect of god …I mean I know all the possible terms I could use are inaccurate as I’m talking to the omnipresent life-force of the multiverse …but hey *shrugs* force of habit I guess .

As for gods and goddesses…cant say I know many , though I do show respect to the elemental forces and such and have a fondness for the Celtic and Norse gods , if I’m using divination of some kind I always choose to ask Odin for help …he hasn’t steered me wrong so far , for which I’m eternally grateful .

But there’s plenty of beings out there that many see as gods , I just see them as immensely powerful beings that are not to be screwed with .

But all and all I don’t worship anything .




Now the long winded 10 pence version that try’s to explain my views .









My views differ from many peoples …mainly because my life has been different .


I’m not religious ….put it this way , the human race just got religion all wrong , messed it up .

Most modern god forms are ether a misinterpretation of the facts or a load of hype that never existed in the first place and yes I am talking about mainstream religion .


I know that a long time ago , there where …what’s the word?...beings? , who where basically worshipped as gods , though by now most relevant information about them is long lost , but they existed at one point and may even still …no one can say .

Buts lets get to the point …I believe in aspects , beings or ..whatever that are an aspect of god , but that’s a really complicated subject , for me personally it works out like this …

Yeah there is a god and no is not some old man sitting on a cloud with a big black book , who always watching to see who gets into heaven and who doesn’t …

The Universe is a big place…and for a lot of people , when you say universe , it in encompasses all of reality …everything there is , was or ever will be …problem is that’s not true , the universe is like a grain of sand in a desert …a desert that spans off into infinity , that desert …if you will , is the Multiverse .

So where’s a god fit into all of this ?

God’s a hard thing to describe …I could live a million lifetimes as a scholar and I still wouldn’t be able to explain god to you , god is a force beyond knowledge or reason , anybody who say’s they can explain god to you is quite frankly lying through their teeth .

Guess what folks …souls …quite real and yeah you are one .

Many times I’ve heard the terms “children of god “ and that your connected to all of those around you , in religious teachings , the problem was that the people who where teaching it …had no bloody idea what they where talking about ..

YET!….remarkably , they where right .

Who knows , maybe somewhere deep down in the human subconscious we already know all of this stuff , who can say ?

Some people cant get around certain concepts …and no matter how hard you try , they probably never will , but that’s ok …no seriously it is , sooner or later people come around to a higher level of thinking and understanding , it’s a journey that they have to make for themselves .

It’s a never ending process , one day you wake up and *wham* you can understand something that you didn’t before ..but that’s not the end of it , its remarkable the amount of people who think it is but its not , time after time , day after day , year after year and life after life .

The point I making here is that some people have their own mindsets , for me souls and being a soul is simply a fact of my existence , however other people choose to believe in something else , it’s the same with gods and goddesses.

Its not about who right and who’s wrong , think of it as paths …we all choose our own path , no path is good or bad , it a learning process.

So what’s this all leading up to ?

A theory…

Its an oldie but a goody …

God is the consciousness of the multiverse , the living “Life force “of the multiverse as a unified “whole”.

We are part of that , ye’see god cant go out and buy a bag of chips or go see a movie or fall in love or murder someone or fight a war or have a bath ( or shower ) take the dog for a walk or cheat with his girlfriends sister ….

Or to put it simply live a life …

Some theorise that is why he made us …not humans , living beings in general , the divine sparks , we separate from the unified consciousness and through many incarnations ( I don’t just mean living one life after another ) become living beings through all phases of reality…remember there are lots of stages of being and lots of different realities.

We live , we learn , we die in one form , we’re born in another , back and forth , up and down , all the while we learn and gain experience…

Maybe its true what they say and that we each have certain goals …a sort of cosmic “to do “ list , and once we achieve those goals ..we go back and once again become part of the unified consciousness that’s god .

But right enough that’s the extreme tip of the iceberg…in-between that and where we are now …

* Which would be sitting at a computer screen and reading a web-page while sipping some tea or coffee *

……is all of reality and existence .

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Hmm.

I am a Hellenist, honoring the gods of the Greek pantheon, and, yes, I suppose I talk to them after a fashion. This is how it works:
I do not hear a voice, but I have gnosis and read omens. I don't exactly "pray", and I don't use tools, other than sitting in the bathtub or natural body of water from time to time, but I "contemplate" the natures of the gods, usually the specific appropriate god or gods I wish to invoke, seek advice from, or follow in footsteps.
Generally, I ask myself questions about the matter at hand (a goal I wish to accomplish, a perspective I wish to examine, or occasional guidance) and depending on how "attuned" I am at the moment, or how specific the inquiry, I may or may not receive an "answer" that I feel comes from outside myself. This frequently happens in the manner of gnosis or realization - I understand that this particular god in zir nature would think/say/feel this way or that. It also frequently happens in the form of omens, augury, etc. I will ask "Well, what would (insert god name here) want me to do in this situation? Would zie approve? If zie has input, send a sign once for yes, and twice for no." or something along those lines. Usually, birds, or other animal symbols belonging to the gods will appear within the next twenty or thirty minutes, if any of them have an opinion on the matter. If it's any longer than that, unless it's REALLY obvious (tremendous storm blowing in suddenly on a previously beautiful day before I take action on a matter I came to Zeus about), I ignore it.
As for how I know who it is specifically, I rarely get any response from a general poll of Olympians. XD They all have very distinct essential natures that are apparent in their omens, or the answers they "send" me.

The reason why I do it... Well, I talk to them because they are ideal forms worthy of consideration, worthy of being rolemodels (I don't think of them, btw, as large shiny people who run around having millions of affairs on and off Mt. Olympus, mind), and worthy of respect when it comes to their "elements" on Earth.

I have more intense connections with some of the gods than others. The big ones are Zeus, Morpheus, Dionysus, Apollo, and Mors. Athene's pretty nice to me, too. I try to show reverence to each of them in turn, on appropriate days or in ideal setting, specific offerings, etc, because it would be foolish to consider any greater or more important than the others, excepting perhaps, the king, as he IS the sky. XD

Malakoi Wrote:It also frequently happens in the form of omens, augury, etc. I will ask "Well, what would (insert god name here) want me to do in this situation? Would zie approve? If zie has input, send a sign once for yes, and twice for no." or something along those lines.

We do this occasionally, but not often. Generally we ask for a positive sign OR a negative sign, within a stated time frame, and if we get neither then we set aside that decision for the time being. Whenever we do this, it's always something relating to one of their requests and/or something we agreed to do for them. The sign has to be clearly related to the action we're asking about, it has to be clearly something we didn't influence, and it has to be clearly positive or negative in order for us to count it as legitimate.

Selective attention is still a potential problem with this method, as we could look straight past the omen or twist something into a rationalization for doing what we want. We've done that before with divination. It sucks. We try hard not to do that anymore.

-Shainin

Who/what is your god/goddess and why?
YHWH. I grew up with him. Starting in blind faith I admit, but it didn't stay blind for long. various instances of his authority over the spirit in my life have attested plenty to his claims.

Do you speak (communicate in any way) with anything you could consider a god or a goddess of any kind?
Everyday. It's just a matter of internal talking. Mind you I don't hear voices, but sometimes I get concepts. They can be strong. There was a point in my life where I got a really strong pressure to get rid of some of my CD's. It wasn't a voice explaining this, it was the concept transmitted in a way that bypassed any spoken language. Some people in a church might call this a conviction from the Holy Spirit, I can agree with that terminology.

How do you go about that? Do you use any tools (cards, runes, whatever) of any kind?

No. None needed. One time another and I did a prayer exercise. it was meant to help one listen to God. We were to pray for information about the person next to us that we did not know. i was based off some scripture. We both learned some things. That is as close as it gets to a prescribed method, praying off of some scriptures.

How do you know which god(ess) you're speaking to? What makes you certain?

I can't be anymore certain than I can when I meet a person on the street that says they are Bob from utah. That's the faith part.

Why do you communicate with said god(ess)?

That's like asking me why I communicate with my mom.

Miniar Wrote:Who/what is your god/goddess and why?

YHWH / Yahweh / Yaweh / Abba / Jesus / Jehovah / Yeshua / The Holy Spirit / The Holy Ghost / whatever. In my fluffiest explanation to date, it's because I felt chosen by him, much in the same way many deity-oriented pagans feel that they've been 'chosen' by their respective divinities. I was seeing signs of him everywhere [not just in society blahblahblah, because he's everywhere out there - personally, in my home area, which is dominated by atheists. Silly patterns in the stars and clouds. Ants and stuff.] and I just felt compelled to pray to him by the little voice in the back of my mind.

Quote:Do you speak (communicate in any way) with anything you could consider a god or a goddess of any kind?

Yes.

Quote:How do you go about that? Do you use any tools (cards, runes, whatever) of any kind?

First and foremost, I pray. I don't kneel, close my eyes and clasp my hands - I keep my eyes wide open, keep right on doing whatever I'm doing, and just think to Him. I also like to toss coins - I ask a yes/no question, work out 'with my gut' which side is yes and which is no, and then toss the coin, believing that God will make it land on the appropriate side. I've tried communicating through incense smoke too, but I had no idea what I was doing and ended up just praying and staring at the smoke.

Quote:How do you know which god(ess) you're speaking to? What makes you certain?

I have no idea, I'm not certain, but I can say with relative courage that it's God because I believe it to be so / have faith that it is so.

Quote:Why do you communicate with said god(ess)?

I want to have a relationship with Him. I like talking - I'm extraverted. The Bible tells me that prayer is good.

Quote:Anything else to add?

Only if you have anything else to ask. I just pray to the Christian God - it's very plain, very common and reliant heavily on blind faith.

Quote:This is on my mind a fair bit and I'd love to see any thoughts.

Who/what is your god/goddess and why?

The god of Abraham is my god---and honestly, he chased me down, pinned me to the floor and said "heeeeeeeey!".

Okay, scratch that---it was a lot more complicated than that--- but really that's basically it.

Quote:Do you speak (communicate in any way) with anything you could consider a god or a goddess of any kind?

I talk to God all the time, and I've occasionally run into some other deities.

Quote:How do you go about that? Do you use any tools (cards, runes, whatever) of any kind?

Typically? I just talk. Then there's prayer, communion, I've been known to use some incense, a little smudge (I grow it myself btw-- When the season starts I may end up giving some away), Anglican rosaries and a labyrinth.

Quote:How do you know which god(ess) you're speaking to? What makes you certain?

This is going to sound kooky, but it feels like Him. Father feels like Father, Yeshua is a little different but not enough to make a big deal out of. Other deities have their own energy signatures too. I've tried ignoring Him and trying to be more conventional about my spirituality but I get unhappy with that very quickly and go back to trusting my instincts. Do I have a pee test for him? No... I don't feel like I need one either.

Quote:Why do you communicate with said god(ess)?

Because I'd miss him horribly if I didn't. That, and honestly, my friends don't see through my bullshit all the time and prayer keeps me honest. I can't HIDE from Him.

Quote:Anything else to add?

I love chocolate? <!-- s:-P --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_razz.gif" alt=":-P" title="Razz" /><!-- s:-P -->

Miniar Wrote:Who/what is your god/goddess and why?

Athena/Athene/Minerva
She is a mother figure to me. She doesn't boss me around, and I don't "worship" her, but she's definitely my patron.

Miniar Wrote:Do you speak (communicate in any way) with anything you could consider a god or a goddess of any kind?

How do you go about that? Do you use any tools (cards, runes, whatever) of any kind?

How do you know which god(ess) you're speaking to? What makes you certain?

Why do you communicate with said god(ess)?

Yes, I communicate, normally through projection. I've had heart-to hearts with Yeshua, Athena (obviously), Poseidon, and talked randomly with a few others. I use candles and incense to get me in the proper state, but I usually use no tools. I've used water to "scry" once, but as that's not my element, it's easier for me to just meditate.
Generally I can just tell who I'm talking to. Often they tell me who they are, and then later I will research to double check. I've only been lied to once, and I could tell as soon as it happens.
I communicate for various reasons. Generally with Athena it's to chat, and she helps me become stronger in my spirituality. It's a long story with Poseidon. And with Yeshua, we were introduced somewhat by Gabriel.

Miniar Wrote:Anything else to add?

Yep. If you all could talk to any god/goddess or spirit, who would it be and why?
Mine would be the Virgin Mary, because I've been her in a musical, and I want to see if I was accurate. <!-- s --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_razz.gif" alt=":P" title="Razz" /><!-- s -->

Im pretty open minded, I believe each and every god are out there to a degree. I particularly, fascinate myself over the greek religion. Ive also ''prayed'' to these gods just to see *doesnt matter if it came true or not here because id need evidence* but I think more then anything, Im for that ancient believe in a series of ''gods'' or higher beings.

I definitely feel their is more then just ''one'' though. I tend to relate myself more to the greek mythology typically however. Rather it's because of my breed or not.

I also, feel as if Ive visited in a sense, one of them once while meditating but it was.. far out of my reach, there for like a second, and idk who.