Personal Relationships with Spirits & Deities


Here are a few pointers to strengthen your relationship with them.

Meditate. First and foremost, you need to have an alright grasp on quieting your mind. You need to have an idea of where your mind wanders and how to clear unwanted thoughts. It also helps calm yourself and prepare your mind to enter a different state of consciousness (like flipping a switch). This makes it easier to contact deities and spirits that may be on another realm of existence.
Offerings. And I mean frequently. Not only does it please them, but can invite them into your life and make them more willing to work with you, or be in favor. Its a gesture of honor and goodwill, and shows you are willing to give freely. You can give foods, drinks, sacrifices, incense, burn a candle, make them something. You can also give non-physical offerings such as energy, or sing them a song you wrote for them. It’s quite limitless, and you can use your imagination!
Get to know their personality and what they like. Do research. There’s lots of resources out there. What color do they prefer? What is their element? What is their patron animal? Patron flower? Do they have a sigil? What do they NOT like? What should you avoid when working with them? All these are helpful when invoking a deity or trying to get them to favor you.
Talk to them on a regular basis. Ask them questions. Be sincere with what you want out of your relationship with them. Even if you do not get an answer, it does not mean they aren’t listening.
Set Boundaries. This is more for working with nature spirits, ghosts, and daemons, or things of the like. It’s alright to ask them to come at a different time, or to tell them to leave. Sometimes, you might need to offer a libation (i.e. I’ll give you bay leaves if you promise not to come in my dreams anymore).

Deities of the Divine

Throughout the development of the human race, civilizations have seen and worshipped many and various attributes of the Divine. These universal forces have been clothed in forms which were expressive to the worshipper of the attribute of the Godhead which they expressed. Use of these symbolic representations of the natural and divine forces of the universe, or god forms, is a potent method for contacting and utilizing the forces they represent. Thus the Gods are both natural and truly divine, and man-made in that the forms with which they are clothed are products of humanity’s striving to know the Godhead.

In keeping with the Law of Polarity, these god forms are brought into harmony by the one great Law which states: All Gods are one God. All Goddesses are one Goddess. There is one Initiator. This law is an expression of our understanding that all of the forces of the universe, by whatever ethnic God form is chosen to clothe and relate to whichever force, can be resolved into the fundamental polarity of the Godhead, the Great Mother and the All-Father.

It is the use of differing god forms, of differing ethnic sources or periods, which is the basis of many of the differences between the various Traditions of the Craft. Each Tradition uses the forms, and thus the names, which to that Tradition best express and awaken an understanding of

the force represented, according to the areas of emphasis of the Tradition.
Because we know that differing names or representations are but expressions of the same divine principles and forces, we require our members to swear that they will never mock the names by which another honors the Divine, even though those names be different from and seemingly less expressive than the names and god forms used by our Tradition (for to the members of another Tradition, using it’s names, ours may easily seem equally less expressive).

The Celestial Alignment: Ra-Horakhty’s Rebirth and Orion’s Message

In the vast continuum of time, where human destiny intersects with cosmic rhythms, a pivotal moment emerges. Today, the ancient sands of the Nile mark a triad of renewals: the onset of a New Year, the beginning of the Akhet season, and the dawn of the Tekh month.

The horizon, bathed in the first light, announces the rebirth of Ra-Horakhty. This deity, a union of the sun god Ra and the sky god Horus, embodies the cyclical nature of existence. As the sun sets and rises, it reminds us of the eternal balance between darkness and light.

With Akhet, the Nile undergoes its transformative phase. This season, defined by the river’s inundation, rejuvenates the fields and promises a cycle of growth. It’s a testament to nature’s resilience and the land’s thirst for renewal.

The month of Tekh, dedicated to Thoth—the god of wisdom, beckons. Thoth, the guardian of time and knowledge, invites a period of reflection and respect for the mysteries that lie beyond our understanding.

Above, the cosmos offers its own sign. The heliacal rise of Sirius, the star of Sopdet, breaks the pre-dawn silence. This astral event, eagerly awaited by the ancients, signals the Nile’s embrace of the land. Sirius, with its luminous presence, serves as a bridge between humans, the natural world, and the divine.

In Egypt’s grand courts, rituals of significance unfold. Priests, in communion with the divine, perform ceremonies to honour Ra-Horakhty, seeking guidance for the year ahead. The people, in turn, offer ma’at—a commitment to truth, balance, and order in the dance of life.

In this celestial convergence, where gods and humans navigate the universe’s rhythms, a lesson emerges. A lesson of cycles, balance, and our place in the cosmos. As Ra-Horakhty and Sirius ascend, may we find clarity guided by the wisdo

Gods, Fae, Elves, and Ancestors: Are They All the Same?

Gods. Fairies. Elves. Ancestors. The deeper we go into our pagan history, the more we see a blurring of the lines between the spirits. In fact, many of the sagas, legends, and lore point to the idea that our pagan gods, and the beings we call fairies and elves, might have once been living, breathing human beings. And therefore, our ancestors.

Ancestors OR Gods? Which is it?
I’ve recently been exploring the idea that our gods and fairies were once our ancestors. That our labels for the gods and the other spirit races like the fae stems from a deep-seated belief in our ancestors and ancestor worship. And that many of our “gods” and what we know as fairies today were actually living, breathing human beings like us at one time.

In the Celtic and Germanic traditions, the lines between spirits are blurry at best. You’d think the more you read and research the clearer these beings’ nature would become. But in fact, it becomes more complex and muddy. And the legends point to the idea that these three – gods, faeries, ancestors – are all one-in-the-same.

My thought process is – all of these spirits arose from the same place and somewhere down the line someone started separating the three via personal lore. But, at one time, everyone followed a more ancestral type of belief system which is where the gods and fae originate. Essentially, if we strip away the titles and words that we as humans have put on these beings, do they come closer to being the same thing? Or not?

Odin as Man and Ancestor
It is possible that a person named Odin lived an actual human life in ancient times. This is even mentioned in the Sagas, that Odin was a real king from somewhere in Eastern Europe or possibly the Middle East, who migrated to Northern Europe and conquered many peoples. Because of his legendary status, and because of a strong ancestral religious system, the people ended up deifying their ancestor, a.k.a. the King Odin. Many Germanic royal bloodlines claim Odin as their divine ancestor, even to this day. In the myths, Odin creates man and woman from driftwood then breathes life into them. And we call him the Allfather.

From the Ynglinga Saga, Verse 2:
“The country east of the Tanaquisl in Asia was called Asaland, or Asaheim, and the chief city in that land was called Asgaard. In that city was a chief called Odin, and it was a great place for sacrifice. ………….Odin was a great and very far-travelled warrior, who conquered many kingdoms, and so successful was he that in every battle the victory was on his side. It was the belief of his people that victory belonged to him in every battle.

It was his custom when he sent his men into battle, or on any expedition, that he first laid his hand upon their heads, and called down a blessing upon them; and then they believed their undertaking would be successful. His people also were accustomed, whenever they fell into danger by land or sea, to call upon his name; and they thought that always they got comfort and aid by it, for where he was they thought help was near.”

Freyr as Ancestor, God, and Elf
A great representation of the blurred lines between gods ancestors and the elven beings is the Norse God Freyr. Freyr is considered an ancestor to the Ynglings, a royal bloodline of Old Sweden. In addition, the Eddas written by Sturluson in the 12th century, depict Freyr as a god AND as a King of Alfheim…or Elf Home.

Linda Raedisch explores the idea of Freyr, an earthly god and Elf, being even older than the worship of Odin arising from the Nordic Bronze Age. Then when the Aesir (sky gods) took over as the main Norse pantheon, Odin and Thor grew in popularity, washing out the older earthly gods. Yet Freyr’s veneration continued, even at the Temple of Uppsala in Sweden during the Christianization of Scandinavia. So his name was just as powerful as Odin and Thor.

Elves as Ancestors and Gods
The words Elf, Alf, Alfar have Germanic origins and are related to Alba and Alb in Proto-Germanic, translating to Light or Brilliant.

Many names in the Middle Ages stem from words that meant Elf or Elven, and some we still use today. Albert, Alfred, Aubrey, Avery, Alvin, Alfric (and if you’d like to hear Medieval names that mean elf just watch The Last Kingdom, there’s a dozen or more of them – Alfric, Alfred, Aethelfled, Alfwyn, etc.) These names were particularly common with royalty.

In modern Norse paganism, the Alfar are our ancient, elevated male ancestors and the Disir are ancient ancestral goddesses or elevated female ancestors. In addition, these beings are considered of the Elven race. Each Norse Germanic family and individual has its own Alfar and Disir guiding and protecting them from the Other side. Though don’t get it twisted – the alfar AND the disir could be downright vicious, particularly the Disir of whom required sacrifices.

There’s a story about how during the Christianization of Scandinavia, a man in one family decided they wouldn’t sacrifice someone for their Disir at Disablot, and instead would sacrifice a bull. The Disir came down from the mountain in the distance, wearing black hooded cloaks, knocked on the door, the man answered the door and they un-alived him and left.

The Disir are guardians of the bloodline, can grant prosperity, but also control the fate of the individual. They are likened to the Norns of whom control the destiny of the Universe. In fact, we could say the Norns are the Disir of the gods and the Universe. Interestingly, the Norns are often described with different names and being different entities including goddesses, ancestors, and even trolls.

The Practice of “Sitting Out”, Utesitta
There is a sacred practice in Norse tradition where the individual would seek guidance or visions by sitting on top of a mound, which was often a burial mound of an ancestor. But it’s also mentioned as seeking guidance from the Alfar and the gods.

To quote Linda Raedisch in her brilliant book The Old Magic of Christmas, “the ancient Scandinavians regarded the Alfar as a distinct class of beings, though there is some fluidity among the bloodlines of elves, gods, norns, and even humans.” she also goes on to say “if the elves resemble us, it is because they are us, or rather, were. The human who stumbles upon a procession of elves or an impromptu elvish feast is often startled to recognize someone he knows among them: someone who has died either recently or years before. The elves, then, are the dead – not the quietly resting dead but those who, for whatever reason, have taken up new lives on the other side of the veil and at times might come strolling back through it.”

Alfablot and Disablot
First, I’ve written an entire blog post on Alfablot its origins and how to celebrate. I’ve also written a blog post on Disablot. ( Which you can find in our guide section ) Alfablot is essentially the elven blot or sacrifice, often taking place during the Winter Nights or the end of Autumn leading up to the Winter Solstice. This was practiced in Sweden, we know for sure, and the Disablot is the Disir blot or sacrifice which also takes place during Winter Nights. There is another disablot called the Disting that occurs in February too. All during a time when ancestors and elves were both “active” in later lore.

Fairies and Ancestors in Celtic Lore
Now let’s travel to the Celtic lands and notice all of the similarities between their gods and faeries and the Norse gods and elves. In fact, our good friend Linda Raedisch often comments in her books about the resemblances between the two peoples and how they likely arise from the same peoples if we go back far enough.

Mounds are the Tombs of Our Ancestors:
We have a similar theme here in the Celtic lands as in the Norse, where ancestors are buried in the earth, often in mounds, of which later on become the dwelling place of the Fae or Tuatha. I.e. portals to Elfhame or the Elf-land.

For example, Knockma Hill in Galway, Ireland is notably an ancient world site. Scholars say just as important to world history as Stonehenge or Newgrange yet not as widely recognized. And it is a hill that’s been used for thousands of years (it’s older than the pyramids) as a ceremonial burial ground. Where it gets interesting is that, in addition to being a burial place for the dead, later on in Celtic lore it also became a place of the Fae. Specifically the Elven King Finvarra, also called the KING OF THE DEAD, makes his home in this hill. King Finnvara is known to have liked the human ladies as lovers and even tried stealing a local one to make his wife.

Here we start seeing the idea of fae and elves as ancestors and as interbreeding with humans. In addition, in the same hill, there are at least 5 ancient cairns…one of which MIGHT be the cairn of Queen Medb (Maeve) who is a legendary Queen of Ireland who would eventually morph into a Fairy Queen in later lore. Again, a potentially real person buried in a mound becomes a Fairy Queen later on. In addition, she is considered a divine ancestor or mother of certain Irish lines.

The Celtic Otherworld and Afterlife: Tir na N’og
The faeries and Tuatha are said to live in the Celtic otherworld, right? Well, the old stories and lore also said that when people died, their souls might go to the Otherworld, as well. Tir na N’og being one example, which translates to the “Land of Youth”and is featured famously in the tales of Oisin and Niamh. There are other names for this seemingly same place including Mag Mell (Plain of Delight) and Emain Ablach (Isle of Apple Trees).

The Tuatha de Dannan live in Tir na N’og and are featured in many old Irish myths called the Immramm (voyage) tales. These heroes who reach this otherworld do so through entering ancient mounds, travel across the sea to the farthest unknown places, go down under the water, or go through the mist to reach it. And there they might meet the Tuatha, the gods, and their ancestors.

Manannan Mac Lir is the ruler of Tir na N’og, a sea god of Celtic lore, the first ancestor of the human race and the KING OF THE DEAD.

Celtic Fairy Queens, Goddesses, and Heroes as Divine Ancestors
There are ancient families and septs/clans of Celtic Irish folk who claim descent from many of their legendary heroes, gods, goddesses, and faery queens. If you have Irish ancestry, you might find your family is one of them.

The idea of royal lines claiming descent from gods/divine beings is nothing new and isn’t solely Norse or Celtic but spans cultures. The Ancient Egyptians, for example. Here I should state again, is this because these “gods” were actually real people at one point and became deified ancestors? I believe it’s highly likely.

The Medieval Irish sept called the Dairine (stemming from the Corca Dhuibne pronounced way-nah) claims descent from the Cailleach, a goddess/hag but also from Danu.

And the Dal Cais (Dal-cash), originally the Deisi people, claim descent from Flidais (Flee-aysh) a goddess/fairy queen.

Lugh is a Celtic god who is also part of the Tuatha De Dannan. Multiple Irish clans claimed Lugh as their god and ancestor. If your ancestors were part of the Eoganachta, Lugh is your divine ancestor. One connection lies in the King Lughaid who claimed descent from Lugh, as well as Irish clans that claim descent from Cu Chulainn (coo-hoo-lin). This legendary hero claimed descent from Lugh, henceforth Irish clans connected to him are also descended from Lugh.

Orphic Hymn To Hekate

 call Ækátî of the Crossroads, worshipped at the meeting of three paths, oh lovely one.

In the sky, earth, and sea, you are venerated in your saffron-colored robes.

Funereal Daimôn, celebrating among the souls of those who have passed.

Persian, fond of deserted places, you delight in deer.

Goddess of night, protectress of dogs, invincible Queen.

Drawn by a yoke of bulls, you are the queen who holds the keys to all the Kózmos.

Commander, Nýmphi, nurturer of children, you who haunt the mountains.

Pray, Maiden, attend our hallowed rituals;

Be forever gracious to your mystic herdsman and rejoice in our gifts of incense.

Hekate Chant…

Glory to you, O Hekate

Goddess who guards our opportunities

Queen of magic and circumstance

Keyholder, beloved mother of witches

Hekate, guide me through blessed doors

Shut those that might lead to my destruction

Hekate, she who holds the keys to the realms of time

Hekate, the goddess of wisdom and fate

Who hears the whisper of prophecy

Goddess of mysteries

Take my hand, O goddess

Put all your knowledge into my palm

And let your magic flow through me..

Here is a short prayer to Hekate about Persephone:

You, who dwell in the deep abyss,

In whose hand is death,

Who lives in the underworld,

You found the lost queen of Hades,

You guided her to save humanity from eternal winter.

Hekate, companion and friend of Persephone,

Guide me on my path.

May I never fear the darkness.

May I know where to find the light.

The following prayer was written specifically for Hades and Hekate:

Hear me, O Hades, king of the dead,

Lord of the underworld, ruler of the dead,

You who live in the dark places,

Work well with kind Hekate,

For she will help you bring back those who have died.

Hekate will be your companion in your work.

Hekate’s power will aid you in your task.

This is a prayer to Lilith and Hekate:

O Lilith, Seductress, Temptress,

She who invades dreams,

Who works hand in hand with divine Hekate,

Hear my prayers to you,

Defeat my enemies and aid my goals,

Help me overcome my fears,

And protect me from harm.

Prayer To Hekate Soteira
The role of Hekate as savior is very important. She is often associated with the concept of salvation. This is because she can help people escape their earthly problems and grant them a blameless death.

Soteira means “to save” or “to rescue”. Here is a prayer to Hekate Soteiria:

Heavenly Mother, hear my plea!

I am but mortal and wretched.

Give me strength and courage to face my fate,

To make good use of my time here.

To guide me safely to my end,

So that I may join my ancestors.

The following prayer is dedicated to Hekate:

Great Goddess, Queen of Witches,

Queen of the Night,

My Lady of Mysteries,

Lady of the Underworld,

Goddess of Death,

Mother of Souls,

Protectress of Witches,

Mother of Ghosts,

Guardian of Diviners,

Protector of Travelers,

Giver of Dreams,

All-Knowing One,

Mistress of Fate,

Mighty Ruler of All Things,

Guide me always,

Lead me to safety,

Save me from danger,

Keep me safe from evil,

Watch over me,

Be with me always,

Love me,

Listen to me,

Look after me,

Take care of me,

And I will work eternally in your name!

Signs Hekate is Reaching Out

Are you looking into working with a deity? Do you feel particularly drawn to Hekate’s figure? If you are approaching a big breakthrough, she might be calling you.

Get to know Hekate
Hecate is one of the lesser-known Greek goddesses. The abilities attributed to her in Greek mythology are many, and they are mysterious. That is why, even nowadays, some myths around her present her as an evil goddess. Certainly, some of her powers and characteristics can be associated with the Underworld. However, some of her domains undoubtedly belong to the realm of life. She has extensive powers and many divine duties. She is considered to be the goddess of the night, light, crossroads, liminal spaces, childbirth, ghosts, necromancy, and the moon. Today, we know her mainly for being the goddess of magic and witchcraft.

According to mythology, her divine duties include ushering souls from the physical world to the underworld and vice-versa. She is, therefore, a liminal goddess. As such, she was given the title of goddess of gateways and borders. In this aspect, those “in-between” spaces are under her domain. She is also called the goddess of crossroads. To represent this, she is frequently represented as a triple goddess. For example, she is most commonly seen as a triple feminine figure, or as a woman holding a three-headed dog.

Hecate’s calling
Hecate is known to call people even when, more often than not, some witches are afraid of working with her. she may call you despite you knowing very little about her -or even if you do not know her at all. This goddess tends to be persistent and does not care about the resistance or inexperience of those she wants to call.

As we know, Hecate’s domains include crossroads. Not unexpectedly, she often calls people who are going through major life changes. This is why she is believed to call pregnant and dying people predominantly. She also likes calling young witches, as she likes to teach her craft using old-school methods. This is, of course, not true for everyone. You might be invited to work with her at any age.

However, if you are standing at any kind of turning point, she might lend a hand to help you. It might come across as an inconvenient time to embark on something new. But she will empower you to burn bridges leading back to those things that no longer serve you.

This is a deep, internal process. When something inside you starts breaking, her power seeps through the cracks and starts lighting up your soul. But Hekate is loud about what she wants. The work might be inward, but she will not leave room for doubt. If she wants to call you, you will notice subtle, yet unmistakable signs from her. You just have to pay attention.

6 signs Hekate is trying to get your attention

Black dogs
Dogs are sacred to Hecate. They are her animal companion and she is frequently depicted with one. Repeatedly coming across large, black dogs can be a signal from her. However, this sign can manifest in different ways. For example, you might hear dogs howling or barking a bit too frequently. If these sounds seem to come out of nowhere, they might be her hounds calling you.

Keys
Hekate is the goddess of gateways, and keys are one of her symbols. Of course, we handle keys on a daily basis. But if you unexpectedly come across keys while running errands, or find a long-lost bunch of keys, it might be a sign.

Torches
In most representations, Hecate is holding torches. This is related to her soul-guiding and gate-keeping duties. Unlike keys, torches are not frequently seen in our daily life, so spotting one without actively seeking it could be a sign.

The number 3
Hecate is often represented as a triple female figure. This is the representation of crossroads, one of her domains. In Greek mythology, she is also connected to the three realms of the Cosmos: earth, sea, and sky. Therefore, 3 is a sacred number when it comes to Hecate. If you notice it around you often, take note. It could be a message from this goddess.

Crossroads
Hecate will likely call you when you are standing at a crossroads. But not only metaphorically! If you have a strange experience while standing at a crossroads, especially in a forest, pay attention. A symbol, a vision, a channeled message… that could be her calling.

Symbols
Sometimes, the calling is even more obvious. If straightforward symbols, like Hecate’s wheel or triple moon imagery, appear around you repeatedly, she might be trying to call you.

What to do when you are called by Hecate
Receiving these signs from Hecate herself might be overwhelming. Maybe you sense that she’s trying to get through, but you are not completely sure. That is normal, especially if you have never worked with deities before.

At this point, being open to signs is more effective than actively looking for them. If you suspect that Hekate wants to work with you, taking notes might be useful. Keeping a detailed log of these signs will make them tangible and can help you understand them better. Write down if they are present in dreams or real life. Mention every symbol you notice. If you have a vision, jot down any other elements present. If you are undergoing any kind of change in your life, explain that, too.

Of course, it is difficult to discern what is really a sign. However, this is when faith comes into play. Remember that Hecate works from the inside out. If you have an unexplainable gut feeling, you are most probably correct. Trust her guidance and she will show you the right direction.

First steps working with Hecate

If you are ready to start working with Hecate, you can start small and work up progressively. Here are some ideas to start your journey.

Include her in your altar
Having her picture on your altar or lighting a candle for her is a good place to start. You can add elements as your confidence grows.

Work with Moon cycles
You can start by cleaning your home during a Full Moon as a cleansing ritual. Make sure to intention your actions.

Help animals
Hecate is deeply related to Nature and animals in general. Even when she is mostly seen around dogs, other animals like snakes and polecats (similar to ferrets) are also included among her symbols. Working in your local shelter or with strays is a nice way to connect with her.

Take care of your plants
This is a rather easy way to start understanding Hecate’s work. She is an herbalist and honors medicinal herbs and plants in her craft. Learning to work with these elements can take long study sessions. However, bonding with your houseplants is an easy starting point.

Do shadow work
Hecate is the connection between light and darkness. She walks in life, death, and anything in between. Working with your shadow will spark a close connection between you and this wise, mysterious goddess.

Practice green witchcraft
Devote time to including herbs and elements from Nature in your practice. Not only will you feel closer to Hekate. You will also learn a new craft.

Hermes

ORIGIN

Greek. Messenger of the gods.

KNOWN PERIOD OF WORSHIP

circa 800 BC but probably earlier until Christianization (circa AD 400).

CENTER(S) OF CULT

Pheneos (Arcadia); otherwise few specific places, but strongly associated with wayside shrines and cairns.

ART REFERENCES

probably certain prehistoric phallic figures marking boundaries; Parthenon frieze; Hermes of Praxiteles in Olympia.

LITERARY SOURCES

Iliad, Odyssey (Homer); Theogony (Hesiod).

Hermes is the son of a nymph, MAIA, who consorted with ZEUS. He was born in the Arcadian mountains, a complex, Machiavellian character full of trickery and sexual vigor.

His most significant consort is APHRODITE.

He is a God of boundaries, guardian of graves, and patron deity of shepherds.

Perversely, he patronizes both heralds and thieves and is a bringer of good fortune.

According to legend Hermes as a day-old infant stole the cattle of his elder brother APOLLO while playing the lyre.

Legend accords to him the invention of fire also generated on his first day.

Hermes’s skills at theft were put to use by the other gods of Olympus, who sent him to liberate ARES from a barrel and to bring King Priam of Troy into a conciliatory meeting with the Greek war hero Achilles after the death of Hector.

Classical art depicts Hermes wearing winged golden sandals and holding a magical herald’s staff consisting of intertwined serpents, the kerykeion.

He is reputedly the only being able to find his way to the underworld ferry of Charon and back again.

Hence he was sent to bring both PERSEPHONE and Eurydice back from Hades.

In company with other Greek gods, Hermes is endowed with not-inconsiderable sexual prowess which he directs toward countryside nymphs and with which he also maintains a healthy and thriving population of sheep and goats!

He was often represented in wayside shrines in the form of a phallic pillar or post which was regarded as a funerary monument, hence the role of grave guardian.

Deities Of The Moon

Invoke these for gentle increase, power and banishing energies, fertility, intuition, magick and dreams.

Arianrhod

Arianrhod is a Welsh goddess of the full moon and also of time, karma and destiny.

She ruled over the realm of the Celtic Otherworld, called Caer Feddwidd, the Fort of Carousa.

Here a mystical fountain of wine offered eternal health and youth for those who chose to spend their immortality in the Otherworld.

She brings inspiration, renewal, health and rejuvenation, and is a focus for all magick, as she is a witch goddess.

Diana

Diana is the Roman counterpart of Artemis, and because of her strong association with the Moon in all its phases, is a goddess of fertility as well as love.

Like Artemis, she is goddess of the hunt and a virgin goddess but can be invoked in her role as an Earth goddess and as protector of women in childbirth.

Her beauty and hunting skills make her a perfect focus for the pursuit of love, especially from afar.

Myesyats

Like the lunar goddesses, Myesyats, the Slavic Moon God, represented the three stages of the life cycle.

He was first worshipped as a young man until he reached maturity at the full moon.

With the waning phase, Myesyats passed through old age and died with the old moon, being reborn three days later.

As he was the restorer of life and health, parents would pray to him to take away their children’s illnesses and family sorrows.

Other sources have a female version, Myesytsa, a lovely Moon maiden who was the consort of Dazhbog the Sun God, and became mother of the stars.

Myesyats brings healing and family harmony.

Selene

Selene is the Greek goddess especially associated with the full moon, sometimes forming a triplicity with Diana and Hecate, the twin sister of Helios the Sun God.

Selene rises from the sea in her chariot drawn by white horses at night and rides high in the sky in her full moon.

At the time of the full moon, she is invoked by women for fertility and by all who seek the power of intuition and inspiration.

Deities for Protection

Anubis (Egyptian) : The jackal headed god. Anubis is the gatekeeper to the underworld a protector and a guardian. Anubis can walk with you during challenging magickal situations. He can help to remove fear so you can find the courage to do what needs to be done. Colors: Green and Black. Crystals and stones: malachite and nebula. herb: Myrrh

Artemis (Greek) The maiden Goddess of the crescent moon and the hunt, Artemis leads the hunt with her wild women. Artemis can teach you to be brave and courageous no matter what gets thrown your way. She is known for acting quickly and decisively to protect and rescue those who call on her for aid. She is swift to punish offenders, even though she detests violence itself. She is a protector of women in childbirth and of mothers and their children. Colors: Silver and white Metal: Silver

Crystals and stones: Moonstone labradorite and selenite. Herb: mugwort also known as Artemisia.

Hecate (Greco-Roman): The triple-faced torch-bearing goddess of the crossroads. A deity of choices endings and beginnings hecate is called the phantom Queen and is a patroness and protector of witches. She may appear as a beautiful young woman, an attractive matron or a wise old crone. Hecate is a powerful and no nonsense deity to work protection magick with. While she has always been associated with darker magick and curses she is also incredible for calling upon her assistance in turning back and stopping baneful magick. You can always tell when Hecate is near, as dogs will begin to howl and the wind will blow. Colors blocak green and silver. Crystals and stones; snowflake obsidian and onyx. Herbs: lavender and willow.

Horus (Egyptian) The falcon headed son of Isis and Osirus. Horus is associated with both the sky and the sun. he is the patron of matters of law and justice. naturally the falcon is linked with this deity. he is a powerhouse of warrior god type energy. Horus is the protector of Egypt and his symbol, the Eye of Horus, is a classic protective symbol. Colors; Gold and white. crystals and stones fire opal, citrine and sunstone. herb Sunflower.

Isis (Egyptian) The supreme Egyptian Mother Goddess, isis is a winged high priestess of magick and enchantment. her area of expertise is magick and she is very protective of her devotees. Her other specialties include magick for marriage family divination and protection. The cow is her sacred animal and one of her magickal symbols is the full moon. Isis is typically depicted with a throne on top of her head which is her hieroglyph. Colors white and deep blue. Crystals and stones: Red chalcedony, lapiz lazuli and azurite. herbs water lily and lotus.

Kali (Hindu) The “Great Protector” And champion of women in peril. Call on kali if you are in physical danger and she will come to assist you. over the years I have heard many stories about women who called on Kali when they were in danger and each time something amazing happened. I must caution you to invoke her only in extreme situations. kali isn’t the one to call on if you’re feeling pissy or just having a bad day. She is a force of nature and is called ” The Destroyer” keep that firmly in mind. Colors black and red. Crystals and stones jet and garnet.

Lilith ( Sumerian) the divine lady owl and ultimate femme fatale. Lility is often thought of as a beautiful vampire. She is seductive powerful and dangerous but if you need help fending off unwanted psychic vampires she’s just the deity to call on. the screech owl is her sacred animal . Colors Red and black. Crystals and stones: carnelian and obsidian. herb: Deep Red thorny roses.

The Morrigan (Celtic) The morrigan is intense. This is a goddess of bloodlust, revenge and prophecy, and she reigns over the battlefield. She is a ferocious vengeful frightening challenging goddess but in the best possible way. She will challenge both you and your fears and any preconceived notions you may hold of her. She is a berserker’s rage the washer at teh ford and the Bean Sidhe all rolled into one. Ravens and crows are her sacred birds and remember these are carrion eaters not just witchy black birds. The Morrigan will test you constantly and she demands both a healthy amount of fear and respect. Crystals and stones : blood stone and garnet.

Nepthys (Egyptian) The green eyed dark sister of Isis, Nepthys is called the Revealer and she can help you discover what would remain hidden. Nepthys is excellent for darker magick general protection and psychic self defense. She can show you your shadow side and teach you how to accept yourself as you truly are. Nepthys is best called during a waning moon and her energy is siilar to Isis just a bit darker and more intense. Nepthys is always depicted with a basket on a stand on top of her head. Color: Midnight blue. Crystals and stones sugilite and blue goldstone. Herb: Lotus

Sehkmet (Egyptian) Sekhmet is the lion headed goddess associated with Upper Egypt. She was called ” The terrible one,” ” She who is Powerful” and the “Eye of Ra” while she was in her protector form. A mighty solar goddess of fire power destruction and war her breath created the desert. She is an extremely protective deity and an excellent goddess to call upon if you feel you are under psychic attack Sekhmet will come roaring to your aid so long as your respectful of her power. Colors: red and black. Crystals and stones : red or borwn tiger’s eye.

Shiva(hindu) The lord of sweeping change. Call on Shiva if you need change to come right away. He will dance into your life and clear things out quickly. Just be sure to be very specific with what your magickal goals are and what you actually need removed from your life. Symbols for Shiva include the crescent moon and the trident. Colors Red and white Stone: Shiva Lingam.

Thor( Norse) The everyman’s god. thor is a great warrior and is thought to admire acts of bravery and courage. Thor likes a good fight and is always happy to lend his aid to people who genuinely loves his people. Thursday is named after him it is literally Thor’s day. the lightning bolt and the hammer are his symbols. Colors: silver, red and yellow. Crystals and stones, granite quartz and slate.

Zeus(Greek) The leader of the Olympians and a storm bringer, Zeus is a powerhouse of energy and magick. he can grant wisdom and cunning, and protection if you approach him respectfully and honestly. His symbols are the lightning bolt and the eagle. Colors: white and gold. Metal gold. Crystal : amber as it is known to hold a

n electrical charge.

Deity – Soul

There are 2 types of souls. Those that use their minds to live life with, and souls that use their hearts. The soul uses both but typically one makes the most decisions, certainly not all in most cases.

There are souls that are led through emotions, feelings, hormones, the spur of the moment, the thrill of excitement, the physical is their way of interpreting the spiritual. These souls are souls that need only action and excitement to enjoy their life. When talking with a heart soul, be gentle, only emotions rule these spirits. Their native tongue is gentleness. All souls, though, understand love.

There are souls that are led through ideas, philosophy, discussion, reflection, discipline, the mind is their tool for interpreting the spiritual. These souls are souls that only need privacy and things to mull over with a few close friends perhaps. This is the soul that reads life through what they see and hear and interpret, who shy away from the gregarious action.

These souls understand the truth, their native tongue is fact over opinion. All souls, though, understand love. When you are attempting to speak to a spirit, lead them with what their native tongue is. The deity knows each language of the world, and more beyond this. The deity does this through understanding how a soul reads and interprets the living world around them.

Do not get lost in translation. That is dangerous, it only brings problems and negativity to those spirits involved. If you have a problem prefer to speak to the spirit inside of the people you talk to in their native tongue. The languages people speak are typically easy to understand. After all, we didn’t make it this far just to kill each other over miscommunication.

Deities For Power

These deities may be invoked for strength, success, energy, inspiration and increase.

Apollo

Apollo, the Greek Sun God, was twin brother of Artemis, the Moon Goddess. As god of the solar
light, Apollo made the fruits of the Earth ripen, and at Delos and Delphi where he slew Python, the
first crops were dedicated to him.
(Python, the great lightning serpent, was the son-consort of the Mother Goddess in her form of
Delphyne, the Womb of Creation, fertilised by Python. Python in this sense predated all other gods
and was later called the Dark Sun, Apollo’s alter ego. The Ancient Greeks rededicated his shrine to
Apollo.)
Apollo was god of prophecy as well as music, poetry, archery, healing and divination. He is very
strongly animus and is good for all rituals of power, ambition and inspiration, as well as those areas
under his patronage. Men tend to work better with him than women.

Aine

Aine is daughter of Manananann, Celtic Sea God and ruler of the Isle of Man and goddess of the
cycles of the solar and lunar year. Even during the twentieth century, she was remembered on the Hill
of Aine in Ireland, by torchlight processions and burning straw at midsummer and also at the old corn
harvest, Lughnassadh, at the beginning of August. She is also linked with love, fertility and healing.
Ama-terasu Omikami
Ama-terasu Omikami is the Ancient Japanese Sun Goddess. Her name means ‘Great August Spirit
Shining in Heaven’ but she is also called Shinmet, ‘Divine Radiance’ and O-hiru-me-no-muchi, ‘Great
Female Possessor of Noon’.
She is good for female-focused Sun rituals and for ceremonial magick.

Helios

The Greek god Helios, known to the Romans as Sol, was regarded as the Sun itself. He ascended the
heavens in a chariot drawn by winged snow-white horses to give light and in the evening descended
into the ocean. Homer wrote:
‘Drawn in his swift chariot, he sheds light on gods and men alike; the formidable flash of his eyes
pierces his golden helmet, sparkling rays glint from his breast and his brilliant helmet gives forth a
dazzling splendour. His body is draped in shining gauze, whipped by the wind.’
He is especially associated with the life force and renewing health and energy.

Horus

Horus was the Ancient Egyptian Sky God, represented as a falcon or a falcon-headed man. His eyes
were the Sun and Moon and his wings could extend across the entire heavens. He was frequently
associated with the morning aspect of Ra, the Sun God, and worshipped as Re-Harakhte. The son of
Isis and Osiris, he is often depicted as an infant on his mother’s lap and together the parents and child
form a trinity.
Horus brings clarity of mind and purpose and the ability to seize upon an opportunity, and is effective
for uncovering secrets, deception and illusion.

Lugh

Lugh, the Celtic ‘shining one’, who gives his name to Lughnassadh, Celtic festival of the first harvest,
was the young solar deity who replaced the Dagda, father of the gods, as supreme king. He was
associated with sacrifice, as the Sun King who was reborn each year at either the mid-winter solstice
or the spring equinox.
Legend has it that when Lugh arrived to join the Tuatha de Danaan, he went to the palace of Tara and
asked for a position in the court. (The Tuatha de Danaan were the ancient Irish gods and goddesses,
literally ‘the tribe of Danu’, who was the creatrix goddess.) He said he was a carpenter, but was told
that the company of gods already had one.
Lugh then declared he was a smith but again was told that the deities possessed such a craftsman. He
then announced that he was a poet, then in turn a warrior, historian, hero and sorcerer. Each position
was filled. Lugh then demanded whether any one person could perform all these tasks as he could. As
a result, he was admitted to the Tuatha de Danaan and eventually became their leader.
You can invoke Lugh especially at the time of Lughnassadh, for the reaping of benefits sown earlier
in the year, but also at any time for adaptability, versatility, innovation and originality.

Mercurius

ORIGIN

Roman. Messenger god.

KNOWN PERIOD OF WORSHIP

circa 400 BC to circa AD 400.

SYNONYMS

Psychopompus; Oneicopompus;

HERMES

(Greek); Mercury.

CENTER(S) OF CULT

Circus Maximus (Rome).

ART REFERENCES

sculptures and carvings.

LITERARY SOURCES

Aeneid (Virgil), etc.

One of the twelve major deities of Olympus, Mercury is modeled closely on the Greek god Hermes.

In Roman mythology, he is the son of JUPITER and the plains goddess MAIA, born in a cave on Mount Cyllene in Arcadia.

He is attributed with the invention of the lyre made from tortoiseshell, and with various misdemeanors, including the theft of cattle from APOLLO, an allegory on the blowing away of the clouds (Apollo’s herds).

Mercury also personifies the wind.

Apollo presented Mercury with the gift of his winged baton, the caduceus, which had the power of resolving conflict and dispute.

The gods also presented Mercury with winged sandals or talaria and a cap or petasus.

Originally he was a god of riches but became a patron of travelers and thieves.

The French for Wednesday, Mercredi, derives from his name.

His main annual festival, the Mercuralia, took place in Rome in May and his statues were frequently placed as boundary markers.

As Psychopompus he leads the souls of the dead into Hades, and as Oneicopompus he oversees the world of dreams.

Hermes Trismegistus

The thrice greatest Hermes,” a
mythological blend of the Egyptian god Thoth, who governed
mystical wisdom, magic, writing and other disciplines,
and was associated with healing; and the Greek
god Hermes, the personification of universal wisdom and
patron of magic, the swift, wing-footed messenger god
who carried a magic wand, the caduceus. The ancient
Greeks associated Hermes with Thoth so closely that the
two became inseparable. “Thrice greatest” refers to
Hermes Trismegistus as the greatest of all philosophers;
the greatest of all kings; and the greatest of all priests.
Both Thoth and Hermes were associated with sacred
writings. As scribe of the gods, Thoth was credited with
all sacred books. In some Egyptian writings, he was described
as “twice very great” and “five times very great.”
Hermes was credited with the authorship of 20,000
books by Iamblichus (ca. 250–300 b.c.e.), a Neo-platonic
Syrian philosopher, and more than 36,000 by Manetho
(ca. 300 b.c.e.), an Egyptian priest who wrote the history
of Egypt in Greek, perhaps for Ptolemy I. According
to myth, both Thoth and Hermes revealed to mankind
the healing arts, magic, writing, astrology, sciences and
philosophy. Thoth recorded the weighing of souls in the
Judgment Hall of Osiris Hermes conducted the souls
of the dead to Hades. Hermes, said Francis Barrett in
Biographia Antiqua, “. . . communicated the sum of the
Abyss, and the divine knowledge to all posterity . . .”
Hermes Trismegistus provided the wisdom of the light
in the ancient Egyptian mysteries. He carried an emerald,
upon which was recorded all of philosophy, and the caduceus,
the symbol of mystical illumination. Hermes Trismegistus
vanquished Typhon, the dragon of ignorance
and mental, moral and physical perversion.
The surviving wisdom of Hermes Trismegistus is said
to be the Hermetica, 42 books that profoundly influenced
the development of Western occultism and magic. These
books, probably authored by a succession of anonymous
persons date to between the third century b.c.e. and the
first century c.e.

Deity – The Laws

The Laws of the Universe are created in such a way that nothing escapes punishment and no good deed goes unrewarded. The Deity lives in everything that exists and is therefore omnipresent. It is believed that the laws of the universe are to keep a perfect balance. If the balance of life, peace, love, hate, comfort, sleep, rest, action, force etc. is tipped, it may only be tipped back by forcing the soul that has tipped it to live through the life of the person, or persons, that have been affected.

A fine example of the tipping of the great scale of life is murder. If a person kills someone it is believed that the deity will take the soul of the killer and place them in the lives of all of their victims. In the end, the killer hasn’t killed anyone but themselves. This is how the deities keep balance in the universe, by forcing the law of justice to unfold so that each person who has had their scale tipped, may find their scale tipped again to where it was when it was created.

Of you can,  envision everyone as a spirit inside of a giant bubble. Every Bubble is inside of another bubble and when one bubble is moving around and rams into another bubble they bounce and hit all the bubbles around them. It could be family, friends, loved ones, anyone. Anyone can be a bubble who is affected by another bubble. But once the edge decides it’s the limit, then they all hit the edge and bounce back with an equal force to the original push, causing a balance.

Nothing should be kept out of harmony. Disrupting harmony can be very easy to do. Anything that has caused movement on the earth has the ability to upset the balance has disrupted harmony. The question is, was it severe enough to cause one spirit to call the deity down to oversee a matter? The answer is, has the balance in a person’s life, any balance, been tipped by an outside force? If yes, then yes, there will be consequences. Consequences can be both good and bad. Just as you may damage someone’s life, you may also bless it as well and living through that is a reward in itself.

Deities Of The Environment

Invoke these deities for rituals involving all aspects of the environment and for healing the planet.

Gaia

Gaia is the all-embracing and all-nourishing goddess of the Earth. It is said that she supplies in her
bounty all the necessary plants to cure any disease and, in spite of human pollution, she constantly
heals and renews the planet. She is also a goddess of marriage.
She is the natural focus for all green rituals.
Tellus Mater
Tellus Mater was the Earth Mother of the Romans, the alter ego of Ceres, the grain mother, and
guardian of the fertility of people, animals and crops. However, Tellus Mater is also the mother who
receives the dead in her womb to comfort and restore and so, like Gaia, she is a excellent goddess for
all green magick and rituals for healing pollution or deforestation.

Wophe

Wophe, or White Buffalo Calf Woman, is the sacred creator woman of the Lakotas and other peoples
of the American Plains. Legend says she fell from a meteor and as she began her Earth walk, she was
discovered by two young Lakota scouts who were hunting for buffalo.
She wore a pure white buckskin dress, her long hair flowing behind her like a sea of corn. She sang
into the souls of the men that each should act on his thoughts. Eagerly the first, not recognising her
sacred nature, hurried towards her and a white mist covered them. The sound of rattlesnakes was
heard and when the cloud lifted, there were only the bones of the young man. She told the other to
inform the elders of the tribe that she would come to them next morning with a great gift for the
people.
A huge ornate ceremonial tepee was erected and in the morning she entered, carrying a special bundle
on her back and singing a holy song. The men kept their eyes lowered when she entered, as she had
instructed. She unfastened the bundle and took from it the buffalo calf pipe, which is still the most
sacred religious object of the Lakota today.
The woman instructed the men in how to smoke the pipe, which in its smoke symbolised the visible
Spirit, in the bowl Mother Earth and in the stem Father Sky, so that it might be used for prayer
offerings to her and for bringing peace to divided nations. On her visits she also taught sacred
ceremonies for restoring balance and healing to both Earth and people. She then set off to leave the
camp, walking towards the West.
When she reached the outskirts, she rolled over on the ground and was transformed into a buffalo,
changing colours several times. Finally, she changed into a white buffalo calf, rarest of the species,
promising that when she was seen again she would restore harmony to a troubled world. The people
followed her teachings, the corn grew, the seasons continued to flow in succession and they were
hungry no more, as buffalo became plentiful.
By the end of the nineteenth century, however, there were in reality fewer than 200 buffalo left, where
only years earlier it was estimated there had been several million. In the summer of 1994, a white
buffalo calf was born in Jamesville, Wisconsin. As the prophecy had told, the white buffalo has
changed its colours since birth, going from white to black to red to yellow and back to white. Since
each colour represents one of the four directions, the buffalo is seen by many Native Americans as a
symbol of the rebirth of hope. One visionary interpreted the birth of the white buffalo calf as
signifying that the human race will be united, in spite of differences in creed and colour, and join
together in peace.
Wophe is therefore an important symbol not only of the revival of the Native American wisdom, but
also of healing and reconciliation of all people and of the land and all its creatures

Deities Of The Male Principle

These deities are for the hunt, instincts, willing sacrifice and ecstasy.

Cernunnos

Cernunnos, meaning ‘horned one’, was a generic term for the various Horned Gods of the Celtic
tradition. The god dates back to the shamanic figures portrayed on cave walls. Cernunnos was lord of
winter, the hunt, animals, death, male fertility and the Underworld, and was sometime portrayed as a
triple or trefoil god, an image later assimilated by St Patrick with his emblematic shamrock.
Other forms of the Horned God include Herne the Hunter, the Greek Pan, god of the woodlands, and
Dionysus, Greek god of vegetation and the vine, whose ecstatic mystery cult involved ritual
dismemberment and resurrection.
Cerunnos’ importance has been in his continuing presence as the Horned God, the male principle in
witchcraft through the ages, in modern Wicca and other neo-pagan faiths. He is also invoked for
prosperity, fertility, instinctive power and knowledge of when it is necessary to hunt, whether to find
employment or a home, and as protection against predators of all kinds.

Dionysus

Dionysus, sometimes depicted as a Horned God, was a god of the grain, who died and was reborn
every year as a child in a basket, representing the seed corn. He was the Greek god of fertility, ecstasy
and wildness, who bestowed great abundance on his followers; his cult performed savage rites at
Eleusius where human flesh was eaten as the bread of life. Not an easy deity to use, without great
experience and restraint, as the excesses carried out under his name need to be kept in check while
invoking the free spirit and the renewal of life. He is potent for breaking away from destructive
situations or, ironically, bad habits such as alcohol.

Osiris

Osiris became one of the most important and popular gods in Ancient Egypt, mainly because he
promised non-royal believers that resurrection and salvation from death were for everyone, poor as
well as rich. Originally he was identified with each dead pharaoh, and his son Horus was identified
with the reigning successor.
Osiris married his sister Isis, and his brother Seth married Isis’s sister Nephthys. According to legend,
Osiris was at first made an earthly king by his father Geb, the Earth God. Osiris ruled wisely, teaching
his people about agriculture and the arts. But Osiris’s brother Seth was jealous and vowed to kill him.
Seth invited Osiris to a feast and showed the guests a fine coffer, promising that whoever fitted inside
would be the owner. Osiris stepped inside the coffer and it fitted perfectly. Seth slammed the lid tight
and he and his followers threw the chest into the Nile.
Isis searched for her husband and at last discovered the chest at Byblos on the Phoenician coast. She
brought Osiris’ body back to Egypt and conceived a son by her dead husband, hiding herself in the
rushes of the marshes of the delta while awaiting the birth.
Seth discovered the body of Osiris, hacked it into pieces and scattered them throughout Egypt so that
he could never be restored to life. But Isis searched once more and, assisted by Nephthys, remodelled
the bones into Osiris’ form and restored her husband to life once more.
When their son Horus, the Sky God, became a youth, he fought to avenge his father against Seth. The
divine judges, including Thoth, god of wisdom, met in the Great Hall of Judgment and decided that
Osiris should become not a living king once more, but eternal King and Judge of the Underworld.
Osiris was also god of vegetation, the fertile, flooding Nile and the corn, and so represented the annual
dying of the land and rebirth with the flood. He is normally pictured as a man, bound in mummy
wrappings.
Osiris is an important icon of the annual cycle of sacrifice and resurrection but, as with all the
sacrifice gods, it is the female power that causes the resurrection. Like other sacrificed and restored
gods, Osiris thereby represents the integration of animus and anima and sacred sex magick. He can be
used in rituals for the balance of male/female energies or where the female in the High Priestess role
takes the lead. He is also good for any magick that relies on a cycle of regeneration following a
natural ending.

Deities Of Marriage

These deities can be invoked in rituals concerning the family and the home.

Frigg

Frigg was the Viking Mother Goddess whose jewelled spinning wheel formed Orion’s belt; as
patroness of marriage, women, mothers and families, she can be invoked for all rituals concerned with
families and domestic happiness. She invited devoted husbands and wives to her hall after death so
that they might never be parted again and so is goddess of fidelity.
As Ostara, goddess of spring, she was known among the Anglo-Saxons and is remembered in the
festival of Easter as a fertility goddess and bringer of new beginnings.
In her role as Valfreya, the Lady of the Battlefield, Frigg recalls the Northern tradition of warrior
goddesses and offers courage to women.

Hera

Hera, the wife-sister of Zeus, is a the supreme Greek goddess of protection, marriage and childbirth
whose sacred bird is the peacock. She is a powerful deity of fidelity and is called upon by women
seeking revenge upon unfaithful partners.

Deity

The deity is one with everything, nothing exists without their spirit in it. The deity exists within you just as they exist within every human and animal, plant, insect, and object that can be touched or held or observed. When you suffer it just so happens that so does the deity. They experience everything you experience because they are inside of you, and because of this, you are never alone. All the people on this earth have named the deity as a mother or a father, male or female, or both. Some say that they don’t exist and that’s fine also. Just as the deity is all the greatness in the world, they are also all of the darkness in the world. The deity allows war to happen, and sickness, and hate. They do not separate themselves from the darkness in this life. They create defeat, anger, pain, vengeance, and all the things that come with destruction. This is true because the deity is a reflection of all living things. If sickness and vengeance and all other things exist within each living thing, then surely the deities experience it also. Why they created this is a whole other matter. Surely, though, the reason may be that it is created to bring balance which brings peace into our lives.  People will often have what they refer to as trouble with their faith in Paganism. It may be impossible for there to be such thing as a problem with their faith,

This feeling could be boiled down to two things. One is that its negative energy that’s messing up the view of your soul. The second thing is this may be is a calling to another faith. It is possible that there is no such thing as having the wrong faith. You may have bad morals according to some opinion or another, but you will never have the wrong faith or lack of faith. If it means you decide to turn Atheist, or Christian, or Muslim, then that’s just what the deity wants you to go through so that the plans they have for you in this world can come out and form. No matter what the deity has in store, it is perfectly normal and alright to have a path outside of Paganism, and no Pagan should ever belittle you for it. Most Pagan will have the seed of understanding attached directly into the deity and everything is always good in their eyes no matter what the situation holds. Hold firm to the deity and life will work itself out the way it is supposed to work itself out. The deity speaks to each person differently and no one person is the same nor are they meant to be the same. Each person has their life to live which is separate from everyone else on the planet.

Hecate

ORIGIN

Greek. Goddess of the moon and of pathways.

KNOWN PERIOD OF WORSHIP

circa 800 BC until Christianization (circa AD 400).

SYNONYMS

Hekate.

CENTER(S) OF CULT

Lagina.

ART REFERENCES

sculptures and reliefs.

LITERARY SOURCES

Theogony (Hesiod) etc.

Hekate is the daughter of Perses and Asteria and is subsequently honored by ZEUS as a goddess.

She is the mother of Scylla and is specifically a goddess of pathways and crossroads traveled by night.

Artistic representations show her carrying torches.

Where paths met, a triple-figure of Hecate rose from masks placed at the junction.

Offerings were left in roadside shrines and at junctions. In later times she tended to become syncretized with the goddess ARTEMIS.

Hekate is also the patron of Medea and other witches, and in some parts of Thessaly, she was worshiped by occult bands of female moon worshipers.

In variations of the DEMETER legends, Hekate plays a part in the return of PERSEPHONE from HADES.

She is also invoked as a bestower of wealth and favor

ODIN

Odin (pronounced “OH-din”; Old Norse Óðinn, Old English and Old Saxon Woden, Old High German Wuotan, Wotan, or Wodan, Proto-Germanic *Woðanaz, “Master of Ecstasy”) is one of the most complex and enigmatic characters in Norse mythology, and perhaps in all of world literature.

He’s the ruler of the Aesir tribe of deities, yet he often ventures far from their kingdom, Asgard, on long, solitary wanderings throughout the cosmos on purely self-interested quests.

He’s a relentless seeker after and giver of wisdom, but he has little regard for communal values such as justice, fairness, or respect for law and convention.

He’s the divine patron of rulers, and also of outlaws.

He’s a war god, but also a poetry god, and he has prominent “effeminate” qualities that would have brought unspeakable shame to any historical Viking warrior.

He’s worshiped by those in search of prestige, honor, and nobility, yet he’s often cursed for being a fickle trickster.

What kind of literary figure – let alone a god whose historical worship spanned much of a continent and several centuries – could possibly embody all of these qualities at once, with their apparently glaring contradictions?

What’s in a Name?

As mentioned above, Odin’s name can be translated as “Master of Ecstasy.”

His Old Norse name, Óðinn, is formed from two parts: first, the noun óðr, “ecstasy, fury, inspiration,” and the suffix -inn, the masculine definite article, which, when added to the end of another word like this, means something like “the master of” or “a perfect example of.”

The eleventh-century historian Adam of Bremen confirms this when he translates “Odin” as “The Furious.” Óðr can take countless different forms.

As one saga describes Odin, “when he sat with his friends, he gladdened the spirits of all of them, but when he was at war, his demeanor was terrifyingly grim.”

This ecstasy that Odin embodies and imparts is the unifying factor behind the myriad areas of life with which he is especially associated: war, sovereignty, wisdom, magic, shamanism, poetry, and the dead.

War

In modern popular culture, Odin is often portrayed as being an eminently honorable ruler and battlefield commander (not to mention impossibly muscular), but to the ancient Norse, he was nothing of the sort.

In contrast to more straightforwardly noble war gods such as Tyr or Thor, Odin incites otherwise peaceful people to strife with what, to modern tastes, is a downright sinister glee.

His attitude is not far from Nietzsche’s dictum, “You say it is the good cause that hallows even war? I say unto you: it is the good war that hallows any cause.”

In keeping with his associations with sovereignty, Odin doesn’t generally concern himself with average warriors, preferring instead to lavish his blessings only on those whom he deems to be worthy of them.

Many of the greatest Germanic heroes, such as Starkaðr and the Volsung family, have enjoyed Odin’s patronage.

He maintains particularly close affiliations with the berserkers and other “warrior-shamans” whose fighting techniques and associated spiritual practices center around achieving a state of ecstatic unification with certain ferocious totem animals, usually wolves or bears, and, by extension, with Odin himself, the master of such beasts.

Thus, as a war god, Odin is principally concerned not with the reasons behind any given conflict or even its outcome, but rather with the raw, chaotic battle-frenzy (one of the primary manifestations of óðr) that permeates any such struggle.

Sovereignty

Odin’s preference for the elite extends to all realms of society.

As the chief of the Aesir gods, he’s the divine archetype of a ruler. He’s the legendary founder of numerous royal lines, and kings are as likely as shamanistic warriors to claim him as their beneficiary.

The Germanic peoples, like other Indo-European peoples, originally had a three-tiered social/political hierarchy: the first tier consisted of rulers, the second of warriors, and the third of farmers and others occupied with production and fecundity.

The gods and goddesses can be profitably mapped onto this schema, and Odin, along with Tyr, corresponds to the first tier, the rulers.

The crucial difference between Tyr and Odin in this regard, however, is that Tyr has much more to do with rule by law and justice, whereas Odin has much more to do with rule by magic and cunning.

Tyr is the sober and virtuous ruler; Odin is the devious, inscrutable, and inspired ruler.

Paradoxically, Odin is often the favorite god and helper of outlaws, those who had been banished from society for some especially heinous crime, as well.

Like Odin, many such men were exceptionally strong-willed warrior-poets who were apathetic to established societal norms – Egill Skallagrímsson (Egil’s Saga) and Grettir Ásmundarson (The Saga of Grettir the Strong) are two examples.

The late twelfth/early thirteenth-century Danish historian Saxo Grammaticus even relates a tale of Odin being outlawed from Asgard for ten years so that the other gods and goddesses wouldn’t be tarnished by the vile reputation he had acquired amongst many humans.

Whatever their social stature, the men and women favored by Odin are distinguished by their intelligence, creativity, and competence in the proverbial “war of all against all.” Whether such people become kings or criminals is mostly a matter of luck.

Wisdom, Magic, and Shamanism

One of the greatest differences between monotheistic theologies and polytheistic theologies is that, in the former, God is generally all-knowing, all-powerful, all-loving, etc.

Polytheistic gods are none of these things; like any human, tree, or hawk, they are limited by their particularity.

For Odin, any kind of limitation is something to be overcome by any means necessary, and his actions are carried out within the context of a relentless and ruthless quest for more wisdom, more knowledge, and more power, usually of a magical sort.

One of the most striking attributes of his appearance is his single, piercing eye.

His other eye socket is empty – the eye it once held was sacrificed for wisdom.

On another occasion, Odin “sacrificed himself to himself” by hanging on the world-tree Yggdrasil for nine days and nights, receiving no form of nourishment from his companions.

At the end of this ordeal, he perceived the runes, the magically-charged ancient Germanic alphabet that was held to contain many of the greatest secrets of existence. He is depicted as having subsequently boasted:

Then I was fertilized and grew wise;
From a word to a word I was led to a word,
From a work to a work I was led to a work.

Odin’s competitive side once drove him to challenge the wisest of the giants to a contest to see who was more knowledgeable and learned.

The prize was the head of the loser, and Odin won by asking his opponent something that only he himself could know.

Odin then claimed his prize and returned to Asgard.

Along with Freya, he’s one of the two greatest practitioners of shamanism amongst the gods.

His shamanic spirit-journeys are well-documented.

The Ynglinga Saga records that he often “travels to distant lands on his own errands or those of others” while he appears to others to be asleep or dead.

Another instance is recorded in the Eddic poem “Baldur’s Dreams,” where Odin rode Sleipnir, an eight-legged horse typical of northern Eurasian shamanism, to the underworld to consult a dead seeress on behalf of his son.

Odin, like shamans all over the world, is accompanied by many familiar spirits, most notably the ravens Hugin and Munin, the wolves Geri and Freki, and the valkyries.

The shaman must typically undergo a ritual death and rebirth in order to acquire his or her powers,[15] and Odin underwent exactly such an ordeal when he discovered the runes.

We’ve already, albeit briefly, discussed the berserkers and other distinguished “warrior-shamans” under Odin’s patronage.

This was the form of Germanic shamanism that was the most socially acceptable for men to practice.

The other main form of Germanic shamanism is contained within the magical tradition known as seidr, of which Odin and Freya are the foremost divine practitioners.

In traditional Germanic society, for a man to engage in seidr was effectively to forsake the male gender role, which brought considerable scorn upon any male who chose to take up this path.

As the sagas show, this didn’t stop some men from practicing seidr anyway.

However, even Odin wasn’t exempt from such charges of “unmanliness,” and was taunted for adopting the feminine traits and tasks that form part of the backbone of seidr.

Saxo, in the passage on Odin’s exile alluded to above, relates that “by his stage-tricks and his assumption of a woman’s work he had brought the foulest scandal on the name of the gods.”

Note also the reference to being “fertilized” in the verse quoted above – while this is certainly a metaphor, it’s a metaphor loaded with sexual implications that would have been immediately recognizable to any Viking Age or medieval reader or hearer of the poem.

A fuller discussion of the relationship between Germanic shamanism and gender roles can be found here.

For our present purposes, it’s sufficient to point out that, in the eyes of the pre-Christian northern Europeans, Odin’s practice of seidr made him a rather “unmanly” being incapable of fulfilling the expectations placed upon an honorable man.

But we’ve already noted Odin’s scant concern for the honor. He isn’t one to refuse any ecstatic practice, even those that bring him ill repute.

Poetry

Odin speaks only in poems, and the ability to compose poetry is a gift he grants at his pleasure.

He stole the mead of poetry, the primeval source of the ability to speak and write beautifully and persuasively, from the giants.

Ever since, he has dispensed it to certain gods, humans, and other beings whom he deems worthy of it.

The mead’s Old Norse name is Óðrœrir, “The Stirrer of Óðr,” and, as we have seen, óðr (“ecstasy, fury, inspiration”) is the root of Odin’s name as well.

This intoxicating drink, along with the power it grants, is yet another manifestation of his overflowing ecstasy.

The Dead

When Roman writers spoke of the gods and goddesses of other peoples, they generally tried to identify them with deities from their own religion. When they mentioned Odin, they glossed him as Mercury, the Roman psychopomp (the divine figure who guides those who have just died from the realm of the living to that of the dead, and, in due time, back to the land of the living again).

This is significant, because it shows that Odin’s associations with death were seen as being even more significant than his associations with war, or else he would have been glossed as Mars.

(This designation usually fell to Tyr or Thor instead.)

Odin presides over Valhalla, the most prestigious of the dwelling places of the dead.

After every battle, he and his helping spirits, the valkyries (“choosers of the fallen”), comb the field and take their pick of half of the slain warriors to carry back to Valhalla.

(Freya then claims the remaining half.)

He was a frequent recipient of human sacrifice, especially of royalty, nobles, and enemy armies.

This was generally accomplished by means of a spear, a noose, or both – the same manner in which Odin “sacrificed himself to himself” (Old Norse gefinn Óðni, sjálfr sjálfum mér) in order to acquire knowledge of the runes.

A common – and chilling – way of securing his favor in battle was to throw a spear over one’s foes, sacrificing them to the god with the cry, “Odin owns ye all!” (Old Norse Óðinn á yðr alla).

His mastery of necromancy, the magical art of communicating with and raising the dead, is frequently noted.[20]

While there are several reasons Odin maintains this commerce with the dead, including his desire to learn what knowledge and wisdom they possess, the most significant reason is his dread-driven desire to have as many of the best warriors as possible on his side when he must face the wolf Fenrir during Ragnarok – even though he knows that he’s doomed to die in the battle.

The Allfather

One of Odin’s countless names is “Allfather” (Old Norse Alfaðir), “because,” according to Snorri Sturluson, “he is the father of all of the gods.”

As we’ve already noted, Odin is listed as the divine ancestor of countless families from all over northern Europe.

He’s simultaneously an Aesir god, a Vanir god (the Vanir god Odr is only an extension or transposition of Odin), and a giant (his mother is Bestla, one of the first frost-giants).

One Old Norse poem even identifies him with önd, the breath of life.

What can we discern in all of this regarding Odin’s identity?

In the same way that Thor is the divine force whose presence the Vikings felt in the thunder, Odin is the divine force whose presence the Vikings felt in óðr.

To them, this inspiration/fury/ecstasy was not a profane phenomenon, but a sacred and even divine one that lay at the heart of countless different undertakings, including many that were both especially rarefied and especially decisive in the Vikings’ lives.

This is perhaps why Odin is the chieftain of the gods – the realms of life over which he presided were to the other aspects of life what a ruler is to common people.

The Norse saw their gods as the vital forces that held the cosmos together. As the “Allfather,” Odin was the vital force of vital forces – the “breath of life,” or something almost akin to Nietzsche’s “Will to Power.”

It’s surely no accident that Odin played a greater role than any other god in the creation of the world.

Without his vivifying ecstasy, and the enchantment, insight, and clarity that it brings, life – and in particular a life worth living – would be impossible.

Looking for more great information on Norse mythology and religion?

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