Dear Jasmine,
I was wondering how do you find your patron god and goddess? I think I am called to one, but I am just not sure at all. How do I know?
Blessings,
Lady P
Dear Lady P,
I have been pagan for over 16 years now, and put in a ton of time to the path. That being said, I only got called by my Goddess, Arta, about 6 months ago. I never went through the searching phase like most pagans do. For the longest time I just used “Great Mother” or “Lady” as the name, and used non specific statues to represent her. I was never called to a specific goddess for the longest time. There is nothing wrong with that either. I have known pagans who have done this for decades never knowing which God or Goddess called to them.
Trying to find which a God or Goddess has benefits and challenges in it. Both of these are valuable to your path though. Going out and researching different Gods and their stories gives you a firm base of knowledge that you can grow with. You may be called to a certain pantheon, such as the Celtic Gods and Goddesses. This allows you to learn about all of them and really know the ins and outs of the mythology and further your own path. The hardest part about this though is not the studying, it is the fact that even though they may have stories you relate to on a personal level, you may never be “called” by a specific one.
Being “called” is an unusual event in ones life. You go years on a certain path and one day all of these little occurrences start happening in your life. I know friends who have been called by the Morighan. They started seeing ravens everywhere in their lives. For me, Arta started giving me dreams. One day I laid down to do a small meditation when I was not even tired, I just needed to cool my head. I remember seeing a pathway that started out with ivy and changed to a wild a dark forest. At the end of the path was a woman who was half bear, and very primal. I walked towards her, the next thing I know it was 3 hours later and I was exhausted, even though it felt like minutes. I knew I had been on a journey of sorts, and I remember struggling to get out of the state I was in. I spent the rest of the day having to drink coffee and knowing that Arta had shown me things about myself that I needed to know, I just couldn’t remember them! I also would open pages to books and see entries about Bear Goddesses. I also only felt at peace when I was wearing my bear claw necklace. Bears started showing up everywhere and it was becoming loud and clear I was being called. The more I researched the more I realized she had been trying to get my attention for years. I am very much a mama bear woman. For me it was not about finding her, but her letting me know I was her child.
If I had searched and tried to find her, I know I never would have. She came to me and showed me her face. If I had tried to find her I would never have had the experiences that I did with her coming into my life. It is almost like falling in love. You never know when it will happen and even though you may actively try and search for it, when its meant to happen it will. You can also not help who you fall in love with in life. The same is true for the gods. Having that bond of love with them is not something you can control or determine to a specific time. You can meditate on it over and over, and it won’t happen till its meant to. And you will know when you are, as from my experience and from what I know of others, they speak to you very loud and clear. The only thing you can do besides research is to be open for it to happen. Best of luck to you on this journey and may you and your God/Goddess find each other when you are both ready.
Blessings,
Jasmine
Jasmine is a 15 year veteran pagan and Wiccan High Priestess and has been a leader in her local pagan community and done spiritual counseling. To submit questions please email JasmineMoon@gmail.com.
Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In