Romantic vs Platonic Godspousal
Oh, good youâre here. Iâm sorry, the title is a bit misleading.Â
See, what I want to talk about is how delineating romantic godspouse versus platonic godspouse is not only unhelpful but actively confusing and borderline harmful.Â
If you take the most traditional definition of godspousing, itâs the marriage of a god and a human. You become the spouse of a god. Becoming a spouse of anyone requires intimacy, and usually that kind of relationship goes hand-in-hand with romance and/or s*x.Â
Therefore godspouse as a word, and the derivative terms â godspousing, godspousery, and my beloathed godspousal â all inherently imply romance or s*xual intent, or at the very least intimacy.Â
If you take a broader, more modern concept of godspousing (one that I embrace), is that godspousing is an intimate (romantic or s*xual) relationship with a non-corporeal being, such as a god, spirit, fae, angel, demon, hero, etc.Â
Intimacy is inherent to godspousing, regardless of traditional versus modern definitions of the practice.Â
Therefore romantic godspouse is redundant. Just say godspouse. Or godpartner. You donât have to be married to date and be romantic or have some fun.Â
Now, what if your relationship isnât intimate in those ways? What if it is, in fact, platonic?Â
Okay, platonic godspouse still isnât the right term for you to use. Itâs still implying the -spouse part of godspouse, which is that intimacy of romance or s*x. And no one wants that when platonic godspouse is most popularly assigned to being family or besties with a god.
Godfamily is a community-built term that explains that youâre family to a god! It parallels godspouse in the god + [TERM]. You can also substitute spirit + [TERM] if youâre not in a relationship with a god. Thereâs a lot of wiggle room here!Â
If youâre not family but youâre really close, like youâd live together forever just not marry or be intimate with your godly friend if they were on the same plane as you, congrats! Youâre describing a Queer Platonic Relationship or Queer Platonic Partnership. (Thatâs QPR or QPP, for short.) Itâs an intimate relationship that isnât romantic or s*xual.Â
Now, if youâre using platonic godspouse to describe a special bond like Teacher / Student, God / Devotee etcâŠ. why not use already established terms? Devotee is a thing! Patron is too. There are plenty of non-godspousing terms to apply to your relationship with your god that donât confuse the community more.Â