Invoking the Gods & Goddesses: Common Sense Counsel
“The God/dess is alive and magick is afoot.”
-Marian LoreSinger
One God or Many? Some Pagans and Witches are pantheists, meaning they believe in numerous Gods and Goddesses and choose to follow a small smattering of them. Others see one very large, and somewhat incomprehensible being. Then again, not all practitioners are religious. For those who look to one or more Divine beings for aid, there are some sensible ground rules.
Choosing Patron Deities to Support Magical Work
If you decide you want to work in partnership with Spirit in your magickal Path, I will share one piece of advice. Choose a small assortment (two to four) of Divine figures to call upon regularly, and get to know everything you can about them. Whether you see this being one or many, honor, respect, and gratitude is very important.
Preparing Before Calling a God or Goddess
Do not start calling on a God or Goddess without doing these things first:
- Research the energies (characteristics, aptitudes, areas of dominion) in that name
Understand localized cultural myths about that Being - Determine appropriate ways to adorn the sacred space for that Being (and do so)
- Confirm suitable offerings, libations, or traditional prayers
- Discover sacred symbols, items, and animals for that God or Goddess
- Document any known rituals, spells or celebrations that employ this Power
- Knowing deep down that this is a Being you want as part of your spiritual journey
This last point is very important. Gods and Goddesses want more than an occasional “hi and how ya’ doin’” interaction. It is very RARE that Divine beings respond to someone they do not know from regular communion. Why? Well, for one, that Personage may well be on a whole different wavelength than are you or your tradition. Trying to get a message thru comes off as a broken connection filled with static. Now, would you really want a powerful entity answering your request if they only got one part of the message? Nope!
Secondly, even if you are fortunate to get through the call-waiting system, that Being may choose to say “no.” That is the way of the Universe when it comes to unfamiliar energies.
Why go through all that extra trouble? For the same reason that you wouldn’t randomly walk up to a stranger’s house asking for aid. It’s rude (not to mention a bit foolhardy). We must have an understanding of, and appreciation for the energies with which we work otherwise our magick becomes just rote liturgy or careless power mongering, which can result in a huge mess, no matter how good our intentions.
Magical Considerations: Words of Caution
Deities from different pantheons in the same sacred space may not play nicely with each other in your proverbial magical sandbox. Randomly invoke a wide variety of God/desses into your sacred space is an open invitation for Chaos herself to visit. This is where, again, is where knowing your God/desses and building a relationship with him, her or them, becomes nothing less than essential. Do you invite dramatically different people to a housewarming? Well, take that concept up to a metaphysical level.
“Let go and let God/dess.”
Adapted from “Witch’s Book of Wisdom,” by Patricia Telesco. All rights reserved.
