Hello all! This post will be mostly focused on deity work! I'm a polytheist and as some of you may know I actively worship Lady Athena, Lord Leviathan, Lord Hermes, and I'm devoted to Lord Lucifer since he's my patron! This post is all about my own experience of bonding with all these wonderful deities and how I managed to get closer to them despite having a lot of things that get in the way of my worship! Since there's been a lot of beginners especially recently I hope this post can help and I hope that if you're a beginner reading this that you don't spook and that you have fun on your journey!
First of all, and most importantly, in my opinion, is prayer. I know that for beginners, especially, they feel a bit discouraged during prayer because they may not "feel" the deity around them. I'm here to say, don't worry. Me too. Sometimes, even now, when I'm praying to Lord Lucifer, for example, I just don't feel him like I would usually. And that's alright! Keep praying, sometimes their presence might be quieter, and sometimes they're content on just listening to your prayers. With time, you'll grow more accustomed to them, and with time, their presence will feel unique and powerful.
Secondly, of course, offerings are amazing. But, for me, leaving an offering out on an altar and going about my day is not what I would do if I wanted to have a chat or have a nice bonding moment with my gods. It's great and I do give them offerings that way but my all time favorite is when I would come back from a really long day at uni, make myself some dinner or just eat some chips and share the food while yapping about my day. It'll make you feel better because you talked but also you would've honored your gods!
When I was still a beginner (and mind you I started deity work early which I don't think is a bad thing at all by the way! Kids used to pray to these gods it's fine!) I was still in high-school. And something I'd do during my least favorite classes was imagine Lady Athena or Lord Lucifer beside me. I would imagine them standing to my right or to my left and I would bask in their light for a moment before carrying on. It's like a very short very effective meditation for my adhd brain where I would take a breather and get more accustomed to them around me. Now I have very little issues in feeling them whenever I want them to be beside me.
Dedicating a whole day to one (or all) of your deities!! Telling them you'd be focusing on them today and do every action no matter how small or how mundane in their honor. If it is washing the dishes, studying, working, or even staying in your bed or at home being all cozy. Dedicate all these little moments to them and they will be there. They'll spend the time with you and they will be very grateful for all of it. The gods know that not everybody can be 100% in a headspace where they can worship actively. So if you just wake up and say "Today is for You." and live as you would usually, that counts as an offering to them!
This may sound silly but watching shows or movies or playing games with your deities is such an amazing time to bond. Over time you'll develop a feel for noticing what they actually think about the piece of media which to me to this day is still a wild concept. I would be playing Dredge and completing my encyclopedia and I would just feel a vague feeling of happiness from Lord Leviathan's altar. Or just in my proximity. Same thing with Ghibli movies and Lord Lucifer and Lady Athena! Or when I play Mario kart against my sister and I just know Lord Hermes is cheering for me. I'm not the biggest of readers anymore I used to be a big bookworm but whenever I do pick up a nice fantasy novel I know Lady Athena is reading over my shoulder and enjoying it as much as I am.
The gods are everywhere around you, you can truly find them in anything, from the nature around you or the urban setting you live in. (Hell, most of my time is spent at uni in Paris. They're still there.) If you want to grow your relationship with them, let them in to your day to day. Offer them food while you eat, pray for them before bed, or when doing your morning routine. Watch YouTube video essays or gaming let's plays and invite them to watch with you. I promise you over time you'll have a very very sacred bond with your gods. Even if you still don't particularly feel their presence or if you've been feeling them from the start. They will make themselves known whether it's through a ray of sunlight hitting your eyes perfectly, a small bird that has been looking at you, the smell of coffee or tea, or the feel of your bedsheets after a long day. They're here for you.
If you have any questions or if you wanna chat about your deities please spam my inbox I'd love to hear it! Thank you for reading <3
