Respecting the Gods

will-o-the-witch:

Don’t… treat them as tools. Deities aren’t obligated to help you, even if you do everything “correctly” to ask. They’re not vending machines, or a list of correspondences that only gets value from how they best serve you. They’re gods!
Instead… treat them like people. (Really high-status people.) Build a relationship before asking big favors. Compensate them for their time. Respect they have their own autonomy. Respect that your will is not the center of their universe. 

Don’t… reduce them into archetypes. Putting Frejya or Aphrodite into just “love goddess” takes out so much of their depth. (Example, both of these goddesses also have warlike aspects.) Putting them into narrow categories and treating all deities that fit as the same can be reductive at best and insensitive to the root cultures at worst. 
Instead… address who you’re really talking to. Do your research. See how a god either lines up with or defies your assumptions. See what makes them different from a deity with a similar domain. If you wish to speak to the Horned God, speak to the Horned God, and if you want to speak to Cernunnos or Pan, call them Cernunnos or Pan. 

Don’t… ignore the lore. UPG Can certainly exist and add depth, but the lore has survived and is what all these gods are largely founded on. It’s important for us to recognize it and know who we’re approaching. 
Instead… do your research beforehand. Did you know Aphrodite is widely considered to HATE pigs and be offended with offerings of pork or images of pigs on the altar? Might be a good thing to know before you accidentally offer some fresh bacon. (But if you recognize the lore and find a way to spin it so it works, more power to you~)

Don’t… insult other people’s gods. If those gods don’t resonate with you, they have a lot of meaning for other good people. I’m tempted to say don’t insult your own, either. Playful banter is one thing, but there’s a line between affectionate jabs and straight up disrespect. Find where that line is for you.
Instead… talk to other people. If something about a god you don’t worship feels problematic, talk to their followers and devotees and see what they have to say about it. They probably have an approach you haven’t been exposed to. Analyze your own relationships with deities. And if the way you speak about a deity makes someone else uncomfortable or upset, respect their right to feel that way, apologize, and learn from it. Remember that each deity has changed someone’s life for the better.