Introduction to Magic: the gods just sent you their regards
Hello everyone! Under my last post, which was about our perception of deities, you left several questions related to working with them. So today I want to explore topics such as: how our goals influence our choice of deities and how we perceive them, how to build a connection with them, and what we can offer in return.
When I first got into occultism, I thought I had to pick one tradition from the vast array and stick with it. But for me, that turned out to be an impossible task. I decided to practice without deities, working only with the elements and tarot cards, because otherwise, I would have felt this terrible sadness at the thought that, while loving Hindu, Greek, and Slavic gods, and being deeply interested in those I hadn't even explored yet, I would suddenly have to stop at the Goetic demons.
Such a choice would have locked both me and my perception of the world into rigid frameworks. But one of my core goals, which I still pursue through my magical practice, is to see the world in as many different aspects as possible.
It was a major revelation for me to discover that many people take a different approach — working in chaos magic, where you can create your own rules, or follow existing ones if they resonate with your inner world. This is an approach where you don't rely on fixed dogmas, but constantly transform them according to what is relevant to you at any given stage of your life.
There are many different traditions in the world. And the most interesting part is that everyone will tell you that their vision of the world is the only correct one. In reality, we are all talking about the same thing, just approaching it from different angles.
A simple everyday example: cognitive-behavioral therapists are always arguing with psychoanalysts over who gets the spotlight. Each side tries to prove the effectiveness of their own approach to the psyche. To me, this is a completely pointless conflict, because the first group works with the symptom, while the second works with the root. Not everyone wants to adapt to the symptoms, and not everyone wants to dig into the core. That shouldn't diminish one approach or make the other the only effective one.
The same applies to any other situation, and the same applies to our approach to magic.
Our needs change, and it is absolutely natural to try different tools, methods, and traditions for yourself. If today your beliefs resonate with working with Goetic Demons, it doesn’t mean that tomorrow you won’t be interested in working with Greek gods. If today you go to a therapist to adapt to the symptoms of trauma, it doesn’t mean that tomorrow you won’t want to understand its root cause. If today you are getting an education that qualifies you as a psychologist, and you see your fulfillment entirely within the field of science — it doesn’t mean that tomorrow you won’t become curious about how you could express yourself through magic. You name it.
Moreover, many figures in our lives are archetypal. Simply put, an archetype is a collective image. If I were to describe the archetype of a goddess that embodies aggression, destruction, and death, one person would immediately think of the Goddess Kali, another of the Goddess Sekhmet, and another of the Goddess Hel. All of these goddesses are personified differently — each has her own myth. Nevertheless, when we reach out to them, we are reaching out to the same archetype, just from different sides.
There is no problem at all with working with different deities during the same period, especially if you genuinely feel drawn to them. Personally, I see only one issue with this: the scattering of attention. How we direct our attention when building a connection determines how deep and genuine that connection will become.
When I tried to establish a connection with Kali, Krishna, Lilith, Asmodeus, and Loki all at once, it turned out that I couldn’t build a deep connection with any of them. So some simply moved to the background — not because any of them were jealous of my attention, but because they genuinely need to see that we are open to working with them, and that we are ready to invest our resources (primarily our attention) into that process.
As for jealousy: keep in mind that here we are talking about a practice where you create your own traditions and your own rules. If you decide to sit on two chairs at once — staying within a religious paradigm that opposes any form of paganism, while also working with pagan deities — then, of course, the gods from your religious framework won’t be too happy about it.
Additionally, I want to point out that not all goals and not all work are necessarily compatible. To give an example from my own experience: if you go into work with Kali to learn how to manage your anger, while you are asking Krishna for pure love and harmonious relationships — your “love request” may well take a back seat. Simply because it is more of a priority to first learn how to handle the energies of anger, rather than build a family and then try to practice controlling your aggression within it. It’s a matter of how different energies interact: don’t try to work with everyone at once. Consider whether the energies of the deities you’re drawn to contradict each other, or whether they might actually complement one another well.
On beginning work with a deity: choosing a deity, our goals, and offerings
If you find yourself asking “How do I choose a deity to work with?” — there are usually several aspects you can start from:
- Your personal interest: you feel drawn to someone so strongly that the information you’ve found in myths, books, and others’ experiences no longer feels like enough. You want to ask the deity questions directly.
- Based on your needs and the deity’s functions. Of course, this is not the most ethical approach. It feels more like market relations: like looking for a beneficial deal, rather than genuine connection. In my previous post, I already mentioned that perceiving a deity solely through their function limits your ability to truly know both the deity and the full spectrum they might reveal to you: if a god governs life, it doesn’t mean he is unfamiliar with death; if a goddess rules over lunar aspects, it doesn’t mean she doesn’t know how to warm like the sun. Nevertheless, many people find their deity precisely this way: for example, someone wants to get rich, so they turn to Lakshmi or Mammon. Whether this kind of relationship works for them — that’s something only they can tell you.
- Sometimes the gods choose us themselves. You can tell that someone is calling out to you through synchronicities: at one point, information about Lilith started coming at me from literally every direction. And when I asked her for a sign — whether she really wanted to connect, or if I was just making it all up — a couple of days later, an owl settled in my garden. That bird is very closely associated with Lilith.
In one of the comments, there was a point about how important it is for a person to find deities who see and accept both the “good” and “bad” aspects of who they are. Realizing our own wholeness is very important. However, the division into good and bad is purely a social construct created by us to regulate society. What is considered good and bad varies from society to society, and from person to person. What I consider good in myself will inevitably annoy someone else. So it’s not worth mixing the perception of ourselves through the lenses of psychology and sociology with the lens of the soul’s nature and divinity.
Any deity can help us feel into that state where good merges with bad, feminine with masculine, life with death, and then show us how these energies separate, and how only through that separation can we come to know one through the other. As mentioned earlier: if a god governs life, it doesn't mean they are unfamiliar with death.
Therefore, in a model of relationship where you are no longer a slave and the deity is no longer your master and parent, no one is going to punish you for your sins or praise your virtues.
On the aspect of how exactly we choose a deity:
I understand that not everyone’s life purpose is centered around studying their Self. Not everyone’s goal is to work with people or pass on knowledge. For some, happiness might be more than fulfilled by realizing the most grounded desires: a good job and a romantic relationship. And it’s absolutely normal that everyone has different goals. What’s more, it often happens that some goals can harmonize very well with others — by which I mean you don’t necessarily have to give up earthly comforts and pleasures if you feel drawn toward the divine.
But it’s important to understand that the nature of your relationship with a deity depends on your goals. So ultimately, it all comes down to the question: “Why am I personally turning to the gods?”
If it’s only for material gain — be prepared to engage in market‑like dynamics, and to find yourself in situations where you’ll need to work to achieve that material benefit.
If you’re looking for something deeper — like understanding your Self — then be prepared to let go of any ideas of a servile position toward the deity, and stop seeing them as a parental figure. Be ready for the deity to start creating situations around you where, in order to find out who you are, you’ll have to seriously stand your ground: express your anger, love openly and without shame, and leave spaces where people try to label you or change you, even if they are your closest people.
It’s important to understand what you yourself can offer to a deity. Any exchange should be mutual. In my own experience: the gods help me in my self‑inquiry, so I write posts exploring their archetypes or carry their ideas into the world.
The gods care about you creating something yourself, whether it’s paintings, clothing, books — anything you’re capable of, as long as it resonates with their ideas. Even volunteering works well: I’ve heard of people working with Hecate who volunteer at support centers for queer people, because one of Hecate’s aspects is the protection of minorities. In my case, analyzing the myth of Apollo through a psychoanalytic lens resonates with his aspects of rationality and philosophy.
More on the nature of offerings and their historical aspect:
When we go into work with deities, we seek to receive what we consider important to ourselves, so, for an equal exchange of energies, we need to give something that is important to us. For our ancestors, survival, preserving the harvest, and protecting their offspring were paramount. Today, human values have shifted: what matters to us now is our personal development, and connection with other individuals like ourselves.
This is why, when the gods helped our ancestors survive, our ancestors gave the best part of their harvest, the youngest goats from their herds, and men underwent circumcision — offering part of their dignity and a symbol of their fertility. With our current goals, such offerings are no longer relevant.
Perhaps if you yourself are involved in animal husbandry, and your goal is to sustain yourself and your family through that work, then the youngest goat would certainly be important both to you and to the deity who helps you in that goal. But if your goal is self‑understanding and exploring your own potential, then the best offering would be something that helps others around you to better understand themselves.
Always ask the deity what they would like to receive as an offering, and clearly state what you are able to offer. If you ask a deity for personal fulfillment, and your only offering is a piece of meat on the altar — just put yourself in their shoes. We too would find it insulting to hear: “You do all the work for me, spend your time and energy on me, and in return, I’ll give you a piece of bread.” That's not serious.
If you want to work that way, putting in the bare minimum — don't expect them to meet you halfway (on the contrary, they might just take what they need to balance things out. I'm not trying to scare anyone, but if you don't want something important taken from you without your knowledge, don't ask for mountains of gold in exchange for a glass of alcohol).
If you still have a question “How do I start working with a deity?” — then the simplest tool to begin with is prayer. In prayer, we honor the deity, ask for their help, and at the end, we say what we personally can offer them. It’s important that the words come from you sincerely. Of course, you can find pre‑written prayers, but I don’t think they will resonate with you fully because we are all different. It’s better to say it in your own words than to say it perfectly. This is one of those moments where sincerity matters more than “correctness.”
Whether to create one or not is entirely up to you. But historically, altars have become a separate space for practitioners, a place where thoughts about daily worries fade into the background, and attention shifts entirely to the deity.
Of course, we can receive signals from the gods in dreams, through sudden “insights”, or even communicate with them through tarot cards. So an altar is not the only way to connect. At the same time, an altar creates an atmosphere that works in two directions:
- You send a signal to your own mind that you have a sacred working space where everyday concerns have no place. Essentially, it becomes easier for your brain to anchor into the right state when you can clearly see an image of your deity, rather than just knowing they “exist somewhere out there”.
- You send a signal to the deity that you are serious about the connection, that you are deeply invested in it. An altar shows your sincerity, and that doesn’t go unnoticed by the deity.
Do your part of the “agreement” and observe how your reality shifts. Not everyone can hear or see a deity clearly at first, but the gods do make themselves known — as mentioned earlier — through our dreams, through passing thoughts, through sensations in the body, and especially through synchronicities. Synchronicities are their most common way of interacting with us.
The more you know, the easier it will be to recognize them. To use the same example with Lilith: if I hadn’t known that owls are associated with her, I would have missed that sign entirely.
Study whatever information is available to you, ask the deities questions, and ask the space for signs. The answers may come in the most unexpected ways, and there is no need to be discouraged if you can’t clearly hear the voice of a deity just yet. Contact is something that can only be developed over time. It’s not a matter of “some people are born with the ability to hear the voices of gods, and others aren’t.” If you dedicate enough attention to deepening your understanding, with each new attempt it will become easier to recognize the form in which the deity is responding to you.
Thank you for your questions and for taking the time to read this post! I would be very interested to hear your thoughts, your experiences, or perhaps any new questions you might have.
Feel free to check out my blog — here I write about occultism and psychology 🤍
