Which Gods do you have/are interesting in having a relationship with?

[SorcererGaheris]

Obviously one for the theists here...which Gods/Goddesses do you have a current relationship with? Or want to get to know/develop a relationship?

Hekate is currently the sole deity that I am meditating upon and conversing with on a semi-regular basis (generally once a week.)

However, my prime interest is deities from Irish and Welsh pantheons, with a particular focus on certain Gods and Goddesses with particular skills and correspondences.

Manannan Mac Lir of the Irish pantheon has grabbed my interest (appears to be more or less the same deity as Manawydan in the Welsh pantheon.) I haven't yet done anything to develop a practice with him, but I'm hoping to as time goes on. There are other deities that catch my interest too.

How do you converse with 'Hecate'?

The same way that people seek to converse with other spiritual entities. By developing the skills of clairaudience (clear hearing), clairvoyance (clear seeing), etc. Learning and developing one's psychic abilities - by doing regular meditation in order to get into an altered state of consciousness/mild trance.

Okay, and how do you know that it's one particular god or goddess talking back?

What do you converse back and forth with it about?

How do you define which ones are real? Or doesn't that matter?

Serious question

Well, I suppose we can't with one hundred percent certainty, that's why it's a matter of faith/belief. But there are things we can do to help establish whether we think it's potentially likely/more likely to be the particular deity in question.

Often we'll make a direct prayer to the deity we wish to converse with, requesting them in particular. So Hekate is aware that someone wishes to converse with her.

In pagan polytheist practice, it's also common to give specific offerings to deities (and others kinds of spirits) as a form of respect and also of reciprocity, in order to build the relationship. The idea is that spirits and deities are going to be more inclined to get to know and help you if we are also playing our own part by being thoughtful, respectful and giving them some gifts. So I set out offerings that I know (from research) that Hekate is said to enjoy.

We can also compare other people's experiences with the particular deities in question to see how closely our own experiences relate. Now, the thing is, different people will still have their own unique experiences with the same deity, just as with humans, several people will have different experiences of the same individual. But there can also be threads of similarity, which we can look to in order to determine if we think it's likely to the specific entity we wish for who is communicating with us.

It's not a matter of "which ones" for me.

I'm a polytheist and believe that all deities from all pantheons are real.

And what do you get out of the relationship? Are there any negative side effects you have experienced from an encounter?

What do the offerings consist of?

Anubis and Bast are my main two, although i do make prayers and offerings to The Horned God and Mother Earth in my alter offerings.

Athena always seemed like a total badass to me. And I like owls. I don’t try to communicate with her though.

I am Christian and so I converse with and seek more complete unity with God, The Father, The Son and Holy Spirit through prayer, worship, His Word and Sacraments. In fact I believe He is in me / always with me, as I believe he doesn't leave or forsake me.

@SorcererGaheris, what I am wondering is, as a polytheist is there a god or gods that you can trust over the others. Does what one god represents/ stand for/ communicate conflict with what other gods represent/ stand for / communicate? Do you regard yourself on an equal footing with them and just go for what makes the most sense to you or do you sometimes trust a god's perspective over your own? Are there any rules regarding what you deem as trustworthy information?

As it is currently with Hekate, I'll usually ask her a question. I'll ask if she'll continue to help me improve my abilities at communicating with spirits and practicing magic. (Magic and the 'dead' are two of the fields that Hekate is associated with, so she's one of the deities that is useful to ask for help if one wants to pursue those things themselves.)

I might ask her how she feels I'm getting along in my current efforts. Sometimes she'll make suggestions as to things I could do by myself to try to build skills. One time I'd asked her for advice on connecting more to the 'dead' and "Spend more time in graveyards" came into my head.

Sometimes I'll just wait and see if there's anything specific that she might want to say and listen (internally) for what comes.

What I get out of the relationship:

So far I've found her a pleasant entity to interact with, so that's a positive.
Assistance in improving certain skills.

I haven't experienced any negative side-effects, no.

Are you a cat lover? :)

Generally food. It's easy to find out what sort of things deities traditionally enjoy. Greek deities, of which Hekate is one, traditionally enjoy offerings of milk and honey generally, and there are some other things which they may like as individuals. Bread, cake, eggs, onions and garlic are all things which were traditionally offered to Hekate in the past and what modern-day people who interact with her offer to her today. There are non-food items, of course, but food/drink is what's most conveniently and easily available.

@eyestosee

I just want to say that I'm glad that you have such a happy and fulfilling relationship with your God of choice. I am sure He is ever-present to guide and assist you. :)

I will give some thought to your questions and try to get back on those.

I am also a Christian @SorcererGaheris. Do you include YHWH?

It depends what you mean by 'include', @LillyPickles.

If you mean is YHWH included amongst the Gods and Goddesses that I believe exist, then yes. I believe that all deities exist. I believe that YHWH exists.

However, I am not interested in getting to know YHWH or communicating with Him. I have respect for him as a deity, as I respect any other.

It's not just YHWH, of course. It's specific deities from specific pantheons that interest me. I'm not interested in getting to know deities (generally) from the Norse/Germanic or Roman/Greek pantheons (Hekate being an exception.) Most of the deities in the Hindu pantheon don't particularly interest me.

Will that change at some point? I don't know. It's Celtic Gods and Goddesses that primarily interest me right now.

i certainly relate to them. The interest came more from my fascination with Anubis, when you have artwork of a god around since you were a child and first drawn to him when learning about him aged 8 (and made a model of him that has sat on my side since) and have continued to research them and have artwork of them, it sometimes falls that you attract their attention.

I prefer to have balance, so felt i needed a feminine divine to also focus on, so Anubis/Bast felt like a good match.

Vishnu is hot.

@SorcererGaheris I'm also a pagan polytheist, and I had to reply to your thread because Manannán is one of my main deities (for around a decade now which was when I first started connecting with deities in a meaningful way). If you have any questions, please feel free to ask me, or PM if you'd prefer. Despite his importance in the Celtic myths (not just Irish) and the living tradition of venerating him in places such as his namesake the Isle of Man, there are plenty of Celtic polytheists or modern pagans who seem to know little about him because he sits outside of the Tuatha Dé Danann.

To answer your original question, my main deities are Manannán, Isis and Hermes. Recently I've had other deities make themselves known, all for different reasons, and I'm really enjoying exploring those connections and getting to know them more.

So when you offer these food items, what happens to them? Do you eat them, or are they burnt?

I don't eat them. Most polytheists feel it's inappropriate to eat the food offerings we've designated to Gods (or other spirits - some of us make food and drink offerings to our loved ones in the spirit world.)

I mostly just throw them away. It's a relatively small amount I offer; a packet of crisps and some chocolate to a friend who died earlier this year. Yesterday it was an egg and some honey to Hekate.

it depends on the season, the need and the occasion.
We sometimes do rituals based on certain gods and goddesses around the Wheel of the Year, for example, Brid at Imbolc, or Candlemas in February, through to the Cailleach in the dark part of the year.
Or the Oak King and the Holly King having their regular battle, as the strength of one wanes and the other gains ascendance, as the season changes.

I am a devotee of Hekate and also regularly work with the energies of Epona and Herne, local gods and spirits of place, and ancestors.

When food or other offerings are made, after a time they can be left for wild animals to consume, or composted, etc. We don't eat them, after they have been offered to deities.
At the conclusion of rituals any left over blessed food items are left for animals or birds and leftover win is returned to the earth as a libation to the local gods.