On Working with Deities and Ancestor Spirits [REPOST]
30/12/2020
I’ve received some queries after my last blog post… specifically about the safety of Deity Work. Also about the validity of it. Which is understandable, deity work is not for the faint of heart. It’s a concept that is quite foreign to many people, witches and non-witches alike.
Before I get into the blog, I want to get some promotional stuff out of the way. This holiday season has been especially busy, however Kvltivatior and I have still found time to make quite a lot of new loot for all of you. We are planning on listing all of it in the coming week. Some of our new products are listed already, so do check it out! Also the Yuletide sale has ended, but we shall have another sale for Imbolc, February 1st through 5th.
Now that we’ve gotten boring promotional stuff out of the way, lets get into today’s blog. As I said before, I received some well-meaning commentary about the dangers of deity work.
What is deity work? Well, deity work is a specific practice within the spheres of witchcraft/alternative spirituality. To work with deities is a pagan practice. One does not have to be pagan to be a witch, nor does one have to be a witch to be pagan. They are two very different things that often get lumped together as a single practice. I know plenty of atheist witches, and I know plenty of pagans that wouldn’t dare practice magick. I’ve even known some Christian witches. Witchcraft is not a religion.
Let me say that again.
Witch Craft IS NOT a religion!!!!Deity work is the point where witchcraft and religion meet. To work with deities is to hold belief in certain entities and to revere them and in some cases, worship them. It really depends on the individual, as no two people will share the exact same experience with a deity. Each person’s deity work will be unique, however there are usually common threads amongst all who work with a deity.
You know, it only recently occurred to me that deity work really isn’t for everyone. I think factually I knew and respected that not everyone will have the same view of the gods as me, but until a few years ago, I really had the two blended into a single thought.
I was called to the path by deities so I have never known any other way. This, most certainly, does not happen to everyone and you don’t have to be called to practice. You don’t have to be chosen to be a witch.
So what are deities anyways? How can you communicate with them? How do you know they are there?!
These are all good questions. Deities are usually the gods of mythology. Many witches take a rather Jungian approach to their Gods and God-work, choosing to view the gods as psychological symbols or archetypes that represent aspects found in all humans. Think of the 12 signs of the zodiac wheel; Aries, Taurus, Gemini, Cancer, Leo, Virgo, Libra, Scorpio, Sagittarius, Capricorn, Aquarius, and Pisces. These 12 signs represent core, archetypal energies that rule everything.
Quick side note, when someone says ‘rule’ in reference to astrology, gods, etc. it is not the same as a king ruling over a kingdom. Think of it more as the ‘ruler’ in question being the tip of an iceberg, a single name/category/concept that acts as an ambassador or starting point for a whole spectrum of energy. It is a symbol for a more complex concept, put in place to make that concept easier to, well, conceptualize. A prime example would be with the god Thoth.
We can take the concepts of mathematics, language, and the psyche and try to conceptualize them, but lets face it, unless you’re a mathematician, these concepts can be kind of difficult to grasp. This is because they are vast and incomprehensible subjects that are ever expanding, growing, and evolving. However, when you put them in the context of Mercury, all of a sudden you have an allegorical character with which to teach these concepts. From Mercury, we get all matter of figures from mythology; Thoth and Hermes being prime examples. When the alchemists speak of turning lead into gold, it was an allegory for enlightenment.
It is the same with deities. They are allegories for things within us.
This is how I approach my work with deities. In my mind, it all relates back to the sky and planets. As above, so below, you know? Really, all deities are real, there is no one correct god for every person because we are all embodiments of god. Like branches on a tree, facets of a gem. Rumi said it best when he said “We are not a drop in the ocean, we are the entire ocean in a single drop”.
I can’t exist without the god energy, and the god energy can’t exist without me. So do I believe that there are big sky people ruling over my life and making bad things happen because they’re mad? No, not really. In fact, the Gods only have as much control over my life as I allow. They are archetypes of the human psyche.
It’s all in your head, your head is just much bigger than you think.
The Gods and Goddesses speak through urges, feelings, and interests. Particularly ones that seem random or out of place. Sometimes you will see animal symbols associated with that deity appearing to you. For example, Hekate is associated with dogs. If Hekate is calling to you, perhaps you will start being approached by dogs more. Maybe you will see dog symbols in dreams or in waking life. Maybe you will suddenly be obsessed with learning about dogs or wanting to work at a dog shelter.
It can look different for everyone, beginning a relationship with a deity requires some confidence in your own intuition.
This leads me to a very important point I would like to make. When interacting with a new spirit or deity, really get to know it before you start working with it. There are, indeed, spirits that will try to trick you, but if you know what to watch out for you’ll be able to differentiate.
For me, I rely on feeling the most. If an entity doesn’t feel right, it usually isn’t. As a new initiate, I learned the hard way by inviting spirits into my home. I do not recommend inviting random spirits into your dwelling, they can be quite stubborn to get out again.
Most Gods and Goddesses will introduce themselves (via dreams or very obvious signs). Once you develop a rapport with a god/dess energy, you can usually ask them to help you determine if spirits are tricksters.
I try to avoid words like “malevolent” or “benevolent” because, in truth, there is no defined line between good and evil. Duality is an illusion, there is only grey area. Many ‘demons’ are just old gods, demonized by organized religion, or in some cases, completely made up to dissuade people from practicing paganism. Spirits, while they can be dark, spooky, and sometimes harmful, are generally more akin to wild animals than cold, calculated evil. Sure, there are cold, calculated evil spirits out there, but you’re not going to find them in every day life.
Think of it this way, a racoon in the wild is cute and fun as long as you keep your distance. However a racoon in your house is much less cute and fun. The racoon is scared and does what scared racoons do; it fights for survival. Now imagine you panic, hit the racoon with a broom and it lunges at you, bites your leg, and now you have a gross, puncture wound that requires immediate medical attention. Do you blame the racoon for being a racoon? NO! you should probably blame yourself for inviting the racoon inside in the first place and not removing it in a safe way. This same principle goes for these trickster spirits.
They are wild beasts, accustomed to the forest. They live on the energy of the forest and so they don’t do so well in urban settings. They feed on energy and generally, our negative emotions tend to be stronger in the short term. If you’re already depressed, angry, whatever and one of these spirits comes into your life, it’s going to feed on you because it’s essentially starved. Do not blame the spirit for doing what it is supposed to do, instead learn to keep them out of your space. Respect them for what they are and know that you are in control of your own energetic body. It can not harm you if you do not let it harm you.
However you should avoid feeding them because where there is one, there are many. It may be cool to interact with these strange spectral creatures but you can run into a lot of issues if you don’t create healthy boundaries with them.
It all gets clearer the deeper you get into the practice, I promise. I know this is a lot to process, especially for people who grew up within a monotheistic culture. It can sound akin to mental breakdowns or schizophrenia, how ever the difference is that you will not be confused or scared (maybe intimidated, but you should never feel scared).
While I don’t necessarily recommend deity work for everyone, one thing I do recommend is some level of work with ancestors/ancestral spirits as well as some degree of genealogy. The only way you can know where you are and where you’re going is to know where you come from, this is especially true now in this age of info dumps and misinformation. Knowing your ancestors will strengthen you’re abilities. You will be able to heal generational shadow work, traumas that have been passed down your line for hundreds of years. We see a reverence for ancestor spirits in every ancient culture on Earth.
I feel like, as a witch of European descent, this is especially important to me. I had ancestors that did some pretty unspeakable things. Not only this, but I recognize that the beliefs and pagan practices of my people have been all but wiped out during the conversion age in history when the church persecuted and slaughtered European pagans in droves.
Most contemporary paganism and magick comes from Indigenous cultures because historically speaking, that’s all we have to reference. Through learning about my own ancestors, I am able to identify the trauma I have inherited. I am able to identify when certain wrongs may have happened and I am able to make adjustments in my own thinking and lifestyle accordingly. White witches have certain responsibilities to themselves as well as their POC brethren. Firstly, that is to stand up to white supremacy and call out misinformation. The Nordic pantheon especially is used to further racist agendas. This is not productive, nor do I feel like this is in-line with any of the Norse gods who I have worked with. Second, it is to end the cycles of hate that we potentially carry with us. The second goes for everyone though. No one is perfect, we all inherit trauma, we all have a shadow. Do the shadow work, trust me.
If you’re a white witch, do not be afraid to call on your ancestors. Even if there is unfavorable history in your blood line. I have found, the spirits of my deceased ancestors, have been mostly concerned with helping me better the world as best as I am able. They show me how to fix the mistakes they made. Meeting one’s maker seems like a pretty efficient way to change someone’s mind about socio-political issues, you know?
Anyways, that’s all I’ve got for tonight. I hope you all enjoyed. Please email me if there is something you’d like me to write about!
sigrid.thee.haughty@gmail.com
