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

Home
Pagan
The Call of a Goddess

The Call of a Goddess

Last updated on: August 15, 2013 at 5:52 pm by John Beckett

The Call of a Goddess 2013-08-15T17:52:25-06:00 John Beckett

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.

The question I’ve heard most frequently over the past year has been “how do I find my god?” – how do I find a patron deity?

I love hearing this question – it shows someone is genuinely seeking, and it shows they’re thinking of gods and goddesses as real, distinct, individual beings. If you’re a pantheist or a monist or a duotheist, that’s fine (and who knows – you might be right), but I’m a polytheist and I like seeing other people working through religious questions from a polytheistic perspective.

I desperately want to write a series of posts on “finding the gods.” I want to help people answer this wonderful but difficult question. And the engineer in me likes formulas, processes and best practices.

However, one of the things I’ve learned as a polytheist is that every god is different. We already know every person is different. So it’s not surprising that different polytheists report very different experiences in finding and forming relationships with gods. The approach that works well for me may not work for you.

I’ve seen two very good examples this week. Over on PaganSquare, Elani Temperance says “patronage is not part of Hellenismos, and it was not part of ancient Hellenic life.” And at Walking the Hedge, Juniper gives an awesome (in every sense of the word) account of her direct experience with Frig, accurately titled “The Hedgewitch and the Hurricane.” Part 2 is here.

About all I can honestly offer in the way of “how to” is what I wrote while describing my commitment to the gods: learn who they are, form a reciprocal relationship with them, and embody their virtues. Sometimes through your searching you find a deity – more often they find you.

Though I cannot clearly and definitively tell you how to find a goddess, I can tell you how I found one particular goddess: Morrigan.

It was Summer 2004 and I was leading our Lughnasadh ritual. My polytheism was in its infant stages – all I knew was that gender balance was important and if I was going to invoke Lugh as God I needed someone to invoke as Goddess. I found an ADF Druid ritual online that invoked Morrigan as Lady of Sovereignty, a goddess of the land. That seemed to fit, so I copied the invocation, made a few tweaks and went with it. The ritual went well and I didn’t think anything more of it. In 2007 Bonnie recycled the invocation – we’ve used it on and off as part of our standard Lughnasadh liturgy ever since.

This simple introduction introduced me to Morrigan. I learned she was the Lady of Sovereignty, the Queen of Phantoms, and the Battle Raven. Though we called to her and made appropriate offerings, if she made an appearance at any of those Lughnasadh rituals I never noticed (Lugh, however, was unmistakably there).

Then one day a close friend in another state was in sudden physical danger. I felt a strong need to do something, but there was nothing I could do from 800 miles away. I prayed to Morrigan and asked the Battle Raven to protect my friend.

The danger passed. I offered thanks. I heard nothing more.

A few months later a local friend spoke of a relative in danger from domestic abuse. Again, I felt the strong need to do something even though I was hundreds of miles away. I prayed to Morrigan, made an offering of wine and asked for her help.

The former victim found the strength to leave the abusive relationship. Again, I offered thanks. But this time I got a different response. Here’s what I wrote at the time:

Last night in meditation Morrigan came to me and said “I have done this for you, now I want you to do something for me.” I’m not going to share exactly what it is, but it’s a lot bigger than offering a special wine or writing a check to a particular cause. It won’t be easy and it’s a long-term commitment, but it needs to be done.

About that time I noticed other people talking about Morrigan. I read about their experiences and compared them to mine – they were hearing the same message in subtly different ways. I prayed. I meditated. I made offerings. I worked on the things she wanted me to work on. And I started learning something about who and what she is.

In 2011 Erin joined our group. She already had a relationship with Morrigan and felt the call to strengthen it. Erin asked us for an initiation. A small group planned it, I wrote most of the liturgy and in doing so found myself being pulled closer and closer to Morrigan and her message of sovereignty. At the initiation Morrigan’s presence was undeniably strong.

After the initiation in early 2012 I got another clear message from Morrigan: “your debt is paid.” The obligation I incurred in asking her assistance for the relative of a friend a year and a half before had been fulfilled. I thought this might be the end of our relationship, but it was not. I wrote several posts for and about her late last year, continued to spread her message of sovereignty, helped perform a devotional ritual to her, and this year at Beltane presented her stories in our circle.

I’ve been hearing much less from her since Beltane, but that’s mainly because Cernunnos (to whom I am pledged as priest) decided he needed something from me.

What of the other gods and goddesses I’ve invoked in ritual and prayer? Some I’ve formed relationships with, while others I’ve never heard from. None have responded to me this strongly and for this long. Why? I don’t know – they’re the gods, not me.

Will your experience of a deity match mine? Probably not. But I’m telling this story because it illustrates how taking seemingly small steps can make a huge impact. I invoked a goddess I didn’t know because she seemed to fit. Six years and several interactions later I found myself being asked to reciprocate.

Now I have to make a confession: I didn’t give Morrigan everything she asked for. I joke about not wanting to disappoint a Battle Goddess, but part of her demands turned out to be incredibly hard for me. Not impossible, but very, very hard. I tried, I failed, and I didn’t try again. My head is still on my shoulders and she released me from my obligation – obviously I provided something of value to her. But she has not made me her priest, something I expected would happen when these interactions began.

Has she decided to make use of what I can easily provide and fill her other needs elsewhere? Or will she reinstate her demands at some point? I don’t owe her anything, but I’ve worked with and for her for long enough there is implied consent for her to ask for anything she wants. And though I don’t need another priesthood, this is one I would very much like to have… not that it’s ever actually been offered.

Seeking the gods is many things, but it’s never boring.

Previous Post

August 13, 2013

Passing on the Faith – The Hidden Questions

Next Post

August 18, 2013 Of Goddesses and Warriors

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Books Community CUUPS Druidry Foundations and Context Gods and Goddesses Magic Myth Nature Ritual Spiritual Practice Theology Travel Uncategorized Videos

Select a Month October 2026 September 2026 August 2026 July 2026 June 2026 May 2026 April 2026 March 2026 February 2026 January 2026 December 2025 November 2025 October 2025 September 2025 August 2025 July 2025 June 2025 May 2025 April 2025 March 2025 February 2025 January 2025 December 2024 November 2024 October 2024 September 2024 August 2024 July 2024 June 2024 May 2024 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 June 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 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011 December 2010 November 2010 October 2010 September 2010 August 2010 July 2010 June 2010 May 2010 April 2010 March 2010 February 2010 January 2010 December 2009 November 2009 October 2009 September 2009 August 2009 July 2009 June 2009 May 2009 April 2009 March 2009 February 2009 January 2009 December 2008 November 2008 October 2008 September 2008 August 2008 July 2008 June 2008

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

What is the Christian view of "servant leadership"?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Leaders demand first Servants never lead Greatest serves others Only the boss leads