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What gods have you worked with and what was their personality like?

Quintessence

Consults with Trees
Staff member
Premium Member
I'm not sure how to interpret the question since this is posted in the Magic DIR. Should I take that to mean you wish to limit the discussion to using the gods like a tool for personal magic/spellcraft?
 

The Sum of Awe

Brought to you by the moment that spacetime began.
I'm not sure how to interpret the question since this is posted in the Magic DIR. Should I take that to mean you wish to limit the discussion to using the gods like a tool for personal magic/spellcraft?
Hmm, I was under the impression that calling upon the gods in general for a visit was consider magick.
 

The Sum of Awe

Brought to you by the moment that spacetime began.
Sometimes.

Anyhow, I call on my pantheon often. Sometimes individual members. Sometimes the whole. Their personality is difficult to describe in a few words.
Who is in your pantheon? Why is their personality hard to describe?
 

Quintessence

Consults with Trees
Staff member
Premium Member
Hmm, I was under the impression that calling upon the gods in general for a visit was consider magick.

It depends on one's tradition.

Polytheists - the ones who resist or object to being placed under the Pagan umbrella - would strongly object to this view. In fact, the tendency of some Pagans to interpret devotional polytheism as an extension of spellcraft/magick (aka, I'm just gonna use you gods as a tool to obtain my wishes and dreams) is part of why some polytheists don't want to be under the Pagan umbrella.
But if we play fast and loose with what "magic" is, the picture changes a bit. There's no particular reason to adhere to the strong historical distinctions between "magic" and "religion" (e.g., calling upon the gods) especially where one's religious traditions don't shun or outlaw "magic" (however defined).

Generally, I don't consider working with the gods to be spellcraft or magic in my tradition, though the gods can be (and almost inevitably are) incorporated into such workings in some way. I have more experience with gods that many other Pagans would simply call "nature spirits" or "devas" or something like that, though I do also have some with historically-recognized Pagan gods from widely-acknowledged pantheons.

For "nature spirits" there isn't typically a personality as such - that is a very human way of understanding them and they are very much not human. Usually I get more of a ... it's a lot more abstract and difficult to put to words, honestly. An orientation? A tendency? A vibe? Very, very rarely anything in human language. The translation and interpretation is hard, but doable with time, practice, and patience. It's worth noting that communing with "nature spirits" in this way is how you can figure out correspondences for yourself instead of just taking it on blind faith from some table in a book. So there's definitely a spellcraft application.

For historically-recognized gods, they present very anthropomorphically so outlining a personality is more or less possible (but nonetheless do not forget they are not human either). The personalities have been distinct for different gods, as one would expect. One common thread is that the gods very much have the vibe of... how to put it... "I'm giving you attention because your life path aligns with mine and I've got a use for you right now." The gods have their own goals and agendas - you are an agent who can help realize those goals. That arrangement can be short-term or long-term. You (usually) have the freedom to say yes or no.
 

The Sum of Awe

Brought to you by the moment that spacetime began.
It depends on one's tradition.

Polytheists - the ones who resist or object to being placed under the Pagan umbrella - would strongly object to this view. In fact, the tendency of some Pagans to interpret devotional polytheism as an extension of spellcraft/magick (aka, I'm just gonna use you gods as a tool to obtain my wishes and dreams) is part of why some polytheists don't want to be under the Pagan umbrella.
But if we play fast and loose with what "magic" is, the picture changes a bit. There's no particular reason to adhere to the strong historical distinctions between "magic" and "religion" (e.g., calling upon the gods) especially where one's religious traditions don't shun or outlaw "magic" (however defined).

Generally, I don't consider working with the gods to be spellcraft or magic in my tradition, though the gods can be (and almost inevitably are) incorporated into such workings in some way. I have more experience with gods that many other Pagans would simply call "nature spirits" or "devas" or something like that, though I do also have some with historically-recognized Pagan gods from widely-acknowledged pantheons.

For "nature spirits" there isn't typically a personality as such - that is a very human way of understanding them and they are very much not human. Usually I get more of a ... it's a lot more abstract and difficult to put to words, honestly. An orientation? A tendency? A vibe? Very, very rarely anything in human language. The translation and interpretation is hard, but doable with time, practice, and patience. It's worth noting that communing with "nature spirits" in this way is how you can figure out correspondences for yourself instead of just taking it on blind faith from some table in a book. So there's definitely a spellcraft application.

For historically-recognized gods, they present very anthropomorphically so outlining a personality is more or less possible (but nonetheless do not forget they are not human either). The personalities have been distinct for different gods, as one would expect. One common thread is that the gods very much have the vibe of... how to put it... "I'm giving you attention because your life path aligns with mine and I've got a use for you right now." The gods have their own goals and agendas - you are an agent who can help realize those goals. That arrangement can be short-term or long-term. You (usually) have the freedom to say yes or no.
Thank you, that was very insightful. So in what way do nature spirits communicate in your experience?

I see you said that gods have their own goals and agendas. That makes sense to me as they are beings of their own will, I suppose I never thought of it that way because I imagined they would already be accomplished as gods and play with humans for something akin to entertainment/learning/or sort of like a pet but I suppose that might be a selfish way to view them as not having goals of their own.

What I was thinking when asking this was more on how deities behave/think/respond and the vibes they give off, so not necessarily using them as tools or asking them for things, but just invoking their presence and I'm asking what their distinct presences are like.
 

Quintessence

Consults with Trees
Staff member
Premium Member
Thank you, that was very insightful. So in what way do nature spirits communicate in your experience?

Very, very rarely in human language words. Usually it is a sort of presence, or reading impressions of something's nature. If you're familiar with energy work, one could use terminology like feeling energy, auras, or ki. Some experience that with inner vision/sight but for me it's always been more tactile - a sense of heaviness or lightness, sharpness or softness, pushing (unwelcome, go away) or pulling (welcome, stay here), and so on. On occasion there's something more emotional, like a happy/joy or angry/scared. On occasion there's just not much of anything, which is to be expected too. Sometimes if I'm receptive to whatever something wants to share, I might get an inner vision/sight but that's rare.

I'm going to be exploring more systematically in the coming moons as part of my Ovate Grade training with OBOD. It's going to be interesting. It'll be useful to draw on past experiences of what's worked for me and what hasn't as well as experiment.


I see you said that gods have their own goals and agendas. That makes sense to me as they are beings of their own will, I suppose I never thought of it that way because I imagined they would already be accomplished as gods and play with humans for something akin to entertainment/learning/or sort of like a pet but I suppose that might be a selfish way to view them as not having goals of their own.

Oh, they are already accomplished - doesn't mean there isn't more to be done. The gods have their domains and roles that they serve. For example, Cerridwen presides over the cauldron mysteries because that's just what she does and anyone who seeks those mysteries will run into her and be guided/tested. Beyond that, it's honestly best to be experienced for oneself. A lot of stuff in Paganism is that way, really - book learning is awesome but only takes you so far. Gotta get out and do stuff.
 
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