{"id":1263,"date":"2017-07-14T06:04:50","date_gmt":"2017-07-13T20:04:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/hearthwitchdownunder\/?p=1263"},"modified":"2018-01-24T13:30:51","modified_gmt":"2018-01-24T03:30:51","slug":"playing-favourites-gods","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/hearthwitchdownunder\/2017\/07\/playing-favourites-gods.html","title":{"rendered":"Playing Favourites With the Gods"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

In June I read a post by Lettuce Man over on Axe and Plough<\/a> about the concept of people having favourite deities.\u00a0 I began to write a comment on the post, it got long so instead I began turning it into a blog post. Of course then I got the call about getting a house and stopped writing for a few weeks.<\/p>\n

In the post Lettuce Man discusses how people speak of having a or several favourite deities, and how this strikes him as not only odd but perhaps a bit impious and insulting to the Gods.\u00a0 It\u2019s a complex issue though.<\/p>\n

\"Playing
The Triumph of Civilization, Jacques R\u00e9attu. I, Grizzli<\/a> [GFDL<\/a>, CC-BY-SA-3.0<\/a> or CC BY-SA 2.5-2.0-1.0<\/a>], via Wikimedia Commons<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Patron Deities<\/h2>\n

In modern Paganism there seems to be a lot of emphasis on the idea of having a \u201cpatron\u201d deity<\/a>, or at the least a deity or two who you are especially devoted to, and who you seemingly have a close personal relationship with<\/a>.\u00a0 Look around enough and you begin to see that the idea of having a patron or two is perhaps seen as an indicator of Real Paganness\u2122.\u00a0 If you don\u2019t have a patron deity, then you are not a Real Pagan<\/a>, are you?<\/p>\n

In some cases it really does seem like many Pagans have a view of the Gods, especially \u201cpatron\u201d Gods, that is similar to having an on call doctor or something.\u00a0 These patrons, these favourite deities, are right there, all the time, ready to come when you call and leave when dismissed.\u00a0 Need help opening that jar? Call your favourite strong man Herakles!\u00a0 Need help writing that oral report? Call on Hermes, he\u2019ll help you out no worries.<\/p>\n

And it really does smack of impiety, hubris, or whatever word you might have for it. \u00a0It is insulting to the Gods, to speak of Them and treat Them in such a slavish manner. Like They are pets or toys.<\/p>\n

<\/h2>\n

Types of Favouritism<\/h2>\n

Lettuce Man discusses the idea of the word being used in the same way we shouldn\u2019t play favourites with our kids, our employees, our students and similar. He also adds, after mentioning that we can have favourite colours, foods and the like,<\/p>\n

\u201cThis way of treating deities \u2013 like treating people \u2013 is, to me, like reducing them down to these things. \u00a0While it isn\u2019t intentional, it feels like they\u2019ve less agency and are somehow reduced to mere qualities that aren\u2019t necessarily experienced in reality. \u00a0Sometimes it comes across as finding favouritism with the\u00a0idea\u00a0of a deity, instead of the deity itself. \u00a0What they can do for\u00a0us, or what qualities they have on paper which we find preferable.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

What I find interesting though is that in using these two different types of having favourites is that in the one instance he discusses favouritism that happens from a point of authority, but in the other he discusses favourites in the idea of things. \u00a0While I agree with his assessment, I don\u2019t exactly agree with his base assumption of what people mean by \u201cfavourite\u201d and I am fascinated by the fact he puts the Gods into the position of lesser authority, rather than seeing it might go the other way.<\/p>\n

A favourite teacher, a favourite boss, a favourite aunt etc.\u00a0 Where we play favourites with those who are in a position of authority above us.\u00a0 Not our things, not our inferiors but our superiors.\u00a0 Humans are egocentric, we will almost always gravitate towards the things, people, beings etc that give us the most pleasure, comfort, good feelings, things, time, attention and more like that.\u00a0 We will also though be more in love with those who give us their best.<\/p>\n

Sometimes, depending on what type of person you are, your favourite teacher isn\u2019t the one who is nicest, or prettiest \u2013 but the one who teaches the best, the one who gives the best of themselves instead of half-arsing it.\u00a0 Your favourite boss might be the one who is a real hard boss usually, but when someone accuses you of doing something you didn\u2019t do \u2013 he is honest, stands up for you, does the right thing for you.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s still favouritism of course, but there is a big difference between playing favourites with people who are under your power and choosing favourites between those who have power over you.<\/p>\n

Henotheism<\/h2>\n

But when we get right down to it, I think all of the above really only refers to a small group of Pagans.\u00a0 I would say for the most part, the patron\/favourite phenomenon is more an instance of henotheism, or duotheism.<\/p>\n

Henotheism is polytheistic belief with monotheistic practice \u2013 you believe in the many but worship only one (not necessarily that one though).\u00a0 Duotheism is of course as the name implies, worship of two (belief in others optional), usually one male and one female.<\/p>\n

I think that in most cases, the usage of the word \u201cfavourite\u201d in reference to deities is in fact more of a henotheistic thing than it is an act of impiety or insult.\u00a0 I am not sure if I have ever used the word favourite in reference to those Gods I am most devoted to, but if I have it is in this way.\u00a0 Hekate is my \u201cfavourite\u201d \u2013 because, if I had to choose only one deity to worship, honour, offer to, then it would be Her, hands down, no contest, no hesitation.<\/p>\n

If I were to use it in reference to all of the small group of deities I find most important<\/a>, then it would also be in a similar way \u2013 though obviously not henotheistic, because They are more than one.\u00a0 Hermes is one of my favourites Gods because if I was only allowed to worship x-number of Gods, then He would be one of the ones I would choose.\u00a0 Without hesitation.<\/p>\n

How can I make such choices so easily though? People who cannot answer the henotheist question would of course have trouble understanding how I and others can answer this question.\u00a0 I will try to explain it.<\/p>\n

Hekate is part of me, just like my family members are part of me \u2013 even those who are gone. \u00a0But the other Gods (even those I deem most important) are not so deeply entrenched into my very being as Hekate is, they are more like my friends who aren\u2019t family \u2013 important, but if they left me forever, it wouldn\u2019t tear out a piece of myself.\u00a0 Whereas losing a loved one like one of my children, or one of my \u201cfavourite\u201d Gods, that would tear pieces off me.\u00a0 It would change me in ways unimaginable.<\/p>\n

So when it comes to playing favourites with the Gods, it is like playing favourites with children. \u00a0It is just not my children versus each other, but my children versus other peoples children. \u00a0I will always love my own more than I love the ones who live down the road from me.<\/p>\n

And so I love Hekate more than I love any of the other Gods.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hekate is my “favourite” – because, if I had to choose only one deity to worship, honour, offer to, then it would be Her, hands down, no contest, no hesitation.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2764,"featured_media":1264,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,13,46],"tags":[18,22,113,8,9,20,32,19,29,25],"class_list":["post-1263","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-hellenism","category-paganism101","category-personal","tag-debates","tag-deities","tag-hecate","tag-hekate","tag-hellenismos","tag-opinion","tag-paganism","tag-personal","tag-polytheism","tag-religion"],"yoast_head":"\nPlaying Favourites With the Gods<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Hekate is my "favourite" - because, if I had to choose only one deity to worship, honour, offer to, then it would be Her, hands down, no contest, no hesitation.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/hearthwitchdownunder\/2017\/07\/playing-favourites-gods.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Playing Favourites With the Gods\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Hekate is my "favourite" - because, if I had to choose only one deity to worship, honour, offer to, then it would be Her, hands down, no contest, no hesitation.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/hearthwitchdownunder\/2017\/07\/playing-favourites-gods.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Hearth Witch Down Under\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:author\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/ThePaganVeil\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2017-07-13T20:04:50+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2018-01-24T03:30:51+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/690\/2017\/07\/Gods.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"600\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"316\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Bekah Evie Bel\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@thepaganveil\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Bekah Evie Bel\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"6 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/hearthwitchdownunder\/2017\/07\/playing-favourites-gods.html\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/hearthwitchdownunder\/2017\/07\/playing-favourites-gods.html\",\"name\":\"Playing Favourites With the Gods\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/hearthwitchdownunder\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2017-07-13T20:04:50+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2018-01-24T03:30:51+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/hearthwitchdownunder\/#\/schema\/person\/4fad88778c6fe8fc986d6ac7c0702ebf\"},\"description\":\"Hekate is my \\\"favourite\\\" - because, if I had to choose only one deity to worship, honour, offer to, then it would be Her, hands down, no contest, no hesitation.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/hearthwitchdownunder\/2017\/07\/playing-favourites-gods.html#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/hearthwitchdownunder\/2017\/07\/playing-favourites-gods.html\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/hearthwitchdownunder\/2017\/07\/playing-favourites-gods.html#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/hearthwitchdownunder\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Playing Favourites With the Gods\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/hearthwitchdownunder\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/hearthwitchdownunder\/\",\"name\":\"Hearth Witch Down Under\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/hearthwitchdownunder\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/hearthwitchdownunder\/#\/schema\/person\/4fad88778c6fe8fc986d6ac7c0702ebf\",\"name\":\"Bekah Evie Bel\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/hearthwitchdownunder\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/76ee66f5182ea8791be935ab1f8a5901?s=96&d=identicon&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/76ee66f5182ea8791be935ab1f8a5901?s=96&d=identicon&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Bekah Evie Bel\"},\"description\":\"I am an Aussie Hellenic Revivalist, Domestic Pagan, Hearth Witch and Devotee of Hekate and the Covenant of Hekate. I was raised Agnostic, bordering on Atheist and became Pagan long before I knew the label existed in a modern sense. My \\\"conversion\\\" to Hellenism is fairly recent so I am still in discovery mode, and you get to share that journey with me. I was admin and owner of the Pagan Veil social network for 4 years and have a minor presence within the Aussie, Pagan and Aussie Pagan Homeschooling communities.\",\"sameAs\":[\"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/hearthwitchdownunder\",\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/ThePaganVeil\",\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/thepaganveil\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/hearthwitchdownunder\/author\/bebel\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Playing Favourites With the Gods","description":"Hekate is my \"favourite\" - because, if I had to choose only one deity to worship, honour, offer to, then it would be Her, hands down, no contest, no hesitation.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/hearthwitchdownunder\/2017\/07\/playing-favourites-gods.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Playing Favourites With the Gods","og_description":"Hekate is my \"favourite\" - because, if I had to choose only one deity to worship, honour, offer to, then it would be Her, hands down, no contest, no hesitation.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/hearthwitchdownunder\/2017\/07\/playing-favourites-gods.html","og_site_name":"Hearth Witch Down Under","article_author":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/ThePaganVeil","article_published_time":"2017-07-13T20:04:50+00:00","article_modified_time":"2018-01-24T03:30:51+00:00","og_image":[{"width":600,"height":316,"url":"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/690\/2017\/07\/Gods.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Bekah Evie Bel","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@thepaganveil","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Bekah Evie Bel","Est. reading time":"6 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/hearthwitchdownunder\/2017\/07\/playing-favourites-gods.html","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/hearthwitchdownunder\/2017\/07\/playing-favourites-gods.html","name":"Playing Favourites With the Gods","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/hearthwitchdownunder\/#website"},"datePublished":"2017-07-13T20:04:50+00:00","dateModified":"2018-01-24T03:30:51+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/hearthwitchdownunder\/#\/schema\/person\/4fad88778c6fe8fc986d6ac7c0702ebf"},"description":"Hekate is my \"favourite\" - because, if I had to choose only one deity to worship, honour, offer to, then it would be Her, hands down, no contest, no hesitation.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/hearthwitchdownunder\/2017\/07\/playing-favourites-gods.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/hearthwitchdownunder\/2017\/07\/playing-favourites-gods.html"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/hearthwitchdownunder\/2017\/07\/playing-favourites-gods.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/hearthwitchdownunder"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Playing Favourites With the Gods"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/hearthwitchdownunder\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/hearthwitchdownunder\/","name":"Hearth Witch Down Under","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/hearthwitchdownunder\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/hearthwitchdownunder\/#\/schema\/person\/4fad88778c6fe8fc986d6ac7c0702ebf","name":"Bekah Evie Bel","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/hearthwitchdownunder\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/76ee66f5182ea8791be935ab1f8a5901?s=96&d=identicon&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/76ee66f5182ea8791be935ab1f8a5901?s=96&d=identicon&r=g","caption":"Bekah Evie Bel"},"description":"I am an Aussie Hellenic Revivalist, Domestic Pagan, Hearth Witch and Devotee of Hekate and the Covenant of Hekate. I was raised Agnostic, bordering on Atheist and became Pagan long before I knew the label existed in a modern sense. My \"conversion\" to Hellenism is fairly recent so I am still in discovery mode, and you get to share that journey with me. I was admin and owner of the Pagan Veil social network for 4 years and have a minor presence within the Aussie, Pagan and Aussie Pagan Homeschooling communities.","sameAs":["http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/hearthwitchdownunder","https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/ThePaganVeil","https:\/\/twitter.com\/thepaganveil"],"url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/hearthwitchdownunder\/author\/bebel"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/hearthwitchdownunder\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1263","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/hearthwitchdownunder\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/hearthwitchdownunder\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/hearthwitchdownunder\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2764"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/hearthwitchdownunder\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1263"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/hearthwitchdownunder\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1263\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/hearthwitchdownunder\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1264"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/hearthwitchdownunder\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1263"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/hearthwitchdownunder\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1263"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/hearthwitchdownunder\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1263"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}