Making contact with the Gods

[Lorgar-Aurelian]

I was watching videos on various pagan traditions and there was a whole series of videos from different content creators on their matron and patron deities. People were more or less talking about having mother and father figure deities. They also talked about how they came to those deities as opposed to any others.

Some of these folks talked about making contact with said deities. I was just wondering how you make contact or know what gods you might be called too and which you aren't? Oh and of course Christians , jews, muslims, baha'is , hindus all that are free to talk about making contact with God.

 

[VioletVortex]

I think that the gods manifest themselves in different ways. Accordingly, there are many different ways through which one can contact and come to understand the gods. On the physical level, being in unmodified nature is a way to be close to the deities.

The most practical way to relate to the deities is through your mind in what could be referred to as magick, meditation, prayer, or philosophy. These things use ambience, props, and invocations to put one in a more spiritual state of mind.

 

[Callisto]

A minor peeve of mine is when Neopagans talk of patron "and matron" deities. Both gods and goddesses are patrons. "Matron" means something else entirely. E.g., Poseidon was the patron of Corinth, Hera was the patron of Argos; both Hephaestus and Athena are the patron gods of crafts, thus they are the patron deities of craftsmen.

Another thing commonly confused is whether a deity is actually a patron. Historically, the gods were patrons of places, occupations, and situations. Establishing a personal relationship with a deity does not necessarily make the god/dess the person's patron, though it does mean the person is a devotee of that god.

How the gods (any god) manifests to an individual or which deity the person perceives them to be often leads to the fuzzy area of what's referred to as UPG (Unverified Personal Gnosis) which essentially is a claim that doesn't mesh with anything previously established about that deity. On one hand, no one else can either confirm or deny the person experienced what they claim to have but on the other, it doesn't mesh with what is known of that deity.

 

[The Emperor of Mankind]

A minor peeve of mine is when Neopagans talk of patron "and matron" deities. Both gods and goddesses are patrons. "Matron" means something else entirely. E.g., Poseidon was the patron of Corinth, Hera was the patron of Argos; both Hephaestus and Athena are the patron gods of crafts, thus they are the patron deities of craftsmen.

I've often wondered about this - whether 'patron' was a gender-neutral term or not. I have used the term 'matron' in reference to Aphrodite in the past but thanks for setting me straight

 

[VioletVortex]

I've often wondered about this - whether 'patron' was a gender-neutral term or not. I have used the term 'matron' in reference to Aphrodite in the past but thanks for setting me straight

The prefix "pat" probably meant "leader" originally, and came to refer to the father as he is the leader of the family. You are definitely right in describing Aphrodite as a matron deity, however. I'd use it to refer to Freya, too.

 

[Lucida Sidera]

Usually contacts with Divinities are made by certain kinds of rituals. The importance of the specific details of each rituals have multiple interpretations, but even with scepticism I guess it seems clear that the rituals at least contribute to rise a certain kind of psychological disposition on who is practicing it.

I find esoteric/occult/ancient traditions quite interesting in pointing schemes of world comprehension which would harmonize with the perspective of contacting Divinities - for the mainstream culture of much of the World nowadays is quite opposite to this notion.

 

[Callisto]

I've often wondered about this - whether 'patron' was a gender-neutral term or not. I have used the term 'matron' in reference to Aphrodite in the past but thanks for setting me straight

Yes, it's gender neutral. There are the Matres and Matrones ("mothers and matrons" ), goddesess worshipped among the Celtic, Germanic and Roman tribes. But that's a specific group and the name doesn't apply to other deities.

 

[Lorgar-Aurelian]

A minor peeve of mine is when Neopagans talk of patron "and matron" deities. Both gods and goddesses are patrons. "Matron" means something else entirely. E.g., Poseidon was the patron of Corinth, Hera was the patron of Argos; both Hephaestus and Athena are the patron gods of crafts, thus they are the patron deities of craftsmen.

Another thing commonly confused is whether a deity is actually a patron. Historically, the gods were patrons of places, occupations, and situations. Establishing a personal relationship with a deity does not necessarily make the god/dess the person's patron, though it does mean the person is a devotee of that god.

How the gods (any god) manifests to an individual or which deity the person perceives them to be often leads to the fuzzy area of what's referred to as UPG (Unverified Personal Gnosis) which essentially is a claim that doesn't mesh with anything previously established about that deity. On one hand, no one else can either confirm or deny the person experienced what they claim to have but on the other, it doesn't mesh with what is known of that deity.

Hey hey hey i'm just using the language they were using.

 

[Quintessence]

It's been my general impression that the obsession with "patron" and "matron" gods (as well as finding them) was an outgrowth of Wicca in particular, whose theological focus is duotheistic on a God and Goddess. It was one of the things that turned me off from Wicca - I must be too much of a polytheist at heart to be interested in that sort of thing.

Because I frame gods as that which a person or culture deems worth of worship, I view finding one's gods as basically an exploration of values. Sometimes the things we most value are things we most take for granted and overlook. Once you identify your values, there's gods for that. You can do what I do and just honor that principle or aspect of reality directly.... or you might structure it into some historically honored Pagan deity. Either way, the process of contacting one's gods is similar for both and in many respects isn't too different from developing relationships with humans. Introduce yourself, have a chat, spend time together, and so forth.

Granted, depending on the deity, the skills for developing relationships with the gods may be more esoteric than it is for knowing humans. It's part of why many will take up practices like meditation, energy work, journeying, and divination. All of those can be used to facilitate relations with the gods. Other times it might be simple research, or doing stuff out there in the world.

 

[Jainarayan]

Hinduism has the concepts of kula-devata, grama-devata, and ishta-devata: family, village, personal deity, respectively. The Wiki articles use the word patron, but I'm not so sure it's entirely accurate.

Kuladevata - Wikipedia
Gramadevata - Wikipedia
Iṣṭa-devatā (Hinduism) - Wikipedia

 

[Callisto]

Hey hey hey i'm just using the language they were using.

I understand. I was referring to a common error, not you.