Mat\u2019s post raises two very different thoughts. The first concerns the ethics of seership<\/a>. If you\u2019re a seer \u2013 in any sense of the term \u2013 you have an ethical obligation to your clients similar to that of a medical professional: first, do no harm.<\/p>\n People come to seers because they\u2019re anxious about an uncertain future. We know we can\u2019t tell people \u201ceverything will be fine\u201d when we know that\u2019s highly unlikely. But it is just as unethical to give people life-altering messages with certainty. And as Mat explains, it is improper to give people any advice they don\u2019t want and haven\u2019t asked for.<\/p>\n But what happens when it\u2019s not a psychic premonition or a Tarot reading with The Tower, The Devil, and Death showing up in sequence (the odds of that happening in any order are 1 in 76,000), but a message from a deity? \u201cYou, Druid \u2013 go tell that person I said this!\u201d<\/p>\n If you don\u2019t believe in real Gods<\/a> you may not see the difference in these two situations. If you haven\u2019t had a God in your head who won\u2019t be quiet until you do what They want you to do, you may not appreciate the urgency of the matter. If so, what I have to say isn\u2019t for you.<\/p>\n But if you understand what I\u2019m talking about \u2013 even if you\u2019ve never experienced it yourself \u2013 keep reading. This is the work of an oracle \u2013 a mouthpiece of the Gods.<\/p>\n If you\u2019re not familiar with this, you may be asking \u201cwhy don\u2019t They just tell the person Themselves?\u201d<\/p>\n Who says They haven\u2019t?<\/p>\n In most cases where I\u2019ve delivered a message from a God to a human, the response I got was \u201cyeah, I know.\u201d<\/p>\n Sometimes this is skepticism. Just because you\u2019re an ecstatic polytheist doesn\u2019t mean you\u2019re able to instantly differentiate divine messages from background chatter or from your own thoughts \u2013 particularly if it\u2019s something you don\u2019t want to hear. People need external confirmation.<\/p>\n Other times they\u2019re well aware of Who it\u2019s from, but they tell themselves it\u2019s not all that important. Having someone show up on their doorstep tends to increase their sense of urgency.<\/p>\n And then there are some people who simply cannot or will not hear something that isn\u2019t audibly loud and physically imposing.<\/p>\n Regardless of why, the Gods do at least occasionally employ humans to serve as oracles and deliver messages for Them. And that brings us to the main question of this post: what do you do when you have to give someone a message from a God?<\/p>\n First, do everything you can to make sure that who you\u2019re hearing really is who you think it is. Gods are always virtuous, but the Fair Folk will spin the truth to their advantage, and other spirits can and will lie.<\/p>\n After all these years I recognize the voice of the Morrigan. Cerridwen? Not so much. Ask yourself if what you\u2019re hearing is in alignment with what\u2019s known about the deity, both in ancient times and today. Does it reflect Their virtues and values? Are there signs and omens that give you a clue?<\/p>\n I\u2019ve never been asked to deliver a message from a deity I wasn\u2019t already very familiar with. The only people I know who get these kind of \u201ccold call\u201d assignments are so sensitive they can\u2019t not<\/em> hear them. If that\u2019s you, you don\u2019t need my advice (but I could probably use yours).<\/p>\n Seriously, if a spirit who says they\u2019re a God asks you to deliver a message and you aren\u2019t 99% sure who it is, be very, very skeptical.<\/p>\n Any experience of or communication with a deity is necessarily filtered through your body and brain. You experience it through your senses. You process it with your brain. You use your knowledge as context to interpret it.<\/p>\n Every time I\u2019ve been told to give a message to someone I\u2019ve verified it with divination. That divination has never said \u201cthis is all wrong\u201d but it has caused me to realize I wasn\u2019t hearing with perfect precision and I needed to change some of my words.<\/p>\n Be extremely careful if you have an opinion on the matter at hand.<\/p>\n I was once told to deliver a specific message to someone who was involved in a controversy (the details are beyond oathbound \u2013 don\u2019t ask and don\u2019t speculate). But the message was very limited \u2013 not at all what I thought needed to be said. The Gods aren\u2019t big on explaining Themselves, but I was told this:<\/p>\n \u201cYes, I know bad things have been done by My people. Yes, I will handle it. No, there will be no public flogging. Do your job and leave the rest to Me.\u201d<\/p>\n I delivered the message I was given. I still don\u2019t know how the situation worked out, and I may never know. And that\u2019s OK.<\/p>\n The Gods don\u2019t pick one spokesperson. Or at least, I\u2019ve seen zero evidence that any of Them ever have. The Morrigan is calling a ton of people<\/a>. Brighid is quietly collecting a rather impressive group of priests and other devotees. I have no connections with the Norse deities, but my Heathen friends tell me Odin and others are busy as well. Whoever is calling you, They\u2019re calling<\/a> lots of other people too.<\/p>\n I find that exciting and reassuring. But it also reminds me I\u2019m one soldier in the army, not a general and certainly not the Commander in Chief. And while I\u2019m occasionally drafted to put my bardic skills to work in Their service (mainly here on this blog), I speak for Them only on those rare and limited occasions when one of Them says \u201ctell that person I said this.\u201d Everything else I say and write is my own work and should be evaluated accordingly.<\/p>\n Being selected for this service doesn\u2019t make you chosen or favored or anything of the sort. It makes you a page or a bicycle courier. Those are honorable roles that perform good and necessary work. But don\u2019t let it go to your head.<\/p>\n This can be hard, particularly if the message you receive comes to you in images or concepts rather than in words. Or if it comes in a language you don\u2019t speak (I\u2019ve never had one of those, but I know others who have).<\/p>\n Be as literal as you can. \u201cThe Morrigan said X, Y, and Z.\u201d Full stop. Why She said it, what it means, and how the recipient should respond are not your concern. If the recipient asks for your opinion you can give it (though you\u2019re not obligated to interpret it for them), but make sure to clearly differentiate between \u201cthis is what I heard\u201d and \u201cthis is what I think it means.\u201d<\/p>\n This isn\u2019t like a Tarot reading where you\u2019re trying to help a person see something they can\u2019t see or don\u2019t want to see. The role of an oracle is different from the role of a seer or a diviner. Your job is to transmit, not to interpret \u2013 and certainly not to tell a story.<\/p>\n Transmit the message as faithfully as you can.<\/p>\n An oracle is a messenger, not a coach or a therapist or even a reader. You have a very limited role: deliver a message. What the recipient does with it is between them and the God who sent it.<\/p>\n What you have to tell them may be hard to accept. It may be deeply personal. It may be embarrassing. Say what you were told to say and then leave them alone. You\u2019re a bicycle messenger \u2013 you\u2019re not entitled to hear their whole story. It\u2019s not your job to follow up in a week or two to see how things are going.<\/p>\n If they ask for help you can of course do as you think best. But doing what you think best may very well mean saying \u201cI\u2019m just the messenger \u2013 the rest is up to you.\u201d<\/p>\n I love it when a God allows me to serve as Their priest and present Them in a ritual. I am honored when They ask me to write for Them. I am humbled when I\u2019m able to embody Their virtues in the wider world.<\/p>\n But when They give me a message to deliver I\u2019m just scared.<\/p>\n So far no one has shot the messenger, but that expression exists for a very real reason. I worry about how the message will be received. Are they going to believe me? Am I going to lose a friend?<\/p>\n I worry that I won\u2019t get it exactly right, that my own thoughts and feelings will color the message and render it less accurate and thus less useful than it otherwise would be. I worry that the deity who originated it will be disappointed or angry with me.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/243\/2019\/10\/Oracle-10.11.19-01.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\nWhat does a God need with a human messenger?<\/h1>\n
Verify the source<\/h1>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/243\/2019\/10\/crow-on-a-wire-2.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\nCheck your own biases<\/h1>\n
Never think this makes you \u201cchosen\u201d<\/h1>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/243\/2019\/10\/The-Pages-Robin-Wood-Tarot.jpg\")
<\/a>Deliver the message as precisely as you can<\/h1>\n
Deliver, then disengage<\/h1>\n
Do not wish for this work<\/h1>\n