I swore long ago to never again be controlled: not by parent, sibling, lover, church, priest, or even God. Yet I\u2019m often told that I need to commit, swear to, and submit to various folks\u2019 Gods of choice.<\/p>\n
Am I terrible for not being willing to become someone\u2019s slave, scared of stepping out of line? Is there room for being friends with the Gods, sometimes gifting them as you would a human friend, even sometimes working with Them?<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Let me start by saying I\u2019m disturbed that anyone would tell someone else that they must commit to any deity in any sense of the term. Different Gods call different people to worship and work with Them in different ways.<\/p>\n
What the Morrigan asks of me is not necessarily what She asks of anyone else. The degree to which She asks someone to do something vs. demanding that they do it varies from person to person and from time to time. Further, the Morrigan\u2019s approach is different from Cernunnos\u2019 approach, which is different from Brighid\u2019s approach, which is different from the approach of every other deity I\u2019ve ever encountered.<\/p>\n
The only thing any of us have reason to tell others they must do is to be respectful. Even there, what is respectful for Loki will likely be very different from what is respectful for Odin.<\/p>\n
I suspect that many of these comments are less about \u201cyou must do things my way\u201d and more about a lack of understanding of the many different ways there are to relate to and interact with the many Gods.<\/p>\n
Or at least, I hope so.<\/p>\n Gods are the mightiest of spirits. I think I got that from Ian Corrigan of ADF, though I can\u2019t be sure. The point is that there are many spirits \u2013 many spiritual persons: elemental spirits, land spirits, Nature spirits, ancestral spirits, human spirits, and others. All these spirits exist on a spectrum \u2013 exactly where one category ends and another begins is impossible to say.<\/p>\n What we can say is that whatever these spirits are, Gods are the most<\/em>. They exist at the far end of the spectrum.<\/p>\n But while they are the most<\/em>, they are still spirits. They are not \u201cwholly other\u201d as some Christians claim for their God \u2013 they are persons who we can relate to as persons.<\/p>\n We ground our relationships with the Gods in virtues, especially the virtues of hospitality and reciprocity. That is, we strive to be good hosts when we invite Them into our rituals and into our lives, and to be good guests when we enter Their presence. As They give to us, we give to Them, so that They may give to us again.<\/p>\n This forms the foundation for our relationships with the Gods.<\/p>\n Many Pagans have an aversion to the word \u201cworship\u201d \u2013 usually because of bad experiences in other religions. But to worship something (or more properly, to worship someone) is simply to declare that they are worthy. The Gods are worth of our worship. Not \u201cbecause They\u2019re Gods and we aren\u2019t\u201d (that\u2019s too close to Calvinism for me) but because They are the personification of virtues and because They bring good things into our lives.<\/p>\n Some prefer to say they \u201cwork with<\/a>\u201d the Gods. We do that when we do Their work in this world \u2013 when we play on Their teams even though we\u2019re minor role players and They\u2019re the head coach and general manager.<\/p>\n And some of us say we \u201cwork for\u201d this or that deity. Follow the Morrigan for very long and you\u2019ll end up working for Her. I\u2019ve lost track of how many times I\u2019ve heard Her say \u201cyou, Druid \u2013 go do this.\u201d And so I go do this.<\/p>\n I do this not out of any sense of subservience, but out of a sense of agreement and belonging. I believe in the Morrigan. Not in the sense of \u201cI think She\u2019s real\u201d (even though obviously I do) but in the sense that I feel a strong affinity for Her virtues and Her values \u2013 I want to see those virtues and values spread further in our wider society. And so I gladly follow Her instructions.<\/p>\n If I don\u2019t understand them, I follow them anyway \u2013 She has the perspective of a God. She knows things I do not, and She understands things I cannot, because I\u2019m a human with imperfect understanding.<\/p>\n If She asked me to do something unethical or dishonorable I would of course refuse. I do not mindlessly follow anyone, and I am ultimately responsible for my own life. But the Morrigan has never made such a request, nor do I expect She ever will \u2013 Gods are always virtuous.<\/p>\n Oaths are not to be made lightly. They are meant to be kept, period. As I often warn people, do not promise what you cannot or will not do. You will be held to your word.<\/p>\n You do not need to swear an oath to worship a God, or to work for or with Them. That should come after considerable time and experience \u2013 if at all.<\/p>\n But where they are made, oaths help build a foundation of confidence and stability. They build community and intimacy. We know what to expect from the Gods, and we know what They expect from us.<\/p>\n Don\u2019t swear an oath<\/a> because you think you have to do it to be a \u201creal polytheist.\u201d Don\u2019t do it if you\u2019re in an ecstatic afterglow. And don\u2019t do it if you haven\u2019t negotiated the terms.<\/p>\n But when a God (not another human) has asked you for an oath, where you want to strengthen the divine relationship, or especially if you can\u2019t imagine doing anything else, then do it and do it well. Earlier this year I wrote A Ritual of Oathtaking<\/a> for those who are considering such an action.<\/p>\n I know some people who call themselves \u201cGod-slaves\u201d or something to that effect. While a couple of them were making themselves out to be something special to boost their egos, most were quite humble and even secretive about it (not that I\u2019ve encountered a lot of them). Their relationship with their God had moved to the point where their trust and commitment was absolute.<\/p>\n I don\u2019t think I could do that \u2013 I\u2019m not that trusting of anyone. But I\u2019ve never been asked to do it, and I don\u2019t expect that I will. I serve the Gods I\u2019m committed to in our current arrangements, to Their satisfaction (or at least, not to the point where They\u2019ve seen the need to say something about it).<\/p>\n The point is that this is not typical of anyone, human or divine. It\u2019s a very rare situation, and fear of it shouldn\u2019t keep you from pursuing a divine relationship and taking it to great depths.<\/p>\n And of course, anyone who says you must become a God-slave doesn\u2019t know what they\u2019re talking about and should be ignored.<\/p>\n The vast majority of people who worship, work with, and\/or work for a God do so freely and of their own will. The vast majority of oaths are freely given \u2013 some of them too freely.<\/p>\n Most.<\/p>\n But not all.<\/p>\n Some people are claimed<\/a>. They don\u2019t have a choice. The na\u00efve folks who say \u201cyou always have a choice\u201d should remember that you have a choice to not pay taxes \u2013 that rarely works out well.<\/p>\n All I can say is that if you\u2019re worried about this happening, don\u2019t. It\u2019s rare, and approaching a God seems to have no impact on whether or not it happens.<\/p>\n Are the Gods perfect? Different polytheists have different ideas about this. What we can say with certainty is that no humans are perfect. And the Gods \u2013 whose knowledge is greater than ours \u2013 know and understand this.<\/p>\n No Pagan or polytheist should be \u201cscared of stepping out of line.\u201d Our Gods are not the vengeful, jealous God of some forms of Christianity, just waiting to smite us for the slightest sin.<\/p>\n We should do our best, because our Gods deserve our best. We should go to great lengths to keep our commitments, because we are people of integrity who keep our word. We should show our Gods utmost respect, because They are worth of that respect.<\/p>\n When we fail \u2013 and we will, because we\u2019re human\u00a0\u2013 we should own our mistakes. Admit it, make it right, and do our best to do better next time.<\/p>\n In my experience, most of the Gods are very lenient and forgiving with newcomers. They\u2019re looking for a long-term commitment, and that works best when They don\u2019t scare off beginners.<\/p>\n As things progress, the expectations get higher. Mistakes and slights They laugh off with a beginner will be taken more seriously with an intermediate<\/a> or advanced practitioner. If you know better, you\u2019re expected to do better. But even then, They know we\u2019re not perfect and They don\u2019t expect perfection.<\/p>\n Our Gods are not insecure \u2013 They have no need to control us. Most of Them are happy to meet us where we are. From there we begin a journey in virtues and values, a journey of service to something greater than ourselves.<\/p>\n Such a journey is best taken with willing and eager travelers, not with slaves.<\/p>\n There are many ways to serve many Gods. Find the one that is right for you, and for the God who calls to you.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" I\u2019m disturbed that someone would tell someone else that they must commit to a deity in a specific way. Different Gods call different people to worship and work with Them in different ways. What They ask of me is not necessarily what They ask of anyone else. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1129,"featured_media":22352,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[1401,4,5,8,32],"class_list":["post-22348","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-polytheism-2","tag-oaths","tag-pagan","tag-paganism","tag-polytheism","tag-worship"],"yoast_head":"\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/243\/2021\/05\/Morrigan-05.14.21-01.jpg\")
<\/a>Begin at the beginning<\/h2>\n
Worship, work with, work for<\/h2>\n
<\/a><\/p>\nOaths<\/h2>\n
Divine slavery?<\/h2>\n
<\/a><\/p>\nSome people are claimed<\/h2>\n
Perfection is not expected<\/h2>\n
<\/a>Begin a relationship where you are<\/h2>\n