Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Charged by the Goddess

Home
Pagan
Moving Beyond Self-Care to Self-Devotion: Honoring Your Divine Self

Moving Beyond Self-Care to Self-Devotion: Honoring Your Divine Self

Last updated on: November 11, 2022 at 12:43 pm by Irisanya Moon

Moving Beyond Self-Care to Self-Devotion: Honoring Your Divine Self 2022-11-11T12:43:38-07:00 Irisanya Moon

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

(Excerpted from my article of the same title, published in myddle earth Samhain issue 2022, available for members)

Right after I wake up, I focus on what other people need. I look at my messages and email to find the direction of my day. I know it’s not the best start. It pulls me away from myself immediately. It causes me to center the needs of others before even asking myself, “How are you doing?” or “What do you need today?”

I’m not sure there is a singular secret to life. But I do know there is a way to live life in a more nourishing and kind way. It begins with recognizing that self-care is more than just a trend. It’s far more than a remedy or a quick fix. Self-care is the promise you give to yourself, the promise to show up and to care for the person you are — just as you are in this moment.

Image by Mohamed Hassan from Pixabay

Self-Care is More Than Spa Day

Because of the commodification of self-care practices, it’s easy to think caring for the self is a strategy to employ when things get ‘bad’ or something you can buy. The overculture makes it terribly easy to think a bubble bath or a face mask will allow us to get back to work, back to the family, back to the grind of life. Back to being ‘productive’ members of society.

Actual self-care is the practice of noticing how you can care for yourself before your life becomes overwhelming and you must stop. True self-care is an act of devotion to the self you are. In all moments, not just the hard ones. (But also the hard ones.) To care for yourself because you’re worthy of care.

It might be helpful to bring reverence to this practice, so I’ve been calling it self-devotion instead of care. According to Oxford Languages, devotion is “love, loyalty, or enthusiasm for a person, activity, or cause.” And while devotion is also related to religious and spiritual practices, I think it’s more about the feeling than the target of the feeling. What do you hold sacred in your life? What are you completely, utterly devoted to?

Could you be devoted to yourself? And in that devotion, offer yourself earnest, ongoing care?

(The rest is available in the published article…)

About Irisanya Moon

Irisanya Moon (she/they) is an author, witch, international teacher, and Reclaiming initiate who has practiced magick for 20+ years. She wrote 7 books (so far), including Pagan Portals (Reclaiming Witchcraft - 2020, Aphrodite - 2020, Iris - 2021, Norns - 2023), Earth Spirit (Honoring the Wild - 2023, Gaia - 2023), and Practically Pagan: An Alternative Guide to Health & Well-being - 2020. Irisanya cultivates spaces of self-care/devotion, divine relationship (whatever that means to you), and community service as part of her heart magick and activism. You can read more about the author here.

Previous Post

November 5, 2022

Grounding: Yes, You Too

Next Post

November 18, 2022 Grief as the Darkness Stretches

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Activism ADHD Allies Altars Ancestors Aphrodite Artemis Beloved Dead Beltane Book Reviews Books Brigid Classes Community Daily Magick Daily Practice Deathwork Deity Desire Devotion Divination Dreams Eclipse Everyday Magick Fall Equinox Feri Full Moon Gaia Godds grief Grounding Heart Magick Hope Integration Iris Joy Love Spell Magick Mercury Retrograde Mighty Dead Moon Myth New Moon Norns Pandemic Poetry Practical Magick Priestess Reclaiming Relationships Resilience Resistance Resourcing review Rite of Passage ritual Samhain Self Care Self Devotion Service Shadow Spell Spiral Dance Spring Equinox Summer Solstice Teaching Trance Uncategorized Water Winter Solstice Witchcamp Witchcraft Writing

Select a Month April 2024 March 2024 February 2024 January 2024 December 2023 November 2023 October 2023 September 2023 August 2023 July 2023 June 2023 May 2023 April 2023 March 2023 February 2023 January 2023 December 2022 November 2022 October 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz