Deity Series - Identifying your deity

 

Identifying your deity.

So, how do you find your deity? 

I know that Cat has already started Deity Work, but I thought that I might be able to dive a little deeper, as I do work with several deities, one of whom has presented themselves to me just this year. I will get to my deities a little later on in this post.

One of the easiest ways is to read through a list of deities, and see which jumps out at you. Of course, if you are looking at something like Egyptian, be prepared that there are hundreds of deities, over many different generations/dynasties!!

Perhaps it would work if you look at the things that you truly like in life, and find a God or Goddess that represents that thing. For example, I love cats, so Bast [Egyptian} is a natural choice. If you like horses, perhaps consider Epona [Roman]?

Another way to seek one out, is to identify an area of your life or personality that you feel needs work, and find a deity that can help you enhance this. Do you want wisdom, perhaps consider Athena [Greek] or Mimir [Norse]? If you are considered cheeky, then perhaps Loki [Norse] or Papa Legba [Voodoo} would be for you.

If you would like protection, then someone like Morrighan [Gaelic] or Vishnu [Hindu]. 

If you would like to work with certain elements, then there are gods and goddesses for this too, think Mars [Roman], although thought of as a warrior God, he is also linked with the element of fire. 

If you feel drawn to a certain culture or historic period, then research the deities associated with this and see which presents itself to you.

 A side note here - always make sure you give thanks for any help or advice your deity gives you, whether this is in the form of an offering or otherwise, always research which is best! 

(Blood offerings to Greek deities is generally frowned upon, apparently, that is when things get bad!!)

 Also - be aware of closed practices - I have mentioned Voodoo above, that is one of them! Also included in this are the Amish, the Roma, Judaism (including Kabbalah), Hoodoo, Haitian Vodou and, of course, most indigenous practices. This is not an exclusive list by any means, and is subject to change.

How do I know if a deity is presenting themselves to me?

A very good question, and one that I can only answer from my own experience!

This will also be the section where I tell you about my deities, as I shall explain how each one has come into my life.

I suggested earlier that Bast [Egyptian] is one of my deities, as I love cats. I grew up with all kinds of animals in the family, but was always a cat person, they sought me out when I was out walking, even those cats the owners considered vicious and warned people away from them. 

As I grew into teenage years and we did more history at school (well before the days of the internet) I learned that there were ancient cultures that revered deities for different things. 

This is when I became aware of Bast or Bastet as she is often called. Bast is the earlier name, and she was worshipped as early as the second Egyptian dynasty - around 2890 years BCE, where she appeared as a lioness headed goddess, later dynasties made her into the domestic cat we associate with her today.

That is how she came into my life. 

I found out (using books!!!) that she is a goddess of among other thing, fertility, life after death and protection. Not that any of that jumped out at me as a teenager, though. 

Needless to say, she has a cat as her main symbol.

Offerings to Bast, among other things, include chocolate (one of my other favourite things), money, peacock feathers (I always have one in the house, and had them in my wedding bouquet and headdresses) and, of course, milk or cream.

I would consider Bast to be my principal deity, purely as she has been with me for so long!

Athena [Greek] came to me as an adult, after I started doing 'this sort of thing'. She is a goddess of knowledge and war. She is credited with bringing the olive tree into Greece, and has an owl as one of her symbols. 

Athena really did just insert herself into my life. (This is after the advent of the internet - which makes research just so much easier!!). I was reading about various things, wisdom kept coming up, as did Athena, who is tied in with it in later Greek mythology. She was also declared by two people whom I worked with as their chosen deity, so I researched her, and she did not leave my life! Offerings to her include anything owl related and olive oil, which I use on a daily basis, I also have an olive tree in my garden that I am desperately trying to keep alive in this heatwave.

Lilith [Babylonian]. This is where I get shouted at, as she can be considered part of a closed religion (Judaism) but I do not see her in this way. She came to me in a time of desperate need, my life was a mess, my marriage had fallen apart, and I had no clue who I was or where I was going! 

Surfing the internet one day (do you see a pattern here...??) I kept seeing images of or references to snakes, so, being the sort of person that I am, I went down a rabbit hole, and found Lilith waiting at the bottom for me. She truly helped me to find strength when I needed it most, and I credit her with being where I am now. the snake is one of her symbols, and as an offering, anything fun, music, dancing, sex, etc..

Beelzebub [Philistine]. This God has literally just presented himself to me since the Spring of this year. I had known very little about him until recently, although I had heard of him, and thought he was considered a demon - but that is just what Christianity does to older deities - look at how demonised Lilith has become!

The reason I know that this God would like to work with me is flies! Bizarre thing to say, but we literally came home from holiday to a house full of them, so I hit the internet (back there again!!) and Beelzebub was presented. 

My work with this God is still in it's infancy, so this will develop as time goes on.

I have representations of all of these upon my altar which is in my bedroom.

I am sorry this has been such a a long post, but it is a huge subject, and one I intend to more fully cover during my tenure as your blog host.

Who is your deity, and how did you come together? Let us know in the comments below.

Kerenza x