Beyond that, if someone says a God is talking to them, some people assume they\u2019re delusional, if not mentally ill. Materialists<\/a> say that such things not only don\u2019t happen, they can\u2019t happen.<\/p>\n But for most people throughout most of the world throughout most of history, such things were and are simply a part of life. We share this world with a variety of spirits: land spirits, ancestors, Gods, and others persons<\/em> who are difficult to classify. Mostly they mind their own business.<\/p>\n But sometimes they speak to us.<\/p>\n And occasionally, we hear them.<\/p>\n It\u2019s been a misconception for centuries: the Old Gods went away with the coming of the One God. But while some went into the Otherworld and others were absorbed into the new religion, Plutarch was wrong: neither Pan nor any of the other Old Gods died. People remembered Zeus and Odin and other Gods of their ancestors. And with the beginning of the Pagan revival in the early modern era, people began actively worshipping them again.<\/p>\n Did this worship persuade the Gods to become more active in the ordinary world again, or did the Gods become more active and so people began experiencing them and worshipping them? My guess is a little of both. However it happened, the Many Gods are very active in our time. They\u2019re showing up in our wider culture and they\u2019re showing up in devotion, including many devotional anthologies. I had a hand in creating one for Cernunnos<\/a>.<\/p>\n People are hearing from their Gods.<\/p>\n I don\u2019t want to imply that everyone should be receiving ecstatic messages on a regular basis. We are humans living in the ordinary world and our primary concern is the ordinary world. Most people simply aren\u2019t interested in living a mystical life, and that\u2019s fine.<\/p>\n But some of us are.<\/p>\n And others are called to it whether they want it or not.<\/p>\n Such things do happen.<\/p>\n Some persons<\/em> have weak egos that need constant reinforcements, but the Gods know they\u2019re Gods. They don\u2019t need to impress us \u2013 and it\u2019s just as well. Zeus himself could appear in the middle of a city throwing lightning bolts and most people would barely look up from their phones. At most they\u2019d mumble \u201cI think it\u2019s going to rain\u201d and then go back to whatever they were doing.<\/p>\n Our Gods do not need spectacle, and they have \u2013 in my experience, anyway \u2013 no desire to impress those who only want a show. They mostly speak to those who want to hear.<\/p>\n Those of us who have experienced Gods and spirits know that they rarely speak in an audible voice. Most times it\u2019s a thought that isn\u2019t your thought. It\u2019s an idea you never considered that comes out of nowhere. Sometimes it\u2019s a wordless impression that makes you understand the phrase \u201ca picture says a thousand words.\u201d Our earliest primate ancestors did not have the power of language, but they were still able to communicate. Some Gods prefer more primal communication.<\/p>\n The Gods are mighty and awe-inspiring, but when they speak to us, they are usually subtle.<\/p>\n If you want to hear a God, first introduce yourself. Regular prayers, offerings, and other acts of devotion let them know you\u2019re interested in a reciprocal relationship, not a performance and not a series of favors. The more you do and the more you learn about them, the more you learn what to expect \u2013 the more you attune yourself to their ways of thinking and being.<\/p>\n If you want to hear the Gods, listen for them. Practice mediation. Not the emptiness of Zen meditation (that practice has benefits, but not for this), but a regular practice of concentration on them and receptiveness to them.<\/p>\n If you would hear a God speak, listen.<\/p>\n When you hear (see, feel, intuit, experience) something, the next step is discernment<\/a>. You are a living human \u2013 this and all your experiences are filtered through your human brain, which interprets them based on your previous experiences, your expectations, and especially your worldview<\/a> \u2013 your foundational (and often unexamined) assumptions about the world and how it works.<\/p>\n You had an experience \u2013 that\u2019s an undeniable fact. Now, what does it mean? Who spoke to you? What were they trying to communicate? What\u2019s the context of the communication? How do you incorporate that into your life? How can you best respond?<\/p>\n Experiences are always real. Our interpretations of those experiences can be more or less true, more or less helpful. If your interpretation tells you everything is fine as it is or that you\u2019re being called to be a Very Important Person, that\u2019s probably not a very true and helpful interpretation. Same thing if you think you\u2019re hearing that you\u2019re worthless and the world is going to hell and there\u2019s nothing that can be done to make it better.<\/p>\n On the other hand, if you hear that things are difficult but there is a path forward, if you hear that you\u2019re not the center of the universe but you do have an important part to play, that\u2019s probably a good interpretation.<\/p>\n Make discernment an active and intentional part of your spiritual practice.<\/p>\n Sometimes a God will speak to a human to say \u201cyou\u2019re doing OK, keep it up.\u201d Sometimes. At the beginning. But Gods are not therapists. Sooner or later they\u2019re going to ask for a response.<\/p>\n Perhaps this is simply a call to live by their virtues and values. Cernunnos wants us to live in harmony with each other, and with all the species with whom we share this planet. The Morrigan wants us to reclaim our sovereignty. Brighid wants us to practice good hospitality. Many of the Gods want us to demonstrate honesty, courage, strength, and perseverance.<\/p>\n We don\u2019t need a world full of priests and mystics. We do need a world where everyone embodies helpful virtues in their ordinary lives.<\/p>\n And some people are called to be priests and mystics, philosophers and theologians, magicians and witches.<\/p>\n What are you being called to do? What do you want to do?<\/p>\n Most importantly, what will<\/em> do you?<\/p>\n It\u2019s difficult to establish and enforce orthodoxy in a world where Gods are actively speaking. Different Gods call different people to worship and work for them in many different ways. Plus a plain reading of the stories of our ancestors makes it clear that orthodoxy isn\u2019t very important to some of them<\/a>.<\/p>\n One might speculate that the reason churches tell their followers that their God doesn\u2019t speak anymore is that if they didn\u2019t, the major divisions (Catholic, Protestant, Orthodox) and the minor divisions (the thousands of denominations<\/a> and independent churches) would be even more fragmented than they already are.<\/p>\n As a Pagan, it\u2019s not my job to analyze Christian theology and doctrines. And I like order as much as anyone who makes a living as a engineer. But as someone who has experienced the Gods (or rather, a few of them) for myself, I wonder if perhaps the pursuit of orthodoxy is the wrong goal.<\/p>\n Perhaps we were never meant to be united on questions that cannot be answered with any degree of certainty. Perhaps we\u2019re better off uniting around shared values and common interests, and then supporting each other as we pursue the Gods in as many different ways as there are Gods and people.<\/p>\n The loudest voices in our wider society scream that there is only one God and he stopped speaking two thousand years ago. And also, they and only they know exactly what this God wants. That\u2019s another rant for another time.<\/p>\n The second loudest voices in our society scream that there are no Gods and that anyone who thinks otherwise is delusional.<\/p>\n![\"photo](\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/243\/2026\/06\/Danu-Brighid-Cernunnos-06.02.26-01.jpg\")
<\/a>People are hearing from their Gods<\/h2>\n
Some people just want to live an ordinary life<\/h2>\n
The Gods are mighty and the Gods are subtle<\/h2>\n
To hear, make a practice of listening<\/h2>\n
Discernment is required<\/h2>\n
How will you respond?<\/h2>\n
Many Gods, many people, many ways<\/h2>\n
Appreciate their presence<\/h2>\n