Queen of the Sacred Way: An Interview with Melitta Benu

April 19, 2011 by Galina Krasskova

Continued from Page 1

And a huge part of my True Will is to serve Persephone in every capacity I can, and to develop my own practice in a way that will bring me to stand more in Her presence.

What do you find to be the most personally nourishing aspects of your practice and faith?

I am a believer in building a direct, devotional relationship with your God; some of the most profound experiences of the Gods I've ever had has been through simple meditation and direct communion with them. Nothing really compares to the personal experience of the god you adore, who loves you in return, enough to interact with you in a way you can recognize. It's humbling and intensely moving, and requires little to no "training"; it's just you, the god, and your shared bond. And it increases your awareness of your god in your life, and allows you to recognize when your god is there supporting you, wanting your attention, or even just being present with you.

There are many aspects of my practice that I love, but this stands out as the most important to me.

I couldn't agree more. I've always felt that the direct, devotional relationships were the heart of any faith, what nourishes and fuels a faith. All the rituals and public rites are nothing more than outward expressions of what has taken place alone, in the darkness of the heart and soul, between each devotee and his or her Gods. Getting back to our questions though, when you talk about building a direct relationship with your God, I know that such an idea (because I espouse it myself) is extremely controversial in Heathenry. Is that the case as well in Alexandrian Reconstruction or Hellenismos?

You know, I honestly live in a bit of a bubble from the rest of Reconstructionists and tend to associate only with those I know will not cause some unnecessary drama. Call me a snob, if you like, it's probably true, but having been involved with Pagan drama in the past, and witnessing Reconstructionist drama continuing in similar veins, I'm picky about who I associate with nowadays.

I am probably not the best person to ask regarding the question, but from what I've seen in the community among those I choose to associate with, it isn't very unusual. Many of the people I've talked to or interacted with seemed to have a similar relationship with their specific patron divinity, a very close, personal and nurturing relationship.

And I've noticed this despite who the divinity is or what that divinity represents (in terms of deities of destruction, death, war, etc.), and I've seen other Reconstructionists scoff at some of these people, as well. An example using a very random divinity would be, "You have a close, loving bond with SET? You must be delusional—Set is not a loving god and would not be kind to his followers!" My response to this is, how do you know? Do you worship Set, or any divinity in question? Are you the expert in how that god interacts with everyone? We can see from the myths that the gods create bonds with human beings, and that can be seen in differing ways throughout Hellenismos certainly, but also in Kemetic tradition. We hear of pharaohs taking the names of their personal gods in homage, or of the devotion certain kings or scholars of Alexandria felt toward a particular god.

I've seen some detractors of this ideology say, "the gods see us as pets as best; they can only love what is on their level." I wholeheartedly disagree. While I don't believe that a human being will ever be on the level of one of the ancient gods, I do believe that they love their followers, and again, this can be seen in the ancient myths. Each relationship between one person and a god is different and unique, even among several followers of the same god; no two interactions are the same. Just because a certain god is disinterested in you doesn't mean they are disinterested in everyone. And even if they see us as pets or as little children at best, this analogy has the potential, even so, to be very powerful. Think about how beloved our pets or our young children are to us, and what they provide us in terms of love, affection, and comfort, even if they aren't on our "level." The bond is something that is very real, and very precious.

And even if a divinity like Set would not be loving in the conventional way (keeping in mind his personality, his archetype, etc.), Set still loves in his way. And that kind of love can be found to be satisfying to those who have developed a bond with Set. Not every devotee has the same needs, and to scoff at the relationship between a devotee and his or her divinity is, to me, blasphemous, since you are not privy to that relationship, and you aren't in a good place to pass any judgments. There are many ways to love, in human experience, and I don't doubt it's at least a little similar to the relationship between a personal god and their devotee.

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4/19/2011 4:00:00 AM

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About Galina Krasskova

The author of several books on the Northern Tradition, Galina Krasskova is a Heathen priest, shaman, and devotee of Odin. She blogs at Gangleri's Grove.

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